The Chairman of the Ekiti State Implementation Committee on Millenium Development Goals, (MDGs), Chief Dipo Anisulowo on Saturday advised the citizens of the state to support the state government by initiating community-based projects in their domains.
Anisulowo also the Chief of Staff, (COS) to Gov. Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti said such support and partnership had become necessary as the government alone could not shoulder every responsibility of the state.
He said that the state government would not know the exact immediate needs of most communities unless they decided to embark on it first.
He spoke at the 2017 edition of Are-Ekiti Day celebrations, where he said the present administration was desirous to develop the rural areas so as to inject life into the living standard of the people as well as reduce rural-urban drift.
This is coming just as the traditional ruler of the town, Oba Boluwade Adebiyi solicited more developmental projects as well as the siting of higher institutions in the town.
NAN reports that the Chief of Staff was one of the major sponsors of the annual cultural festival.
Anisulowo said that projects worth several millions of naira had been executed and commissioned in different parts of Ekiti State under the programme.
He said that the state government had assisted in funding projects initiated by many communities over the years.
He said that the state government had also spent huge sums of money to fortify various agro-based cooperatives in the state to boost food production and reduce hunger.
He said the local governments that had so far benefited from the scheme in the state include: Ado , Ikere, Irepodun/Ifelodun, Ise/Orun, Ikole and Ilejemeje .
Anisulowo appealed to rural dwellers to take ownership of the projects to within their territories to prevent them from vandalism and underutilisation.
NAN reports that he said the facilities were spread across the three senatorial districts of the state, focusing on education , health and agriculture sector, under which schools and hospitals were built ,or renovated while supports were given to farmers to sustain food production in the state.
He assured the citizens of the state that the present administration in the state would not take partisan interest in the execution of projects under the MDG’s.
Anisulowo said that the government was interested in spreading the dividends of democracy to the populace
“Our projects distribution across the state is not about who is in power currently, but about what government can do. We are not going to discriminate against any community or individual based on political inclinations
“This formed part of the reasons why we want communities to see any project sited in their domain as theirs, if they fail to take ownership of these projects, vandals will take charge and the facilities will depreciate
“So, they have to be vigilant and protect all the facilities from destruction”, he said
Anisulowo disclosed that no efforts would be spared to ensure that all the facilities were given adequate protections , especially against vandalism.
“Recently, Ekiti was adjudged to be leading in open defecation in Southwest, and that was very bad and didn’t speak well of us.
“That was why we built some toilets in strategic locations across the state to arrest open defecation
“Our operations were strategic , by this we mean we considered what the people wanted and desired most before executing them.
“Our prayer is that these projects are not destroyed by vandals, because that had been the reason why some projects in Nigeria are underutilized”, he said. (NAN)
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