Biodun Esan, Ilorin
Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq of Kwara State has approved naming some old and new legacy projects in the state after historical figures and prominent leaders across the country.
On top of the list is the First Lady of Nigeria Senator Oluremi Tinubu, after whom the multibillion naira Civil Service Clinic project is named.
A statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Rafiu Ajakaye in Ilorin said the old clinic is now being reconstructed from scratch to emerge as a multi-storey health facility.
Senator Tinubu will perform the inauguration of the huge project as part of her official visit to Kwara State between January 28 and 30, 2025.
The wife of the President will also inaugurate the ICT Centre built under the Renewed Hope Initiative of her office at the Kwara State University of Education.
She will also inaugurate a few legacy projects of the Governor such as the Unity Flyover, ultra-modern Intensive Care Unit, Executive Ward, and Tunde Idiagbon Flyover; earlier named after the late General.
The road leading to the flyover is now to be called the Tafawa Balewa Road, a gesture in honour of Nigeria’s former Prime Minister, who was killed in the January 1966 military coup.
The Governor has also approved for the ICT Centre to be named after former Minister Amina Ndalolo from Kwara North, while the executive ward at the Kwara State Teaching Hospital is to be named after the late medical practitioner and politician Dr. Amuda Aluko.
Also, the first state secretariat is now to be called the Brig. Gen. David Bamigboye Secretariat in honour of the first military administrator of the old Kwara State, while the new secretariat is named after Rear Admiral Muhammed Alabi Lawal, who governed the state between 1999 and 2003.
Kwara State Stadium Complex will now be known as Major-General George Agbazika Innih Stadium Complex in appreciation of his contributions to the state when he was the governor.
The main bowl of the stadium is named after the late Rashidi Yekini, a football legend renowned for scoring Nigeria’s first World Cup goal and the country’s highest goal scorer to date.
AbdulRazaq, similarly, approved for some other important state facilities to be named as follows: Table Tennis Arena is named after Atanda Musa (Manza Musa), who was a national champion in the games in 1979.
The Indoor Sports Hall of the stadium is named after Gabriel Babatunde Ladipo, the first black principal of the Government Technical Training School Ilorin (GTTS), who was regarded as the father of sports in the state.
The Squash Court is named after Coach Bolakale Mogaji, Executive Chairman of the Kwara State Sports Commission, who was the pioneer coach, player, and national champion in the squash game.
The Kwara Football Academy “KFA” is named after Coach Usuman Adenuja, the first football coach who took the Kwara Academicals to the final of the Academicals Football Competition. The Governor was among his products.
Hostel A of the stadium is named after Salihu Ishola, the first Kwaran Commonwealth Games medalist; while Hostel B is named after Paralympic
badminton bronze medalist Bolaji Eniola; and Hostel C is named after Bola Esan, the first female director of sports.
END
