Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State has kick-started moves to set the state on the path of industrialization and revive the agricultural sector to fulfill his electioneering promises of providing jobs and transform the lives of the people of the state. To this end, he recently embarked on an official visit to China to attract investors who would assist in opening these key sectors in the state.
Obaseki who disclosed this on the occasion of the graduation ceremony of the Class of 2016 Trainees and Technicians of the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) recently, assured that the government was ready to go into partnership with local and foreign investors with a view to developing the key sectors of industries, agriculture and power generation.
Obaseki disclosed that the state government was ready to take advantage of the huge mineral deposits in different parts of the state, the huge agricultural potential and the expected generation of power supply from the ongoing Azura Power Project, to place the state in an enviable and strong economic position akin to Lagos State, adding,
“In line with the vision of this administration in creating jobs for the youths of the state, we are talking to investors to come and co-invest with us in building industrial and agricultural parks in the state.”
It would be recalled that the governor presented what he called a balanced budget of N150 billion for the 2017 fiscal year to the State House of Assembly with emphasis on six key policy areas, namely, economic revolution, health care services, infrastructure development, institutional reforms, environmental sustenability, social welfare enhancement and culture and tourism. The budget, which he christened ‘Budget of Consolidation and Prosperity’, was, according to him, to enable him consolidate on existing achievement in the state and create prosperity for the people, adding that “Edo State must become the standard bearer of progress in Nigeria. We must lead the nation in social and economic progress. We will be unrelenting in our pursuit of a cleaner, greener and digital Edo.”
In his New Year message to the people of Edo State, Governor Obaseki assured of quick economic recovery in the year 2017 and he followed this up with the scrapping of private tax collectors in the state. He said that in spite of the biting economic recession in 2016, the state will remain grateful to God for His sustenance, adding that 2017 would definitely be better.
