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Tag: Ogun state

  • South-West Expo Day 3

    South-West Expo Day 3

  • In 2013, Ogun State ‘ll take a giant leap

    In 2013, Ogun State ‘ll take a giant leap

    As I stood on the newly completed flyover bridge at Ibara, Abeokuta, on 31 December, in the last few minutes of the Year 2012 and saw the mammoth crowd waiting to welcome the New Year, a few thoughts run through my mind. Meanwhile, the clock dispassionately and relentlessly ticked away towards the midnight timeline. On the dot of 12am, the fireworks went off, blazoning and illuminating the sky, enhancing the beauty of the environment, especially the 6-lane Totoro – Ibara road that our Administration built and commissioned on our first anniversary which the bridge (completed but yet to be commissioned) serves as the befitting icing on the cake. The crowd went jubilant and ecstatic. The chorus of “Happy New Year” jolted me out of my reverie but not before the thoughts crystallised – We are on a solid foundation and the Year 2013 is definitely going to be a spectacular year for us in Ogun State.

    Mission to Rebuild Ogun State.

    It is my hope that when we are giving our mid-term report, there will be no doubt that Ogun State is set to be a mega-state, ready to provide the best opportunities for its residents to prosper. The report will further demonstrate that we are set on an irreversible journey to redefine our state in the best interest of the people.

    In the areas of affordable qualitative education, efficient healthcare delivery, urban renewal, efficient housing, improved agricultural production, rural and infrastructural development and employment generation, we are laying a solid foundation for our state in such a way that the legacy which makes our citizens to be at the commanding heights of the professions, industry and public service will be fully restored and enhanced. Year 2013 is a defining period for consolidating our programmes.

    In 2012, our focus was to significantly rebuild the infrastructure and intellectual contents in the primary and secondary school sub-sector. The benefits of our intervention are becoming manifest. The enrollment figures in both public primary and secondary schools have continued on the upward trend and so also is the quality of teaching. Free education, which we provide, is indeed a worthy investment in the future. The many laurels won by our students in national examinations and competitions are loud testimony in this regard. The current titleholder of the nationally adjudged best School Administrator is the Principal of one of our public schools in Ogun State. I am excited that this year, 15 of our 26 model secondary schools under construction will be completed and they will admit new students, thus further easing access to education to our teaming population.

    Our efforts in 2013 will also be directed at the tertiary sub-sector. We will provide necessary amenities that will make our six tertiary institutions some of the best in the country so that the industries that we are inviting to set up shops in our state. We will work with the private sector to provide accommodation in our tertiary institutions to further make life better for, and enrich the learning experience of, the students. Beneficiaries of our scholarship, bursary and special grants programme for which we set aside N120 million last December will get the money in the next few weeks.

    Our health sector is the major focus of the 2013 appropriation. We will give a lot of attention to our Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs). In addition to the 50 we have renovated and re-equipped, 100 others will get the same attention. We have just completed a model of our newly conceptualised PHC in Totoro, Abeokuta. We have since ordered equipment that will be used in the centre and nine others that will be constructed this year in each of our federal constituencies.

    In the next few weeks, 700 newly engaged health workers will assume duty. Our health insurance scheme is now being rolled out across the state. Also, advocacy programmes directed at eradicating the scourge of HIV, malaria, polio and such other diseases will be intensified this year.

    Construction work has commenced in 10 of the 12 roads earmarked for expansion and beautification. It is my expectation, and I am passionate about it, that our people will see how fast we will move in the reconstruction of Sagamu-Benin Expressway Junction – Oba Erinwole Junction, Ilo-Awela Road in Ota, OGTV – Brewery Junction, Mudasiru Lawal Stadium – Abiola Way in Abeokuta, Ilishan – Ago Iwoye Road, Lafenwa – Ayetoro Road, Ejinrin Road -Oluwalogbon Junction in Ijebu Ode, Magboro – Underpass, Moriamo – Olorombo Road and Ojere – Asero in Abeokuta. These roads will redefine the landscape of our state. They will be the focal point of the urban renewal and rural and infrastructural development programme of our Administration. I cannot thank enough the good people of Ogun State for their support and understanding in this regard. I assure them that the temporary pains will soon yield to significant gains.

    There is nothing that will give me joy this year than to see all these projects either completed before or meet our completion schedule. That is why I am never tired of inspecting the rate of progress on these projects. The same way I am looking forward to the commissioning of the new workshops / garages that we built in the Mechanic Village, Obada Oko. We have ordered modern equipment that will be installed in the garages. The learning from the successful pilot will put us in good stead to replicate them in other mechanic villages across the state.

    Our agricultural and housing plans will move into high gear this year. For example, the on-going construction of Owowo farm settlement and the reactivation of the existing ones in Ilaro, Sawonjo, Lomiro, Apoje, and Odeda are projects dear to my heart. It is also my wish for 2013 that the commercial farmers who have concluded plans to commence various farm projects in the state will start operations soon. We will encourage them with all that they need to function.

    In the housing sector, we will continue to build more housing units. Additional estates will also be established. We hope to commence the construction of a Workers Estate in Kemta while we will begin the construction of the City Centre in Abeokuta and the Industrial Park at Agbara. I also believe that our ambitious revenue generation drive will be boosted, through additional streams and blockage of leakages.

    Omo Ogun, Ise ya o!

  • ‘Ogun committed to HIV/AIDS campaign’

    ‘Ogun committed to HIV/AIDS campaign’

    The Ogun State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Olaokun Soyinka has said that the Ibikunle Amosun administration will not rest on its oars in its efforts to reduce the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the state.

    Dr. Soyinka stated this at the Ita Osin Motorpark in Abeokuta at a programme organised by the Ministry of Health as part of measures to sensitise and increase awareness on the virus.

    Represented by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Health, Dr. Rotimi Ogungbe, the commissioner noted that the state government was determined to reduce the HIV/AIDS prevalence from 3.1 to 0%, explaining that the government has provided necessary facilities as well as free treatment and diagnosis for the benefit of the people living with the virus.

    Speaking on the partnership between the state and the private sector on HIV and AIDS prevention, Dr. Soyinka revealed that government had been providing enabling environment for them to work effectively, just as it had been providing counterpart funds to execute HIV and AIDS prevention programmes in the state.

    Also speaking, the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Dr. Tunde Olowonyo, explained that aside from the sensitisation programmes being embarked upon by the ministry, government had also undertaken various steps to fight the scourge.

    He said these included reduction of the infection from mother-to-child so that pregnant women can bear HIV-free children, provision of additional supplement to improve immunity as well as access to treatment and diagnosis.

    Dr. Olowonyo also advised members of the public not to stigmatise or discriminate against people living with HIV and AIDS, pointing out that being positive to the virus does not indicate that they cannot perform functions like other normal human beings.

    In an interview, the Director, State HIV and AIDS/STI Control Programme, (SASCP), Dr. Ranti Oladehinde disclosed that the aim of the programme was to sensitise and create awareness on the disease, its mode of transmission, and prevention, adding that centres had been provided in all the 20 local government areas for the people to access free HIV and AIDS counselling, testing, and treatment.

    Highlight of the event included lecture and enlightenment programme on HIV and AIDS as well as demonstration on the use of both male and female condoms for prevention.

  • Ogun prioritises healthcare

    Ogun State has demonstrated its interest in the well-being of its people, with its Ministry of Health restating its commitment to providing qualitative and affordable healthcare services.

    The Ministry also said no efforts will be spared in controlling and preventing communicable and non-communicable diseases in every part of the state.

    Commissioner for Health, Dr. Olaokun Soyinka disclosed this while defending his Ministry’s 2013 budget estimates before members of the State House of Assembly Committee on Finance and Appropriation in Abeokuta, the state capital.

    Giving a breakdown of the budget, Dr. Soyinka explained that N1.03b of the sum would be expended on salaries and allowances, while N58m had been set aside for overheads, adding that the sum of N2.09b would be expended on capital projects.

    The Commissioner stated that N1.58b had been earmarked for the renovation of Primary Healthcare Centres and construction of a state-of-the art specialist hospital.

    On the proposed spending of the Hospitals Management Board, the Commissioner disclosed that a sum of N4.37b would be expended on recurrent and capital expenditure.

    According to him, N2.25b out of the sum would be spent on recurrent matters made up of salaries, allowances and overhead costs while the balance of N2.12b would be expended on capital projects.

    Making the position of government known on the control of diseases while flagging off a training programme with the theme “Detection and Management of diabetes” in collaboration with SANOFI pharmaceutical company, Dr. Soyinka said government was partnering with the private sector to explore avenues towards reducing diseases to the barest minimum, saying that the workshop would be held at intervals to benefit a large proportion of healthcare workers in the State.

    “We want to make it a statewide affair, such that at the ened of the day, we would probably have trained a large proportion of healthcare workers on how to recognise ,ý D26% diagnose the problems of diabetes.” Dr. Soyinka submitted.

    Earlier, the Permanent secretary in the Ministry, Dr. Tunde Olowonyo advised the public to take diabetes as an issue that deserved urgent attention, pointing out that unknown to the people, diabetes also affects children. He therefore advised parents and guardians to be vigilant at all times.

  • Ogun reworks its land administration

    Ogun reworks its land administration

    The Ogun State Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Land Allocations, Acquisitions, Sales and Concession of Government Properties and Administration of Land Policies, Rules and Regulations was set up for a purpose—to correct the perceived wrongs done to certain people and communities whose land were forcefully acquired between January 2004 and May 29, last year, OKWY IROEGBU-CHIKEZIE reports

    The Ogun State Government has liberalised land acquisition and documentation. This is a fall-out of the judicial commission of enquiry set up on September 16, 2011 by  Governor Ibikunle Amosun.

    The committee had, as part of its mandate, to inquire into allocations of state land between January 2004 and May 29, 2011. It also had to identify whether such allocations involved breaches of policies, guidelines, rules, regulations or procedures resulting in non-payment or underpayment of appropriate fees.

    Others were: to establish loss of revenue to the state; multiple allocation of prime land to any person or group of persons; loss of opportunity to the state for industrial, commercial and agricultural development or any other situation, which in the opinion of the commission, was not in the public interest.

    Besides, it was also mandated to inquire into the structures, systems, methods, policies and procedures of land administration in Ogun State between January 2004 and May 29, 2011 to determine the adequacy, conformity with best practices and transparency of the systems, methods, policies and procedures as well as identifying instances of impropriety in land allocation and acquisition.

    Before then, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) had tagged the Ogun 36th among states on the ease of doing business, especially on land acquisition and documentation.

    But  the Special Adviser/Director General, Bureau of Lands and Survey, Mrs Ronke Sokefun, said  the challenge before was not that the bureau didn’t have the required manpower but what they lacked was cohesion between the various agencies, which created the time lag in land document processing.

    She said the government hired a consultant to handle the review and re-engineering to automate the processing of Certificate of Occupancy (C of O), review how various departments interact. She said the bureau has succeeded in generating a work flow of how the papers would move from desk to desk until they get the final signature. This, she said, had not only reduced time but also removed duplication, exploitation, fraud and loss of important land documents of members of members of the public.

    A surveyor, Mr Lukman Kasali,  whose office is in Mowe, Ogun State, confirmed that he has had some reprieve since the land documentation was automated by the state government. He recounted how he used to tip people to push his clients’ files, but noted that there was no longer any need to do that as interaction with members of staff was almost nil.

    He said: “My duty now is just to pay the prescribed fees and submit the necessary files and when it is ready, they will contact me, professionals have never had it so good.”

    Another surveyor, Mr Adeyanju Adelekun, had the same testimony.  He said surveyors were experiencing ease of business due to the automation of the  land bureau.

    On Geographic Information System (GIS), Sokefun said they have information on their border areas as accurate as 50 centimetres while inside the estate is as accurate as 80 centimetres. This, she said, is also geared towards accurate land information processing.

    She said staff members of the Bureau have a schedule of training to make them competent and conversant with the new technology.

    Mrs Sokefun also revealed that the Surveyor-Generals and Deputy Governors of Ogun and Lagos states are meeting on border issues relating to Agbara, Ojodu and Akute among others, to  have an amicable settlement on the contentious borders.

    She refuted claims that the state has taken people’s land from developers on the Mowe, Ibafo, Papalanto along the Lagos/Ibadan Expressway. She, however, contended that the law stipulates that the state government owns any land that is within two kilometres on each side.

    Sokefun regretted that before now, some highly placed people got land on discount at ridiculous prices to the extent that 20 hectares sold for N20 million, which was as good as free without any evidence of payment in several cases.  She regretted a case at hand in Papalanto where there are over ‘40 estates’ by signboards, stressing that most of them are land speculators  and warned that the entire left side of the area falls into the state government’s new towns project.

    On the contentious River View estate in Isheri, she once again denied the rumour that the government has cancelled the allocation but blamed the past administration for allocating the area, which it knew to be a water belt and not fit for habitation.

    She said: “OPIC knew River View estate is a water belt, the water there is meant to flow into Ogun River. The whole deal is a scam. It was never supposed to be an estate but they made it so in 2004.

    He added: “Some experts have suggested that we construct artificial lake to check the flooding challenges in the estate but the truth is that we cannot deep our hands into our lean resources to do channelisation for them.”

    She also refuted the allegation of collecting the balance of N250 million from the N700 million promised by President Goodluck Jonathan.

  • We’ve kept our promises to workers, says Amosun

    We’ve kept our promises to workers, says Amosun

    Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State says  his administration has kept his promises to workers by implementing the National Minimum Wage, paying their  salaries as and when due ,and creating a work-friendly environment for them.
    Swearing-in  two Principals-General in  Abeokuta,Gov.Amosun explained that it was a deliberate policy of government not to  owe workers’ salaries. “This informed our decision from the very first month in office to augment the monthly federal allocation of the local councils with about N500 million,” he said.
    He  reiterated that his administration would not borrow for the purpose of clearing  the salary arrears accumulated by the previous administration.
     “Government can borrow to execute capital projects but not recurrent expenditure; we will not default in meeting our own obligation to workers,” he said.
    Besides the piecemeal payment of salary arrears  owed by the last government, he said  government has approved the promotion of teachers which should have been done in 2009 and 2010, pointing out  that promotion of workers as and when due would boost their morale and increase their productivity.
    He deplored the decay in the education sector in the country and  said government would pursue its free and qualitative education policy with single-minded commitment.
    He explained that the renovation of dilapidated school buildings would continue while writing and instructional materials for the new session would be made available to pupils of public primary and secondary schools.
    He said the construction of  26 world class model schools is going on as planned.
    The governor charged the newly sworn-in Principals-General, Mr. Funso Ogun and Alhaja Hafsat Ayinde, to work hard to uplift the standard of education in the state and restore the  values once cherished by parents to the school system.
    And receiving a delegation of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), led by its National President, Mr Adedoyin Idowu Owolabi, Governor Amosun said the nation was in dire need of more professionals in the public sector, especially chartered accountants.
    Government,through transparency and prudent financial management,he said, had raised the monthly Internally Generated Revenue of the state from about N700 million to over N2 billion.
    While expressing total support for the Whistleblower’s  Protection Bill initiative of the Institute, he promised to engage more accountants in the public service of the state.
    In his remarks, the National President of ICAN, Mr Adedoyin Idowu Owolabi,  lauded the exemplary leadership style of Senator Amosun, especially his commitment to honesty, transparency and accountability, which he said “are the ideals of the accounting profession.”

  • Schneider, ECN, UNDP to implement energy project

    As part of measures by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Global Environment Facility (GEF) to promote energy efficiency in Nigeria, Schneider Electric has been selected to implement a renewable energy project at the Energy Commission of Nigeria (ECN’s) Headquarters building in Abuja.

    The project which is aimed at showcasing the Energy Commission of Nigeria’s building as a model for public lighting using renewable energy, would include the replacement of all non compliant lighting fixtures in the building with Schneider Electric’s energy efficient LED lamps ‘In-Diya.’

    It will also include the installation of Schneider Electric’s off grid energy solution ‘Villasol’ as well as an upgrade of the building’s electrical distribution network to include metering so that the energy consumption of the building can be measured henceforth.

    Speaking at the event in Abuja, the Country President of Schneider Electric, Mr. Marcel Hochet described the project as a landmark development in the sensitization of the general public on the feasibility and benefits of energy efficient lamps.

    He said, as the global specialist in energy management, Schneider Electric is committed to bringing to the project, its enormous wealth of experience and knowhow to ensure timely completion and delivery.

    He therefore, stated that Schneider Electric is strongly committed to helping people make the most of their energy.This involves making the energy safe, reliable, efficient, productive and most of all, green. “Our fully functional renewable energy project in Asore, Ogun state is a testimony to Schneider Electric’s involvement in renewables industry in Nigeria.”

    Also speaking at the event, the national coordinator of the UNDP-GEF programme, Mr Etiosa Uyigue disclosed that the project’s target was to reduce the buildings’ consumption by up to 50 percent thereby creating an energy efficiency best practice for others to follow.

    The Director-General of the Energy commission of Nigeria, Prof. Sambo who gave a presentation during the event, highlighted that the key barriers to successful energy efficiency practice in Nigeria include a lack of relevant policy, cost versus market ratios, a lack of information as well as wrong human behaviour. He further reiterated that projects that help save energy, eventually save the environment as well as the economy.

    In May 2011, UNDP-Global Environment Facility (GEF) in Nigeria launched an energy efficiency project to promote appliances in the residential and public sector, which had earlier been boosted by a $3 million grant in 2009.

    The four-year’s project is being implemented by the UNDP, while the Federal Ministry of Environment and Energy Commission of Nigeria are among the executing partners of the project that is being funded by GEF. Similar projects have recorded success stories in countries like Ghana, Cuba and Bangladesh.