Governor ‘Seyi Makinde of Oyo State has said that the priority of his administration is how to synergise efforts for the continued growth of the state, just as he called for more inter-ministerial collaborations and an integrated approach to governance.
The governor disclosed this on Monday, at the swearing-in of the remaining ten commissioner-designates, held at the Executive Council Chamber of the Governor’s Office, Secretariat, Ibadan.
Makinde, while charging the newly sworn-in commissioners to hit the ground running in the pursuit of re-engineering the state, said he remained focused on ensuring that he delivers on the remaining promises in his Roadmap to Accelerated Development of the state from 2019 to 2023.
He noted that the opportunity given the commissioners to serve is to leave a legacy behind when people will remember fondly the period that they spent in office as they compare it to their successors.
The governor said: “For those of you who are returning commissioners, we are happy to have you back as part of the ExCo. We believe you are determined to put in even more effort as we continue to engineer a new Oyo State and move our people to prosperity.
“We have also brought in some new faces that we know will play important roles in the realisation of our vision for the good people of Oyo State.
“I am sure that if you pay attention, you will see that the things that our people are asking for are not things that are beyond us.
“Our people yearn for growth and development. They want good roads and quality infrastructure, even as they are asking for employment opportunities and economic prosperity.
“We know they have been starved of these basic functions of government for many years, and that can sometimes make the tasks we are expected to perform seem overwhelming.
“When we are given the opportunity to serve, we have the option to leave a legacy behind. So that even when we are no longer occupying the position of service, people will remember fondly the period that we spent in office as they compare it to our successors.
“For example, we have been receiving several reports of people complaining about roads. Some have even gone as far as saying that the state government is starving the local government authorities of funds.
“However, local government funds from FAAC go directly into the Joint Allocation Accounts Committee (JAAC) account. But after they have drawn first line charges such as salaries for primary school teachers and local government workers and expenses for primary healthcare centres, what is left is meagre.
“Also, local government authorities are in charge of all the funds from their internally generated revenue. We know the importance of development at the grassroots, this is why we keep pushing for investments to go to local government areas.
“So yes, things may not be happening as fast as some people want it to, but things are happening rapidly compared to what was obtained in the past. Our integrated approach to governance is bringing development and we are not concentrating only on Ibadan.
“Soon, implementation of the Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project (RAAMP) will kick off, the World Bank and the French Government are supporting this project to rehabilitate rural roads.”
