By Sam Edu
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Ondo State Acting Governor, Mr Lucky Aiyedatiwa has called on stakeholders in the Southwest Investment Promotion Agencies (IPA) to have a meaningful dialogue geared towards the advancement of the region.
Aiyedatiwa gave the charge while flagging off the southwest Investment Promotion Agencies conference 2.0 in Akure on Wednesday with the theme “powering southwest for productivity through increased investment in infrastructure” power sector/rail system.
The acting governor lauded the various initiatives of IPA in the southwest region, noting that it will no doubt bring about infrastructural and economic development which will inturn project the image of the region to the international communities.
He particularly appreciated the DAWN commission for its efforts in bringing states in the southwest to work together in designing common policies .
“It is delightful to note that the focus of this conference is on transforming infrastructure namely: energy and rail transportation. This two will form the bedrock of our near future as they will support the industrialization drive of the Oluwarotimi Akeredolu administration here in Ondo State and his colleagues in the other five states in the southwest .
Stakeholders present at the event included; representatives of IPAs from across the five states in the southwest, the Ondo State Commissioner for Energy and Mineral Resources, Rasak Obe, his counterpart in the ministry of finance, Mr Wale Akinterinwa and other top government functionaries.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Ondo State Development and Promotion Agency (ONDIPA), Mr Gbenga Badejo called on all participants to make the best use of the conference, stressing that Ondo is the best state in Nigeria with its various amusement parks.
ONDIPA’s Director General, Mr Femi Akarakiri noted that the major objective of the agency is to have created a job more than that of the civil service by the year 2025 with the use of the various available mineral resources in the state such as bitumen as well as the proposed Ondo Deep Sea Port.
The Keynote speaker, Professor Yemi Oke called on the government to invest in the power sector emphasizing the indispensability of power and energy in the developmental drive of any nation.
