Over one million guests from different parts of Nigeria and other countries are expected to grace Osun State’s Otisese Carnival organised to celebrate the one-year-on-the-throne anniversary of his imperial majesty of Ife, Ooni Adeyeye Ogunwusi.

The “Otisese ‎Carnival”, is a cultural festival conceived for the Ooni’s office, to celebrate his ascension and landmark reign, showcase the rich cultural splendour of Ile-Ife and foster unity among the Yoruba race.
According to the project lead, Mr Onyebuchi Desmond, who spoke to reporters in Ile-Ife, Osun State, the carnival would also bring all Yoruba citizens [Oodua descendants] and well-wishers from different parts of Nigeria and in the diaspora together to reveal the Odua legacy.
Foster Unity And Prosperity
He said: “We are using this opportunity to draw the attention of the general public to this upcoming event which is poised to be one of the biggest cultural showcase in Osun state and Nigeria.
“Ile-Ife is the cradle of Yoruba civilisation and to have an annual celebration bringing people together from far and wide is an opportunity that would be utilised.
“We want to create a platform for entertainment, education and reawakening of the youth to the cultural values of Osun that will help foster unity and prosperity of Nigeria”.
Mr Desmond further said that the Ooni would also be launching a pet project that include social empowerment initiatives for the Ile-Ife community and Osun State at the event scheduled to come up later in December.
Oba Ogunwusi was crowned the 51st Ooni of Ife last year after Oba Okunade Sijuwade joined his ancestors.

It has been observed that most of the road accidents for which the ‘ember months’ is notorious are not caused by blood-sucking demons or household wickedness but rather by drunken and over-speeding drivers who are always in a mad rush for financial breakthrough during the last quarter of the year.
 

 
State of Osun Technical Committee on Road Safety headed by Professor Joseph Fawole, made the observation during its monthly meeting held in Osogbo.
The Committee opined that, if the drivers obey the speed limit in addition to keeping their vehicles in good condition, it will stem the tide of road mishaps in the ember months.
Chairman, State Technical Committee on Road Safety, Professor Joseph Fawole counselled that, though the standard speed limit in Nigeria is 100km per hour, individual driver should apply common sense as occasion demands, explaining that when a market or school is on the expressway, common sense demands that  the speed should be broken.
Professor Fawole warned passengers who are in the habit of encouraging drivers to speed up to desist from doing so rather than speaking up to check overspeeding drivers.
Meanwhile, the State Technical Committee will today Wednesday, 7th September, 2016 kick-start its state-wide ember month road safety campaign with visit to Oke-fia and Dada Estate motor parks in Osogbo in the morning.
Professor Fawole then enjoined the leadership of motor parks, already contacted, to ensure that their members are available for the programme on their appointed days.

The Osun State Government on Sunday asked Nigerians to ignore attempts by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to diminish the achievements of the Aregbesola administration with last Thursday’s official opening of the Osogbo Government High School, commissioned by President Muhammadu Buhari.
 

 
PDP had in a statement signed by its State Chairman, Hon Soji Adagunodo, said the commissioned school was not a public school but one to be managed commercially until the loan taken to build it was repaid.
PDP said: “Contrary to reports presented to the President and the public, the school is more or less a business outfit to charge high fees in an impoverished Osun State.

“In its usual deceptive and propagandist manner, the state Governor did not inform the President and the public that the school was funded with a Sukuk loan and will therefore be run not as a public but high fee paying private school.
“We can reveal that the Oshogbo high school commissioned on Thursday will be managed as a commercial entity by either Olasore International School, Iloko or Corona School, Lagos. The managers are to charge high fees like the elite private schools.
“We want to inform the public that the school Mr President commissioned is different from Oshogbo Grammar School, the reason why both schools are separated by a fence.The Governor has just use a public land to start an educational business venture.”
Reacting, Semiu Okanlanwo, Director, Bureau of Communication and Strategy in the Office of the Governor, asked Nigerians to demand from the PDP which insights it had into the workings of the Osun State Government’s various strategies to turn around the fortune of education in the state.

“We are not like them. This is a case of sour grape on the part of the PPD that wants to disparage the great achievements of the governor.
“Aregbesola’s mission in education is to democratize it and bring it to the poor who could possibly never have been opportune to be educated along children of the affluent in Nigeria.
“As at today, Osun has completed no fewer than 50 of such mega schools across the state that have already been put to use by Osun pupils without the PDP’s imaginary ‘high fees’.
“Which one of the schools such as Anthony Udofia Government Elementary School, Salvation Army Government Middle School, Adventist Government High School, Ede, Ansar-ul-Deen Elementary School, Isale Osun, Osogbo or any other school has become a ‘high fee paying’ school since their commissioning?” He queried.
It said the Aregbesola administration’s refusal to be slowed down in its development agenda had remained a source of headache to the opposition, adding that none of the claims of the party against the governor had been found to be reliable or true since the PDP embarked on its mission to destroy Osun State.
Continuing, the statement said Osun government will not “be bogged down by the emptiness of PDP’s ideas and the hollowness of the party’s arguments.”
“They said it openly that Buhari would not honour Osun people with his visit. Mr. President came and he was enthusiastically welcome by all the people of Osun. He was pleasantly surprised by the landmark and enviable achievements of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola in the educational sector through his numerous interventionist initiatives.
“The PDP is a disillusioned party and when a party disillusioned, it hallucinates and the outcome of PDP’s hallucination is this baseless criticism of Aregbesola’s historical and landmark achievements.
“The party is a rejected party that can never come back to life again in Nigeria. Its soul, to use the words of its leader, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, has left it long ago”, he added.

The Government of Osun state on Sunday, September 4  asked Nigerians to dismiss attempts by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to diminish the achievements of the rave Aregbesola administration with last Thursday’s official opening of the Osogbo Government High School, commissioned by President Muhammad Buhari.
 

 
It said the PDP lacks the capacity to comprehend the administration’s strategies to make education quality in Osun catch up and surpass what any elite school in Nigeria offers. The government, through the Bureau of Communication and Strategy in the Office of the Governor said the allegation from the PDP was no more than a case of sour grape arising from its shattered expectation that President Muhammad Buhari would not honour the state with his presence to commission the school.
It said the Rauf Aregbesola administration has a comprehensive strategy towards changing the face of education and bringing it to the same level of what any elite schools in Nigeria can offer.
 
The Bureau’s statement, signed by its director, Mr Semiu Okanlawon, asked Nigerians to demand from the PDP which insights it has into the workings of the Osun government’s various strategies to turn around the fortune of education in the state.
 
The Bureau noted that PDP’s claim could only be its own imagination arising from its anti-people orientation that whatever is good, modern, spectacular and qualitative is an exclusive preserve of its own class of elite.
 
The Bureau’s statement said, “We are not like them. This is a case of sour grape on the part of the PPD that wants to disparage the great achievements of the governor.
 
“Aregbesola’s mission in education is to democratize it and bring it to the poor who could possibly never have been opportune to be educated along children of the affluent in Nigeria.” The Bureau said so far, no fewer than 50 of its school projects are already open for use, demanding which one has been changed to high fee paying school. “As at today, Osun has completed no fewer than 50 of such mega schools across the state that have already been put to use by Osun pupils without the PDP’s imaginary “high fees”.
 
“Which one of the schools such as Anthony Udofia Government Elementary School, Salvation Army Government Middle School, Adventist Government High School, Ede, Ansar-ul-Deen Elementary School, Isale Osun, Osogbo or any other school has become a “high fee paying” school since their commissioning?” the Bureau demanded
It said that the Aregbesola administration’s refusal to be slowed down in its development agenda has remained a source of headache to the opposition, adding that none of the claims of the party against Aregbesola has been found to be reliable or true since the PDP embarked on its mission to destroy Osun.
 
“But we  cannot be bogged down by the emptiness of PDP’s ideas and the hollowness of the party’s arguments. They said it openly that Buhari would not honour Osun people with his visit.
 
Mr. President came and he was enthusiastically welcome by all the people of Osun. He was pleasantly surprised by the landmark and enviable achievements of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola in the educational sector through his numerous interventionist initiatives,” the Bureau said Stating that those who seek to diminish Aregbesola’s achievements are only a self-immolation mission, the Bureau said PDP’s inability to comprehend the Aregbesola program of changing the fortune of education in the state could only help to sink the party into its abyss of extinction.
 
“It is gratifying that Nigerians know the PDP for what it is: a lying party and a dying party,” it added. The Bureau said since the commissioning of the Osogbo Government High School on Thursday, there have been calls from far and near by parents who are under intense pressure from their children who desire to be enrolled in Osun schools.
 
Nothing could be more of a confirmation that Osun has set a laudable example on how Nigerian children should be educated. Concluding its statement, the Bureau said, “The PDP is a disillusioned party and when a party is disillusioned, it hallucinates and the outcome of PDP’s hallucination is this baseless criticism of Aregbesola’s historical and landmark achievements.
“The party is a rejected party that can never come back to life again in Nigeria. Its soul, to use the words of its former leader, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, has left it long ago,” Okanlawon remarked.
 
 

President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday described the newly completed Osogbo Government High school built by the Governor of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola as an educational legacy that must be emulated by other states of the federation.
The President stated this while commissioning the state-of-the-art school to commemorate the 25th creation anniversary of the state in Osogbo.

 
Buhari noted that the ‎3,000-capacity complex with 72 classrooms, each capable of sitting 49 pupils, is in line and fulfilment with his administration and party’s education policy.
He held that his government has been doing all it could to assist state governments to realise their developmental plans irrespective of their political parties.
President Buhari said his government will cooperate with other state governments to make education cost effective and accessible to other youth in the country.
According to him, the example of the cost effectiveness will be exemplified by this new school, which is capable of graduating 1,000 students in a year.
He averred that if the school will have produced 50, 000 well-trained students, who will form the fulcrum of the society in the next 50 years.
“I have been here three times before now. I am not surprised by your usual generous welcome. I should also thank you for your support for our party, the All Progressive Congress, in the last presidential and general elections.
“Since last week, the celebration has been loud on the 25th creation anniversary of Osun. I rejoice with you and the people of Osun. Creation of state is for development. I am glad that efforts are in place in Osun to quicken the needed development.
“Our government has been helping states to realise their developmental plans irrespective of political parties. We are here to commission Osogbo Government High School, one of the legacy projects of Rauf Aregbesola.
“The facility here is worthy of emulation by other states. What we are witnessing here is a fulfilment of our government policy on education.
“The economy of scales in this edifice is unquantifiable and so we must seize the opportunities the school has in stock.
“During our campaigns, we promised our people positive and progressive change. But history has taught us that change does not come as easy as that. Change will come after much hard work, patience and perseverance. We promise that we shall do everything for our country and our people and this won’t be long in coming,” President Buhari said.
Speaking earlier, the Governor of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola commended President Buhari for his leadership qualities, saying that Buhari since his assumption of office has not disappointed the many patriots.
 

 
He also lauded the President for facing his job with uncommon courage despite the obvious grim challenges, one of which is declining revenue.
Aregbesola attributed the challenge being faced by the President to the progressive decline in oil receipts to less than 20 per cent of what it was shortly before he came to office.
He noted that the shortfall in oil has affected the Federal Government and put not less than 28 states under severe financial strain, adding that if not for the courage of the President and his team, the country could have gone totally bankrupt.
‎

‎Governor Aregbesola noted that the commissioning of the school is the manifestation of both governments’ commitment to educational development, which is also derived from APC’s ideology and manifesto of providing mass education to the people.
He said, “Education for us, therefore, is the path to development. We are 25 years now, but we are looking at the next 25 years and we want to create and determine the next 25 years through education.
‎
“We are producing the new man. The overall aim is to develop the new man intellectually, socially and morally. This new man is placed in the centre of society who views his own development as part of and for the development of society.
‎
“This is a non-parasitic and non-oppressive man who views his existence in light of the growth of others; he views whatever is acquired to be subsumed in the overall interest of others. He is a man in himself and a man for society.”‎
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Dignitaries at the event were: the Governor’s of Borno Oyo and Lagos States Kazeem Shettima, Isiaka Ajimobi and Akinwunmi Ambode respectively; former Governor of the state, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, Minister of Communications, Adebayo Shittu, and former Deputy Governor of Ogun, Segun Adesegun.

 
Wife of the Osun Governor, Alhaja Sherifat Aregbesola, Deputy Governor of Osun, Mrs Grace Titi Laoye-Tomori were there.
Others included former Chief of Army Staff, General Alani Akinrinade (rtd) and Air Vice Marshal Oluseyi Petirin (rtd); Speaker of Lagos State, Rt. Hon Mudasir Obasa; Senator Babajide Omoworare (Osun West); Senator Prof. Sola Adeyeye (Osun Central).
Royal fathers at the occasion were Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi; Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi; Ataoja of Osogbo, Jimoh Olanipekun; Akinrun of Ikirun, Oba Abdurauf Adedeji; Oluwo of Iwo, Oba AbdulRasheed Adewale Akanbi among others.
 

President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday arrived Osogbo, the Osun State capital, on a one-day working visit as part of the 25th anniversary of the creation of Osun State. He inaugurated the newly built Government High School, Osogbo and other projects completed by the administration of Governor Rauf Aregbesola.
Buhari had been scheduled to participate in the activities marking the 25th anniversary of the creation of Osun state, which took place last week but was unable to make it then.
 

 

 
Accompanying the president on the visit to the Southwest state are the Lagos State Governor, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode, as well as his Oyo and Borno States counterparts, Governors Abiola Ajimobi and Kashim Shettima.
Earlier, security had been beefed up at the Osogbo Government High School, site of one of the projects to be commissioned, as policemen from the Bomb Squadron Unit as well as men of the National Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, were seen with sniffer dogs combing the area.
 
 

 

 
Other dignitaries at the event include, the Minister of Communications, Adebayo Shitu; former Governor of the state, Olagunsoye Oyinlola; Speaker of the Osun State House of Assembly, Mr. Najeem Salaam, and members of the Assembly. Also present were: the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi and the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi; Owa Obokun of Ijesaland, Oba Adekunle Aromolaran, the Ataoja of Osogbo and the Timi of Ede.
 

 

“I hope that my achievements in life shall be these – that I will have fought for what was right and fair, that I will have risked for that which mattered, and that I will have given help to those who were in need that I will have left the earth a better place for what I’ve done and who I’ve been.” – C. Hoppe
 
Everything in life starts with a promise!To us in Osun State, Rauf Aregbesola represents a new generation of leadership who believes he is accountable to the people he’s elected by providence to govern. Mentally sharp and people-focused,he saw an opportunity not only to provide leadership that inspired trust but also the need to leave an extraordinary legacy that would no doubt outlast this generation. With his patriotic, imaginative and unselfish arrest of the socio-economic root cause of infrastructure poverty which had limited the state’s ability to create wealth, it is obvious that a revolution, which will,in the not too distant future, change the state of the state, is in the offing and, when it blossomsforth, itsglory will shine to the ends of the world.Beyond the shadow of a doubt,his modest performance has to a great degree shown that Nigeria’s politics is not dirty as people are wont to insinuate;only that we have some people in politics whose minds are dirty and that’s not unexpected!
 

 
To start with, Nigerians will agree with me that the governor has excelled in the construction of mega structures in most of the schools in the state, an indication that the future of education in Osun State is taking shape. Though, no one can change the past, one can only advise old students who have hitherto cultivated the habit of leaving without looking back at their alma matertohave a rethink before it is too late, lest they become strangers to institutions that opened their ways of thinking and knowing,courtesy of Aregbesola’s MegaSchools programme.
 
Also worth mentioning is the school feeding programme,now known as Osun Elementary School Feeding and Health Programme (O-MEALS),initiated by his government, which has become a template for the Federal Government’s Home Grown School Feeding (HGSF) programme. Added to the list are two libraries he commissioned recently in Ila-Oragun and Ode-Omu which, again, is a demonstration of his unrivaled passion for the development of education sector in the state. Well, though the results of his inputs into the sector may not be fast in coming as expected, one can be rest assured that Osun State in the next four to eight years will be a state that everybody will be proud of. After all, success in an examination is a product of many factors!
 
Another important area of Aregbesola’s intervention worth mentioning is the appointment of Yusuff Alli as Chairman of the Governing Council of Osun State University. In my considered opinion, this thoughtfully planned and skillfully processed step is aimed at replicating what Afe Babalola and Wole Olanipekun did as Chairman of the Governing Council of University of Lagos and University of Ibadan respectively. No doubt a man of means and contacts, the Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) is expected to use his wealth of experience and influence to add value to the citadel of learning with a view to upgrading it to a world class institution in line with the dreams and aspirations of its founding fathers. Of course, this is an innovative departure from the old, somewhat-traditional-yet-unproductive ‘job for the boys’ arrangement which had oftentimes ended up in appointees needlessly drawing from the institution’s avoidably-lean purse.
 
In a similar fashion, the approval nod recently given to the state by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) forthe proposed construction of a power transmission substation to be located at Dagbolu in Osun State is yet another in the series of the administration’s many efforts at strategically repositioning the state as another commercial hub in the Southwest while the procurement of security hardwares, which has led to a sharp reduction in crime rate recorded in the state since his inauguration was an initiative which benefits should not be overlooked.As a matter of fact, I doubt if the near-completion state of the Bisi Akande Trumpet Bridge at Gbongan wouldn’t have by now shamed educated derelicts and apathetic politicians who, over time, have acquired a notorious reputation for developmental and ideological setbacks.
 
Personally, I see Aregbesola as an achieving and engaging governor who is always in touch with his people. In my candid opinion, his’I will succeed’ intervention in the Agriculture sector is not only geared towards repositioning the state as the food hub of the Southwest, it is also aimed at cushioning any bitter or biting effects of the economic recession currently unleashed on Nigeria, thanks to the global economic meltdown. In the same vein, the new lease of life given to the hitherto moribund Cocoa Products Industry in Ede can be viewed as being in line with his election promise of creating employment opportunities as well as attracting investors to the state. The Osun Youth Empowerment Scheme (OYES), through which thousands of youth have been engaged, was another way of helping the people’s lives connect to a cause while the presentation of N1.8bn retirement bond certificates to 266 pensioners in the state was a demonstration of the depth of his love for the state’s civil servants.
 
Contrary to some erroneous beliefs, great nations are where they are today because their leaders were prepared to go above and beyond the call of duty to confront situations that at one time or the other attempted to bribe, trick, threaten or suffocate their countries’ existence.For instance, available information reveal that United States of America’s debt is, as we speak, on the other side of $19tr. Still, America is world’s largest economy and greatest nation. InJune, $10bn of Chicago’s municipal debt was downgraded by Fitch to ‘one level above junk’about the same time China’s debt had become so “fatal” that experts feared it could destroy the country if some “timely fashion” actions were not taken to remedy the situation. Notwithstanding, China retains her enviable position as world’s second largest economy while the Windy City is, at this very moment,America’s third largest city, with the third largest gross metropolitan product and the most balanced economy in the United States.
 
Coming back to Africa, South Africans were two years ago ranked world’s biggest borrowers. Today, South Africa has beaten Nigeria into second place as Africa’s largest economy.Apparently, had Aregbesola not taken loans at the prevailing interest rates at the time in question to turn the fortunes of Osun from a blight of wrongs into a progressive and trailblazing state, I doubt if the situation wouldn’t have been worse! All things considered, even if his actions are sometimes bound to be misconstrued and misinterpreted, this is not to say that the governor might not have made mistakes in the course of discharging his duties. After all, he is human, with all the emotions, weaknesses and failings characteristic of the human nature! Seemingly, his major mistakes are default in payment of workers’ salaries and late delivery on projects.Others are neither here nor there! But these can be excused in that they have assumed a national outlook as a result of current realities. All the same, that Aregbesola has, in spite of his human frailty, remained focused and progressive in his practices, attitudes and approaches is commendable.
 
To be fair to good governance, the change we voted for in Osun State was a divine platform for the radical transformation of the state from the sleepers and the shadows of the past into the present filled with joy and happiness and a future of hope and fulfillment.
 
 
In the words of Napoleon Hill, “the starting point of all achievement is desire.” According to him, “weak desire” leads to”weak results.” The late President John Kennedy corroborated Hill’s views when he averred that economic growth without social progress is a magic formula for poverty. Aregbesola’s strides bring to memory Obafemi Awolowo’s introduction of Free Primary Educations cheme in Western Region in the 1950s. Controversial and at a considerable cost, Awolowo was initially derided for what would eventually turn out to be an indelible imprint in the annals of education as well as the focal definition of governance in Nigeria and beyond.
 
So, for us in Osun State, the journey to socio-economic recovery has just begun and how far the Aregbesola-led administration can go is a different matter entirely. Again, whether or not the governor acts Moses or Joshua on this all-important journey, it needs to be noted that he came at a time the state’s political space was engulfed in the horrible and deadly danger of indescribable grief and paralyzed potentials.
 
May powers, assigned to rubbish the legacy of our leaders, BACKFIRE!
Abiodun KOMOLAFE writes in from Ijebu-Jesa, Osun State, Nigeria

Lawmakers in the Osun State House of Assembly, on Tuesday, advised the Governor of the state, Rauf Aregbesola, on a number of issues that would fast-track the development of the state.

At a special sitting held to review the State’s development 25 years after it was created, the lawmakers said the state had surpassed other states in the nation that were created at the same time.
One of the sectors that the lawmakers, however, urged the government to give more attention to, is the education sector.
The representative of Ife Constituency, Samson Eluwole, pointed out that although the state was having beautiful schools and education infrastructure, the current level of education in the state was pitiable.
He said the state, which is now down the ladder of the recent West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examination, needed urgent attention.
Honourable Eluwole, however, praised the State civil servants for their doggedness in the face of the current economic hardship.
” As of now, if you go to Ife-Ede road and Akoda-Osogbo road, you will discover that these roads have become death traps.
“For a decade now no one can boast of getting water from the public tap. Many infrastructures are on the verge of decadence,” he observed.
The Speaker of the Osun State House of Assembly, Honourable Najeem Salam, also advised the people of the state to be patient, emphasising that the hard times being experienced in Nigeria would soon be over.

 

 
 
He said: “People should be careful how they criticise the government.
“We know this is democracy but it does not mean we should hide under that to criticise the government unjustly.
“Osun is not the only state that is borrowing. Well-to-do countries like America, Saudi Arabia and even Venezuela that has the largest crude oil deposit are also borrowing. We should be mindful of how we judge”.
The House Majority Leader, Timothy Owoeye, noted the state had witnessed some level of development that were yet to be matched by other states in Nigeria.
“We now have 18 higher institutions in the state. A number that has not been achieved by any other state created alongside Osun state in 1991.
“The fact that we are having universities and nine polytechnics in the state explains the enabling environment for doing business in our state,” he told the House.
“The Future Looks Brighter”
The House Member representing Osogbo Constituency, Akintunde Adegboye, said the state, which witnessed a lot of stunted growth before Governor Aregbesola came on board, insisted that the past administrators were not responsible for the woes but insufficient capital was.
“When the Governor came on board, the trend changed as he took a bold step towards ensuring the state was having enough resources,” he reminded the House.
However, the lawmaker representing Orolu-Irepodun Constituency, Honourable Kameel Oyedele, urged the Speaker to expedite action on the bill proposing a Public-Private Partnership in the area of tourism in the state, requesting that it should be passed into law soon.
“I will only urge the Speaker to expedite efforts on how the private sector can come into the tourism industry in Osun. There is a bill to that effect and it is still waiting to be passed into law,” he stated.
Honourable Olatunbosun Oyintiloye, representing Obokun Constituency told the House members that Osun State had grown in leaps and bounds in the last 25 years, pointing out that the administration of Governor Aregbesola has indeed shown itself to be a pacesetter with most of the policies it had adopted, which other states were beginning to copy.
While acknowledging that paucity of fund had thwarted the growth of the state in some aspects, the members agreed that with committed leaders like Governor Aregbesola, who had raised the bar of governance,” the future looks bright for the state”.

President Muhammadu Buhari has declared that change can not be attained on a bed of roses and demanded understanding of Nigerians while he deals with the ailing economy.
 

 
He also described the newly completed Osogbo Government High school built by the Governor of Osun state, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola as an educational legacy that must be emulated by other states of the federation.
 
Speaking while commissioning the state-of-the-art school to commemorate the 25th creation anniversary of the state in Osogbo yesterday, President Buhari stated that his government has been doing all it could to assist state governments to realise their developmental plans irrespective of their political parties.
 
His words: “Our government has been helping states to realise their developmental plans irrespective of political parties. We are here to commission Osogbo Government High School, one of the legacy projects of Rauf Aregbesola.
 
“The facility here is worthy of emulation by other states. What we are witnessing here is a fulfilment of our government policy on education. “The economy of scales in this edifice is unquantifiable and so we must seize the opportunities the school has in stock. “During our campaigns, we promised our people positive and progressive change. But history has taught us that change does not come as easy as that. Change will come after much hard work, patience and perseverance.
 
We promise that we shall do everything for our country and our people and this won’t be long in coming,”. “As you are aware, the purpose of state creation is to bring leaders of government closer to the people, accelerate development, promote patriotic spirit and engender self-sufficiency”. “I am glad to note that efforts are in place for Osun to achieve these desire goals”.
 
“With our progressive governance system in place, I believe it will only be a matter of time before more will be done that will quicken the pace of development all over the country”.
 
“In a federal system, states and local governments are the centres of development, our administration has been helping the states, not just to survive the harsh economic and financial weathers, but to realise their developmental objectives as well, irrespective of the political party in place. We will continue to do this”.
 
“In our party’s manifesto, we promised to provide free and qualitative basic education by implementing the Basic Education Act. We also promised to make education more cost-effective, even as we devote not less than 10 percent of the budget on education”.
 
“There should be a substantial commitment of energy and resources to education by all the levels of government. This is how we can renew our society and shape the future of our children”. “We promised the Nigerian people positive and progressive change during our campaign. We are not and shall not be deterred from that noble undertaking”.
 
“But as we have learnt from history, change has never been attained by nation states on a bed of roses, but rather, through patience, perseverance and steadfastness”. “We are quite aware of the pains and incoveniences that have been the lot of the citizenry in the past one year as we strive to faithfully implement our programmes in fulfilment of our change agenda”.
 
“We are however comforted by the real change and progress we have made in fighting corruption and restoring integrity to government; providing security for lives and property; and positioning the government for effectiveness and especially deregulating the oil sector”.
 
“We must also not forget the fiscal discipline that has nor characterised government business at all levels. This indeed is how it should be and we are determined to introduce and implement actions and measures that will entrench the change mantra in our individual lives just as we are doing in curtailing excessive waste and rent seeking in governance”.
 
“We are determined to remain on track as we strive to deliver to rescue the country from past mistakes in fulfilment of our promise of improving the conditions of our people and making Nigeria a prosperous country”. Speaking earlier, the Governor of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola commended President Buhari for his leadership qualities, saying that Buhari since his assumption of office has not disappointed the many patriots.
 
He also lauded the President for facing his job with uncommon courage despite the obvious grim challenges, one of which is declining revenue. Aregbesola attributed the challenge being faced by the President to the progressive decline in oil receipts to less than 20 per cent of what it was shortly before he came to office.
 
He noted that the shortfall in oil has affected the Federal Government and put not less than 28 states under severe financial strain, adding that if not for the courage of the President and his team, the country could have gone totally bankrupt. ‎Governor Aregbesola noted that the commissioning of the school is the manifestation of both governments’ commitment to educational development, which is also derived from APC’s ideology and manifesto of providing mass education to the people. “We are producing the new man.
 
The overall aim is to develop the new man intellectually, socially and morally. This new man is placed in the centre of society who views his own development as part of and for the development of society.
 
Dignitaries at the event were: the Governor’s of Borno Oyo and Lagos States Kazeem Shettima, Isiaka Ajimobi and Akinwunmi Ambode respectively; former Governor of the state, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, Minister of Communications, Adebayo Shittu, and former Deputy Governor of Ogun, Segun Adesegun. Wife of the Osun Governor, Alhaja Sherifat Aregbesola, Deputy Governor of Osun, Mrs Grace Titi Laoye-Tomori were also present at the ceremony. Others included former Chief of Army Staff, General Alani Akinrinade (rtd) and Air Vice Marshal Oluseyi Petirin (rtd); Speaker of Lagos State, Rt. Hon Mudasir Obasa; Senator Babajide Omoworare (Osun West); Senator Prof. Sola Adeyeye (Osun Central). Royal fathers at the occasion were Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi; Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi; Ataoja of Osogbo, Jimoh Olanipekun; Akinrun of Ikirun, Oba Abdurauf Adedeji; Oluwo of Iwo, Oba AbdulRasheed Adewale Akanbi among others.