Arisekola, Aminat Abiodun, others endorse Ajimobi for second term

Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State (middle), his wife, Florence (third left), state deputy governor, Chief Moses Adeyemo (right), wife of the Osun State governor, Mrs. Serifat Aregbesola (second left), eminent Professor Oladipo Akinkugbe (right) and Aare Musulumi of Yorubaland, Alhaji Arisekola Alao (second right) at the commissioning of the Access to Basic Care foundation in Ibadan on Thursday.



The Aare Musulumi of Yorubaland, Alhaji Abdul-Azeez Arisekola Alao and the Iyalode of Ibadanland, Chief (Mrs.) Aminat Abiodun, were among the eminent personalities who on Thursday publicly endorsed the second term in office of Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State.

The public endorsement came at the official inauguration of Access to Basic Care (ABC) Foundation, the pet project of the wife of the governor, Mrs. Florence Ajimobi in Ibadan.

The Foundation was aimed at providing the highest quality and most effective healthcare service, as well as expanding the presence of healthcare delivery in the rural areas of the state and providing innovative and community-based healthcare service to the people of the state.

It has facilities for services such as basic healthcare, immunization programmes, family planning and ante-natal, treatment of sexually transmitted infections, breast and cervical screening, ultrasound, ECG, minor surgeries and diagnostic services among others.

The eminent personalities, who attended the occasion, expressed satisfaction at what they called brilliant performance and monumental achievements of Governor Ajimobi, saying that with the feat he had attained, they had no choice than to support the second term in office of the governor.

For instance, Alhaji Arisekola-Alao described the governor’s achievements in the last two years as unprecedented in the history of Oyo State.

``I want to tell you that we had never witnessed such a monumental achievement in Oyo State. It is amazing that this man (Governor Ajimobi) has turned Oyo State around and we are all proud of it.

``We had thought it was only roads that Governor Ajimobi was constructing until we saw Mokola Flyover Bridge and other development projects springing up in all the nooks and crannies of the state.

``I could recollect that the last bridge in Ibadan was constructed by General David Jemibewon when he was the military governor of Oyo State. Since then, no other governor, whether civilian or military, had built any flyover in Ibadan or anywhere in the state.

``This is why we have decided to team up with Governor Ajimobi and to support him for his second term so that the development currently being experienced in Oyo State will continue,’’ Arisekola said.

For the Iyalode of Ibadanland, Alhaja Aminat Abiodun, the people of the state have no regret for voting for Governor Ajimobi in 2011.

``Governor Ajimobi has continued to make positive impact in the lives of the people of Oyo State. We had never witnessed what we are witnessing today in Oyo State. We will continue to support him and ensure his second term in office,’’ she said.

Other speakers at the occasion, including Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu, SAN, the Chief Medical Director of University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, Prof. Temitope Alonge and the wives of the Governors of Lagos, Osun and Ekiti States also commended the initiative of Mrs. Ajimobi and lauded Governor Ajimobi for taking the state to greater height.

The Chairman of the occasion, Prof. Oladipo Akinkugbe, while lauding the initiative, urged the founder to ensure accessibility and affordability to the poor people and the neglected rural majority.

Akinkugbe, an emeritus Professor of Medicine, also enjoined Mrs. Ajimobi to ensure the sustainability of the project.   

Governor Ajimobi described the project as another fulfillment of his administration’s promises to the people of the state to use the office bestowed on him through their votes to change lives and make meaningful impacts in the state.

``The philosophy of the ABC clinic is centered on underscoring the need for private partnership with government in the onerous task of providing healthcare services for the people. 

``Due to the importance of good health to the general well-being of our people and its critical importance in the development of any society, a people can only jettison healthcare at their peril.

``However, as a result of the huge bills of adequate provision and maintenance of healthcare, societies have discovered the need for partnership between public and private sectors, as a major kernel in the quest for delivering healthcare to the people,’’ the governor said.