Mamora renders account to constituency
Tuesday, June 29, 2004.
Mischief
makers at work on Agagu’s health, says SSG
By Habib Aruna
Assistant Political Editor, Ibadan
The Secretary to the Ondo State Government, Dr.
Olusegun Mimiko, has debunked reports about the failed health of the Governor,
Dr. Olusegun Agagu, saying that the rumour is the handiwork of mischief-makers
who are hell-bent in distracting the governor from his mission.
Speaking at Ibadan during the lying-in state ceremony
organised for the late Internal Affairs Minister, Chief Sunday Afolabi, Mimiko
maintained that the governor’s absence in the country was because he went
overseas in his continued drive to court foreign investors to develop the
state.
“There is no truth whatsoever in the rumour
that Dr. Agagu is sick.After the
first anniversary celebration, he went abroad for business trip. He went to
Thailand and China in pursuit of industrial policy of looking for investors in
critical areas in the state. He went to these two countries, had a stopover in
France and Austria, all in pursuance of industrialisation of Ondo State. So, he
has not gone abroad for medical attention, he is hale and healthy,” Mimiko
explained.
The government scribe expressed concern about the way
people spread rumours that are, according to him, baseless and unfounded in
most cases. He added that people should find the veracity of their story before
spreading it around.
His words: “I think in this era of global
telecommunication system, it is very easy to spread mischief. I think
information travels very easily now and it takes a group of mischief-makers to
start propagating these rumours. But I want to tell you that there is absolutely
no truth in the rumour, he is hale and healthy.”
Even then, Mimiko explained that the government is on
course with his programmes of bettering the lives of the people of the state,
adding that the next phase is rapid implementation stage where the policies
will be seen in concrete terms.
He added: “Government is on course. To some
people, the government is slow in tackling their problems, but as a government
that is tackling fundamental issues of sustainable development, it just has to
get it right. It takes some time to put a proper planning in place.
“This government has entered the rapid
implementation phase of these programmes, and within the next six months, you
will see a lot of things happening in Ondo State. That is not to say that
within this one year, we’ve not got a lot to show. We’ve a lot to
show in the area of infrastructure; we’ve increased the percentage of
potable available to the people from four per cent to about 11 per cent and so
on”.
Commenting on the life of Afolabi, Mimiko said what
came across was that he was a man of conviction and who pursued this
conviction. Besides, according to him, Afolabi also had a lot to show
especially in the political terrain where he was a colossus of sorts. “I
think he led a good life and our prayer is that Almighty God would console the
family he left behind and that they will carry on this legacy of determination
and conviction,” said Mimiko.
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