Gov Fayemi Rekindles People’s Thrust In His Administration |The Source

By Ayodele Oni

Ekiti state Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi has assured the people of the state that this year would witness rapid development in all sectors of the economy.

In his new year broadcast, the Governor noted that “the indices point to the fact that this New Year, 2021, promises to be more exciting and impactful than the previous year.

“I, therefore, welcome you all to our year of recovery and restoration in Ekiti State, which is in line with our quest to leave Ekiti State better than we met her, impacting lives and building durable legacies.

“The past year, 2020, would forever be remembered as the year the whole world lived in palpable fear, occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The world experienced the unimaginable and lived with uncertainty, all through the year. COVID-19 ran the global economy aground and altered plans and projections at all levels of governments, organizations, and had a profound impact on households and individuals.

“In Ekiti, we had our own share of the not so pleasant experience as the second State in Nigeria to record a confirmed case of COVID-19 after Lagos State. Responding to the challenges created by the pandemic took a lot of courage, decisiveness, and collaboration.

“Today, I address you with a strong conviction that despite the challenges we have faced in the past year, we are making progress towards accomplishing our goals for Ekiti in the five pillars of our developmental agenda.

Dr Fayemi stated that health, education, transportation, security and well-being of the people would be touched in the new year, while new programmes aimed at putting the state on sound economic footing would come on board.

“We recognised that transportation infrastructure is a crucial factor in improving agricultural productivity and creating new markets for agricultural produce, enhancing the quality of life of the people, facilitating interaction among geographical and economic regions, and opening up new centres of economic activities.

“Therefore, in addition to the routine maintenance of the existing road networks, we are also working on some roads critical to our local economy across the state.

“In response to the clamour of our people on the need to reinforce the current security architecture in Ekiti State, the Ekiti State Security Network, codenamed “Amotekun” was created to strengthen security within Ekiti State and in synergy with other South West States.

“Amotekun is already functional in Ekiti State and will be strengthened to deliver on its mandate with increased training, technology and equipment, going forward.

“We have also continued to support our various security institutions – the police, military, SSS, civil defence, road safety corps, NDLEA and immigration with logistics and coordination.

“The new year will witness the launch of our Safe City project as well as other initiatives aimed at boosting security and safety in the state.

“In our deliberate effort to bring government closer to the grassroots, we revisited the issue of Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) that were created from the existing Local Government Areas in the State, on Thursday June 26, 2014.

“The new council areas were created then after due process that included the conduct of a referendum by the State Independent Electoral Commission and consideration of the outcome of the referendum by the Ekiti State House of Assembly.

“Unfortunately, the previous administration abandoned the project. The decision we took as a government in 2014 that earned us applause from majority of Ekiti sons and daughters, is therefore being revisited.

“The process of creating additional LCDAs is ongoing. The quest to create more LCDAs is not driven by political coloration, but for the socio-economic wellbeing of our people.  I enjoin Ekiti-kete to work with the committee put in place for this purpose, for us to have a just and enduring outcome.”