The Governor of Osun State, Ademola Adeleke, has called for more collaboration among states in south west geopolitical zone.
He said such collaboration would not only spur infrastructural development but would propel economic growth for the region and the country.
Adeleke made the call in Ibadan at the commissioning of the dualised Agodi Gate-Alakia-Adegbayi Road powered by the Oyo State government.
He noted that road infrastructure which has the capacity to connect rural and urban as well as states within the region must not take a back seat in the development agenda of the southwest.
Governor Adeleke also said the region must go back to being the front runner in delivering good governance and tangible dividends of democracy to its people in all the southwest states.
“The old Western Region was reputed to be the leading zone in the areas of innovations, infrastructure and good governance. We lost that rating for some time now.
“But I want to put it on record that the South West has regained its momentum. From Lagos to Ekiti, Ondo, Osun and Ogun states, South West is witnessing infra upgrades. Our roads are being fixed. Our schools and health centers are undergoing rehabilitation”, he added.
Governor Adeleke who described his host as an uncommon engineer of good governance also tagged him a trailblazer in the quest to reposition the southwest as a region of first class development.
He commended Engineer Seyi Makinde for prioritizing infrastructural development in spite of scarce financial resources.
Adeleke said such step taken by Governor Makinde in building road infrastructure and similar ones taken by other governors in the region was the first step towards achieving greater regional cooperation.
“As we celebrate my brother today, I call for closer developmental cooperation among South West states. We must deepen regional collaboration”, he reiterated.
Speaking earlier, the host Governor, Seyi Makinde said his infrastructure agenda was premised on expanding business opportunities and creating multiple zones of development in Oyo state.
Makinde noted that his administration prioritized inter-city roads to widen the net of development even with the challenge of limited financial resources.
The commissioned Agodi Gate-Alakia-Adegbayi road occupies a stretch of 8.2 kilometers including an underpass bridge.
Comments are closed.