The Kwara State Government has approved the conversion of the general hospital in Ilorin, the state capital, to support the training of medical students and related professionals by the Kwara State University (KWASU).

The Kwara State Commissioner for Health, Dr Amina El-Imam, said a major step that involved huge facility upgrades at the general hospital has been adopted for the purpose as well as legislation to guide its operations.

El-Imam told journalists in Ilorin on Wednesday that the state executive council observed that recent facility upgrades under Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq-led administration had earlier qualified the facility as a postgraduate training health institution and approved additional N906.7 million seed fund to push through the historic transition.

The commissioner said: “The proposed seed fund will meet cost of infrastructural facelift and construction of new ones, equipment upgrades, administrative changes, and address manpower needs to support training of medical students, which is complementary to the ongoing postgraduate training.

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“This will be of immense benefits to the people of Kwara State and the nation at large.”

She said the council also approved for the government to present a bill on the establishment of the Kwara State Teaching Hospital and related matters to the House of Assembly.

In another development, the council endorsed the redesign and comprehensive reconstruction of Kwara Hotel to be executed by Craneburg Construction Company Limited.

The project aims to transform the hotel into a five-star hospitality facility, with an allocated budget of N17.8 billion for a 24-month duration.

The Kwara State Ministry of Works and Transport also announced the immediate reconstruction of the Wahab Folawiyo Road in Ilorin, following the council’s approval.

The road, a major artery into downtown Ilorin, will undergo phased works starting December 18 to minimise traffic disruption.

The Coordinating Commissioner for Works and Transport, AbdulQuawiy Olododo, assured the people of the state that private properties and business premises not encroaching on government setbacks would remain untouched during the road construction.

He also outlined diversionary routes to ease traffic during the construction period.

The Star