Oyo State governor Seyi Makinde has said the state government would preserve and digitise the library of a late former governor, Dr Victor Omololu Olunloyo, and make it a tourist attraction centre.
The governor stated this while paying his last respect to the late Olunloyo, at the lying-in-state and executive session organised in his honour by the state government and held at the House of Chiefs, Secretariat, Agodi, Ibadan Makinde, who described the library as a treasure trove of knowledge capable of offering solutions to numerous challenges facing the country, said preserving the library was one of the ways of immortalising Olunlolyo, who was the second elected governor of the old Oyo State comprising present-day Oyo and Osun states.
He added that the state government would also commission the Omololu Olunloyo Leisure Park at Alakia-Airport Area of Ibadan, which was named after the revered statesman, in 2023.
It should be noted that the state government named the 3 km Airport Road after the former governor.
He said, “I have lost a partner. Sometimes, he would tell me how some problems were solved before my time in the state. When people look at me and wonder how Oyo State was so peaceful during my tenure, they don’t know that I go to these leaders and analyse things for myself and leave me to make the best decisions for the state.
“We must give honour to whom it is due. This event is essential; it allows us to provide a befitting passage for an individual who gave a good part of his life to serve this state and country.
“I need to let this gathering know two things. One is that the Omololu Olunloyo Park is ready for commissioning, and we will open it soon.
“Two, in most of my discussions with Baba, there was no way we would talk and wouldn’t get to the issue of his library.
“So, I am making a public announcement now that the state will support the family in preserving and digitising that library.
“It is a library where we can practically find solutions to many challenges we are still facing. We must preserve the library and ensure that when people visit Oyo State, the library becomes a tourist centre that we can showcase.”
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