Nasarawa Governor earmarks N30bn for Technology Village construction
By Amina Mohammed, Lafia
Nasarawa state Gov. Abdullahi Sule has earmarked the sum of N30billion for the construction of Technology Village in Aso Pada, Karu Local Government Area of the state.
Governor Sule, stated this while performing the groundbreaking for the project said it was in line with his administration’s development roadmap in the area of housing, technology, employment, and industrialization.
The N30 billion project which is comprised of 1,962 housing units estate, technology hub, and other facilities is being executed in collaboration with an indigenous firm, ABS Blueprint Consortium, under a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement.
Technology Village site in Aso Pada, Karu Local Government Area of the state
He promised to monitor the project to ensure its effective execution.
The governor expressed delight with the project being executed by an indigenous consortium, saying it was in line with his administration’s vision of the development of the people and the state.
He said the project was fully funded by the private partners in the consortium.
Sule added that the state government would galvanize investors to construct a dedicated link road to the estate, away from the usual gridlock in the area.
Speaking, Managing Director, ABS Blueprint Consortium, Mr. Mohammed Yamusa, said that the 1,962 units Technology Village would comprise 668 units of One-bedroom flats, 558 units of two-bedroom flats, 376 units of the two-bedroom bungalow as well as 360 units of three-bedroom bungalows.
According to the Yamuna, the village would have a technology hub with offices for local and international IT companies for the training of more than 2,000 students annually as software engineers, who would be helped to outsource jobs globally that could earn them as high as 3,000 US dollars monthly.
Other features of the technology hub include an ICT campus with shared virtual workspaces and an estate-wide Broadband coverage through fiber optic cabling.
He added that the village would also have a 5MW independent gas power plant, primary and secondary school, health clinic, fire station, police post, shopping center among other
The managing director explained that the housing component of the project alone was N22 billion, while the other features including the independent power plant would gulp about N8 billion.
He assured the government and people of Nasarawa State to deliver on the project.
In his remarks, Managing Director, Nasarawa State Investment Development Agency (NASIDA) Mr. Ibrahim Abudullahi, said that Gov. Sule had so far, attracted over 500 million US dollar investment to Nasarawa State across different sectors.
Abdullahi said the development of the Nasarawa Technology Village was in furtherance of Gov. Sule’s economic development strategy for the state.
“The goal is to leverage the proximity of the state to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to create different technology clusters and to develop a technology-driven economy.
“There is a deliberate effort to make Nasarawa State a top investment destination not only in the country but in Africa,” Abdullahi said.
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