Aiyedatiwa cuts Ondo domestic debt by 82.6%, attracts $4bn investments

AKURE — The Ondo State Government says it has reduced the state’s domestic debt by 82.6 per cent in the last 18 months, attracted investment proposals worth $4 billion and created more than 6,000 jobs.

The government also said it had completed more than 200 kilometres of roads across the state within the period.

The Chief Press Secretary to Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa, Prince Ebenezer Adeniyan, disclosed this in Akure while presenting the administration’s scorecard at its maiden quarterly media briefing.

Adeniyan said the administration’s interventions focused on addressing infrastructure deficits, strengthening public institutions, creating employment, improving social services and laying the foundation for sustained economic growth.

He said the government had attracted major investment proposals worth billions of dollars, while implementing programmes across healthcare, education, agriculture, water supply, electricity and youth empowerment.

According to him, the reduction in domestic debt was achieved through prudent financial management and improved debt-management strategies.

He added that the administration had cleared inherited salary arrears owed to workers and former political office holders, while substantially reducing outstanding gratuities owed to pensioners.

Adeniyan said more than 6,000 workers had been recruited into critical sectors, including education, healthcare, security and agriculture.

“It is on record that no governor has created more direct employment opportunities for the people of Ondo State than Gov. Lucky Aiyedatiwa,” he said.

He said the government had complemented direct recruitment with skills acquisition and entrepreneurship programmes targeting youths and women.

According to him, the O’Datiwa Skill-Up a Woman Initiative had trained and empowered 1,000 women in tailoring, catering, ICT and other vocational skills, with beneficiaries receiving start-up kits.

He added that hundreds of youths had benefited from the One Youth, One Skill Programme, while the Ondo Ease Fund provided interest-free loans and grants to market women, artisans and small-business owners.

Adeniyan said the administration had also prioritised youth inclusion in governance, with more young people appointed to government positions than under previous administrations.

He said workers’ salaries were now paid on or before the 25th of every month, while pensioners received their entitlements alongside serving workers.

Health

In the health sector, Adeniyan said more than 2,000 health professionals had been recruited.

He added that Ondo had become the first state in the South-West to implement enhanced allowances under the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure and Consolidated Health Salary Structure for health workers.

He said the State Executive Council had approved a N1 billion Hospital Intervention Fund for the expansion and modernisation of healthcare facilities.

Hospitals in Ikare-Akoko, Ore, Okitipupa, Irele and Igbokoda, he said, were among those benefiting from the intervention, while more than 100 primary healthcare centres had been renovated across the state.

Roads, infrastructure

On infrastructure, Adeniyan said more than 200 kilometres of roads had been completed, while another 90-kilometre rehabilitation programme was ongoing, with five kilometres allocated to each of the 18 local government areas.

He said construction had commenced on the new Akure Flyover Bridge along Oyemekun-Oba Adesida Road.

Major roads in Akure, Ondo, Owo, Ikare and Ore, he added, had also received attention, with drainage and solar-powered streetlights incorporated into some of the projects.

Adeniyan said three major intercity dualisation projects were ongoing on the Akungba-Ikare-Akoko Road in Ondo North, Akure-Idanre Road in Ondo Central and Okitipupa-Igbokoda Road in Ondo South.

Education

In education, the Chief Press Secretary said more than 2,000 teachers had been recruited, including 1,010 for public secondary schools and 1,100 for primary schools.

He said the free school shuttle programme had been revived, while scholarships, bursaries and payment of WAEC fees for public school students had been expanded.

According to him, books, tablets and sporting equipment had also been distributed across the 18 local government areas.

At the tertiary level, he said institutional subsidies had been increased by 60 per cent, salary arrears at Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo, had been cleared, while more than N1 billion had been committed to the construction of a new Senate Building at the University of Medical Sciences.

Water, power, investments

On water supply, Adeniyan said work was ongoing under the Akure Water Supply and Sanitation Project, while the long-neglected Owena Dam project had received renewed attention.

For electricity, he said the State Executive Council had approved a $1.6 million, 350-kilowatt hydropower project and a 7.5-megawatt gas-fired turbine for government facilities.

Adeniyan said the administration was also pursuing major investments around the Ondo Deep Sea Port, refinery, Free Trade Zone and fertiliser plant.

He highlighted the return of the Dangote Group to the state for what the government described as Nigeria’s largest industrial zone.

He said other investment proposals included a 500,000-barrel-per-day refinery, a 1,471-hectare Free Trade Zone in Ilaje and a $4 billion petrochemical, fertiliser and cement project.

“If realised, the projects are expected to create thousands of jobs, expand the state’s revenue base and attract more businesses,” Adeniyan said.