The Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, has maintained that his administration would focus on tourism as one of the key sectors that would drive the state’s economy.
He disclosed that the government would decouple the Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism as part of efforts to enhance the optimal performance of the existing ministries.
The Governor, who gave the indications in his official Newsletter, dated 29th June, 2023, said the Ministry of Information would now be headed by one commissioner, while another commissioner would head the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, bringing the number of ministries in the state to 18 as against the 17 that existed during his first tenure.
He said: “Some may think that we should be reducing rather than increasing the number of ministries, departments and agencies at this time in order to reduce the cost of governance. But, after due consideration, we believe that the benefits of these adjustments far outweigh the costs, and Oyo State will be the better for it.
“With this, the Commissioner for Culture and Tourism will be better able to oversee the Tourism Board and extract the value trapped in that agency, while the Commissioner for Information will focus on communicating the activities of government to the people through the various channels we have made available,” the Governor explained.
Makinde noted that in line with his promise, the Light-Up Oyo street lights, which went off for a few weeks, have now returned to being active.
He said: “You may have noticed that the street lights are coming back on as promised. We will continue to use the diesel generators to power the street lights for now so that our people can get the benefits of this infrastructure while we work on finally moving them to the tribrid power system – the 11MW Independent Power Project (IPP, which is ongoing) as the main source of power with gas generators and inverters as a backup.”
The Governor revealed that he would put his cabinet in place in the next two weeks, and that names of other commissioner-nominees would be sent to the House of Assembly for screening and confirmation soonest.
Makinde noted: “For me, having sent the first batch of commissioner nominees to the Oyo State House of Assembly, I know I now have just about two weeks to send the names of the rest of the nominees and have my cabinet in place. This promise will be kept just as all other promises we have made to the good people of Oyo State.”
The Governor said the next few weeks would be exciting for governance in the state, noting that before the next edition of the newsletter, some commissioners would have been sworn-in, while the appointments of executive advisers, executive assistants, special advisers and special assistants would also have been made.
He, therefore, charged residents to keep praying for the state and the entire country, saying he believed that “We will overcome the trying times with the Nigerian can-do spirit and trust in God.”
PIAK
