By Victor Ogunje
The Governor of Edo State, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has commended his Ekiti State counterpart, Governor Kayode Fayemi, for his transformation agenda in the state, saying Ekiti is lucky to have a resourceful and innovative chief executive that can turn things around with lean resources.
Obaseki said this in Ado Ekiti on Thursday while commissioning a multi-million naira Water Corporation Headquarters built by the state government in partnership with the World Bank.
Fayemi, at the occasion, said the World Bank-assisted project was part of the projects executed under the $50 million grant to Ekiti by the World Bank.
Having an holistic appraisal of the projects executed by Fayemi, the Edo Governor said he was stunned by the quantum of projects executed in the water and other sectors despite the Covid-19 challenge and the lean allocation accruing to Ekiti internally and from the federation accounts.
The Edo governor said: “Ekiti is lucky, you don’t know how lucky you are to have the kind of governor God has given you. Ekiti is not a big state. You are not even rich, but you have the greatest resource any nation can have, which is human resource.
“Governor Fayemi is not only leading Ekiti people well, he is leading all the governors well as the Chairman of the Nigeria’s Governors’ forum.
“In my state in Edo, we were reviewing Covid-19 issues recently and we realised that Ekiti has the highest number of vaccinated persons in Nigeria and this gave us an insight into what is happening in the health sector in Ekiti.
“Coming here to see what you (Fayemi) are doing in the water sector, I am happy. Water is social services, it is an economic good that somebody would have to pay for. We have no choice, water is life, we have to give our people water. It has to be in a sustainable and affordable way.
“Nobody will give this kind of money, I mean $50 million without transparency. I listened to the achievements reeled out by your commissioner in the water sector. The biggest achievement I see is that of the people you trained in the water sector. Those you sent to Zambia Water Corporation for training .
“I congratulate the governor and the good people of the state at this auspicious time.”
Speaking further on the priority placed on water supply to Ekiti households, Fayemi warned that the agency would cut off debtors from the water source if they do not pay all the requisite bills.
Fayemi said: “I enjoin those who are already enjoying the pipe borne water to pay their bills. You know that this water has a meter in every home and if you fail to pay your bills, your water source will be cut off. So, make sure you pay,” Fayemi warned.
The governor said the state was able to access the $50 million World Bank’s fund upon the payment of a sum of N1 billion counterpart funding to ensure the transformation of the sector.
The governor revealed that the state has rehabilitated Ero, Egbe and Ureje dams to supply water to all the 16 local government areas being part of the ways to reform the sector.
“We have executed 18 projects across the state in the water sector. This is one of the most significant projects of this administration that we hold high because it has to do with our people.
“I commend the World Bank, European Union and the Federal Ministry of Water Resources for their partnership,” he said.
