For some politicians, stepping into new shoes, such as assuming the governorship of a state, is like going to a foreign country for the first time. They have to learn new ropes in order to function effectively in the new environment. That is not the case, however, for Gboyega Oyetola, the ninth Governor of the State of Osun (and fourth since 1999), because he had witnessed the functioning of the office of the Governor for eight years as the Chief of Staff to his predecessor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, now the Federal Minister of Interior.
Oyetola brought other relevant qualifications to the office. Armed with a Masters degree in Business Administration, he was a successful private sector guru, managing his own company and chairing, or serving on, various corporate boards. No wonder, when he joined the government as Chief of Staff, no government vehicle matched his own in comfort and luxury.
More importantly, he brought to the office of governor an enviable mien. He is deliberative. He seeks advice. He listens. He carefully sifts through options. And he prioritises the people in his programmes and projects, always asking, what do the people want? He works through the party and opinion leaders, even in setting up his cabinet. The end product of these enviable prerequisites is a business-minded Governor, who is determined to run the state effectively and deliver profitable dividends to the people of Osun.
Rather than rush through his first year in office, he deliberately took measured steps. First, he worked through supervisors and committees, drawing on existing cabinet members and other administrators with whom he served in the preceding administration. Then he teased out his Development Plan, distilling ideas from the Thank You tour on assumption of office, the various Town Hall meetings, and a Citizens Needs Assessment by the UK’s Department for International Development, whose goal is “to promote sustainable development and eliminate world poverty”.
After prioritising programmes and projects in various sectors, he then set up an all-inclusive participatory process of selecting cabinet members from across the state. Once selected, they were subjected to a rigorous dose of governance and administrative chores in a three-day retreat (October 15-18, 2019), while also being briefed about the administration’s Development Agenda. On inauguration, they were given performance charters, detailing the functions of their ministries and their precise mandate.
With the cabinet in place, Oyetola launched a three-day Economic Summit (November 19-21, 2019), widely praised as one of the best in the country so far. After nine robust plenaries; the contributions of 58 panelists and rigorous discussions; and about 30 Business to Government and Business to Business meetings, 25 or so high-stake commitments were given by investors across various sectors, including agriculture; infrastructural development; mining; trade and industry; light manufacturing; Information and Communication Technology; economic growth and potential; and tourism, arts and culture.
Since the planning for the economic and investment summit began at the inception of the administration, Oyetola had been working toward providing the necessary enabling environment for investors, by deploying resources to security; road construction; environmental sanitation; agriculture; culture and tourism; water resources; education; and public health.
For example, about 150 of the state’s over 300 Public Health Centres have been renovated and equipped within one year. Moreover, free medical services were recently provided to Osun citizens in various locations across the state. Over 7,000 patients have so far benefited from the project being provided by various organizations at the invitation of the state government.
Moreover, various projects have been completed across the state under the Community and Social Development Programmes. So far, every Local Government Area in the state has felt the presence of government one way or the other.
The above strides notwithstanding, Oyetola decided to establish the Osun Investment and Promotion Agency immediately after the Economic Summit to focus solely on facilitating investments and enabling a most favourable investment climate. He also decided to appoint Investment Ambassadors for the state. These are excellent developments, the more so when many investors have already given firm commitments to engage with the state. What is more, some investors have already started calling and visiting the state, just days after the Economic and Investment Summit.
From inception, Oyetola never took his eyes off the state’s relatively low Internally Generated Revenue. In order to beef it up, he quickly hired a seasoned professional to take charge. The result has been more than encouraging, leading the state occasionally to cross the N1 billion Naira monthly IGR threshold.
Perhaps, by far, the government’s stellar achievement to date has been the regular payment of salaries from inception. He also has paid off arrears owed to workers and pensioners. Today, workers and pensioners are happy. And critics ignorant of the full details of the state’s payment agreement during the past administration have been silenced.
Already, Oyetola has presented the state’s 2020 budget, titled “budget of restoration”. It is a lean budget of N119.5 billion, reflecting the realities of the state’s actual revenue and expenditure expectations and the need for the state to do more about its IGR profile.
Three factors are paying off for Oyetola. As indicated at the beginning, his business orientation, administrative acumen developed in business and government circles, and painstaking attention to detail have been judiciously deployed to the advantage of the state.
second, Oyetola should be credited for his choice of core functionaries, including Dr. Charles Diji Akinola as the Chief of Staff; Mr. Oluwole Oyebamiji, Secretary to Government; Mr. Olowogboyega Oyebade, Head of Service; and Professor Olalekan Yinusa, Commissioner for Budget and Planning. The quartet, led by Dr. Akinola, with unparalleled mastery of agriculture, policy, and development issues, has been in the forefront of the state’s development agenda, working along with the Governor, whose focus is on governance and service delivery to the people.
Third, Oyetola has signalled clearly that states can no longer continue with business as usual. With the Federal Government heavily in debt and still borrowing, states can no longer pin their hopes on federal allocation alone. Rather, they must engage in careful planning, improve on their IGR, and invite investors to partner with them. This is the surest path to employment generation and wealth creation as the government, per se, does not create wealth as such. And there is a limit to the employment it can generate.
Leave a Reply