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Political
office holders and civil servants who acted as guarantors of loans for
beneficiaries of the Ekiti State Micro Credit Scheme will be held
responsible in cases of default by beneficiaries, the State
Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Taiwo Olatunbosun, has
said.

Mr. Olatunbosun
said the guarantors were liable to pay back the loans in accordance
with the agreement they signed with government. He urged political
office holders and civil servants who have their family members in this
category to appeal to them to repay their outstanding loans, stressing
that government was determined to ensure total recovery of all
outstanding loans in order to enable others to benefit from the scheme.
The Information Commissioner said the state government established the
Micro-Credit Agency as part of efforts at alleviating poverty through
disbursement of loans to artisans. He said these loans were guaranteed
by reputable people in the society, including political office holders
and government functionaries.

Fighting drugs

The commissioner
also warned Forest Guards manning the state forest reserves on the need
to rid the state of the cultivation and trafficking of Indian Hemp.
“Government will henceforth regard all Forest Guards of the areas where
marijuana farms were discovered as part of the ignoble act,” he said.
“We are determined to wage war against planting of cannabis government
reserves. Forest guards that voluntarily gives information that may
lead to discovery of such criminal plantation would be properly
rewarded as motivation for them to be alert to the responsibility of
checkmating the activities of the cultivators of the illicit weed.” He
also called on people in the state to report any suspicious farm to
relevant law enforcement agencies.

Meanwhile, the State Executive Council has also ratified the
transfer of the Schools of Nursing and midwifery, Ado Ekiti, which had
hitherto been under the supervision of the State Ministry of Health, to
the University of Ado Ekiti Teaching Hospital. Mr Olatubosun said the
gesture would facilitate improved management and enhance training of
the Nurses and Midwives in the schools, in conformity with the new
status of the University Teaching Hospital. He reiterated the
commitment of the state administration to the development of all
sectors, stressing that no stone would be left unturned in the efforts
at ensuring rapid development in the state.