THE DOME: ANOTHER OF SUCH FAILED GOVERNOR MIMIKO’S PROJECTS

By Olarewaju Olaniyi Precious
It will be recalled that in 2009, Governor Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State shortly after he retrieved his mandate made known his intention to build an International Cultural and Event Centre in Akure, the Ondo State capital. The event centre christened “DOME” will house a 2,500 capacity hall and other complimentary facilities such as a five star hotel, a massive car park and an head room of about five feet tall. The project according to him will be built on a large expanse of land totaling 34hectares. On the 18th of January, 2010, major national dailies in the country reported that Dr Mimiko has flagged of the construction of the said project and the contract was awarded to Messrs Dream Media Network Limited at a whooping cost of 1.5billon Naira, the project has a five calendar months completion period.

The Dome: a typical abandoned project in Akure South

In the words of Mr Governor, he said “following the completion of the project, Ondo State would rank among the state that can host any international conference without being fret about the venue”, the governor went further to describe the cultural and event centre as the first of such type in the country. He justified the need for the construction of the dome in his address as he further said the centre became imperative as a result of the unsuitability of the existing banquet hall which was small in size and too close to an office complex. With the foundation laying ceremony of the project, citizens of the state went on wild jubilation as they see this as a good step taken by the government believing when completed, it will up the stock of the state among comity of states. This to them further justified the long and tortuous struggle they faced in ensuring Dr Mimiko regained his mandate after close to two years of legal tussle.
Unfortunately , as the five months project completion period of the dome was about to lapse, the dear people of the Sunshine State who have eagerly been awaiting the commissioning of the said monumental project were greeted with an huge disappointment as the then commissioner for Lands and Housing, Alhaji Sikiru Basaru in a press conference announced to the dismay of all that the project will be completed in December 2010, he attributed this to the delay due to various processes involved in the execution of the project reminding the people that the project is the first of such in Africa coupled with the need to ensure structural stability and said the six additional month is a slight delay. He continued saying the State Governor while in Poland came up with a new idea of changing the initial material called Valmex to Glass in other to have a robust finishing materials. He claimed Valmex has a warranty period of 40 years but with glass, there is 100years warranty hence, the Governor directed the contractor right from Poland to make use of glass.
It was at this point that the citizens began to suspect foul plays, further enquiries on the capability of the contractor handling the project were made and it was at that point the people found out the company is owned by one Adetokunbo Modupe who owns a B. Sc degree in Sociology and his area of experience is Public relations, publishing and Events planning. A local online newspaper further revealed that the project’s award violated the public procurement act and failed the public service transparency creed when it was awarded via a fiat to Messrs Dream Media Network Limited, a new company that has never been involved in any construction work and who’s only known activity is to develop presentations using power-point. Dream Media Network Limited’s primary business is in fact media and public relations. Granted that the Nigeria’s Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) allows for the registration of ‘gbogbolese’ companies, a euphemism for companies that can do any job even when they have no such capability, the company is a gross aberration for the type of project handed it in Ondo State.
The suspicion of the people grew rife when in December 2010, the project still remained invisible in the State and government continued to assure that work is going on at the project site located along Igbatoro road shortly before you get to the House of Assembly’s Arcade. The people became more vociferous, the former Labour Party Chairman in the state, Dr Olaiya Oni in an interview granted Newswatch magazine in October, 2011 gave a well elaborated insight into the numerous shams being perpetuated by the Mimiko’s government and he talked extensively on the Dome project which he described as yet another monumental failure by the Mimiko’s government. Two years after the promise, the site of the proposed project can only compete with the thick forest described in Wole Soyinka’s Forest of a Thousand Demons. The project has become an albatross hanging loosely around the neck of the governor as it appears to have washed all credibility away from his government.
Concerns are being raised by citizens of the State over the rationale behind allegedly paying 75% of the contract total sum to Dream Media Network Limited, the contractors to whom the project was awarded, while nothing concrete has been done with tax payers’ money. With the growing vociferous voice of the critics and glut of petitions generated by the controversial project, Mr Governor in another display of confusion has come up with a rather unconvincing tale which is becoming more familiar of late on why the project has not been completed, he was reported to have said that the main reason why the Dome project has not been completed is majorly because of the problems encountered in importing materials needed for its completion just like he blamed the take off of the controversial 5.75billion naira Cement factory in Okeluse on Power.
Olarewaju Olaniyi Precious
Convener,
Ondo State Youth Coalition Front
LibertyReporter