In what is seen as good news, the Aliko Dangote Foundation (ADF) would this year complete the State- of–the- Art medical intervention projects at the Murtala Mohammed Specialist Hospital.
The interventions include: A Surgical and Diagnostic Center, Laboratory, Maternity Ward and Accident Ward, located within the premises of the hospital.
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Fielding questions from newsmen on the sideline of the 38th Convocation Lecture of the Bayero University Kano on Friday, Senior Advisor to the President of Dangote Group, Mansur Ahmed, an Engineer, gave the assurances that the long awaited health intervention project would be ready in months.
He said the delay was due to massive expansion carried out, and changes made to the original plan.
“The project has quadrupled, so has the cost. That means we had to go back to the drawing board,” he told newsmen in Kano.
He said the expansion was in the interest of the ever-growing Kano population, adding that the President of the Dangote Group Aliko Dangote, who is also from Kano, would only settle for the best for his state.
Mr. Ahmed also attributed the delay to the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, which delayed activities around the globe.
He thanked the Kano people for their patience, adding that going forward, there are many other areas of interventions earmarked for Kano by the company.
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He recalled that Mr. Dangote had ”donated a N1. 2bn modern business school edifice to the Bayero University.”
Mr. Ahmed said Dangote has spent about N10 billion from 2012 till date on several intervention projects in the State.
He added: “Within this period, he empowered 256,500 women across six Northern States with N2.5 billion while N1.2 billion has been spent on provision of free meal to the general public. Through his foundation, he funded the pilot test of seasonal malaria chemoprevention in Kano by Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI)”
Meanwhile, Mr. Dangote has unveiled an 11-point industrialization blueprint for Nigeria.
Delivering the 38th Convocation Lecture of the Bayero University Kano on Friday, Mr. Dangote, who was represented by Mr. Ahmed, said the 11-point roadmap would be driven by a knowledge-based system.
Mr. Dangote, adjudged by Forbes Magazine to be Africa’s wealthiest person, spoke on “Role of the private sector in building a sustainable knowledge economy in Nigeria.”
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He said:” The transition from resource-based, production-focused economies to knowledge economies is a complex and multifaceted process.”
He said the key pillars of a knowledge-Based Economy needed for the industrialization of Nigeria are: investment in education, research and development, technological advancements, entrepreneurship and innovation culture, and human capital development.
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Other pillars of the knowledge-Based economic development he advocated include: infrastructure development and policy framework that support innovations, international collaboration, Adaptation and Flexibility, conducive enabling environment and the shifting of the economic structure towards knowledge intensive sectors.
