Ekiti State governor, Mr Biodun Oyebanji said the state has made significant strides in its physical and economic development since its creation 28 years ago.
The governor who stated this on Tuesday in his statewide broadcast on the 28th anniversary of the creation of the state and the 64th Independence Day celebration of Nigeria said there are reasons to thank God for the progress made so far.
He said there is no doubt the creation of the state has accelerated the development of Ekitiland, adding that that the state is now a trailblazer in every aspect of human development index.
Speaking on Nigeria independence, he said, “It is the celebration of freedom from colonial authority, for us in Ekiti, it is the celebration of the fulfillment of a promised land of self government and identity”.
Oyebanji paid tributes to the founding fathers of the state, especially the traditional fathers who championed the struggles for the creation of Ekiti State through the Committee for the creation of Ekiti State under the chairmanship of Chief Deji Fasuan.
“I also want to pay obeisance to everyone who has had the opportunity of presiding over the affairs of this Great State before me, either as a Military Administrator or democratically elected Governor. Thank you all for your leadership roles and contributions to the development of our dear State”.
He equally expressed profound appreciation to President Bola Tinubu for his strong support to the State.
“We are deeply grateful for his numerous interventions and approval of critical federal infrastructure in our State. We are grateful for his support for us, especially in tackling security challenges that confronted us early in the year. His intervention has provided us with the right atmosphere for the growth of our State,” Oyebanji said.
Speaking further on the development being recorded in the state, he said, “We are very proud to say Ekiti is a front-liner in education, life expectancy, access to quality healthcare services, physical infrastructure development, access to water, peaceful co-existence, ease-of-doing business, gender equality, social inclusion among others.
“Gradually and assuredly, Ekiti is building a formidable profile of a progressive and development-oriented state that is poised for prosperity for all.
“To address low industrial presence, microeconomic, security and infrastructural challenge, we came up with the Six Pillars of Administration with the primary objective of ensuring a shared prosperity,” he said.
While stating that his administration has kept to the promise to always promptly attend to the welfare of workers, the governor said, “At the wake of subsidy removal and its imperatives, Ekiti was one of the few states that introduced a wage award for all workers to ameliorate the impact of subsidy in addition to other interventions.
“We not only pay salaries as and when due, we have cleared some outstanding salaries, leave bonuses and monetary benefits of previous promotion exercises. We are also very committed to ensuring that our education sector is not only modern and relevant but that it continues to produce competitive outcomes and global players”.
He assured of his continued commitment to the social contract with the people, their welfare and well-being which he said remain the sole pursuit of the state government.
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