The era of ‘business as usual’ in the road construction sector in the State of Osun is over, as the government of the day will not under any guise, condone sub-standard job delivery from any contractor.
This admonition was made by the Head, Special Project Unit (Office of the Governor), Egnr Abiodun Isola while briefing journalists after a meeting with some contractors handling road jobs across the state.
He opined that, if the Government, in spite of its lean purse, with competing demands, could strive to provide the citizenry with essential amenities, there is no excuse for any contractor to be shoddy in the execution of projects.
In his contribution, the Co-ordaining Director of the Agency, Engineer Wale Ajayi lauded the Governor for his people oriented programmes.  He urged motorists to bear with the Government, especially on the Gbongan/Akoda road project.
Engr. Ajayi further said that, there are so many intervention works on the road which requires optimum professionalism and meticulous execution.  Road users were enjoined to always observe carefully, all road signs for their safety and that of others.
The meeting was rounded off with Engr. Abiodun Isola reiterating the commitment of the Aregbesola administration to completing all the projects as soon as it is practicable for the benefit of all citizens.
OSUNNEWS

The Osun State governor, Governor Rauf Aregbesola, had called on the Federal Government to prioritise the rescue of the remaining abducted Government Secondary School girls in Chibok, Borno State and stop other acts of violence by insurgents in parts of the country.
The governor made this call in Lagos yesterday during public presentation. Also his Lagos counterpart, Mr. Babatunde Fashola blamed the socio-economic and political crises facing Nigeria on leadership vacuum.
Aregbesola, spoke at the public presentation of a book titled, “Giants of history: Making of our world”, authored by Lagos State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Lateef Ibirogba.
Speaking at the occasion, Aregbesola, who was the Keynote Speaker, lamented the lacklustre attitude of the Federal Government towards the abduction incident, saying; “The implication of the abduction on national security psyche and image are enormous. I am so depressed about what is happening in the country and I do not know how to put it.
“I cannot understand the rationale behind the kidnapping of school girls; girls who left their homes with sole ambition of acquiring knowledge only to end up as companions to criminals and sycophants. It is frightening.
“I urge everybody to do everything humanly possible to put an end to this sad development.
“The Federal Government must rise up to this; everyone in authority must act now. As horrible as Afghanistan is, we never read of abduction of human beings, let alone school children.
Also, the Special Guest of Honour at the occasion, in person of Governor Fashola, said,”We had great people that could handle the situation well and make the difference but they were not allowed to occupy the right positions.”
Moreso, there was leadership vacuum in the country, which had remained unfilled in many spheres of the country’s national life because the rich human resources had not been well harnessed- Fashola lamented
OSUN DEFENDER

If you are on the same page as I am on the matter of the forthcoming governorship poll in the State of Osun, then you are probably noticing a most interesting development of our time. Of the two leading contestants, Governor Rauf Aregbesola of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Chief Iyiola Omisore of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP), one would be waving a scorecard of verifiable achievements to ask for the renewal of his mandate at the August ballot, while the other, untested in the delivery of good and disciplined governance, would be flaunting a promissory note to request for the people’s vote.
Now, between the one who has performed and is reeling out his accomplishments which the whole world can see and the other who is merely promising heaven and earth(he might include hell!) based on ”unsecured” pledges, who will electorate opt for? The first is asking for votes upon his conviction that he has done well to deserve an encore in office. That is to say he is resting on what political scientists call the theory of merit votes.
The theory says an incumbent office holder who has done well merits the vote or mandate of the people on account of the solid achievements in his first term, if he should seek re-election. He stands on a surer footing for a second coming than the inexperienced person.
In addition to these theorists, the greatest and most visible proponents and supporters of this position are the people who have benefited from the government of Rauf Aregbesola, the intellectuals as well as the media practitioners in our midst. We must applaud them for this. For it is only when we establish merit as the core utility in our daily activities and at election time that we can expect genuine elevation of ethical values in the society.
A people seeking progress and stability should be driven by “meritocracy”, if you permit poetic license to apply this coinage! They would head into a blind alley if they should rely on the promissory notes of Omisore. At the moment what he is doing is to ask for the vote of the people based strictly on the promises to provide this and to provide that if elected, and to even cancel what have been provided.
Promissory notes, as well known US lawyer Aaron Larson observes, are unreliable as a tool for “adequate protection”….. In the event the promisor defaults”. He calls the promissory note an “unsecured” obligation which can result in “bankruptcy”. He said “care should be taken” on the issue of those offering promissory notes. (See Promissory Note Template by Aaron Larson published by Law Offices of Aaron Larson, Michigan, the United States of America 2003).
In Nigerian politics, promissory notes are even more treacherous and hazardous as an instrument of bargain or campaign for vote. Once the promisor secures your vote, he reneges on his word and resorts to harsh tactics of alienation. The wise citizen would keep a very long distance from him and go for the one who is asking you to examine the scorecard of his tenure to see the difference between the two.
And the difference is clear…
Under Rauf Aregbesola, the State of Osun has crossed the line away from the indices that made observers call it a dull and poor civil service state. A Briton who toured the state declared after coming face-to-face with the changes he saw:”Osun is brimming with possibilities”.
The changes going on in the state are specially programmed to raise a new breed of citizens prepared for the future and to compete with those in areas we call the advanced societies of the world. Aregbesola correctly argues that education is the key. So, he has practically destroyed the mechanism of the past that made it impossible for the Osun citizen to develop. His school reclassification policy, along with Opon imo learning technology and a conducive teaching  ambience has now been accepted statewide, indeed nationwide and globally.
In nearly four years, the APC government has now put in place an aggregate of economic and social policies that have attracted critical acclaim to earn Osun the respectable position of being the seventh largest economy in Nigeria. Yet, Osun is only a state of four million people with less than N300 million internally generated revenue (IGR) when the Ogbeni took over in 2010. Today, it boasts IGR of N1.6b.
Naturally, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has also gone up, rising from N110 billion in 2010 to N800 billion in 2013. The implication is that there has been a huge thrust of economic activities and steady investment in infrastructure development in the State of Osun, including the move to build an international airport. It is going to have the longest runway in Africa.
These are citizen-friendly statistics, enabling mass employment, the provision of modern roads, hospitals, schools, industries, subsidized agriculture, free nutritious meals for students, welfare packaged for the vulnerable in the society and a general clime of stability and peace.
At the poll in August 2014, this is the merit test Rauf Aregbesola will subject himself to. He will be telling the people he merits (deserves) their overwhelming vote again because of his achievements. Poor Iyiola Omisore will tender empty promissory notes! What a shame!.
Oluwalogbon, a media practitioner of International exposure, writes from Osogbo
GAZELLE NEWS

IMAGINE! Omisore flagged off his campaign here (Freedom Park) and he had the nerve to say Aregbesola hasn’t completed any project. If this place was not completed, how did it become available to him to have a campaign rally? Any way, we’ll soon change the name from Freedom Park to Nelson Mandela park”.Why Mandela, asked one of his listeners. South Africans wouldn’t name a facility after Awolowo, for example.
“Well, that’s their business. We’re pan-Africans,” was the curt response. Hmmm, Pan-Africanism. Of what benefit has it been to the average Nigerian, this reporter wondered as the tour bus navigated a narrow path avoiding a jam in this busy Osogbo traffic.
Number of Projects
Ahead was the just completed Salvation Army High School but it was not novel to this reporter because it was a high point during the last visit.
But what struck a chord this time around is the number of projects the state government is embarking on now. To say Osun is a massive construction site or work in progress is but stating the obvious.

From road infrastructure to educational facilities and infrastructure, agriculture and tourism; even sports is not left out of the picture as the state’s stadium is also under reconstruction. No doubt, Osun is one state in a great ‘catch-up’ game. What changed this development equation? Why the hurry? some might ask. The answer is in the Renaissance Capital.

Tipped as the seventh largest economy in Nigeria, Renaissance Capital, a leading emerging markets investment bank in Africa has revealed that Osun, Ekiti, Lagos and Oyo states are the leading economies in Nigeria. And this is no speculation as they have indices to back up their claim.
Highest Per Capita Income States
Also included in the ranking are Akwa Ibom and Rivers states, oil producing states in the Niger Delta region; while Kaduna, Katsina and Kano states also made the list of highest per capita income states in Northern Nigeria.
According to the Renaissance Capital experts, consumer companies are likely to find the greatest opportunities in states with highest per capita income. Continuing, they noted that Akwa Ibom and Rivers in the South-South and Osun in the South West will embrace retail banking given the opportunities for banks to expand services and the employers in these states with high per capita income and high population densities.
Renaissance Capital noted that they provide the footfall required for a bank to open a branch nationwide. The report stated thus: “We think consumer companies are likely to find the greatest opportunities in the states with greater purchasing power as indicated by relatively high per capita income, including Lagos, Oyo and Osun in South-West and Kaduna and the Niger Delta states”.  Perhaps, it is against this backdrop that a Briton who visited  Osun recently described the potentials in the state as great possibilities for development.
But Osun’s arrival at seventh largest economy in Nigeria is not an accident. It is deliberate and calculated effort by the Aregbesola administration to get the people out of what he described  as ‘grinding’ poverty. According to him, on assumption of office, he saw two extremes – the very old and the child. Most young adults had abandoned the state in search of white collar jobs leaving their children with their parents.
Avenues Of Leakages
To reverse this trend, his administration had to make jobs available. It began with the blockage of all avenues of leakages in the state’s revenue. The effort paid off with Internally Generated Revenue, IGR, ballooning from a mere N300million to N1.6 billion. Added to this was economic policies targeted at growing the economy.
These efforts yielded results as the GDP rose from N110 billion in 2010 to N800 billion in 2013. The ranking of Osun above states such as Anambra,Enugu, Imo and Ebonyi is an indication that economic activities in Osun are far higher that these other states.
In terms of road infrastructure, for example, a total of 218km roads construction project is ongoing with some already completed in 30 local government areas. A five to 10km of municipality roads are being constructed in each local government area. This is innovative because the project is financed by both the state and local governments from resources (savings actually) from the Local Government Excess Crude Oil, ECO, Account. The activation of small scale businesses is also helping the state cure ‘diseases’ of lack and deprivation.
A step in this direction is the new partnership between the Federal Government and Osun State to turn the moribund Federal Government Industrial Centre in the state into a life academy where skills acquisition will be everything the centre does.
Already the government has attracted an Italian company, Global Impianti for knowledge transfer on the business of shoe making. To this end, a micro credit is being set up for every graduate of the academy so that graduates can access funds for their operations.
To ensure its success, the government has set aside N4 billion to boost small-scale businesses in the state.
The State Commissioner for Finance, Wale Boluwaduro, while explaining some of its programmes to boost the economic empowerment of the citizens recently said: “In the next dispensation, we plan to provide Micro Medium Fund to traders, agric farmers, etc – it’s a World Bank product of N2 billion.
“But, we are backing it up with another N2 billion to make N4 billion. The minimum each person will get is about N1.5million. We could use that to pop up commercial activities in the state,” he said.
Commercial Activities
While stressing the impact of the administration’s economic programmes, the Commissioner said: “The National Bureau of Statistics has shown that Osun as tiny as it is with 34th position in terms of revenue allocation from the Federation Account, is the seventh largest economy in the federation in terms of GDP and it’s put at over $9billion.
“When Mr. Governor (referring to Rauf Aregbesola) came in, the figure handed down by NBS then was $4billion. So, within a period of three years, we have moved to $9billion. Osun is 10,000 square meters larger than Lagos. GDP of Lagos is over $35billion”.
He added: “We can make more money than Lagos if we properly harness the opportunities that abound in the state. In terms of GDP per capita, which is the term in which standard of living is measured, Osun actually is number two after Lagos. In terms of standard of living, the Governor has been able to deliver on that,” he added.
As part of government’s effort to industrialise the state, a garment institute, Omoluabi Garment Institute now provides employment to citizens of the state.
In addition, a telephone manufacturing   company in Ilesa – Adulawo Technology Institute which produces phones and its accessories as well as laptops, is also providing employment in Osun State.
As part of its beautification and tourism efforts, the landscaping of Asejire Interchange beckons. The area once known for its ghastly auto accidents and armed robbery attacks is been turned into a tourists’ haven. A few miles from Asejire Interchange, a recreation park named after Hassan Olajoku – one of the foot soldiers who laid down his life in the struggle to reclaim the mandate of the Osun State Governor, Rauf Aregbesola – has also changed the ambiance of Gbongan town.
Osun State Commissioner for Regional Integration and Special Duties, Bashir Ajibola, explained the motive behind the park.
“For us, it is about extending the frontiers of development through environment. You know if you want to attract people to develop the economy, you have to attract people to spend in that economy and people don’t go to uninviting places. They want to feel welcome, relax and have a feeling that this is a place they can be.
“This is why we are committing ourselves to ensuring that we extend the frontiers of development through improved environment. That is what we are doing there. The political import of what we are doing there is also historical and this is not lost on the people. It was at this particular spot that one of the big supporters of our movement to Osun, Hassan Olajoku was murdered while we were returning from a rally at Ilobu.
Boosting The Economy
“So, the project is to eternally immortalise Hassan Olajoku and shame those who thought that by killing him, they had killed the effort at taking over governance in Osun State. These are some core reasons that informed the project.
“So the park was built by government for relaxation, pleasure, fun, resort and basically to boost the economy of the state.”
Continuing, he added: “Don’t also forget that Gbongan is a major gateway to the state capital, Osogbo and the park will serve as rest point for people travelling through the road to Ibadan.
“I mean that people, after such travelling, will want to relax, eat pounded yam, bush meat, drink some palm wine and do whatever take their fancy. So we are creating a nice place for people to rest in a healthy, nice looking, highly refreshing, inviting and welcoming environment with modern facilities that are comparable to anywhere in the world.”
VANGUARD

I read the interview granted by Diran Odeyemi, the big megaphone for Senator Iyiola Omisore the other day. As I ran through his meandering, his slicing and spinning, his squirming and quacking through issues regarding his boss’ ambition to become governor by fire-and-by-force in Osun, it was not difficult for me to conclude that all Diran was trying to do was attempt to repackage the garbage.
What Diran may have forgotten is that no matter how much you suit up a pig, it is what it is-a pig. No matter how much you try to repackage the garbage, it is what it is- the garbage. Anything connected to the PDP in Osun State today is malodorous garbage. You can box it up in the best American-made briefcase, you can clad it up with the most beautiful Italian gift wrap, and you can even soak it in a French perfume and cologne, the stench will still stink to high heavens.
I have asked people close to the Omisore campaign what the man stands for. None of them could tell me. They keep rambling that Omisore is a Doctor, he was a senator, and he helped pay Muyiwa Ige’s tuition when he was in the University. Is that it? That’s not what it takes to become a governor. There are thousands of Osun citizens who hold the PhD degree, there are a handful of people who have been senators, and there are millions among us who help pay people’s tuition every day, and many of them are market women and pure-water sellers. These are not qualifications you strap on to wanting to become a governor. Besides, we know Senator Omisore very, very well!
Let me give you a handful of qualifications that make not just a governor, but a good one who deserves re-election:
 

1. If 24 out of 38 members of your executive council don’t hold the same religious belief as you do, yet you appoint them based on merit, you are a good GOVERNOR.
2. If in your first 100 days as Governor you take off 20,000 indolent youths from the streets by training and giving them skills that last a lifetime, and then put them in the state workforce with fair remuneration, you are a good GOVERNOR.
3. If investors from the Western world are partnering with you based on evidences of quality work you do, not rhetoric and lies, you are a good GOVERNOR.
4. If the state you govern hands out computer tablets to students for free to enhance knowledge that last for as long as you live, you are a good GOVERNOR.
5. When your administration sets up a manufacturing company producing computers, plasma TV, cell-phones and other electronics, and its first-ever in Nigeria where thousands of people will be gainfully employed, you are a good GOVERNOR.
6. If your state from the bottom is numbered 34 out of 36 in riches and resources, if your state monthly allocation has been cut in half by spiteful opposition government at the center urged on by its local desperate, clueless ambassadors, and in spite of the deliberate high-handed pauperization scheme you are able to pay your bills and keep your election promises to the people, you are a good GOVERNOR.

These and much more has Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola, the incumbent governor of the State of Osun done! Who then do we believe, GRABAGE REPACKAGED or a total package of hope and verifiable results? Who do we believe?
THIS IS STRAIGHTUP TALK!!!
FOLA OJO in HARTFORD WISCONSIN U.S.A

Governor of Osun State, Rauf Aregbesola, has urged Nigerians to take to the streets to protest last week’s abduction of 234 girls from their hostel at Government Girl’s Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State.
Aregbesola spoke on Tuesday at the presentation of a book “Giant of History (The making of our world)” authored by the Lagos State Commissioner for Information, Mr. Lateef Ibirogba, at Civic Centre Lagos.
The governor, who was the Keynote Speaker at the event lamented that seven days after the abduction, it was frightening that there has been no lead as to where the girls have been kept.
“Am so depressed about what is happening in the country and I do not know how to put it. I cannot understand the rationale behind the kidnapping of school girls. Girls who left their homes with sole ambition of acquiring knowledge only to end up as companions to criminals it is frightening,” he said.
The governor lamented that Nigerians were gradually accepting kidnapping as a normal occurrence, saying that the time has come for all to rise up and kick against the situation.
“I don’t even know what say than to urge everybody to do anything humanly possible collectively and individually to put an end to this sad development. The Federal Government must rise up to this. Everyone in authority must act now. It is not only degrading us as a people, it is defaming us.
“As horrible as Afghanistan is we never read of human beings abducted .We talk of no man’s land of West Afghanistan, such does not happen. Nigeria is heading to the level that does not recognize us as civilized people and human beings anymore and it is a shame.
“I should not have said this here considering my position in the polity but what is my choice? When school children are being abducted in schools and we carry on as if it is mere statistics. It is not. We must protest on the streets to tell all of us that enough is enough.”
THE NATION

The story of reinventing Osun State may well have started from poor and unflattering circumstances. Back in 2003, four years before he ran for governor of the state and seven before he was declared winner and sworn in, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola travelled round several communities in the state. What he saw did not lift his spirits. Old people, in most cases women in their late 60s and mid 70s, were surrounded by malnourished children.
This was a grim picture. Who were these kids? Most probably grandchildren left behind by their mothers in search of jobs and survival elsewhere.
It was at this point that the vision of a new Osun began to take shape. Something needed to be done to lift the people from the depths of poverty and despair. It would be a comprehensive approach. New jobs would be created, but more than that, the people needed to rediscover themselves and their worth. They also needed to be happy citizens of Osun once again. Collapsed infrastructure would be revived, nonexistent ones put in place. The uninspiring school system needed a new lease of life and parents must be encouraged to begin to send their children to school. The school infrastructure, nothing to write home about at that time, must be upgraded to make it as inspiring to both teachers and pupils as possible.
There was a plan for developing local technology, a clear vision for boosting the state economy and getting Osun citizens to give their best to the state and be happy working for the collective.
Aregbesola is said to have got to work, mobilising partners who would help work out a development plan for the state. One striking thing that came out of that plan was the Osun Green Book, which rallied the people to the awareness of their liberty and freedom to determine their own affairs.
Four years on, the picture of the new Osun has appeared and the people seem to like what they see. Considerable order has become part of the state. You can tell from the landscaping of the road as soon as you cross into the state end of the border, and also from the trees planted on both sides of the road.
“The landscaping makes for more pleasurable driving,” said Mr Adelowo Adewumi, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Regional Planning and Special Duties.
That same pleasure and ease informed the policy of at least 10km of roads in each of the state’s 30 local government areas, in addition to one Area Office, added the permanent secretary. The road plan has helped to open up the rural areas, making it easier for farmers not just to access their farms but also to transport their produce to any market in the state. Residents of rustic, Ori-Oke prayer mountain community of Ikoyi also benefitted from the policy.
The focus on education is perhaps even more striking. In several towns, eye-catching schools with modern learning tools have replaced the dilapidated and off-putting facilities that used to exist in those places. Elementary schools enjoy this attention as much as do the middle and high schools. And Governor Aregbe-sola and his team are quick to point out that the postcard-perfect schools are not model facilities. They are the standard Osun schools, they say, adding that in time every school in the state will not only be a beauty to behold but will offer state-of-the-art learning and teaching aids.
“We went to Osun purposefully,” Aregbesola likes to say, adding, “The state was on the journey to perdition if the trend wasn’t stopped.”
That slide has been halted not only in schools where enrolment is perhaps the highest in the country, but also on the streets of towns and cities as well as villages in the state. Like every other state, unemployment was a big concern. Jobless young people fled the state in droves in search of jobs in such places as Lagos State. Those who stayed behind could only swallow hard and grind their teeth; in some cases, they were a problem to everybody.
The OYES, a youth jobs scheme, has considerably thinned down the mass of the unemployed in the state, helping to curb crime in tow. Tens of thousands of youths have been trained in skills and put to work, either directly employed by the state government or privately engaged. So many young people in the state across both sexes have been trained to control traffic or keep the streets tidy. Some women drive heavy-duty refuse trucks and are happy doing so. Some have been trained to make durable burnt bricks, some to raise fish, a good number to make garments.
The Omoluabi Garments Factory puts the fabric-making plan in great relief. There, hands and minds are at work on an array of sewing machines. The movement of workers from one point to another is constant.
Mr Oyedeji Abayomi, branch manager of the facility, said 3,500 garments are produced everyday at the factory. This is impressive.
Every month, the state makes N200m, Aregbesola said. His administration’s revenue policy should take the credit for that, especially the plan to source 60 per cent of every project locally, and to give 80 per cent of the work to locals. This prevents capital flight and boosts the local economy. Three different uniforms are used in Osun public schools. All the uniforms are sewn by Osun residents. This creates jobs for the locals and helps to retain revenue in the state.
You also find this approach at work at the Ayegbaju International Market, a sprawling facility boasting a bank, hospital, hotel, police and fire stations, and warehouses, among others, including a second-hand clothing section.
“2,500 people work at the market every day,” Dr Wale Bolorunduro, Commissioner of Finance, Economic Planning and Budget said as work at the market was rounded off preparatory to its inauguration.
Bolorunduro is happy that the market project, which is directly under his ministry, has kept to plan, and that the Aregbesola administration is delivering on its promises.
Just as happy is Mr Ajibola Basiru, Commissioner of Regional Integration and Special Duties, whose alma mater, one of the state’s primary schools, was given a new life in Aregbesola’s education plan. Basiru believes that the governor has done what he said he will do, and that Osun people are happy with him.
The state is touted as Nigeria’s seventh largest economy. In a few years, quality hotels are springing up in Osogbo, the capital. But one firm that is helping in growing the state economy is Rlg, a telecoms firm in Ilesha, specialising in repair and assembly of GSM phones and tablets. The firm, whose headquarters is in Ghana is in partnership with OYES, and has provided jobs to scores of Osun citizens.
Four years on, a new Osun is visible. Grandmas in the rural settings may heave a sigh of relief.
THE NATION