The Oyo State government has charged authorities of the 33 local government areas and 35 local council development areas to ensure they align their programmes with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Senior Special Assistant to Governor Seyi Makinde on SDGs, Mr Kunle Yusuf, gave this charge at a Capacity Building/Workshop for SDGs Desk officers across the 33LGs and 35LCDAs in the state.
He noted that with local councils mainstreaming their development plans with the SDGs, they were keying into the current administration’s four pillars of economic expansion, security, health and education that the SDGs preaches.
Furthermore, Yusuf tasked the desk offices across the local councils to strengthen their budget, planning and strategy department to be able to efficiently evaluate and monitor their projects.
Yusuf also enjoined the desk officers to organise NEEDS assessments, especially of local government projects.
In declaring open the training, Chief of Staff to the Oyo State Governor, Mr Segun Ogunwuyi, solicited the participation of all state and non-state actors in achieving and successful implementation of the SDGs in the state.
While enjoining the participants to harness the opportunity of the training, Ogunwuyi, represented by the Deputy Chief of Staff, Mr Abdulmojeed Mogbonjubola, assured that the state government will continue to prioritise training and retraining of its workers.
On his part, the state Statistician-General, Mr Teslim Adekunle, tasked the desk officers to ensure they provide adequate and required data for planning purposes at both the local government and state levels.
He warned that failure to provide adequate data will continue to be a drawback to development.
