Adamawa State Governor, Ahmadu Fintiri, on Thursday flagged off the construction of the Yola International Conference and Event Centre to commemorate his sixth year in office.
The project, estimated at N19.9 billion, is expected to be completed within 12 months.
Speaking at the flag-off ceremony, Governor Fintiri said the centre would stimulate business activity, attract investments, and boost the state’s internally generated revenue.
‘It will further open up the state for investment and tourism, whose multiplier effects will include job creation for our youths and increased revenue’, he said.
He added that the centre would transform Adamawa into a commercial hub, triggering development in neighbouring towns and villages.
‘The centre, in its own right, will create employment opportunities, as it will require a dedicated workforce to maintain its operations and infrastructure’, Fintiri noted.
Describing the project as a bold and strategic step, the governor said it aligns with his administration’s vision of building the ‘Adamawa of the future, today’.
It is a deliberate effort to harness the potential of the hospitality and tourism sector by positioning the state to tap into the MICE industry—Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions. This is a global multi-billion-dollar industry, and we are determined to become a major player’, he said.
Fintiri emphasised his government’s commitment to creating an investor-friendly environment—not only to attract businesses but to ensure they stay and thrive.
He also addressed criticisms from what he described as ‘myopic elements’ within the state, accusing them of attempting to derail the government’s focus on development.
‘The worst of them resort to tantrums and noise-making, aiming to distract us from this sacred commitment. There’s a grand conspiracy to drag us into election mode while we are focused on governance’, he stated.
‘To these conspirators, we say: we are too focused to be distracted. There is a season for everything, and right now, governance comes before politics’.
Fintiri stressed that his administration remains dedicated to delivering the dividends of democracy.
‘When the time for elections comes, we shall defeat them again—as we’ve always done. It doesn’t matter what their movement is called. Let them continue with their noise-making. We were not elected to respond to pedestrian tantrums—we were elected to rise above them’.
He concluded by assuring the people of Adamawa that their mandate is not being taken for granted.
‘While we are not sleeping with the mandate of the Adamawa people, our projects are keeping our antagonists—the enemies of the state’s progress—sleepless’.
