Like his counterpart in Ekiti State, Ogbeni Engineer Rauf Aregbesola fought a hard won battle to reclaim his mandate, as the candidate of the People’s Democratic Party Olagunsoye Oyinlola was declared winner in the 2007 elections. This decision was contested at the Election petitions tribunal, up to the appeal court which declared him winner on the 26th of November 2010.

Prior to this, he had survived several assassination attempts while campaigning for office and his main financier was killed and several supporters either killed, maimed, or de-humanised. All these rather than deter him, spurred him on to greater heights.

Upon assumption of office, the governor unveiled a six-point integral action plan. This encompassed the following:

1. Banish hunger
2. Banish poverty
3. Banish poverty
4. Promote healthy living
5. Banish unemployment
6. Promote communal peace and progress

This has formed the fulcrum upon which the initiatives and functions of the administration rotate. Each of the action plans listed above has received and is still receiving attention. In a bid to banish hunger, farmers across the state have received support worth over N1.5 billion naira and a number of incentives have also been put in place to boost agricultural production. These include support to 220 farmer groups under the Osun Broiler outgrower scheme (OBOPS) while 28 Cooperative groups have been equipped to plant 17km of maize and a 500 acre vegetable cluster. 61 local communities have been identified and 1830 rural farmers in these communities have been equipped with farm inputs under the UNICEF Replication Initiative Programme of the Ministry of Water Resources, Rural and Community Development.

Although this initiative effectively captures part of the second and third integral Action Plans, additional efforts have been made to enhance and promote the ideals they stand for. To this end, 70 buses have been provided for transporters to boost transportation.

A physical inspection and assessment of the education sector conducted within one month of this administration found that teachers were underpaid and not motivated, classrooms were crowded, children were undernourished, instruction and learning materials, where found were of poor quality, learning materials were unavailable, and the academic curriculum was found to be grossly inadequate. An education summit was convened, chaired by renowned Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka and this team came up with some recommendations for reformation with the theme, “complete child, complete youth, complete citizen”. These recommendations include:

1. O’meals- this is an elementary school feeding and health program where 3,000 food vendors/ cooks were trained and are currently employed to serve midday balanced diet meals to pupils of classes 1 to 4 in all primary schools in the state.
2. O Schools- This scheme aims to build proper physical structures to replace dilapidated buildings. This is done within the framework of the school reclassification system and there are ongoing plans to build100 elementary, 50 middle, and 26 high model schools.
3. Opon Imo (e-learning tablets)- The government is providing 150,000 of these for Senior Secondary Schools. This tablet contains over 56 textbooks and covers 17 core subjects and over 5 extra-curricular subjects.
4. O’calisthenics- under the Osun State Calisthenics programme, the state government has trained a total of 8000 school students with the aim of combining extra-curricular activities with academic pursuits, thus building their minds and their bodies.
5. The government has also put in place various initiatives for youth to pursue vocational and Entrepreneurial Education especially outside the formal school template.

Furthermore, Osun State has put in place a school reclassification programme which though not different from the national 6-3-3-4 system ensures that the minimum certificate any school leaver will have will be the Basic Education Certificate Examinination (BECE), an equivalent of the Junior School Certificate Examination (JSCE) rather than the primary school certificate. These efforts have yielded fruits as the state which was ranked 34th out of 36 states in the performance rankings of WAEC in 2010, is now placed 8th. Seventeen year old Folafoluwa Oginni, a product of the state’s public Education System emerged the overall best pupil in the May/ June 2010 WASSCE, scoring A1 in all subjects and is a holder of the Board’s National Distinction/ Merit Award.

Infrastructural renewal is also at an all time high in Osun State. Within 24 months, 513km of high quality roads were constructed. Local Governments were also directed to embark upon the construction of high quality 10km roads within their locales. This is made possible through prudent management of resources, and a concerted plan which has seen Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) rise from N300m to N1.5.bn per month.

In other areas 125 patrol vans, 5 armoured personnel carriers and one helicopter have been provided to boost security, primary school basic funding grant has increased from N7.4m to N424m per year, and 123km of arteries, waterways and canals have been dredged to prevent flooding.

In line with his desire to carry along every citizen, the Bureau of Social Services (BOSS) was set up and is in charge of ensuring that the people of the State receive maximum social benefits from all the policies and programs of the state government. Essentially, it monitors and evaluates projects, and is also charged with assessing the performance of state commissioners and heads of MDA’s in the implementation of the 6 point integral Action Plan. The citizens are also a part of this monitoring as BOSS encourages individuals to report any perceived abnormalities in the way projects and programs are carried out.

The man behind all of this is a former activist and was a commissioner for works and infrastructure in Lagos State while running for office of governor in Osun. It is a known fact that the Governor of Lagos State, Raji Fashola stands head and shoulders over his contemporaries in this current dispensation, as far as developmental efforts are concerned. One can therefore be forgiven for insinuating that Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola studied at the feet of the master and is determined to replicate if not excel in his own state,the many skills learnt in his past endeavours. Little wonder former governor in the state between 1999-2003, Chief Adebisi Akande describes, the ongoing infrastructural developments in the state as a “miracle.” A main concern however has been how the state is funding these developmental projects and whether the tempo can be maintained.

In appreciation for these efforts, the congresses of the party nominated him for a second term in office and at the primary election, 269, 631 members out of 355, 390 members of the party registered in 332 wards across the state gave him their mandate to contest for a second term in office. One only hopes that when/if he gets there, he will consolidate on his past efforts and make Osun State, one its citizens will be truly proud of.

Photos from the opening of 3 Day Technical Meeting on Osun Elementary School Feeding and Health Programme (O-Meals), held at Center for Black Culture and International Understanding, Abere, Osogbo, State of Osun on Wednesday 21-05-2014

From left,Special Adviser, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural
Development, Dr ( Mrs) Omo Ohiokpehai; Executive Director, Partnership
for Child Development Imperial College London, Uk, Dr (Mrs) Lesley
Drake; Lead Specialist for Health, Nutrition and Population in Africa,
Dr Don Bundy; Deputy Director, Ministry of Agric and Food Security,
State of Osun, Mrs Ajibike Fagbemi and others, at the opening of 3 Day
Technical Meeting on Osun Elementary School Feeding and Health
Programme (O-Meals), held at Center for Black Culture and
International Understanding, Abere, Osogbo, State of Osun on Wednesday
21-05-2014

A cross section of Pupils of AUD Government Elementary School, Isale
Osun, Osogbo, eating break fast, during the opening of 3 Day Technical
Meeting on Osun Elementary School Feeding and Health Programme
(O-Meals), held at Center for Black Culture and International
Understanding, Abere, Osogbo, State of Osun on Wednesday 21-05-2014

Lead Specialist for Health, Nutrition and Population in Africa, Dr
Don Bundy; Executive Director, Partnership for Child Development
Imperial College London, Uk, Dr (Mrs) Lesley Drake and Special Adviser
to Osun Governor on O-Meal, Mrs Funmi Adeyi, having chart with.
Pupils of AUD Government Elementary School, Isale Osun, Osogbo, during
the opening of 3 Day Technical Meeting on Osun Elementary School
Feeding and Health Programme (O-Meals), held at Center for Black
Culture and International Understanding, Abere, Osogbo, State of Osun
on Wednesday 21-05-2014

Lead Specialist for Health, Nutrition and Population in Africa, Dr
Don Bundy (In glasses); Executive Director, Partnership for Child
Development Imperial College London, Uk, Dr (Mrs) Lesley Drake (5th
left); Special Adviser to Osun Governor on O-Meal, Mrs Funmi Adeyi
(left) in a group photographs with O-Meal food vendors , during the
opening of 3 Day Technical Meeting on Osun Elementary School Feeding
and Health Programme (O-Meals), held at Center for Black Culture and
International Understanding, Abere, Osogbo, State of Osun on Wednesday 21-05-2014

The first Secondary School Literary Champion in Osun State on Tuesday has emerged after the grand finale of a school debate on leadership, organised by Omoluabi Support Group and Oranmiyan Worldwide.
The colourful event was held at the Centre for Black Culture and International Understanding, Osogbo, Osun State capital.
The programme, which appeared as a political debate, ended up as a reassessment test for the education reform policy of Mr  Rauf Aregbesola’s administration.
The performance of the pupils triggered emotion and commendations as a result of their competence and performance, which was a reflection of the present administration’s investment on education.
After the debate, Master Ayodele Abeeblahi, from Osogbo Grammar School, emerged the champion, while Jacob Mary from Apara Memorial College, Kajola, emerged the first runner-up.
The winner would be with the governor of the state for a day on May 26, 2014.
Speaking after the debate, Governor Aregbesola, who was so excited by the performance of the pupils, said they had justified the state government’s investment on education in the last three and a half years.
He said: “I am so impressed and excited that out of wrecked education by the previous administration, these pupils can still come out with brilliant ideas. I am very proud because it is obvious that they can compete with any student in the whole world.
“This was our vision for the state; to build a better future for the younger generations. If we refuse to do this, it means we have failed and doomed. Some people, many years back, provided this opportunity for us, and we are also duty-bound to provide such opportunity for the incoming generations.
“We started the reform in 2012, and we are so proud of the result we are getting. That is why I still wonder that some people still criticise our school uniform policy, thinking it is the only aspect of our reform. In the 60s, students in the whole of South West and Delta, were using the same uniform before the missions introduced different uniforms.
“In Benin Republic, very close to us here, they are using the same uniform, Khaki, across the country and we did not deliberately do it; we introduced it to grow our economy, and make us self-sustainable; a state that cannot survive independently is doomed.”
Aregbesola then commended Omoluabi Group members, who are public office holders in Lagos for their support for the competition since 2005 up till date.
He urged the students, who participated in the debate, to see it as the Olympic, which its joy is to participate and learn tolerance, which is crucial to human survival.
The governor promised the students, teachers and other stakeholders in the education sector that the state would continue to do its best for the education sector.
Speaking on the occasion, the deputy governor, Otunba (Mrs) Grace Titilayo Laoye-Tomori, who doubles as the State Commissioner for Education, said the current education level in the state was a complete departure from the old trend of redundancy and mass failure, and attributed the success to the vision of Governor Aregbesola.
TRIBUNE

Governor Rauf Aregbesola’s second term re-election campaign committees in all the nine Federal Constituencies of Osun State was recently inaugurated by the state chapter of All Progressive Congress (APC).The State Commissioner for Finance, Budget and Economic Planning, Dr. Wale Bolorunduro, a renowned technocrat is made the chairman of the committee for Ijesa North Federal Constituency consisting of Obokun and Oriade Local Governments.
In this interview with MICHAEL OLANREWAJU, Bolorunduro discloses plans by his committee to ensure total victory for incumbent Governor Aregbesola in the scheduled August 9 governorship election despite the presence of big names in the opposition political parties in the area.
As the chairman of Governor Aregbesola’s campaign Organization for Ijesa North Federal Constituency, what are your plans for the campaign?
My plans is to run the most effective campaign such that for the first time, Governor Aregbesola will deliver the highest vote ever recorded in the history of the constituency in terms of number of voters and the vote casted for him and also in term of interest that his re-election will generate. It is going to be a rare privilege to rally round our people and to get them out, get out the voters and the votes for Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola. By my training, am a strategist and a planner, I feel a little bit paranoid in the sense that, the goal that I and my committee set for the re-election of Governor Aregbesola how are we going to deliver it? That is what made me paranoid and you know when you are paranoid you will put in all your best and give yourself to spiritual, you will also need to use the best tools, mobilize all your resources for the project
What message are you dishing out to the citizenry?
The message is simple, ‘Aregbesola Leekan si’ that is, Aregbesola ‘one more time’ and the message will be dishing out to our people that we have never had it so good like this, telling them not to sit down at home but rather go out and vote, don’t just vote, make sure your vote count and ensure that the count is preserved and announced. We are going to rally our people as we all know that Ijesa people are very tenacious, so we are going to unleash the power of Ijesas that is in term of aggressively demonstrating their love for Ogbeni Aregbesola and that they’ve never had it so good. I know that they believe in giving back and they will definitely give back. The people are very conscious about re-election of governor Aregbesola, we are getting quick feedback from our people and they are very cooperating, they know that this is give back time as Aregbesola has done much for them and that, this time around they need to compensate him with their vote. They know that it is the time to put all energy into it and start campaigning door to door, street to street, Ijesa people will vote for the first time the way they’ve never ever voted before, they will vote come rain come sunshine and ensure that their vote count.
On the issue of violence, people are afraid that violence might trail the election. What are you doing concerning it?
What we are telling our people is that, the security personnel are there to protect them, whatever things that may happen they will all be protected and safeguarded by the security personnel that will be deployed for the purpose of that election. What we are telling our people is to come out en-mass and vote, they should not be intimidated by anybody. We hope there would not be any violence and strongly believed too that the security agents will take charge and ensure that there is peace and violent free election. Having said that, I think as a Yoruba people, looking at Osun actually be at the centre of the South West, we are at the peak of that historical facts that the Yoruba people are sophisticated and they know how to defend themselves, the Yoruba people believed that nobody has monopoly of violence, they know how to defend their vote, if you look at the history, it happened in 1965 when election were rigged and marred with violence, people then rose and defend their vote and the First Republic fell. In 1983 also, elections were rigged in South West, Ondo and old Oyo, the Second Republic fell also not because elections were rigged in other places but in South West. Our hope and prayer is that, the election will be peaceful, it will be violent free and if its violent free, the President of the country will come out as a responsible leader and show courage to ensure that the vote of the people count. We are only enjoining Mr President to ensure that the vote of the people of Osun and Ekiti states count.
What words do you wants to pass to the opposition?
My message for the opposition is to play the game according to the rule. They should know that they don’t have monopoly of violence, they should not subvert the wish of the people which the only way to express themselves is to vote democratically and to be able to do that, they must come out with their manifestoes and up till now, we have not seeing the manifestoes of the major opposition. We expect them to come out and let us have robust arguments not to be poisoning the air that they will reverse everything. Osun is on the move towards socio- economic development and it cannot be reversed never will it be reversed.
You are a corporate person but now digging deep into politics. What have you seen to be the driven force and difference that has happened in the two worlds?
In the world of corporate, politics are played but somehow politics in the corporate world are at a stage lifted you above life and also lifted you above being shameless not because you cannot come down. The irony of life is that, human beings has the opportunity to live above life and things that are not profitable to development either by virtue of events or determine and actualization. So, in the corporate world, you are elevated above pedestal things but you can actually come down, so in essence, what I mean is that nobody has monopoly of violence, the progressives which APC represented will not be a folks but neither be eating up by the folks. In corporate, that element of preservation and defending your right exists. In the political domain in administrative politics, there is always a similarities and that is you are providing service to humanity just as in corporate world too by growing your business and allowing the business to employ more people but in term of politics, whether in the corporate, they are the same, the only difference is that the corporate people live by the rule, they are somehow elevated beyond the pedestal things. We are all political animals which will always look for opportunity to provide service and to defend it.
Which of the Aregbesola’s programmes do you admire best and why?
I admired his socio- developmental programmes like the infrastructures putting in place. Am an admirer of physical infrastructure person, I believed so much in physical infrastructure development why? 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, schools, you automatically created job and it will drastically reduce unemployment which will jacke up peoples standard of living and moving people out of poverty. As an applied economist, that is the best programm and you know coming from a corporate background, people think you are a monetary, and am not but a fiscal policy man who believed in the federating system where you do not have currency sovereignty as a state. The only instrument you have is fiscal instrument and you must drive it like crazy, you must create linkages between your fiscal, expenditure and economy growth and between real growth and development. For me I love the socio service. The most critical thing above all is physical infrastructural development.
As a technocrat, how are you coping with the job assigned to you considering the PDP bigwigs in your federal constituency?
I will not want to discuss our strategies and make it known but we have being going out, door to door, street to street and asking our people a simple question, who have not benefited from Aregbesola’s government? There is no house hold that has not benefitted directly or indirectly from Aregbesola’s government. So we go out with that message and challenging our people to come out en-mass 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 closed with the people when they are in government and now claiming of being closed with the federal government, what do 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 are you going to sustain the intrigues of politics as a technocrat?
You must first realise that government and corporate policies are different, in corporate policy, many people play by the rule but in governance, it is not so, so your role is to call the attention of the umpire and the security operatives to ensure that opposition play by the rule, that is going to be very key.
What are your plans to dislodge the moneybag politician?
We have being sensitizing our people not to sell their vote, selling their vote 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 putting in place in Osun as of today has seriously transformed the state, people can not fall into their hands again, we have learnt our lessons. Our people and to get them out get out the voters and the votes for Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola. By my training, am a strategist and a planner, I feel a little bit paranoid in the sense that, the goal that I and my committee set for the re-election of Governor Aregbesola how are we going to deliver it?
That is what made me paranoid and you know when you are paranoid you will put in all your best and give yourself to spiritual, you will also need to use the best tools, mobilize all your resources to ensure that you deliver all your set goals.
DAILY NEWSWATCH

The Commissioner for Environment and Sanitation in Osun State, Olubukola Oyawoye, in Ibadan disclosed that
Governor Rauf Aregbesola’s environmental sanitation drive had drastically reduced the number of patients going to the hospitals for medi-care.
Reeling out statistics, the commissioner explained that less than 200,000 people now had recorded cases of malaria in the state contrary to the alarming 750,000 and 500,000 recorded in 2011 and 2012, respectively.
She made the disclosure in a paper titled, “Clean and Sustainable Environment, Panacea for Outbreak of Epidemic: The State of Osun Experience,” delivered at the monthly guest lecture at the Correspondents’ Chapel of Oyo State Council of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).
She recalled the challenge posed to the state by flood at the inception of the current administration in the state, wherein some kids, cows were drowned and other valuable materials destroyed but noted that the menace was tackled frontally.
According to her, “flood created a huge challenge for the government of Aregbesola at inception, but as a result of cleanliness advocacy of governor Aregbesola, flood became a thing of the past and cholera has disappeared, with war against indiscriminate dumping of waste sustaining our success story”.
The commissioner, who attributed the beautification of the state to doggedness and determination on the part of the governor, blamed the past administration for the huge dirt that dotted many parts of the state, culminating in the outbreak of cholera then.
Accompanied on the trip to Ibadan by Oyelade Adebayo, the director, Regeneration and Utilization, and Dapo Abolarin, the director of Forestry, the commissioner said the sorry state of things when Aregbesola took over was due to the lukewarm attitude of the past administration.
She recalled that there were incidences of flooding which resulted into loss of lives, indiscriminate dumping of refuse along water courses and roads, resulting into dirty environment and consequently outbreak of epidemic; indiscriminate felling of trees within and outside forest reserves without replacement.
“Governor Aregbesola declared a three-month emergency on sanitation, which, though it inconvenienced people initially, the end result was encouraging.
“In a day, we removed 36 lorry loads of waste from a public dump site and we later dredged hundreds of waterways to avoid flooding and spread of epidemic diseases.
“240 boreholes were sunk at the cost of $2.5 million, public toilets were constructed across the state; we converted wastes to biogas, as well as planting ‘Igi-Iye’ to facilitate clean and healthy environment for our people to live in”, the commissioner explained.
ALL AFRICA

The governor of the State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola will have another feather added to his cap as National Infinity magazine honours him with an award tagged “Nigerian of the year 2013” on Saturday in Osogbo.

Media Ace Limited, organisers of Celebrity Med‎ia Awards and publishers of National Infinity magazine will present the governor with the award at the third edition of Ismail Babatunde Jose Lecture on Media and the Society.

The ceremony will have the Editor-in-chief of the Premium Times, Mr. Dapo Olorunyomi as the Guest Speaker at the Centre for Black Culture and International Understanding in Osogbo.

The event which comes up on the 24th of this month will also have the Executive Governor of Oyo state, Senator Abiola Ajimobi and the President of Nigerian Guild of Editors, Mr. Femi Adesina as keynote speakers.

Mr. Olajide Ige of the National Infinity magazine said that the formal presentation of the magazines’ award of Nigerian of the Year 2013 to the governor was as a result of the massive transformation of the state.

Ige noted that the choice of Aregbesola was informed by the governor’s redefinition of politics and governance in the state.

He held that the rate of transformation of the state and the numerous laudable programmes of the government were so apparent to all.

According to him, “Aregbesola deserves the award for re-defining politics and governance in Osun. His dexterity, sagacity, sense of responsibility, fear of God and love for humanity have brought rapid transformation to the state in general and the state as a whole.”

He listed some of the achievements of the Aregbesola government including massive road constructions, construction of MKO Abiola Airport, new school buildings, multi-billion Naira Ayegbaju market, OYES scheme, welfare package for the old and vulnerable (Agba Osun) among others, as some of the people-oriented programmes, which have impacted positively on the people of the state.‎

‎

A call has gone to civil servants in Osun State to always make dedication, hard work and selflessness their watchwords while at work to take the state to greater heights.

The Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Security, Wale Adedoyin, made the appeal in Osogbo at a farewell ceremony organised by the Ministry management staff for the outgoing Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Mr. Sunday Odediran.

While commending the efforts of the outgoing permanent secretary for his enduring contributions while in active service for the state, the Agric commissioner stressed that the state will never forget the selfless service rendered by Odediran towards the growth of the state.

Adedoyin buttressed his point by making reference to the intelligence of  Odediran while explaining the ministry’s activities during a meeting with the state Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, who gave kudos to him for the brilliant presentation of his ministry’s activities.

He then enjoined officers still in the service to emulate the good work of the retired permanent secretary so as to take the state to greater heights.

Today’s Quote is by the Ooni of Ile-Ife on the GOVERNANCE of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola of the State of Osun. Visit the website at www.osun.gov.ng  or Twitter @stateofosun for more updates on the State of Osun and its projects.