… restates commitment to sustainable socioeconomic development

…infrastructure, education, health, agric get fair share

The Governor of Osun, Adegboyega Oyetola, on Tuesday presented a total sum of One Hundred and Twenty-Nine Billion, Seven Hundred and Fifty-Six Million, Four Hundred and Fifty Thousand, Seven Hundred and Ninety Naira (N129,756,450,790.00) to the State Assembly as draft budget of the 2022 fiscal year.

This is even as the Governor reiterated his Administration’s commitment to sustainable development and the advancement of the State’s economy.

The details of the Appropriation Bill revealed that the larger chunks were earmarked for infrastructure, education and health sectors, with the Agriculture sector also getting its fair share.

The 2022 draft Budget size was higher than the year 2021 budget N109.8bn by over N20bn.

The draft Budget, which is christened “Budget of Sustainable Development”, was anchored on the commitment of the Administration to providing conducive living and working environment for the people of Osun.

According to the draft Budget, the Total Recurrent Expenditure was N53,593,627,990.00, representing 41.30%, while the Total Capital Expenditure was N76,162,822,800.00, representing 58.70% respectively.

The Appropriation Bill revealed that a total sum of N26,609, 441, 740.00 went to Education; over N19 billion to Infrastructure Sector; about N16 billion to the Health Sector and about N7 billion to the Agriculture Sector.

Presenting the 2022 budget before the lawmakers, Oyetola said the budget was aimed at further cementing and pursuing the policy thrust of his Administration, and consolidating various achievements so far recorded in each sector of the economy of the State.

Governor Oyetola said that in view of the prevailing economic realities, the main focus of the budget would be aggressive improvement of the Internally Generated Revenue drive to ensure optimum performance in the coming years.

He said workable strategies have been put in place to boost the revenue of the State without putting unnecessary burden on the residents.

The Governor also disclosed that all the General Hospitals across the State would be rehabilitated, just as he hinted that government would embark on massive construction of more roads in 2022.

“In line with our Administration’s commitment to ensuring that there are no abandoned projects in the State, all existing on-going road projects are being worked upon and will be delivered soon. Notable among these Roads are the 17.5km Oba (Sir) Adesoji Aderemi (East by pass) Road; 30km Gbongan – Akoda Road; 40km – Osogbo – Ikirun – Ilaodo – Kwara State boundary Road which are on-going, as well as the complete rehabilitation of 30km Ilesa – Iperindo – Ipetu Ijesa Road. This Administration has also embarked on massive construction and rehabilitation of roads across the State. While some are completed, others are on-going. Notable among these are the construction of 18.1km Osogbo – Kelebe – Iragbiji Road (including Orita Idiodan – Araromi – Anaye Mkt.); Rehabilitation of 25.8km Ede (Army Barrack) – Ara – Ejigbo Township Road; Construction of 0.68km Flyover at Olaiya, Osogbo; Rehabilitation of 1.3km Kuta Palace junction – Isale Oba Road – Asamu Junction Road; Rehabilitation of 2.3km Iloro – Aganun – Division C Police Headquarter, Ile-Ife; Reconstruction and completion of 8.1km Moro-Yakoyo-Ipetumodu-Asipa Road; Rehabilitation of 2.6km Nike Gallery – Ido – Osun Township airport with palace spur; Rehabilitation of 2.5km Ikirun – Eko-Ende Road; as well as the construction of 0.31km access road to Fountain University, Osogbo which are on-going.

“In a matter of days, work will commence on Lawyer Atanda Road in Iwo. For network of roads in Ikire and Ife, they are undergoing procurement process, while work has commenced on the Ila-Arandun-Kwara Boundary Road, to mention but a few. All these are designed to aid ease of doing business, facilitate easy and smooth movement of citizens and help in the transportation of farm produce to urban markets. I want assure the people of Osun that more notable road projects would be awarded as part of Government’s efforts to improve the socio-economic activities of the residents of the State. This is also in furtherance of the present Administration’s goal to deliver adequate, quality and equitable services to the good people of Osun.

He further said “We have laid important foundations for the development of our State’s economy over the past three (3) years with various developments in infrastructure, security, environment and major improvements in the Ease of Doing Business and growing our Internally Generated Revenue.

“We must now focus on gearing up the momentum of building on the achievements so far, and by so doing, delivering accelerated economic growth and development for all.

“As a state, our vision of the future is clear. Our goal is to achieve inclusive socio-economic growth that is rooted in our 10-Year Osun Development Plan (2019-2028). Our plan rests on four developmental pillars: Economic Development, Infrastructure Development, Human Capital Development and Security, and Environmental Sustainability.

“To achieve this, we commit ourselves to deepening the foundation for revenue diversification and economic sustainability by focusing on Agriculture, Mining, ICT and Innovation, Culture and Tourism and Creative economy without neglecting other important sectors like Infrastructure, Water and Sanitation, Commerce and Industry, Education and Health.

“In a broader view therefore, the central focus of our Administration is to make Osun a prosperous State in a secure and sustainable environment through pragmatic, transparent, accountable and inclusive governance.”

On Tourism, he said “another innovation of our administration is the conscious use of arts and culture to re-energise our state economy. In line with this, the State government had announced the wearing of ‘Adire Osun’, especially by Cabinet members and other political functionaries in the State on Thursday of every week. The idea is to stimulate interest in the promotion of our culture, encourage others to embrace the idea so as to boost our local economy in the long run. Enumeration of local producers of ‘Adire Osun’ is ongoing. Our intention is to link producers with finance to boost production so as to match expected surge in demand as a result of this policy pronouncement. This will be aided with the Government intervention to open ‘Adire Osun’International Market in the nearest future.

“We have not relented in the promotion of our cultural activities in the State. Osun Osogbo festival, Iwude Ijesa, Olojo festival Ile-Ife, Isinro Ila-Orangun, Oke Iragbiji and others, will continue to enjoy necessary government support in the coming year. Although we may not be where we are supposed to be, we are certainly making steady progress in our effort to make our Tourism Sector a money spinner for the State. For instance, we have progressed from generating cumulatively less than Two Million Naira (N2m) in three years combined (2017, 2018 and 2019) to generating more than Twenty Million Naira (N20m) in 2020 alone and so far made over Ten Million Naira (N10m). We are determined to make it better in the coming years,” Oyetola added.

Earlier, the Speaker, Osun House of Assembly, Hon. Timothy Owoeye lauded the Administration of Governor Oyetola for prioritising accountability, probity and prudence in the management of the scarce resources accruable to the State.

He promised that the legislature would display the commitment needed to ensure speedy passage of the budget as it has been doing in the past saying “we will continue to play a supportive role to the executive arm to continuously better the lives of the citizens.

“I wish to commend Governor Oyetola and everyone who took part in the implementation of the 2021 budget for the wonderful job. With a 97% performance in 2020 and 77% as at the second quarter of 2021 budget, our performance has greatly increased our standing in the comity of States and also makes us an investment destination for local and foreign investors.

“It is important for us as a people to commend the Governor and his team for their probity and exceptional strategy in managing the finances of the State. Our people must also begin to reciprocate that gesture by paying their taxes accurately and promptly,” Owoeye added.