The Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, on Tuesday, received the draft of the Oyo State Development Plan, 2021-2040, from the Central Working Committee and Technical Group.
He said his administration would unveil a long-term state development plan and a medium-term development plan from 2021-2025 in the second quarter of next year.
The governor, while receiving the draft of the development plan 2021-2040 at the Executive Chamber, Governor’s Office, Secretariat, Agodi, Ibadan, said the plan, which would be unveiled through an economic summit, would facilitate economic prosperity for Oyo State and serve as a guide for successive administrations.
Governor Makinde explained that the plan would equally help enforce commitment to promises made to the people, stressing that the development plan would keep the people abreast of the government’s visions in ensuring sustainable development in the state as well as promote participatory governance.
He said “It was just about six months ago that we inaugurated this 27-member Oyo State Economic Steering Committee with a mandate to create the document that will serve as a roadmap for sustainable development for our dear state. I am excited that today, we are receiving the document, the Oyo State Development Plan (Agenda 2040) and the medium-term development plan for 2021-2025.”
Makinde explained that having a roadmap with clearly defined milestones and deliverables is what ensures that promises made become promises kept, saying the economic prosperity currently being enjoyed in the state is because his administration had been working with the roadmap and prioritising what was in the plan to prioritise.
He noted that the development plan would, in the medium and long terms, provide reliable pointers to sustainable development, saying the document would be presented to the people of the state in all the geopolitical zones to make their inputs because his administration does not claim to be the most brilliant in the state or know where the shoe pinches in all the geopolitical zones.
The governor asserted: “The document will be sent to the Executive Council for approval. We can make plans but when we don’t put timelines, it may just be a mirage. So, I will give a timeline of on/or before the third anniversary of this administration, we would launch the document.”
Governor Makinde, who stated that the development plans contained in the document were based on the four pillars of economic development; human capital and social development; infrastructure development; and physical planning and sustainable development, said it became imperative to plan for the future of the state.
He argued that making plans for the future is not an easy task as the Nigeria of today is different from the Nigeria of 25 years ago and in the same way, the present-day Oyo State would be different from the Oyo State of the next twenty years.
Earlier in his remark, the Commissioner for Budget and Planning, Prof. Babatunde Musibau, noted that the development plan would be the first of its kind in the history of Oyo State.
He hinted that the plan is all about the identification of a more holistic solution to development problems, explaining that the development plan contained four pillars and 25 thematic areas in line with the global development agenda, noting that the document had a specific time benchmark with a clear vision and smart goals.
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