Edo state governor Godwin Obaseki on Monday presented his administration’s score card to people of the state, with assurances of better days ahead.
Speaking at the Edo Summit held in Benin as part of activities to mark his second anniversary in office, the governor said his administration was enhancing confidence in leadership, governance and government.
Obaseki said that with the support of President Muhammadu Buhari, the ruling All Progressive Party, the Benin, Monarch, Oba Ewuare 11, as well as the good people of Edo, his administration had achieved a lot of transformation and reforms in many sectors of governance.
The governor said his administration had holistically transformed the education sector, putting in place a framework that had brought about institutional transformation in primary, secondary and tertiary institutions.
“We are improving infrastructure in our schools, trained over 7000 teachers on digital learning in our basic education sector, completed the revamping of Benin Technical College, as well as consolidation of our College of Education.’’
In the heath sector, the governor said he had strengthened all aspects of the health value chain, including that of the Primary Health Centres (PHCs), which were ongoing.
“We have rolled out the remodeling of 20 PHCs across the state and intend to do 200, and have initiated the Edo Healthcare Improvement Programme (EDOHIP) to achieve improved health structure and the wellbeing of the citizens.
“The state and local governments saved 1 per cent of their federal allocation to make investment in the health sector.’’
The Governor said his administration on assumption of office promised the creation of 200, 000 jobs, noting that 77, 200 jobs had been created in both private and public sectors in the state.
“We have initiated job matching, skills acquisition and entrepreneurship development, Edo Innovate, Train-to-Hire, Edojobs Internship scheme for graduates and artisans, Edo Food and Agricultural Clusters, Edo Film and TV Village and the Edo Production Centre.
“All these initiatives are to develop the entrepreneurship skills of our people, as well as create massive employment and jobs in the state.’’
He said much investment was also being made in the housing sector, as the first phase of the Emotan Garden Estate which started a year ago would be delivered before the end of year.
Obaseki listed his other achievements to include reduction of the cost of acquisition of Certificate of Occupancy to N50, 000, spear-heading the installation of night landing facilities at the Benin Airport, reformation of Bendel Insurance Football Club, as well as the ongoing construction of the Edo Public Service Training Academy, among others.
He added that the Edo Summit was focused on job creation, Education and Primary Healthcare with the aim of sensitizing the people of the state on possible opportunities open to them in those fields.
