Ekiti Gov. Kayode Fayemi has directed traditional rulers and community leaders in the state to supervise government projects in their areas.
Fayemi made the plea on Wednesday at an Inter-faith Thanksgiving Service to mark the beginning of the New Year held at the Government House in Ado-Ekiti.
Fayemi, who was represented by Deputy Gov. Bisi Egbeyemi, said the Obas, chiefs and their people should monitor such projects to ensure accountability and early completion.
The directive, he said, had become necessary to ensure that contractors working on those projects use quality materials that would stand the test of time.
On the various abandoned projects, Fayemi said work would soon commence on them.
The governor said he had directed that bushes on the highways should be cleared to prevent kidnappers and armed robbers from using the bushes as hideouts for their criminal activities.
According to Fayemi, government is working round the clock to tackle security challenges in the state.
He, however, advised residents to assist his administration and security agencies with useful information that could lead to the arrest of criminals living among them.
On workers’ welfare, the governor assured civil servants of a better welfare package, saying “I am prepared to leave the state better than I met it.”
In a sermon at the service, the Rev. Christopher Omotunde, the Bishop of Ekiti Diocese of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), thanked God for Ekiti.
He likened the last four years in the state to the journey of the Biblical Israel who sojourned in the wilderness for hundreds of years as chronicled in the Book of Joshua, Chapter 5.
Omotunde noted that the only hurdle before the Israelites to cross to the promise land was River Jordan which he claimed was synonymous with the last election in the state.
Also, a Islamic cleric, Alhaji Abdulraheem Arikewuyo, urged political office holders to take the responsibility of governance given to them by the people seriously.
He advised them to develop a mindset that a day of accountability and reckoning would come when both the good and bad would be judged.
Arikewuyo said as leaders they should be generous and also shun high handedness, describing power or position as transient.
