The Governor of Ogun State,Prince Dapo Abiodun Mfr, has called on Nigerians to focus more on those things that unite them rather than on those that divide them.
He made the call on Thursday during his independent day speech at Abeokuta the state capital.
He said,”that Nigeria has the potentials to become one of the biggest economies of the world is not debatable. In fact, at 60, we should not be talking about how our nation will become a world power. We should be talking about how to consolidate our world status. We have all the human and natural resources to make us a world power. All we need to do is to bring our collective will to harness our potentials. We must also accept that development is a process. We must also know that the process has a cost. The good news is that the cost is not expensive. All we have to pay is our collective patience to see the process through a logical conclusion. We will have to make painful but necessary decisions.”
Prince Abiodun mentioned that inability to take such decision led to present sorry situation.He added that,”It is therefore very imperative that we summon courage now, and pool our shared will to take these tough decisions for the good of the present generation and building a strong foundation on which on-coming generations can build. Just as the labours of our heroes past can never be in vain, that is the only way our own labour will not be in vain. We must continue to work for the peaceful co-existence of all, irrespective of language, religion, ethnic nationality, places and circumstances of birth or societal status.”
The governor who is optimistic about the country said,”sacrifices have to be made. Let me say that the pains and inconveniences we currently experience due to the current situation of our economy are short-term, and are, in fact, a prelude to a better tomorrow for all of us, our Country and the coming generations. The naysayers may have complained of the same admonitions made in the past without results. But, the difference is that we now have a Federal Government with a leadership that is sincere in its policies and programmes. It is on record that since suffering a recession and a full year of negative growth in the recent past, Nigeria’s economy has recovered slowly but steadily. Data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) shows that our economy continues to grow. Gross Domestic Products (GDP) grew by 2.55% in 2017, and overall Nigeria’s economy grew by 2.27% in 2019. This may be short of our expectations. But, we are on a steady growth. And, we could have continued to improve on this steady growth if not for the unforeseen outbreak of Corona virus pandemic in the 1st Quarter of this year. As a result, I implore all Nigerians to be more patient, be prayerful and show more understanding to the current economic and social reforms as being carried-out by the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government.”
To the people of the state,Prince Abiodun said,”the theme of this anniversary resonates perfectly and speaks volumes of the continuous discharge of an all-inclusive and good governance particularly in the last one year in our dear State. Our driving spirit has been encapsulated in our “Building Our Future Together”Agenda. This is practically entrenched on the collective participation and responsibility of the people of Ogun State as part owners of all the decisions, projects implemented and those conceived since May, 2019. This is a deliberate and calculated policy towards ensuring that all the people contribute meaningfully and positively especially in the decision-making processes that concern them. Therefore, our people remain our strongest strength. This is the drive of the purposeful and good governance that our Administration has continued to tow and thread towards creating individual prosperity for our people and the improving on the economy of our dear State.”
The Governor made it clear that,”we have made as a matter of policy to continue to improve all sectors of our dear State’s economy. We have continued to enact bold reforms in the process and system of governance to boost economic activities. This has helped us to accelerate development in our economic Pillars. This has in turn provided strong foundation for the optimum contribution for our economic Enablers to the continued development of our dear State.
He added that,”with our resilience and determination towards creating an enduring economic development and individual prosperity of the people of Ogun State, the last one year of our Administration has been dedicated upon several projects across all sectors of our dear State’s economy, ranging from roads, education, health, agriculture, etc. And, while conceptualising all these projects, we are determined to complete them, including the inherited ones that have positive impacts on the people, within the tenure of our Administration. I assure the people of Ogun State that our Administration will remain focused on its commitment towards the continued socio-economic development of our dear State. And, as we are gradually approaching the post-COVID-19 era, all sectors of the economy will be opened-up for them to realise their potentials.
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