Osun State Governor, Adegboyega Oyetola, has said that his administration’s commitment to building a truly-diversified and resilient Osun economy remains on course, saying such a policy has become necessary so as to further expand access to other opportunities for the State’s teeming youths.
Oyetola stated this in Osogbo during his congratulatory message to the citizens on the occasion of the 31st anniversary of the creation of the state.
In the statement, made available to newsmen by his Chief Press Secretary, Ismail Omipidan, the Governor added that the administration’s policies and programmes were driven by citizens’ needs, which were harvested during the Thank You Tour/Town Hall Meetings, where the people presented their yearnings and aspirations to the government. He said the exercise was further validated by the United Kingdom Department for International Development’s (DFID)-funded Citizens’ Needs Assessment exercise in the State.
He explained that every responsible government must make people’s demands the basis of its policies and implementation, insisting that this was responsible for some of the reforms the administration carried out by taking the bull by the horns.
The governor noted that so far, the administration has demonstrated that it is one government that could be trusted by the people of Osun both at home and in the Diaspora, since it has been able to fulfil most if not all the promises made to the people, despite the initial legal distractions that lasted about eight months, the Covid-19 pandemic and the Endsars challenges that took another one year plus as well as the prevailing economic challenges.
Oyetola said: “We promised to pay full salary to all our workers, we have not defaulted. We promised to pay our pensioners, we have also not defaulted. We promised to build Olaiya Flyover, we have done that. We promised to diversify the economy, it is already in work in progress. We promised to reform the mining and education sectors, we have done that as well. We promised to renovate one PHC per ward, we have done 320 out of the 332 and we shall complete the remaining soonest. We promised to build, remodel and, in some cases, carry out total rehabilitation of existing roads. That too, we have done, and some other road projects are on-going. We will ensure completion of all on-going road projects.
“We also promised to revive the airport project without inflicting additional burden on the finances of the State. I am glad to report that work is on-going at the project site by the Nigerian Air Force and soon, Osun will be home to Africa’s first Aviation City. We promised to deliver Ilesa University. Only three days ago, we inaugurated the Implementation Committee.
“Let me restate here that the University is not a product of mere fanciful effort, but rather a product of thorough and rigorous interrogation, characteristic of the culture of deep engagement which our administration is noted for.”