BY LAW IBITOYE
Ekiti State Governor, Mr Biodun Oyebanji has called on Ekiti residents to embrace agriculture, saying his administration had cleared over 2,000 hectares of land to be allocated free of charge to interested residents.
Governor Oyebanji disclosed this at
the 7th Quadrennial Delegates Conference of the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN) in Ado- Ekiti on Wednesday.
He urged interested civil servants and members of the public to form themselves into cooperative societies and approach the Ministry of Agriculture for support.
According to him, “My appeal to civil servants is that those who would like to be part of our Agriculture Revolution should form themselves into cooperative societies and approach the Ministry of Agriculture for support.
“It may be difficult to support individually but when you form yourselves into cooperatives, many opportunities are available now. We are clearing land free of charge, we are giving inputs and we are going to buy from you. As I speak today, we have cleared more than 2,000 hectares across Ekiti State.
Oyebanji lauded the pivotal roles of the civil servants in the realization of his six point agenda which he attributed to the efficiency and effectiveness of the workers.
Clearing the air on the alleged NGF hampering living wage, Governor Oyebanji said Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) are not against approval of a living wage for Nigerian workers.
He opined that it’s incumbent on individual states to determine what they could afford that would not result in downsizing workforce, adding that since no state in the Federation wants to engage in retrenchment of their workforce, urged Labour union reason along with the Governors .
“The NGF is not against the living wage, no Governor is against the minimum wage, but what we are saying is that it must reflect fiscal federalism, ability and capacity to pay. No Governor wants to retrench, if there is a minimum wage today without a concurrent increment in what we are earning, no state can pay, and that is the conversation we are having- that, look, we want to give you a living wage, but we must look at what comes to the states and whatever is in the best interest of the states and the workers,.
“I have come here today to associate and rejoice with you as major stakeholders in our body polity. More importantly, I am also here to learn from you and to share your experience. As you know, the civil service is a reservoir of talents where you can find all professionals of different callings and experiences”