President Muhammadu Buhari has approved University of Jos in North-Central Nigeria as a National Cancer Centre.
Plateau State Governor, Simon Lalong, gave the cheering news on Wednesday while answering questions from State House Correspondents after he met behind closed doors with President Buhari.
He said the people of the State will remain grateful to President Muhammadu Buhari for delivering a lot of democratic dividends to the State.
According to him, “My visit to the President is to come and show him appreciation because of what he has done for Plateau State in the last few months. Just a week or two ago, we just got approval to make the University of Jos a Cancer Centre. I saw over N3 billion approved for the institution as a special centre for cancer so it’s not a small achievement.
“Recently, the President approved the establishment of an orthopaedic hospital in Jos, Plateau State; the only one in North-Central. He also approved the establishment of a Federal Medical Centre in Wase. Another one is the Federal Polytechnic Shendam, which is almost starting this year in October to be precise.
“The President has also approved the conversion of the Federal College of Education Pankshin to a Federal University of Education and immediately approved the establishment of another Federal college of Education in the State. We were just celebrating that one then we also heard of the establishment of a Zonal campus of the Nigerian Law School for North-Central in Jos. We cannot have all these achievements and not come and show appreciation to the President. ”
The Governor, also said he used the occasion of his meeting with the President to thank him for granting presidential pardon to the former Governor of the state, Joshua Dariye as well of a former Governor of Taraba State, Rev. Jolly Nyame who were hitherto convicted for corruption.
“You remember I was here some time ago, when I was here with some Governors, making a plea on behalf of the former Governor of Plateau State, Joshua Dariye and Joly Nyame of Taraba State. We also made an appeal on behalf of the Northern Governors for that pardon, now the President has granted pardon and a few days ago they were released. It is a thing of joy especially in the two states and as Chairman of the Northern Governors Forum, I came to thank him,” the Governor added.
The Plateau State Governor, who is also the Director-General of the All Progressives Congress, (APC) Presidential Campaign Organization, while reacting to a protest staged by a group he described as faceless, asking him to reject the appointment as Director General of the Tinubu/Shettima campaign organisation, declared that he had since accepted to serve his party in that capacity and as an ardent Catholic; even the Pope is not angry with his decision to accept the job.
A group under the aegis of Concern Christians on the Plateau (CCP), recently staged a rally in Abuja, where they called on Governor Lalong, to reject the offer to serve as the Director General of APC presidential campaign council, threatening that the Plateau Christians will not support him in the suspicious engagement or assignment.
The group had said: “It was completely out of place for the same APC that rejected Lalong to be the Vice-Presidential candidate allegedly based on incompetence, to turn around and appoint him as campaign DG in order to seek for votes for the party.”
But the Governor urged Nigerians to grow up from ethnic or religious sentiments, noting that he has already accepted the job and there was nothing anybody can do to dissuade him from performing his responsibilities.
He denied the allegation that he lobbied to become the running mate of the APC presidential candidate, in the 2023 elections, Bola Tinubu.
According to him, “as a born, baptized and confirmed Catholic, who has the highest award from the papacy, Knight of Saint Gregory the Great, the Pope has not told me that it was wrong for me to be the DG of the APC presidential campaign team,”
He told State House Correspondents that the Plateau State Chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) came to the Yakubu Gowon Airport Heipang, Jos, to welcome him after his appointment as the APC presidential campaign DG.
“The appointment was strictly a party affair and has nothing to do with religion,” he added.
