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Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State on Sunday performed the re-opening of the reconstructed Agodi Gardens, saying that it had the potential to generate no fewer than N500 million to the state government annually.
The Gardens, now re-christened “Agodi Resort and Conferences’’ is sitting on 62 hectares of land in-between the State Government Secretariat and the popular Premier Hotel in the heart of Ibadan.
Governor Ajimobi, while speaking at the ceremony attended by eminent personalities, members of the State Executive Council, students and parents, described the project as a dream come true.
The lighting of Christmas tree in the gardens was also performed at the occasion by a legal luminary, Chief (Mrs.) Folake Solanke, SAN.
Ajimobi said that his administration was motivated into embarking on the reconstruction of the Gardens in view of its long years of neglect by successive administrations which had left the hitherto popular zoological gardens in a sorry state.
“Agodi Gardens was in a sorry state when we first visited the place. It was desolate and empty. Everything was very bad. It had deteriorated so much and it was very shameful to us in Oyo State,’’ he said.
This, according to the governor, led into opening discussions with a private firm at the end of which it was agreed that the reconstruction should be done under a public-private partnership arrangement.
Governor Ajimobi said that the project had transformed from a mere gardens to an ultra-modern resort centre in an ecologically attractive environment, with facilities such as a recreation centre, golf course, chalets, conference centre, zoological garden and an amusement park.
“Places like that are in South Africa, Dubai and others. This is what we want to recreate in Oyo State. We want people to come here from all over the world and enjoy themselves in a world-class hospitality centre,’’ he said, describing it as the best form of stomach infrastructure for the people of the state.
He also said that the project was one of the restoration, transformation and repositioning agenda of his administration and part of pyramid of development in the state.
In his address, the Chairman of J. D. Capital, the Consultant that handled the project, Mr. Makin Soyinka said that the reconstruction of the Resort Centre was a confirmation of the clarity and vision of the Ajimobi administration in the area of infrastructural development and tourism.
He commended the governor for his passion for the development of the growth and development of the state which he said had been a driving force for his modest achievements.
