*His plans to rejuvenate Ogun State
The executive governor of Ogun State, Dr Dapo Abiodun, flaunts a rare knack for turning dross to gold; little wonder pundits and the people of his domain can hardly wait for his plans to unfurl and take root in the state. On Abiodun’s watch, Ogun State will morph from a plain sense of things to tabernacle of feats and precious attainments. And this is realisable by his relentless bid to turn the fortunes of the state around.
No doubt, vision drives his pursuits and an inexorable yearning for progress pits Prince Abiodun, the sixth governor of Ogun State, against the odds that he inherited. Therefore, he is focused on making the next four years the best for the people of the state. To actualise his goals, the governor is exploring every avenue to attract growth and progress for his domain.
His participation at the recently concluded two-day Presidential Policy Retreat, held at the State House, Abuja is one of such efforts. The retreat which had in attendance, representatives of the Federal Government, other state governments, and stakeholders in the public and private sectors provided ample opportunity for Governor Abiodun to mingle with drivers of socioeconomic growth within and outside government and highlight to them the innumerable investment opportunities in Ogun State.
“Our goal is to partner with them so as to give our people the best in the areas of education, agricultural productivity, security, infrastructure development, investment drive and business promotion. When our state attracts investments from within and outside the country, the economy of our dear state will be well positioned to favour the businesses of our people,” enthused Governor Abiodun.
Earlier, he had established his disposition for triggering rapid growth in the state while engendering commensurate development of human resources in the state.
In demonstration of his professed commitments, he has hit the ground running. His first major pre-occupation was to boost the morale of both the public and civil servants in Ogun State.
Despite the alleged near empty treasury he inherited from his predecessor, Abiodun, on resumption of duty, promised to ensure the prompt payment of workers’ salaries on or before the last working day of the month.
While addressing state’s workers during the second day of his assumption of office, on Monday, June 3, the governor rekindled hope in the workforce stating that: “Whether the Federal Allocation comes on time or the monthly Internal Generated Revenue (IGR) is anything to go by, we will ensure your salaries are paid as and when due. I am assuring you that we will pay you on/or before the last day of the month,” he assured.
And to emphasise his seriousness, he sought to redeem his pledge by effecting the prompt payment of June salaries to civil servants.
And in bid to actualise his pledge to provide quality healthcare to the people of Ogun State, the governor, a week after he assumed office, paid a surprise visit to the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital (OOUTH), Sagamu-Remo, where he met with its management team and bemoaned the deplorable dilapidated structures and obsolete equipment of the state-owned institution.
Dissatisfied by the parlous state of the facility, he ordered a complete overhaul of its clinical services for effective and efficient service delivery. In the same vein, Abiodun aims to extend quality health care delivery to the grassroots in fulfilment of his inauguration speech.
He said: “Apart from the constitutional arrangement that places the third tier of government close to the grassroots, it is believed that the self-enlightened interest of the state government is focused on good governance.
“The commitment of our Administration to the empowerment of our local government councils to effectively and efficiently discharge their constitutionally guaranteed mandate is total. My administration will evolve a new, but constitutionally backed arrangement that will make our local governments responsive and responsible to the yearnings of the people.”
And to reduce the unemployment rate in the state, Abiodun has taken steps to empower Ogun youths, via his approval of the establishment of an “Ogun Job Portal,” which is for the continuous registration of unemployed youths in the state with a view to providing them with jobs suitable for their trade and academic qualifications.
As part of his efforts to power the industrial sector, he has approved the establishment of an Irish Dairy Milk Company in the state even as he moots the establishment of a Creative Arts and Entertainment Village, which is expected to generate revenue and employment opportunities.
The governor has also approved the inauguration of a committee towards resolving the impasse generated by the Moshood Abiola University of Science and Technology (MAUSTECH) and Ogun State Polytechnic crisis.
The measure was initiated with a view to explore the viability of both state-owned tertiary institutions. Likewise, he set up a visitation panel on Tai Solarin College of Education (TASCE), Omu-Ijebu, to look into the protracted crisis that has engulfed the institution.
Governor Abiodun has also initiated the rehabilitation of 236 schools, 236 health centres and 60 roads.
The Department of Public Works (DPW) has started rehabilitating the roads. Speaking on the initiative, Governor Abiodun said: “So, if the rural or township road goes through a particular area and we are able to involve those that are in that catchment area in the supply of needed materials or labour etc, it will be our own way of stimulating the local economy.
“We have enumerated these roads; we have sent them back to their local governments; and we requested for their priorities and by so doing, we are also involving them in this process. In essence, it won’t be that we are repairing roads that are not their priorities.
“We intend to ensure that going forward, we are focusing on creating that enabling environment for people to come here and invest in the state. Before you come here to invest in the state you will want to see electricity, good roads, security and others. These are the things that anyone coming to invest in Ogun State will want to see.”
To boost the state’s agricultural economy, the governor set aside 40,000 hectares of land to enable farmers engage in all-season farming.
Making the disclosure at his first interactive session with farmers in the state, which held at the cultural centre, Kuto, Abeokuta, Governor Abiodun said each farmer would receive one hectare to cultivate.
He said his administration apart from providing focused and qualitative leadership that would encourage Public Private Partnership, and also place priority on agriculture as one of its enablers to ensure that the state produces enough food to feed its people, neighbouring states and countries.
To this end, he revealed, that, an American investor has indicated interest in partnering with the state by providing improved maize seedlings and a channel for selling the produce, adding that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has offered its support to the state in its agricultural development drive.
