Edo is sustaining investment in agriculture, others, says obaseki
EDO State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, said his administration is taking deliberate steps to sustain the gains recorded in the state’s healthcare and education system, civil service, infrastructure, security architecture, agriculture, manufacturing and technology sectors, among others to ensure better livelihoods for the people and achieve economic prosperity.
The governor, who spoke to journalists in Benin City, during the 2022 Alaghodaro Summit, said the government remains committed to ensuring a progressive and prosperous Edo State where all citizens are well empowered to live life to the fullest.
The 2022 Alaghodaro Summit with the theme, “Edo’s Transformation: Partnerships, Resilience, Impact,” took place between Friday, November 11 and Sunday, November 13, 2022.
The summit, in its sixth edition, is organised yearly, in partnership with the private sector, to mark the anniversary of Governor Godwin Obaseki in office and showcase the progress recorded in transforming the state into an investment haven.
He said, “We are rebuilding our institutions, especially our public and civil service. After six years, I can confidently tell you that we now have a wonderful workforce that we can truly trust. We are working to ensure that our training institute, the John Odigie Oyegun Public Service Academy meets international standards.
“At our Secretariat at Sapele
Road, we have done our best to ensure we have a conducive atmosphere that will ensure our civil servants are efficient and productive in their work place. At Oko- Ogba Road, we have our agricultural hub for our agricultural workers and the facility at Iyaro will house anything education.
“Aside from supporting our civil and public servants, we have also extended such support to our judiciary as we have built the judges quarters, as well as court rooms and many more.”
The governor noted that the building of the College of Agriculture was in furtherance of the government’s focus on agriculture to diversify the state’s economy.
Obaseki continued: “We have allocated over 63, 000 hectares of land to seven investors for oil palm cultivation and it’s a collaboration between the Edo State Government and the private sector. We are carrying along all our communities. We are working tirelessly to regain our number one spot in oil production. “Edo State has to be a modern state as our cities are fast growing into slums. We now experience a lot of land grabbing activities in Edo State following the neglect on the part of the government to ensure the workability of the Land Use Act. “We have addressed the land grabbing issues and have reclaimed our land back and by next year, we will start selling forms to acquire the land at the new town as citizens will have the opportunity to acquire any land of their choice in the new town.”