Ogun Reinvigorates Transportation System with new Model
In a democratic setting, a responsible and responsive government has the interest of its citizens at heart. It cares and makes provision of basic necessities of life for the common good of the people.
By and large, vision drives mission. The applicable deployment of resources retools the unlock potentials for meaningful development. Suffice to say that, the current administration of Prince Dapo Abiodun in Ogun State has lived up to expectation. It has exploited the advantages of the proximity of Ogun State to Lagos State for its maximal use. Therefore, the interplay of the pull and push factors make Ogun to stand out on a better chance to cash in on the opportunities that are abound. The two states share things in common.
There is no gain saying the fact, that the January 2020 foreign trip to the United Kingdom (UK) embarked upon by Governor Abiodun and his crack economic team, comprising Mr. Dapo Okubadejo (Commissioner for Finance and who also doubles as Chief Economic Adviser), Mrs Kikelomo Longe (Commissioner for Trade and Investment), Mr Gbenga Dairo (Commissioner for Transportation), amongst others, to woo potential foreign investors and seize the available enabling business environment already put in place, has begun to yield fruitful results.
The transportation sector has taken the lead as an opener to grow the local economy. Unlike the defunct Bureau of Transportation that was inherited, the upgrade into a full-fledged Ministry by the current administration underscores the premium placed on the sector by the current administration, especially replicating such at home through a well-articulated master plan for an efficient and effective transportation system to fast-track the socio-economic development of the state.
However, the fortunes of a ray of hope appear to be in the horizon, with an expression of interest by a United Kingdombased development agency to invest in the transportation sector of Ogun State. A week ago, the UK development Agency, ‘Prosperity Fund’, has indicated its readiness to offer technical assistance in a bid to put in place an efficient and sustainable transportation system in the state.
True to type, head, ‘Prosperity Fund’ in Nigeria, Foreign and Commonwealth Development Agency, Mrs. Martha Bostock, during a visit to the office of the governor, Okemosan, Abeokuta, had assured that the fund would go a long way to help the state in capacity building in the transportation sector for its sustainability.
She said: “The Fund is about helping to build capacity within the state government’s departments, like the Ministry of Transportation and other relevant agencies about what a good transportation policy should look like.
“I will like to see the policy put in place, with necessary legislation. This policy would be used to advertise the state to attract more investments which I hope would help the state government and its continued transformation.”