Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Friday charged leaders at all levels to embrace democracy that promoted prosperity, poverty eradication, employment and adequate security for the betterment of Nigeria.
Obasanjo gave the charge in Oyo Town during the inauguration of the rehabilitated 34.8 kilometers Oyo-Iseyin Road project.
According to the former President, a democracy that nurtured poverty, unemployment and insecurity should be thrown overboard, because it only characterised backwardness.
He emphasised the importance of cultivating some specific crops that would distinguish Oyo State from others, noting that Oyo had been known as a cassava farming centre.
He urged the state to embrace cultivation of one more major crop to enhance efforts at boosting food security in the state.
Obasanjo stressed the importance of good road networks and commended the foresight of Gov. Seyi Makinde in the rehabilitation, reconstruction and construction of roads linking the five zones in the state.
He said that such projects would fast-track socio-economic development across the zones.
He urged the people of Oyo State to support Gov. Makinde’s government in its efforts to develop the state’s economy.
In his welcome address, Makinde said the reconstruction of the Oyo-Iseyin Road and other ongoing road projects was in line with his administration’s vision to connect all five zones in the state and mitigate rural-urban migration.
He promised to fast-track completion of all the ongoing road projects and to rehabilitate all internal roads throughout the state.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the highlight of the event was the cutting of the tape to inaugurate the road by former President Obasanjo.
The rehabilitated Oyo-Iseyin Road was awarded in 2021 at the cost of N8.4 billion to Kopek Construction limited. (NAN)
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