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| Governor Olusegun Mimiko signing the oath of office. |
Sunday, February 24th 2013
At the Democracy Park
Akure, Ondo State
PROTOCOL
Appreciations
and Exhortation
My good people of Ondo
State, exactly four years ago, on the 24th of February, 2009, the Almighty God,
to whom all praises and adoration are due, using you as agents of a
much-desired change, made it possible for me to stand in front of you as the
fifth elected governor of our Sunshine State.
Four years after, I feel
most humbled by the honour and gratified by the fortune of history to stand
before you to be sworn in as Governor for a 2nd term in office, having been
elected in the globally-adjudged free, fair and peaceful election of 20th
October, 2012.
Today would not have been
possible if God had not willed it. The scripture says; “Unless the LORD builds
the house, those who build it labour in vain.” Yes, we laboured, but not in
vain because the Lord is on our side.
So, to God, the Almighty, the owner of time and season, we owe our debt of gratitude for a day like this.
Words cannot adequately express my gratitude to you, my good people of Ondo State, for the impressive attendance and outpouring of emotions at our campaign rallies in every community visited during the last electioneering.
I have profound
appreciation for the action-packed support of the artisans, the massive support
of the market women, the firmness of the farmers, the principled stand of
public servants, the loyalty of labour leaders, the ruggedness of road
transport workers, including the ‘okada’ riders, the resolve of our royal
fathers, the reassurances of our religious leaders, the resilience of our
retirees, the commitment of our captains of industry and of course the
staunchness and untiring energy of our students and our youths in general. We
also salute our numerous friends on the social media.
To all, we say, the story of today will be written in years to come and your doggedness, tenacity, consistency and overall incorruptibility will be recorded for the attention of generations to come.
We must show appreciation to Mr. President, Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, GCFR, for guaranteeing the ambiance for a free, fair and peaceful election through the timely and most responsible deployment of security operatives. We pray for more grace and strength for Mr President to take our nation unto greater heights.
The leadership and members of the Labour Party at all levels were not only vigilant but demonstrated commitment to the sustenance of democracy, not just in Ondo State, but in our nation.
We must commend the leadership of organised labour at the national and State levels. Their decision to openly support good governance is a welcome development that will open a new prospect in the political development of our nation.
Mention must also be made of the fact that we enjoyed cross-party endorsement from several politicians. We also acknowledge the support of the Afenifere patriarchs, Yoruba Unity Forum, media practitioners, Oodua youth groups, and indeed friends and supporters home and abroad, who in one way or the other helped in the process of making today a reality.
I must at this juncture, thank my wife, children and indeed all my family members for their steadfast love and support at all times and in all seasons.
The Past Four Years
In the past four years, we
have sought to re-engineer the education sector to be able to produce truly
competitive and socio-economically relevant products who will be equipped to
climb the social ladder; to continually create a vibrant middle class that will
continue to innovate and drive our development.
Education must serve the present generation, like those before it, as a tool of social mobility; to do otherwise is to wittingly or unwittingly recycle generational poverty and close the hope of generations for better lives.
We can only do these at our peril because we shall be multiplying the tribe of hooligans, armed robbers, kidnappers and suicide bombers.
That is why, in the past four years, we have invested massively in education; that is why we created the Quality Education Assurance Agency as a tool of effective monitoring, measurement and evaluation.
That is why we are continuously incentivising our teachers. That is why we are building Mega Schools; schools that are truly 21st century compliant to turn out 21st century products with requisite ICT and entrepreneurial skills.
In the past four years, the health sector has witnessed a new fillip. Our home grown initiatives, geared at removing all impediments to quality health care for our pregnant women and infants have received and continue to receive both national and international accolades. We have declared that “pregnancy will no longer be death sentence in our State.”
Our health institutions
have become generally more patient-friendly. We are also about to complete an
integrated Emergency Medical Service Scheme which will drastically reduce the
toll of trauma especially Road Traffic Accident on our people.
In the past four years, we have leveraged on our relative advantage in agriculture to drive development through increased access and input support for our farmers. We have also created modern Agricultural villages (Agro Business Cities) to attract our young ones and demonstrate that agriculture can truly be a business engagement worth their while.
We have constructed neighbourhood markets all over the State not only to replace the hitherto shanty and non-descript stalls that littered the streets and made our towns unsightly, but also to serve as fulcrum for inclusive, life-enhancing urban renewal initiative, one of many such programmes that caught the attention and special recognition of the UN-Habitat last year. Everywhere, we are building futuristic structures that will attract business and leisure seekers to our State.
With more than 644 community-nominated projects across the State, we have through the 3Is initiatives rebuilt confidence in government and re-awakened the spirit of community participation and have at the same time re-established the bond between the government and the governed.
Our functional public private partnership (PPP) office has in the past four years midwived the establishment of several impactful projects like the Gani Fawehinmi Diagnostic Centre, the Oba Ile Sunshine Gardens, the ongoing Ore Sunshine City project, the completion of the Alpha 3D factory in Ikare Akoko and the ongoing revamp of the Arigidi Tomato factory.
With the continued cooperation of the Federal Government, other major partners and stakeholders, we are also in the process of facilitating investment in bitumen exploration and further investment in the Olokola Free Trade Zone (OKFTZ) including the establishment of a Deep Sea Port.
We have recreated a culture of leisure and recreation. The international mountain climbing competition and cultural fiesta, ‘MARE,’ commenced four years ago is fast becoming a global brand.
We have mainstreamed sports, such that our teams come top at almost all events. Our football team, the Sunshine Stars, which was salvaged from the brink of relegation when we came into office four years ago, is now a proud participant at the semi-finals of the Confederation of African Football Champions League at its last outing. At least one of the AFCON-winning Super Eagles, Godfrey Oboabona, is from Sunshine Stars.
Through the channelization of some major rivers and streams, we have saved our State the agony of erosion and flooding.
In the past four years, we have improved the lot of civil servants through upward review of their remunerations, surpassed the recommended minimum wage and enhanced their capacities through quality training and re-training programmes. To cap it all, we are building a world class Public Service Training Institute (PSTI) complex to provide an environment conducive to training and re-training of officials of the State’s bureaucracy.
In all these, we never took our eyes off the radar of security and have partnered the security agencies through provision of logistics and needed funds. We are doing all these on the basis of our avowals of the ideals of progressivism encapsulated in the ideas and programmes of our revered Chief Obafemi Awolowo. We are convinced that the totality of the concept of progressivism which he represented is about using the instrumentality of government to make choices on behalf of the majority of our people. To us, being progressive means democratisation of access to fundamentals of good living.
We were not prisoners of
the fiction that our problems are insurmountable, yet we live under no illusion
that there is a fix-all remedy by anyone at one and the same time. What we hold
dear is that our generation, like Frantz Fanon said long ago, must discover its
mission, fulfil or betray it.
We can in all modesty say we have walked our talk and have demonstrated that governance is about sincerity of purpose; about keeping faith with the populace; and about an all-inclusive and demand-driven development. We have shown that government can be credible, trustworthy, reliable and depended upon to turn around the fortunes of the people for the better. We now have a State, of which all its citizens can be proud. Ondo State, to all intents and purposes, is now our place of pride.
The
Journey from Now
Far from relenting, we
shall in the next four years take governance closer to the people by posting
greater achievements on all fronts. We’ll ensure the completion of all
outstanding projects. We will also, over
the next four years, unveil a new stream of programmes directed at enhancing
the quality of life of our people.
Our major focus shall be on an aggressive drive at job creation for our teeming youths through innovative and durable programmes that will engender sustainable livelihood. To this end, government is undertaking a 30MW Independent Power Project in Ore to provide independent power that will attract several industries to Ondo State.
When completed, Ore’s status not only as a major national commercial centre but as well an industrial hub will be a reality.
The on-going International Events Centre, The Dome, will by God’s grace, be delivered this year and this will open a new vista of turning Ondo State into a destination for international events.
The State’s residency card, ‘Kaadi Igbe Ayo’ will be launched, by the Grace of God, next month. This will go a long way to strengthen government-people interface and as well be a veritable tool for planning and service delivery.
Prepared
to Re-Launch
Fellow citizens, we need
you now more than ever before in the quest to take good governance a notch
higher. You must continue to exercise ownership of government facilities
provided for the common good. Every inch of the road, every square meter of the
school compound and indeed every tablet in the pharmacy of public hospitals
belong to all of us. We cannot afford to let government revert to the
inglorious era of ‘they’ and ‘us’. We are together in this moving train and
there is nowhere else to go but forward.
As good citizens, we must be ready to fulfil our parts of the social contract; of obeying laws, paying taxes, generally discharging our duties and responsibilities and also fighting for our legitimate rights. We must renew our commitments to peace and security.
We, members of the political class, must cease from looking at government and service as a goldmine. We must acknowledge that the good of all translates into the good of the individual and not necessarily vice versa. In this context, the central purpose of our involvement in politics and governance has been and will continue to be what government policies and institutions can make available to the collective and not what each individual politician or government official can corner for himself or herself.
We are a proud people with a proud heritage; we are Akikanju and must not bow to gods of corruption, sleaze and indolence.
We assure our sister states of our commitment to cooperation such that our region can benefit from the individual strength of each State and possibilities of our aggregated potentials. We remain steadfast in our call for a restructuring of the country to achieve true federalism. We demand more equity in the revenue sharing formula and the devolution of more powers to the federating units.
In the course of finding lasting solutions to the challenges facing us as a nation, we assure that we shall not waste any opportunity for functional, patriotic collaboration across party lines for the overall development of our great nation.
Dear compatriots and friends, ours in the past four years has been a story of a shared vision, collective execution and fulfilment.
It is the story of school children who used to trek 4 kilometres a day now riding in the cosy comforts of our free shuttle buses, it is the story of those who shared school compounds with armed robbers and miscreants who now learn in ultra modern mega primary schools; it is the story of an Adekunle Ajasin University once derided as a glorified secondary school but now on track as a 21st century university, so properly called. It is the story of market women who used to trade under inclement weather on the roads and in muddy dingy stalls now trading in cosy stalls in Isikan, NEPA and other neighbourhoods markets across the State; it is the story of Rhoda, the woman who came into our Mother and Child Hospital distressed and went through three surgeries, took 5 pints of blood, all at zero cost to herself and family.
It is also the story of the unemployed graduate who has become a veritable agro business practitioner or a skilful solar power entrepreneur.
My good people, exactly four year ago, I promised to work for you. With all sense of humility, you are witnesses to the fact that I have worked for you. I have worked with you. Together, we have posted great accomplishments. But, the work remains unfinished.
To be sure, our job is not finished until every child has access to quality education in a 21st Century environment that is deliberately-structured to bridge the global digital divide and take our children to the cyberspace where information and knowledge now truly reside.
It is not finished until we are able to establish unfettered access to affordable quality health care services especially for the vulnerable group – pregnant women, infants and the aged.
It is not finished until there is food security in every home and every child has guaranteed access to nutritious food for maximum development of their inherent cerebral power.
It is not finished until every youth is usefully engaged and able to generate wealth for self-fulfilment and the collective good of our society.
It is not finished until we are able to leverage our God-given resources to create industries and add value to them, converting them to useful local and globally demanded end-products.
It is not finished until we complete the ongoing reform to facilitate aggressive capitalisation of our land resource. It is not finished until our cities, suburban communities and villages are well organised, clean and functional, making them conducive to optimal work and play. It is not finished until our sandy shores become true tourist havens.
It is not finished until
the attitudinal renaissance, which commenced in the past few years, comes full
circle so that each and every one of us will live true to the biblical
definition of neighbour – loving your neighbour as yourself and therefore
willing at all times to lend a helping hand.
It is not finished until we all imbibe the time-honoured work ethos of Ise loogun Ise. After all, the bible in the second letter of Apostle Paul to the Thessalonians, Chapter 3,verse 10, also tells us that “He who does not work does not deserve to eat” and Surah 53 of the Quran affirms that “there shall be nothing due to man except what he works for…”
It is not finished until Nigeria, our dear country, becomes a secure and developed member of the global community along the principles and practice of true federalism.
My good people of Ondo State, the job is not finished. The work surely continues.
Long live Labour party
Long Live Ondo State
Long Live Nigeria!
Ipinle Ondo, Ise loogun Ise
Ipinle Ondo, Ise l’a fi ndeni
giga
Ise takun takun, ibukun
repete.
God bless you all.
