Oyo State Governor, ‘Seyi Makinde, has declared that the launch of the Oyo State African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) sub-national implementation strategy will enhance the administration’s agenda for the sustainable development of the state.
The governor also said that the state’s vision of unlocking prosperity, creating employment and boosting trade volume is well on course with the launch.
According to the governor, his administration became emboldened to engage in the agreement given the sheer size and population of the state and the huge investments it has made on infrastructure development.
He noted that the agreement would culminate into massive employment creation, opportunities for entrepreneurs and business owners and boosting of trade volumes.
Governor Makinde, who spoke during a post-engagement meeting on the AfCFTA implementation, held at the Local Government Service Commission Training School, Secretariat, Agodi, Ibadan, stated that his government would like to be remembered as one that put in place institutions and structures that would enable the state’s smooth transition into the future.
The governor also said that his administration has not only been investing in rebuilding infrastructure and implementing policies that improve the standard of living of Oyo State residents for today, it has also saved about $6 million in the Sovereign Wealth Fund it floated some months ago with a focus on the future of the state.
Noting that knowledge and productivity must be combined with natural resources to take any state or country out of poverty, the governor hailed the state’s venture into AfCFTA as the first sub-national, saying it formed part of institutional initiatives that will shape the future of the state.
He added that the building of several landmark infrastructure, including the ongoing upgrading of the Ibadan Airport to international standard and the implementation of key policies, which encourage economic expansion, meant that his administration’s vision for sustainable development is on its way to fruition.
The governor appreciated the AfCFTA technical working group led by his Special Adviser on AfCFTA and International Trade, Ms Neo Theodore Tlhaselo, saying: “Let me say thank you to the team and the AfCFTA. You have done really well on behalf of our state and your thoughts and diligence, dedication will not go unrewarded.
“I have had people say to me, ‘oh, thank you, we have seen that the roads within Ibadan are quite better now. We have also seen the road between Moniya and Iseyin; Oyo and Iseyin and all over the state and all that.’
“Some people will come to me and say, ‘ah, thank you, our schools are getting facilities. People will say, oh, look, we have employed about 15,000 teachers, you know.’ They say we have employed a lot of health workers. And that the people that were sent out of the civil service, we reviewed their cases and they have been brought back.
“Our infrastructure is becoming top-notch; we are upgrading the airport and we have put facilities for storage and dispensing of aviation fuel in there. Wide-bodied aircraft can now land at the airport.
“Well, those are good efforts but, as an administration, we don’t want to be remembered for putting infrastructure and all of these things in place. Those things should come naturally. We want to be remembered as an administration for the institutions that we are building, which will ensure good governance and sustainable development in Oyo State well beyond the tenure of this administration.
“That is what I would like to be remembered for, and that is where all our efforts will be concentrated.”
The governor added, “I want to situate the efforts of Oyo State placing itself right in the middle of the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement.
“We have seen things happen here. We know that in the African Growth and Opportunity Act, Nigeria missed out, but for the AfCFTA, thankfully, sub-nationals are able to run their own course.
“That is why Oyo State said, ‘look, we’re not going to wait for the Federal Government, since the agreement itself gave an allowance for us as a sub-national to take our own destiny in our hands,’ and that’s exactly what we have done in Oyo State.
“Natural resources alone will not take anybody out of poverty. They have to be backed by knowledge and productivity. You have to be productive. And, after being productive, you need a channel to ensure that you can earn foreign exchange for all those efforts. Oyo State is well on that path.”
Speaking further, the governor stated that Oyo State has areas of competitive advantage, which it will go after in its implementation of the AfCFTA strategy, noting that if its teeming youths can find gainful employment and it is able to earn foreign exchange following its investment in infrastructure development, then it would be able to move its people from poverty to prosperity in line with the vision of the administration.
“So, we have from day one, opportunities that we will go after. And if we can have our youths, our graduates coming out to be gainfully employed, we will have gone a long way in solving some of the poverty issues that we have faced.
“So, we want to take the opportunity to reach out first to neighbouring countries — West and Central Africa, and the rest of Africa. In our airport, we recently landed a wide-bodied A330. It is exactly the same aircraft that Virgin Atlantic uses to service their Lagos-London route. So, we can go anywhere in the world from Ibadan airport.
“We have done all the hard work. So, our vision for sustainable development of our state is well on the way. We believe that being part of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement as a sub-national and the first sub-national on the continent of Africa to achieve that, will give us access to great economic opportunities.”
Earlier in her welcome address, the Special Adviser to the Governor on AfCFTA and International Trade, Ms Tlhaselo, appreciated the governor for his effort in making Oyo State the first sub-national, not just in Nigeria, but in the entire African continent, to sign on to the agreement.
She stressed that the governor’s visionary leadership has led to massive economic development in the state.
She explained that the post-launch engagement is a statutory administrative process that follows the launch of the implementation strategy, which pronounced Oyo State as a party to the AfCFTA to engage within the African continent on the agreement’s framework.
Tlhaselo added that the implementation strategy is a legal instrument that would allow Oyo State to engage with other states globally in trading with access to bilateral relations and international trade agreements, thereby positioning it as an able partner to many African countries.
The event had in attendance, the Chief of Staff, Otunba Segun Ogunwuyi; the Head of Service, Mrs Olubunmi Oni, mni; Deputy Chief of Staff, Honourable Kazeem Adeniyi Bibire; Senior Executive Assistant to the Governor on General Duties, Chief Bayo Lawal; and Director-General, Oyo State Public Private Partnership Agency, Hon. Tilewa Folami, among other dignitaries.
