By Editor
The Director General Ekiti State Bureau for Local Content, Dr.Olalekan Ijidale has emphasized the limitless scope of the Bureau in driving Governor Biodun Oyebanji’s shared prosperity agenda saying that its operation is all encompassing covering all facets of productive activities in Ekiti State.
He stated this while fielding questions as a guest of a popular radio station monitored by our correspondent on Tuesday.
On the fate of the people living with disabilities (PWDs) and special schools in the state, the DG affirmed that they were captured in the policy implementation of the Bureau from the onset.
According to him, “I want to state with all emphasis that the SA to the Governor on Special Schools is a member of our committee because when the committee was inaugurated, we ensured that all categories of people were adequately represented such as artisans, self employed up to representative of special Schools.
“It will interest you to note that many of these special people despite their physical disabilities can perform better in terms of quality and creativity than normal persons so they were factored him in the program”
Speaking further, the DG dispelled the insinuations that foreign contractors are still operating in the state at the detriment of indigenous operatives.
Rather, he said: “The Local Content law allows the participation of foreign contractors because in a free world, there is freedom for everyone to invest anywhere in the world but what the law says in Ekiti is that there must be 40% employment of indigenes in the workforce
“Besides, It is even strategic on the part of the State Government because obviously there are some projects that are clearly beyond the capacity of local contractors so by the involvement of the foreign contractors handling such projects would facilitate skill transfer as our local artisans and unemployed youths will benefit immensely in training and skill acquisition when they are fully engaged” he said
He said the Bureau has achieved a lot since inception in the areas of talents discovery, solid minerals such as lithium, kaolin, potassium and limestones amongst others
