| ONI’S AIDE TASKS EKITI INDIGENES ABROAD ON DEVELOPMENT |
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| Written by Lere Olayinka | |
| Monday, 22 February 2010 | |
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Indigenes of Ekiti State living outside the country have been urged to shift their position from the present posture of standby critics and internet “stone throwers” to active participants in the development of he State.
This appeal was made by the State Commissioner for Special Duties and Intergovernmental Relations, Mr. Segun Ilori in a paper presented during a forum organised by Ekiti indigenes in the Diasporas held in USA last week.Ilori, in the paper titled; Ekiti: On A Tripod of Development, Understanding the Development Strategy of the Segun Oni Administration commend some Ekiti Associations in the US and elsewhere who have instituted scholarship awards and participated in providing some amenities to their home towns. He however added that the numbers are so little to make the desired impact, saying; “We need a more focused intervention and I recall that a suggestion was made during a meeting of the Ekiti Association NewYork in 2008 which I attended, for Ekitis in Diaspora to contribute through payment of development levy to the State. “Consider for instance that at least 10,000 Ekitis in the US pays 500 dollars per annum to their state, knowing well that their siblings at home enjoy almost free education, health and other welfare packages. Or if a group of citizens based in the UK pools resources to sponsor some of our youths through microcredit or set up small scale factories to train and employ our young graduate. Let us ponder on all these.” Speaking on his theory of tripod of development, Ilori described the tripod of Ekiti Development as Education, Enterprise and Infrastructure, adding that it can be condensed into a mathematical equation: Education + Enterprise + Infrastructure = Development. He noted that in crafting the development strategy for Ekiti, the strategic team ensured that each leg of the tripod had its historical and sociological underpinning, adding that; “From the onset, Engr Oni believes that our strategic package must be anchored on our history and sociology propelled by modern day economics and enabled by contemporary technology.” Describing the tripology development model as the best for Ekiti State at this period of time; Ilori said; “To catch up with the vision of making Ekiti a brand of Excellence with Global Acclaim, the model should be implemented for minimum of ten years with reviews along the way to meet the dynamics of the socio-political environment.” He described a legion the challenges of delivering democratic dividends in a politically acidic State like Ekiti where the political elite have elevated power struggle above the development of the people, urging political leaders in the State to come to an agreement that; “when the issue is the development of Ekiti, the only party that we must belong is the Ekiti party. This means that the issue of development of Ekiti must become the centre piece of our political struggle, and not the individual ambition and ego.” |
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