Oluseye Ojo, Ibadan
Oyo State governor, Seyi Makinde, has said he may formally inaugurate his much-awaited cabinet next week to further deepen governance in the state.
He disclosed this on Wednesday when he received on courtesy call officials of Nigerian British Chambers of Commerce in his office, Agodi, Ibadan.
The visitors, who commended Makinde for having females in his cabinet, including Secretary to the State Government, Mrs. Olubamiwo Adeosun, and Head of Service, Alhaja Ololade Agboola, the team came to introduce the chambers to the Makinde and the state government with a view to building bilateral business relationships and opportunities.
The leader of the delegation, Mr Kayode Falowo, said the chamber with its over 30 corporate members promotes trade and investment between Nigeria and the United Kingdom, as well as creation of trade opportunities for individuals, organisations and partners.
Makinde, in his response, expressed the optimism as the state House of Assembly will begin screening for the 14 commissioner-nominees tomorrow, that the governor forwarded their names to the parliament about two weeks ago. It is expected that the screening would be completed this week or early next week.
According to the governor, “We are working hard to put the cabinet in place and I am sure that hopefully the state House of Assembly should complete their screening process for the commissioner-nominees and I am sure that by next when the cabinet is put in place, the appropriate individuals will carry this forward.
“I will like to briefly add that the ladies that you have seen here (the SSG and HoS), did not get to those positions because they are females but because they are well qualified and they actually have shown that they are worth the salt among the CVs (curriculum vitae) that we considered.
“So, I always use them to actually let our parents know that when you send our daughters to school, the glass ceiling is being broken and I won’t be surprised that Oyo State may provide the first female governor in Nigeria.”
Makinde stated further that “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 know that we have been able to deliver at the speed of trust, just the way we are able to build the trust between the government and the workers and then between the government and the people of the state.
“We have had interactions with the Ibadan Chambers of Commerce as well and we are also looking at opening up opportunities and those ones we can also tap into.
“You mentioned trade mission. Well, I actually will be looking forward to taking the advantage of mutually beneficially business relationship that the chambers can foster, especially with the state and the chambers of commerce.”