In furtherance of the commitment of his administration to ensuring rapid development of all parts of Ekiti State, the State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi has assured the 132 communities and farmsteads in the State that the payment of the second tranche of aids given them for their self-help projects would be made this month.
The Governor who gave this assurance in Isan-Ekiti during his quarterly meeting with representatives of Community Development Associations across the State on Saturday, said the meeting was called to review all the projects being funded by the grant-in-aids programme.
The various CDAs were represented at the meeting by their chairmen and secretaries.
Governor Fayemi said the programme is already actualising its set goal even as some communities have completed their projects while some are at advanced stages of completion.
He stressed that the programme is a fulfilment of his promise not to “do development to the people, but to do development with the people”.
“It is a quarterly meeting of community representatives in the 132 communities and farmsteads. We have projects almost dotting all communities. Some have been completed, some are half-way through, some are three quarter finished and we have milestone payment for them and some are due for second tranche payment. The monarchs in each community show appreciation for the self help project. They chose the project, the contractor, the carpenter and plumber. The jobs are done in such a way that grows the local economy and help those who have skills in artisanship in the communities”, he said.
It is recalled that the Fayemi-led administration had last year disbursed N600 million for the completion of various ongoing, abandoned and uncompleted self-help projects as well as provision of boreholes, access culverts among others in the benefiting communities.
Speaking further, the Governor stressed the need for the community leaders to ensure peace in their various communities even as the State prepares for its governorship election in June.
Fayemi who said all citizens have a right to belong to an association of their choice urged the leaders to ensure that the political parties and their members in the communities behave in accordance with the law and do not engage in any act of violence or intimidation of political opponents.
Meanwhile the Community Development Associations have lauded Governor Fayemi for introducing the grant-in-aids programme which has enabled them revive and complete many projects which the communities have abandoned for lack of funds.
They added that the programme has not only given communities the sense of participation in government but also facilitated the execution of their priority projects “without going around to beg for assistance”.
The representatives of the Communities highlighted the self-help projects in their communities and asserted that the State has not had it so good until the emergence of Fayemi as governor in 2010.
They said it is important for all Ekiti indigenes who have benefited from the various projects carried out by the present administration to re-elect Fayemi as Governor come June 21 so that the various people-oriented programmes started by the Governor can continue beyond 2014.
Also speaking, the Commissioner for Rural Development and Community Empowerment, Mr Folorunso Olabode said the meeting became necessary in order to get feedbacks on the self-help projects even as the government merely provides the funds and monitor the execution of the projects.
Olabode said many of the benefiting communities have written to show appreciation to government for the brilliant initiative which has given their communities a new lease of life.
Last modified: April 21, 2014
