Oyo State Governor, Engineer Seyi Makinde says his administration has overhauled the security system he met in the state so as to guarantee the interests of all stakeholders.
He said this while speaking during the Hijrah 1444 luncheon held at Government House, Agodi, Ibadan.
Governor Makinde said the government would continue to protect the interest of all stakeholders in the state irrespective of their religious or ethnic affiliations.
He maintained that his administration had not only overhauled the security architecture of the state but it was also doing everything within its capacity to make the state safe and secure for every citizen.
“In Oyo State, we have a Hijab policy. If that policy is going to change, there must be engagement with stakeholders and I am happy to say that we are ready to have that engagement.”
While debunking an allegation by a group called Muslim Rights Concern, MURIC, the governor said that his administration had never nursed any plan to return public schools to their owners, noting that those inciting religious bias in the state would fail in as much as he was not going contrary to the mandate given to him by the electorate.
He said: “I am aware that some politicians are trying to misinform our people. I read what MURIC said about us returning schools to missionaries. “We have a Muslim as commissioner and we cannot take such a step without his involvement. “Yes, I also went to Loyola College. They made a request for the return of the school to the Old Students Association and I told them that we are still on the ‘Proof of Consent’. We are developing a template because the government alone does not have the resources to educate our children effectively and that is the fact.
“So, we need to educate our children so that they can be with us in the future to do the needful.”
He declared that the state would always guarantee the rights of all the stakeholders to functional education.
Earlier, in his welcome address, the Deputy Governor of the state, Chief Bayo Lawal, stated that the present government in the state was open to criticism.
He enjoined stakeholders to always come up with relevant ideas that could move the state forward.
In their various remarks, the chairman of the occasion, Chief Bayo Oyero, Senator Monsurat Sumonu, Okeere of Saki Oba Khalid Olabisi, Alhaji Hammed Raji SAN and Alfa Oloore, commended Governor Seyi Makinde for his open door policy which they said accommodates the interest of Islam.
They, however, charged religious bodies in the state to always channel their grievances through appropriate quarters rather than expressing them on social media.
Iyabo Adebisi
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