AMILOADED MEDIA HUB NEWS UPDATE
A group, The Osun Masterminds, has called on Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke, to improve on his approach to project monitoring, to ensure that every project is delivered to correct specifications in the state, AMILOADED reports.
The Osun Masterminds made the call at a press conference addressed by its Executive Director, Prof. Wasiu Oyedokun-Alli, in Osogbo, Osun State on Monday.
The group urged Adeleke to increase his approach to project monitoring to ensure that government gets best value for money spent on those projects.
It said, “We first must commend the Governor for his efforts at developing our State through several projects that he has initiated since assumption of office. These include the diligent patching of important roads in the State capital and construction of some selected roads across the State. This is commendable and we hope the Governor continues on this path of development.
“We however must warn, as we did in the month of May, that the Governor improves on his approach to project monitoring, to ensure that every project is delivered to correct specifications. We are concerned that some of the projects are not done to globally acceptable standards and we hope the Governor improves upon his quality assurance framework to ensure that government gets best value for money spent on those projects.
“It is important that we also advise the Governor on his approach to the management of certain non-State actors. While we understand that certain persons may have helped him in his quest to become Governor of the State, he must not allow that debt he personally owes them to become a problem for the State. We have reports of certain non-State actors becoming laws unto themselves in our dear State. The Governor must call these people to order.
“The unfortunate incident in The Osun State Polytechnic Iree, where a student beat up a Lecturer of the Polytechnic is fresh in our memory. No one should, because they enjoy a close relationship to the Governor, perpetrate such act of illegality and be allowed to get away with it. The Governor must get a firm grip on his hangers-on and cut them to size where necessary.”
Speaking on the fuel subsidy removal by President Bola Tinubu, The Osun Masterminds commended the President for the directive, saying fuel subsidy had been used over the years by corrupt public office holders to embezzle the country’s commonwealth.
It added, “However, the removal has, as expected, come with attendant difficulties. Prices of commodities are skyrocketing. Transportation costs are now going over the roof, making life difficult for low income earners. These difficulties, if not properly managed, may rubbish the good intentions behind the removal of Fuel subsidy and make government lose goodwill.”
In managing the current issues, the group called for the immediate upward review of the nation’s minimum wage, payment of backlog of salaries owed the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), immediate review of Nigeria’s Labour laws and enforcement in the private sector, and improvement in targeted interventions to the informal sector.
The Osun Masterminds also called for the probe of parastatals, Ministries, Departments and Agencies, saying, “Under the previous government, corruption almost crippled our dear Nation. Some public office holders under that government robbed the Nation blind and are today walking freely.
“We call on the government of President Tinubu to commission an immediate probe of MDAs with a view to recouping embezzled funds and channeling them towards making life easy for the common man.”
It further called for the continuous strengthening of the naira, “ensuring efficient and speedy implementation of other social security policies like student loans”, and refurbishment and redeployment of the Omoluabi Scholar Buses as Mass Transit buses to ease the cost of transportation.
The group added, “Review of the Minimum wage. The action of the Edo State Governor has proved to everyone that it is possible for State Governments to take proactive measures in the review of minimum wage in their States.
“We advise the Governor to follow suit and immediately review the minimum wage in Osun, to reflect current realities. Where this is impossible, the Governor should do a review of the allowances in the salary computation of Civil Servants, to reflect current realities.
Targeted interventions to the informal sector and enforcement of labour laws on the private sector. The Governor also needs to come up with critical interventions targeted at assisting the informal sector of the State. This must be followed by keen enforcement of the labour laws on the private sector, to ensure that private sector workers in the State are not left behind.”
Leave a Reply