Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State on Thursday disclosed that he would build no fewer than 10,000 housing units across the state before the completion of his tenure, even as he said that his administration would never be vindictive in the handling of civil service matters.
The governor, while fielding questions at the state’s Stakeholders’ Forum held at the Civic Centre, Ibadan, said that the housing projects, when completed, would ease the accommodation of the people of the state.
The forum was attended by representatives of various segments of the society, including professionals such as engineers, surveyors, architects, professional builders and lawyers and also by traditional rulers, community and religious leaders, market men and women, as well as students.
Ajimobi also said that the projects, which would be executed under a public-private partnership arrangement, would decongest the major towns and cities as well as further improve the aesthetics of the state.
Already, the governor said that work had commenced on 1,400 housing units on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, stating that 200 of the units would be completed within the next nine months.
Besides, he also said that a new town was also being created at Elenusonso Area of the state capital, where he said luxury houses would be built in conjunction with a private developer.
“I can assure you that in the next three years, our administration would have completed nothing less than 10,000 housing units across the state and this will greatly help in decongesting our cities and provision of decent accommodation for our people,” he said.
Ajimobi also expressed his administration’s commitment to the welfare of civil servants, pledging that he would not do anything to undermine the civil service rules in the state.
“We will never be vindictive; we will never do anything without following civil service rules. We will never fight civil servants but we will do everything possible to improve the system for the benefit of our people,” he promised.
Although the governor admitted that state civil service was over-bloated as it had 38,000 workers with most of them idle and redundant, he, however, assured that no worker would be sacked without any justifiable reason.
He charged the workers in the state to cooperate with his administration to improve on the internally-generated revenue so that there would be enough funds to execute development projects after taking care of their salaries and wages.
The governor, who described peace and security as the foundation of any meaningful development, said that his administration would not condone violence and brigandage under any guise and by whatever group.
He urged members of the just de-proscribed National Union of Road Transport Workers to embrace peace and go about their normal business, promising that government would build more motor parks to reduce traffic snarl in major roads in the state.
The governor also disclosed that commercial vehicles along the Iwo Road axis of the state capital would be moved to the newly-constructed ultra-modern motor park at Temidire within the next two weeks, adding that the park would be managed by a third party and that transport unions would be given their dues.
He also assured retirees who had yet to receive their pensions and gratuities that they would be paid within the next one month.
Ajimobi, however, disclosed that a lot of fraudulent practices had been discovered in the handling of pension matters, attributing the delay in the payment of pensions and gratuities to the review currently being carried out.
He further said that the recommendations made by the recently-concluded Education Summit were being looked into with a view to fashioning out the best policy that would improve the education sector in the state.
Some of the professionals, who spoke at the occasion, commended the quality of the infrastructural development being undertaken by the state government, asking the governor not rest on his oars in his aggressive development initiative.