Oyo State Governor, Engineer Seyi Makinde, has expressed the readiness of his administration to make the State an investment-friendly destination in order for businesses to thrive.
The Governor, who spoke through Commissioner of Information, Culture and Tourism, Hon. Wasiu Olatunbosun, gave the assurance while speaking at the Grand Opening Multi-Choice Branch held at the Kudeti Street, Onireke, Ibadan, on Friday.
In his words: “I must commend you for these many things. Oyo State is part of your Association and the message is, we want you to continue to do more. We have an enabling environment in Oyo to attract many investors. Thank goodness that you said you started here. We are now telling you that we have redoubled what we met on the ground to make sure that we create an atmosphere that is conducive for investment to thrive in the state. So, we want you to also look at this area. “
“Why do we think the majority of people are applauding Governor Seyi Makinde everywhere in the country? This is because when he came, he introduced many policies that citizens are benefiting from. When he came in, he abolished all forms of the levy in public schools which resulted in bringing those who have left schools back into the system.
“We also introduced the distribution of free exercise and textbooks to all students. The last time we had that in Oyo State was when late Chief Bola Ige was the Governor and that is exactly what we are doing in Oyo State.”
Makinde, while appreciating the efforts of the MultiChoice Company for erecting an edifice and the company’s contributions towards promoting our cultural heritage in Yorubaland, mentioned that Oyo State is ready to partner Multi-Choice on Tourism Development so as to make the State a Tourism hub.
“We believe that, for any business to thrive, some certain things must be put in place. The first thing is security and we have given 100 patrol vehicles to our security agencies just to make sure they are effective and efficient. So, the security in Oyo State is far better, if not the best is one of the best in Nigeria. All investors can now come to Oyo State, put their money here m, then go to sleep. Definitely, we don’t have any security threat in Oyo State.
“On infrastructure, we have started and we will continue in that trajectory. Moniya-Iseyin road was abandoned by the last administration but we have rewarded it and, within a year, the contractor will be through.
“And now, we will have many people coming to Ibadan to come and see what Multichoice has succeeded in putting down here,” he stated.
He further explained how his administration has made the State become investor-friendly by improving the security architecture that would allow investment and economic prosperity in the State.
He, however, appealed to investors to put their minds at rest in terms of the chances of business success in the State.
“We need your collaborative effort on the area of Tourism because we have many tourism sites in Oyo and we want you to assist us to promote this sites and we know that people will come from all over the world. We want Oyo State to become a tourism port not only here but throughout the world.”
“This is your corporate social responsibility. You need to also look round and see what you can do for the people of Ibadan. The Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism will also be glad to have an arrangement with you so that we can promote government activities to the world and, as well, our cultural heritage and potentials.”
Also speaking at the event, the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Saliu Adetunji, who spoke through Director of Media and Public Affairs, Mr` Adeola Oloko, said: “Ibadan is a city of many first. When you are talking of Ibadan, you are talking of a city comprising 21 states, 1,600 villages. The launching of GoTV has been a success story. When Airtel wanted to launch its 4G network, it was launched here too. the manifestation of CocaCola also is a beautiful story. So, why we have gathered here today shall be a better story by God’s grace.
“The compelling reason that brought us here today is that MultiChoice has to promote the tradition and culture of our people. And as a custodian of tradition and culture, Kabiyesi has to be here today. The second reason we are doing this is that MultiChoice is promoting entertainment, so we attach much importance to what they are doing. The third reason is, your charges are very affordable.”
Earlier in his remark, the Executive Officer, MultiChoice, Mr.John Ugbe, said: “We appreciate everyone in Ibadan for the support over the years and we are interested in giving back to that support with this new signature branch. What does this allow us to do? Much faster service. Its the newest technology in the store with a seamless mile. By the time you start using it and people start using it, we would see what else we can introduce.
“There are people who now speak words of Yoruba around the continent just because of watching AM Yoruba. They learn words in Yoruba. We are really proud that such has allowed us to keep the Yoruba language alive and, of course, to show the strength of the rich culture in putting out there all around the continent to learn from us.
“Ibadan remains the largest city from the topographical perspective and the beauty is, it can never change. For us, we will continue to help the good of the city.
“We have an old branch here, which we won’t demolish. What we intend to do is to start a new phase of development there. We will turn the old building to a nice Museum. We hope to have you all join us once again when we will be inaugurating the MultiChoice Museum here in Ibadan. We will always want to show it to the future generation to see how we preserve our culture in Nigeria.”
“Today is a good day for us. We are indeed happy to be here and, for us, it is to spread the message of happiness.
“Why we are here is because of products being tested in Ibadan, which is always the first place. When we decided to launch GoTV in Africa, Ibadan was the first City to benefit from the opportunity. So, it’s being a success probably because we launched it in Ibadan. It is not as if we are here for the first time. No, we have always been here and we have had a good relationship.”
