Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi
The Ekiti State Commissioner for Information and Civic Orientation, Mr. Funminiyi Afuye, has hinted that the various developmental projects being executed by the state government are aimed boosting investment.
He stressed that the people of the state are better off and are enjoying a new lease of life under the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN)-led government which, according to him, has justified the mandate given to it by the electorate.
Afuye, who spoke on Thursday on “The Mandate”, a live television programme of a Lagos private television, MITV, said many international development agencies are already working with the government to boost the industrial and investment profile of the state. According to him, every sector in Ekiti is being touched by the Fayemi administration through the instrumentality of its eight-point agenda to turn around the fortunes of the state.
He noted that the investors are impressed by the frameworks of good governance, accountability and transparency put in place by Governor Kayode Fayemi whose administration was the first in the federation to domesticate the Freedom of Information Law.
The commissioner disclosed that a South African firm is partnering with the Fayemi administration to develop Ikogosi Warm Spring to a tourist destination of international repute, while an Italian firm has helped revive Ire Burnt Bricks Industry.
Afuye explained that Fayemi picked up the gauntlet to develop Ikogosi Warm Spring and nearby Arinta Waterfalls after several years of neglect by successive administrations in a bid to shore up revenue base, create jobs and place Ekiti on the world tourism map. Describing the administration’s Social Security Scheme for the Aged under which indigent old people are receiving N5,000 stipend every month as “novel and unprecedented”, Afuye revealed that other states impressed by its success in Ekiti have signified intention to copy the scheme.
Afuye said the road projects being carried out by the Fayemi administration in all nooks and crannies of the state will ease movements across the state and stimulate economic and social activities.
According to him, each of the 16 local government areas of the state has at least 20 kilometres of roads being funded by the state budget. The commissioner revealed that the budget in operation in the state had inputs of all communities in the state as the governor held village square and town hall meetings with the people at the grassroots to know their priority projects.
Describing the Fayemi government as “open, transparent and accountable”, Afuye said the governor’s regular interface with the people has given them opportunity to participate in governance.
Afuye said: “All the projects I am talking about here are facts and not fictions. In fact, they are verifiable and you are free to go and make your independent assessments of them.
“Ekiti is the first state to domesticate the Freedom of Information Law and that shows that we have nothing to hide. The totality of Ekiti is an open book under Dr. Fayemi.
“Ekiti has now been turned to a destination for industrial development, tourism investment and massive infrastructural development, and very soon, the state will be turned to an El Dorado in the comity of states in Nigeria.”
This article was first published in The Nation on 18 August 2012.
Last modified: August 18, 2012
Great article.