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By Emmanuel Adeleke
Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, has authorised the 33 Local Government Areas to grade 30 kilometres of road each.
This was contained in a statement signed by the Special Adviser on Media to the Governor, Sulaimon Olanrewaju, on Thursday.
The statement revealed that plans are underway to construct 1,000km rural roads to facilitate farming activities and transportation of agricultural produce from rural areas to urban centres.
Makinde said the roads are part of the Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project, with procurement completed and mobilisation to sites expected in the coming weeks.
“Our strategy is straightforward: prioritize inter-zone connectivity to address 50 per cent of our transportation challenges. Subsequently, we will focus on improving internal roads.
“Of course, now we have started with Ibadan’s inner roads. We also have the RAAMP under which 1,000km of rural farm roads are going to be constructed and I think we are almost done with the procurement process and we should see mobilisation to sites soon.
“Also, I have already given a nod for the implementation of about 30 kilometres of road per local government. They should go ahead and do it, as we have given the nod. The money is sitting in the account of each local government area,” he said.
Makinde appreciated members of the House of Assembly and the people of Oyo State for their support towards his administration and contributions to the growth of the state’s economy.
He said the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of the state has increased from N4.2 billion in 2023 to N4.95 billion in the first quarter of 2024.
The governor added that the policies and projects of his administration in the last five years have been geared towards restoring the dignity and pride of the state.
Makinde assuranced that there would be a cordial relationship among the three arms of government to ensure that all zones of the state feel the impact of good governance.
He gave an account of his administration’s achievements across the four service-point agenda of the government, including education, health, security and expansion of the state’s economy through infrastructure development, agribusiness, tourism and solid mineral development.
The governor further explained that his administration has been able to rejuvenate the economy of the state through the implementation of the Sustainable Actions for Economic Recovery (SAfER), which was introduced to cushion the effect of subsidy removal on residents of the state.
“From accelerated development to sustainable development, we have always believed in taking a completely different approach to the economic development of our dear state. This is why when fuel subsidies and the peg on the dollar were removed, while other states were busy distributing palliatives, we were thinking of short, medium, and long-term solutions.
“We came up with SAfER – Sustainable Actions for Economic Recovery. The key words are sustainable actions. SAfER has various layers, including a food relief package, transport subsidy, food security measures, provision of health insurance, and support for small and micro enterprises and civil servants,” he added.