OGUN State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun has disclosed that his administration has in 43 months of its emergence, employed no fewer than 50,000 youths in the state through direct and indirect employment.
Amosun, speaking during a live radio programme tagged “Meet the Governor” on Paramount FM, Abeokuta, said the feat was made possible by the holistic approach of his administration to unemployment, including creating an enabling environment for business and industries to thrive.
Responding to questions on the spate of unemployment in the state, the governor expressed with concern that though close to one million youths are unemployed in the state, the trend is gradually reducing on a daily basis as about 46 industries with at least 100 million dollar investment have sprang up under his administration.
He added that some of them engage about 4,500 staff in a day through job-shifts.
The governor explained the rationale behind his administration’s interest in infrastructural development, arguing that he believes that it is a probable catalyst for other sectors for the state to achieve any meaningful socio-economic development.
Revealing that the state had invested thrice of what it had spent on infrastructural development on education, Amosun said “for me, those who are condemning what we are doing in the area of infrastructure are mischievous and myopic because even though we know that infrastructure is a catalyst for any meaningful socio-economic development in the state, our investment in education is thrice of what we have spent on infrastructural development.
“Whether you want to have schools, industries and agricultural farms, they must be accessible”, he stated.
He noted that misconceptions of people about his administration giving priority to infrastructural development was apparently because the roads and schools being constructed can be clearly seen whereas developments in education sector are intangible but unequivocally impactful on the people of the state.
On the cost of roads constructed by his administration, the governor said that the cost price of roads constructed in the state were the cheapest in the country, adding that none of the roads costs more than N300 million or N400 million per kilometre as against the claims by critics that he spends a billion Naira per kilometre.
The governor also revealed that insincerity and lack of foresight on the part of the previous administration as regard some of its projects were reasons why they have been abandoned.
“For instance, the cargo airport initiated by the previous administration, which was expected to be delivered 2006, was not delivered till the end of that administration.
“Ask them why was the cargo airport that was expected to be delivered in 2006 not ready till 2011 that administration left office. They are not truthful and sincere to the people. They are cheats. Ask them their real intention about the Olokola project and you will know they are mischievous. I say this with every sense of responsibility, but we are not here to steal, we do what we say and keep to own promises. We will not abandon our own projects. We have not abandoned the cargo project. The design is ready and we will do it God-willing,” he added.
He promised to continue to serve the people of the state selflessly and dutifully.