Amid insinuations that Oyo State governor Seyi Makinde is against local government autonomy in the country, he said his views on the matter do not mean he has an issue with the autonomy granted to the third tier of government.
Reacting to those who felt he was away from home with the autonomy of the third tier of government, Makinde said he had no issue whatsoever with elected officials performing their constitutional duties but would continue to speak against the cavity created where none existed.
Makinde, who spoke at the official commissioning of the newly built Local Government House and Staff Training School, located inside the Oyo State Government Secretariat, Agodi, Ibadan, approved the conversion of ad-hoc staff to permanent staff in the service of the 33 local government councils to fill the over 2000 vacant spaces created by retirement and relocation among the workers.
He said that despite challenges, the state, in collaboration with the local government, had been able to upgrade primary healthcare centres, equip some PHCs, fix schools, and pay outstanding salaries, pensions, and gratuities of local government workers, among other things.
He wondered if such a structure, the first of its kind for those he described as local government family, was in tandem with the insinuations that he never liked the local government administration.
He urged those who felt they had better solutions to solve issues in the state to come forward with their ideas, noting that the current leaders needed to be more intelligent but were committed to adding value to the lives of the residents and people of the state.
The governor added that the new structure would mark the beginning of further renovations of old structures within the secretariat, noting that many existing structures on the ground need maintenance.
Makinde said, “I remember before we came to office in 2019, I went into the Secretariat to see if I could find a new building anywhere, but I couldn’t. Although I saw one, it was the place the Solid Mineral Agency currently occupies.
“Many of the buildings to date are dilapidated because they have not been maintained. We will see how much maintenance we can do before we finish this tenure. It is a shame that some people built this secretariat and it is to maintain it for us. Even we have portholes inside the Secretariat. Go to some of the roads inside here.’’
