By; BAYO AKAMO, Ibadan.
Governor Abiola Ajimobi has said Oyo state government was yet to collect its share of the Paris Club over deduction funds given back to some states by the federal government recently.
The governor stated this at the flagging off of the dualization of 9.7km Saki Township Road along Oke Ogun Poly-Ilesha Ibaruba road awarded to Adolf Engineering Development Company.
He declared that Oyo state was excluded in the initial disbursement of the funds to some states and that the state is presently reconciling accounts with the federal government in order to get its own share of the Paris Club debts over deduction fund.
According to Governor Ajimobi,the importance of road transportation in any developed or developing country cannot be over-emphasized, adding that “free flow of traffic on our roads is very important for the efficient delivery of goods and services”.
“One of the cardinal programmes of my administration is to dualize the major entry points to towns within the state to give them an unprecedented facelift. We have started in Ibadan, Oyo, Ogbomoso and Iseyin. We assure our people of good governance through basic infrastructure and people oriented programmes. We are ready to restore the acclaim of Oke Ogun zone as the food basket of the state and to also contribute significantly to the improvement of the socio-economic activities in the zone”he said.
The governor stressed that the road awarded to Adolf Engineering Development Company at a contract sum of N8,239,875,839.47 and expected to be completed within 18months, would be funded from the Federal Government Infrastructure Intervention Fund.
He however urged the contractor to deliver an excellent job by working round the work and ensure good traffic management to reduce the hardship that the project might cause the populace.
Addressing the people of Saki at a town hall meeting held at Harmony Garden, Governor Ajimobi promised that the government would make use of the arable land in Oke Zone for agriculture as his administration is set to make Oke Ogun zone the centre of agricultural revolution in the South West.
Emphasizing that there will be no going back in the state government was efforts at securing food security in the State through its Agric-Oyo program, he maintained that “Agriculture is the foundation of the development of Oke ogun and I urge our people to fully utilize the land in the zone for agricultural produce .We want our traditional leaders to point to their cassava farms, maize farms, yam farms, rice farms amongst others”.
The governor also assured the Oke Ogun communities of an end to Bororo farmers’ crises, premising his optimism on a tripartite committee set up by the state government to foster regular dialogue between farmers and Bororo cattle rearers.
