Kogi State Governor, Ahmed Usman Ododo, has unveiled plans by his administration to generate electricity from the state’s solid mineral resources, particularly its coal deposits, as part of efforts to drive economic growth and create jobs for residents.
The governor disclosed this on Tuesday during a stakeholders’ engagement with members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) at the Government House in Lokoja.
Ododo said Kogi’s vast mineral resources had remained largely untapped despite their potential to transform the state’s economy and improve the livelihoods of its people. He identified coal deposits in Ankpa and other parts of the state as key resources that could be harnessed to support the government’s development agenda.
“The coal deposits in Ankpa and other local government areas are enough to drive the prosperity agenda of the state government, in addition to other solid mineral deposits in the state,” he said.
According to him, his administration is determined to turn the state’s natural resources into tangible economic benefits for the people by promoting development, creating jobs and improving standards of living.
The governor also announced plans for a major recruitment exercise into the Kogi State Civil Service, saying hundreds of qualified residents would soon be given the opportunity to join the government workforce.
He assured that the exercise would be conducted through a transparent and rigorous process to give qualified citizens a fair opportunity to secure employment. Ododo noted that the implementation of the new minimum wage, improved federal allocations and increased internally generated revenue had strengthened the state’s financial capacity to sustain its workforce, adding that many workers who have retired or are nearing retirement from the state civil service could be replaced during the exercise.
“There are plans to make the resources of the state more available to many more people within the state, so they can feel the impact of the government,” he said.
Beyond the economic and employment initiatives, Ododo called for greater unity among the people of Kogi State, noting that internal divisions and the inability of residents to collectively support one another had constituted major obstacles to the state’s development.
He urged APC stakeholders and other residents to support the administration’s programmes and policies, stressing that collective action was necessary to achieve sustainable development in the state.
The governor also expressed appreciation to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for what he described as the federal government’s support to Kogi through increased funding and infrastructural interventions.
He cited the federal government’s intervention on the Abuja-Lokoja-Okene-Benin road, developments around the free trade zone at the Ajaokuta Economic City, and investments in the state’s oil and gas sector, as well as the proposed Kogi International Airport in Zariagi, saying the interventions were designed to stimulate economic activity, attract investment and improve the welfare of Kogi residents.
