Hello,

How have you been? It’s been a pretty busy week for me, including a trip to Paris, France, for a bilateral meeting with the French authorities. More on that in a bit. I hope you have been keeping safe with your friends and family? Don’t forget that vaccines are still available in Oyo State, so go and get vaccinated. 

This week, I will share a thought from my current reading, “Consiglieri: Leading from the Shadows” by Richard Hytner. Contrasting responsibility and accountability in A leadership, the author said: “Responsibility means having a duty to deal with something, whereas accountability is more daunting, requiring you to justify decisions and outcomes.”

Hytner gives good reason to focus on accountability. Here in Oyo State, we are always looking for opportunities to explain our actions because we know that it is easier to get people’s buy-in and get them to follow you when they understand why you do what you do.

And so, we have these opportunities for citizens to ask questions and make suggestions, and we listen to what they say and act on them. 

One of the complaints that we have been receiving of late is about our road infrastructure. Our roads are getting worse faster than we can repair them, primarily because of years of neglect and infrastructural decay. But we are working with available resources to ensure that the worst-hit areas get palliative care while we wait for the rains to pass for more long-term solutions.

Of course, this accounts for our allocating 32.83% of our 2022 budget to Infrastructure. This N96.68 billion will go some way, but it’s not all we need. So, we will continue to use the Alternate Project Funding Approach, whenever possible, to carry out projects in Oyo State. Although this limits the number of contractors that we can work with – as the contractors fund the project and get paid over a period of time – it is one of the quickest ways of reducing our infrastructural deficit.

As I mentioned earlier, I was in Paris on Monday. Our administration has been collaborating with the French Government on various projects. Just four months ago, we launched the Support to Women Entrepreneurship in the Agri-food sector in Nigeria (SEFAN/SWEAN) initiative in collaboration with the French Government to train 150 Oyo State women in agribusiness. One other point of collaboration with the French Government is constructing rural access roads through the Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project (RAAMP). 

The French Government is also funding the building of a farmers’ market in one of our Agribusiness Industrial Hubs. In fact, while we were in Paris, we went to see what this market could become by visiting the Rungis International Market, the largest fresh produce market in Europe. Having such a regional market will certainly boost Oyo State’s economy. 

As I have said in the past, the road to the sustainability of economic development in Nigeria has to be paved with restructuring, constitutionally empowering the federating states to take actions in their residents’ best interest. Attracting investments has to be the top priority. But we must understand that a win-win for both the investor and host community means each party has to get something out of the deal.

So, I encourage you all to continue using the Feedback platforms of the Oyo State Government to share your comments, suggestions and complaints. Rest assured that we are listening, and we are happy when you hold us accountable.