An Ibadan-born businessman and founder of ‘Oyo Si Maa Dun’ Foundation, Mr. Abisoye Fagade, has lamented the inability of successive administrations in Oyo state to fully tap into the numerous socioeconomic opportunities available to the state on account of its geographical location as having International borders and many local boundaries which it shares with Benin Republic and three states in Nigeria.
Speaking with a cross section of news hunters in Ibadan on Wednesday, Fagade frowned at the lip service being paid to the development of key sectors of the economy by governors who have had to rule the state at one time or the other.
According to him, there is no sane mind who would argue the fact that Oyo state is blessed with numerous resources which have either not been tapped or fully tapped and this keeping putting us at the mercy of handouts coming from the federal government every month.
“Our thought was that any governor coming after late Sen. Abiola Ajimobi would take a cue from the ugly experience of 2015 when Oyo state government found it extremely difficult to pay workers salaries due to cash crunch necessitated by global economic meltdown. Nigeria at that time was badly affected because we had always run a monolithic economy which was crude oil sales-dependent. Meanwhile, some states such as Lagos and Ogun in the south west were able to weather the storm because they could fall back on resources coming from International trade opportunities.
“Today the IGR of Ogun state is good enough to sustain it in any case of dearth of federal allocation from Abuja and you may want to find out how the Gateway state has been able to achieve this feat. Essentially, they fully explore the opportunities available to them through the land borders they share with Benin Republic as well as closeness to Lagos and Ondo states.
“Details of how they do it cannot be shared here but I can say it unequivocally that Oyo can also boast of this same opportunities. The question is; why has it been difficult for successive administrations to look at this direction?
“Just last week, I attracted a good population of eminent personalities to Ibadan for the final burial programme of my late mom. Most of the VIPs came from within and outside the country and a good number of them later asked me questions about what escuse the previous governors and the current helmsman had not to develop the economy of the state to rank with the best in the country on account of opportunities which they saw here. Most of these people know what Oke-Ogun axis alone can offer the state in terms of improved economy if resources available there are properly harnessed.
“Some of these people could not understand why the state government failed to partner federal government and its agencies especially the Nigeria Customs Service in the area of making places like Okerete, Saki, Igbeti, Kisi and Ilesa-Ibaruba hubs of international trade. It has also been established that the Oke-Ogun axis of the state would not have had to contend with the challenges of insecurity if the youths and other people of productive age therein had been fully assisted to establish themselves in Agricbusiness and commerce.
“And looking at it from another angle, Ibadan is gradually becoming uncontrollable due to influx of people from axis of the state and beyond who abandon their natural settlement in search of better life and comfort since governments at both the federal and state level have done little or nothing to develop their land. This accounts for why a lot of unplanned settlements are springing up in and around Ibadan everyday with few available infrastructure being over stretched.” Fagade added.
