From Bamigbola Gbolagunte, Akure
Ondo Governor, Olusegun Mimiko has urged civil servants in the state, to support the incoming administration of Chief Rotimi Akeredolu.
Also, the governor urged Akeredolu to continue with the programmes and policies of his administration, especially in the health sector, especially that of mother and child healthcare.
Speaking at the second anniversary of Agbebiye Scheme, an health initiative of his administration, governor Mimiko said the accomplishments made in the eight years of his administration, especially in the health sector, cannot be under estimated.
He said the scheme was aimed at reducing high maternal death rate, and added that the scheme was aimed at preventing pregnant women and their babies from death and sicknesses.
The governor recalled the efforts put into the scheme by his administration, especially the Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs), who were prevailed upon to desist from the harmful traditional practices and recruited as Agbebiye Vanguards in the 203 wards in the state.
According to him, the TBA voluntarily gave up the service and were trained by the state government in various vocational skills to sustain themselves, economically and offer them financial empowerment through soft loans.
“Today, 14,121 referrals of babies are born safely through this initiative,” he said, emphasising that the Abiye, Agbebiye and Orirewa initiatives have helped to reduce maternal mortality.
Mimiko pointed out that the health initiatives would not have been successful without the cooperation of the personnel and stakeholders in the health sector, who, he said, zealously helped his administration to achieve the internationally acclaimed progresses.
The governor, whose two term tenure will end in few days, tasked the personnel and stakeholders in the health sector to give the incoming All Progressives Congress (APC) administration of Akeredolu maximum support so that the legacies will be sustained.
“As God has given us the zeal and commitment to achieve all these feats in the health sector, I pray that God will put in the heart of the incoming administration to continue with these good works.
“Don’t think that Mimiko is no longer the governor. You all have to cooperate with the incoming administration to build on these successes for the benefit of mankind. I know that the next administration, too, likes good things and I am so sure that my successor will cooperate with you. I will not relent in the bid to advise Akeredolu on Agbebiye because what is good is always good,” he said.
In continuation of the commissioning of projects executed by his administration, Mimiko will, today, commission the 8.95 kilometers Akure-Oba-Ile-Airport and the Parliament dualised roads.
Commissioner for Information, Kayode Akinmade said the Oba-Ile Airport Road commissioning will hold at about 3.00pm while the Parliament road inauguration would take place two hours earlier.
According to Akinmade, when the current administration came on board in 2009, it inherited the old dual carriageway in Akure, being the Oba Adesida-Oyemekun Road which he mentioned, existed without any furniture or expected features to make it worthwhile, and added that Mimiko, after his inauguration swung into action, hence the Fiwasaye-Oba Adesida-Oyemekun dual carriageway was redesigned to accommodate needful modern features…”
of a befitting dual carriageway in a state capital.
“These include the reconstruction of the hydraulic structures to abate flooding on both sides of the road while adequate car packs which is about 15 were constructed at proper intervals to ease traffic congestion in the state capital. A central car park named Democracy Park behind the Akure central mosque at the popular Oja Oba market was constructed to accommodate 2,000 vehicles at a time and also serve as event centre for the people.”
Aside the 2.25 kilometers Arakale road which was initiated and commissioned in December last year, Akinmade said the government’s urban renewal initiative saw two major roads in Ondo upgraded and dualised as Ondo Phases I and II.
The Phase I, he mentioned, is the 5.45 Kilometers strech from Itanla Junction through Ademulegun road to Ife garage round-about with the Akure garage through Yaba-Idi ishin-Surulere to Ife garage roundabout which is 9.75 kilometers in length has been completed and delivered with all features expected on a modern dual carriageway for the second phase.
“The dualisation exercise was also replicated in the northern senatorial district of the state where Owo had its own share of the dualisation spree. Here, the main road that runs through the town which is about 10.2 kilometers has been dualised with all necessary paraphernalia of a befitting modern carriageway.
“The southern senatorial district of the state also has about 2.5 kilometers of road within the Igbokoda township dualised among others.”