When I decided to run for governor of Oyo State, one of the things I wanted our administration to be remembered for is improving the lives of the good people of Oyo State. I knew that inasmuch as a lot can be accomplished through philanthropy and crowd sourcing of funds, the reach of such individual or collective action is limited. To affect the majority of citizens, people in power must use state funds to make life easier for the citizens. And this is what we have been doing.
This junction improvement we have done here in Challenge and Felele is just one of the several ways that our administration is keeping its promise to the people of Oyo State. Before now, we have had people endure traffic at this junction for 20- 30 minutes and even more because the road was narrower and then we had transporters taking up a whole lane.
When we say time is money, we can then quantify what 30 minutes of lateness to a project everyday can cost in real terms. So, with this improvement, we did not just have traffic lights installed to ease the traffic flow, but we have built a park for vehicles and motorbikes to transit and ease movement along this junction. Transporters and visitors can park their vehicles without hindering traffic. The road has been expanded creating even more space for vehicular movement. We also have three modern bus stops constructed for commuters.
For some people living in some other parts of the country, they may think 30 minutes traffic is not so much, but here in Oyo State, our slogan is that we will only make things better, and what we cannot make better we will not make worse.
And since our administration came into office, we have been doing our best to improve the lives of the people of Oyo State. The results are there for all to see. Data from the National Bureau of Statistics keeps showing that we are doing the right things here.
So, while some people get angry when the National Bureau of Statistics release their figures and begin to look for ways to discredit them, here in Oyo State, we look forward to the release of data because it helps us know how well we are doing compared to other states around us and also reveals what we need to tweak for even better results.
So far, we are happy with the results we are getting, and as I said in my State Broadcast earlier today, we can proudly say that we have made the lives of the people of Oyo State better than we met it 2 years ago. And come next year, we are sure that it will be even better than it was this year.
So, on this note, I hereby declare the Junction Improvements at Challenge and Felele commissioned to the glory of God and for the benefit of the good people of Oyo State.
~ Governor Seyi Makinde, May 29, 2021