Ogun State, Dapo Abiodun has said that citizens are not supposed to live in fear in their country or state, as it would have an adverse effect on the economy of the count.
The Ogun governor state said that there is the need to boost the level of security on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, which is one of the most used highways in the country.
Mr. Abiodun said this over the weekend while speaking with State House correspondents after the Presidential Policy Retreat at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
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He said “The minute people begin to live in fear, the minute people begin to have that foreboding fear that something may happen their way, it would kill the economy of the state and the country.
“I mentioned to them (at the retreat) that only last night (Wednesday) there was a kidnap situation on Lagos-Ibadan expressway, and in the morning of Thursday on my way to this conference, there was an attempt to kidnap four people, they kidnapped two and two escaped.
“That Lagos-Ibadan expressway is the busiest highway in this country, not only that it is so important to the economy of my state, Lagos State and the entire country.
“How do we say we are creating an enabling environment for a public-private partnership when people cannot move freely from Lagos-to Ogun hinterland without the fear of being kidnapped.
“We spoke about road infrastructure, different funding mechanism in agriculture and we spoke about healthcare. There was the emphasis that states should take ownership of healthcare and agriculture.
“The former Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Hailemariam Desalegn Boshe shared with us the Ethiopian’s model which to us was a complete contrast of the Brazilian model.
“The Brazilian’s model encouraged farm settlements but the Ethiopian model was a complete contrast to the Brazilian model. The Ethiopian model was more like the Asian model where you encourage small farmers, youth and graduates, give them ownership of farms and you have what it’s called farmers trainees.
“It was such an insightful opportunity. I think that the conclusions of the last forty-eight hours should be adopted (I don’t see any reason why it should not be adopted) because the President recapped everything and gave out commitment to ensuring the implementation.
“Another thing is this idea of the delivery unit. We in Ogun State have begun a lot of reforms part of its is setting up of Ogun State investment office, a PPP.
” These are things that indeed give comfort to the private sector that you are ready for business. But beyond having these laudable ideas and trying to implement them you must ensure that you are able to measure the performances.
“There is what we call the Global Government Delivery Unit. But today what I am taking away from here is that we should not only have government delivery unit but agriculture delivery unit, healthcare, infrastructure delivery unit headed by someone who is very competent either at ministerial level at the federal or at the state level, at the Commissioner level who would report to the Commander-In-Chief or governor. This way you will be able to measure your efforts and implementation.”
