Kemi Olaitan in Ibadan
The Oyo State Governor, Mr. Seyi Makinde, Wednesday distributed 50 tricycles to youths in the state in the efforts of his administration to fight poverty in the state.
The event which was held at the premises of the state Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development in Ibadan, the state capital, witnessed a large turnout of beneficiaries of the tricycles that were said to be the first batch.
Makinde, who was represented at the ceremony by the Permanent Secretary of Service Matters, Mrs. Adewole Eyitayo, said the gesture was in fulfillment of his campaign promises in the 2019 elections.
She said the programme was targeted at reducing poverty induced by youths’ unemployment, and it would cover a large number of beneficiaries across the state.
According to her, “As a new administration that came on board less than three months ago, we have looked into ways of ensuring that we fulfill our promises to our people, parts of which include agriculture, education, security and social investment.
“This administration is committed to the development and empowerment of the youths, and those that are yet to benefit from the scheme should expect more life-improving programmes from this government.
“I want to admonish you all to be law-abiding and supportive of our government; it is only with this that we can deliver the dividend of democracy to you as expected.
“To all the beneficiaries, please make good use of this great opportunity, ensure that you are like the wise servants in the bible who made good use of their talents by ensuring that the talents were increased before the master came back.”
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Women Affairs, Mrs. Christiana Abioye, said the scheme is purely a public private partnership (PPP) arrangement and state government only stand as guarantor for the beneficiaries who have fulfilled all required obligations and would be paying installments every week for the period of 56 weeks.
The permanent secretary enjoined the beneficiaries to fulfill their part in time so as to claim the ownership and not to forfeit the opportunity.
One of the beneficiaries, Mr. Kayode Olaleye, who spoke on behalf of the beneficiaries, thanked the governor for the empowerment programme a reality, and promised to judiciously use the tricycles so as to pay back in due time.
Meanwhile, the state government has shown its readiness to partner Rotary International in the struggle to eliminate polio in the state.
The Executive Secretary of Oyo State Primary Health Care Board, Dr. Lanre Abass, stated this yesterday while receiving 20,000 aprons specially designed for identification of state polio vaccinators donated by the Rotary International in Ibadan.
While commending the Rotary Club, he said the aprons would serve as sources of easy identification for the state vaccinators while on the field, thereby eliminating the fear of the people on the genuineness of the individual vaccinators, stating that the state had 2,300 vaccinators-a large reach-which he said would help to make the state polio-free.
The Vice Chairman, Nigerian National Polio Plus Committee of Rotary International, South-west Zone, Abayomi Adewumi, said the donation was in line with the agenda of Rotary International to eradicate polio globally, calling on government at all levels and relevant stakeholders to step up sensitisation of parents on the need to have their wards vaccinated in order to have a polio-free Nigeria.
