Nigeria At 61: Oyetola Lauds Progress Amidst Challenges

Governor Gboyega Oyetola of Osun says Nigeria as a country may not have achieved the desired development height but is progressively moving toward achieving greater heights.

The governor stated this while speaking with journalists on Thursday, in Abuja on the country’s 61st Independent anniversary.

He added that Nigeria had moved by all standards.

“By any standard, we have moved, we may not have achieved the level that we are thinking of as a nation but I think we are moving,” he said.

The governor said comparing Nigeria with other nations might not necessarily be good enough because one might not know what those nations had.

He expressed optimism that Nigeria could do better given the present level of its development, following efforts put into running the country’s affairs by President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.

Oyetola added that the good thing was that the country was moving and not stagnant despite her challenges, especially insecurity which he said was not peculiar to her.

“We have challenges in other parts of the world, but what is important is for you not to give up.

“I believe we are making progress, we may not be at the level we are expecting as a nation, but we are not stagnant. Nigeria is moving forward,” he said.

The governor attributed the ability of his administration to pay the salaries of the state civil servants to commitment and setting priorities right.

He said that there was no magic to it, stressing that it was a question of defining priorities and getting them right.

“I also believe that workers deserve their pay, don’t forget that I came from the private sector background. I employed people in my company.

“As a matter of policy, there was no time I didn’t pay their monthly salary. So, I decided that moving forward, I must of necessity make the payment of workers’ salaries a priority.

“God has been quite kind. I look at my cash flow and define my priority right. So there is no magic, it is a question of creativity and setting your priorities right,  there is no magic in finance,” he said.

The governor said there was nothing extraordinary to it, adding that his background had helped him to look at some issues and define what he needed to do at any point in time.