By Kanu Samuel
The Ondo State Government says it has reduced its domestic debt by 82.6 per cent while recording progress in healthcare, roads, education, agriculture, security and workers’ welfare in the 18 months since Governor Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa assumed office.
The administration, which came into office on February 24, 2025, said its interventions were guided by the “OUR EASE” agenda, focused on ease of living, ease of doing business and ease of governance.
In a statement on Friday, the governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Prince Ebenezer Adeniyan, said the debt reduction reflected what the government described as prudent financial management and improved debt-management strategies.
According to the statement, the administration had also cleared inherited salary arrears owed to civil servants and former political office holders, as well as outstanding gratuities to pensioners.
Healthcare was listed among the administration’s major areas of intervention, with the government reporting the recruitment of more than 2,000 health professionals and improved remuneration for medical personnel.
Ondo, it said, became the first state in the South-West to implement enhanced CONMESS and CONHESS allowances for health workers.
The State Executive Council has also approved a N1bn hospital intervention fund for the expansion and modernisation of healthcare facilities.
The government said upgrades were ongoing at hospitals in Ikare-Akoko, Ore, Okitipupa, Irele and Igbokoda, while more than 100 health centres had been renovated.
At the University of Medical Sciences Teaching Hospital, the administration said it had installed modern diagnostic equipment, including a 1.5 Tesla MRI machine, a 160-slice CT scanner, 3D digital mammography and 4D ultrasound machines.
It also said the Orange Health Insurance Scheme had been expanded to cover public servants, informal-sector workers, retirees and pensioners.
On infrastructure, the government reported the completion of more than 200 kilometres of roads within the past 18 months, with another 90-kilometre rehabilitation programme underway across the state.
Five kilometres of road rehabilitation has been allocated to each of the 18 local government areas, while major roads in Akure, Ondo, Owo, Ikare and Ore have undergone rehabilitation, including the installation of drainage and solar streetlights.
The administration has also commenced three major intercity dualisation projects — Akungba–Ikare Akoko, Akure–Idanre and Okitipupa–Igbokoda — across the state’s three senatorial districts.
Earlier this week, Governor Aiyedatiwa flagged off construction of a flyover along Oyemekun-Oba Adesida Road in Akure, aimed at easing traffic congestion in the state capital.
The government said the inherited Onyearugbulem–Irese flyover had also been completed and commissioned.
In education, more than 2,000 teachers have been recruited, comprising 1,010 for secondary schools and 1,100 for primary schools, according to the statement.
The administration also said it had revived the free school shuttle programme, expanded scholarships and bursaries, paid WAEC examination fees for public secondary school students and distributed educational materials and sports equipment to schools.
Tertiary institutions in the state recently received a 60 per cent increase in subventions, while salary arrears owed to workers of Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo, were cleared. More than N1bn has also been committed to a new Senate Building at the University of Medical Sciences.
The government said urban renewal projects included the installation of about 5,000 solar streetlights, rehabilitation of public spaces and expansion of water infrastructure.
It cited the Akure Water Supply and Sanitation Project, being implemented under the $223m Nigeria Urban Water Sector Reform Programme, as a major intervention aimed at improving water supply and sanitation.
Agriculture has also received more than N10bn in government funding, with emphasis on food security, farmer support and attracting private investment.
The government said more than 500 young people had been trained in modern agriculture, while 14,000 smallholder cocoa and oil-palm farmers had been profiled under the FAO GEF-7 programme.
On investment, the administration said it was pursuing projects involving the proposed Ondo Deep Sea Port, refinery, Free Trade Zone and fertiliser plant.
It also announced investment agreements and memoranda of understanding covering projects including a proposed 500,000-barrel-per-day refinery and a 1,471-hectare Free Trade Zone in Ilaje.
The administration reported that more than 6,000 workers had been recruited into sectors including education, healthcare, security and agriculture.
It also highlighted skills programmes for youths and women, including the O’Datiwa Skill-Up a Woman Initiative, which trained 1,000 women and provided start-up kits.
In the security sector, the government said 500 new personnel had been recruited into the Amotekun Corps, while more than 100 operational vehicles had been distributed to security agencies. A command and control centre has also been established.
The administration said the measures were helping to maintain peace and improve service delivery across the state as it enters the next phase of its “OUR EASE” agenda.
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