The Oyo State Government has made public its readiness to launch a book to guide investors on the State tax laws, business registration and approval as well as legal matters in order to simplify the process of establishing businesses in the State.
Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Dr. Wasiu Olatubosun, made this known in a statement.
This is as the government pledged its continuous support towards fixing and maintaining infrastructures that target the economic expansion drive of the State, as the present administration resuscitated moribund industries that add value to businesses and the people from such assets and properties.
The State Commissioner for Trade, Industry, Investment and Cooperatives, Barrister Olasunkanmi Olaleye stated this while featuring on a live television interview programme of the Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State (BCOS) in Ibadan as part of activities to commemorate the third year anniversary of the present administration on Tuesday afternoon.
Barrister Olaleye explained that the present government of Governor Seyi Makinde has touched virtually all the moribund properties abandoned by the last administration, to create employment and improve commercial activities, which he noted will further make the State the envy of others in the nation.
“The state government has done an evaluation of these abandoned moribund properties and have started resuscitating them, just like the quarry farm at Ijaye, the government has revived it and is producing bitumen likewise the Ilaju garri processing factory refurbished by the State government,” he said
He noted that commercial activities in the State are very vital and key to the growth and development of the economy, adding that prompt payment of workers’ salaries as and when due has also helped the economy, as everyone feels the impact of the government one way or the other.
When asked questions about the condition of markets generally within the Ibadan metropolis, Barrister Olaleye said, recently, the government has constituted a market leaders council which has twelve (12) clusters that settle crises within themselves and also meet with the State representatives at all times.
He mentioned that the market leaders have been supportive and cooperative with the administration, assuring them of more positive changes as requested by the market’s leadership.
Speaking specifically on Bola Ige International Market, Gbagi, Ibadan, Olaleye hinted that lots of abnormalities happened during the last administration whereby toilets and waiting rooms were converted to shops and stores, stressing that out of twenty-eight (28) toilets in the market, only eight (8) were functioning.
He assured that all the toilets would be recovered for people to use and the parking slots and access roads will be rightfully taken over for their original usage, saying that the government was getting ready to organize an impactful trade fair that will showcase talents and new ideas, where other States and foreign embassies will participate very soon.
In the same vein, as part of a routine exercise, the Ministry of Trade, Industry, Investment and Cooperatives’ market inspection team was at the Bola Ige International Market, Gbagi Ibadan for inspection.
The team, led by the Director Trade in the Ministry, Alhaji Taiwo Mustapha went around the market to check all the social amenities and the level of security put in place by the government.
He expressed his displeasure about the way some traders converted some of the toilets and waiting rooms in the facility to shops and stores and the untidy situation of the environment, after which he advised the market leaders to set up environmental sanitation committee to make the environment tidier to attracts more patronage.
The Chairman, Bola Ige International Market Gbagi Ibadan, Alhaji Ganiyu Adetayo assured the government of more support and pleaded that the contractor handling Ibadan/Ife expressway should speed up the work as all the access road that leads to the main markets have been blocked due to road reconstruction projects.
The team also visited Gbagi Police Station, Egbeda, to commend their support in terms of security and cordial relationship between the market people and the security personnel.
The Divisional Police Officer, SP Daniel Oboyi assured the team of continuous support for the people’s safety, adding that business and economic growth could only be assured where there is peace and unity.