Governor Seyi Makinde’s Remarks at the Year 2022 Oyo State Civil/Public Service Productivity Day/Merit Award Ceremony

Being the Remarks by His Excellency Seyi Makinde, Executive Governor of Oyo State on the Year 2022 Oyo State Civil/Public Service Productivity Day/Merit Award Ceremony Held on Thursday, May 4, 2023 at the Emeritus Professor Theophilus Ogunlesi Hall Opposite UCH Main Gate, Ibadan.

It’s another Productivity and Merit Award Ceremony Day in Oyo State. For the past three years, we have been hosting this event every year. This ceremony is a way to appreciate the hard work, diligence and contributions of Oyo State Civil and Public Servants and incentivise them to perform even better.

The topic of this year’s lecture, “Waste to Wealth: Employment Generation, Productivity and Economic Stimulation Dynamics, a Case for Sustainable Development in Oyo State,” captures the mood of the state at the moment. We are embarking on an aggressive investment drive that will increase investments in Oyo State and thereby create more employment opportunities for our large youth population.

Of course, one of our focus sectors under Omituntun 2.0 is waste management, and we are doing a lot to change the narrative in this sector. We have a new consultant in place and a Waste Management Task Force working with the consultant. More recently, we have put out a call for micro-investors in the waste management sector to work with the consultants. In the next year, we are looking to increase the number of waste compactors working in Oyo State by at least 100. This will have a multiplier effect in adding N3 billion annually into the Oyo State economy and creating at least 500 direct jobs, multiples of indirect jobs as we streamline that sector and tap the resources locked in sustainable environmental practices.

We continue to play our part in encouraging investments from the private sector and our development partners. We thank you, the good people of Oyo State, for your contributions towards making the state safe and secure for private investments. We have continued to dwell together in harmony and to ensure that we eschew all types of religious and cultural intolerance from our midst. This is why we can go out there confidently to ask the international community to come and invest in Oyo State.

Let me also use this opportunity to state that the work being done by the Oyo State Amotekun is going a long way to ensuring greater productivity within the state. As a group, they have been playing a huge role as they work with the Police to keep Oyo State safe and secure. Because of their work, we can sleep with our eyes closed. As I always say, many of us cannot imagine an Oyo State without Amotekun. More and more of our rural farmers and investors in those areas are better for it because they are assured of the presence of Amotekun Corps members. So, thank you, Amotekun and thank you to the Nigeria Police Force and all other security agencies for all the work you do to enhance productivity in our dear state.

We know the elections have come and gone, and it is time to focus on governance. But I cannot fail to thank the Civil and Public Servants that supported us during the elections and the various roles they played as election canvassers and grassroots mobilisers to ensure our victory at the polls.

And now to the main celebrants of the day – the awardees. Are you excited? Well, you should be. Aside from the joy and excitement that comes from being among the awardees, there is a need for you to also consider the responsibility that comes from getting an award. When you are told, “Well Done”, It does not mean “stop doing”; it means “do more”. We want to congratulate you on your various nominations and say, “Keep up the good work.”

I also want to, like I always do on this occasion, encourage those who have not won awards this year to strive to win next year. On our part, we will continue to encourage and appreciate you, the Civil and Public Servants of Oyo State. As I said during the Workers Day celebration a few days ago, we remain committed to the welfare of our workers in Oyo State. As we celebrate 48 months of the GSM date on May 25, 2023, we pledge another four years of consistent salaries and pensions and continued reduction of the pensions and gratuities left unpaid by our predecessors.

Let me congratulate the awardees once more.

Thank you and God bless you.