Dapo Abiodun enjoins private sector to invest in human capital development

 

BY BALOGUN KEHINDE

Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, has called on captains of industries and business executives to partner the state government in the implementation of strategies targeted at improving the living condition of the people.

The Governor, who made the call in Abeokuta at a business executive meeting with CEOs of industries operating in the state, noted that the present administration appreciates the importance of Public Private Partnership as a driving force towards achieving good governance for the people.

He stated that his administration would focus on good governance, security, power, infrastructure, education healthcare and Public Private Partnership (PPP) among others, to achieve the desired objectives in governance.

Emphasising the importance of PPP towards achieving sustainable development goals in all spheres, Governor Abiodun noted that the role of the private sector should not be limited to just finance and investment, but should be involved in innovations, human-capital development, among others.

The Governor stated that the state was on the verge of rehabilitating 236 Primary Health Centres (PHCs) across the state, adding that this was borne out of the dire need to make the moribund Centres operational for better quality service delivery.

He called on investors to complement government’s effort through their Corporate Social Responsibility projects for the centres to operate effectively.

“When we came on board, we embarked on stock-taking of PHCs across the state and we found out that they were in very deplorable conditions that require urgent attention. And as part of our commitment to the people, we are rehabilitating one PHC per ward, totalling 236 in each ward. We therefore use this medium to appeal to our investors to assist us in this regard”, he said.

The Governor added that his administration had already declared a state of emergency in the education sector in view of its deplorable state and poor learning condition for the pupils in both public primary and secondary schools across the state, assuring that plan was in the pipeline to rehabilitate 236 schools across the state.

On Agricultural development, the Governor hinted that his administration was taking advantage of the state‘s 80 percent arable land opportunity to cultivate variety of crops, as well as proximity advantage to the emerging market, to empower 10,000 farmers with an hectare each, noting that government was vigorously harnessing the Federal Government Anchor Borrowers’ Scheme for farmers, among other initiatives, to create wealth and make them self-reliant.

“We have reached the final stages of the Anchor Borrowers Scheme for off-takers of farm produce and we are set to also begin the allocation of an hectare, each, to 10,000 farmers, hoping that by the end of the year, 40,000 youths would be employed,” he stated.

Responding to issues on forest conservation challenges, Governor Abiodun noted that efforts were in top gear to formulate policy on reforestation to address challenges in forest reserves across the state, assuring investment partners of government’s commitment to remove the bureaucratic bottlenecks slowing down opportunities which abound in the State.

Speaking at the event, Chief Economic Adviser to the Governor, Dapo Okubadejo, buttressed that the State has the highest concentration of industrial estates in the country, adding that government was planning to establish an Economic Advisory Council which would comprise both government and private stakeholders.