Ondo State Governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, has assured that
he will not leave unpaid salaries for his successor after his eight years in
office.
Governor Akeredolu said he had vowed not to owe workers’
salaries since the inception of his administration, adding that the Covid-19
pandemic affected the finance of the state badly and hindered regular payment
of salaries.
The Governor gave the assurance at the Ondo State Health
Summit, held at the International Culture and Event Centre (DOME) in Akure on
Monday.
He noted that although his predecessor Olusegun Mimiko left unpaid seven months’ salaries, the Governor promised that all salary arrears presently owed workers in the state will be paid.
“I am glad to inform you that we made giant strides in all
of these areas. Unfortunately, COVID-19 Pandemic came in the third year into
our First Term with its attendant economic crisis which has since put
governments across the world in financial straitjackets.
“Notwithstanding the precarious situation we inherited in
2017, you will recall that we had settled six of the seven months arrears of
salaries.
“We employed and have continued to employ qualified
personnel for our primary, secondary and tertiary health care facilities. We
equally brought in several containers of hospital equipment worth billions of
naira from the United States.
“Again, we established Teaching Hospital Complexes in both
Akure and Ondo city as well as established the Contributory Health Insurance
Commission among other achievements that are well known to most of our health
sector practitioners in the State.” The Governor said.
He said his administration is determined to sustain and
continually improve on efforts at delivering effective and qualitative health
care and social welfare services to the people.
The Governor stated that efforts are in top gear to
continually employ qualified personnel for primary, secondary and tertiary
health care facilities, stressing that shipments of several containers of
hospital equipment worth billions of naira had been brought into the state from
the United States.
He added: ” It is trite knowledge that no government
anywhere in the world can claim to have done or achieved it all, especially
within the context of a changing world and within the perspective of the theme
of this summit. It is for this and many other reasons that the decision to
focus on the challenges facing our health care delivery system as a government
is well thought out”
Governor Akeredolu also acknowledged that the need to
quickly reposition the health sector with utmost commitment and collaboration
is a task that must be done by all stakeholders, reassuring all medical and
health workers that health care remains a central focus of his administration’s
REDEEMED Agenda.
He said: “We will, therefore, spare no effort in promptly
attending to your welfare. The current issues relating to salary payment are
receiving our attention even at the national level. We are working hard to
ensure that our State is better funded and supported without delay in order to
deliver on our constitutional responsibility to our people.”
The Governor, however, commended the health workers for
their level of perseverance in the face of hardship and also appealed to them
that their welfare remains a top priority.
Akeredolu further stressed that his administration will not
vacillate in its determination to ensure that the people and residents of the
State are duly vaccinated against the deadly virus.
“To this end, we shall continue to enforce the deadline
already issued for everybody in this State to be vaccinated or forfeit the
privileges from the government such as the entrance to public places and access
to certain services, among others” he noted.
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