Osun State House of Assembly under the leadership of Rt.Hon
Najeem Salaam has tasked government to focus more on grassroots in its quest to
banish poverty and fast tracked accelerated development . The Assembly made the
call in a statement signed by the Chairman, House Committee on Information,
Olatunbosun Oyintiloye to mark the International Day for the Eradication of
Poverty.
The day for the eradication of poverty has been observed
every year since 1993 when the United Nations General Assembly by resolution
47/196 of December 22, 1992 designated October 17 to promote eradication of
poverty and destitution in all countries.
The Lawmakers noted that the greatest challenge of the 21st
Century is inequality, a situation that had seen the world fortunes
concentrated in the hands of few individual and communities.
Identifying rural urban migration, neglect of agriculture,
poor agricultural practises, non utilisation of available technology, lack of
energy and appetite for foreign consumption, mono-economy, policy
inconsistencies as parts of factors responsible for unabating poverty in the
land, the lawmakers called for new mindsets among the populace.
“the idea of handouts from governments, white collared jobs
should be jettisoned for out of the box ideas ”.
While calling for inclusion of science in agricultural
practises in rural areas, opening up of farm roads and massive production of
electricity and other infrastructure to drive the economy, the parliament said
conscious actions and policies to help bail out communities should be
implemented.
“communities should be provided with essential basic
infrastructure, by increasing the rural population’s access to potable water,
basic health care, education among others”
Acknowledging the initiatives of the Federal Government to
address recession, Osun Assembly pointed that with effective monitoring,
projects such as NPower, and other poverty alleviations initiatives as well
youths in technology programmes will bring great succor to the famished
citizenry.
Also, emphasizing the need for intervention in small scale
industry, empowerment of peasants’ farmers, Artisans and market women, the
assembly stressed that redirection of education orientation to favour
entrepreneurship skills and pursuit will springboard the economy out of the
doldrum.
It also identifies access to quality healthcare, basic
education, improve the level of literacy among adults, school attendance,
local capacity-building and strengthening of civil based organisations and
NGO’s as vital components in addressing poverty in the country.
“with the commitment of the leadership to accountability and
best practises, continuous fight against corruption, change in the approach of
doing government business, the yearning of global community to reduce poverty
will be a reality in the country” the assembly submitted.
Osun Assembly affirmed that improvement in the quality of
public administration and service delivery in rural areas through effective
people’s participation in decision-making processes would go a long way to
bring relief to the citizenry.
The parliament, which also acknowledged the government of
Osun state for its rounded and policies in favour of the populace pointed that
the approach in-spite of prevailing financial straight had helped to stabilize
the polity.
“Government and other stakeholders must adopt innovative
approaches at both the macro and micro level for highly efficient community
development and capacity building for rural dwellers.”
The assembly assured that it was committed to passage of
bills that will create conducive environment for business and investors to
thrive
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