Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority Healthcare Development and Investment Company (NHDIC), has signed an agreement with the Kwara State government on its diagnostics and oncology expansion programme to build, equip, maintain and operate a private modern medical diagnostic centre and catheterisation laboratory in Ilorin, the state capital.

The project is estimated to cost the NSIA around $5-7 million and is set to commence before the end of this year.

The State's Commissioner for Health, Dr Raji Razaq, signed the agreement with the NSIA in Abuja on behalf of the state government.

Kwara is in the first phase of the programme along with Kaduna and Enugu States, with each centre running as a joint venture between Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) and the respective States.

The programme is designed to curb medical tourism by providing Kwarans and Nigerians with access to world-class healthcare delivery.

The result is the provision of high quality, affordable and accessible healthcare to the local market, creation of jobs and development/training on the required clinical resources.

The centre will be located in the existing Harmony Diagnostic Centre Complex along New Yidi Road in Ilorin, according to specifications of the NSIA.

The complex will now be upgraded into what will be called the Asa Dam Medical Village, thereby creating a hub for several medical and pharmaceutical facilities, while positioning Kwara State as a new local alternative for quality healthcare.

Former managing director, Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority, Uche Orji, said at the event that: “The broader goal of the programme is to establish, in two phases, a portfolio of 23 diagnostic centres, seven catheterization labs and two oncology centres across Nigeria.”

He appreciated Governor AbdulRahman Abdulrazaq for his cooperation and willingness to partner with the NSIA on this new journey, which will upgrade the existing healthcare infrastructure in the State.