We’ll extract value from moribund assets, abandoned projects – Makinde

Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State has said that his administration would recover and extract value from all moribund government assets and abandoned projects in the state.

Makinde noted that the government was also determined to expand the state’s economy saying “our decision is based on the available data and a little bit of common sense.”

The governor stated this at the flag-off of the Agribusiness Industrial Hub at Fashola in Oyo at the weekend. According to him, Oyo State has the arable land size and the climatic condition to support all types of agribusinesses and with the state’s comparative advantage in agriculture, the government is ready to open it up to the business world.

He said: “We knew that if we signal to the investing community through our policies and policy implementation that we are open for business, they will come to us.

“When we came into office, we were determined to rebuild the economy of Oyo State. We chose to use our areas of comparative and competitive advantage to drive the growth and this is what dictated our choice of agribusiness as one of the drivers.

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“On our way here, I saw the old houses that were refurbished around 2009 or 2010, during former Governor Akala’s administration. From the available records to me, it was the Paris Club refund that was spent on the building and it was a lot of money in billions but it did not deliver the desired result.

“The houses are there though little out of them were refurbished. Is there electricity? How about the road from Oyo to Iseyin? And who are the people that are living in the building today? No records. So, we set up and gave life to a new agency, the Oyo State Agribusiness Development Agency (OYSADA).”

The governor, however, promised to push for the flag-off of Iseyin-Oyo road within the next eight weeks, adding that he had hoped to fast-track the process but for the huge bill submitted by the contractor.

He said the contract was already thrown open for competitive bidding, adding that the process would soon be completed and the contract be awarded.