BY AYO ESAN
GOVERNOR Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State and his deputy, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, have been sworn-in for a tenure of four years.
The inauguration ceremony, held at the International Center For Culture and Event (DOME), had dignitaries across the county in attendance, including the National Leaders of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Tinubu, and a party chieftain, Bisi Akande.
Governors in attendance included: Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi; Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu; Osun State Governor, Gboyega Oyetola; Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun; and Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki.
Governor Akeredolu assured that his administration would not depart from the trodden path, which had earned him affection and deep reverence from the citizenry.
While noting that he came on board with the resolve to confront all challenges without let, Governor Akeredolu said even though his administration had yet to reach the set goal, he was confident that he was on the right path.
The Governor assured that he would continue with more vigour, to justify the trust earned by his administration, adding that his second term was not for relaxation.
He stressed that the COVID-19 pandemic had a deleterious effect on the global economy, predicting that it might get worse as loss of jobs had been on a frightening scale.
“Production of goods and services has plummeted. Our national economy is in recession. Ingenuity, resourcefulness, courage and hard work will be the needed virtues for survival in the days ahead,” he said.
Akeredolu disclosed that his administration intends to focus on agriculture and youth empowerment through entrepreneurship.
“This has led us to the establishment of the Ondo State Entrepreneurship Agency (ONDEA). We intend to revolutionise agriculture, taking it beyond theory and anchoring all expectations on practicals,” he said.
The Governor said as a way of rejigging his administration’s programmes, he had painstakingly reviewed JMPPR, which guided his activities in the first term.
He noted that a lot of dynamics had come into play since he took over the reins of governance in 2017, identifying security challenges and the need to place more emphasis on energy as part of the reasons for the review.
“I wish to state that we have been reviewing these programmes since our victory at the last election with a view to achieving more improvement in service delivery.
“Thus in the next four years, we will be pursuing a totally repackaged programme christened REDEEMED,” he said.
