We had barely driven past Ibadan when a call came in, informing that a bomb blast  had gone off in Ile-Ife, in the state of Osun. I was advised not to proceed, as one of my stops on this trip, the APC Governorship Osun Rally, could be a target of such a bomb blast.
I remained insistent it was an explosion which could have been caused by any other reason, but not a bomb blast…couldn’t be a bomb blast. There are no bomb blasts in Southern Nigeria. Nobody could be that dumb as to expose themselves as the real Boko Haram, not over a small state like Osun. I was very wrong.
In Ekiti, 2 people had been shot dead by security agents during the APC campaign following the elections. Nobody was brought to book. In Ekiti, somebody was inducing voters with food, nobody has been asked questions. In Ekiti, APC party chieftains were abducted, disenfranchised, and their followers subdued by the Nigerian Army, no one has been queried.
All of these shadow operations carried out to blur, the mission, and provide reasons and explanations to cover up the massive rigging in that state. Now that the Ekiti formular for masking rigging has proven successful, the plan is to up the anté in Osun. Why shoot 2 people when you can bomb an entire community? Why bribe with bags of rice when you can use plates of ‘amala’? Why abduct party chieftains using the Army, when you can assassinate them with a sniper squad?!
During my previous visit to Osun state, market women in a convoy headed to the Osun Rally in Iwo were ambushed and beaten up by thugs. This time, a convoy of Okada riders was crashed into by a bus loaded with thugs also attacked the riders with sticks and cutlasses for good measure.
I’m not a member of the APC, I would have done what I should do when visited with such madness. However, for the few members I know, I advised that they take precise and decisive action against the perpetrators of this “Capture The SouthWest” agenda. You don’t capture electorate, you win people over, and they give you their votes.
Eventually, we got to the grounds of the rally at Ibokun, but I couldn’t stay. A little bird told me that a lot of the people at those rallies are not members if the community where the rallies were being held, and since I was from Lagos, and am aware of convoys of market women and Okada riders heading to the rallies, I took that information seriously.
During this trip to Osun, my plan was to meet with the people of Ibokun, and seek their disposition towards the candidates vying for Governorship of Osun state.
At a barbershop, one man argued that the incumbent, Rauf Aregbesola, had not ‘sent things’ into the community. He claimed another party had sent inducements to those willing to support them, but ‘Ogbeni’ had not. He pledged his vote was for the current Governor, but wished that the Governor sent something, or at least prevented others parties from using such gimmicks.
The barber himself said he was a supporter of Governor Rauf, and would vote him for a second term. When I questioned the barber’s absence from the rally itself, he explained that the Governor would arrive much later, and so would he.
People were concerned about pictures of themselves or their shops and homes being taken during the interviews. A woman who sold me Seven Up said she didn’t want the state to go back to thugs who made them pay protection, and other illegal fees.
Another man who claimed to be a member of the PDP, and an indigene of Gbongan town asserted that his people never voted for Aregbesola the first term, but have now been humbled by the projects the man executed and commissioned in their town. He swore this time, that his town will vote Ogbeni ‘aggressively’!
An elderly woman who spoke in Yoruba was concerned about the security of the future generation. Seeing I was a visitor  to the state, she assured that this bombing thing was not of the Osun people, and that they would “ship Bola Ige’s killer back to his masters” before he kills more.
They still talk about Bola Ige in Osun, like it was only yesterday he was murdered in cold blood. They love the man, just as they love Awolowo, and they mince no words in calling out one of the governorship aspirants whom they point out as this killer.
I questioned the kids who were at the rally during school hours. They spoke so enthusiastically about the man who gave them the “Opon-Imo”, that I knew I wouldn’t be the one to chastise them for truancy.
In the state of Osun, it’s not difficult to know that even violence is not enough to sway the votes of the people. The thing about violence though, once applied, it is hard to let go. Those political tacticians who have chosen death and destruction as a tool of their own brand of democracy, should re-calculate their formular, and realize that it would take nothing short of a Nuclear bomb to defeat the people of Osun, and since they don’t have that yet, just let the people be.
Osun is a beautiful place, with very hardworking people; they farm, they fish, they hunt, they mine. They love good food, live music, and a decent relax. Let no one import these politics they used to ruin other states.
BLOGSPOT

The new Resident Electoral Commissioner for Osun State, Olusegun Agbaje, has disclosed that total number of registered voters for the forthcoming governorship election slated for August 9 in the state is 1,405, 454.
A breakdown shows that 780, 464 have collected their permanent voter’s card of the 1, 256, 561 registered voters before the continuous voters registration during which additional 149, 885 were registered between March 12-17.
Agbaje pledged on behalf of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to fulfil its mandate of “conducting free, fair and credible governorship election that would meet aspiration of Nigerians and the international community on August 9 in the state.”
He spoke yesterday at the maiden press briefing he addressed at conference hall of the state headquarters of INEC in Osogbo, the state capital.
According to him: “After examining the level of preparedness towards conduct of the election by his predecessor, a lot has been put in place on the part of the agency to achieve success and they include distribution of permanent voter’s cards, continuous voters registration exercise, stakeholders meetings, inter and intra-state transfer of voter’s cards, courtesy visits to designated people and institutions as well as displaying list of nominated candidates for the poll among others.”
The REC assured that those who registered during the continuous registration will collect their permanent voter’s cards as soon as they are sent from INEC’s headquarters in Abuja, warning that nobody would be allowed to vote without his/her permanent voter’s cards.
He said Action Alliance (AA) changed its governorship and deputy governorship candidates from Adeyinka Adeoye and Akintobi Akintade to Babatunde Oralusi and Aqdekunle Rufai respectively during the display of list of nominated candidates by political parties on June 16.
Agbaje solicited for cooperation and support of all critical stakeholders to achieve success in the forthcoming poll, charging “party leaders to caution their followers to play politics by the rules and eschew bitterness to have peaceful atmosphere necessary for conduct of free, fair, credible and acceptable election in the state.”
He reiterated that the forthcoming governorship poll slated for Osun State is another integrity test for INEC, hence “the agency and other stakeholders cannot afford to fail.”
DAILY NEWSWATCH

THE newly deployed Resident Electoral Commissioner, REC, in Osun State, Mr. Olusegun Agbaje, said INEC was prepared to conduct a credible poll just as he solicited for the cooperation of stakeholders in order to achieve the target.

Agbaje said “so far, a lot had been put in place on the part of the commission towards the success in the August 9, 2014 governorship election in the state.”

He stated that the forthcoming election in Osun state remains a litmus test for the electoral body adding that “we appreciate this is another integrity test for INEC and everything desirable is being done by the chairman and the commission to ensure that we meet the aspirations of Osun state people in particular and Nigerians as well as the International community in general.”

While he advised party leaders to caution their followers to eschew politics with bitterness, he said this will go a long way in creating a peaceful environment needed for the conduct of a free, fair, credible and acceptable governorship election in the state.

Agbaje also urged the media, political parties and their candidates, traditional and religious institutions, the civil society groups, National Orientation Agency NOA to partner with the commission to ensure conduct of free and fair poll.

VANGUARD

Download inspiring Quotes from the people of the State of Osun about the Government of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola. This Quote is from Oba Festus Adegboro, the Elademure of  Ibokun. Visit the website at www.osun.gov.ng  or Twitter @stateofosun for more updates on the State of Osun and its projects.

 
 

Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola receiving an Award as the Most Innovative Governor Supporting Education in Nigeria from Initiator, Dream up; Speak up & Stand up Project/International Ambassador on Child Education Development. Photos below:

Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola (right) receiving an Award
as the Most Innovative Governor Supporting Education in Nigeria from
Initiator, Dream up; Speak up & Stand up Project/International
Ambassador on Child Education Development, Miss Zuriel Oduwole
(middle) and her Mother, Mrs Patricia Oduwole, at Government House
Banquet Hall, Osogbo, State of Osun on Wednesday 02-07-2014

From left, Deputy Governor State of Osun, Mrs Titi Laoye-Tomori; Governor
Rauf Aregbesola and Initiator, Dream up; Speak up & Stand up
Project/International Ambassador on Child Education Development, Miss
Zuriel Oduwole, during a Presentation of Award to Aregbesola as the
Most Innovative Governor Supporting Education in Nigeria, at
Government House Banquet Hall, Osogbo, State of Osun on Wednesday 02-07-2014

Deputy Governor State of Osun, Mrs Titi Laoye-Tomori (right) receiving an
Award as the Most Dynamic Commissioner for Education in Nigeria from
Regional Manager, Heritage Bank, Lawrence Okate (left) and Initiator, Dream
up; Speak up & Stand up Project/International Ambassador on Child
Education Development, Miss Zuriel Oduwole (middle), at Government
House Banquet Hall, Osogbo, State of Osun on Wednesday 02-07-2014

Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola signing a Football to make
Case for Girls Education after receiving an Award as the Most Innovative
Governor Supporting Education in Nigeria at Government House Banquet Hall,
Osogbo, State of Osun. With him is, Initiator, Dream up; Speak up & Stand
up Project/International Ambassador on Child Education Development,
Miss Zuriel Oduwole on Wednesday 02-07-2014

Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola (3rd right); his Deputy, Mrs
Titi Laoye-Tomori (4th left); Initiator, Dream up; Speak up & Stand up
Project/International Ambassador on Child Education Development, Miss
Zuriel Oduwole (5th left); her Parents, Mrs Patricia (2nd left); Mr
Ademola (left); Head of Service, Mr Olayinka Owoeye (3rd left);
Special Adviser to the Governor on Tertiary Institutions, Alhaja
Mulikat Bello (right) and others, during a Presentation of Award to Aregbesola as
the Most Innovative Governor Supporting Education in Nigeria, at Government House Banquet Hall, Osogbo, State of Osun on Wednesday 02-07-2014

Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State was today (Wednesday) bestowed the award of The Most Innovative Governor Supporting Education in Nigeria. This was conferred on him in Osogbo by Zuriel Oduwole, the ten year-old Nigerian girl who has made history as the youngest person ever to be interviewed in Forbes and was quoted as one of the 100 most influential Africans.

Speaking on what informed the confirment of the award on Governor Aregbesola, Zuriel said, “It is difficult for a child to learn without the right learning aid. Good learning aids have been made possible for students in this part of the world. It is in recognition of this that on behalf of the ‘Dream Up, Speak Up, Stand Up’ Project that I present the award of the most Innovative Governor in Nigeria supporting Education to Governor Rauf Aregbesola.”

Governor Aregbesola said the occasion was more to celebrate the achievement of Zuriel as a way of stimulating Osun children and Nigerian children at large to have high dreams for them to serve. And through serving recognition would come.

Directing his address to some public school students in attendance, Governor Aregbesola noted that the intention of Zuriel was to promote the interest of the less privileged children across the world. He added that despite her young age of 11, she has made tremendous impact on African children.

“What that implies is that age is not a barrier to making other people’s lives better,” he said.

Governor Aregbesola described the circumstance around the award as a manifestation of the remarkable efforts of his administration in the development of education since he came on board.

“It was not a state in Tanzania that won award for Tanzania but the country itself. It was not a state in Mauritius that won award for the country but the country itself. It was a state called Osun that has won two International Award on the development and promotion of education for Nigeria,” he explained.

“Indeed Osun won two of the four International Awards in education for the continent. That means that something good is happening in this part of the world and this goof thing must continue.”

The award winner explained further that the award ceremony underscores the fact that Africa is making serious positive efforts to change the lot of the people for the better, with Nigeria being in the vanguard of the developments.

“It is even more gratifying for us in Osun that our state is helping to put Nigeria in that lead position”, he stressed.

“For this to happen, it was deemed necessary for us to have free education at the primary and secondary levels; to rebuild the decrepit physical infrastructure; and to urgently tackle the problems affecting the teaching staff, among other things.”

Zuriel was accompanied by her parents, and three siblings. Members of her Project Team were also in attendance.

Zuriel Oduwole is the epitome of what parents want their children to be. At age 10 in 2013, she became the youngest person in the world to be interviewed by the world renowned Forbes magazine. She has interviewed more than 13 Presidents and Prime Ministers. She was named by New Africa last December as one of Africa’s 100 Most influential people of 2013, and is the head of the Dream Up, Speak Up, Stand up project, to inspire Girls in Africa to stay in school.

Zuriel has been featured in many newspapers, magazines and TV programs in Africa, Europe and the USA, including the BBC.

She arrived from Brazil and Ethiopia last week, where she is taking 2 footballs across 3 continents to 6 countries where they are being signed, to make the case for Girls Education. An award winning documentary maker, she hopes to make a documentary about the balls traveling, to bring additional aware to children’s education.

OSUN DEFENDER

GOVERNOR Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State has called for religious tolerance by people in the state, saying there should be mutual respect and tolerance by various religious adherents.

He said the people should be able to relate with one another freely despite their religious differences, adding that doing so would promote peace and harmony, which he said are cardinal for development.

Addressing a rally held at Ibokun, Ijesha North Federal constituency ahead of the governorship election slated for August 9 in the state, the governor urged Christians, Muslims and traditional religious worshippers to see themselves as one in the onerous task of moving the state forward.

He said the people should shun antics by some politicians to use religion to cause disaffection, adding that those who employ religious sentiment to canvass for votes during the governorship poll do not mean well for the society.

He noted that the Yoruba share history of religious interrelationship from time immemorial among themselves, pointing out that under no circumstance should the people be deceived by politicians hiding under religious clout to cause division and hatred in the state.

He said his administration had respect for all religious adherents, stressing that this informed the decision by government to precede public functions with prayers in three prominent religions.

Governor Aregbesola while addressing the large crowd that thronged the L. A. Middle School, Ibokun, venue of the rally, in Ijesha dialect advised them not to allow opposition parties in the state to create disharmony among them   as the election approaches.

The governor, who said his administration had commenced the payment of June salary despite the shortage in Federal Government allocation to the state, noted that he would not relent in his resolve to enhance people’s welfare.

He expressed confidence that come August 9, the ruling All Progressives Congress in the state would emerge victorious and continue the developmental projects his administration had initiated.

He, however, advised the electorate to vote APC no matter the threat by the opposition, whom he alleged have nothing tangible to offer.

GUARDIAN

Download inspiring Quotes from the people of the State of Osun about the Government of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola. Visit the website at www.osun.gov.ng  or Twitter @stateofosun for more updates on the State of Osun and its projects.

The Security Council of the State of Osun on Wednesday debunked the rumour that Boko Haram has imported its terror activities into the State.

Addressing the press on behalf of the council, the Police Commissioner, Ibrahim Maishanu described as false a report in the media of an alleged bomb blast in Ile-Ife on Tuesday, thereby insinuating that the Boko Haram terror group has made incursion into the South-West state.

Other security chiefs at the briefing include the Director of State Services Andrew I or yards, Commandant Nigerian Army Engineering Construction Regiment Ede Brig General Gbenga Adeyemo,  Sector Commander FRSC Muhammed Hussein.

Maishanu said the detachment of police that went to the spot of the alleged explosion only found a banger and not a deadly explosive or bomb as was earlier reported, which explained while no live was lost nor injuries recorded.

The police boss said the banger went off in an area predominated by miscreants and hoodlums, who use such means to scare people before dispossessing them of their belonging.

He said there is no threat to lives and property as the state still remains one of the most peaceful states in the country.

He enjoined people in the state to go about their lawful activities without let or hindrance as police are ever ready to protect them in all nooks and crannies of the state.

The statement said inter alia:”Our attention has been drawn to screaming headlines in a section of the media, alleging bomb blast in Ile-Ife and surreptitiously mingling it with other reports of bomb blasts in Borno and Kaduna States, indicating acts of terrorism and the handiwork of Boko Haram. This is false and misleading.

“In the early hours of Tuesday, just before dawn, my command received report of an explosion in Ile-Ife and we quickly raced to the scene with a detachment of the bomb disposal unit.

“We discovered that the explosion was caused by a big banger or knockout. No life was lost, no injury was recorded and no property was lost, beyond the scorching of the earth where it impacted. A second piece that had not gotten off was immediately detonated by my men.

“This incident occurred in an area of the city frequented by miscreants, hooligans and layabouts and they use such means to frighten their victims. We are investigating and will get to the root of the matter. The perpetrators or whoever is behind this will be brought to book.

“There is no threat to life and property and the peace and tranquillity in the state. Osun is one of the most peaceful states in the country and we have one of the lowest crime rates. There is no confusion or panic anywhere. There is no threat to public peace or threat of terrorist attack anywhere in the state.

We want to assure all the residents in the state of their protection – the safety of their lives and property – and ask them to go about their duties without any fear whatsoever.”

He called on all media organisations to verify the authenticity of any claim or report with the police and other appropriate authorities so as to avoid creating unnecessary panic, confusion and fear where not exists among the population either within or the state and the country.

ACCEPTANCE REMARKS BY THE GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF OSUN, OGBENI RAUF AREGBESOLA AT A CEREMONY TO PRESENT HIM WITH THE ‘MOST INNOVATIVE GOVERNOR SUPPORTING EDUCATION IN NIGERIA’, HELD AT THE BANQUET HALL OF GOVERNMENT HOUSE, OSOGBO, ON THURSDAY JULY 1, 2014
Protocols,
Education As Liberation
It is with a sense of historic responsibility that I stand before this important gathering today. Of a truth, every human generation and segment thereof occupies a space and a place in history. Consequently, each of them is tasked with a mission and responsibility that it must fulfil.
However, identifying these mission and responsibility is as important as fulfilling them; for identification is the first logical and necessary step that determines the success of the latter. I am thus filled with joy to be in this historic gathering today.
Today’s occasion is historic in the significant sense that it is a mark of our success in properly identifying and fulfilling our mission and responsibility in our time and in the space we occupy in history.
Let me here enter a note of genuine gratitude to the ‘Dream Up, Speak Up, Stand Up’ Project and the brain behind it, Miss Zuriel Oduwole, an 11-year-old America-born girl of Mauritian and Nigerian descent. It is on account of her globally acclaimed pet project for promoting education (especially for the girl-child) that we are gathered here today.
I must therefore sincerely thank the ‘Dream Up, Speak Up, Stand Up’ Project for identifying me as one of the privileged few, all over the continent of Africa, that are doing ‘very cool things’ for the improvement of education. This is a reason for which I am being presented today with the award of the ‘Most Innovative Governor Supporting Education in Nigeria’.
This occasion is also a historic moment for our country, Nigeria, and for our small but beautiful State of Osun. The award ceremony underscores the fact that in Africa – popular image notwithstanding – serious positive efforts are being made to change the lot of the people for the better.
Happily, as today’s awards presentation squarely demonstrates, Nigeria is in the vanguard of these ‘very cool’ developments, to borrow from Zuriel. It is even more gratifying for us in Osun that our state is helping to put Nigeria in that lead position.
The ‘Dream Up, Speak Up, Stand Up’ Project came up with four award categories for efforts at improving education in Africa. Two of the awards went to two African countries, Tanzania and Mauritius. The other two came to Nigeria, and they have been won by the State of Osun.
The import of this achievement can be better appreciated against the background of the fact that there are 55 internationally recognised countries in Africa, a continent with a population of approximately 1.1 billion people.
Yet Nigeria won two of four awards due to the continent. Our education reform effort in Osun has once again put the country in positive global reckoning. It is a feat for which we are immensely pleased and proud.
But this is far from being an easy achievement. It is one that is born of serious-minded leadership, single-minded dedication to providing solutions to societal problems, as well as an unflinching commitment to the service of our people. In our commitment to better the lot of our people, we are resolved in paying no obeisance to any obstacle.
As a result, when we came aboard, we quickly defined our mission and responsibilities in government, and we immediately set about fulfilling them. One of these was effecting a complete transformation of our public school system which had sunk into unacceptable state of degeneration.
We constituted an Education Summit that came up with useful recommendations. We then began their implementation with a view to building a robust education system that would be at par with international standards. Our high objective is to produce well-rounded and thoroughly educated individuals that will have the intellectual and moral capacities to positively affect the fortunes of their society.
For this to happen, it was deemed necessary for us to have free education at the primary and secondary levels; to rebuild the decrepit physical infrastructure; and to urgently tackle the problems affecting the teaching staff, among other things.
We identified poverty as a major obstacle to elementary school enrolment and completion. So, we repackaged the existing pilot school feeding programme into the Osun Elementary School Feeding and Health Programme (O’MEALS). The aim is to ensure that every child in school gets a meal every school day that will provide sufficient nutrients required for his/her daily academic exertions.
The introduction of O’MEALS led to a surge in primary school enrolment by 25 per cent within four weeks, thereby adding another 38,000 pupils to the Elementary school population. Today, Osun has the highest primary school enrolment second only to Niger State in the whole of Nigeria.
On physical infrastructure, we are building international standard model schools at all the three grade levels into which we have reorganised our public school system. The Elementary, Middle and High schools will each have 100, 50 and 20 of such buildings respectively.
The school buildings at the first two levels are built to accommodate 900 pupils, while the High school buildings will each have space for 3,000 students. Many of these buildings are already completed and in use, while work is accelerating towards the completion of the remaining ones.
To solve the problem of learning materials and text books, we have introduced the world-renowned ‘Tablet of Knowledge’, called Opon-Imo. It is our innovative and hugely cost-saving solution to a very difficult problem.
Opon-Imo is a unique application of existing e-tablet technology to our specific problems. This tablet weighs only 1.1kg and yet contains lecture notes, some 53 text books for all the subjects of study in the terminal examinations for secondary school leavers in Nigeria and West Africa.
It also contains past questions and answers dating back to 10 years as well as extra-curriculum subjects such as History of The Yoruba, Sexuality Education, Civic Education, Ifa on ethics and morals, enterprise education, hints and tips on passing SSCE and ‘How to live a Healthy and Happy life’. In Opon-Imo there is an average of 16 chapters per subject and 823 chapters in all, with about 900 minutes or 15 hours of audio voiceovers.
These are just some of the many features of the smart e-learning device which is making access to learning easily and freely available to our public school students. It is a concrete statement of the depth of innovation and creativity we have brought to our education reform, and governance generally, in Osun.
The core objective of our education policy is to completely change the face of public education in the state and to also make good and qualitative education something that will be taken for granted by every child in the state.
Permit me to mention here that in the drive towards making education a commonly available right of any child in our state, the achievement of Zuriel will certainly be a massive boost and high inspiration for every school child in Osun, especially the girl child.
At age 11, she is already a globally recognised figure who is making a stand for school-age children in Africa to have the right to education just like any of their peers across the world. I want to assure you that here in Osun, at the highest level of our government, we place a very high priority on giving high quality education to our children.
For us, education goes beyond giving our children a mere meal ticket; we regard education as a powerful force for the liberation of the human person. Hence, as a government, we will continue to ‘Dream Up’, to ‘Speak Up’, and to ‘Stand Up’ for the right of our children to have education.
Once again, I am grateful for the award.
I thank you all for your attentive audience.
Osun a dara!