In the middle, Governor Seyi Makinde and NBCC Leader, Kayode Falowo

Gbenro Adesina/Ibadan

With the expectation that Oyo State House of Assembly will complete the screening of the commissioner-nominees forwarded to it recently in the next few days, the state Governor, Engineer Seyi Makinde has declared that his cabinet would be inaugurated next week.

Declaring this today while hosting the officials of Nigeria British Chamber of Commerce, NBCC, in his Agodi office, Makinde also encouraged parents to take the training and education of the girl-child very seriously.

The Governor, who informed his guests that the state is opened for business to anyone pointed out that his government has an in-depth knowledge of private sector, stressing that he would use his knowledge to deliver democratic dividends to the residents of the state.

According to him, “Oyo state is opened for business. I came from the private sector and our first female Secretary to the State Government, SSG, also wrapped up her career in Shell just to come and serve the state. So, we have a clear understanding of what trade and investment is all about. The mentality for us is that, this is a public sector space but we want to drive it with a private sector mentality. Yes, it is just our two months here but we have learnt a lot. We have had interactions with the Ibadan Chamber of Commerce as well and we are also looking at opening up opportunities and those ones we can also tap into. I actually will be looking forward to taking the advantage of mutually beneficial business relationship that the Chamber can foster, especially with the state and the chambers of Commerce”.

On the inauguration of his cabinet, he said, “We are working hard to put the cabinet in place and I am sure that hopefully the state House of Assembly will complete the screening process for the commissioner-nominees in the next few days. I am sure that by next week, we will put in place the cabinet. I will like to briefly add that the ladies that you have seen here (the SSG and HoS), didn’t get to those positions because they are females but because they are well qualified and they actually have showed that they are worth the salt. So I always use them to actually let our parents know that when you send our daughters to school, the glass ceiling is been broken and I won’t be surprise that Oyo State may provide the first female governor in Nigeria”.

Speaking earlier, the leader of the delegation, Mr Kayode Falowo said the team was in the state to introduce the chamber to the state government as a way of building bilateral business relationships and opportunities.

He noted that the chamber with its over 30 corporate members promotes trade and investment between Nigeria and the United Kingdom adding that it also deliberately create trade opportunities and embarks on trade mission for individuals organisations and partners.

In another development, Makinde assured the management of the Ogun-Osun River Basin Development Authority, OORBDA, that his administration would work to address the challenge of lack of portable water.

In the middle, Governor Seyi Makinde and OORBDA MD, Otunba Olufemi Olayemi Odumosu

The governor stated this when the representatives of the authority led by its Managing Director, Otunba Olufemi Olayemi Odumosu paid him a courtesy visit in the company of the state Deputy Governor’s wife, Dr Mrs Bolanle Olaniyan.

Promising that he is poised to provide portable water to the residents of the state, the governor said, “The work done by the Authority is dear to my heart because it ties in with one of the four pillars of our administration- expanding our economy through the areas where we have comparative advantage, that is, agriculture, agriculture value chains and tourism. I assured you that our administration will work closely with the Development Authority to deliver value to our people, especially regarding potable water supply”.