Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki on Friday, said that the state operates the highest paid Civil and public service in Nigeria, thereby consciously laying a solid foundation for the future of the state
Obaseki made this known during the seventh edition of the Alaghodaro summit, organised by the state government, to showcase its achievements in the last seven years in Benin.
The summit had the theme, “The Edo Story: Creating Shared Opportunities into the Future in Benin.”
Obaseki said “We operate the highest paid Civil and Public Service in the country and have set up a world-class training infrastructure at the John Odigie Oyegun Public Service Academy to train our civil servants.
“The academy has so far trained over 6,000 civil/public servants, delivered over 10,000 devices across the service and delivered new infrastructure (workspace) to 76 Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in the state.
“In the civil service, we have introduced E-governance to make government activities seamless,” Obaseki said.
According to the governor, “Since 2016, our monthly Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) collections have consistently increased as a testament to the conscious investments we have made into boosting our local economy.
“Our partnerships and popular ‘MOUs’ have set Edo on the path of financial sustainability. Projects like the Benin Port, and Enterprise Park, among others, will further impact the IGR of the state for years to come,” he added.
He explained that his administration had delivered on promises made to Edo people.
Earlier in his welcome address, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Alaghodaro Economic Summit, Dr. Asue Ighodalo, said the state’s economy had grown by over 140 per cent
According to him, this is against the 4 per cent growth recorded at the national level over the same period.
Asue said, “Over the past eight years, Edo State economy had grown 140 per cent from an economy of US$10.6 billion to US$25.8 billion today, while Nigeria’s economy grew at 4 per cent.
“The new investments attracted from new investors are put at US$4 billion sourced from Nigeria and from joint partnerships as the state has the capacity and will.
“Edo state must set out at dawn to make progress and pull other parts of Nigeria and other regions up,” he said.
On his part, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, said Edo State has comparative advantage over every other state in the area of agriculture and agro-processing.
Dangote, who was the keynote speaker at the Investment Summit, was represented by the Managing Director, Dangote Group, Mr Olakunle Alake.
He noted that the reforms in the agriculture and tourism sectors have repositioned Edo state as a tourist hub and investors’ haven.
According to Dangote, the ease of doing business in Edo State is the point of attraction for investors in various locations in the state.
Dignitaries at the event included the immediate past governor of the state, Adams Oshiomhole, former governors John Odigie-Oyegun and Chief Lucky Igbinedion, and the Governor of Delta State, Sheriff Oborevwori. (NAN