My administration has repositioned Edo for growth, says Gov. Obaseki
Gov. Godwin Obaseki of Edo, on Friday, said his administration had redesigned and re-engineered the state for social, economic and infrastructural growth to compete with any state.
Mr Obaseki, who disclosed this during the 7th Alaghodaro Summit in Benin, said the process of shared opportunity that would lead Edo into the future started seven years ago during his first Alaghodaro Summit.
He said, “In laying the foundation for the future, we identified seven areas, which are in education, institutional reforms, economy, investment, agriculture, manufacturing and production.
“All the promises we made and the target we set for ourselves in our first summit have been achieved,” he said.
The governor explained that with the challenges Nigeria is facing today, the federal government must redesign and reengineer the country for the country to experience growth and move the nation forward.
“We are lucky that we took this step seven years ago in our first Alaghodaro summit.
“We have 200 million people yearning for goods and services every day, but we do not have the foreign exchange earnings to support the level of import that we have seen over the years.
“We are paying the price of not being able to hold the value of our local currency.
“Changing the narrative as a country or state is to encourage production because
70 per cent of what we import into the country can be produced in Edo State.
“So if government is redesigned to work with the private sector to have more productions going on in the country, then we would reduce the pressure on the foreign exchange,” he added.
Mr Obaseki explained that there was no reason to pay two to three billion dollars annually on school fees abroad, saying that it was the reason he and his predecessor established “an excellent university affiliated with schools in Europe and America.”
”The future we see is to have the best educational institution where every child must have a vocational skill by age 15 and a global source and destination for tech talents, health tourism, among others. ”
Earlier, the summit chairman, Asuen Ighodalo, said it was organised to showcase the progress recorded in transforming the state into an investment haven.
He stated that the Alaghodaro Summit was a platform for interaction with business people to exchange ideas that could move the state forward.
(NAN)
We have recently deactivated our website's comment provider in favour of other channels of distribution and commentary. We encourage you to join the conversation on our stories via our Facebook, Twitter and other social media pages.
More from Peoples Gazette
Agriculture
FG tasks ECOWAS on leveraging financing strategies for agroecology
The federal government has urged stakeholders in the agriculture and finance sectors in the West Africa region to leverage financing strategies to enhance agroecology practices
Politics
Katsina youths pledge to deliver over 2 million votes to Atiku
“Katsina State is Atiku’s political base because it is his second home.”
Politics
SDP asks INEC to maintain the status quo on party leadership
The SDP, therefore, urged INEC to maintain the status quo on the party’s leadership pending the determination of the appeal.
NationWide
Tinubu came very prepared; Nigeria witnessing unprecedented progress: Ooni of Ife
Mr Adewusi added that all the traditional rulers in the country were proud and happy to be associated with Mr Tinubu’s administration.
Ibadan
Kidnapped Oyo schoolchildren, teachers regain freedom after about two months in captivity
The release of the victims followed a series of sustained protests over the prolonged captivity of the victims.
Agriculture
Plateau govt. procures 500 truckloads of fertiliser for sale at subsidised rate
The governor directed that fertiliser be sold to farmers at a subsidised rate of N20,000 per bag.
Economy
Court clears FCCPC to investigate air ticket pricing complaints
Mr Bello said investigating consumer complaints was fundamentally different from regulating prices.
States
National Cash Transfer: 1,908 vulnerable residents receive debit cards in Edo
The initiative is in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, the World Bank, and the National Cash Transfer Office.
