Oyo State Governor, ‘Seyi Makinde, has said that his government will soon begin the construction of 1,000 kilometres of rural farm roads to aid farming and the movement of farm produce from rural areas to the city centres.
The governor stated that the farm roads will be constructed under the Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project (RAAMP), with the procurement process already completed while mobilisation to sites is expected in the coming weeks.
This was as the governor said that he had given a go-ahead to the 33 Local Government Areas to grade 30 kilometres of road each.
The disclosures were made by Governor Makinde at the special plenary sitting to mark the first anniversary of the 10th Assembly and presentation of a State of the State Address, held at the Oyo State House of Assembly Complex, Agodi, Ibadan.
Speaking about road construction, the governor’s Special Adviser (Media), Mr Sulaimon Olanrewaju, quoted Makinde to have said: “Our template has been very simple. We felt that we should connect all our zones first. If we can go from Zone A to Zone B and Zone C, then, 50 per cent of our problems would have been solved.
“After that, we could start fixing the inner road. Of course, now we have started with Ibadan’s inner roads. We also have the RAAMP under which 1,000 kilometres 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 implementing 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.”
The governor, who appreciated members of the House of Assembly and the people of Oyo State for their support for the administration and contributions to the growth of the state’s economy, said the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of the state increased from N4.2 billion in 2023 to N4.95 billion in the first quarter of 2024.
According to the governor, the policies and projects of his administration in the last five years had been geared towards restoring the dignity and pride of Oyo State.
He assured that there would continue to be a cordial relationship among the three arms of government to ensure that all zones of the state feel the impact of good governance.
The governor gave a blow-by-blow 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.
He added that his administration has been able to rejuvenate the state’s economy by implementing the Sustainable Actions for Economic Recovery (SAfER), which was introduced to cushion the effect of subsidy removal on the state’s residents.
“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 subsidy 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, including a food relief package, transport subsidy, food security measures, provision of health insurance, and support for small and micro enterprises and civil servants.”
In the infrastructure sector, Governor Makinde recounted how the administration has successfully connected all zones of the state through the 65 km Moniya-Ijaiye-Iseyin Road, the 34.85km Oyo-Iseyin Road and the 76.67km Iseyin-Fapote-Ogbomoso Road named Adebayo Alao-Akala Memorial Highway.
He added that the administration also delivered the 12.5km Challenge-Odo Ona Elewe-Elebu-Apata Road Dualisation named after Chief Theophilus Akinyele; the dualisation of the 8.2km Agodi Gate-Old Ife Road-Adegbayi Road, including an underpass at Onipepeye area, while it is currently reconstructing the 48km Ido-Eruwa Road to link Ibadan and Ibarapa Zones, among other road projects.
According to the governor, the real impact of the road project is that the state is fast becoming a regional agribusiness industrial hub.
These include Fasola Agribusiness Industrial Hub located on the Oyo-Iseyin Road, hosting agri-industries such as FrieslandCampina WAMCO with 200 hectares of dairy production; Milkin Barn Agro Services Ltd with 150 hectares for maize cultivation and dairy production; IITA platform Generative and GOSEED Vegetative Ltd, with 100 hectares for cassava value chain development, among other companies.
Governor Makinde also used the occasion to reiterate his administration’s commitment to building institutions that will guarantee the well-being and continued prosperity of the state, saying his government would be defined by these institutions.
He solicited more support and collective responsibility to solve various challenges facing the state, noting that the government cannot do it alone.
Earlier, the Speaker of the Oyo State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Adebo Ogundoyin said that the Assembly had, in the last year, worked tirelessly to review and pass important legislation, debated critical issues, and represented their constituents with dedication.
He commended the lawmakers for their high level of commitment and patriotism to the welfare of the people of Oyo State and their collaboration with the Executive Arm of Government in its quest to transform and re-engineer the state.
According to Ogundoyin, all the achievements recorded by the House within the last year were due to the unflinching support and cooperation of Governor Makinde, who according to him, “has taken good governance to a higher level of quality, impact and effectiveness.”
