As celebration of 100 days in office by political office holders is becoming a tradition in the country, many would’ve been on the edge to see what the Governor of Ondo State, Arakunrin Olurotimi Akeredolu has done within the short period.
Although, one would’ve considered insignificant the first one hundred days of an administration with a four-year mandate in evaluating and drawing conclusion on what the future holds for the people, it’s pertinent to speak on some of the giant strides made within the short period by the APC-led government.
Bearing in mind the precarious situation the APC-led government met on ground in the state vis-a-vis the economic recession in the country, Akeredolu was able to face the challenges headlong to bring dividends of democracy to the people.
It still beats the imagination of many political watchers how he was able to solve the issue of unpaid salaries of the thousands of state workers who were wallowing in debt and hunger when he took over the reins of power in the state.
Some economic analysts couldn’t figure out how he was able to achieve the winning streak in the face of terrible financial situation he met on ground with billions of naira owed several financial institutions with repayment plans that severely depleted the state revenue.
The governor, being a dogged personality, has been making frantic efforts to turn things around in the state. A cursory look at the magnitude of construction works which have been embarked upon and completed and those that are still on going revealed how determined he is in turning the state around as he has promised the people. In all the three Senatorial districts, there have been massive road repairs and constructions in a manner that has never been witnessed before in the history of our state. State-owned tertiary institutions also benefited from the road construction projects. At University of Technology in Okitipupa, intra-roads network were fully constructed and electrified from the main gate inward. Also the state Medical University, Ondo, received similar road construction and other institutions roads are all currently receiving attention.
Looking at the industrial sector of the state, the APC-led administration has hit the ground running as it’s making moves to quickly bring the state to redemption and onto the path of greatness again by resuscitating moribund state-owned industries. To this effect, the administration has signed several MoUs with some companies including a foreign organization.
The APC-led administration has changed the face of governance and the scope of Arakunrin Akeredolu is beyond the horizon as his administration has signed several MoUs with different strong companies, including a foreign partner and with the Niger Delta Development Commission NDDC on Olokola project to build a 27-kilometer overhead bridge across the sea that will link Ilaje with Lekki in Lagos State. At the completion of this massive project, without doubt, commercial activities of great magnitude would burst forth in the state and to a large extent turn it to another business and financial hub particularly due to its proximity to the nation’s major commercial hub, Lagos.
Meanwhile, the administration is working assiduously to ensure all roads in the rural areas in the state are linked to the major highways, as part of efforts to achieve this goal, the administration is repairing and constructing all roads in every ward in the state. Besides, the Governor has made it mandatory for all the eighteen caretaker chairmen in the state to construct at least ten kilometer of roads in their local government areas and they have complied with the directive immediately. The goal of the APC-led government is to turn the state into one big octopus of road contraction when it begins major road construction projects in the state.
There’s no doubt that the people of the state have begun to experience great economic relief, besides the state workers who no longer work with fear of uncertainty concerning payment of their salaries as the governor has begun to gradually offset salary arrears owed by the previous government.
As a focused administration which believed in rule of law, justice and set to provide and work in a peaceful environment, the Arakunrin Akeredolu-led administration within a short time of assumption of office reinstated all the lecturers that were unjustly sacked by the last administrator at the state-owned Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko. Full benefits of all the affected lecturers were paid up to date.
It has been argued at several fora since the nation has been plunged into economic recession that exploration and exploitation of agricultural advantages abound in the nation is the only quickest way out of the economic quagmire. The Arakunrin Akeredolu-led Government has keyed into this as he’s currently using agriculture to drive employment in the state through carefully crafted programmes of engagement of the youths that will eventually triggered Agric revolution in the state and food security.
The government is encouraging farmers and making farming attractive to the youths through its direct procurement of farm inputs like fertilizer and agro chemicals affordable to them. Quite a number of schemes were initiated by the administration to make commercial farming practicable in the state by making financial provisions through what it tagged Anchor Borrowers scheme. Beneficiaries of the scheme are closely monitored to ensure the set goal is achieved. Among the schemes is Organized Agricultural Land acquisition for cluster farming which is done on local government basis to allow more people to take to farming. No fewer than two thousand youths have been penciled down to benefit from the Phase I of the Graduate Youth Empowerment programme in multiple ways. Likewise, the administration has facilitated the approval of over N500 million worth of business plan for different groups across the 18 local governments in the state, this was made possible by the Governor, Arakunrin Akeredolu, who made a high level contact with the World Bank team.
In order to have a proper and comprehensive record of farmers in the state to enhance projections and developmental plans, the administration is making arrangement for the registration of all farmers in the state and their farmlands to be processed and uploaded into the state portal. This will afford the government to be able to have data of farmers in the state that could easily be accessed for whatever assistance required for each particular farmer and farmland, and for exposure to the national and international market.
Moreover, for value chain, the Akeredolu-administration is revamping all moribund state-owned agro-processing enterprises and facilitating the establishment of new ones. This is to improve the quality of the produce to generate more proceeds for the farmers and government.
Arrangement is also ongoing on e-extension to facilitate information flow for Farmers and other stakeholders. The desire of the administration to ensure farmers are not financially handicapped, Farmers Micro Finance Bank is a top priority of APC-led government that will afford farmers easy access to finance and revive the cooperative society culture and spirit, that will transform the state economy right from the Grassroots. The administration is not leaving any stone unturned as it’s set to explore all crops as arrangement is in top gear to commence the implementation of both small-holders and medium/large-scale programme for oil palm, cocoa and cashew cultivation.
The goal is to rehabilitate existing cocoa farms and facilities, the planting of new ones with the best variety. The Fisheries sector is not left untouched. Fishery and Aquaculture development with the use of floating cage system is in top gear for farmers including youths who are just coming into the enterprise.
