Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, says his administration is working towards making the state an export-oriented agric economy,
A statement on Sunday by the spokesperson for the governor, Olawale Rasheed, said Adeleke made the remarks while updating industry captains and leading Nigerian businessmen at the 60th birthday of the wife of the former Senate President, Mrs Bukola Saraki, in France.
The governor reportedly drummed up support for the state’s industrial investment summit commencing this week in Osogbo, as he told dignitaries that his administration focused on infrastructure upgrade as a strategy to help the business environment and attract businesses into the state.
He said his administration had embarked on the construction of kilometres of rural roads to achieve rural trade connectivity, the construction of inter-city roads to ease rural-urban linkage and the construction of dualised roads and flyovers to ease congestion at major towns.
“We are using local contractors; we are sourcing materials locally. By doing so, Osun’s money is staying in Osun. We are equally boosting the local economy,” the governor said.
On developments within the real sectors of the economy, the governor said, “For the power sector, we now have a state electricity bill to create an electricity regulatory body, to regulate power generation and distribution.
“As I said before, the state will take a leading role in power generation and distribution to back up our plan to become an agro-industrial economy.
“For the agricultural sector, we have launched our agricultural revolution with tractor and input distributions; value addition through agro-processing is a focus.
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“We look towards an export-oriented agricultural economy. We will soon commence the state agropreneurs initiative across all the local governments.”
The governor also spoke on his efforts in the sports and creative industry sectors, saying the government was actualising a robust plan.
“For the sports sector, we are ready to unveil our landmark initiative, the creation of the Osun State Sports Commission, to develop all games in the state.
“My deputy, who supervises the sports sector, is doing so well and has taken all necessary steps to ensure that the sports sector grows and that the state participates in the upcoming sports games.
“I also have good news for the creative industry sub-sector. Culture, tourism and entertainment are critical components of the creative industry. My government is implementing a robust actualisation plan.
“That sector has huge potential to employ thousands and to generate billions of naira. We are tapping into those opportunities.
“Our administration is also working on a diaspora housing project in each local government under a public-private partnership arrangement. We are looking at affordable and sustainable housing projects for our people,” he said.
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