Ogun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun, has expressed happiness over the World Bank’s report titled, ‘Doing Business in Nigeria 2014’, in which the state was named as “one of the top reforming states in 2014.”
Amosun, who briefed members of the State Executive Council (SEC) and Body of Permanent Secretaries on the report, thanked all officials of the state government for their contributions to the ongoing development in the state, which had attracted the attention of the World Bank.
Ogun State, according to the report, made significant improvement, as it was “one of lowest ranked overall performers in both 2008 and 2010,” and now, “it is one of the top performing states in 2014.”
The report stated that, “Ogun improved on three of the four Doing Business Indicators benchmark (as) the construction permitting system was radically overhauled, with the state government authorities decentralising the approval system and a new committee monitoring delays.”
In his briefing to top members of the government, Amosun explained that the achievement was made possible through the hard work of many ministries, departments and agencies, whose officials worked tirelessly to improve on the way business is conducted in the state.
He added that the release of the report on September 29, 2014, the same day he was conferred with the national honour of the Commander of the Order of Niger (CON), made his joy very full and that he was thrilled with the report, which represents an international endorsement for the ongoing ‘Mission to Rebuild Ogun State’.
The governor further enjoined members of the government to be aware that recording success could be easier to achieve but that the bigger challenge was how to sustain the success.
“We must work harder. All of us must not drop the ball. The indicators used in the report showed that we will need to work on one of them, which is enforcing contracts, and they used an example of a project they financed before this administration came to office.
“Let us ensure that we improve on all the indicators by the time they will produce 2016 report. This is a collective achievement and we have a joint responsibility to sustain it,” he said.
