Osun Economic Summit: UNICEF lauds Oyetola on effective fund utilisation, others

As State of Osun Economic and Investment Summit enters rounded up the three-day event, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has commended Governor Adegboyega Oyetola for effectively utilising the funds released to the State by the agency.

The agency also congratulated the government over the huge achievements recorded across all sectors of the economy, adding that the government’s developmental programmes are not only pro-people but also child-friendly.

UNICEF, which spoke through its Field Officer, Mr Tushar Rene, during plenary IX and the development partners’ roundtable meeting with Mr Governor on Thursday, pledged the agency’s continued support for the State, particularly in the development of education, child and maternal health.

Rene, who described the Summit as both impressive and successful, maintained that the government of Oyetola has, by this Summit, put Osun on the path of greatness as development partners across the globe have been given a good reason to immediately direct resources and necessary attention for rapid socio-economic development in the state.

“On behalf of UNICEF, I wish to commend this government for effectively utilising funds obtained from this agency.

“This is the first State to approve the social protection policy and law, the 332 primary healthcare centres across the state and so on. We congratulate the governor for the job particularly in education, child and maternal health.

“As we pledge our continued support for the state, we want to urge the government to consolidate on the gains from the various programmes and scale of initiatives.

“I must confess that this Summit is impressive and I have no doubt that it will produce desired results as it looks good enough to immediately draw the world’s attention and that of investors and key development partners across the globe”, Reme said.

The agency advised the government on the need to put in place the end-user monitoring of social sector intervention, use of data for decision making and child-friendly budgeting.

Earlier in his opening remarks at the roundtable meeting, the Governor, Adegboyega Oyetola thanked all the partners for their support, adding that the meeting was arranged with a view to deepening “existing collaboration, forge new alliances and unlock possibilities that will enhance the quality of life of our people and overall development in the State.”

While reiterating the commitment of the administration to fully realising its development agenda, Oyetola called for the continued support from all key development partners in moving the state to greater heights.