The Nigeria Society of Engineers, Osogbo branch has urged members of the society who are public servant or political appointees to always adhere to standard specification and ensure quality implementation of projects in wherever they are superintending.
Chairman, NSE Osogbo branch, Eng Haqib Zubar said this in Osogbo during the recent General Meeting of the society and reception organised in honour of members of the society appointed to the state cabinet by Governor Rauf Aregbesola.
The society members appointed to the cabinet are: Engr. Kazeem Salaam, Commissioner for Works and Transport; Engr. Oluremi Omowaiye, Commissioner for Science, Innovations and Technology, and Engr. Muideen Olateju, Special Adviser, Science, Innovations and Technology.
According to Zubar, the loyalty of a professional engineer is not primarily to his political principal but to the safety of the society and delivery of quality facilities that will make life more abundant for the people.
He said engineering profession is about the public trust as a result of the expert knowledge to determine what is good and hazardous for the society and urged the political appointees to resist all forms of political and monetary pressure to compromise standard in discharging their duties.
Zubar said quality project delivery by any government largely determined by the professional engineers who are policy makers in such government and urged them to be NSE professional ambassadors.
Speaking during the reception, The Commissioner for Works, Engr. Kazeem Salami appreciated NSE members for their support since the inception of the present administration in the state especially in the area of quality assurance.
He said, “Osun is lucky with Governor Rauf Aregbesola who married “political will with professional capacity” in providing global standard infrastructures in the state saying the governor always aspire for the best no matter the cost implication.
He said, “the vision of this administration is clear on infrastructural development, Aregbesola is to provide the best road, schools, bridges, and sophisticated technology that can compete with the best in any part of the world”.
“The governor’s vision is evident with the quality of road that can last for 30 years we are constructing, the state-of-arts school buildings with modern facility that are of global standard, and that is where we have the acronyms Osun Standard” because the governor will challenge you to go to any length to get the best, the standard of Mr. governor is the best”.
Also speaking, Engr. Oluremi Omowaiye challenged Nigeria Engineers to invest and embark on research that will provide locally made technology to address cattle herdsmen and farmers’ crisis in Nigeria.
Omowaiye said the technology has provided solution to such problems in developed country saying Nigeria Engineers must provide direction in addressing the problem through technology that will be peculiar to our environment and weather.
He described the crisis as a reflection of underdevelopment in Nigeria saying “in 2018, if we could not develop technology that will allow cattle herdsmen to do their business without affecting the farming and food production, there is a fundamental problem which we must all rise to address”,  Omowaiye said.
Earlier, Dr Ogunba Olubumi has earlier delivered a lecture on; “My Food My Responsibility” where he advised members of the people to be wary of what they consume saying food consumption responsible for the most of the life threatening diseases.
 

The state of Osun House of Assembly would continue to supervise activities of government agencies through the power of oversight functions, with a view to rendering necessary support that would enable them achieve desired objectives.
Chairman, House Committee on Environment and Sanitation, Hon Akinloye Ajibola gave the indication on Tuesday at an interactive meeting with officials of the State park and garden agency of the concerned ministry at the House of Assembly Complex, Osogbo State of Osun.
Hon Akinloye said the meeting was called to request for the report of the activities of Osun Parks and Garden Management Agency (OPGMA)
He urged the agency to always carry the House of Assembly along in their activities.
According to him, “We called the agency to brief the House on their activities because we appealed to the Governor for its establishment for the first time in the history of the state and we would not watch it lose its value.”
He also advised the agency to work as a team for the success of the state, saying the door of the House of Assembly is opened for all to come in anytime for guidance.
In his goodwill message, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Environment, Engr. Rasheed Opatola said the agency’s main focus is to provide special services for the masses in the state.
He said the main function of the agency is to provide social services in the state and added that the agency needs to beautify the major roads and landscape the state.
In his contribution, the Acting General Manager of the agency, Mr. M.A Akinromade appreciated House members for their good gesture towards the agency.
He said many tree seedlings have been given out to the public to plant for environmental protection.
He added that work is going-on on the zoological garden of UNIOSUN and a committee has been set up for the take over of Olajokun park for the purpose of generating income into the government purse.
In their separate remarks, the committee members commended the agency for its activities so far in developing Osun environment. They pledged their support to the agency always and promised to ensure that Olajokun park bounce back soonest.

In order to boost commercial agriculture in the State of Osun through advance technology, the State Produce Board (OPB) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Osun State College of Technology, Esa-Oke.
The deal was sealed at the Conference Hall of the institution on Tuesday between  the management of Osun Produce Board led by the Executive Vice-Chairman and CEO, Dr Yemi Adegoke and Osun State College of Technology Governing Council led by the Council Chairman, Professor Layi Fagbenle.
Speaking during the event, the Executive Vice-Chairman of the board, Dr Yemi Adegoke hinted that the signing of the MoU was in line with the vision of the present Government led by Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola to boost agricultural production and improve the income for  all  stakeholders in the sector.
Dr Adegoke explained that to achieve the government’s target and vision , it is therefore important to move  away from over 3000 years primitive and subsistence farming method which requires the use of hoes and cutlasses only,  to Mechanised and Commercial farming method which is the only alternative to change the poor condition of farmers and consumers.
He maintained that OSCOTECH, Esa Oke and all other state-owned tertiary institutions are blessed with both human and material resources needed to improve farming method, urging the institutions to establish Commercial Farms, Technology, Research and Demonstration Farms and engage in production of Herbs.
He noted that this will make them a leading light capable of competing with other institutions around the World.
He promised that the Produce Board and Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security will give the institutions all necessary technical support needed to execute the content in the MoU, in order to achieve the target result within a limited period.
In his brief remarks, the College’s Council Chairman, Professor Layi Fagbenle acknowledged that the vision of the government of the State of Osun is a good one and expressed optimism that it will come to reality.
Prof Fagbenle stressed that Nigeria and West Africa sub-region are blessed with fertile agricultural land, good weather and human materials.
He therefore promised that the institution will cue-in and make the vision a reality.
Also speaking, the Acting Rector, Dr Samson Adegoke who described the signing of MoU as a good sign of good thing for the institution, said it is prepared for the task ahead, especially now that it has a department of Agricultural Engineering.

Two significant events took place in the State of Osun this week. Both of them indicates a forward thrust to lay strong foundations in the state. The initiatives are interlocking and in this way a synergy is being created here into a critical mass.
The first initiative is the signing by the Osun Produce Board (OPB) of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Osun State College of Technology, Esa-Oke in order to boost commercial agriculture in the state of Osun through advance Technology. As the Executive Vice Chairman and CEO of the Osun produce board, Dr Yemi Adegoke pointed out during the signing, “… the MOU is in line with the vision of the present government led by Ogbeni Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola to boost agricultural production and improve the income for all that are involved in the agriculture value chain”.
Very well stated by Dr Adegoke, for it is absolutely critical in the process of modernisation leading to industrialization that there must be an upliftment of the process from subsistence to commercial farming. This is the only way to revitalise a stagnant rural economy and uplift the living standards of farmers. Involving the Osun State College of Technology, Esa Oke is also very important. For the transition to commercial farming must be focused on technology and research which the institution is eminently suited to provide. The synergy will be decisive.
The modernisation of Agriculture will certainly be decisive for the state to meet the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) target of N10 billion monthly proposed by Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola. Modernizing agriculture means that the State of Osun will be operating on the framework of the State of Iowa In the United States. The comparison is important. Iowa is a very successful economic example. It does not have the[minerial] resource base of much larger Texas, the technology industries of California or New York’s turbo-charged financial services industries.
Nevertheless, Iowa is a sterling success story. The state has leveraged its highly developed agriculture through technology, research and cutting edge commodities exchange mechanisms to provide very high living standards for its citizens. Osun must look at the Iowa model as well as the Cooperative model of The Netherlands. It is astonishing that the Netherlands with less than a third of the landmass of our own Niger state, consistently exports over $100 billion worth of Semi-processed and processed agricultural commodities a year. For Osun this is the way to go.
Ogbeni is absolutely correct to point the way forward. Osun must build on the framework of taxation as the way forward to sustainable development. In his words –”So we must henceforth let the people of Osun know that if Lagos could earn N41.7 billion as IGR every month, then it will unthinkable and irresponsible for Osun not to strive to make N4.1billion every month.
“That is what we need. It is the least we can work on. So by 2028 if Osun must be modern, we must have capacity to generate N10 billion monthly.
“So, the communiqué of this workshop must develop the capacity to support the state in its quest for development in practical term that will make Osun one of the best, economically viable in Nigeria”, Aregbesola told the gathering.
He added, “The reason for this summit is on how Osun will be in 2028. We must through this summit, acquire capacity to be able to fashion out ways of improving our revenue base because one thing we cannot deny is the economy fact that in 10 years to come, there will be no economic value for crude oil.
“We must also be conscious of the future population explosion in whatever economy we are planning by educating the people against the effects of reckless procreation because if we failed to take the bull by the horn, the present population in the country would have risen to 200million with similar effect on each state of the federation in 10 years time.
“Thus, we must aggressively pursue local production on our own to overcome unemployment and the consequences of it, otherwise, we will still be facing challenges”.
This is the incontrovertible roadmap for the future. The political will as well as the robust resolve is clearly there. What will be vital for the future of another generation is to ensure the continuity of this laudable objective by electing a progressive government on the 22nd September, 2018 to continue this framework. All hands must be on deck to achieve this.

The Executive Secretary, Egbedore South Local Council Development Area (LCDA), Mr Kola Ajao has reiterated the commitment of the council’s management team to the development of grassroot sport among the youths in the council area.
He gave the assurance at the grand finale of the youth football competition tagged Kola Ajao Youth Soccer Championship organised by Egbedore South LCDA, at the Ido-Osun High School playing ground recently between Fehinti Football Club and Estate Boys.
According to a statement by the Information Officer of the council, Mrs Iyabo Adeniran, Ajao, who described sports as a unifying factor, said the gains in participating in sport competition are numerous and should be taken advantage of.
He said his administration believes in catching them young syndrome by identifying talents among youths and assisting them to develop their talents in the sport industry.
Commending the efforts of the organisers of the competition for putting their wealth, vast experience, time and energy to develop sports at the grassroots, he said the efforts would inculcate the spirit of sportsmanship in the youths.
The council boss saluted the efforts and courage of the participating teams from the preliminary to the final and therefore promised to organise other field events to foster unity.
He also encouraged the youths to take part in sport competitions beyond the localties to expand their talents.
The Council Manager, Alhaji Badiru Kolapo appreciated the performance of the participating teams and encouraged them to endeavour to develop their talents so that they can get to international level.
Meanwhile, the Estate Boys won the match with a one goal via a converted penalty.
Present at the occasion of the football match were the Olojudo of Ido-Osun, Oba Adedapo Aderemi; political functionaries and members of the community.