Oyo Commissioner For Women Affairs Hon Toyin Balogun Extends Warm New Year Greetings to the People of Oyo State

My heart spills over with gratitude and humility to the Almighty for the gift of life,for family, for the small but unbreakable, tightly knit support structure God has blessed me with,for my Principal; His Excellency GSM and his family/loved ones who have taken us to their hearts.

The year 2023 handed me its share of highs and lows which I have tried to handle with equanimity;tears,tremendous loss,sadness,challenging times and seasons of happiness & joy but I thank God once again for bringing us over to the other side head unbowed and spirit unbroken by all we’ve experienced.

I am after all,just an implement( a conduit pipe as I like to feel) in God’s hands.

To the vulnerable demographics(Women,Children,Elderly and Physically Challenged),my dear Ibadan North LG family and the good people of Oyo State,despite the challenging 2023 terrain,God has indeed blessed us with another opportunity to rewrite a positive narrative in the unfurling,multiply dimensional tapestry of our lives

I enjoin all to intentionally seize this defining moment with every sense of responsibility and commitment to do better,be better and aim to be the best version of ourselves in the nascent year unfolding before our eyes

We are favoured indeed in Oyo State in the quality of the leadership God blessed us with.

I say this with every sense of responsibility,backed with empirical facts & figures,no hype intended

The Ministry of Women Affairs & Social Inclusion is constitutionally intended/empowered to be the bridge between the government and the people,the connecting dot that is intended to translate and impact the Social Welfare interventions of the government directly onto the people

Personally,I have set 3 rolling Agendas for the ministry under our watch:

1.To elevate Oyo State to become the reference/focal point on all Social Welfare related issues in the comity of Nigerian states

With the full backing of His Excellency,our one of a kind First Lady, requisite inter ministerial collaborations across board, multilateral stakeholders & partners,the Ministry of Women Affairs & Social Inclusion under our watch is geared to become a bastion of succour/ refuge for our people,particulately the vulnerable groups in the state

2.To raise a minimum of 4 million family units from within the ranks of the Vulnerable demographics( Women,Elderly,Children & Uniquely Abled) from Poverty,navigating through Self Sufficiency to Prosperity in line with my Principal’s sworn agenda

This is projected to be achieved within the timeline of the lifespan of the Governor Seyi Makinde led government (God sparing our lives)

3.The 3rd which is closely linked with the sustainability of the impactful interventions of the GSM led government I will keep under wraps for now

Like I said earlier,we are blessed with a Governor who is determined,committed and intentional about his decision to improve the quality of lives lived by our people

His Excellency has jumpstarted this salvage movement by putting in place structures,platforms and fuel that will help birth this ambitious but achievable vision and the ministry has secured his backing,political will and force of will to see this through to a logical end

All concerned citizens of our dear state,particularly from the Vulnerable Communities are hereby enjoined to be reoriented and positioned strategically to embrace,key into and intentionally determine to drive the various interventions already being incubated by the ministry to success so that we can together achieve the projected outcomes

Our motivation,which is in tandem with my Principal His Excellency Governor Seyi Makinde’s is the desire to birth economically empowered,financially secured communities devoid of abuse who can be useful to themselves and the society at large.

Welcome to 2024,the Year of Empowerment of the hitherto Vulnerable

Mrs Toyin BALOGUN
COMMISSIONER FOR WOMEN AFFAIRS & SOCIAL INCLUSION