The Oyo State government yesterday migrated to e-governance as Governor Abiola Ajimobi launched phase one of the state’s e–Governance initiative.
He directed Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to embrace the new initiative with immediate effect.
Launching the initiative at the state’s ICT centre, Ajimobi said it was imperative to increase productivity, efficiency and service delivery to move the state forward.
The governor noted that this led to the immediate automation of government’s system.
He said: “Oyo State is migrating from paper governance to e-governance. Our vision is for our state to be the technology hub of the country and we need to start from within. People might say it is impossible, but we are dreaming big and ready to walk the talk.
“All MDAs should embrace this initiative as from today, and we are ready to back it up with the all necessary infrastructure to make it work. It is a that to survive in this modern day, you must be technology compliant.
“As from today, we want a fast, efficient and result-oriented civil/public service in Oyo State. Information is key as well as knowledge; the ability to manipulate the knowledge is our today and tomorrow for a better Oyo state.”
Tag: Oyo Govt
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Oyo govt migrates to e-governance
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Oyo govt to residents: beware of high voltage cables
•State begins repairs of more roads
The Oyo State government has urged residents to be cautious in their waste disposal habits during the rainy season.
The government advised those trading under high voltage power cables and on the streets to vacate such places to avoid electrocution.
Also, the government said it has begun the rehabilitation of seven roads across the state.
It said yesterday the rehabilitation of Iyanganku/NTC Road, Eleta/Odinjo/Muslim Road, Beere/Oranyan/Orita Aperin Road had started in Ibadan metropolis while Ogbomoso High School/Baptist High Road had begun in Iwo.
The government said the roads were either being rehabilitated, renovated or reconstructed through its agency, Oyo State Road Maintenance Agency (OYSROMA).
It said Ariyo Box culvert at Olorunsogo/Akanran Road, Iyana Church/Oyeniyan on Iwo Road/Olodo Road and Ologuneru/Abanla/Alafara Road – all in Ibadan, the state capital – were also being repaired.
Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Mr Toye Arulogun, reiterated the government’s commitment to infrastructural development.
He assured residents that other bad roads across the state would get a face-lift in batches.
The commissioner urged those plying the rehabilitated roads to be patient as the flow of traffic will be affected during the repairs. -
Oyo Govt condemns Ibadan violence
•Holds town hall meeting in Saki tomorrow
The Oyo State government has condemned the invasion Kudeti and Isale Asaka areas of Ibadan by hoodlums. It vowed to use the full apparatus of government to deal with any individual who engages in violence that is inimical to the peace in the state.
A statement by the Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Mr. Toye Arulogun said the government had directed relevant security agencies to deal with the hooligans, adding that such acts of thuggery and hooliganism would no longer be condoned.
The government appealed to residents of the affected areas to remain calm and called on security agencies to increase their presence in the areas and other areas too, so as to foretsall a recurrence.
“We assure our people that we value their well-being, lives and property, and we will, at all times, live up to expectations to provide security for them,” the statement said.
Arulogun added that the government would beef up security during the yuletide.
Also, in furtherance of its drive to engage the citizens on government programmes and activities, the government will hold another series of its town hall meeting tomorrow in Saki.
According to Arulogun, the Saki town hall meeting is one in a series of such to be held. This, he said, is to allow a direct interaction and feedback from the citizens.
“The meeting will serve as a platform for communication and engagement between the government, the governed and other key stakeholders,” he said.
The meeting, to be conducted in Yoruba and English languages, will hold at the Harmony Gardens, Gedu Estate, Saki. -
Oyo Govt approves N800m for pensioners
OYO State government has approved N880 million for the payment of primary schools and local government pensioners, the Caretaker Chairman of Ibadan Northwest Local Government Area, Dr Wasiu Olatunbosun, said yesterday.
The council chief urged local chapter of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP) to show understanding and not confrontational.
Olatunbosun spoke against the backdrop of the 14-day ultimatum served by NUP state chapter on the Ministry of Local Government to pay outstanding pension arrears.
He attributed the irregularity in the payment of pension arrears to the national pension scam and strain on the resources at government disposal.
According to him, about 400 ghost pensioners have been identified from the ongoing verification of workers.
He said: “We understand the plight of retired primary school teachers and local government pensioners and we appeal to the pensioners not to be confrontational with the state government. We implore them to be on the same page with the state government. We cannot be insensitive to the plight of the pensioners.
“There was delay in allocation for two months because we could not hold JAAC meeting during the last strike. We had our last meeting on Friday where N880 million was released for primary schools and local government pensioners. They would get their monies before the end of work tomorrow.
“We must also understand that the state allocation has also dropped from about N5 billion now receives about N2.2 billion and we have a wage bill of N5.2 billion. We appeal to the pensioners to be understanding.
“The government is also trying to verify the number of retirees since 2008 and that verification has enabled the government to discover 400 ghost pensioners.
“The government is sensitive to the plight of pensioners and ensures that monthly it sends certain amount of money to the pension board. We are here today because of actions of certain people evident in the N6.8 billion scam.”
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Oyo govt, residents trade words over waste collection, management
The presence of heaps of refuse in some strategic locations in the city of Ibadan, Oyo State has become a cause for concern to the state government Oseheye Okwuofu, reports
we don’t have a designated place to dispose our waste. If there is container or big tanks meant for refuse collection we will not be seeing our people dumping refuse on the roads. Help us tell the government to provide containers around, especially thickly populated areas like market and residential areas so that the people will not throw their waste on the roads again. It’s not the fault of the people. Like the Thursday environmental sanitation, people were asked to clean their environment and the waste will be packed in bags and brought out to the roads so that the waste collectors will easily pick them but for days you will not see the collectors, leaving the environment messed up. So, let the government help the people to keep a safer and cleaner environment, that is what I am saying,” a market trader in Bodija Food market, Mrs Serifat Adeogun said.
Many people who spoke their minds on the need for safe and clean environment shared Serifat’s sentiment. In some areas, the road medians have been turned into waste dump sites following the failure of the waste collectors to pick up the refuse promptly in different parts of the city.
In most places visited last Tuesday, the road medians were lined up with bags of refuse, especially in major roads that lead to the city. These routes leading into the city, it was gathered are constituting threats to health of the people.
Investigation revealed that areas like Odo-Ona, Monatan, old Ife road, Oojo road, Iwo road and Sango-Poly road amongst others are worst hit.
The roads are often littered with refuse dumps.
A resident of Idi-Ape, Iwo road area of the city who would not want his name mentioned in print commended the response of the residents to the Thursday state environmental exercise where dozens of refuse in bags were brought out of homes and kept on the road median waiting for the waste collectors to no avail.
“And as am talking to you, the refuse of last Thursday environmental exercise are still there littered all over the place. Go to Monatan and the expressway entering Ibadan from Lagos, you will see the entire place littered with heaps of refuse. There is nobody to collect them and dump at the appropriate site.
“So, where are the waste collection trucks provided by the Oyo State Waste Management Agency? It was not like this before when the governor started this exercise, before long the trucks have arrived and cleared the whole refuse which the people had collected and kept on the road median and everywhere was clean. But now, the tide has changed. It’s as if we are returning to the old days when Ibadan was adjudged as the dirtiest city in the country,” he said.
The state government is equally worried about the growing heaps of refuse dumps in some strategic locations in Ibadan metropolis. It blamed it on people’s attitude to waste collection and disposal, saying it has a robust proposal to convert waste generated into energy.
It said based on a preliminary investigation carried out, the waste generated in Ibadan metropolis can supply the entire city with adequate electricity if well harnessed.
The Commissioner for Environment, Mr Ishola Isaac Adisa in a chat described the current situation as unfortunate. He said where the government was having problem is the area of enforcement of existing environmental laws due to the poor attitude of the people towards waste collection and disposal.
“The government has so much interest in what happens in environment. In fact, the philosophy is a safe and clean environment because it will attract investors and guarantee a healthier environment. And the government has taken so much pro-active measures to ensure safe environment but the problem is that our people are not ready to comply by the rules and regulations for safe environment. The obligation of the people towards environment is everybody must not drop their waste except where it was provided and everybody must pay for the evacuation of the waste generated.
“The government has put in place an arrangement to make our people accept responsibility for the waste they are generating, an arrangement that will enumerate the number of houses in Ibadan and make everybody to get private waste collectors,” he said.
According to the Commissioner, the government has already accredited about 400 private waste collectors to ensure that all the refuse dumps were cleared without causing health hazard to the people.
He further explained that private waste collectors were already allocated to every street and area while individual residents will have to pay a token for the government who will pay waste collectors for the services rendered.
On the area of enforcement, Adisa noted that the government is planning to establish Neighbourhood Watch to monitor people in each community who drop waste illegally.
He said “We are to engage the sanitation environmental officers and as I am talking to you, the governor has approved the engagement of these officers. They will wear uniforms and we will station them in strategic locations to see and monitor people dumping waste indiscriminately on major roads. For now, the governor has approved 300 sanitation officers to be engaged. A mobile task force that will include some security agencies will be patrolling the streets to ensure that we have strict compliance.”
The Commissioner who called on the people to stop dumping waste on the roads, warned that the government would henceforth prosecute offenders. He disclosed that the government has already constituted ten environmental Court Tribunals and would soon commence sitting to prosecute anyone found violating environmental laws in the state.
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Oyo govt, labour take fight to industrial court
The dispute between the Oyo State Government and the state chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress has shifted to the National Industrial Court (NIC).
The parties will today appear before the NIC in Ibadan.
This came as the workers sought divine intervention to end the industrial impasse between them and the government by going on a seven-day fasting and prayers.
The workers hope they will spur government to see their plight and meet all their demands.
NLC Chairman Waheed Olojede, who said this in Ibadan yesterday, added: “We have begun a seven-day marathon fasting and prayer since Monday, because we have come to realise that this is a critical time that we need to seek God’s intervention for the government to meet our demands and to sustain us in this struggle.”
Olojede said the union is still open for negotiation with the state government anytime and anywhere.
The strike, which was called on June 13, was the labour’s response to the disagreement between the union and the state government over government’s proposal to involve private partnership in the management of some secondary schools in the state.
It was learnt that the state government had sought an ex-parte order from the court to stop the strike, but it was set aside while the court fixed today for both parties to appear before it.
Olojede said the strike was called by the union’s national body after it was made to understand that workers in the state had not been paid six months salaries.
The labour leader, who said the strike would be sustained, stated: “What really happened was that the state government approached the NIC to stop labour from going on strike.
“But the government got it wrong because the strike had begun before it sought the order and because we had never written the government informing it that we were going on strike.
“The order was denied while the court decided to put the two parties on notice to appear before it on Thursday (today). The state executive of NLC did not order the strike, rather, the national body did after seeing the plight of our workers, who have not been paid in the past six months.”
At yesterday’s congress, Olojede informed the workers that they should be steadfast in the struggle to make the state government pay their salaries, saying that workers’ demands were backed by the simple rule of contract and employment that mandates employer to pay its employees after they must have fulfilled their part of the agreement.
“We are only asking for what is rightfully ours. We have worked and the simple rule states that we should be paid what was agreed as wages,” the NLC Chairman said.
The Oyo State All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday accused the leadership of the opposition Accord Party of inciting the labour movement against the administration of Governor Abiola Ajimobi, thereby propelling the on-going industrial action by the NLC.
It said the industrial action was clearly aimed at settling some scores with the state government.
The party said media reports yesterday quoted the leadership of the Accord party as condemning the peaceful solidarity rally staged in Ibadan on Monday by some concerned labour groups as well as APC members and other private individuals.
In its reaction, which was contained in a statement issued by its Director of Publicity and Strategy, Olawale Sadare, yesterday, the APC described the latest reaction from the opposition party as another evidence of its preference for violence and civil unrest as against the prevailing atmosphere of peace and harmony in the state.
The statement reads: “It was even surprising that the leadership of Accord party waited until Wednesday before voicing out its disappointment on the popularity of the APC government in the state as evident in the mammoth crowd that participated in the spontaneous rally despite its numerous spirited, but futile, efforts to bring down the Ajimobi administration for obvious reasons. Interestingly, the Accord party elements are still embittered about their failure to be in the saddle of governance and they will not spare any efforts to rekindle the flame of the same battle which they have lost on all fronts.”
But responding, Accord party asked the APC-led state administration to look inward and think deeply on how to resolve its problem with labour.
The Director General of the party’s Campaign organisation, Adeolu Adeleke, said: “It is not true. It is a blatant lie. There was never any time that a meeting was held between labour and Accord. The APC-led government should face the reality. Everybody knows that the APC-led government is unable to pay workers’ salaries because of its extravagance. It should look inward and think deeply on how its problem with labour could be solved.”
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Relief for Apete residents as Oyo govt rebuilds damaged bridge
Almost four years after a heavy rainfall swept away the bridge linking Apete, a sprawling community on the outskirts of Ibadan, to the main city, making vehicular movement almost impossible, relief has come for the residents as the Oyo State government has made good its pledge to rebuild the facility. TAYO JOHSON reports.
or the residents of Apete, a suburb of Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, the last three and half years have been like a hell on earth to them, no thanks to the collapse of the bridge linking their community to the main city.
On 26th August 2011, a heavy rainfall, reminiscent of the Ogunpa flood disaster of the 80s, descended on the ancient city and swept away so many public infrastructure including the bridge and road that connect Apete to the city via Sango/Ijokodo road.
Since then they have been finding it very difficult going to the city and coming back home through that route as they’ve had to either park their vehicles at the edge of the washed away bridge and trek to and from home or take an alternative route which adds about one hour to their journey. Before the bridge was swept away, its took an average of ten minutes to get to the city via Ijokodo,
•The old pedestrian bridge When the bridge which had remained dilapidated for years and suffered neglect by successive administrations in the state eventually collapsed, the Governor Abiola Ajimobi’s government which had just taken office few months back moved in quickly and provided a makeshift bridge for pedestrian use with a promise to fix the bridge permanently.
An alternative route to the city via Ajibode/University of Ibadan road, though longer, was also provided to ease the pains of Apete residents while work continued on a new bridge.
Last December, their wait for the new bridge finally came to an end when the new facility was partially opened for public use and the people heaved a huge sigh of relief.
A community leader, who also doubles as the Olori Apena of Oyo State, Chief Ayoade Adeleke while thanking the Ajimobi administration for making good its promise on a new bridge, said the previous administrations in the state had failed to rehabilitate the three bridges that link Apete community to Sango.
Adeleke said:” If the past administrations had yielded to our plea for quick repair of the bridges, they would not have washed away completely in 2011. We have three bridges; one at Custom, another at The Polytechnic Ibadan second gate and the last one at Oju-Oja, here at Apete. Any time there was rainfall we were not able to return to our homes if we were outside the community or go out to the city if we were at home. Governor Ajimobi’s administration has really tried for us in this community because it was when he resumed office that the bridges were eventually washed away by flood water and he provided a pedestrian bridge for us as an alternative because the government couldn’t reconstruct the bridges immediately”
According to him, before the construction of the new bridge, “life was hectic for us because we had to go and take the other route at Ajibode and the cost of transportation was very high”.
He said the completion of the bridge last December has greatly ameliorated the sufferings of Apete residents and for this they are grateful to the government.
Adeleke further appealed to the government to ensure quick completion of other bridges and the tarring of the road.
Also speaking on their experience after the old bridge collapsed another resident Mr Wasiu Babatunde said: “we spent a lot on transportation and the stress was hell because before the collapse of the bridge the Okada operators were collecting just N30 from Apete to Sango and within 10 minutes you were there, but after the collapse of the bridge, we had to plead with them before they could collect N160 to pass through Ajibode road to Apete and it took over 30 minutes to get there.
“Every day, I spent over N320 on transportation, bearing in mind that I had to pay the same thing every day for my children while going to school and I had been paying that since 2011. But today we are happy that government has partly completed the bridge, and it has really relieved us but we want the governor to complete the bridge and tar the road on time.” Babatunde said.
Also, the Chairman of National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), (Okada section), Apete branch, Abiodun Olaniyi explained that the ýchallenges confronted by his members since the collapse of the bridge brought about a great loss to them.
“Our members went through a lot of stress by having to pass through Ajibode road to link Sango. Most of our Okada were snatched by armed robbers, while so many passengers were also robbed or raped too. That alternative road is so long when compared to the Ijokodo road that is just a stone through to Sango. We tried to appeal to government when the bridge was washed away in 2011 but they constructed a pedestrian bridge for the residents.
“But in December last year, the bridge was completed, although there was a rumour thýat it wasn’t the Oyo State Government that reconstructed it, that a certain influential woman did when she wanted to have her daughter’s wedding, but whoever did it, we are very grateful and we are appealing to the government to tar the road and complete the other bridges” Olaniyi said
Corroborating his ýremarks, the Chairman of National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Taxi section, Apete branch, Mr Ajibola Wasiu said the hardship encountered by his members and residents cannot be over emphasised, adding that most of their cars had broken down as a result of the alternative route they were plying to link Sango, this he said brought a great loss to the commercial drivers.
According to him, the bad road at Ajibode turned us into regular customers at the ýmechanic workshops because our cars were always getting spoilt and the little money we made daily were spent there.
Wasiu further said:” it normally takes us 25 minutes to an hour at times while going through the Ajibode road to Sango, we charged the passengers N100 instead of the normal N50, some complained bitterly but we don’t have any option because of the long distance and it consumes a lot of fuel.
“During this period, Our State union executives met and appealed to the governorý for quick reconstruction of the bridge, while we also received words of assurance from the Iddo Local Government Chairman, they kept to their promise and the bridge was completed in December last year and opened to us. Though we are relieved but we want the government to complete the road too on time”
Speaking on the bridge, the Commissioner for Works, Mr Bimbo Kolade, disclosed that the existing contract for the project includes asphaltic tarring of 3.6 kilometres of the road in the first phase adding that government’s plan was to tar the entire road up to Akufo village in the second phase.
Kolade said the tarring of the contract was dragging because of paucity of funds brought about by dwindling federal allocation to the state.
He expressed the commitment of the Ajimobi administration to the completion of the project, stressing that the government regards Apete and surrounding communities as key parts of Ibadan, the state capital, given the huge population and resources in the area. -
Principals laud Oyo Govt over 30% budgetary allocation to education
PRINCIPALS of public secondary schools in Oyo State have lauded the state government for earmarking 30 per cent of the state’s 2014 budget to education sector. The President of All Nigeria Confederation of Principals of Secondary Schools (ANCOPSS) in the state, Mrs. Olufunmilayo Ojoawo gave the commendation while speaking at the investiture of the state governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, as the Grand Patron of the organization. Ojoawo said that the state government particularly deserved commendation as the budgetary allocation to education was above the United Nations recommended 26 per cent for education. She said that the honour bestowed on the governor by the Principals was aimed at appreciating his efforts at providing quality education as well as the several welfare packages which the teachers in the state had enjoyed. Governor Ajimobi, while speaking at the occasion, said that committing a large chunk of the budget to education was a fulfillment of his dream and aspirations for the education sector. “We decided to give 30 per cent allocation to education because for us, education is what drives the world; it is what make the difference from one generation to the other,’’ he said, stressing that he decided to support the school principals because of the importance he attached to their duties as important elements in the development of a child. The governor, who pledged to reposition the education sector and make the lives of teachers an enviable one, said that this had accounted for the 30 per cent allocation to the sector in the 2014 budget.