Oyo steadily achieving global development goals —Yusuff, SDG boss

The Senior Special Assistant to the Oyo State Governor on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Mr Kunle Yusuff, speaks with SAHEED SALAWU on some activities of the government targeted at meeting the development needs of the people.

What exactly do sustainable development goals mean?

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) revolve around the idea of leaving no one behind in terms of development. The SDGs is the vehicle to drive development everywhere and it entails a 17 global-goal agenda which includes no poverty, zero hunger, quality education, gender equality and decent work and economic growth. Even zero tolerance for corruption is one of the targets of SDGs.

In the year 2000, I26 nations came together in New York, United States of America, and said the whole world must have a proper channel to development. Nigeria was one of those nations. They said the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) was the vehicle pilot development to every part of the world. The MDGs worked till 2015. And in 2015, about 200 nations converged again and said the MDGs had achieved what it could achieve and that what was left to do was to sustain what the MDGs arrived at. Then they said henceforth, it would be sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Where does Governor Seyi Makinde stand as regards corruption vis-a-vis his determination to achieve the development goals you are talking about?

If you are a corrupt-minded personality, you will not be able to achieve Sustainable Development Goals logically and faithfully. Administratively, there are three major types of corruption. There is financial corruption, there is technical corruption and there is moral corruption. Of the three, financial corruption is the easiest to solve. It can either be reduced or completely eliminated via the rule of law. Once our laws are being effectively followed, financial corruption will be minimal in our society.

Now, in almost 13 months of working for Governor Makinde, I can say authoritatively that he has zero tolerance for corruption. When you have a principal that is giving those working with him an enabling environment to perform, when you have a principal who bases his judgments on facts and figures, especially data, when you have a principal that is not biased, you know quite clearly that you are working with an incorruptible man who also zero tolerance for any form of corruption. If you are into political administration, you will understand that fulfilling the agreements that you had with the people depends on how honourable you are. Having seen the way Governor Makinde is going about fulfilling the promises he has made, one will agree completely that his administrative integrity and zero tolerance for corruption are second to none. He is a godsend for Oyo State. Since 1999, we never had a governor in Oyo State whose agenda is focused on either MDGs or SDGs. Governor Makinde’s administration is built on four pillars of education, health, economy and security. These four pillars are centred on the 17 global goals of the SDGs. It means that with everything that is being done presently in Oyo State directly or indirectly, we are achieving the global goals of the SDGs.

There is a counterpart funding for the SDGs by the federal and state governments. But since 2015, Oyo State had not been able to benefit from the grant. But because of the willingness and the struggle for development by this administration, the state is back on track. As a matter of fact, we have been mandated by the presidency to begin to put our needs assessment together for Oyo State to be able to access the 2019/2020 grants for the SDGs. Each grant always has a specific target. Now, we are looking at education at the basic and the secondary levels, while TETfund will take care of tertiary education. We are also looking at health, youth empowerment, women empowerment, and agriculture. These are the focus of the grant that we are going to get for 2020.

What effort is the government making to improve health-care system in the state?

The status of the Adeoyo hospital is being improved by the current administration. The facility is no longer what it used to be under previous administrations. Also, Saki general hospital has just been inaugurated by the state government. The state government is doing a lot on the development of its secondary health institutions. Talking about the primary health centres in all the local government areas, at its inception, this administration did basic health analysis of the state. We have over 600 basic health-care centres in the state but how many of them were functioning before Governor Makinde assumed office? The governor rallied all the stakeholders in the health sector, intimated them of his focus and then they arrived at a pilot project. The Oranyan health-care centre was chosen for the pilot project. The governor has already inaugurated four other such projects in Awe, Oyo, Iseyin and Saki.

Governor Makinde mentioned during his campaign that Oyo State would have its own version of the economic and financial crimes commission. How close has the governor come to making this happen?

I know that the governor has not made a promise that he cannot fulfill. We have not had such an institution in Oyo State, or any in other state in the country for that matter, before, but I can tell you that the administration is working hard on that policy. The governor made that promise because he was coming into government with a high level of integrity.

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