The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Water Resources, Rural Development and Community Affairs and Project Coordinator, Osun Rural Access and Mobility Project, Adelere Adeyemi Oriolowo, has commended the government of Osun State, for its support on the success made by the project in the state through provision and prompt release of counterpart fund coupled with the enabling environment to operate.
He made this commendation at Olura of Ira’s palace, Oba Julius Fatanmi, during his visit to Ira –Ikeji-Ile – Ara-keji – JABU Road proposed to be implemented and financed by the state government.
Earlier, he had visited some ongoing projects such as 11.2km Ita-Oni – Onikoko road, 3.5km Ilesa/Akure Expressway – Ayodeji Road, 9.5km Okinni – Igbokiti – Idi-Emi – Pakiti Road – O-fish farm Road, 9km QIIP Farm road, Kuta among others, to ascertain the level of completion.
Other projects visited were completion of the 3-span bridge at Sasa River abandoned several years ago and other markets projects.
He also lauded the administration of Rauf Aregbesola, for the support given on community-based Routine Road Maintenance. The system,which was designed to engage the people living on the corridor of road as road maintenance groups, has assisted in maintaining the condition of the roads at 12km Iwo – Pataara Road, 10.8km Idiroko/Akinleye Road and 5km Esa-Oke, all year round. This system has not only provided job opportunities to the people, it has also increased their livelihood.
TRIBUNE

The State of Osun came second position in the just concluded food competition organized by Oyo State Ministry of Culture and Tourism in conjunction with Tourism Care and Hospitality Association of Nigeria, Oyo State Chapter held at Cultural Centre, Mokola, Ibadan.

The competition, which attracted participants from all Yoruba speaking states such as Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Ondo, Ekiti, Kwara and Kogi States, showcased traditional foods from each of the participated states.

At the end of the competition, Ogun State came first, State of Osun took second position while the host state, Oyo State came third.

Presenting the prizes on behalf of the Commissioner for Culture and Tourism in Oyo State, Princess Adetutu Adeyemi Akhigbe, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Dr. Babalola congratulated the participating states and local governments for their active involvement in bringing the traditional foods in Yoruba speaking states to the limelight.

Princess Adeyemi, who emphasized that the aim of the programme is to bring the dying and almost forgotten indigenous foods of Yoruba people to the world class.  She then enjoined youths to embrace and learn the best way to prepare these food as this is part of heritage they will inherit form their parents.

Receiving the prizes on behalf of the State, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, Tourism and Culture, Mrs. Olajumoke Bello thanked the organizer of the programme for bringing the age-long indigenous food like Eki, Sokun-Sokun, Moin-moin, Iyan Federal, Iyan Gbere, Ikokore, amala funfun, Efo ebolo, worowo and a host of others to the attention of the public.  She also commended the participants from the State of Osun for exhibiting the virtues of Omoluabi in all their activities and for keeping the flag of the state flying among other states.

Highlight of the activities were the inspection of traditional foods by the Oyo State Commissioner for Culture and Tourism and other states’ delegates, cultural entertainment and award of prizes to the exceptional traditional foods to participating states and local governments.

Present at the occasion were Permanent Secretaries from the participating states, Managers of Hospitality Industries, Iyalojas and hundreds of participants from Yoruba speaking states.
OSUNNEWS

The Governor of the State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, has been commended for developing technical and vocational education in the state.

A former Chairman of Ila Local Government and member, Technical and Vocational Education Board, Barrister Olusegun Durotolu gave this commendation at Inisa during the tour of the nine technical colleges.

Barrister Durotolu explained that if technical and vocational education is well developed, it will solve the problem of unemployment permanently in the state.

The board member said that the tour was to appraise the problems on ground and how to alleviate them.  He added that the skill ‘G’ Construction Company will soon be mobilized back to the site to complete the renovation of the Technical Colleges in the State.

The Principals of Technical Colleges, Gbongan, Ile-Ife, Osu, Ijebu-Jesha, Otan-Ayegbaju, Inisa and Ara expressed their gratitude to the Government and identified the areas where they need its assistance.
OSUNNEWS

No doubt that the market for mobile devices and IT equipment is huge in Nigeria because these telephone lines are functional only through the availability of mobile devices or various IT equipments or the other.
The demand for such product will continue till time no one can explain because it has been discovered that Nigerians have strong desired for technology and subscribers do change their devices from time to time either to new products, brands or replace their damaged phones hereby creating big market demand for IT devices.
Perhaps, this makes Nigeria attractive to investments in this regards as both local and foreign investors have now realised this potentials with yearnings to set up manufacturing plans that will not only produced made in Nigeria IT products but also generates employment through the sector.
On several occasion, foreign IT devices manufacturers such as Nokia, Samsung, Apple, Blackberry, Tecno among others in the category of mobile phones and tablets; and companies such as HP, Acer, Dell and others had mulled setting up assembly/production plants in Nigeria but none of them has been done son up till now.
However, a Ghana-based devices manufacturer, RLG Communications two weeks ago officially commissioned the first phone and laptop manufacturing plant in Nigeria, a development that has huge economic benefits for Nigeria.
Of concern to the Federal Government is how the economic imperatives of foreign IT manufacturers that do businesses in Nigeria to set up assembly plants in the country would be addressed.
The Minister of Communication Technology, Mrs, Omobola Johnson had confirmed that the RLG victory would “create a lot of value for the economy.” The minister had hinted that another company called MiFonea, which is based in Mauritius with operations in 14 other African countries, is at an advanced stage of entry into this market with a plan to setup a $30 million facility to assemble feature phones and smart phones.
This is why stakeholders in the country have continued to commend the decision by Ghana-based RLG Communications, to set up an assembly plant in Nigeria where it would be producing both mobile phones and laptops.
The $50million RLG plant is a joint venture between the Ghana based company and Osun State.
Stakeholders have said the factory, which is located in Ilesa in Osun State and named “Adulawo Technology City,” would bring great fortune not only to the people of the state but the whole country.
RLG’s Country Director, Mr. Tosin Illesanmi during a facility tour of the plant, said beyond setting up a factory to manufacture devices, would bring many economic opportunities for Nigeria in the area of technology transfer, employment generation, bio-gas technology, among others.
According to him, the factory has capacity to produce 5, 000 mobile phones and 2, 500 laptops per day and it is fortified with other facilities such as training centre, research and development, R&D, laboratory and corporate building and bio-gas technology.
He said, “We would not have come to Nigeria to do business without skilled and well trained people to work with. But since we have trained many people in Osun, we felt we are good to come to Nigeria to do business and the quality of the training we gave them will transform into the quality of product that RLG would be producing.”
During the facility tour, it was discovered that the factory has employed over 100 young Nigerians at its two production lines- one for mobile devices and the other for laptops.
Illasanmi disclosed that RLG, which currently has five regional distributors for its products in Port Harcourt, Lagos, Benin, Abuja and Kano with a Service Centre in Osogbo is ambitious  to roll out ‘Enterprise Kiosks’, which will be given to those that RLG had trained who will be able to do repairs of RLG devices and other brand of devices, as well as having stock of RLG products.
He said, “Due to the power situation in the country, we have designed the kiosks with solar technology and we have first of 1,000 of such to be delivered. The value the kiosks will give to the beneficiary is worth N800, 000. In the kiosk, they will do repair and also sell RLG products. There is therefore a repayment scheme that will be facilitated by a microfinance institution. To us, this is empowerment for Nigerians.”

Of all the policies and programmes of the three and a half-year-old administration of Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State, the new education policy has undoubtedly become the most controversial and most criticized by a section of the public.
There is no doubt that Aregbesola, on assumption of office in November, 2010, pledged to promote all the three major religions in the state viz, Christianity, Islam and traditional religions. This has made the state unique among the states of the federation as prayers are said in all the three religions at any public forum.
There are, however, early signs that all may not be well with the new policy as students of Baptist Girls  High School, Osogbo and Fakunle Comprehensive High School, also in Osogbo, protested the merging of the schools, leading to breakdown of law and order before government intervened. Just as the dust raised in the schools in Osogbo are settling, a Principal at Baptist High School, Ejigbo was beaten black and blue by students suspected to be Islamic fundamentalists over the alleged stand of the head teacher on the use of hijab by Muslim female students.
The matter, however, last week, took a different dimension as students of another Baptist High School in Iwo appeared in different clothes with some appearing as masquerades while Christians appeared in choir gowns and Muslim students in hijab all singing songs that correlated with their faith.
The Old Students Association of the school kicked against the use of hijab by female Muslim students.
President of the association, Professor Oyesoji Aremu, who spoke at a press conference in Iwo, said the use of hijab by female students would kill the legacies of the school, noting that the school,  founded by missionaries, has great legacies which could be tampered with if female students are allowed to use hijab.
Speaking in the same vein, the Old Students Association of Ilesa Grammar School, Ilesa, advised Aregbesola to review the policy of his administration on education as it affects the change in the nomenclature of the schools.
”Ilesa Grammar School is a unique school with a unique history that should not under any guise or circumstance be tampered with or mutilated in any form. Established 80 years ago, the school has a place in history as the first grammar school in Ijesha land and the first of its kind in the present Osun State. How and why on earth should we toy with the idea of committing such a monumental chapter of history and heritage of the people to the dung-hill?”, the association said.
”If Oxford University and Harvard University could be allowed in that clime to survive the vagaries of modernization and civilization over centuries, why can’t we borrow a leaf from there and situate Ilesa Grammar School in the same bracket”.
However, in an attempt to resolve the situation and bring sanity back to Baptist High School, Iwo, the state government invited the parents of the students to a peace meeting and also set up a panel of inquiry to investigate the cause of the crisis in the troubled school.
But, the Baptist Conference in Osun State, which claimed to be the founder of the school, directed all Christian students to continue to wear religious garments to the school, saying the decision had the backing of the state chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN).
The Osun Baptist Conference directed parents and guardians of  92 students of the school believed to be the masterminds of the crisis in the school to appear before a disciplinary committee set up by the state government to look into the crisis.
The state governor’s spokesperson, Semiu Okanlawon, had, in a statement, said the decision of the government to invite the parents of the students was to find amicable solution to the problem, adding that the panel of inquiry would comprise of representatives of the All Nigerian Conference of Principals of Schools (ANCOPS), Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Parent Teacher Association (PTA) and community leaders with the officials of the state Ministry of Education.
Aregbesola stormed the troubled school and declared that his government neither approved nor disapproved of the use of hijab in any school, saying that his government, being a product of the rule of law, is guided by law.
”We are a product of the rule of law and this has guided all our actions. As we have said in the past, we have not approved the use of hijab in any school. Let me repeat this again to the hearing of mischief-makers who have been working tirelessly to bring religious war to our state”, the governor said.
”Those prompting chaos and conflagration in our state; those who have well established antecedent of violent behaviour; those sowing the seed of discord in our schools and community and inciting one religion against another, as we have said in the past, government did not at any time approve the use of hijab in any school, before the matter went to court. It is the court’s position that the status quo ante be maintained until the case is determined. It is the court’s position that the status quo ante be maintained until the case is determined.
”Yoruba people have a tradition of accommodation and inclusion; that is why our families are interwoven around all religions. Some people, goaded from hell, however, are working to break our bond of unity by beating the drum of religious war. They will fail and only they and their families will dance to that evil beat.”
Rev Bayo Ademuyiwa, who spoke on behalf of Christians at the occasion, said, “We are in support of programmes and policies of government on education since the last three years.
We also express our disappointment over the crisis playing out in Baptist High School for sometime. We want to tell government that we are lovers of peace and we abhor disunity.”
Alhaji Idris Magaji, on behalf of Muslim parents, said the three religions have the responsibility to fight  indecent dressing and promote love and unity among students regardless of  faith.
Mr. Ifawole Anifalaje, who spoke on behalf of the traditional religious worshippers, prayed  peace to reign in the community and that the vision of the Aregbesola  administration for quality education be realized.
With the visit of the leader of APC, Senator Bola Tinubu, to Osogbo,  last week, it is expected that the issue will be finally laid to rest.
VANGUARD

Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State has declared that the Federal Government was waging war against its citizens with the reduction in the monthly allocations to states and local governments.

Speaking, yesterday, in Ejigbo, Osun State, at the commencement of a retreat organised for members of the state House of Assembly on the 2014 Budget, Aregbesola stated that “any nation that experiences what Nigeria is currently passing through is in a war situation”.

He added that any country that has its revenue reduced by 40 percent consistently was in a serious crisis.
His words: “The situation, today, in Nigeria is likened to a family who lives on N200,000 monthly, but suddenly had it reduced to N120,000. That is the dilemma we found ourselves in today.
”This is the situation Nigeria has found itself in since July 2013. We are in a war situation. This is a national disaster.”
Aregbesola noted that since last year, only few states have been receiving allocations that can barely pay their workers salaries.
”The situation in Osun today is that our allocation is not enough to pay workers’ salaries and pension since July last year”, he said.
According to him, the claim in some quarters that Nigeria is in a bad economic situation as a result of oil theft is bogus. The governor, however, disclosed that Osun is among the seven fastest growing economies in the country as a result of his administration’s economic policies.
Earlier, the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Hon. Najeem Salam, said that indications from the last two budgets of the state showed the state was moving forward.
VANGUARD

Images of Baptist Elementary Central School, Ilare in Ile-Ife, State of Osun waiting for official commissioning on Tuesday 18-02-2014

Impressive photos of the Baptist Elementary School Ile-Ife

Governor, State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola and Jigawa State Governor, Dr. Sule Lamido,welcoming Aregbesola at Dutse Airport  Jigawa on 13/02/2014.