How are things going with you, and how are you coping with the challenging times? As a government, we continue to play our role in making things easier for our people in Oyo State, especially in the area of stimulating the economy.

This past week, we signed the final investment agreement with Shell Nigeria Gas on a project that will start with constructing gas distribution infrastructure along 15 km of pipeline route and grow to deliver up to 60 million standard cubic feet of gas per day across Oyo State. The first gas is expected in Q4 2025, which is in 18 months.

I am particularly excited about the prospects of this agreement and what it will mean for economic development in Oyo State. Back in 2020, when we signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) at my office in Ibadan, it would have been almost impossible to predict that just four years down the line, events would unravel in our dear country that would make the need for alternative sources of cheaper energy self-evident. So, in this way, I can say that we prepared for the future.

As I have said in the past, our administration will continue to take actions that will reduce our people's suffering. Instead of concentrating on handouts with only a short-term effect, we will continue to take actions that help us in the short, medium and long term. Activities that will lead to increasing business investments, especially in the manufacturing sector, creating greater stability in the power sector and increasing interest in agriculture and tourism, where we have comparative advantage, will continue to be prioritised.