*bids late Aseyin farewell
By; BAYO AKAMO, Ibadan
Oyo State Governor, Engineer Seyi Makinde on Saturday, hinted that his administration is determined to make Iseyin, the solid minerals development capital of Nigeria.
Governor Makinde dropped this hint in Iseyin while speaking at the 41 Days Fidau Prayers for the late Aseyin of Iseyin, Oba Dr. Abdulganiyu Adekunle Salau, Ajinese Ologunebi I, at the Iseyin District Grammar School, Iseyin
The governor stressed that Oyo State will witness more developmental projects if the people of the state re-elect him as their governor in the 2023 general elections.
Engineer Makinde emphasized that to ensure this, his administration would focus on tourism and solid minerals development if re-elected into office in 2023, with ” his policy document, Oyo Roadmap for Accelerated Development, 2023-2027, already being prepared ahead of the reopening of the campaign window, will capture tourism and solid mineral development as viable tools for achieving the economic expansion agenda of the administration.”
The governor pointed out that his administration would also work out how to derive benefits from the Ikere Gorge Dam and other tourist attractions across the state, and that there will be no going back in ” his administration’s decision to connect Iseyin to all other zones of Oyo State through road infrastructure which is not unconnected with its plan to make Iseyin the centre of the state and a solid minerals development hub in the country,”
Governor Makinde pointed out that his administration has completed the 65 kilometres Moniya-Iseyin Road, while the 76 kilometres Iseyin-Fapote-Ogbomoso Road has gone beyond 50 per cent, and that
his administration is also constructing the Oyo-Iseyin Road in the same axis.
Engineer Makinde stressed further that the resuscitation of the Ikere Gorge Dam is a top priority project for the administration and that it would receive attention once funds are available, saying, “Concerning the Ikere Gorge Dam, I think I am the first governor of the state who visited the site more than three times”.
” The benefits which we can derive from there, which are water supply, power supply and irrigation for agricultural purposes are already in our programme. Actually, we need huge funds for this but I can give you the assurance that it is a priority project and would be acted upon. The Dam is also a tourist attraction”.
Governor Makinde stressed further that the Iseyin General Hospital is among the hospitals captured in the French Government Intervention Programme for the healthcare sector in the state and that his government would continue to deliver on its electioneering promises till the last day of the first tenure of the administration.
Commenting on the late Aseyin of Iseyin, the governor said, “we need to thank God for a day like this, because we are celebrating the life of our departed Kabiyesi. I don’t think I have come across any individual who loved Iseyin like the departed Aseyin of Iseyin. The last time I came here for a condolence visit, I stated that it was on the sick bed that he signed the land document for the LAUTECH Faculty”.
“I can also remember that when I came to deliberate with him on how we can have Iseyin as the centre of Oyo State, I told him that we want to link Ogbomoso to Iseyin because Saki is already linked to Iseyin and he was very happy. He showed interest and said the road we are talking about, which is Iseyin-Fapote-Ogbomoso, was the route his forefathers passed when they were trading with other places. I told him how serious we are and promised that it won’t become an abandoned project. Now, I am happy that, as of today, we have done beyond 50 per cent of that project.”
Welcoming the governor on behalf of Iseyin Community, Barrister Ahmed Raji, (SAN), commended Governor Makinde that his tenure, which coincided with the era of the late Aseyin, brought tremendous developments and progress to Iseyinland.
Present at the programme included the Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Kayode Ariwoola; Oyo state Deputy Governor Barr. Bayo Lawal and many government functionaries.
