Full Text: Obaseki address Edo residents in final speech as Governor
Outgoing Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, delivered his final address to residents of the South-South state.
According to reports, Senator Monday Okpebholo and Dennis Idahosa are set to be sworn in today as the new Governor and Deputy Governor, respectively.
Read Obaseki’s finally speech below:
My dear good people of Edo State. As the curtain draws to a close on my two terms as governor of Edo State, I’m extremely grateful to God Almighty and the good people of Edo State for this divine opportunity to serve. Even though the task of governing Edo State has been a daunting one, I cannot thank God enough for giving me the vision, health and courage to achieve the monumental transformation of our dear state. When I assumed office as governor of Edo State in 2016, we were confronted with a choice of either to continue with the old order of administering the state or to undertake a new trajectory to grow and develop our state. We chose the latter pathway, even though we were aware of the dangers associated with such a choice. Today, the extent and range of reforms in infrastructure, the economy, building the institutions of state and service improvement to citizens are proof of the fact that though we took a road less traveled, we have indeed made a doe a leading state in Nigeria. Let me at this juncture So thank the good people of Edo State for standing firmly behind our government, even as we embarked on a very radical transformation of governance and politics in a manner they had never anticipated. When we came into office in 2016, it was clear that the social, economic and political structures of Edo State were weak and needed to be fixed.
Godwin Obaseki
However, it was not until we commenced the process of reform that it became clear that what was required was an entire systems reset. A key priority for us was to rebuild the institutions of state, so that we can return a dough to its past glory. To do so, we needed to build strong institutions, not strong men or godfathers. Over the last eight years, we have undertaken a total overhaul of how government works in Edo. Today, I’m very proud that Edo parades Nigeria’s most advanced public service. Our investments in human capital development, the working environment, digitisation and institutional reforms have resulted in a civil service that is nimble, fast, responsive, future focused, private sector facing and technologically compliant. We now recruit staff on merit, and our workers are constantly upskilled and are well motivated to deliver best in class service to the citizens of Edo State and investors. We invested in building a state of the art secretariat complex and other hubs. We built the John Odigie-oyegun. Public Service Academy and other such institutions that will ensure that the gains made are sustained and our workers are motivated to perform optimally. We ensured that they receive the highest minimum wage in Nigeria. That is before the recent increase across some states and we provide all other incentives to boost performance.
One of our greatest legacies is reclaiming governance and land administration from non-state actors, who had, in the past, undermined the progress and development of our dear state. We dislodged them from land administration and also from revenue collection by deploying technology, and we cut red tape and other corrupt practices. With these steps, law and order was reinstated in Edo, thereby creating the enabling conditions to attract investments and engender growth. In the last eight years, we have significantly improved infrastructure across the length and breadth of Edo State. We built over 850km of state roads across all local governments in the state. We now generate almost 1000MW of electricity daily in the state. And with our new electricity law, we now have an electricity market which will attract more investors in the area of digital infrastructure. Edo State clearly leads in Nigeria with a network of almost 2500km of fibre optic cables across the state. In education. Edo State is now recognized as a pacesetter in Africa and ranks with a few other countries in Africa. Over 15,000 teachers have been trained to use technology to teach almost 400,000 children in our public basic school system. Our children in Edo are now able to compete with their peers in Europe and Asia in basic literacy and numeracy, thus positioning them to be globally competitive. This, in my view, is my greatest legacy.
These reforms in education are being replicated across other tiers of educational system, thereby ensuring that we sustain the gains which we have made. We have prioritized technical and vocational education and training Tibet and have rebuilt our technical schools to train the human capacity in vocational disciplines for the industrialization of Edo. My dear citizens of Edo. I am leaving office fulfilled that we have removed the shame and stigma of human trafficking and irregular migration from our land, and I pray that with the massive improvements which we have made in education and vocational training, our young ones will never again be trolleyed overseas for menial jobs and treated like slaves again. We are very proud of our achievements in health care, where we have rebuilt our primary health care network using technology, and we have improved the supervision and monitoring of health facilities in our state. We rebuilt the State School of Nursing Sciences and the school for Health technology to provide the skilled manpower which we require to ensure quality care in our state. The Edo Health Insurance Scheme has the second largest coverage in Nigeria, with over 300,000 subscribers only after three years in operation. This has improved access to health care. The rebuilt 270 bed Stella Obasanjo Specialist Hospital will be a referral health centre for the South-South region of Nigeria. The progress which we have made during my tenure in office was hinged on security and our ability as a government to ensure the safety of lives and property.
We evolved a community led security network that worked closely with federal government agencies to ensure that we have a safe and conducive environment for businesses to thrive. This system is supported by a state of the art command and control centre, which receives intelligence and incidences from communities and feeds relevant response teams for quick action. The system has been responsible for the relative peace in our state, thus making a Doe one of the most peaceful states in South South Nigeria. We started a revolution in agriculture in Edo State where under the Edo State Oil Palm program, we have allocated over 120 000 hectares of land for oil palm estate development. About 40 000 hectares of this land have been cultivated. With this, and the strides which we have made in the cultivation of cassava as a feedstock for the two ethanol plants in Edo State. We have an assured future as Nigeria’s preeminent palm oil and cassava producing state. We have also utilized our endowments as an oil and gas producing state to become a leader in the petrochemical sector. We have attracted two modular refineries, including the Ido Refinery and Petrochemical Company, which operates the 6000 barrels per day refinery, and the DuPont Energy Park, which operates an integrated energy facility including a 5000 barrels per day modular refinery.
In addition to investments in hydrocarbons, we have also attracted billions of dollars into manufacturing of items like ceramics, tiles, glass, iron and steel, wood and cement, etc.. One of the main reasons why I contested elections in 2016 was my concern for the youth of Edo, who were losing hope and so traveling out as the only way to hope. I am so glad that we have also invested in making our youth globally competitive, by opening up opportunities in technology and the creative sector for them to thrive. We set up a new jobs. The Victor Uwaifo Creative Hub, Edo Tech Park and Indore Innovates, which has upskilled our youths in technology and the creative sector for global opportunities. We also tackled irregular migration and human trafficking by setting up a strong institutional mechanism to tackle the root causes of this menace, while providing support for the reintegration of over 6000 returnees. Today, I can confidently say that we have exceeded the 200,000 jobs which I promised when I campaigned in 2016. We have evidence that our efforts to reposition a Doe from a civil service state to a state that is propelled by production has been a huge success. Our economy has grown from 10 billion when I took over office to over 25 billion today. Our internally generated revenue IGR has will peak at 85 billion by December this year.
All these are results of the groundwork we did to stimulate economic activities by attracting investments into the various sectors of the state’s economy. Across agriculture, energy, manufacturing, real estate, retail and technology. We have attracted Investments that has transformed our state into an oasis of hope. As I leave office. I am leaving behind something which I wasn’t fortunate to inherit. And this is a plan which will serve as a compass for the future. We have developed the Edo State Regional Development and the Benin City Development Master Plans, which will ensure that we have a directional guide on which Edo states growth trajectory for the next 30 years will be based. We believe that this compass will ensure the sustenance of the developmental strides which we have recorded in the last eight years. My dear citizens of Edo State, we have indeed come a long way as a state and have crossed the Rubicon of progress. Our children are assured of a future of opportunities and our youths can now see hope. As I come to the end of my tenure in office and reflect on the journey these last eight years, there is sufficient evidence to show the remarkable progress which we have made by working together with all those who mean well for our state and country.
We have demonstrated that it is possible to change the circumstances of our state. Unfortunately, recent events and the conduct of certain elements in our democratic space have shown us that the light which democracy and good governance beams can be dimmed. However, it can only be for a while. I fervently believe that any attempt to foist illegality and injustice on a democratic system cannot endure, because the wish of the majority will always prevail. So, my dear people of Edo State, let us be hopeful and stay strong. All these achievements which I have enumerated and the progress we have made in the last eight years, will not have been possible without the support which I received from a wide range of patriotic sons and daughters of Edo State, both at home and in the diaspora. It would not have been possible without the support of our development partners, clerics and our religious leaders who prayed for us ceaselessly. It would not have been possible without the blessings of our traditional rulers. Without the support of various youth and women’s groups, market associations and our political party. I thank all of you. I thank members of the Obarski family. The arrow family, the vinegar family, and the BW and several others. Too many to mention. I thank you immensely and God bless you. Long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria! Long live Edo State!
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