Oyo State governor, ‘Seyi Makinde, has been described as an intentional leader who wants beautiful things for the people of the state.
This was the submission of Mrs Olanike Mustapha, Chief Executive Officer of Pams Travels & Tours Limited, during an interview with The People’s Verdict.
She said: “I need to commend our GSM, Governor ‘Seyi Makinde, for the great work he has started doing in Oyo State, because the work is ongoing.
“For example, I live at Apete and for a long time, where I live in particular, there is this bridge that had been giving us a lot of trouble. The governor came there and fixed it.
“Now, Apete people are happy because the road is motorable. We can use the road, we can sleep, we can rest because we have a better road.
“In general in Oyo State, Governor ‘Seyi Makinde has been very helpful and supportive. We can see the infrastructural development. We can see work ongoing everywhere; not just patching roads, we can see massive works that are sustainable. So, I give kudos to our governor. He is working.”
Talking about the specific ways the governor has impacted on the lives of residents of Oyo State, Mrs Mustapha, who is also the Coordinator of Women in Tourism Business, Oyo State Chapter, narrowed it down to the good road network.
She said: “Good road network really impacts the welfare of citizens. In the villages, now they have motorable roads that they can use to convey farm produce to the town to sell and make their money. So, when you talk about infrastructure, the governor is really doing a great work.
“Then, we have the night life. I am into tourism and tourism has to do with night life. We have people going to clubs; we have people selling at night in different places.
“If we talk about Ring Road, if we talk about Bodija, we see light coming up at night and it would just be like noonday and people can go about their business. That is adding more value with more revenues being generated.”
Mrs Mustapha also submitted that the economy has greatly improved under Makinde.
Her words: “The economy has greatly improved. A lot of people who are working in Lagos have started building houses in Ibadan. We even see people coming on Fridays to Ibadan to just come and rest; they want to leave the noisy places where the traffic is always heavy.
“Because Ibadan is relatively peaceful, people can come to Ibadan to rest. When they rest, they buy things, the sellers get money and revenues are being generated.
“The economy has greatly improved. So, generally we can say that the economy, our GDP, has greatly improved compared to what it used to be in the past.”
For the Pams Travel chief executive, the most outstanding of Governor Makinde’s projects are the roads.
She said: “Two of our vehicles got spoilt on the way to our house; one during the rain, the other one because the road was very bad. Today, we don’t have such experience.
“Our cars are in good conditions because the roads are good. I love it when I can drive from one point to another without potholes. We see the massive works being done by Governor Makinde, they are not ordinary, they are extraordinary.
“So, you see a governor with intentionality, you see a governor that appreciates beautiful things and he is not just thinking about it for himself, he wants the populace to enjoy these things. That is what Governor Makinde is doing.”
On how the policies emplaced by the Makinde administration have helped the tourism sector, Mrs Mustapha said: “I can say thank you to our governor. Before he came in, we had Information, Culture and Tourism as one ministry. But when he came in, he separated the Ministry of Tourism and Culture.
“And we have a very vibrant commissioner that is hardworking and understands culture and tourism. Now, we have different festivals, we have different summits coming up.
“As I am talking now, the upgrading of the Ibadan Airport to international standard is ongoing because the governor values what the airport can do. We can have a dry port where things are conveyed to Ibadan.
“In fact, we can travel out without necessarily going to Lagos. I live in Ibadan, so I can do London-Ibadan.
“The governor has really impacted our ministry and he is working everyday to improve it. He has a new agenda and he is bringing in investors to come and do it.
“It is for the whole of Oyo State and it has been divided into five geo-political zones. It is a well-structured thing and it will not just be done haphazardly.
“Then, sustainability is being built into this. So, investors should come to Oyo State. This is a good soil to sow. When you sow your seed, it is going to germinate and you’re going to have your returns on investment, I can assure you.”
She described the governor as a very fantastic man who “is very sound. He is a well-exposed man. He loves beautiful things.
“He listens to the people, he loves the people and he is serving with the whole of his being. God bless ‘Seyi Makinde for us.”
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