By

Amid ongoing developmental challenges and being listed among states with high risk of flooding by the Nigerian government, Kwara State is set to spend another N10 billion on the rehabilitation of Kwara Hotel, a review of the state’s approved 2025 budget document has shown.

The money is two hundred times its earmarked amount for erosion and flooding control.

In 2024, the state spent N13 billion on the same project.

This means that a total of N23 billion will be spent on the hotel by the end of the 2025 fiscal year—if the additional N10 billion is fully utilised this year.

In December 2023, the Kwara State Government had announced plans to spend N17.8 billion on contracts related to the hotel’s rehabilitation.

The Kwara State Government made this confirmation through the State Executive Council, which approved the funds.

The cost was intended to cover the redesign and wholesale rebuilding of the state-owned, iconic Kwara Hotel, upgrading it to a five-star standard.

Kwara spends N1.619bn honorarium in 27 months, less on security votes amid rising insecurity 

The contract was signed with Craneburg Construction Company Limited and, according to Damilola Yusuf, Commissioner for Business, Innovation and Technology, is to cover the overall redesign of the hotel over a 24-month period.

However, the hotel renovation has been the subject of immense controversy.

Despite the N13 billion already spent on the project, it did not prevent a recent tragedy—when part of the hotel’s fence collapsed, killing two persons.

About one week prior to this report, two construction workers died and another was seriously injured after the fence of the hotel gave way.

The additional N10 billion is four times the N2.5 billion earmarked for the provision of school facilities across the state in the 2025 fiscal year.

The state also budgeted N2 billion for 3,000 units of school furniture across the three senatorial zones. By comparison, N10 billion could provide 15,000 units of school furniture for the same zones.

In the 2025 budget, N20 million was allocated to sinking boreholes within High Court premises. With N10 billion, the state could sink 500 such boreholes across various locations.

Under environmental preservation, only N50 million was budgeted for erosion and flood control. This means that hotel rehabilitation was allocated 200 times what was assigned for addressing erosion and flood issues.

Luxury or Leadership? Bauchi assembly allocates N20m for ten tables, ten chairs, N214m on generators amid developmental challenges

This stark contrast in funding comes amid recurring flood disasters across the state.

In January 2025, floods devastated Shonga, a community in Edu Local Government Area, destroying thousands of hectares of rice farms and displacing hundreds of farmers. The catastrophe resulted in the loss of investments worth millions of naira.

During a visit by a state government delegation to the affected area, the Emir of Shonga, Dr. Halidu Yahya Ndanusa, raised alarm over the consequences. “This is a threat to food security,” he said, expressing grief over the destruction caused by the flooding.

This is not the first time such a calamity has hit the state in recent times. In September 2024, residents of Bode Saadu in Moro Local Government Area experienced severe flooding after heavy and intermittent rainfall submerged numerous homes, displacing many residents.

Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Joseph Utsav, had identified Kwara among states projected to experience heavy rainfall and possible flooding this year. “Flooding remains one of the devastating natural disasters in Nigeria,” he said, stressing that “climate change is accelerating its frequency and severity.”

Utsav listed 36 high flood-risk areas, including Kwara. Others are Abia, Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Benue, Borno, Cross River, Delta, Ebonyi, Edo, Gombe, Imo, Jigawa, Kebbi, Kogi, Lagos, Nasarawa, Niger, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Oyo, Rivers, Sokoto, Taraba, Yobe, Zamfara, and the Federal Capital Territory.