LIKE Edo State, the tempo of political inanities seems to be getting to an anti-climax in Ondo State. But unlike Edo, the Ondo landscape presents some form of dogmatic vulgarity alien to the people of the state. For the Ondo State governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, who assumed office February 24, 2017, governance, has been one long stretch of commitment, selflessness and allegiance to the core values of the people and the mandate deliberately placed on his shoulders by the Ondo collective.
A quick recap is here needed. On Sunday, November 27, 2016, Akeredolu was declared winner of the Ondo State Governorship Election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). His victory was unsullied; it reflected the choice of the people. His credentials, temperament, welfarist values, sheer courage to serve, and strength of character became the essentials that endeared him to the people of the Sunshine State. At the 2016 governorship election in the state under review, Akeredolu’s character typology presented a traumatic strain for his traducers before the Ondo electorate. He is human and humane, trustworthy and trusting, consistent and credible. The Ondo voting public is not easily cowed; it possesses a broad-spectrum of political will: elitist in one instance, and yet consummate at another. It is that political finesse and the communal deliberateness that gave Akeredolu the Ondo mandate. The Ondo voting public knows its own, stands by its own, and even protects its own. Akeredolu belongs here. Of these, the Ondo electorate demonstrated at the 2016 governorship election when the INEC Returning Officer, Professor Ganiyu Ambali declared Akeredolu as amassing 244, 842 votes, while Mr. Eyitayo Jegede of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) polled 150, 380 votes, with Mr. Olusola Oke of the Alliance for Democracy having 126, 889 votes. The people’s choice was clear and had a tone of finality.
Since he got elected into office, Akeredolu has expounded a governance template that ascribes power to the people. This he demonstrated in his priorities while improving the lot of the people. The facts are obvious and unquestionable: agricultural development, fish farming for export, improvements in education, jobs for youths, provision of basic healthcare, improved roads, amongst many others. Akeredolu has always been an advocate of increased subsidies and greater local control over public spending.
The problem with Akeredolu’s traducers is obvious: they would rather de-market truth, subvert the people’s mandate, and stand logical on its head. But truth is self-existent, an attribute it shares with none else. Before Akeredolu’s advent, the Mother and Child hospitals were only two; they were concentrated in the Central Senatorial District of the state, with one in Ondo town and the other in Akure, the state capital. Not satisfied by this reality, the Akeredolu administration extended the Mother and Child Hospital template to other senatorial districts. This is evident in Ikare Akoko, Owo, Ore, Okitipupa and in Igbokoda.
In his quest to increase access to healthcare, Akeredolu recruited well over 229 medical personnel into various health institutions across the state. These are: 16 consultants, five dental officers, five dental technologists, five dental therapists, 20 medical record officers, 16 medical laboratory scientists, 50 medical officers, 95 nurses /midwives, five physiotherapists, 12 pharmacists, among several others. His administration procured and distributed multi-million naira medical equipment to various primary health facilities across the state. Some of these equipment include: 300 units of children ambu-bag, 60 units of adult ambu-bag, 300 units of baby weighing scale, 300 units of blood pressure apparatus, 300 units of stethoscope, 301 units of angle poise examination light, 18 units of anti -shock garment and 300 units of penguin suction device. This has been done twice within two and half years. Governor Akeredolu described the equipment as necessary in order to improve the diagnostic and therapeutic capacity of the primary health care facilities and respond to the health needs of the people across the state.
Going further, Governor Akeredolu secured and distributed $5million biomedical equipment and consumables. The equipment were the ones secured by the governor during his visit to the United State of America (USA) from MedShare, Atlanta, a United States of America-based non-profit organisation. This he did in order to strengthen the state’s health sector. The Akeredolu administration reportedly met zero accreditation at the University of Medical Science, Ondo. Gladly today, the administration has facilitated the accreditation of 15 courses at the medical university. His administration signed into law, the bill establishing the University of Medical Science Teaching Hospital. One other intervention embarked upon in the health sector was the upgrade of health facilities in the state to provide quality services for children who are below age five and pregnant women. He equally ceded the School of Nursing and Midwifery to Ondo State University of Medical Sciences, Ondo, thereby upgrading it into a degree awarding institution. He also upgraded the Ondo State School of Health Technology, Akure to Ondo State College of Health Technology, Akure.
- Oyetimi writes via joyetimi2002@gmail.com
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