There are many things to celebrate as the Seyi Makinde administration clocks its first year in office. The economic development of Oyo State is in view, against a background of reduced allocation from the federation account occasioned by the loss of revenue from crude oil sales due to the dampening effect of the Covid-19 pandemic. It is imperative that Oyo State multiply her Internally Generated Revenue and fast track her economic development. Governor Seyi Makinde has this firmly in focus.
Of the four cardinal objectives of this administration, namely;
1. Free and quality education.
2. Quality Health Care System.
3. Development of critical infrastructures and
4. Economic development through agricultural revolution,
the last named is the only objective that generates funds and enhances economic development in both the short and long term. To illustrate: free and quality education addresses the issue of human capacity development which in truth eventually contribute to economic development, but that is a long term view. Quality health care systems contribute to economic development on the short term, but since health care delivery is a social service, it gulps funding rather than generate it. On the long term though, funds can be generated by positioning our hospitals to attract medical tourists. The same can be said of the development of critical infrastructures. Unless the Oyo State government intend to set up toll points to collect money from the users of the roads and bus terminals it is developing, their benefits to the economy is long-term. This leaves agricultural revolution in a class of its own!
This is fortuitous because Oyo State stands in a unique place of advantage to paceset the agricultural revolution of South West, Nigeria.
The South West, a contiguous area of good climate, arable land and viable markets has Oyo State distinctly distinguished in having the largest land mass of the six South Western states. Oyo State also have the widest and most comprehensive technological support, having six different agricultural research institutions in Ibadan.
When I raised this point in a write-up titled, "Agricultural Revolution: A Panacea to Youth Unemployment", as far back as Friday 26th of April, 2019, Hon Kehinde Ayoola responded thus:
There are 6 different agricultural research institutions in Ibadan.
1. IITA - International Institute for Tropical Agriculture.
2. IAR&T - Institute for Agricultural Research and Training.
3. NIHORT - National Institute for Horticultural Research.
4. CRIN - Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria.
5. FRIN - Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria and
6. NISPRI - Nigerian Stored Products Research Institute.
The former Honourable Speaker of Oyo State House of Assembly, who has since moved on in the service of the people as the Commissioner for Environment and Natural Resources, however opined that, "Oyo State does not seem to have any meaningful working relationship with any of them in terms of leveraging on the innovations they come up with from their research findings"
That was true, back in the April of 2019, but things have changed since Governor Seyi Makinde took the reigns of government. That's the first of the things to celebrate. This versatile, business-minded Governor of ours, has since mid-wived a robust relationship between IITA and the Oyo State Government. The Oyo Agribusiness Summit that was to hold at IITA, Ibadan was postponed in view of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Oyo State Agribusiness Summit (Investing In Agriculture) is supported by IITA, AFDB and other agricultural development organisations locally and across the globe.
Another point of celebration is the fact that Oyo State has moved on from the old view of practicing Agriculture into the new and more sustainable view of practicing Agribusiness. It is a profound paradigm shift originating from the Governor himself. The Executive Advisor to the Governor on Agribusiness, Dr Debo Akande commended the Governor for conceptualizing the Oyo State Agribusiness Development Agency (OYSADA) Bill. There is an expected boom in the Oyo State economy through the derivable benefits from agribusiness initiatives, and this is a cause for celebration.
Also worthy of celebration is the fact that OYSADA will promote engagement of youth in agriculture through the development of agribusiness enterprises from downstream, midstream to the upstream of agricultural sector.
The Oyo State Agribusiness Development Agency (OYSADA), which is based in Saki, has started work fully and has kickstarted the operation of the Farm Estates projects in Eruwa and Akufo. Just one year into the Seyi Makinde administration, the agricultural revolution is under way and the projected economic development is in view.
Olubunmi Sodipo
0809 803 0422
bunmidipo@gmail.com
twitter @olubunmisodipo
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