‘I Prioritise Enabling Environment Over Handouts’, Says Governor Makinde

Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, has stated that his administration prefers creating a conducive environment that empowers citizens to lift themselves out of poverty, rather than distributing handouts to them.

Makinde made the remarks during a media chat with journalists at the Government House in Ibadan, Oyo State capital, where he explained the philosophy behind his administration’s social and economic interventions.

“So for us in Oyo State, we believe that we’re not going to give people handouts. We will create, and we’ve been creating, that conducive environment for people to come in, have opportunities, and then they’ll take themselves out of poverty,” the governor said.

Drawing on past experiences, Makinde argued that handouts and cash transfers often fail to have a lasting impact.

“I was walking inside a Shell Bonny Terminal when they were sand-filling the entire cinema for a Nigerian LNG project. Then all the fishermen and those people, they built decent houses for them. It didn’t take five years before the whole place was turned into a shanty town,” he recalled.

According to him, this reality shaped his disagreement with some development partners on poverty alleviation strategies.

“So the approach, and again I argue this with the World Bank, their preference is, ‘Look, have conditional cash transfers, give people money.’ And I said, No,” Makinde stated.

He said Oyo State adopted a different model by supporting citizens’ productive capacity rather than offering direct cash.

“In Oyo State, what we did was rather subsidise the productive efforts of people,” he explained.

Makinde noted that when the country faced economic headwinds, many state governments focused mainly on distributing palliatives.

“When we hit this economic headwind, a lot of state governments were bringing in palliatives. Okay, yeah, we’ll have palliatives, give food to people,” he said.

However, he said his administration went further by launching a structured intervention known as the SEFA programme.

“What we did here was we created what we call the SEFA programme — Sustainable Action for Economic Recovery,” the governor said.

He explained that a key component of SEFA targets the transportation sector, with deliberate subsidies aimed at supporting productivity.

“We looked at our Pacesetter Transport Service, which moves close to 20,000 people every day. And we said, okay, for those 20,000 people, the vulnerable ones among them, students, the elderly, the physically challenged, they pay a discounted price, half the price,” Makinde said.

According to the governor, the state spends about ₦100 million monthly on the initiative, describing it as an investment rather than a giveaway.

“So we subsidise them with ₦100 million every month. But that ₦100 million is subsidising productivity,” he said.

He emphasised that the reduced transport fares are not intended to encourage unnecessary travel, but to enable people to engage in meaningful economic activities.

“You’re not going to just get on the bus for a ride because it’s half price. You get on the bus because you’re going somewhere that is important to you, that is likely going to yield something productive,” Makinde added.

The governor maintained that the strategy reflects his administration’s broader commitment to sustainable development and long-term economic resilience in the state of Oyo.