Makinde, Oyo monarchs laud FG over special public works programme

Fri, Jul 17, 2020

By publisher

3 MIN READ

Gov. Seyi Makinde of Oyo State and some prominent traditional rulers in the state have commended the Federal Government over its planned creation of 1,000 jobs in each of the 774 local government areas in Nigeria.
They gave the commendation at the inauguration of the State Extended Special Public Works Selection Committee, held at the Federal Secretariat Hall on Friday in Ibadan.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the committee, headed by Mr Opeyemi Salami, was expected to select 33,000 indigent and itinerant workers in all the 33 local governments of the state.
Makinde, represented by his Executive Assistant on Administration, Mr Idowu Ogedengbe, said his administration was glad to be part of the initiative at this period of economic hardship, occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This is a trying time for us as a country because of the COVID-19 pandemic. A number of people’s income has been significantly eroded. People, who even have employment, have slid into the unemployment market.
“Even when we all know that it may not end poverty, it will, however, go a long way to reduce the impact of the current economic situation, particularly on the less- privileged.
“In the light of this, the governor commends President Muhammadu Buhari as well as the Minister of State for Labour and Productivity, Mr Festus Keyamo for this initiative,” he said.
Earlier, Salami said that the programme was designed to mitigate the lack of job opportunities through a short-term engagement of 1,000 unemployed persons per local government for a period of three months.
He said that the effort of the government was to mitigate the economic effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the people, particularly the less-privileged.
“The programme is designed to mitigate lack of job opportunities through a short-term engagement of 1,000 unemployed persons per local government for a period of three months.
“The programme is expected to provide modest stipends for itinerant workers to undertake road rehabilitation and social housing construction, urban and rural sanitation, health extension and other critical services.
“Mr President approved that we also adopt and integrate this type of programme into the Nigerian economy,” he said.
Salami said that members of the committee were selected through a painstaking process to ensure that the exercise was as credible as possible.
“This programme is one of the biggest social intervention schemes to be carried out within a short period of time by any government in the history of Nigeria.
“It is also unique because it is the very first direct employment scheme of any government that targets the very bottom of the economy,” he said.
The Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Saliu Adetunji and the Soun of Ogbomoso, Oba Jimoh Oyewunmi, in their separate remarks, commended the Federal Government for the initiative.
The monarchs, who were all represented at the occasion, thanked the president for the inclusion of traditional rulers in the scheme, saying this was an attestation to the fact that the president valued their roles.
They all promised to put in their best to ensure the selection process was fair, transparent and credible.
NAN reports that the selected applicants from across the council areas will work from October to December, on a monthly stipend of N20,000 each. (NAN)

– Jul. 17, 2020 @ 23:50 GMT |