Being the remarks by His Excellency Seyi Makinde, the Executive Governor of Oyo State, at the Commissioning of Akesan (Oja-Oba) Market, Akesan, on Friday, June 2, 2021.
Won ni Ile oba t’o ba jo…
ewa lo bu si!
Oja-oba Akesan t’o jo…
ewa lo bu si!
I can never forget that day in January when the Akesan Market was razed down in a fire. It was indeed a sad day. Many of you here lost everything in your shops.
But we made a promise then, that we would rebuild this market. We said we would do it in one year. Well, COVID-19 came and even though we did not do a total lockdown in Oyo State, it still affected us somehow. But today, just 18 months after that sad incident, I am happy to hand over to you the newly and completely reconstructed Akesan Market.
Let me also say that everyone who had a shop in this market will get their allocations first before other shops are let out by the developers.
Are you not proud of your new market?
Did we add beauty or we did not add beauty to it?
So, what you have here now is
- 528 lock-up shops
- 163 open shops
- 3 warehouses
- 1 cold room
- A police post
- An administrative block
- A clinic
- 2 toilet blocks (one male and one female)
- Two car parks, one inside and the other outside
- 4 water hydrants at each complex. We do not pray for bad things to happen. But they say once beaten, twice shy. So, we have taken that precaution that should there be any fire, it will be quickly put out.
We also have industrial boreholes and you can see that the roads have been properly networked and interlocked just as you expect to see in any modern market all over the world.
So, now you have your market back. It is beautiful. But you have to promise one thing. Yes, there is an administrative block here and their job is to make sure that everyone in this market follows the rules. We also have a police post here to enforce the rules. But, if we don’t change ourselves and how we think, rules alone are not enough.
For example, you have been given toilets. But if the toilets are not kept clean and properly maintained, it will quickly fall into disrepair and then the local government authority will start talking about increasing the prices of the shops because maintenance cost is high. So, what I am saying is that you all should take personal responsibility for the maintenance of this market.
On this note, I declare the reconstructed Akesan Market commissioned to the glory of God and for the benefit of the good people of Oyo State.
~Seyi Makinde, June 2, 2021