Hours after the Supreme Court judgment granting financial autonomy to local governments, Oyo State governor, ‘Seyi Makinde, has called on states to focus more on productive activities that can boost internally generated revenues.
Governor Makinde said this on Thursday, July 11, while receiving the national executive members of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) led by its President, Chief (Dr) Chris Iziguzo, in his office at the secretariat, Agodi, Ibadan.
The governor, who was invested as the Grand Patron of NUJ, Oyo State Council, in recognition of his immense support to the body over the years, said Nigeria as a country blessed with arable land and good weather should not be importing food.
He said: “It’s a big shame for this country that we cannot feed ourselves. We should go back to those things that will allow us to bring confidence back to our people and to ensure that this country is back on the path of growth and economic progress.”
The governor added: “I will say that it (Supreme Court judgment) has nothing to do with us here in Oyo State because since I came in, we’ve conducted local government election twice, and for one day after we held the first election, there’s been no caretaker anywhere. We planned and gave allowance for election process to go on smoothly. So, it’s not a big problem for us.”
The governor, who lamented the inability of many of the local government areas to generate revenue outside of the federal allocation, said the focus of the country should be on how to increase productivity.
He said: “The issue we have is that we’re not producing enough, we’re not productive. Whatever it is that we’re sharing in Abuja, which is what this FAAC is all about, you want to have value for it, but our real problem is productivity.”
Governor Makinde also used the occasion to charge Nigerian journalists to always set aside personal and parochial interests but rather focus on overriding national and corporate interests while discharging their duties.
He remarked: “Whatever anyone wants to become, it is only possible when we have a country. So, all of us, including journalists, must always be guided by the overriding interests of developing our state and the country.
“Journalists must practise development journalism that stands for the interest of the generality of the people.”
Expressing appreciation for the honour done to him, Governor Makinde said it would enable him to reconnect with journalists.
Earlier in his remark, the NUJ President, Dr Iziguzo, commended Governor Makinde’s people-oriented projects across all sectors in the state, which he noted had impacted the internally generated revenue of the state positively.
He added that the recognition as grand patron was meant to identify and appreciate him as one of the leaders that have been impacting meaningfully on the lives of the people.
The NUJ president highlighted some of the governor’s achievements in the area of health, education, security and particularly road infrastructure and urban development.
He called on journalists to embrace development or solution based journalism rather than over playing challenges confronting the nation, stressing that other nations across the world have diverse challenges also but have attracted investments and people from other parts due to positive projection of their images to the rest of the world.
The event had in attendance the Chief of Staff, Otunba Segun Ogunwuyi and Commissioner for Information and Civic Orientation, Prince Dotun Oyelade.
On the entourage of the NUJ President were the Vice President South-West B Zone, Princess Ronke Afebioye-Samo; National Financial Secretary, Comrade Samuel Dada; National Trustee Member, B Zone, Comrade Adebayo Akamo; Zonal Secretary, South-West, Abdulrazak Alege and the NUJ Chairman Oyo State chapter, Ademola Babalola.
