From November 27, 2022 when he was inaugurated as the sixth Executive Governor of Osun State till yesterday, Senator Ademola Adeleke has made a mark which has distinguished his administration from the 12-year rule of the opposition All Progressive Congress (APC) and restored hope of the Osun electorate.
In a further manifestation of his transformation agenda, Adeleke has expressed his hunger to build a new Osun State different from the debt-consumed state he had inherited.
On Friday in the state capital, the governor unveiled N100 billion Infrastructure plan to kick-start the new journey which is expected to last 12 months.
In his speech to his audience at the launching, he described sound infrastructure as an indicator of economic growth and development of every society.
“In the case of Osun, I have used the last 11 months to address the over 90 percent infrastructure deficit our administration inherited. But more still needs to be done, hence the ambitious plan to launch this infra plan that covers roads, health, water , schools among others.”
Adeleke explained that aside infrastructure facilities, his administration would also priorise digital economy to put the state on the path of the 21st century growth.
He added that his administration is bringing back investors to the state having built confidence in them by creating an investment-friendly environment for them in the past 11 months.
The governor said, “Osun state is ready and open for business. By investing so much in infrastructure upgrades, we are laying the foundation for effective public private partnership. We are getting set to key into infra financing opportunities as long as it will not add to the financial burden of the state.”
He clarified that the infrastructure plan is not tied to credit facilities from any institution but a state sponsored, assuring that the works would commence with immediate effect while all procurement laws and due process would be respected for the sake of transparency.
The speech in part:
“Very importantly, our administration is ensuring localisation in the implementation process. Local content in terms of sourcing of materials and workforce are key to transfer skills and economically empower our people. This is in line with the five point agenda of our administration which seeks to boost the local economy. High local content is married with a strong maintenance plan to ensure the sustainability of the infrastructure.
“With the flagoff of today’s infrastructure development, we are poised to further boost the State Economy as 95% of the Projects shall be executed by local content. Osun Money will be spent in Osun. We are determined to eliminate capital flight as witnessed in the past.
“Before unveiling the infra plan, I invite you to watch what we have done in some critical sectors in the last 11 months.
“We could show you more but for time constraints. You saw the schools before and after. You saw the medical outreach and how several thousands benefitted. Of course, the roads were captured. You saw the boreholes and how they are serving our people. After showing you a glimpse of what we have done within the infrastructure sector in the last 11 months, it is my honour to unveil new projects and infrastructure for the state.
“1. Rehabilitation of 345 Health Centers in the 332 Wards in Osun State: Rehabilitation will include, Provision of Potable water, new toilets, and bathrooms, Beds, Mattresses, Bedsheets, renovation and painting of buildings, new curtains, and Solar panels/Inverters for 24 hours electricity etc. Our approach is to take medical services to the doorstep of our people wherever they may be.
“2. Phase two of Portable Water Provision in 332 wards of Osun State. Which includes, Overhead Tanks, dispensing taps, generators, or solar panels. Under Phase One as you have seen, 332 water projects were completed. They are all functioning. Under the new plan, another set of underserved areas across the 332 political wards will be served with water projects.
“3. Phase two of rehabilitation of 31 schools in the 30 mother local governments of Osun and Area Council. This includes portable water, new roofs, new toilets, renovation and painting of buildings, and Provision of desks and chairs. As you have seen in phase one of the school rehabilitation, our approach is to take a school and completely rehabilitate the buildings completely with desks and other learning facilities.
“4. As a follow up to the completed rehabilitation of selected schools, the government has commenced the process of recruiting new teachers to address teachers’ shortage in our schools. Currently, a need assessment is ongoing to determine the teachers’ requirements across subjects and schools. This will help to determine the number of teachers to recruit.
“5. Construction/ Rehabilitation of 45 roads of at least one kilometer in each of the 30 mother local governments, making a total of 45 Kilometers. As you saw in the preview, we have earlier completed about 45 kilometers of roads across the LGAS. These new roads are fresh projects for phase two.
“6. Dualisation of Roads: In a bid to ease traffic jams and reduce road accidents, we are dualising some roads in some major towns to start with. The listed towns include Osogbo, Ede and Ilesha.
“7. Construction of five Flyovers to ease traffic accidents and traffic jams. The identified projects are as follows:
● Osogbo – two namely Okefia and Lameco junction
● Ikirun- One
● Ife- one, Mayfair
● Owode Ede- One
“8. Street Lightning: We are to install street lights in all major towns, especially Osogbo as the State Capital. This is important to enhance security surveillance and boost the night economy.
“9. Imole Medical Outreach
Two medical outreaches were conducted in two locations in each of the three Senatorial districts in the last ten months. Various surgical procedures, including cataract eye surgeries, were done during the outreaches. The outreaches will be conducted once per quarter in the years ahead
Ladies and Gentlemen and my good people of Osun, all these projects shall be completed within 12 months by the grace of God.
“It is therefore my honour and privilege to flag off the multi- Billion Naira Infrastructure Development of Osun. I implore the good people of the State to cooperate with the Contractors that will be handling these projects with the best of hospitality.
“For further technical details on these infra plans, I will now call on team lead for each of the sectors to speak on costing and other requisite details
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