Governor of Oyo State, Seyi Makinde, says his government had taken several actions to lessen the burden on the residents of the state amid economic challenges facing the people.
Makinde added that through these actions and his administration’s engagements with residents of the state, which he said, enabled them to have input in the state’s budgets, the economic landscape of the state had changed drastically over the last five years.
The governor stated this at the Stakeholders’ Consultative Meeting on the 2025 Budget and the unveiling of the Oyo State Agenda 2040, held at the International Conference Centre, University of Ibadan, Ibadan.
He equally unveiled the Agenda 2040 for Oyo State and the Five Years Medium Term Development Plan 2023-2027, which were driven by the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, with the support of DFID/PERL, DAWN Commission, UNICEF and the University of Ibadan Ventures Limited (Consultancy Service Unit).
Governor Makinde’s disclosures were contained in a release issued by his Special Adviser (Media), Sulaimon Olanrewaju, and made available to journalists
The Governor maintained that with the agenda, his administration’s strategy would focus on avenues that could add value and create a conducive environment for creating decent jobs for the people.
According to the governor, the state government had had to grapple with the fallouts of the removal of fuel subsidy and the peg on the Naira to the dollar exchange rate, a development, he said, led to taking conscious actions to mitigate the hardship facing the people.
Makinde, who maintained that the 2024 Budget had been implemented up to 53 per cent, said he was looking forward to 90 per cent implementation by the end of the year.
The governor informed the gathering that the state government had invested a lot of money in the Ibadan Circular Road named after former Governor Rashidi Ladoja, which is why it was planned that the resources should bring economic benefits to the state by putting in place a corridor for such benefits.
He declared that the 32kilometres East Wing Section of the project spanning Lagos-Ibadan Expressway to Badeku Village on Ibadan-Ile Ife Road would be ready in 2025 and that it would be the first freeway in Nigeria.
The governor emphasised that no matter the challenges, the coming year would see his government driving a hard bargain for development.
He promised to work with the private sector to drive more inclusive agribusiness programmes and youth training and also continue to support smallholder farmers.
