In less than one month, precisely on August 9, Osun people are expected to troop out in large number to elect a new governor for the state. The Independent National Electoral Commission   (INEC) is to conduct yet another governorship election few weeks after the Ekiti election which, till date has been commendation all through for the successful outing. All eyes are definitely on INEC to replicate in Osun what it did in Ekiti.

Since after the Ekiti polls, different groups have been assessing the conduct of the election and pointing out what INEC did and did not do well with a view to identifying challenges encountered by those involved in the process and suggesting ways of improving the electoral process towards Osun and future elections. Although the Ekiti election was generally adjudged free, fair transparent and hitch-free, there are still few areas that can be improved upon in order to sustain the success recorded in Ekiti by the Commission.

As part of efforts to build on the success of Ekiti, the Policy And Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC) held a dialogue to assess the performance of INEC and other stakeholders in the Ekiti election. PLAC is a non-governmental organisation committed to strengthening democratic governance and citizens access and participation in electoral process. It coordinates civil society situation room during elections.

As the Osun election draws near, the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room organised a dialogue with the INEC chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega to critically assess the performance of the Commission in the Ekiti election to ensure far better poll in Osun State. Already the chairman has assured Nigerians and indeed the whole world that Osun election will be better than Ekiti and Nigerians are full of expectations from the Commission.

The dialogue titled “Replicating INEC’s Success in Ekiti on a National Scale Ahead of the 2015 General Elections”, held at the Protea Hotel Apo, Abuja and was facilitated by the UK Department for International Development (DFID). The dialogue afforded participants an opportunity to share their experiences in Ekiti, raise observations, ask questions and make very useful suggestions on how to improve on Osun election so that the bar already raised in Ekiti can be maintained.

Of particular concern to the CSOs is the issue of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) distributed and used in Ekiti election, which many eligible voters are yet to collect. They are worried that many people in Ekiti did not collect their PVCs and as a result did not vote. Unfortunately, those people now accuse INEC of disenfranchising them. But INEC chairman, responding to the comment explained that INEC devoted three days distributing the PVCs in the state after which it carried out continuous voter registration (CVR) weeks before June 21 and yet people did not come out to collect their cards.

Prof. Jega wondered why INEC was being accused of disenfranchising some people. “What the Commission insists on is non collection of PVCs by proxy. We emphasised that there will be no collection of PVCs by proxy. There may be legitimate reason for proxy collection but we said no.”

However, a situation where people have the PVCs and it has been verified that they are actual owners of those cards but their names are not on the distribution register, the chairman said, “If your name is on register of voters and you have PVC but your name is not on distribution register, we cannot stop you from voting, but it means you collected the card by proxy.”

On the suggestion to allow people collect their cards on election day, the chairman said “I cannot allow collection of PVCs on election day because it is going to disrupt election process, there should not be any other activity on election day.”

The Commission is also thinking of decentralising the distribution of PVCs so that the registration area officers (RAOs) can at intervals go out to distribute the cards.

Ogbuka works in the public affairs department of INEC

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Governor Rauf Aregbesola of the State of Osun has assured the people of the state that by the end of his second term in office, no school will be left with any dilapidated classroom.

Aregbesola said with the spate at which his government has been building new schools, the era of unfit learning environment would be history completely.

He spoke when at the weekend he officially commissioned three elementary schools in Ikirun, Iragbiji and Ila-Orangun with fun fare.

Students in school uniforms, guardians and parents trooped out to witness the unprecedented commissioning of the new schools with state-of -the -art facilities.

The schools are Holy Trinity Middle School, Ikirun; NUD Middle School, Iragbiji and St Julius Middle School, Ila-Orangun, all in the Osun Central Senatorial District.

Built in this same structural pattern, the middle schools, with a capacity to accommodate 1,000 pupils, have 25 classrooms, one large exam hall. 16 toilets, one audio visual room, ICT room, recreation facilities among others.

Addressing the gathering, Governor Aregbesola said with commissioning of the schools, government has raised the stake by putting education on a high pedestal.

The governor disclosed that government is targeting provision of conducive classrooms for over 100, 000 pupils before the end of the year.

He noted also that by the time all the new school building are completed no pupil or student in Osun will learn in a dilapidated and haphazard classroom again.

The governor stated part of the responsibilities of his government is to give the children in the state qualitative education from the foundation to high school.

“We are committed to developing both human and material capitals in our state. This explains why we have specially focused on the education sector.

“Where we are taking the state is far in terms of development. And we’ve just begun.

“Before the end of this year, more than 100, 000 pupils/students will be accommodated in the newly-built school buildings.

“Before the end of our second term, no student will inhabit dilapidated structure in the name of a school all over the state.

“What we are doing by giving purposeful leadership sets us apart from other parties. And you will see that there is a huge difference between our three and half years and their own seven and half years.

“Today, our schools are wearing new look. The atmosphere in these new builds are very conducive for learning.

“Coupled with this is the school feeding programme with aims at nourishing the body as well as develop the brains of our school children. This is what sets us apart from others,” Aregbesola said.

Earlier in her remarks, the Deputy Governor, who doubles as the Commissioner for Education, reaffirmed government’s commitment to standardising the education sector.

She said government will not leave any stone unturned in making sure the state’s education system ranks among the best anywhere in the world.

“This is our focus. This is our target, that our standard will not again fall to the level we met it in which less than three percent of our high school leavers are matriculable,” Laooye- Tomori said.

A Professor of Political Science and the former Speaker of the State Assembly of Osun, Professor Mojeed Alabi, has warned that the implication would be catastrophic, if the people of the state could allow themselves to be deceived by the antics of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who want power by all means. He noted that with the foundation that Governor Rauf Aregbesola has laid, Osun may not be able to get back on line for many years to come, should the people allow the antics of the opposition to rob them of their mandate.

“The issue in this election is development versus ‘chop-make-I-chop’ and I know that the people of Osun are much more sophisticated to be able to see and read between the lines and know where their interest lies. “I also know that their interest lies in continuation of our development that Aregbesola has started, because I don’t want to imagine Aregbesola losing that election. Does it mean all these roads will stop? Does it mean O’YES will stop? Does it mean school feeding of children will stop? Does it mean the construction of new schools will stop?Speaking during a chat with journalists in Osogbo, the university don said the people of Osun should display their civilisation and ensure that the kind of calamity that befell Ekiti State people during their governorship election is not allowed to have its way in Osun.

“The implication of this loss, if we can allow it, will be too catashtrophic for the entirety of Osun and we may not get back on line for many years to come. “So, for me, I don’t see anything that will stop the man Aregbesola from winning the election. “Of course, there are other things that people are insinuating like bringing soldiers, police, using photocromic voting equipment, rigging, violence and all that, but I think we have risen beyond that level.

“Our people in Osun are civilised and the kind of calamity that befell the people of Ekiti will not befall us in Osun by the grace of God. Come August 9, 2014, the people of Osun will be able to show to the world that we can see the difference between a person, who wants to make a positive impact on us and someone who wants to milk us. “We should all work hard to make sure that these dividends of democracy, which are pleasing to all of us, will continue for quite some time,” Professor Alabi stressed.

The university don said Aregbesola has laid a proper foundation for the development of the state and he should be given chance to build on it during his second term in office.

Kazeem Mohammed

OSUN DEFENDER

THE Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has commended Sterling Bank Plc and the Osun State Government, for their roles in deepening agent banking and Financial Inclusion (FI) initiatives.This commendation came, even as the apex bank advised other financial institutions to ensure that more Nigerians currently unbanked are brought into the financial services net.
The Assistant Director of Payment Policy and Oversight Banking Payment System at CBN, Olushola Agboola, who conveyed the message at the workshop organized for Banks and Other Financial Institutions on financial inclusion and agent banking, in Oshogbo, Osun State, also called for more to be done to ensure wider reach.
As fallout of the agent banking scheme, which Sterling Bank launched in Lagos last year and extended to Osun, the financial institution has empowered over 100 indigenes of the state.
The bank’s Head of Financial Inclusion, Richard Osungboye, said with collaborative efforts between CBN and the state government, the percentage of rural people yet to be captured in the financial system will reduce significantly.
He particularly commended the state government’s plan to adopt the “Cooperative Model” for the establishment of microfinance banks as approved by CBN.
GUARDIAN

The acting General Manager Osun State Sports Council, Akin Adio, said on Monday that the state had begun preparations in order to excel at the 2014 National Sports Festival to be held in Calabar.

Adio spoke on Monday in Osogbo in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria.

He said the council was re-positioning all sports to guarantee an excellent outing, noting that inadequate preparation contributed to the poor performance of the state’s contingent at the Lagos Games.

Adio added that poor officiating debarred the contingent from winning gold in boxing and other events at the Games.

Osun won only two gold, one silver and seven bronze medals at the 18th National Sports Festival in Lagos.

He said that coaches and organising secretaries of the various sports had begun work on how to improve on their performance.

Adio said that local competitions in some events had begun so as to discover new talents.

“The council is equally working on how to generate funds to complement government’s allocation, to make the council sufficient monetarily.

“We plan to solicit support from individuals and organisations within and outside the state, to ensure that our sportsmen and women are motivated through timely payment of their allowances,’’ Adio added.

NAIJ.COM

One reason Governor Rauf Aregbesola is succeeding in Osun State is by taking care of a large number of youths in his state, home to 3.4 million people (2006 census), in which at least 60 per cent of that population comprises the youth.

Youths are restive, irresistible and could easily be swept into criminality if left idle. Aregbesola knew they could be a time-bomb and could disrupt his programme, so, he diffused the ‘bomb’.

Today, the state is reaping abundantly from the spin-off of the initiative tagged OYES, or Osun State Youth Empowerment Scheme, put in place as a stop-gap to cut down on unemployment and infuse into the youth positive work ethics and culture, discipline, tenacity of purpose, self-sustenance, resourcefulness and respect for the environment.

Today, the state is the safest in the country in terms of crime rate, and it is the clear leader in employment, according to the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics. Youth restiveness is hardly in the front burner and prostitution is hardly existing.

This also translates into good governance as Aregbesola, already a focused man, is able to forge ahead in executing his six-point agenda for the state, an enhanced co-existence among the various ethnic and religious groups, while entrepreneurs are at peace in their business transactions.

The magic wand is rapidly and tangibly contributing to the state’s economic growth as prevailing peace is attracting investors, while the governor is busy establishing more industries equally in the three senatorial zones.

It is much easier to destroy than to build. Only, and only the Federal Government could say exactly how much it spends daily in executing the wars against insurgency in the North-east, militancy and kidnappings in the south, an amount which could have been chaneled to other useful purposes if youths in those regions had been taken care of in the first place.

Aregbesola would rather spend part of the meagre resources of the state on human and infrastructural development, rather than on senseless events and frivolities.

In 2010, he put in place the initiative, an idea he nurtured long before becoming governor. Participation in the scheme offers cadets the opportunity to acquire life-attitudes, self-confidence and improved skills within two years on the scheme. Only 20,000 applicants were successful at its take-off in December, 2010, out of about 250,000 who applied.

The figure represents a 20 percent decrease in youth unemployment in the state. If the number is added to about20,000 workers in the conventional government jobs, one would believe in Aregbesola’s talisman.

Many of these applicants had waited and pounded the streets for years after graduation, either from secondary or tertiary institutions, in search of a job or to further their studies.

Instead of turning down the other applicants, the governor turned the project into a rolling scheme to accommodate others in turn, attesting to his wisdom and caring attitude. While serving, the cadets are also given 60 per cent consideration in any job opportunities.

However, arm-chair critics say the project is too demeaning and condescending, for instance, for a graduate to be cleaners, forgetting that depending on who handles the knife, it could save lives if used by a surgeon but could destroy if handled by a robber.

The unemployed Osun youths know where the shoes pinch. On acquiring the needed skills offered by the scheme, many of them have exploited it to their maximum advantage as many more have continued with their life ambitions in tertiary institutions or in other forms of gainful engagements.

Many more have established small and medium scale industries through co-operative societies, becoming employers of labour, instead of being weighed down by frustration and depression, capable of turning them into social outcasts. It is a part-time job of two to three hours daily, with participants reporting for work thrice weekly.

Corps members have no offices, thus saving the state government enormous amount in running the paraphernalia of office; they are only smartly kitted for group identity and morale-boosting. After a week in training, they are deployed to productive services in identified areas of socio-economic lives and paid a monthly allowance of N10,000 to help them to cover basic needs.

The N200 million spent monthly on the scheme has the tendency to reflate the economy as the amount largely circulates within the state.

The cadets are work-ready, exceedingly competitive for the economy and the society and, while in service, they are armed with new skills, entrepreneurship and mentoring preparatory to a more gainful employment and challenges. They work in every part of the state.

It is no wonder the World Bank recommends the initiative as an antidote to unemployment, criminality, and good governance. It is also not a surprise that Aregbesola was invited to Abuja for the take-off ceremony of the Federal Government’s version of the scheme, tagged Youth Employment and Social Support Operation (YESSO).

The corps members in OYES are grouped into the Green Gang, for sanitation and greenery, Sanitation Czars for sanitation activities, Public Works Brigade for road maintenance, public building and infrastructure; Paramedics for emergency services and health support; Traffic Marshall in charge of restoring peace and order and Teacher Corps for volunteer teaching in public schools.

There is no gain-saying the fact that Aregbesola has been managing the little resources judiciously and prudently, to the benefit of the citizens whose lives he pledged to touch. The project has given hope to the hopeless and resonates the people’s implicit confidence in the governor.

It is time governments at local, state and federal levels adopted the good practice in removing their unemployment albatross.

And as one of the beneficiaries put it: ‘’It is now time for us the youth, nay the people of the state, to reciprocate Aregbesola’s gesture by voting for him again, to carry on the good job, complete what he has started and take us to the Promise Land.’’

•Adeoye, a Public Affairs Analyst, wrote in from Osogbo.

DAILY INDEPENDENT

Photos of the Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, Rt. Reverend John Bamgboye and his wife Mrs. Janet Monisola Bamgboye  during the retirement thanksgiving service of reverend John Bamgboye at Methodist Church, Isale –Aro, Osogbo on Sunday 20/07/2014.

From right – Senator representing Osun Central Senatorial District, Senator Sola Adeyeye, Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, Rt. Reverend John Bamgboye and his wife Mrs. Janet Monisola Bamgboye during the retirement thanksgiving service of reverend John Bamgboye at Methodist Church, Isale –Aro, Osogbo on Sunday 20/07/2014.

From left- Rt. Reverend Dr.Michael Uche, Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, Reverend John Bamgboye and his wife Mrs. Janet Monisola Bamgboye during the retirement thanksgiving service of reverend John Bamgboye at Methodist Church, Isale –Aro, Osogbo on Sunday 20/07/2014

Rt. Reverend Dr. Michael Uche(4th left), Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola(5th left), Reverend John Bamgboye (4th right) and his wife Mrs. Janet Monisola Bamgboye(3rd right) and others during the retirement thanksgiving service of reverend John Bamgboye at Methodist Church, Isale –Aro, Osogbo on Sunday 20/07/2014.

Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola and Rt. Reverend, Dr. Michael Uche during the retirement thanksgiving service of reverend John Bamgboye at Methodist Church, Isale –Aro, Osogbo on Sunday 20/07/2014.

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