Economic challenge: How Abiodun is putting smiles on the faces of Ogun people

BY ABDULAZIZ ALLI

From the inception of the Prince Dapo Abiodun led-administration in Ogun State, the Governor has been up and doing in performing his statutory functions of securing the lives and property of residents and ensuring their welfare which of course is the core of responsible and responsive governance.

To transform its vision into an enduring reality, the administration adopted the ISEYA mantra through which it has embarked on massive construction and rehabilitation of roads, provided affordable housing schemes, healthcare facilities, and other infrastructure that have been impacting positively on the welfare and wellbeing of the people across the State.

Going forward, the methodical and impactful manner through which it has continued to provide soothing palliatives and measures as response to ameliorate the current difficult times being experienced across the country show that indeed the administration is altruistic

Ogun update recalls that in February this year, Governor Abiodun announced a N5 billion intervention fund to provide food palliatives as well as other succour to meet the educational and health needs of the down trodden and generally cushion the effect of rising cost of living and inflation.
“In this direction and through targeted interventions, we aim to address these challenges by implementing a series of phased initiatives aimed at alleviating these burdens on all our citizens. The State has taken the following steps: Education Sector: Providing a minimum of five exercise books for all 850,000 students in our public primary and secondary schools. We are providing a one-time N10,000 education support grant for at least 100,000 pupils in our public primary and secondary schools in the state and providing all 27,600 indigent students in tertiary institutions nationwide with an education grant of N50,000 each.” Abiodun revealed at the Press Conference he addressed on the plans at the Olusegun Osoba Press Centre.

Known for his “talk and do” posture, the governor did not only put machineries in place, he personally worked to ensure quick implementation of the programmes. As at today, no fewer than 70,000 beneficiaries including pregnant women, children, the elderly, market women and other members of the informal sector were provided with health insurance cover just as pregnant women were provided free pre-natal care, as well as an additional N5,000 per birth and free post-natal care in the State Hospitals and Primary Health Care Centres under the Ibidero Scheme.

As at today under the edu-cash component of the scheme, about N245 million has been disbursed to indigent students in public primary and secondary schools while over N1.2 billion naira disbursed to 24,004 students in tertiary institutions across the State. It is also on record that shortly after the removal of fuel subsidy, Governor Abiodun after consultation with the labour unions started paying the sum of N10,000 extra to all categories of workers and pensioners across the State.

Not done, the administration embarked on the sale of rice to workers and pensioners across the State at subsidized prices such that 10kg was sold for paltry N8,500, 20 kg for N17, 000 and 50 kg for N42,500 at a time when a 50 kg of rice in the open market was sold for at least N75,000. One of the workers who benefitted, a visibly elated Mr. Ishola Sofoluwe of the Ministry of Works and Infrastructure told Ogun Update that the gesture was timely as it would go a long way in making living more abundant for members of his family particularly at this time that the prices of food stuffs have gone up.

Still on keeping to his promise to make food palliative available to about 300,000 households across state, the administration of Abiodun embarked on distribution of food items to Muslims during the Ramadan period and Churches during the Easter celebration across the three Senatorial Districts of the State.

Reacting to this, the Grand Chief Imam, Ijebu-Ode Central Mosque, Sheik Miftaudeen Ayanbadejo, in a chat with Ogun Update said “I thank His Excellency, Governor Abiodun for this palliative because there is hunger in the land and whatever the government can do to bring relief is welcome” Speaking in the same vein, the Bishop of Remo Diocese, Methodist Church Nigeria, The Rt. Rev. Bamidele Ibikunle, who spoke at the Rev. Mellor Methodist church, Agbowa, Sagamu, where his members benefitted from the food palliative, said the gesture would go a long way in easing the suffering of the people particularly those who are not sure of where the food would come from during the Easter period.

Another critical area where the administration has put smiles on the faces of the people at this difficult time is through the Free Surgery Intervention Scheme targeted at the indigents who needed to undergo surgery, but did not have the resources to do so. The exercise was carried out in the State hospitals across the State at the end of which over 1,500 people benefitted.

Mrs. Arinola Adenuga, whose 6-year-old son benefitted expressed happiness about the gesture by Governor Abiodun, saying that the burden of raising funds for the well-being of her son had been taken care of. Similarly, 20-year-old Okuwobi Ayomide, 18-year-old Onaleye Solomon, and 13-year-old Olusola Abdulquazeem, who underwent different surgical operations were full of praises for the Governor.

One other area where the Governor has done very well to alleviate suffering of the people is the etransportation intervention. It is on record that the Governor had earlier procured some buses for his administration’s mass transit programme. But immediately after the fuel subsidy was removed, Abiodun took the bull by the horn by becoming the first Governor to embrace the Compressed Natural Gas(CNG) .

The buses were converted to CNG and deployed to different routes, thereby making commuters pay relatively lower fare. For example, a CNG bus ride from the Governor’s office in Oke-Mosan to Kuto,Sapon, Omida, IyanaMortuary and Panseke in Abeokuta is N100 as against the N300 charged by public transporters. Apart from affordability, commuters enjoy free wi fi in the air-conditioned buses. According to Mr. Olaifa Sofoluwe, a businessman who lives in Abeokuta but has his business at Mowe, the provision of CNG buses by the state government has made operations of his business seamless as he now commutes Mowe, Ibadan and Lagos Island with ease.

Furthermore, the introduction of E-bikes recently by governor Abiodun as alternative to petrol bikes is a further demonstration that the government is concerned about the hardship people are going through. A civil servant who works with the Agro Service Corporation in Asero,Abeokuta and owns one of the ebikes, Sulaimon Balogun, said he abandoned his car at home for the -bike which only costs him N1,200 to charge the two batteries a day compared to the N2,500 he spent daily to fuel his car even before the recent increase in the price PMS.

He thumbed up Governor Abiodun for bringing the initiative down to Ogun State to help the people.

On his part, the State Chairman of the Articulate Motorcycle Owners and Riders Association of
Nigeria(AMORAN); Otunba Taofeek Sokoya commended Governor Dapo Abiodun for introducing E-bikes into the transport sector of the state, as he puts it, “The e-bikes have brought about a new regime for transport fare for commercial motorcycle operators and passengers across the state”.

All of these interventions notwithstanding, the Governor has been unrelenting in road construction such that he commissioned three of such roads back to back for three days in the month of May. At this trying period when every Kobo counts, good roads would ensure that vehicle owners do not spend much in maintenance. What about the silent but steady revolution going on in the agricultural sector, one of which is the rice cluster he commissioned recently in Magboro that is capable of fetching N1billion in one tranche of harvest.

No doubt, these are hard times when most people, especially the average Nigerians are going through a lot of hardship. But Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, a man who has over the past five years, made the welfare and wellbeing of the people his top priority.

Alli writes from Onikolobo, Abeokuta