Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi, has given N497million to 70 communities living in the grassroots to assist them to complete various ongoing self-help projects under the ‘grants-in-aid’, Daily Trust reports.
Speaking while distributing cheques to the representatives of the communities in the 16 local governments and 19 local council development areas, Fayemi said the gesture was in fulfilment of his promise not to leave abandoned or uncompleted projects at the end of his tenure in October 2022.
The governor, who was represented by his deputy, Otunba Bisi Egbeyemi, at the ceremony, urged the benefiting communities to make the best use of the grants-in-aid to complete the projects for the benefit of the people.
The projects include palaces, palace halls and fencing, town halls, civic centres, drainage, market stalls and boreholes.
Fayemi recalled that the projects which were initiated by the communities but financed with funds from the World Bank-assisted Ekiti State Community and Social Development Agency (EKSCDA) were abandoned by the last administration.
Speaking earlier, Special Adviser on Community and Rural Development, Chief Folorunso Olabode, explained that assisting communities to execute projects started during the first tenure (2010-2014) of Fayemi which he continued barely a year in office in 2019 when cheques were first distributed to communities after returning to office.
Appreciating the government on behalf of the benefiting communities, the Attah of Ayede Ekiti, Oba Adebayo Orisagbemi, and the Alaaye of Oke Ayedun Ekiti, Oba Olufemi Aribisala, hailed the governor for keeping the hope of the people in the grassroots alive with the financial assistance.
