We’ve employed 50,000 youths in 43 months –Amosun

Ogun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun, has disclosed that his administration had, in 43 months of its emergence, employed no fewer than 50,000 youths in the state through direct and indirect employment.
Amosun, speaking during a live radio programme tagged: “Meet the Governor” on Paramount FM, Abeokuta, said the feat was made possible by the holistic approach of his administration to unemployment, including creating an enabling environment for business and industries to thrive.

Responding to questions on the spate of unemployment in the state, the governor expressed concerns that though close to one million youths were unemployed in the state, the trend was gradually reducing on a daily basis as about 46 industries with at least 100 million Dollar investment had sprang up under his administration. He added that some of them engaged about 4,500 staff in a day through job-shifts.
The governor explained the rationale behind his administration’s interest in infrastructure development, arguing that he believed that it was a probable catalyst for other sectors of  the state to achieve any meaningful socio-economic development.
Revealing that the state had invested thrice of what it had spent on infrastructure development on education, Amosun said: “For me, those who are condemning what we are doing in the area of infrastructure are mischievous and myopic because even though we know that infrastructure is a catalyst for any meaningful socio-economic development in the state, our investment in education is thrice of what we have spent on infrastructure development.
“Whether you want to have schools, industries and agricultural farms, they must be accessible,” he stated.
He noted that misconceptions of people about his administration giving priority to infrastructure development was apparently because the roads and schools being constructed could be clearly seen whereas developments in education sector were intangible but unequivocally impactful on the people of the state.
On the cost of roads constructed by his administration, the governor said the cost price of roads constructed in the state were the cheapest in the country, adding that none of the roads costs more than N300 million or N400 million per kilometre as against the claims by critics that he spent a billion naira per kilometre.
The governor also revealed that insincerity and lack of foresight on the part of the previous administration in the state as regard some of his government’s projects were reasons why they had been abandoned.
“For instance, the cargo airport initiated by the previous administration, which was expected to be delivered 2006, was not delivered till the end of that administration.
“Ask them why was the cargo airport that was expected to be delivered in 2006 not ready till 2011 that administration left office. They are not truthful and sincere to the people. They are cheats. Ask them their real intention about the Olokola project and you will know they are mischievous. I say this with every sense of responsibility, but we are not here to steal, we do what we say and keep to own promises. We will not abandon our own projects. We have not abandoned the cargo project. The design is ready and we will do it God-willing,” he added.
He promised to continue to serve the people of the state selflessly and dutifully.

Tweet