Less than two years into his administration, President Bola Tinubu has commissioned some federal infrastructure named after him. Three stand out.
Tinubu became president on May 29, 2023. His administration will be two years old in the next four months.
While naming public institutions after the president violates no law, some Nigerians believe the president paints his name unnecessarily on national projects.
Below are three national projects named after Tinubu so far.
BOLA AHMED TINUBU BARRACKS
On Thursday, at Asokoro in Abuja, Tinubu commissioned a multibillion-naira army barracks. Its construction started in 2023. The barracks project is an intervention funded by the government to provide more accommodation to military workers.
https://twitter.com/HQNigerianArmy/status/1882528901961806165?s=19
The palatial project has four phases of construction. The completed phases one and two were what Tinubu had commissioned, including 444 apartments for soldiers and 170 officers.
For some reason, the military facility was named Bola Ahmed Tinubu Barracks.
BOLA AHMED TINUBU TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION COMPLEX
About two months before launching the Bola Ahmed Tinubu Barracks, the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) opened its new technology centre in Abuja to integrate all its processes, including passport production, border surveillance and human data collation across the country’s airports.
Today, at the Nigeria Immigration Service headquarters, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu (GCFR) officially commissioned the Bola Ahmed Tinubu Technology Innovation Complex (BATTIC).
The ultra-modern complex will not only serve as the nerve centre of the immigration service, but also… pic.twitter.com/9sWKjh5sEH
— Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo (@BTOofficial) December 10, 2024
On the capacity of the centre, Interior Minister Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo said, “The complex houses some of the most advanced technological security solutions that compete globally. It comprises a Data Centre, Command and Control Centre, Visa Approval Centre (VAC), ECOWAS Biometrics Centre, Solar Farm, and Passport Personalisation Centre, carefully built to combat security challenges such as insurgencies, banditry, cybercrimes, smuggling, and other trans-border related challenges that have usually gone undetected.”
Again, the facility was named after Tinubu: Bola Ahmed Tinubu Technology Innovation Complex (BATTIC).
Two days after its commissioning, Tunji-Ojo defended the choice of the NIS in naming the facility after the president. He said it was a way of appreciating the president for his leadership and support in bringing the infrastructure to fruition.
BOLA AHMED TINUBU POLYTECHNIC
The president’s name has also been given to a tertiary educational institution.
In a letter to Federal Capital Territory Minister Nyesom Wike on January 9, Tunji Alausa, Nigeria’s education minister, confirmed that the president had approved the creation of a polytechnic in Abuja.
Alausa asked Wike to suggest a proper place to build the school.
Again, the institution will bear Tinubu’s name.
More such naming will likely occur before the president completes his four-year tenure.
—FIJ
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