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By Femi Ogbonnikan
IT has been a long season of thrilling electioneering jamborees across all the federation states, preparatory to the forthcoming general elections. Back home here in Ogun State, where Governor Dapo Abiodun is blazing the trail in good governance, all is a promise kept, making his re-election bid easy stuff to sell. The performing governor, in keeping with the primary import of his just, inclusive and accountable governance style, has been criss-crossing the nooks and crannies of the state not only to push for continuity agenda but to also present the scorecard of his administration since its inception on May 29, 2019. Though development is forever a work in progress, one can say without any equivocation that he has so far justified the people’s mandate to earn a second term, for within the limit of available resources, he has put the state on a new pedestal of sustainable economic growth, improved security, job creation, accelerated industrial progress through local and foreign direct investments as well as aggressive infrastructural development cutting across all the 20 local council areas of the state.
At this point now that there is a lull in electioneering activities due to the hardship occasioned by the twin challenges of the new naira redesign policy and fuel scarcity, it is imperative to do a cursory sectoral analysis of the performance of the administration so as to be able to put things in proper perspective. To begin from where we were before the advent of the present government, at the twilight of the tenure of former governor Ibikunle Amosun, several road projects were awarded and abandoned midway. Despite the paucity of funds accentuated by the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global economy, nay Nigeria’s revenue inflow, Governor Abiodun took up the challenge in his stride and worked assiduously to complete all abandoned road projects across the state, including the flyovers in Abeokuta, Ijebu-Ode, Ijebu-Igbo, Sagamu, and Sango-Ota, among others, in order not to waste tax payers’ money.
For the record, some of the abandoned road projects inherited by the present government included the Sango-IjokoAkute-Alagbole road; Ita-oshin- Isaga- Ilaro- Owode- Ado-Odo road; the Iperu-Ilisan-Agoiwoye road; the Atan-Lusada-Igbesa-Agbara road; the OwodeEgba-Mowe road, to mention but a few. Those within Abeokuta Township are Idi-aba- Ogtv Road, Pansheke- Onikolobo-MAPOLY Road, and Adatan Saje-Mokola- Enugada Road all of which were left uncompleted by the administration. Ijebu-Ode, Ilaro, Atan-Lusada-Agbara, Sagamu, and Ota axis are equally inclusive. Today, most of these projects have been completed and delivered, while work is still ongoing on a few others that are yet to be commissioned. This is aside from the new road network dotting the entire landscape of the state. At present, not less than 80 major roads and 120 others have been constructed, reconstructed, or rehabilitated amounting to 661.76km, and 99.125km, while 562.63km are ongoing across the three senatorial districts of the state.
For the avoidance of doubt, some of the completed ones in Ogun East include the reconstruction of 14km Ijebu – Ode -Epe Road, 4.7km Oru- Awa- Ilaporu – Ibadan road, 1. 217km Molipa/ Fusigboye/ Ojofa street Ijebu- Ode, 1.514km Asafa Oke / Asafa Isale/ Ayegun/ Ojofa street Ijebu Ode. Others are the construction of Gateway Agro Cargo Airport, Iperu, the reconstruction of 4km Oba Erinwole Dual Carriageway, Sagamu Phase I and II, the reconstruction of 4km Molusi College Road, 24.5km Ikenne, Ago -Iwoye Road, 3.8km Togburin- Tigara- Agodo road, Ogun Waterside and11km Atan – Erunwon Road. Similarly, in Ogun Central Senatorial District, construction has been completed on the 42km Abeokuta Sagamu Interchange Roa, 4km Idi- Aba- Elite- Oke – Lantoro road, Gateway City Monument, and 3.1km Ikoritameje Adenrele/ Olose titun Vespa, Ifo, while the 7.8km Obantoko Road, (Fajol American junction – Unity Estate Gbonogun) Phase I-III, and 3km Panseke-Adigbe Road, Abeokuta have been reconstructed. This is in addition to the 4.786km Akute Denro Isasi Road, Somorin -Kemta, Idi -Aba road, Abeokuta, 2.35km Journalist Estate Road, Arepo, 2.0 km Inner road, Itori Junction-Total Road all of which are reconstructed road projects. The list of completed roads in Ogun West includes the reconstruction of 1.8km Ray power road, 2km Osi Ikola Navy Command, Ota, as well as 4.5km Chemically Treated Road, Ejila – Igbesa road. Alongside these completed projects, six other different ones are also ongoing in the zone, notably the reconstruction of 19.2km Agbara – Lusada – Atan road, construction of 13km Ilaro – Iwoye road, construction of 2.4km Oke Ola road Imeko, 7km Imasayi-Igan Ogoto road, construction of 4.656km Akute Denro Ishasi road with bridge and construction of 1.3km Joju road.
It is particularly noteworthy to state that 65 percent of these transformation projects executed by the administration in each zone of the state were based on people’s requests. And to say the least, the multiplier effects of this enabling environment on investment inflow and industrial growth cannot be over-emphasized. For instance, it has been estimated that the International Cargo Airport alone when completed would generate no fewer than 25,000 jobs for the people of the state. In addition to employment creation, the project will also open up the state, deepen the development process, and even provide an alternative to the congested Lagos port facilities. In the same vein, it will also shore up state revenue generation capacity, which is the right step towards financial self-sufficiency. The net effect of it would no doubt boost housing schemes, industrial projects, and other investments that could ordinarily have been located in Lagos which will now be attracted to Ogun State, along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway on the Southern front, and towards Epe and Ijebu Ode on the Northern axis.
More importantly, it would tremendously boost the exportation of agricultural and allied products by commercial farmers as well as the importation of farm inputs into the state, thereby enhancing the capacity for the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) for accelerated development.
In spite of its commitment to infrastructural development, people’s welfare remains the centerpiece of government policy. This explains why Governor Abiodun has made regular payments of workers’ salaries and gratuities of pensioners a top priority of his government. It is on record that over N70 billion has been released for the payment of the inherited gratuity arrears since he assumed office in 2019, while the administration has equally increased the quarterly payment to defray outstanding gratuities from N500m to N600m. As someone who believes in the dignity of labour, the governor has consistently assured that he would continue to put the welfare of the people, especially the senior citizens at the centre of his developmental agenda.
It is also to the credit of the Abiodun administration that Ogun State has emerged as the third largest economy in the country with enhanced capacity for Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), coming only after Lagos, FCT and Rivers. As analysis of the recent statistics by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) shows, the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory recorded N1.89 trillion in Internally Generated Revenue in 2021. Out of this figure, Lagos had the highest IGR with N753.3 billion, representing 40 percent of the total sum, followed by the FCT with N131.9 billion; Rivers State, N123.3 billion and Ogun State, N100.7 billion.
The report is further strengthened by the fact that between the months of January and September last fiscal year, over N70 billion was recorded as IGR with an assurance of a better performance in the years ahead.
Among other things, Ogun State has also achieved a milestone in investment drive under the administration of Governor Abiodun. According to the 2021 second quarter report of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC), investment in Ogun stands at $500 million, representing 30 percent of the total figure for the country, while Lagos State, with $441.3 million worth of investment, represents 26 percent for the period under review.
Further statistics released by the World Bank also placed the State in a prime position in the ease of doing business index, ranking 3rd among the states of the federation in its latest report. Not only that, in a similar report compiled by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in 2021 on capital importation into the country, Ogun State equally emerged as the 5th top destination of capital investment in Nigeria, coming behind Lagos, the Federal Capital Territory, Abia and Niger. Ogun State is currently housing the largest manufacturing companies in the West Africa sub-region.
Obviously, the enviable height the state has attained in its industrial drive is not by sudden flight but by the policy intervention initiated by the present administration, resulting in the ease of doing business and a friendly environment for industrial growth.
For the health sector, the performance of the Abiodun administration on accessible healthcare delivery service to the people remains unequal and unparalleled. Not only that all the state hospitals across the three senatorial districts have been rehabilitated, while some new structures have also been constructed or old buildings renovated at the state-owned teaching school, Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital (OOUTH), Sagamu.
To change the old narrative, the government has also bought new equipment for the state-owned institution and employed well over 200 medical personnel, doctors, pharmacists, laboratory technicians, and others to fill in the gap of the mass exodus of the personnel who had embarked on the brain-drain syndrome to Europeans and American countries.
When this government came into power, there were only five functional ambulances for the entire 20 Local Government Areas of the state. With the renewed commitment of the Abiodun administration, 35 additional ambulances have been purchased, making a total of 40 available for emergency services. Added to that, various Primary Healthcare Centres across the state have been rehabilitated with the recruitment of more medical perspectives to fill in vacant positions.
Other critical areas of intervention include training of health workers on comprehensive screening for newborns to tackle sickle cell disease, launching of National Hypertension Control Initiative (NHCI) in order to reduce the burden of hypertension amongst the adult population in the State, registration of 20,000 vulnerable into the Basic Health Care Provision Fund, establishment of a family Planning Centre at State Hospital, Ijebu-Ode to improve Family Planning uptake in women aged 15-49years old, disbursement of funds to 196 Primary Health Care Centres across the 20 LGAs for the implementation of Basic Health Care Provision Fund activities in Ogun State, distribution of 22 Tricycle Ambulances to improve the health indices of citizens as well as put an end to maternal deaths and other health emergencies and commissioning of the fully equipped intensive care unit of the General Hospital, Ijebu-Ife with the support of the Government of Czech Republic. The list is inexhaustible.
Ogun State has a pleasant coincidence of being the home of the foremost scholars and political leaders Nigeria has ever produced. Since his assumption of duty, Governor Abiodun has never let his guard down in ensuring that the education sector which gave the state that competitive edge is given the right of place of pride in his policy implementation.
Apart from ensuring free education for all children in Primary and Junior Secondary Schools with adequate care for the welfare of teachers, there has been a progressive increase in allocation to education up to 20 percent of this year’s budget with a commitment to continually do so till the United Nation Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) benchmark is achieved.
Therefore, for the assurance of qualitative and accessible education, the government has given priority attention to general rehabilitation of collapsing infrastructures that would serve the overall interest of the students in the state regardless of their social status as against the Model school project embarked upon by the immediate past administration which was abinitio ill-conceived, structurally defective and poorly funded. While the government has graciously converted some of the abandoned Model schools to other better purposes such as the Tech Hub on Kobape Road on the outskirts of Abeokuta and Ikenne 128-bed Isolation and Treatment Centre for COVID-19, the whooping sum of N218.380bn that would be expended to complete the projects is now being diverted to the reconstruction or renovation of several public primary and secondary schools to provide a better learning environment in the state.
For the tertiary level of education, the administration has also shown with the reactivation of MAPOLY and the former Tai Solarin College of Education (now renamed after Oba SK Adetona) which were hitherto comatose that education remains the major pride of Ogun State.
These are just the tip of the iceberg, as to say, compared to what is expected to come in the years ahead if Governor Abiodun is given the opportunity of a second term. For me, therefore, there is a sense in which the gale of endorsements that have greeted his re-election bid is seen as an affirmation of his enviable performance and imperative of his mandate renewal.
- Ogbonnikan writes in from Abeokuta, Ogun State.
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