Secrets Reporters
A document exclusively obtained by SecretsReporters has revealed that the Ondo State Government has awarded a contract worth N3,687,989,927.78 for the upgrading and vertical enhancement of the Chief Reuben Fasoranti Park, located directly opposite the Governor’s Office Complex in Akure.
The State Executive Council approved the contract at its first meeting of the year held on April 16, 2025, and is to be executed by Rosco Resources Nigeria Limited, a little-known company registered in Abuja with unclear operational status.
According to the contract document signed by the Cabinet and Special Services Department in the Governor’s Office, the project is scheduled for completion within 12 months. The contract is milestone-based, and payment will be disbursed as work progresses.
The contractor is also expected to pay an agreement fee of either 1% of the contract sum or N1.2 million, whichever is lower, to the Ministry of Justice. However, concerns are mounting over the rationale behind committing such a large sum to a park project amid rising poverty and deteriorating infrastructure across the state.
Rosco Resources Nigeria Limited was registered on July 31, 2004, with registration number RC 603279 and an office located at 76 Adurumi, Area 1, Garki, Abuja. Directors of the company include individuals bearing the names Al Rouss Marcel, Al Rouss Carole Marcel, Al Rouss Maria, and Al Rouss Elissa.
The decision to spend almost N3.7 billion on a park upgrade comes at a time when Ondo State ranks among the poorest states in Nigeria in terms of access to basic amenities.
According to the 2022 Multidimensional Poverty Index released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), over 2.5 million residents in the state live in multidimensional poverty, suffering from limited access to healthcare, clean water, education, and sanitation. More than 60 percent of households in the state are classified as poor by national standards. In several rural communities, children still study in dilapidated classrooms with leaking roofs, and health centers remain understaffed and poorly equipped.
Observers have pointed out that the N3.6 billion earmarked for the park project could alternatively fund the construction of over 200 standard boreholes, providing clean water to several water-starved communities. Alternatively, it could build and equip at least 50 well-structured primary healthcare centres across the state, potentially saving thousands of lives, especially among pregnant women and infants. The same amount could be used to rehabilitate several kilometres of rural roads, enhancing access to markets, schools, and hospitals for communities long neglected by successive administrations.
In other parts of the world, similar or lesser amounts have been used to deliver massive infrastructural projects with tangible public benefits. In Kigali, Rwanda, for instance, a state-of-the-art 100-bed district hospital was constructed in 2021 at a cost of $10 million (approximately N7 billion), offering services ranging from maternal care to emergency surgeries. Even within Nigeria, the construction of the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital’s Advanced Diagnostic Centre in Ile-Ife cost around N2.5 billion, significantly less than what is being committed to the park upgrade in Akure.
The apparent misalignment between public needs and fiscal priorities has triggered silent discontent among residents, especially civil servants who are still demanding improved welfare packages and payment of backlogs.
Despite the huge allocation, no clear breakdown of the cost components has been made available to the public, nor has the scope of the so-called “vertical enhancement” been explained. With transparency in procurement processes remaining a major challenge across Nigeria, critics fear that the park project could turn into another white elephant project with inflated costs and limited public utility.