Our dashboard makes us the best option for Oyo people, says Makinde

Governor 'Seyi Makinde of Oyo State is seeking re-election in Saturday's gubernatorial elections. In this conversation with reporters, he explains why the people of Oyo State would re-elect him to continue the good works he has done over the past four years. SEYE OLUMIDE was there.

What is your message to the citizens of Oyo as they prepare for another round of elections next Saturday? Let me start by thanking the brave people of Oyo State who gave me the opportunity to serve them. Just like four years ago, the election is going to be a one-day event, but the ramification and effect will stay with us for another four years. So I want to urge our people to come out and not be afraid. Go out and make your choice. Vote for me again. What we have enjoyed for over three years in the state is the result of the action you took by voting for me on March 9, 2019. Now, March 11, 2023, come out and do the same and we will have a Oyo state of your dreams.

Now we are talking about civil servants and pensioners being paid for 45 uninterrupted months out of the 48 months of this tenure. That's about 94 percent really gone. So if we want to expand it and not stop at 48 but go to 49, 50 and even 96, then come and vote for the PDP and all the PDP candidates for the House of Assembly. I will work with the members of the House of Assembly who will approve the budgets and the bills that we want to pass into law.

We inherited a backlog of around N56 billion in unpaid pensions and gratuities dating back to 2011. The first thing we did was make sure we paid the pensions in full from May 2019. The previous administration paid the percentage pensions. Then we started paying the backlog of unpaid pensions and gratuities and till date we have paid 19.5 Billion Naira.

Salaries for civil servants, primary school teachers and local government workers are paid on the 25th of every month, now known as GSM day. When we started, people said we couldn't sustain it for more than six months, but we did it consistently for three and a half years. We have been paying the minimum wage and consecutive increases in Oyo State since January 2020. Not only that, we have paid 13th month salary four times in a row and last year we also paid N10,000 each to retirees.

Some people felt that your government was acting populist in your policies. Have you researched populism? To be honest, I'm not sure what it was about the way we governed the state that caused people to label our policies and projects as populist. Please note that we have not changed our way of governing. I think Nigerians in general are not used to governance with a human face. We promised a government that will implement people-centred policies and we will continue to do so.

For example, the decision to scrap the N3,000 tuition fee for secondary schools was a pragmatic decision to increase access to education for our people. As a result, in the first two years of our administration, of the over 250,000 out-of-school children our administration inherited, we were able to return over 54,000 to the classrooms.

Another example is ensuring that the salaries of civil servants, pensioners and local government employees are paid on the 25th of every month. Apart from workers earning their wages when due, this consistent payment of wages injects around N12 billion into the economy of Oyo State every month.

I got into politics to change things. Thus, the aim of our administration is to do the right thing that benefits the right people in Oyo State. It's what keeps me going when the going gets tough. When I step out and see the difference our policies and programs make to our employees, it encourages me to keep going.

The most important is wholly owned by Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH). It was a campaign promise, which we were able to keep during our first two years in office. We have taken a multi-campus approach to the university and are currently constructing the Iseyin Campus, which houses the College of Agriculture and Renewable Natural Resources.

Not only that, LAUTECH has been voted the best public university in Nigeria in local and international rankings. We were also able to complete the construction of 60 model schools and build/renovate over 700 classrooms among other projects in the area. We have also reduced the labor gap by employing 5,000 secondary school teachers and 692 education officers. We recently obtained approval for the conversion of Emmanuel Alayande College of Education into a University of Education. When we took office in 2019, we had 1.5 universities and now we have 3, which will increase access to affordable higher education for our population.

At one time, insecurity was a major problem in the state. How did your government handle it? We have provided cri...