The Engineer Seyi Makinde-led administration in Oyo State has been described as a government that has brought respite to the entire people of the state in the last two years that it came on board.
The National Vice Chairman, South West of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ambassador Taofeek Oladejo Arapaja stated this while congratulating Governor Seyi Makinde on his two years in office as the Executive governor.
Ambassador Arapaja said that Engr Makinde has performed beyond everybody’s expectation because there is no sector of development that he has not touched in his focused governance.
According to him, “let’s start from the education sector -Makinde has done wonderfully well. Immediately he came on board, he scrapped the 1000 levy imposed on poor parents and this has brought respite to the parents. He’s giving students free books and other educational materials. He has been renovating and rehabilitating dilapidated classrooms.
“For tertiary institutions, we are happy that Ladoke Akintola University of Technology has become the sole property of Oyo State. How Makinde did it I don’t know because it’s a yeoman’s job. For now, we can boast of having a conventional university not technical university which obviously we are supposed to have had before now. This is a great achievement for Oyo State because previous administrations were unable to achieve it.
“In the health sector, he has also done well because I have never seen a situation where we have all the small hospitals spread across 351 wards as we have now in Oyo State so that people don’t need to go to State hospitals for treatment again.
“On employment, I’ve never seen any government that has really employed even 2,000 employees at once not to talk of 7000 like Engr Makinde’s administration has done. I cannot believe it – as far as I’m concerned having been part of government for some time. This is great and marvelous.”
Arapaja continued, “In terms of infrastructure, if you are traveling from Lagos to Ibadan at night you will feel like sleeping on the road because everywhere in the State is well lighted. He has embarked upon resuscitation of some abandoned projects like the one producing asphalt at Ijaye. Once it starts operations, it will add more to the economic activities of Oyo State. Some people even concluded that he has turned Oyo State to construction and industrial site because if you go to Iwo road and some other areas you will see some industries that are springing up there. This is something that is important to the people of the state to revive our economy.
“And on road rehabilitation, there’s an experience we had that I will never forget at Oke-Ogun. I think the most important road that links Ibadan to Oke-Ogun is Moniya-Iseyin road. On setting out for our journey some people advised that we should take Ibarapa road which is longer and I objected to it. I’m telling you that I regretted taking that road that day. Nowadays if you go there you will praise God that he’s using Engr Seyi Makinde to uplift Oyo State because that road if you ply it, you won’t know when you will arrive at Iseyin within 40 minutes or less. The road from Saki to Ogbooro where the former deputy Governor came from is being reconstructed by Seyi Makinde and there was a government that was there for eight years that failed to do it.
“To crown it all and the most important aspect of his achievements is the payment of workers’ salaries. We all know what we witnessed in the last administration when workers were being owed between six months to one year’s salaries. The story changed immediate Engr Makinde assumed office because they get their salaries on or before the 25th of every month alongside pensioners. Now everybody is happy, everybody is comfortable and everybody can do things that are so basic which obviously they could not do before.”
“That is the essence of having a proactive government and beauty of democracy. A government that takes care of the people; the artisans, market men and women, students, transporters, the elites and so on. For this and many more that he has been doing, what we can do is to pray for him that God in His infinite mercy will help him to do more for Oyo State.”
“On this note on behalf of the PDP South West and Nigeria, I am congratulating him and praying to God to enrich him, guide him, support him and make him solid so that he will be able to continue to do more in the interest of Oyo State and in the interest of Nigeria. Congratulations our amiable Governor, our leader and PDP leader in Oyo State and the South West. God bless you”!.
Packaged by Oyedapo Oyewole
