By Mike Odiakose, Abuja

Oyo State Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters, Hon. Ademola Ojo, has said that local governments in the state have built several landmark infrastructure, health and educational facilities in the last two years of Governor ‘Seyi Makinde’s second term of office.

The Commissioner added that despite misconceptions that councils in the state have not done much, they have, indeed, collaborated with the state government to take part in the building of key projects across the 33 local government areas.

According to a statement signed by Dr Sulaimon Olanrewaju, Special Adviser (Media) to Oyo State Governor, Ojo stated this during the Omituntun 2.

This was as he noted that the 33 Local Governments of Oyo State have, on an annual basis, been sponsoring a total of 429 indigent students in various higher institutions in the state and outside.

He noted that the councils sponsor six students each to the Senator Abiola Ajimobi Technical University; five students each to study Nursing, Community Nursing and Midwifery as well as another two students per council to a technical college.

He added that each of the councils also sponsor five youths under the Youth Entrepreneurs in Agribusiness Programme (YEAP) to study different areas of agribusiness in Nasarawa State and School of Forestry.

According to Ojo, the constitutional provision of the State-Local Government Joint Account means that the state is saddled with the responsibility of overseeing the deployment of resources for projects, duties and responsibilities across councils.

He declared that Governor Makinde has ensured that councils’ resources are judiciously spent for the benefits of residents of the state.

Mentioning some of the key projects undertaken by councils in the state, Ojo listed the rebuilding of the collapsed Olodo Bridge in Egbeda Local Government, the construction of the Farmers’ Market in Akinyele Local Government, the construction of the ultramodern Olubadan Palace and the ongoing upgrading of 66 Primary Healthcare Centres, among others.

Ojo added that the rehabilitation of 14km Eruwa-Maya Road, the limited rehabilitation of 62km Igboora-Igangan-Elekookan-Iganna Road, the rehabilitation of Oremeji-Agugu Express-Oremeji-Babanla Church Road in Ona Ara Local Government and the construction of Primary Healthcare Centres in Tech-U and LAUTECH Iseyin, among others, are also parts of the projects executed by local governments.

Ojo declared that his Ministry coordinates the affairs of the 33 local governments and the LCDAs and also manages their finances, adding that the councils also cater to the welfare of elected and appointed local government officials, civil servants and pensioners in the Local Government Service Commission and the traditional institution in each of the councils through payment of salaries, pensions, gratuities and allowances.

He said: “The Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters is saddled with the responsibility of managing and coordinating the affairs of the 33 local governments in Oyo State.

“That is basically what we do. In managing them like that, the most important thing is that we have to manage their finances. A lot of people outside don’t really understand the relationship between the state government and the local government in terms of finances.

“This is a constitutional matter. The 1999 constitution (as amended) already states it. The State-Local Government Joint Allocation Committee manages funds from the federation account. It is between the state and the local governments. And, the state has been saddled with the responsibility of disbursement.

“The governor of the state is always the chairman of that committee. So, he has the responsibility of taking decisions on how to manage the allocation coming from the federation account.

“All the local governments already know what is expected of them. They have their approval limits and all that.

“The local governments in Oyo State have recorded a lot of achievements but it’s a joint thing between the state and the local government areas. There are many projects that have been done by the local governments.

The issue is that the local government will request that they want to do projects, but because their approval limit is not up to that project cost, they have to bring it to the state.

“Since the money has to be taken from JAAC, they have to bring it here. That is the procedure that we operate by. And when they bring it here, the Engineering Consultant will take a look at it and come to a figure, which will then be approved by the governor before the project will start.

“During the governor’s first term, we reconstructed the burnt Akesan Market. Under normal circumstances, Oyo East Local Government’s allocation could not do the project if it was not done jointly.

“In Egbeda, the local government constructed the double box culverts and concrete drainage on Ogundipe River and Kumapayi as well as the Olodo Bridge. You know what the Olodo Bridge has been able to do to ease the traffic in Ibadanland.

“Also in Egbeda, asphalt tarring of roads in Alarere community leading to the palace of the late Olubadan, Senator Lekan Balogun was done by the council. Those that know that area would see the road network.

“In each of the local government areas, the achievements of councils stand as evidence but many people might not know who did what, which is why they have continued to misconstrue the council’s efforts. SUBEB is building primary schools, Primary Health Centres are being renovated and upgraded across the state and all these are linked to the local governments.

“Currently, they are upgrading 66 Primary Healthcare Centres across the state. We just paid for that.”
Apart from physical projects, the Commissioner maintained that local governments in the state have also been making huge contributions in the area of education and human capital development through the provision of full scholarships to students of Oyo State extraction.

He said: “We have a partnership arrangement between the local government and the Senator Abiola Ajimobi Technical University. Each local government sponsors six indigent students on full scholarship every session. The scholarship for this new session was approved by the governor a few days ago.

“We always receive nominations from all the local governments; there is no interference from the state. The local governments are expected to nominate the six students.

“We also have full scholarships for five indigent students from each local government to study at the College of Nursing and Midwifery on a yearly basis. Another is that the local governments sponsor three students each to a technical college.

“So, when you look at it, we are sponsoring 13 students from each local government per year. If you quantify that, you will know how much we are spending on these students from all the 33 local government areas every year.

“We have also gotten involved in training youths from the 33 local governments for agribusiness and agriculture. There are like 15 per local government area, who will go to Nasarawa and another 15 per local government who will go to the School of Forestry. They are up to like four batches. This is why His Excellency is always saying that he has enough trained hands that will take care of all the agricultural developments that the state government is working on.

“At the traditional level, we have been able to appoint holders of chieftaincies. Between 2023 and now, we have done a lot of things. We have installed and organised coronation ceremonies for the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Alaafin of Oyo, Soun of Ogbomoso, Aseyin of Iseyin, Eleruwa of Eruwaland and so on. This is unprecedented.

“This shows that the governor is in full support of the traditional institution in Oyo State. And, as I have said, if the traditional institution is put in proper perspective, that means the issue of threats at the local government level and the grassroots level will be reduced. They will take care of their domains.”

He added that his Ministry is also in charge of training local government workers and paying the remunerations of local government workers, retirees and political functionaries as well as the traditional institution.

The Commissioner attended the briefing with the Coordinating Director of the Ministry, Mr. Oladotun Ajibola; Director of Local Government Affairs, Mrs. O.T. Akanji; Director of Finance and Accounts, Mr. Marvelous Odesina; Director of Admin and Supplies, Mrs. Bola Ayeni and the Deputy Director, Inspectorate, Mrs. Adesumbo Bolaji.
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