Ministry of Solid Mineral Development to spend almost N800 million

folarin okunola

January 15, 2016 2:10 PM

The Federal Ministry for Solid Mineral Development, in its proposed budget, allocated almost N800 million for a website upgrade.

Dr Kayode Fayemi, Minister of Solid Minerals Development speaks at the ministerial briefing in Abuja, Nigeria, December 21, 2015 REUTERS/Stringer

When I first heard it, I didn’t want to believe it. However, I did a little research and unfortunately it is true.

The Federal Ministry for Solid Mineral Development, in its proposed budget, allocated almost N800 million for a website upgrade.

Who website upgrade don epp?

I mean, a whole odindin N800 million. Maybe they intend to directly contract Mark Zuckerberg to do the upgrade.

Okay, maybe there is more to a website upgrade than meets the eye but N800 million? Wow.

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The information was originally brought to light on Twitter by one Stanley Achonu (@StanVito) of BudgIT, a startup that transforms public data (such as budgets) from its default confusing state to a more engaging format, usually via infographics and Interactive apps.

Whether or not there is a hidden (or corruption-related) agenda at play here, it only makes sense to make the details for which you intend to spend such a huge sum of money as clear as possible, no?

We do live in a country where websites are built for as much as N78 million, where budgets can go ‘missing’ and “Internet infrastructure for Aso Rock” can cost as much as N136 million, so may I shouldn’t be so surprised.

folarin okunola