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Bamigbola Gbolagunte, Akure
Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State, yesterday, presented cheques of N516 million to 37 communities and 13 vulnerable groups in the state.
He said the essence was to enable the beneficiaries kick-start the implementation of their self-help and empowerment projects under the Community and Social Development Project Additional Financing (CSDPAF).
The governor said at an event held at the International Centre for Culture and Events (The Dome) in Akure, that his action was in line with the unwavering determination of his administration to run an inclusive government.
Akeredolu, who was represented by his deputy, Agboola Ajayi, said CSDP has lived up to expectation of facilitating the people to utilise their innate intelligence and indigenous capacity to drive development in the state, especially in the rural areas.
“We appreciate the fact that the community and social development project utilises the bottom-up community driven development approach in its project implementation strategy, involving the projects’ end users, particularly in its identification through the participatory rural appraisal, a platform for grassroots policy dialogue, implementation and taking ownership of the projects.
“Our administration will not relent in abridging the wide socio-economic gap between the hinterlands and urban centres as real development can only be actualised and accentuated through the active symbiosis between the two, an understanding predicated on collaboration and co-existence designed for amity and progress
“Let me commend the special adviser and the Ondo State Community and Social Development Agency (ODCSDA) for facilitating and impacting into the the lives of inhabitants of 142 communities across the three senatorial districts of the state with 361 projects to date,” he said.
Special Adviser on Rural and Community Development to the Governor, Victor Olabimtan, said ODCSDA was one of the 27 states, including FCT participating in CSDP fully certified by the World Bank to operate in the CSDP additional financing phase.
Olabimtan noted that the World Bank-assisted programme was to improve access to services of human development, while the project developmental objective was to support empowerment of communities and local government authorities for increased access by the poor to improved social and natural resources infrastructure services in a sustainable manner.
He said CSDP has contributed significantly to achieving the target set by Akeredolu’s administration.
