We’ll continue to utilise Oyo’s resources for people’s benefit, says Makinde

Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, yesterday, said that his administration would continue to judiciously utilise the resources of the state for the good of the people.

The governor, represented by the Head of Service, Alhaja Amidat Agboola, at the 2021 Public Service Forum, with the theme, “The Millennial Public Service: Springboard from Poverty to Prosperity”, held at the Theophilus Ogunlesi Hall, UCH, Ibadan, said that the welfare of the workers and pensioners were germane to his administration.

He said: “I feel highly delighted to be in your midst on the occasion of the year 2021 yearly public service forum. Let me join the Head of Service to welcome all civil/public servants to this year’s event, which should have been held last year but for the COVID-19 pandemic.

“As the current head of the leadership structure in Oyo State and with the resources of the entire state in our care, we made a pledge to judiciously use these resources for the good and benefit of the entire citizenry. This we have always done and we shall continue to do. Since the inception of this administration, I can boldly say that the welfare of the workers has been germane to us and we have never desisted in exhibiting this.”

He maintained that despite the economic situation of Nigeria, his government had been paying salaries and pensions on or before the 25th of every month, noting that regular payment of salaries, allowances and pensions had not stopped various projects embarked upon by the administration.

He said that the allocation of 21 per cent of the 2021 budget to education had yielded results, moving Oyo State from 26th position to 11th position in examinations conducted by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC).

Earlier, the Head of Service, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Civil Service Commission, Mr. David Olatunde, said that the public service forum was organised to contribute to the development of institutional, human and technological capacities of public sector institutions and civil/public servants to efficiently deliver public goods and services to the entire citizenry.

In her lecture, the retired Federal Permanent Secretary, Deaconess Joan Ayo, who was the guest speaker, explained that no nation develops beyond the capacity of its public service.