Hello,

It’s good to write to you again this week. How are you doing? And how are you preparing for the year-end celebrations? This is always a good time to remember people who have gone through some difficulties during the year. We can help them out in some way, even without them asking. I believe that is the true spirit of the season—the spirit of giving.

And in the spirit of the season, the Oyo State Government continues to deliver good governance to the people. Today, we flagged off two road constructions that will benefit the good people of Oyo State. One of the roads is the reconstruction of the 34.85km Oyo-Iseyin Road. The second is the dualisation of the 3.2km Ibadan Airport Road and the rehabilitation/construction of the adjoining access roads.

We have always seen road construction as a big part of our engineering a modern Oyo State. We strongly believe that the building of roads forms the foundation of the development of all other sectors of the economy. 

People will not be able to access healthcare if the roads are bad; parents will be unwilling to send their children to school, and farmers will not have access to markets to sell their produce. Even security will be affected. When people call 615, the agencies’ response will be slow, if not impossible, without good access roads.

For this reason, our approach to development has always been to build the needed infrastructure. It may be a longer and less politically expedient route, but it certainly is the path to sustainable development.

In practical terms, a politician would rather spend a couple of billions handing 500,000 people N10,000 each. He knows about 75% of them will vote for him in the next elections. If he spends the same amount building 20km of roads in one zone of the state, even some people using that road will disregard it.

However, we know that this less-travelled road leads to economic stability because history has taught us so. This is clearly shown in the last book I read, “The Prosperity Paradox: How Innovation Can Lift Nations Out of Poverty”, co-authored by Clayton M.Christensen, Efosa Ojomo and Karen Dillon. In chapter 5, you will find the story of how Henry Ford’s automobile company was the catalyst that ignited accelerated road construction in the United States and how road construction led to further development. 

So, our administration will lead by providing the needed infrastructure. We believe the private sector will follow because they will see the value of investing in our dear state. And that is how we will create sustainable development.

Please, continue to stay safe.