A group, Coalition of Professionals in Ekiti State, has listed its expectations from the Governor-elect, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, saying every facet of life in the state deserves urgent attention.
Officials of the body, namely Ayo Olowoyeye, Tunde Oluwasimirin and Matthew Omosebi, in a statement issued in Ado-Ekiti at the weekend, said, “No state can develop beyond her level of security; thus, an all-inclusive security and protection of lives and property should be sacrosanct and vigorously pursued with all sense of commitment and responsibility.”
We want a govt that can make Ekiti a major food market hub
The Coalition added that all the sectors that contribute directly and indirectly to the Gross Domestic Product of the state should be revamped and revitalised.
On agriculture, it said the state deserved a large-scale commercial and mechanised farming in cereals, cash crops, aquatics and livestock.
It added, “With the template and the information at our disposal, the Coalition wants a government that can make Ekiti the major food market hub to the Southwestern Nigeria and supplier of food to other regions in Nigeria and Africa in two years.
“As for irrigation farming, based on our research, within first six months of governance, irrigation facilities can been made available across the three senatorial districts to ease farming and ensure farm yields throughout the year. This will be achieved by making good use of the streams, rivers and dams in the state, to ensure-all-year-round production
of food.”
It added that Ekiti, being a very rich state in mineral and natural resources, should exploit its numerous untapped and yet-to-be discovered mineral resources, “which God lavishly deposited across the state.
“For the avoidance of doubt, Ijero-Ekiti is greatly blessed with Cassiterite, Columbite and Tantalite in commercial quantity and they are capable of changing the economic fortunes of the state for the best.
“In Orin-Ekiti, bauxite and clay are abundantly available; feldspar is bountifully deposited in Aramoko-Ekiti; Isan-Ekiti is blessed with kaolin and only God knows what Olosunta hill (in Ikere-Ekiti) may be covering, just to mention a few.”
The coalition, however, advised the governor-elect, upon assumption of office, to establish a department of mineral and natural resources under the ministry of Trade and Commerce, to give due attention and direction to mining, for employment generation, state development and economic freedom for the state.
Fayemi, the coalition also urged, should make landmark achievements in education, tourism, infrastructural development, and workers’ welfare, among others, to write his name in gold at the end of his four-year tenure.
