In Pacesetting Move, Makinde Injects 5,600 Teachers, Others into Schools

I

t was John Quincy Adams who once said, “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” 

Leaders inspire; leaders add value to people’s lives, and adding value to people is like literally giving them wings to fly.

The name and legacy of great leaders like Obafemi Awolowo continue to resonate today because of the seminal impact their well-thought-out policy decisions had and continue to have on the people that encountered them or who benefited from their benevolence.

Whether it’s establishing schools where none exists, constructing roads that open up access for local farmers to transport their produce to markets, providing health facilities or equipping existing ones, leaders that build people are the leaders whose stories will linger.

The ongoing recruitment of teachers into the Oyo State primary schools is one policy decision that is bound to have profound impact on the lives and fortunes of many a child and a domino effect on families years from now.  

In a move that is arguably unprecedented in these climes lately, the Oyo State government, through the Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) recently recruited 5,600 primary school teachers and 80 caregivers into the system.

The SUBEB chairman, Dr. Nureni Adeniran, who made the announcement in Ibadan, explained that the list was duly approved by the state governor, Engr. ‘Seyi Makinde.

These newly engaged teachers and caregivers were the first batch to be employed from successful applicants in the recruitment exercise carried out by the agency.

By fortifying the teaching service, the Makinde administration is laying the tracks for future career advancement of many a child, providing the much needed solution to unemployment and restoring faith in the now much-maligned public education system.

The SUBEB assured that the exercise would be continuous and that more successful applicants would still be employed in due course.

But this is by no means the only value-adding decision by this administration.  

The governor in June announced plans by his administration to commence construction projects on rural roads.

Specifically, he revealed his plan to construct 1,000 kilometres of rural roads to facilitate farming activities and the transportation of agricultural produce from rural areas to urban centres.

According to the his Special Adviser on Media, Sulaimon Olanrewaju, these farm roads are part of the Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project. Contractors have since been mobilized to sites.

He also authorised the 33 local government areas to grade 30 kilometres of road each.

“Our strategy is straightforward: prioritize inter-zone connectivity to address 50 percent of our transportation challenges. 

“Of course, now we have started with Ibadan’s inner roads. We also have the RAAMP under which 1,000km of rural farm roads are going to be constructed,” Makinde told a special plenary sitting at the state House of Assembly.

He didn’t just give the nod for the construction of about 30 kilometres of road per local government; he released the funds for implementation.

That was in June.

The SAfER (Sustainable Actions for Economic Recovery) project is an omnibus package that includes food relief package (to ameliorate the pains of the current economic challenges ), transport subsidy, food security measures, provision of health insurance, as well as support for small and micro enterprises and civil servants.

It doesn’t now require much effort to notice the impact of the administration on infrastructure development: the 65-kilometre Moniya-Ijaiye-Iseyin Road, the 34.85 kilometre Oyo-Iseyin Road, the 76.67 kilometre Iseyin-Fapote-Ogbomoso Road are just few of the projects the administration has left its imprint. 

The reconstruction of the Ido-Eruwa Road to link Ibadan and Ibarapa zones are perhaps among the most important road projects yet.

In his own words: “The real impact of the road project is that the state is fast becoming a regional agribusiness industrial hub, with the Fasola Agribusiness Industrial Hub located on the Oyo-Iseyin Road, hosting agri-industries such as FrieslandCampina WAMCO with 200 hectares of dairy production; Milkin Barn Agro Services Ltd with 150 hectares for maize cultivation and dairy production; IITA platform Generative and GOSEED Vegetative Ltd with 100 hectares for cassava value chain development, among other companies.”

In the healthcare sector, more than 200 Primary Health Care centres have been upgraded, including secondary healthcare facilities like the Ring Road State Hospital, Adeoyo, the General Hospital, Tede, and Aremo Maternity Hospital, Ibadan.

In youths and sports development, the state government through the Agency for Youth Development, has established the Youth in Agricultural Business to promoted and empower youths who are interested in agricultural business.

The government has held short-term intensive skills training to develop small and medium scale enterprise, where youths were trained and empowered with equipment for economic self-reliance in ICT, fashion designing, vulcanizing and photography, among other engagements.