Strong public, private partnership key for economy - Obaseki, Yahaya

The development of a strong public and private sector partnership is necessary for the acceleration of economic growth.

Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State and his Gombe counterpart, Inuwa Yahaya, said this on Thursday, at the 8th edition of the BusinessDay Good Governance/Public Service Award, held at the Abuja Continental Hotel, Abuja.

Obaseki, while commending BusinessDay Media Limited for organising the award and for the recognition given to them, said no business can thrive without strong cooperation with the government.

He said political powers should be used for the good of the citizens.

He said: “In Edo State, we use political power for the benefit of the citizens, as we make them understand that the role of government is to create an enabling environment for citizens to thrive.

“The capacity of the government is limited, and cannot do everything; that is why it is necessary to provide an enabling environment. Recognising the public sector is critical because these institutes take the country to greater levels.

“In Edo state, we have worked and done so much in our education sector, the Edo child today is globally competitive and far above the national average.”

Obaseki hinted at the strides made to promote the digital economy in the state.

“I will be the last governor to sign any document manually because our government system in Edo is digitalized,” he said.

On his part, Yahaya, who was represented by the deputy governor, Daniel Jattau, recalled how the state was earlier given recognition for ease of doing business

Also speaking at the event, Chris Ngige, minister of labour and employment, while expressing his gratitude for the award, pledged not to disappoint, especially on the basis the award was given, and to sustain the partnership with BusinessDay.

The minister equally charged other awardees to see the award as a call to do more in their respective states.

“I thank members of the BusinessDay for the 2022 conference award. We will not disappoint you after May 29, we will still work with you, I will not invoke ‘no work no pay’ after May 29. It is not me that will say it anymore. We are grateful, and as I said, more work for you in Edo and Gombe states,” he said.

The minister also charged medical practitioners to jettison the idea of travelling abroad to practice but should be more patriotic and serve in the country.

Frank Aigbogun, publisher of BusinessDay Media, in his welcome address, noted that despite the usual general cynical narrative, BusinessDay has been intentional about reporting the activities of the government and the public service particularly those who are serving the country indeed and in truth while doing the best they can do in their capacity.

He lauded the Edo and Gombe state governments for their efforts in improving their respective states in health, hospitality, infrastructure and other areas.

Aigbogun said that Nigeria is at a very important juncture in its history following its recently held elections with expectations that by May 29 the president-elect will be sworn in.

“Every Nigerian lives in a state so I appeal, let’s us build dream cities across Nigeria, cities that can become a place of attraction for people to come it doesn’t have to be just Lagos and a few other places,” he said.

He said every government has a great responsibility and urged that people hold governors accountable and demand more from them.

“We have to ensure that the revenue allocation formula is changed to reflect that change in thinking and expectation and let us do more in voting the right people across the country and I can assure you that Nigeria will be better for it,” he said.

Aigbogun said the award was given to the winners for their outstanding commitment to the assignments.

Other awardees include Galaxy Backbone,

National Information Technology Development Agency, Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate and the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria.