$350m World Bank Loan Will Impact Positively on Ogun, Says Amosun

$350m World Bank Loan Will Impact Positively on Ogun, Says Amosun

Femi Ogbonnikan in Abeokuta

Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, wednesday said successive administration in the state will start accessing $350 million loan obtained from the World Bank for the development of the state.

The governor said the loan would impact largely on the 50-year master plan developed by his administration for the state.

Amosun made the disclosure during his ward-to-ward campaign tour of Obafemi Owode Local Government Area as part of his Ogun Central senatorial campaign.

He described the loan as a grant from the World Bank that has one percent interest rate and a five-year moratorium, saying he has finished the paper works and met all requirements for the release of the fund.

Amosun said his administration, beyond the infrastructural development, has developed a 50-year sustainable development plan for the state which covers education, infrastructure and other sectors.

He said the sustainable plan was part of the requirements by the World Bank before collaborating with the state and added that he has started with the implementation of the plan.

Speaking further on the master plan, Amosun said there is a plan to construct a major ring road that will cut across Kobape, Idi-Aba, Odeda, among others in Ogun Central, insisting that there can’t be any development without infrastructure.

According to him, “Before we came in, there was Ogun State master plan, but that one which covered about 30 years has ended so what we did was to invite some development partners, including World Bank and GIZ, and we did what we called sustainable development plan.

“First for 10 years, 20 years, 30 years, 40 years and stopped at 40 years. We have envisioned where we want the state to be in the immediate, short term, medium term and long term, and that is why the World Bank is collaborating with us. It was one of the things World Bank requested that we have and that is what we did.

“That is why they approve the grant they want to give to us. I won’t call it loan because if you imagine one percent for 25 years with five years moratorium, that can’t be loan, that will only qualify for a grant.

“And to the glory of God, they are giving us $350 million. I have done the works, and the next government will begin to reap it.”

In education, we know where we want to be, including health and other areas like infrastructure, “and that is why we are making sure our airport is in place.

“If we are the industrial hub of Nigeria then that comes with a lot of challenge. “Manufacturers in the state want to stay in Abeokuta, Sagamu, Ota, and they don’t want to be running to Lagos to do their business. We know what to do, but there can’t be development without infrastructure.”

Amosun, while calling on the state indigenes to embrace continuity of his administration in the forthcoming election, he said: “It is clear that no governor can finish everything and that is why we should not allow anybody to come and dictate for us in the state.”

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