By Odunayo Oluwabukola, Ibadan
Oyo state commissioner for information and civic orientation, Prince Dọtun Oyelade, has described as a phobia the suggestion that governor Seyi Makinde’s second term performance will not match his first term achievements.
According to him, every activity of the state government is a pointer to how serious governor Seyi Makinde takes his second term mandate.
Oyelade said this when the management of the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, paid him a courtesy call in his office.
In the first five months of Seyi Makinde’s second term, he said, 1174 teachers have been promoted to level 17 because of the governor’s policy not to tie teachers’ promotions to availablity of vacancies.
Since the commencement of Omituntun 2.0, Governor Makinde’s administration has opened up roads including the commissioning of the 34km Oyo-Iseyin express road and the successful relocation of 1533 200level undergraduates from Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, LAUTECH, to the newly established Faculty of Agriculture and Renewal Science at Iseyin.
Prince Oyelade also referred to the over four billion naira that government has spent on the Strategic Action for Economic Recovery, SAfER program, to alleviate the suffering of the poorest of the poor as a result of the recent fuel subsidy removal. These include the one billion naira released to the Oyo State Agricultural Credit Corporation for farmers across the state just last week.
“Only yesterday, workers wage bill was increased by 2.2billion naira per month as a result of the new 25,000 naira wage award which the governor has given to the state workers and 15,000 naira for pensioners.”
The commissioner for information and civic orientation recalled that the Governor had warned members of his cabinet during a leadership retreat on October 4 that the people of Oyo state will neither take excuses or stories from his administration. According to him, all they want is performance and he gave a marching order at the time that each ministry, department and agency must submit its two year Work-Plan to his office within the month.
In his remark, the NAN zonal manager, Mr Olawale Alabi, said he was encouraged to approach the ministry for information collaboration because of the professional manner that activities of government are being disseminated.