Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State on Thursday welcomed his Benue State counterpart, Governor Samuel Ortom in Ibadan, to commission the 65-kilometre MoniyaOjutaye-Ijaiye-Iseyin road, with an assurance that the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) will do well to surpass political and socio-economic feats of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Ortom, who was the special guest of honour at the event, commended Makinde for delivering massive road projects despite economic challenges and other odds that have befallen the nation.
Ortom, however, urged the Apc-led Federal Government to ensure security of lives and property and enhance justice in the land.
Governor Makinde, speaking at the ceremony held at the Akinyele local government secretariat, Moniya, Ibadan, noted that the Moniya- Ijaiye- Iseyin road would boost socio-economic development of the state and play a major role in engineering a modern Oyo State.
Meanwhile, Governor Makinde has launched the COVID-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus (CARES) programme targeted at 20,000 most vulnerable crop and poultry farmers in the 33 local governments and 35 local council development areas in the state affected by COVID-19.
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The smallholder farmers most of whom rely on on-farm activities for sustenance and were disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 crisis received an agricultural stimulus and resilience package composed of fertilizers, herbicides and climate-resilient seeds; these are high yielding, and high nutritional value varieties that will help farmers achieve good production and secure their incomes.
With government revenue severely impacted by the steep drop in oil prices due to the pandemic, the $750 million World Bank-funded CARES project allows state governments in Nigeria access funds for budgeted programmes of expenditure targeted at responding to the economic impact of COVID-19.
The CARES project aims to protect the livelihoods and food security of poor and vulnerable families and facilitate the recovery of local economic activities in all participating states in Nigeria.
In Oyo, the intervention for farmers was coordinated by the Oyo State Agribusiness Development Agency which assessed priority needs of the smallholders, including agricultural inputs and assets for production.
