Date: 2020-12-05

Mr Kunle Asonibare, the Controller of Work, Federal Ministry of Works and Housing in Kwara, on Wednesday urged residents in the state to protect constituency projects located in their various communities.

Asonibare made the plea at a stakeholders' meeting in Ilorin.

It was convened by a team led by Alhaji Ibrahim Bala-Usman, from the ministry in Abuja, after inspecting some constituency projects in three senatorial districts.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the stakeholders' meeting was attended by officials from the state Ministries of Education, Health and Enterprise.

Others at the meeting were officials of the Ministries of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs; Water Resources and representatives of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and representatives of communities where such projects were located.

Asonibare, therefore, appealed to the communities hosting the projects to see such projects as their own and protect them jealously against vandalism and theft.

The Controller of Works listed such projects to include: schools, health centres, solar-powered boreholes and transformers.

He told the stakeholders that constituency projects in the state were solely financed by the Federal Government and not members of the National Assembly.

Asonibare said the National Assembly members only facilitated the constituency projects, adding that Federal Government, through the Ministry of Works and Housing, financed construction of such projects.

Leader of the team, Bala-Usman, also appealed to the host communities to protect and guide the projects against theft and vandalism.

He said that a transformer donated to Tsaragi in Edu Local Government had been vandalised, urging residents to guide against such incidents in their communities.

Bala-Usman said there were over 60 projects executed across Kwara, adding that the team only visited few in the three senatorial districts.

Speaking at the meeting, Mr Musa Maiyaki of Maiyaki Community in Sango, Ilorin East Local Government, called on the Federal Government to help them with inter-locking paved road to curb the menace of erosion that was disturbing them.

Maiyaki also urged the Federal Government to assist them in the areas of provision of street lights, boreholes and other amenities for the community to enjoy.

Commenting, a teacher from Babaloma Community Secondary School, Mr Bello Suleiman, appealed to the Federal Government to provide doctors and nurses for the clinic in the area.

Suleiman also called for fencing of the school to secure the students and teachers from any attack.

On who should maintain transformers provided by the Federal Government, Asonibare said maintenance of transformers was the responsibility of Electricity Distribution Company in the state.

"Government's duty is to provide transformers, Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company takes over the responsibility and maintenance," he added.

He said it was not the responsibility of the Federal Government to provide doctors and nurses, but that of the state government.

Asonibare said that the affected communities should approach the appropriate ministry for assistance. (NAN)