Makinde: We Will Give our Best Despite Tough Times

Kemi Olaitan in Ibadan

Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde, yesterday, stated the commitment of his administration to continue to give its best to the people of the state despite the challenging times.

He stated this during the presentation of 28 18-seater buses to tertiary institutions in the state at the car park of the Governor’s Office at the State Secretariat in Agodi, Ibadan.

While addressing the students, Governor Makinde, who noted that the country is passing through a tough period, assured them that the period would soon be over, adding that his administration would never relent in giving the best to the state and its people.

He stated that he was sensitive to the hardship foisted on the students as a result of the tough times and encouraged them to endure as the hardship would soon become a thing of the past.

He also noted that he had just signed the state scholarship and bursary awards for 2024, stressing that he would ensure that the disbursement is done seamlessly with integrity.

While enjoining the students to cooperate with the leadership of their institutions, he also expressed his appreciation to them for the uncommon support he has been enjoying from them right from the inception of his administration.

Governor Makinde said ‘Omituntun’, which is the embodiment of his political philosophy, has become a movement and would transcend 2027.

He said: “When I started with Omituntun in 2015, it did not yield anything. In 2019, we had Omituntun, then we won. So, we started Omituntun 1.0. In 2023, the student body came out to support this administration massively, again we won. That gave birth to Omituntun 2.0. In 2027 Omituntun 3.0 is coming because ‘Omituntun’ is not about Seyi Makinde anymore.  It is now a movement and at various times different people will come to lead that movement.

“I am restoring my own personal scholarship scheme. I stopped it after I became the governor but now I see the need to restore it because the government alone cannot do enough.

“So the Seyi Makinde Scholarship Scheme will be in the paper in the next four weeks and will be disbursed in the next eight weeks.”

Earlier in his speech, the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Student Affairs, Victor Olojede, in his remarks, lauded Governor Makinde for the donation of the buses, describing it as unprecedented in the history of Nigeria.

He said no governor has ever donated buses to all tertiary institutions and students bodies at the same time in the history of the country.

Other leaders who spoke on behalf of the students also commended the magnanimity of Governor Makinde towards the state students, describing him as the most student-friendly governor.