Oyo State Governor Abiola Ajimobi says his administration has delivered the dividends of democracy to the people of the state in the last seven years.
The governor stated this on Tuesday in a statement by his Special Adviser on Communication and Strategy, Mr Bolaji Tunji, to mark the Democracy Day.
He gave his administration a pass mark, particularly in the areas of infrastructure development, security, education, agriculture and healthcare.
Governor Ajimobi noted that his government had built more roads than all the previous administrations put together since the inception of the fourth republic.
He listed some the completed roads to include the dualisation of strategic township roads in Ibadan such as the Toll Gate interchange-Challenge; New Garage-Toll Gate Interchange, and Onireke-Jericho-Aleshinloye- Dugbe-Agbarigo Road, as well as the dualisation of major township roads in Oyo, Ogbomoso and Iseyin.
According to the governor, those under construction include Eleyele-Ologuneru-Eruwa Road; dualisation of Saki township roads; Idi-Ape-Basorun-Akobo-Odogbo Barracks Junction Road; Gate-Old Ife Road-Alakia, as well as the expansion of Oke Adu-Iwo Road.
He added that the construction of the Mokola flyover was the first by any civilian administration in the state, saying the revived Ibadan Circular Road project had remained a dream in the last 15 years.
Ajimobi further listed the infrastructure upgrade of his administration to include the urban flood management initiative targeted at checking the reoccurrence of the 2011 flooding in Ibadan, which claimed many lives and property.
He revealed that the government had also tackled the perennial water shortage in Ibadan by carrying out wholesale rehabilitation of Asejire Waterworks and the recent flag-off of rehabilitation works on the Eleyele Dam, which was badly hit by the 2011 flood disaster.
On the success recorded in the education sector, the governor noted the “Floating of the Education Trust Fund through which stakeholders now collaborate with the government to improve service delivery and boost the standard of education in the state”.
He added, “This is aside the establishment of the Oyo State Model Education System Initiative (OYOMESI), which seeks to inculcate moral values in students and the School Governing Board (SGB) policy, which is a participatory model that brings together all stakeholders in the education system in the management of public secondary schools.
“Through this policy, more than N2bn has been injected into the education sector in the last one year, leading to improved infrastructure in schools. The SGB policy is now being studied by other states in the South-West zone as a masterstroke in a participatory approach to the management of public schools.”
Other success stories listed by the governor included restoration of security across the state through the establishment of a special security outfit code-named ‘Operation Burst’, as well as the provision of patrol vans, communications equipment and armoured personnel carriers for the police and other security agencies.
He disclosed that no fewer than 36 companies were attracted to Oyo in the last seven years, generating about 4,000 direct employment for residents according to figures from the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria.
Governor Ajimobi was happy that the state was rated fifth most investment-friendly by the National Bureau of Statistics, having attracted more than $61m (N22.4bn) in foreign direct investment.
“The health sector has also benefitted from the unique vision of our government with the floating of a N50bn Health Endowment Fund and a Health Insurance Scheme, both of which are firsts in Nigeria, as well as the launch of a five-year cancer control strategic plan to reduce cancer-related incidence and mortality”, he added.
