Bureau rates Mimiko on maternal mortality, rural roads

The Ondo State Bureau of Statistics has scored outgoing Governor Olusegun Mimiko high and low in maternal mortality and rural roads construction.The state’s Statistician General, Mr. Dayo Aregbesola, gave the report in Abuja yesterday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

Aregbesola explained that the bureau evaluated Mimiko’s performance in 10 different areas before coming up with the report.According to him, the report was part of the bureau’s assessment of the governor’s achievements in the last eight years.

He said the bureau’s evaluation was based on the situation report at the time he came on board and the existing condition after his second tenure. “We have seen considerable improvement in the health sector. For instance, maternal mortality was extremely bad when this government came on board.

It was about 575 deaths per 1, 000 births, but has gone down to about 74 deaths per 1,000 birth.“We also assessed the performance of students at external examinations such as West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and National Examinations Council (NECO). The result was that there had been a tremendous improvement.

According to him, students’ performance was 19 per cent when his government started. But in 2016, we had 61 per cent, which showed that the government’s performance in education had improved considerably.

Aregbesola said the outgoing governor also achieved a lot in the construction of buildings. He said many houses; filling stations and hotels were constructed during his tenure.

“When the government came on board, the state capital, Akure, had19 hotels but today, we have about 80 hotels,” he said.However, he said Mimiko performed poorly in rural roads construction. He said the bureau’s assessment was based on the number of rural roads that were reconstructed or rehabilitated in the period under review.