The Governor of the State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola has reassured
the citizens of the state of his government's commitment to position the
state towards socio-economic and political advancement and prosperity.
Governor Aregbesola said the central point of his administration's
agenda is to steer the affairs of the state in a right direction that
will continuously bring genuine succor and dividends of democracy to the
good people of the state, saying he is determined to place the state to
a prosperous economic vantage that has never known in history.
Aregbesola made the statement while addressing people at a conference
organized in honour of a veteran activist, Professor Biodun Jeyifo at
Conference Centre, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, State of Osun.
Governor Aregbesola who flayed at the way and manner at which one of a
section of the press reported his statement where he was quoted to have
said he wanted to apply the civil service rule against some of the state
health workers, admonished journalists to always verify and scrutinize
any information before it being reported.
Aregbesola also frowned at the industrial action embarked upon by a
section of the state health workers, saying their action has caused
unnecessary damages and irreparable loss to the sector.
He said "It is unfortunate that a section of media portrayed Osun as a
failed state and that we were unable to pay salaries but I challenged
whoever sponsors that to come out with fact. We are the only state at the
best of time that implemented 13 month salary across the length and
breath of civil service.
"In the first instance not all doctors in the state are on strike. It is
only a section of about 200 doctors that resident in Ladoke Akintola
University Teaching Hospital and some doctors at the state hospital that
refused to work.
" All the doctors at our primary healthcare centre at the local level
are fully operational and other health workers in all our health
facilities both primary and secondary are working.
"All the consultants in our secondary health facilities are on duty.
"Before it became practically impossible for us to meet our salaries
obligations to our workers, we invited the workers to tell them that in sixty days
time the state might not be able to pay salaries and we later to be
paying inaccordance with whatever we receives as we have been doing.
"So, since July 2013 our allocation has been short by N2billion. But
since then the state has been coping based on our initiative to raise
the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) until last year when the
shortfall started to be on a free fall which later snowballed into the
present economic situation.
He call called on the striking health practitioners to jettison their
differences with government in the interest of the state as well as the
people.
Governor Aregbesola who further lamented over the continued dwindling
revenues to the state said the time has come for everybody to be more
innovative, productive and creative.
According to him, unless we see the need to work harder and remain
productive individually and collectively by contributing our quota
through tax payment for the development of our state, there is no other
option to avert this economic menace.
He said Nigerians must equally embrace, resuscitate and explore the
potentials embedded in the long-abandoned agriculture, solid mineral
resources and industrialization.
Aregbesola added, "the solution to this abnormal economy is for us to be
concerned and interested in production. We must be creative, innovative
and as well ready to work and work.
"The era of free crude oil has gone and there is no sign of it coming
back again, while the season of free money from the Federation Accounts
has also gone.
"Agricultural production is the best solution to this economic
insurgency and I implore all the intellectuals to join others to ensure
that the nation is rescued from this menace.
"We must refocus our attention to enhancing the productivity of Nigerian
people in a way that we no longer depend on a commodity that has
already faded out.
"To avoid being remained in a huge economic mess which the reality of
the current economic situation has posed on us, we must as urgently as
possible genuinely diversify our economy in consonance with the present
economic reality for the greater socio-political and economic
development of our state.
"All hands must be on deck to develop our state at this period of economic hardship.
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