Hello,

How are you?

I hope you are doing well and keeping safe with your family and friends. Have you taken your COVID-19 vaccine? If you haven’t, you really should take it as soon as possible. Simply visit our Primary Healthcare Centres in Oyo State to get a jab.

Well, December is finally here!

For most people, this is the month of reflection, a time to look back over the past year and think about wins and losses. It is also a time to begin to plan how the next year will go and what we will do differently.

As you may already know, December is my birth month. Last year, I spent the day at Saki and I had promised to return this year. I fully intend to keep that promise.

Some people may wonder why I made this conscious decision to leave Ibadan and spend my birthday in Saki. Think of it like this, if you were living with someone in the same house, it would be easier for you to attend to their needs before you start thinking of people outside. This is why they say, “Charity begins at home.”

In the same way, If I only remain in Ibadan without going to other parts of the state, I will only be aware of Ibadan problems. Of course, the plight of people outside my immediate environment will be relayed to me, but that would be second-hand information. So, where better to visit, than the breadbasket of our dear state?

So, travelling to Saki and spending time with the people is one of the best ways to get to understand the issues they are facing on a first-hand basis. And from what I have been reading from my book of the month, “The Prosperity Paradox: How Innovation Can Lift Nations Out of Poverty,” co-authored by Clayton M. Christensen, Efosa Ojomo and Karen Dillon, knowing what the people really want is pivotal to finding solutions to some of the biggest problems we are facing politically in Nigeria – getting people to believe again in the Project Nigeria by moving them from poverty to prosperity.

And this is what I am making one of my goals for 2022: To, in my personal and public servant capacity, create systems that will make people continue believing in Nigeria.

We already started doing this. And we can see the result in how people are trooping into Oyo State for work, and to set up their business.

Our administration understands the assignment: to create an enabling environment for the private sector to thrive. And this is why we are determined to take good governance to every nook and cranny of Oyo State. Presently, we are developing a new business district around the Moniya axis. After the recent visit of the team from the Nigerian Shippers’ Council, we are excited that work will soon begin on the Ibadan Inland Dry Port.

So, there is a lot to look forward to in 2022. Rest assured that we will continue to seek new ways of making the lives of the good people of Oyo State better and better.