Osun State Government, yesterday, said it has spent about N2.5billion on dredging of waterways and canals to ensure free-flow of water and save the state from flooding.

Speaking to newsmen on the occasion of World Environment Day in Osogbo, the Osun State Commissioner for Environment and Sanitation, Professor Bukola Oyawoye, said that in the last three and half years, the present government has taken necessary precautions to ensure a flood-free raining season in the state.

Oyawoye added that apart from clearing waterways, the administration has also embarked on sensitisation of the populace on the dangers of dumping refuse on water paths.

She said: “Before the present government came on board, things were extremely bad, as towns in the state usually experience flooding. The most devastating one occurred in the state capital on July 7, 2010 when a pupil was swept away by flood.

“But what could not be done by the past administration, this government has done and, in the last three and half years, we have not experienced any incident of flooding. It is due to the ingenuity of the present administration, which deems it fit to dredge waterways in the state.

The commissioner said that the world is at risk of extinction, as a result of gas flaring, emissions from industries and other anthropogenic and natural activities released into the atmosphere, leading to depletion of the ozone layer.

She added that the results of this in the contemporary world are coaster erosion and severe flooding, calling on the people to desist from blocking waterways so as not to endanger themselves.

“People are always at risk when water rises as a result of dumping of refuse on waterways and blocking of water channels. When rain falls and it is not allowed to flow freely, there will be negative effects on the environment,” Oyawoye said.

In his words, the Special Adviser to the governor on Water Resources and Rural Development, Kunle Ige, stated that the present administration will continue its ongoing beautification exercise across the state.

Ige, who spoke through the Project Manager, Rural Water Environmental Sanitation Agency, RUWESA, Alhaji Olaposi Adiatu, said in the last three and half years, Aregbesola’s administration has committed huge amount into making environment safe for people to live in, calling for peoples’ support to ensure clean and safe environment.

NATIONAL MIRROR

Five Heads of Department in the Osun State Judicial Service Commission, JSC, have been presented with vehicles to enhance their operations.

Presenting the vehicles to the officials on behalf of the state government, Osun State Chief Judge, Justice Adepele Ojo, said the gesture was aimed at improving judicial workers operations in the state.

The Chief Registrar of the Osun State High Court, Mr Ayo Oyebiyi, who represented Justice Ojo at the event, held at the premises of the state High Court, Osogbo, said judicial workers must show more commitment to their work in order to promote the course of justice in the state.

He posited that the government’s gesture was aimed at enhancing the performances of judicial workers in the state with a view to promoting their sense of responsibilities.

He also charged them to rededicate themselves and be more loyal to the government in the discharge of their duties.

He advised those who are yet to benefit from the gesture, to continue to work hard and remain dedicated to their jobs, adding that government would continue to reward hard work and commitment to duty.

Speaking on behalf of the beneficiaries, the Principal Registrar in charge of Maintenance Department, Mr Jacob Adeniyi, said “it is the first time in the history of the High Court that new official cars would be handed to heads of various departments.”

He assured the management of their continuous dedication to the work, just as he pledged their unalloyed loyalty to the state government.

NATIONAL MIRROR

Analysts point out that the aging population is constantly grappling with health issues, economic stress, family matters, uncertain living arrangements, gender disparities, urban-rural differences, displacement and slum-like living conditions. Years ago, traditional values and religious beliefs were quite supportive of elderly people. Today, economic hardship and the faltering nuclear family system are drastically eroding the support base of aged people.
Experts have expressed the need for review of the area of social assistance and the treatment of vulnerable groups nation-wide as well as to develop appropriate plans to transform the management and provision of services to these groups.  There is growing interest on issues affecting the youth and elderly people within the informal economy.
In this regard, Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State has established so many social protection platforms.
One of these is Osun Youth Empowerment Scheme (O’YES) cadets which is a revolving volunteer scheme designed to eliminate the frustration and paralysing effect of high and seemingly intractable youth unemployment pervasive in the state and country at large.
It aims at equipping as many young men and women with positive work ethics and culture, self sustenance, resourcefulness and respect for the environment. It is designed to develop youths with character and competence.
OYES corps are deployed to productive services in identified areas of socio-economic life and paid a basic allowance to help cover basic needs. They are also kitted for group identity and high morale.
Governor Aregbesola announced recently that the State Government had been committing about N200 million to pay allowances for the over 20,000 youths engaged in the Osun Youth Empowerment Scheme (O’YES).
The governor remarked that the success of the programme attracted the attention of the World Bank, which studied it and certified it to be a viable and sustainable solution to the problem of youth unemployment in Nigeria and consequently recommended it to the Federal Government and other states in the country.
The result, the governor said, is the Youth Employment and Social Support Operation (YESSO) that was launched in Abuja.
Aregbesola said O’YES has helped the state to manage unemployment rate to a considerable manner, stressing that the National Bureau of Statistics, in its publication rated Osun State to have the least unemployment rate.
According to him, the Federal Government can help in eliminating the scourge of unemployment by matching the states.
“With that, nobody can accuse you of favouring one state over the other. If the state employs or empowers 1,000 let the Federal Government also employ or empower 1,000. If the state can do 10,000 or 100,000 let the Federal Government match it with the same 10,000 or 100,000 and it is easier for Federal Government to do it,” he said.
The governor stated that he is worried by the spate of insecurity in Nigeria, arguing that there can’t be a solution outside providing employment for the youth.
He noted that the energy, vibrancy and creative talents that abound in young people are vital ingredients of development that only need to be properly channelled into productive engagement.
He suggested that youths must be kept positively engaged by any government that is serious about the task of social and economic development.
“Keeping young people meaningfully engaged is not only a sound economic policy; it is a sensible approach to good governance. For no effective or successful governance can take place where there is rampant unemployment among the youth,” he said.
Using his state as an example of government intervention in youth empowerment, Aregbesola said the Osun Youth Empowerment Scheme (O’YES) became a very effective mechanism of massive public sector employment that offered not only income but great hope for the youth that are absorbed into the scheme.
Speaking with our correspondent at the sidelines of a World Bank Training of Trainers on Community-based Targetting in Iloko-Ijesa, the Director-General of Bureau of Social Services (BOSS) and Head, State Operations Co-ordinating Unit for the Youth Empowerment Social Support Operation (YESSO) in Osun, Mr. Femi Ifaturoti said income security is one of the most urgent needs of the nation’s aging population.
The situation, he added, is worsened by absence of effective measures at the national level to cushion people from risks of old age, sickness, disability and  unemployment, among others issues.
Generally, schemes for the poor and vulnerable come with several conditions that are hard to meet. For instance, they are meant for those who are officially listed as living “below the poverty line” (BPL).
Simply identifying the poor and vulnerable households and providing them with cash assistance, the BOSS D-G noted is insufficient to keep families out of poverty, adding that the state has adopted “graduation policies” that help activate the poor to enter into the labour market and other tailor-made social programmes.
The lead trainer and World Bank Sector Leader, Human Development, Prof. Foluso Okumadewa said Nigeria is grappling with problems that result from high youth unemployment, adding that the presence of idle and unemployed youths pose a problem, even as the challenge is huge.
He sees solution coming from Youth Employment and Social Support Operation (YESSO), funded through $300 million assistance by the World Bank.
The project would commence in Cross River, Bauchi, Osun, Ekiti, Niger, Oyo and Kwara states for the Phase one of the community-based system.
THE NATION

Osun State governor, Mr Rauf Aregbesola has reiterated his administration’s commitment to the development of infrastructure of the state.
He disclosed this while addressing the Historical Society of Nigeria during its 56th Annual conference, with a theme: Economy and Society in Nigeria:
The Challenges of Infrastructural Development in Nigeria, held at Osun State University main campus Osogbo. The governor, whose speech was delivered by his deputy, Chief (Mrs) Titilayo Laoye-Tomori disclosed that his major vision was to re-enact the glorious days of Chief Obafemi Awolowo in the South-Western region through his six-point integral programme.
He stated that infrastructure can only be developed through people, whom he described as the bedrock of development.
Aregbesola added that addressing the issue of infrastructural development is a complex issue in modern Nigeria, saying that it requires patience, professionalism, effective management and sheer determination. According to him, first it is the most basic organisation level of organisational structure in a complex body or systems that serve as a foundation for the rest.
Secondly, it refers to the large scale public systems, services, and facilities of a country or region that are necessary for economic activity, including power and water supplies, public transportation, telecommunications, roads and schools.
He further disclosed that infrastructure cannot survive without improving the status of people that put it to use, adding that the issue of hunger must first be addressed among the people.
“Our institutions, which include infrastructures, cannot survive without addressing the comfort of our people. If our people feed well, they would run our institutions better than it was done in the past. We must therefore develop the capacity of our people in such areas as agriculture, vocation, education and in practical engagements that would generate immediate benefits for their livelihood,” he said.
The governor added that those in position of authority who regulate the institutions must show care for the people that work under them.
“Also we in government, composed of men and women, regulate and control those institutions. Therefore we must make sure we treat those working with us with utmost concern. That is why we were one of the few states that responded positively to the welfare challenges of our civil service. Today, our governing structures are better off”.
He challenged the society to come up with new innovations that would be of value to the state and the country, with a view to sustaining its nascent democracy.
Earlier in his welcome address, the Vice-Chancellor of the institution, Professor Sola Akinrinade disclosed that the two major problems the country faces today is security and infrastructural development, saying the society would do its bit by continuously
providing adequate information for the policy makers to address infrastructure deficit in the country.
He also emphasised the need for partnership with the private organisation for effective infrastructural development.
THIS DAY

Recently, the Osun State chapter of All Progressive Congress inaugurated campaign committee for the re-election of Governor Rauf Aregbesola in all nine federal constituencies in the state. Dr. Wale Bolorunduro, the Commissioner for Finance, Budget and Economic Planning is the chairman of the committee for Ijesa North federal constituency. In this interview with journalists, including Correspondent Gbenga Faturoti, Bolorunduro speaks on the plans and strategies to ensure that Aregbesola retains his seat and other burning issues. Excerpts:

There are fears in some quarters that violence would trail the elections; do you entertain such fear and what plan has your committee to tackle this?

What we are telling our people is that the security personnel are there to protect them; whatever might happen, security personnel have been deployed for the purpose of that election and they would all be protected. What we are telling our people is to come out en masse and vote; they should not feel intimidated by anybody. We hope there won’t be any violence and also strongly believe that the security agents would take charge and ensure that we have a violence-free election. Having said that, as a Yoruba, looking at Osun as at the centre of the South West and based on history facts, we know that the Yoruba people are sophisticated and know how to defend themselves. The Yoruba believe that nobody has monopoly of violence, and they know how to defend their vote. In 1965 when elections were rigged and marred with violence, people arose to defend their votes, and the First Republic fell. Also in 1983, elections were rigged in South West, Ondo and old Oyo. The Second Republic fell also, not because election were rigged in other places but in South West. Our hope and prayer is that the election would be peaceful and hitch-free. As a result, the President of the country would be shown as a responsible leader. Hence we enjoin Mr. President to ensure that the votes of the people of Osun and Ekiti states count.

You assured that the election would be violence-free without considering the opposition’s agenda; what is your take?

My message for the opposition is to play the game according to the rules. They should know that they don’t have monopoly of violence, they should not subvert the wish of the people. The only way to express themselves is to vote democratically and in other to do that, they must come out with their manifestoes. And up till now, we have not seen the manifestoes of the major opposition parties. We expect them to come out and let us have robust arguments, not for them to be poisoning the air that they will reverse everything. Osun is on the move towards socio-economic development and it cannot be reversed.

As a corporate person who is now into politics, what have you seen to be the driving force and difference in the two worlds?

In the corporate world, politics are played but somehow politics in the corporate world are at a stage that makes you seem larger than life. The irony of life is that human beings have the opportunity to live a grand life, yet you find them yielding to things that are not profitable to development. So, in the corporate world, you are elevated above pedestrian things, though you can equally come down. In essence, nobody has monopoly of violence. Again in the corporate world, that element of preservation and defending your right exists. In the political domain or administrative politics, there are always similarities like you are providing service to humanity just as in corporate world too, by growing your business and allowing the business to employ more people. The only difference is that the corporate people live by the rules; they are somehow elevated beyond the pedestrian. We are all political animals and would always seek opportunity to provide service and to defend it.

 Which of Aregbesola’s programmes do you admire best and why?

I admired his socio- developmental programmes like the infrastructures being put in place. I admire well done physical infrastructure; why? It is because it is the only way as a federating unit in the federal system, whereby you can as a leader attach yourself and stimulate growth. When you build road, airport, or schools, you automatically create a job. That drastically reduces unemployment which will jack up people’s standard of living and move them out of poverty. As an applied economist, that is the best programme and you know coming from a corporate background, people think you are focused on money and are not a fiscal policy person that believes in the federating system. The only instrument you have is fiscal instrument and you must drive it like crazy, you must create linkages between your fiscal expenditure and economic growth and between real growth and development. For me I love the social service. The most critical thing is physical infrastructural development.

Being a technocrat, how do you cope with the assigned job considering the PDP bigwigs in your federal constituency?

I will not want to discuss our strategies, however we have been going out on door-to-door, street-to-street visits and requesting to know from our people who has not benefited from the Aregbesola government. There is no household that has not benefitted directly or indirectly from Aregbesola’s government. So we go out with that message and challenge our people to come out en masse and vote. Talking of bigwigs of PDP in my federal constituency, yes we are not scared of them, the question we are asking our people is that, despite the claim of the opposition of being close with the people when they were in government and now claiming of being close with the federal government, what did they do for them? If they have not done anything for them in the past, people should come out and vote against them, cast their vote for Aregbesola who is performing wonders.

How do you cope with the intrigues of politics as a technocrat?

You first must realise that policies of government and corporate bodies are different. In corporate policy, many people play by the rule but in government, it is not so. So your role is to call the attention of the umpire and the security operatives to ensure that opposition plays by the rule, that is very key.

 What are your plans to dislodge the moneybag politicians?

We have being sentisising our people not to sell their votes; selling their votes amount to selling their future. Osun people are sensible, they have tested these people before and know what they were up to. The infrastructural development put in place as at today in Osun has seriously transformed the state; people cannot fall into their hands again, we have learnt our lessons.

DAILY INDEPENDENT

Osun State Governor, Rauf Aregbesola, has challenged undergraduates in the nation’s tertiary institutions to explore numerous job creation opportunities available in agriculture.
The governor made the appeal in Iwo on Monday at the opening of a conference on Business Administration and Management organised by the Department of Business Administration, Bowen University, Iwo.
The Commissioner for Special Duties, Mr. Bashiru Ajibola, represented the governor on the occasion.
Aregbesola said the rate of unemployment in the country had made it imperative for students to develop interest in agriculture, saying it was a sure way of creating employments, especially for the youth.
According to him, his administration has used the Osun Rural Enterprise and Agricultural Programme to tackle the problem of unemployment, adding that many youths have started developing interest in the initiative.
THE PUNCH