A Music Video by Nigerian Artist B’SALA for GOVERNOR RAUF AREGBESOLA (STATE OF OSUN). Listen and Enjoy it.

A dance drama staged in Osogbo as part of the 2013 Osun Osogbo Festival, reinforces the need for greater national unity, CHUX OHAI writes
As the activities to mark the Osun Osogbo Festival reached a climax on Thursday, August 22, 2013, the Hornbill House of the Arts was putting final touches on its preparation for the production of Odia Ofeimun’s epic dance drama, titled ‘Nigeria the Beautiful.’
For a reason best known to Ofeimun, who is the executive producer, the dance drama was scheduled for the Government House in Osogbo. As early as 8pm, the guests, including some members of the international community out to witness yet another edition of the festival, had begun to arrive at the venue.
The stage, a fine specimen of contemporary theatre by the look of it, had caught the attention of the guests as they sat down to a preceding dinner, served while cultural performers, including the group known as Adunni and Nefertiti, took turns to entertain the gathering.
Although drama productions are not rare in Osogbo, a piece like Nigeria the Beautiful is certainly not common. While they awaited the arrival of Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State and the kick-off of the dance drama, the more reflective among the guests must have silently wondered about the relationship between Osun Osogbo Festival and the dance drama.
They did not have to wait for long to find out the answer.
For almost two hours, the guests were treated to a rare narrative of the history of Nigeria’s journey from colonial rule, through a tumultuous post-independent era characterised by a destructive civil war and misrule by the military, to the present day.
Seasoned director, Felix Okolo’s gift of the spectacular was obvious in his effective deployment of the rich tapestry of Nigerian dances and music to capture the different phases of the country’s social and political history, beginning from her hurried independence and the circumstances that led to the collapse of the First Republic to the present crisis-ridden democracy.
While the production highlighted the various attempts by the people at kicking against the ineptitude of the country’s rulers, its emphasis on the deeply blemished role played by the corrupt and avaricious leadership was not lost on the audience.
Many of the guests had stayed glued to their seats till the wee hours of the next day, perhaps held spell-bound by the dazzling performance of the dancers or the sheer force of the narrative.
With the production, Ofeimun appears to be passing a simple message to the entire nation: that Nigeria’s beauty actually lies in its cultural diversity and the country can still be salvaged if the leaders decide to tap from its collective history.
Like the Osun Osogbo Festival, which serves as a meeting point for various people sharing a common cultural identity and religion, irrespective of their positions and individual aspirations, Nigeria the Beautiful canvasses a shared sense of community among Nigerians across the various ethnic groups and social strata.
As the centenary of the amalgamation of Northern and Southern protectorates draws closer, the dance drama echoes a general call for actions that are capable of promoting greater unity among Nigerians.
But the production was not without its flaws. It was almost ruined by poor acoustics and inability of some of the narrators to recall their lines. Throughout the duration of the dance drama, some of them unnecessarily laboured to be heard by the audience, though they were already equipped with cordless microphones.
PUNCH

Here is Governor Rauf Aregbesola’s official campaign song for 2014 elections in Osun state, South-west, Nigeria by the award winning Top Naija Music Awards afro-pop artiste of the year ‘Hollaboi’, the song is about the good tenure of Governor Rauf Aregbesola and all the good things he has done in the state,how he has transformed osun state within 3 years in office and what he’s going to do if voted for a second term as they say A good term deserves another, so kindly vote the Governor of the masses,the peoples Governor for a second term.
People of Osun State feel free to start downloading and spread the word!
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DOWNLOAD Aregbeshola jingle By Hollaboi
OSUN DEFENDER

Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun State Elder Adelowo Adebiyi has said residents should be grateful to God as they celebrate the state’s 22nd anniversary. Osun was created in 1991.
In a statement signed by APC Publicity Director Kunle Oyatomi yesterday, Elder Adelowo said: “Osun has witnessed unprecedented reformation and socio-economic re-engineering in the last 33 months, thanks to the execution of the APC’s Six-Point Integrated Plan by Governor Rauf Aregbesola.
“There is hardly any family in Osun that has not been directly affected by the administration’s projects, such as O’YES, O’REAP, O’CLEAN, O’SCHOOL and attempts to turn the state into the economic hub of the Southwest.
“The achievements of the administration are unprecedented. At no time in the days of the locust, between 2003 and 2010, did we enjoy the peace we have today. In those days, the people lived in constant fear for their lives, due to the activities of the criminals and political thugs in power.”
The APC chairman urged the people to pray for those in government and the party that made the current development possible, saying: “It is the least they can do in appreciation of God’s gift to them in the person of Aregbesola.”
He urged the people to continue to support the government to achieve greater successes.
THE NATION

•3000 jobs in Osun
Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola has said his administration will continue to provide infrastructure and security for businesses to thrive.
Aregbesola spoke on Monday in Osogbo, the state capital, while inaugurating the Omoluabi Garment Factory.
He said the factory is a testimony of his administration’s investment drive, adding that the state has the required market as well as the human and material resources.
Aregbesola said Osun pupils were given uniforms to give them a common identity and purpose, as well as a sense of unity and pride, which “had been lost to the decay in public schools” before the inception of his administration.
He said: “Through this alone, we provided job opportunities for our market women, who supplied the materials for the uniforms, and about 3,000 tailors.
“This factory will, henceforth, produce the school uniforms. It will employ our people, buy its input here and the batik it will produce will be sewn by our tailors.
“All of these, among other gains, will have numerous spin offs that will rebound to the advantage of the people. The uniform material will be sold and sewn at controlled prices to make it affordable for our people. You are not only assured of quality; you will get it at good prices.”
The governor said the factory is one of those established through the revitalisation of the education sector.
He said another factory will soon begin the production of the e-learning tablet, Opon-Imo, and other electronic gadgets in Ilesha.
Aregbesola urged the managers of the factory to be innovative and “uncompromisingly committed” to quality, saying: “This might appear to be a small beginning, but what I am seeing is the onset of a giant clothing industry that will take the nation and West Africa by storm in the future.”
He said his administration was focused on the implementation of policies that “would improve the lives of the people”.
The General Manager, Operations, Bank of Industry (BoI), Mr. Joseph Babatunde, hailed Aregbesola’s “visionary leadership”.
He said his bank provides financial support for the training of fashion designers, whose products would be consumed locally and abroad.
Babatunde called for a review of the agreement between the government and the bank to accommodate more trainees.
The factory’s Managing Director, Mrs. Folake Oyemade, said by the end of the year, over 3,000 tailors would have been trained.
She said: “Today’s ceremony is a demonstration of one of the governor’s campaign promises. He promised to make Osun an industrial haven, where youths, as leaders of tomorrow, would be catered for through skill acquisition, job creation, poverty alleviation and wealth creation. This is just the beginning of better things to come.”
THE NATION

 
The Osun Government has released N245 million for the payment of the July salary of staff of the Ladoke Akintola Teaching Hospital (LAUTECH) in Osogbo.
Prof. Femi Fadiora, the Chief Medical Director of LAUTECH , said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Osogbo.
Fadiora said that the July salary was to be paid by the Oyo Government, adding that the delay prompted the Osun Government to intervene.
He said the hospital jointly owned by the two states share the responsibility of salary payment, with Osun paying for between January and June while Oyo pays the balance.
Gov. Rauf Aregbesola should be commended for his intervention.
The governor appreciated what we are doing at LAUTECH Teaching Hospital and he has once again demonstrated his commitment to the health sector,’’ he said.
Fadiora, however, expressed optimism that ”the delay in the payment of July salary will not repeat itself in respect of August salary.’’
Oyo State is also responsible and I am confident that by the end of August, all will be well,’’ Fadiora added. (NAN)
LEADERSHIP

Fresh 3000 jobs in Osun as Aregbesola commissions Omoluabi Garment Factory Says factory has future capacity to take W/Africa by storm in garment making.

 
The 2013 Osun Osogbo festival was on Friday celebrated amidst pump and pageantry in Osogbo, the capital of the State of Osun, as the governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola stated that his administration is determined to harness the prosperity of cultural tourism for sustainable development.
The ancient city of Osogbo was brought to a standstill with the presence of mammoth crowd that witnessed the annual cultural festival, with Governor Aregbesola adding glamour to the celebration.
People from different backgrounds from within and outside the country, socio-cultural groups and different traditional religious worshippers and tourists also added radiant colours to the festival.
Speaking on the significance of the festival, Aregbesola expressed joy that the city and the festival occupy a pride of place on the world map.
He noted that the age-long festival has conferred a special status on Osogbo, adding that through the yearly observance, the city has become a global cultural centre with the sacred grove inscribed by UNESCO as a world heritage.
The governor said: “Beyond promoting culture and festivals as instrument of social cohesion and wellbeing, the state government is equally unreservedly committed to heightening the economic aspect of these social affairs.
“With tenacity of purpose and unflagging resolve, we are investing in the development of tourism infrastructure. We seek to harness the prosperity of cultural tourism for sustainable development.
“Our tourist sites in Osun like Opa-Oranmiyan and Oke-Mogun in Ile-Ife; Oluminrin Waterfall at Erin-Ijesa; the Osun Osogbo Grove among others are seriously undergoing serious modernisation in order to improve their tourism potentials and capacity to generate employment and wealth for our people.
“With development in tourism, we want to massively boost private and public revenue generation in arts and crafts, tour-guides, transportation services, hospitality services, and entertainment venues like amusement parks and theatres,” the governor stressed.
Aregbesola further noted that the state government is determined to ensure that the yearly celebration of Osun Osogbo festival records progressive increase in the number of participants.
This development, he stressed, would result to increase in revenue generation and in turn, significantly improve the standard of living of the people.
In celebrating the festival, the governor charged the people of the state to continue to imbibe and deepen the non-material values of the socio-cultural engagement, which are courage, sacrifice, selflessness, brotherliness, hope and faithfulness.
In his address, the Ataoja of Osogboland, Oba Jimoh Olanipekun called for the support and cooperation of stakeholders to put up impressive performance that will further promote the cultural heritage to the outside world.
He stressed on the need for creating awareness programme on the impact of tourism on the social cultural development, saying that this will help promote the host communities and protect their traditional values.
Acknowledging the efforts of corporate sponsors and the state government support for the success of the 2013 Osun Osogbo festival, the monarch lauded the administration of Aregbesola for creating a full-fledged ministry to positively turn the face of culture around.
He also commended the governor for his giant strides towards the development of the state capital and Osun in general across all sectors of governance.
Among other dignitaries at the event were the deputy governor, Otunba Titilayo Laoye-Tomori; Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Moshood Adeoti and other members of the State Executive Council; factional leader of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC); Chief Gani Adams; and representative of UNESCO among others.
Highlights of the festival include; different cultural displays, paying of homage by traditional chiefs and Osun devotees to the monarch, offering of prayers among others.
OSUN DEFENDER

Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola has explained why he is sending some youths to Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, for advanced training in agriculture and food production.
He said after the training, the youths would help the state move from subsistence to mechanised farming.
Aregbesola spoke yesterday in Osogbo, the state capital, at a send-off ceremony for the youths.
He said his administration was determined to provide enough food for local consumption and exportation.
The governor said the administration had been providing infrastructure and support for farmers, such as improved seedlings, fertilizer, fumigants and cleared farmlands.
He said the government was liaising with reputable local and international partners, such as the Institute for Agricultural Research and Training (IAR&T) and the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, for technical assistance.
Aregbesola said: “Our efforts are geared towards taking farming from the subsistence level to the modern/commercial level, because that is the level at which farming is really worth it as a profession.
“To realize this goal, it is needful to add value to our agricultural practice by applying advanced knowledge in science and technology. We have adopted a multi-pronged approach to achieving this objective.
“On one hand, we are providing the necessary infrastructure and supporting our farmers with input. This requires supplying them with input, such as improved seedlings, fertilizers and fumigants, among others; giving them hundreds of thousands of hectares of already prepared farmlands; reviving old farm settlements that were the hub of agricultural miracles in the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s era; opening up rural areas through aggressive road construction and rehabilitation to facilitate easy accessibility and movement of goods from farms to markets; and the linking of farm produce from Osun to the huge market in Lagos via the Lagos-Osun Rail Logistics System.”
Mr. Olumide Ojo, who spoke for the trainees, thanked the governor for giving them such a privilege and pledged not to disappoint the state.
The trainees will undergo a four-week course on modern agriculture and food crop production techniques at an agricultural training school in Germany.
After this, the trainees would be attached to 11 large-scale co-operative farmers in Saxony-Anhalt for eight weeks.
THE NATION