Being the Remarks by His Excellency Seyi Makinde, the Executive Governor of Oyo State on the Workers’ Day 2023 Celebration held on Monday, May 1st, 2023.
Welcome to the Worker’s Day 2023 Celebration!
Everyone here is playing an important role in keeping the economic wheels of Oyo State on the right track, and for this, I say thank you. It is because of your labour that Oyo State is now one of the top five economies in Nigeria. And with your help, I know that we will keep growing and getting better.
Our first four years of serving you, the good people of Oyo State, is gradually coming to a close. In just 27 days, we will crossover to Omituntun 2.0. For the civil servants here, in 24 days, we will be celebrating a full 48 months of a promise kept.
When we came into office, we pledged never to pay Oyo State workers with “bear with us” at the end of any month. You all are witnesses to the fact that the GSM day, the 25th of every month, remained sacrosanct this past 47 months. Not only that, we started paying the minimum wage from January 2020 till date. We also paid the increments from the backlogs of promotions and consequential adjustments as well as paying 100% subvention to state-owned tertiary institutions. Even though this increased our wage bill from N4.7 billion to N7.2 billion monthly, we have met our obligations promptly each month.
Because of our act of consistently paying these salaries, the economic wheels of the state remained oiled. Traders were assured that people would buy from them because they had money in their pockets. Banks could offer credit because they knew that the people had regular, consistent income. Investors could come to the state because they knew that a vibrant economy meant the people had more spending power.
We have continued to prioritise the welfare of civil and public servants in the state by ensuring that the backlog of promotions and leave bonuses are being cleared. And that all other incentives due to civil and public servants in Oyo State are given to them as and when due.
But our administration did not just pay salaries as some would insinuate, we invested massively in reducing our infrastructure deficit. This also had a multiplier effect on the economy. Travel times were cut short by interconnecting our zones with road projects. The more roads we built; the more development followed. Our Internally Generated Revenue increased massively by over 90%.
Great workers of Oyo State, well done! Eku ise!
Of course, we are not saying that the past 47 months have been rosy. No, not at all. We are saying that despite all the challenges of these past years, you remained strong and resilient.
For example, we powered through the COVID-19 pandemic. We decided not to enforce a total lockdown because of the nature of our economy. But if you, the workers, did not cooperate with this decision, this story would have ended differently.
So, wherever you are in this stadium, if you are a worker in Oyo State, I want you to give yourself a round of applause for all you have done. It doesn’t matter whether you are a civil servant, public servant, artisan, trader, farmer. As far as you put in the work, this applause is for you.
Great workers of Oyo State!
Omituntun 1.0 was good. Omituntun 2.0 will be better.
Having laid the proper groundwork by following the Oyo State Roadmap for Accelerated Development 2019-2023, it is now time to move to sustainable development. Although the unemployment rate in Oyo State is lower than the national average, we know unemployment is a problem that we must tackle.
We need more jobs. We must create more jobs.
So, under Omituntun 2.0, we will embark on an aggressive global investment drive. Our message to the world is simple, come and invest in Oyo State in Agribusiness, Renewable Energy, Solid Minerals, and Tourism. Oyo State is open for business. We will also look inwards and tackle those issues that will make our local entrepreneurs evolve and expand their operations.
At the same time, we ask that you, the good people of Oyo State, support us on this drive. Continue to be diligent in whatever role you play in the private or public sector, and make Oyo State a welcoming place for investors and visitors.
We restate that by the grace of God, we will continue to maintain the GSM date for paying Civil Servants’ salaries under Omituntun 2.0. And for our entrepreneurs and investors, we will continue to play our part to make the Oyo State economic environment a place where the private sector will thrive.
Great workers of Oyo State!
I thank you all once again for coming out to mark this Workers’ Day 2023
Thank you, and God bless you.
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