Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun has expressed the readiness of his administration to partner with the United States Government on any initiative that could improve the lives of the people of his state.
Abiodun made this known yesterday when he received the Ambassador of the United States of America to Nigeria, Mr. Richard Mills, who paid him a courtesy call at his office in Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta.
"We are working hard to put things in place that will leave a legacy of sustainable development and improve the lives of the people. As a state, we look forward to the support of the United States government in what we are doing and we are open to work with you and partner with you on any initiative that you have which will improve the lives of our people", the governor said.
He informed the Envoy that his administration had been consistent in empowering the people in the past five years, in tandem with his vision to improve their living standard hence his administration would welcome support from the United States government in its efforts to improve the lives of the people in the state.
"We have put a lot on the empowerment of our citizens. We had the ‘Oko'wo Dapo’ programme, where about 100,000 women benefitted to improve their financial capacity because we know that even though we have huge investments at the top end, the engine room of the economy is still the Small and Medium Scale end of it.
Represented by his deputy, Engr. (Mrs.) Noimot Salako-Oyedele, the governor added that his administration had invested hugely on infrastructure, while adequate policies for business-friendly environment were implemented, thereby engendering more business inflow into the state, especially, Foreign Direct Investments in the last five years.
According to him, facilities such as the Agro-Cargo Airport, has been provided to complement the various sectors of the state's economy, including industries domiciled in the state, for seamless importation and exportation of their goods.
"Just a few days ago, we had the ground-breaking ceremony for our Dry Port, so that our investors and manufacturers would not need to go all way to Apapa Port.
"We are also having our integrated transport system to make sure that we make Ogun State desirable for investments and we hope that with these projects added to all the other things we are doing, Ogun State will continue to be attractive for business and we look forward to doing more business with United States based companies", he added.
Responding, Ambassador Mills described the state as dynamic in the area of business and economic opportunities with a great deal of American investments, noting that discussions with the government officials had afforded him the opportunity to appreciate government initiatives on small businesses to women entrepreneurs, as well as huge investment opportunities that abound in the state.
He enthused that, "Ogun State is the state I wanted to visit for a long time since I arrived in Nigeria about five years ago. It is a state where we can learn a lot, share programmes based on the successes that you have here.
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