Outgoing Osun Governor Gboyega Oyetola has bid the state
farewell as his four-year tenure ends November 27, 2022.
In a farewell message released late Saturday, Oyetola said
he would be stepping aside as a law-abiding citizen, adding that the outcome of
the Osun governorship election that produced Ademola Adeleke was still being
challenged in court.
Oyetola also said he looked forward to continue governing
Osun again, as he anticipated victory from court.
Read the full speech of Oyetola’s farewell message:
“My Dear Good People of Osun,
“As I step aside today (Sunday) following the conclusion of
the four-year tenure you freely gave me, I thank God and I thank you for your
support, cooperation and prayers over the years.
“I recall how the journey began four years ago; how by your
belief in me and your conviction in the plans and programmes of our Party, you
exercised your right to vote for me.
“Motivated by God’s promise, my conviction, we promised that
we would serve you with steady heart and hands. We promised that we would hit
the ground running once we assume office. We gave our words that we would put
you first and run a people-centred government. We pledged to uphold the best
ideals befitting of an Omoluabi.
“As we draw the curtain on this first tenure, we are
convinced that we neither reneged on our promises nor disappointed you. We kept
faith with you and maintained fidelity with our electoral promises. It was our
wish to continue to serve you but we are constrained by the outcome of the July
16 governorship election which we are already challenging in court.
“As a law-abiding citizen and government, we are stepping
aside to allow the law take its course.
“However, we look forward to continue to serve you in no
distant future. We have absolute trust in God that we shall be back soon, as we
have implicit trust and confidence in the judiciary to do justice in the case
before it.
“We are confident that this period of temporary political
eclipse shall pass. The sun shall shine again, brighter and warmer and the
sustainable development and participatory governance that we enthroned, which
have been applauded by local and international organisations, shall be restored
and put on a surer and better footing.
“There can be no substitute to people-oriented and
development savvy governance in a democracy. The tap roots of the unprecedented
good governance, inclusive and participatory governance that we introduced,
which delivered massive equitable projects and programmes are too strong to be
uprooted.
“My Dear good people of Osun, I cannot thank you enough for
not only supporting us throughout our tenure but for also standing by us even
after the outcome of the July 16 election. Your goodwill encouraged us to
continue with all our projects till the last day.
“Let me reiterate here that in this first tenure, we were
able to take care of the fears and evil of fiscal indiscipline and lack of
implementation, which hamper projects and services in the nation’s public
service. This can be seen in the myriad of people-centred and masses-focused
projects we delivered for the use of the people of the dtate in this first
term.
“We proved that infrastructure and economic development are
doable in a depressed economy and that stagnated development in a struggling
economy is a product of intellectual laziness, dearth of creativity, shortage
of innovation and lack of political will.
“The laudable and people-centred projects we were able to
deliver include the feeding of 30,000 vulnerable persons in Osun on a monthly
basis through the Osun Food Support Scheme and financial support for the aged
and widows; opening up of the Mining sector that attracted big investors to the
state; reforming of the educational sector, including the recruitment of 2,500
teachers; review of the single school uniform regime among others in line with
the demand of the people; renovation of school buildings, distribution of
educational materials to our pupils, provision of free education and free meals
to them as well as training and re-training of our teachers to provide quality
education for our children to enhance their performance as leaders of tomorrow.
“In order to increase access to quality and equitable
education at all levels with a view to empowering Osun citizens to realise
their full potential, we upgraded the existing Osun State College of Education,
Ilesa to a full-fledged Iniversity of Ilesa, with a world-class funding
strategies that would not exert unnecessary pressure on the finances of the
state; fixing of the State Specialist Hospital, Asubiaro and equipping same
with state-of-the-art equipment, where we constructed120-bed ward and 30 units
of Doctor’s Quarters; rehabilitation of the Ejigbo and Ifetedo General
Hospitals; we also instituted the Osun Health Insurance Scheme to deliver
affordable healthcare to our workers while offering free health services to the
vulnerable under the scheme; revitalisation of 332 Primary Health Centres – one
per ward across the state.
“We constructed,
reconstructed and rehabilitated rural and township roads to open up our rural
areas, help our farmers to transport their produce to the market and generally
bring equitable development to our state. Apart from the Olaiya Flyover, which
is an architectural masterpiece, a paragon of aesthetics and a socioeconomic
signature on the economic transformation captured by the Development Agenda we
exchanged for the mandate of our people, other major roads that were touched by
our administration are: Ada-Igbajo road, Osogbo-Kelebe-Iragbiji road, and
Akindeko-Awosuru link road via Adejumo Street with Oremeji spur, Akinlade
Street, Adewale Street with loop to WAEC road all in Osogbo; Army Barack
(Ede)-Ara-Ejigbo township road, Moro-Yakoyo-Ipetumodu-Asipa-Ife/Ibadan
Expressway Junction Road and Ereja Roundabout-Ereguru-Isaare-Oke Oye-Sabo
(Irojo)-Ilesa/Akure Expressway Junction.
“Others are: Lawyer Atanda Road, Iwo; Ila-Arandun-Kwara
Boundary Road; Nike Gallery – Ido – Osun Township airport with palace spur;
Ikirun – Eko-Ende Road; the access road to Fountain University, Osogbo; Osogbo
(Lameco)-Okinni-Ilobu – Ifon Osun Market with Spur to Olobu’s Palace;
Osogbo/Ilobu-Akari-Erin Osun Roundabout on Osun LCDA Junction; Post
Office-Ayetoro – Jamodo – Ifon Palace – Janta Ifon Osun; Isale-Asa-Oke Aree
road, Iree, as well as Ikire township roads among other interventions. There
are however a few other roads that are still on-going, while some are nearing
completion. Among these roads are: Ife Township Roads; Inisa Road and
Osogbo-Iwo Road among others. We did all these because fixing our State’s
infrastructure deficit is a critical item on our Development Agenda. This is
because no economy can truly succeed without adequate infrastructure to make
life easy for residents and businesses.
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