Photos below – Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, acknowledging cheers from the crowd, during the launch of the All Progressive Congress (APC)/Endorsement of Aregbesola’s 2nd Term, marking the 53rd Independence of Nigeria, organized by the Osun House of Assembly Legislators and Osun Federal Legislators, at the Freedom Park, Osogbo, State of Osun on Tuesday 01-10-2013

Launch of APC/Endorsement of Aregbesola’s 2nd Term
Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, acknowledging cheers from crowd, during the launching of All Progressive Congress (APC)/Endorsement of Aregbesola’s 2nd Term, marking the 53rd Independent of Nigeria, organised by Osun House of Assembly Legislators and Osun Federal Legislators, at the Freedom Park, Osogbo, State of Osun on Tuesday 01-10-2013

Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola; his wife, Sherifat and Deputy Governor, Mrs Titi Laoye-Tomori during the launch of All Progressive Congress (APC)/Endorsement of Aregbesola’s 2nd Term, marking the 53rd Independent of Nigeria, organised by Osun House of Assembly Legislators and Osun Federal Legislators, at the Freedom Park, Osogbo, State of Osun on Tuesday 01-10-2013

Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, acknowledging cheers from crowd, during the launch of All Progressive Congress (APC)/Endorsement of Aregbesola’s 2nd Term, marking the 53rd Independent of Nigeria, organised by Osun House of Assembly Legislators and Osun Federal Legislators, at the Freedom Park, Osogbo, State of Osun on Tuesday 01-10-2013

Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, addressing crowd. With him are Alhaja Ayo Omidiran, representing Irewole Federal Constituency; Senator Babajide Omoworare, representing Ife Ijesa Senatorial Distric and Hon. Lasun Yusuf, representing Orolu Irepodun Federal Constituency, during the launching of All Progressive Congress (APC)/Endorsement of Aregbesola’s 2nd Term, marking the 53rd Independent of Nigeria, organised by Osun House of Assembly Legislators and Osun Federal Legislators, at the Freedom Park, Osogbo, State of Osun on Tuesday 01-10-2013

‘Ogbeni envisioned this few years back, he has realized it. We need a visionary leader like Rauf Aregbesola to move our dear nation forward’, a parent remarked
As schools resume today, photo of the new look for one of the new Model Schools is revealed
We wish all the students of the State of Osun a successful School Year.
Osun a dara!

As Nigeria celebrates her 53rd Independence Anniversary, the Governor of the State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola described conflicts and terrorism as serious setbacks for the development of the country, and called to unite to overcome them.
Governor Rauf Aregbesola, has called terrorism and other criminal activities, including bad governance, a serious setback to the development of Nigeria. He said this in a message issued in Osogbo on Monday to commemorate the 53rd Independence anniversary of Nigeria.
“Our efforts at nation-building are being affronted by manifold crises of under-development – bad governance, poor planning, industrial collapse, decay of basic infrastructure, socio-economic backwardness, political instability, insecurity, widespread poverty, and terrorism, among many other woes,” Aregbesola said, expanding the list of problems.
However, he said, these setbacks “do not amount to any permanent incapacity” for the country to develop further; they are “necessary but temporary impediments along the path to progress,” Governor added.
OSUN DEFENDER

I congratulate Nigerians on the 53rd anniversary of our nation’s independence. But as we celebrate, we must also take time to reflect on the state of the nation. The Nigerian project is a bold experiment in nation-building. It is an experiment that has proved to be a challenging undertaking. But, for me, building Nigeria is an experiment that is well worth the attempt.
At independence, on this day in 1960, Nigeria was a country full of high hopes, and good prospects, with its diverse peoples filled with aspirations. But somewhere along the line, we got it fundamentally wrong, with the consequences that, today, 53 years on, we are still struggling to get the basics right. The country is faced with tough difficulties and mortal dangers on multiple fronts. Our efforts at nation-building are being affronted by manifold crises of under-development – bad governance; poor planning; industrial collapse; decay of basic infrastructure; socio-economic backwardness; political instability; insecurity; widespread poverty; social, ethnic and religious tension; high incidence of crime and criminality; and terrorism among many other woes.
These are undeniably serious setbacks to our development march; but they do not amount to any permanent incapacity for us not to move forward. Indeed, setbacks are necessary but temporary impediments along the path to progress. Therefore, I am at one with American entrepreneur, Les Brown, who counselled that: ‘Anytime you suffer a setback or disappointment. Put your head down and plow ahead’. Hence, I remain convinced that the Nigerian project is a viable one. And I am optimistic that we may yet get it right as a country; and convert our much vaunted great potentials into actual benefits for our people. All we need is sound leadership and good governance.
Indeed, our story on the independence path has not been doom and gloom only; it is also strewn with bright patches and shades of greatness. We have had sporting glories, a Nobel Prize in literature, representation in the top universities in the world and a Nigerian got in the Forbes 100 top list. For the most part, we groan so much at the cup being three quarter empty that we forgot it’s also one quarter full.
As someone in leadership position, I set my sight firmly on the promises the future holds and the opportunities that our great country can offer. My aspirations are for Nigeria to be able to overcome its development challenges, and to become one of the top 10 economies in the world in the shortest time possible. But we need to work towards achieving these goals. As a matter of urgency, we must shift our economic paradigm from sole dependence on oil towards productive diversification. Agriculture is a viable alternative here. We must develop our agriculture towards achieving food security. We must give primacy to food production as a strategic national imperative, for it is a sure basis for sustainable economic development.
Indeed, pursuing food security as a strategic value goes beyond merely feeding the people. Food security is a core pillar of national security. No nation can have genuine national security without food security. Therefore, if we make food security the driving force of our agricultural development, the accompanying spin-offs it will generate can only add greater value to our overall economic development efforts.
My conviction about agriculture as a viable solution to our unemployment problem lay in the fact that, an agricultural economy that is grounded in food production cannot fail. People can give up luxury items if occasion demands it. But for as long as we remain human, we will eat; food is a biological necessity! Luxury item are a matter of choice. People for instance can very easily forgo chocolate; but it would be hard to imagine them forgoing staple food like rice or potato. Food security is an essential condition for national security.
Related to this is the need to gainfully and meaningfully engage our youths by creating jobs and employment opportunities. Our present chronic youth unemployment situation is a potential source of social explosion. There is profound wisdom in productively engaging our youths. Young people are some of society’s greatest assets; but they can also be a major source of its problem. In Nigeria, youths constitute the bulk of our productive population, and that bulk is overwhelmingly unemployed! In other words, we have a potentially advantageous youth bulge in our population, which could also be turned into a bug by prolonged lack of employment.
Young people are energetic, talented, innovative, aspirational, and daring. These are good qualities for economic enterprise. We only need to be creative to harness them for the rapid socio-economic transformation of our country. Again, agriculture presents enormous possibilities in this regard. Our huge population offers immense opportunities as a market, and for massive job creation, that can absorb our teeming unemployed youths, and help in eradicating poverty.
Another area of great promise is information and communications technology. ICT also offers enormous possibilities for creating jobs and for meaningfully engaging our youths. After all, ICT is a field that is not only a product of innovation, it is driven by human creativity. Innovation and creativity are an area of strength for young people. They will have their imagination taxed and their minds energised. It can help focus the vibrant energies of our youths on positive development. In addition, it is a fertile area of almost infinite possibilities where the only limitation is the human imagination. Again, all we need do is to get our acts together; think and organise so that we can make the most of the opportunities available to us.
Essential to modern life and any economic endeavour is power, but this is an area in which the nation has been badly struggling. The circa 4,000mw the nation produces is a huge joke. This, when the economy is in full throttle, cannot even serve the Ikeja business district. Admittedly there have been great efforts at addressing the problem but they have amounted to little. This is the time to discard the old approach and tackle the problem of power squarely. We must be jolted by the realisation that without sufficient electric power, all other efforts will come to nought.
I am not trying to make light of the formidable challenges involved in making a success of the Nigerian project; my point is that the difficulties are not an excuse for failure. In fact, they are a compelling reason for us to try to overcome them. I am an unflinching believer in the assertion of George Bernard Shaw that ‘[t]he only real failure in life is the failure to try’. It is in our utmost interest not to fail to try. Success is only born of trying, and I am in no doubt at all that if we genuinely keep trying, we shall surely overcome.
October 1st of every year offers us the opportunity to review the journey of nationhood and to come to the awareness that just as we have the prospect of greatness, so also are we faced with the grim possibility of tipping over the brink; the probability of outcomes now depends on the choices that we make. It is my fervent hope and prayer, however, that we will always make the right choices and realise our greatest potential.
Once again, I congratulate us all and wish us happy independence celebrations
OGBENI RAUF AREGBESOLA
 

The government of the State of Osun intervention on provision of water and environmental sanitation in rural communities has been identified as key to healthy living and enhancement of standard of living of rural dwellers.
The National Programme Coordinator for Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Programme, (RWSS) for Osun and Yobe States, Engineer Rufus Onyeanusi, stated this while speaking with newsmen after the assessment tour to the state to evaluate the level of implementation of African Development Bank-assisted projects in the state.
Onyeanusi who expressed satisfaction on the level of implementation of the projects, lauded the State of Osun Government under the leadership of Mr Rauf Aregbesola for its ingenuity and determination to improve the economic status of rural dwellers.
While urging State of Osun Rural Water Environmental and Sanitation Agency (RUWESA) to ensure that the contractors handling the various projects execute them timely in line with AFDB specification.
The programme National Coordinator also charged them not to hesitate to sanction any contractors that failed to deliver to specifications. He also expressed optimism that with the level of success recorded so far by the agency, the AFDB would extend the programme to other states of the federation.
Programme Manager of the project in Yobe State, Engineer Musa Chalimno, said Osun has become a model for the programme, saying his visit to the sites of the projects has confirmed the readiness of the agency to transform the lives of people in the rural communities of the state. Chalimno noted further that the programme has tendency of placing Osun on the world map in the area of sanitation and zero-tolerance for open defecation.
Also speaking, the State Programme Manager, (RUWESA), Alhaji Posi Adiatu, attributed the success recorded on the programme in the state to the ingenuity and complete commitment of Governor Rauf Aregbesola to reposition rural communities in the state for economic advancement.
Adiatu hinted that RUWESA will not rest on its oars in the task of enhancing the status of rural dwellers in the state, through provision of motorized boreholes for the communities and sustaining good sanitation.
Some residents of benefiting communities, which included Eko-Ajala, Ila-Orangun, Irewole, Egbedore and Dagbolu among others, lauded the state government and AFDB for the initiative, saying the projects had improved their lives by protecting them from epidemics and other water-borne diseases.
OSUN DEFENDER

AS pupils of public schools in Osun State warm up for resumption on Wednesday, arrangements have been perfected by the state government to ensure successful take off of the new 4-5-3 educational system, which has culminated in the merger or re-classification of schools.
Nigerian Tribune investigation indicated that some of the newly built model schools are ready for use by the pupils, while others are still under construction.
Checks at the newly built Salvation Middle School, Alekuwodo, Osogbo, on Monday revealed that officials of the state Ministry of Education were busy inspecting the premises ahead of the commissioning ceremony of the structure on Wednesday.
At Ode Omu Elementary Model  School, construction  works have already been completed, just as some laborers were spotted clearing the weeds around the school as part of the preparations  for resumption for the 2013/2014 academic calendar.
Commenting on the preparedness of the state government over the new educational policy,  yesterday, the Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to the Deputy Governor, Mr Tope Ademakinwa said 15 middle schools and 13 elementary schools have so far been completed by the government.
He assured that adequate arrangements have been made to pave way for the efficient take off of the new educational policy and resumption of pupils in public schools.
NIGERIAN TRIBUNE

Ogbeni Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola, Governor of the State of Osun, Nigeria is an engineer and political activist who between 1999 and 2007 superintended the bold beginnings of the infrastructural transformation of Lagos, one of the world’s largest megacities. Ogbeni Aregbesola is widely acknowledged as an exceptional grassroots campaigner and mobilizer. A man of deep religious faith, today he stands at a critical intersection in Nigeria’s continued search for the peaceful coexistence of Nigerians of different faiths, and where his counsel is invaluable in this quest.
After serving for eight years as Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure in Lagos, Aregbesola offered himself for election as Governor of his home state in 2007. His emergence in November 2010 marked a significant watershed in the twists and turns of the Nigerian transition. Following a hard-fought battle in the highly flawed 2007 elections, his struggle shifted to the courts where he eventually triumphed, three-and-a-half years into a four-year tenure. His steadfastness in pursuing his political struggles through the courts easily marks him out as a true believer in the rule of law, one of the strong pillars of democracy.
Aregbesola’s interest in politics dates back to his undergraduate days, when he served as the Speaker of the Students’ Union Parliament at The Polytechnic, Ibadan, his alma mater. This interest, which is anchored in values, again came to the fore during Nigeria’s bloody struggles against military rule in the 1990s when he emerged as a leading light of the pro-democracy movement. It continues to manifest today in his advocacy for fiscal federalism and regional integration as a means of attaining sustainable economic development and peaceful coexistence in the fractious Nigerian federation.
As Governor of Osun, he has focused on strengthening the State in the areas of agriculture, economic development, youth employment, education and security. His bold vision for the State is encapsulated in his Six Point Integral Action Plan (1. Banish poverty; 2. Banish hunger; 3. Banish unemployment; 4. Restore healthy living; 5. Promote functional education; 6. Enhance communal peace and progress) which seeks to ensure that the fruits of economic development positively impact as many lives as possible.
On assumption of office, he made it known quickly that his own administration would be government ‘unusual’. This ‘unusualness’ and innovation in governance and economic development in the State of Osun had seen to the creation of 20, 000 jobs within 100 days and the revolution in education and the agriculture sub-sector of the economy as well as other popular socio-economic and people friendly programmes.
Governor Aregbesola is a rising star in the Nigerian political firmament whose views have become increasingly relevant in the search for a peaceful resolution of the Nigerian crisis of statehood and nationhood. A man of Spartan disposition to material possessions, he continues to stand in the vanguard of Nigeria’s quest for leadership that delivers “life more abundant” to the common people.
For more on the Executives and Representative of the State of Osun, visit www.osun.gov.ng

I congratulate Nigerians on the 53rd anniversary of our nation’s independence. But as we celebrate, we must also take time to reflect on the state of the nation. The Nigerian project is a bold experiment in nation-building. It is an experiment that has proved to be a challenging undertaking. But, for me, building Nigeria is an experiment that is well worth the attempt.
At independence, on this day in 1960, Nigeria was a country full of high hopes, and good prospects, with its diverse peoples filled with aspirations. But somewhere along the line, we got it fundamentally wrong, with the consequences that, today, 53 years on, we are still struggling to get the basics right. The country is faced with tough difficulties and mortal dangers on multiple fronts. Our efforts at nation-building are being affronted by manifold crises of under-development – bad governance; poor planning; industrial collapse; decay of basic infrastructure; socio-economic backwardness; political instability; insecurity; widespread poverty; social, ethnic and religious tension; high incidence of crime and criminality; and terrorism among many other woes.
These are undeniably serious setbacks to our development march; but they do not amount to any permanent incapacity for us not to move forward. Indeed, setbacks are necessary but temporary impediments along the path to progress. Therefore, I am at one with American entrepreneur, Les Brown, who counselled that: ‘Anytime you suffer a setback or disappointment. Put your head down and plow ahead’. Hence, I remain convinced that the Nigerian project is a viable one. And I am optimistic that we may yet get it right as a country; and convert our much vaunted great potentials into actual benefits for our people. All we need is sound leadership and good governance.
Indeed, our story on the independence path has not been doom and gloom only; it is also strewn with bright patches and shades of greatness. We have had sporting glories, a Nobel Prize in literature, representation in the top universities in the world and a Nigerian got in the Forbes 100 top list. For the most part, we groan so much at the cup being three quarter empty that we forgot it’s also one quarter full.
As someone in leadership position, I set my sight firmly on the promises the future holds and the opportunities that our great country can offer. My aspirations are for Nigeria to be able to overcome its development challenges, and to become one of the top 10 economies in the world in the shortest time possible. But we need to work towards achieving these goals. As a matter of urgency, we must shift our economic paradigm from sole dependence on oil towards productive diversification. Agriculture is a viable alternative here. We must develop our agriculture towards achieving food security. We must give primacy to food production as a strategic national imperative, for it is a sure basis for sustainable economic development.
Indeed, pursuing food security as a strategic value goes beyond merely feeding the people. Food security is a core pillar of national security. No nation can have genuine national security without food security. Therefore, if we make food security the driving force of our agricultural development, the accompanying spin-offs it will generate can only add greater value to our overall economic development efforts.
My conviction about agriculture as a viable solution to our unemployment problem lay in the fact that, an agricultural economy that is grounded in food production cannot fail. People can give up luxury items if occasion demands it. But for as long as we remain human, we will eat; food is a biological necessity! Luxury item are a matter of choice. People for instance can very easily forgo chocolate; but it would be hard to imagine them forgoing staple food like rice or potato. Food security is an essential condition for national security.
Related to this is the need to gainfully and meaningfully engage our youths by creating jobs and employment opportunities. Our present chronic youth unemployment situation is a potential source of social explosion. There is profound wisdom in productively engaging our youths. Young people are some of society’s greatest assets; but they can also be a major source of its problem. In Nigeria, youths constitute the bulk of our productive population, and that bulk is overwhelmingly unemployed! In other words, we have a potentially advantageous youth bulge in our population, which could also be turned into a bug by prolonged lack of employment.
Young people are energetic, talented, innovative, aspirational, and daring. These are good qualities for economic enterprise. We only need to be creative to harness them for the rapid socio-economic transformation of our country. Again, agriculture presents enormous possibilities in this regard. Our huge population offers immense opportunities as a market, and for massive job creation, that can absorb our teeming unemployed youths, and help in eradicating poverty.
Another area of great promise is information and communications technology. ICT also offers enormous possibilities for creating jobs and for meaningfully engaging our youths. After all, ICT is a field that is not only a product of innovation, it is driven by human creativity. Innovation and creativity are an area of strength for young people. They will have their imagination taxed and their minds energised. It can help focus the vibrant energies of our youths on positive development. In addition, it is a fertile area of almost infinite possibilities where the only limitation is the human imagination. Again, all we need do is to get our acts together; think and organise so that we can make the most of the opportunities available to us.
Essential to modern life and any economic endeavour is power, but this is an area in which the nation has been badly struggling. The circa 4,000mw the nation produces is a huge joke. This, when the economy is in full throttle, cannot even serve the Ikeja business district. Admittedly there have been great efforts at addressing the problem but they have amounted to little. This is the time to discard the old approach and tackle the problem of power squarely. We must be jolted by the realisation that without sufficient electric power, all other efforts will come to nought.
I am not trying to make light of the formidable challenges involved in making a success of the Nigerian project; my point is that the difficulties are not an excuse for failure. In fact, they are a compelling reason for us to try to overcome them. I am an unflinching believer in the assertion of George Bernard Shaw that ‘[t]he only real failure in life is the failure to try’. It is in our utmost interest not to fail to try. Success is only born of trying, and I am in no doubt at all that if we genuinely keep trying, we shall surely overcome.
October 1st of every year offers us the opportunity to review the journey of nationhood and to come to the awareness that just as we have the prospect of greatness, so also are we faced with the grim possibility of tipping over the brink; the probability of outcomes now depends on the choices that we make. It is my fervent hope and prayer, however, that we will always make the right choices and realise our greatest potential.
Once again, I congratulate us all and wish us happy independence celebrations