Photos from the Technical Workshop on Home grown School Feeding programmes where Governor Aregbesola Delivered A Lecture. Event held at Transcorp Hilton hotels Abuja on Monday 19-05-2014.

From Right -Guest Lecturer/Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf
Aregbesola; Executive Director, Partnership for Child Development
(PCD), Lesley Draice, Former Governor State of Osun, Prince Olagunsoye
Oyinlola and World Bank Representative, Prof. Don Bundy at the
Technical Workshop on Home grown School Feeding programmes, at
Transcorp Hilton hotels Abuja on Monday
19-05-2014.

Guest Lecturer/Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola(middle);
Executive Director, Partnership for Child Development (PCD), Lesley
Draice (2nd right) Permanent Secretary Federal Ministry of Education,
Dr. Macjohn Nwaobiala (right), World Bank Representative, Prof. Don
Bundy(2nd left) and Representative of Kano State Governor,
Commissioner for education, Alhaji Tajudeen Ganbo at the Technical
Workshop on Home Grown School Feeding programmes, at Transcorp Hilton hotels Abuja on Monday 19-05-2014.

From right – Guest Lecturer/Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf
Aregbesola; Executive Director, Partnership for Child Development
(PCD), Lesley Draice and World
Bank Representative, Prof. Don Bundy at the Technical Workshop on Home
grown School Feeding programmes at Transcorp Hilton hotels Abuja on
Monday 19-05-2014.

Guest Lecturer/Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola(5th
left); Executive Director, Partnership for Child Development (PCD),
Lesley Draice(6thright), Representative of Kano State Governor,
Commissioner for education, Alhaji Tajudeen Ganbo(5th right), World
Bank Representative, Prof. Don Bundy(4th right) Permanent Secretary
Federal Ministry of Education, Dr. Macjohn Nwaobiala(3rd right) and
others at the Technical Workshop on Home grown School Feeding
programmes at Transcorp Hilton hotels Abuja on Monday 19-05-2014.

From right –Board member, Partnership for Child Development (PCD),Uwem
Esist, Guest Lecturer/Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, Executive Director, Partnership for Child Development (PCD), Lesley Draice, Former
Governor State of Osun, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola and World Bank
Representative, Prof. Don Bundy at the Technical Workshop on Home
grown School Feeding programmes at Transcorp Hilton hotels Abuja on
Monday 19-05-2014.

ADDRESS DELIVERED BY THE GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF OSUN, OGBENI RAUF AREGBESOLA. AT THE HIGH-LEVEL TECHNICAL MEETING ON HOME-GROWN SCHOOL FEEDING AND HEALTH PROGRAMME, HELD AT TRANSCORP HILTON HOTEL, ABUJA, ON MONDAY MAY 19, 2014
It is with genuine warmness of the heart that I stand here today to share our experience on the Osun Elementary School Feeding and Health Programme, which we christened O’MEALS.
The O’MEALS, I must say, has come a long way. The progress we have made and the achievements we have recorded in the State of Osun is on the one hand a clear testimony to what can be gained from multi-layered and multi-level coordination. It is, on the other hand, an affirmation of the benefit of political vision and passion.
The O’MEALS had its humble beginning in the inclusion byAfrican Governments of locally-sourced school feeding programmes in the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) in 2003.
The same year also witnessed the launch of an initiative by theNew Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), along with the World Food Programme (WFP) and the Millennium Hunger Task Force. The initiative involved ‘a pilot Home Grown School Feeding and Health Programme (HGSFHP) designed to link school feeding to agricultural development through the purchase and use of locally and domestically produced food’.
Our country, Nigeria, happened to be one of the 12 pilot countries invited to implement the programme. As a result, the Federal Government came up with the Universal Basic Education (UBE) Act in 2004, which provided the enabling legislative backing for the execution of the Home Grown School Feeding and Health Programme (HGSFHP).
The Federal Ministry of Education selected 13 states of the federation, including the Federal Capital Territory (Abuja), to begin a phased-pilot implementation of the programme. Osun was fortunately among the selected states.
Thus the pilot primary school feeding programme in our state began as Osun State Home Grown School Feeding and Health Programme in May 2006. However, on our assumption of office in November 2010, we undertook a comprehensive review of the programme and re-launched it as O’MEALS on April 30, 2012. We immediately began its execution across all the 1,375 Elementary Schools in Osun.
The home grown feeding programme for school pupils has the advantage of being consistent with our own government’s goals – of banishing poverty, banishing hunger, creating work and wealth, creating functional education, restoring healthy living and engendering communal peace and progress.
Hence, we integrated it within the larger context of our overall development programme implementation. The objectives behind O’MEALS are: improvement of the nutrition and health of our school children; increase in school enrolment, retention and completion; and reduction of poverty and stimulation of small and medium scale enterprises development.
Towards these ends, experts were consulted to draw up suitable school-day menu while 3007 community caterers were employed to provide the meals on a daily basis. The days and menu are as follows:

• MONDAY (YAM with FISH STEW and ORANGE);
• TUESDAYS (RICE and BEANS with CHICKEN and ORANGE);
• WEDNESDAYS        (BEANS PORRIDGE and BREAD with WHOLE EGG and BANANA);
• THURSDAYS   (RICE with EGUSI-GARNISHED VEGETABLE SOUP with CHICKEN and BANANA);
• FRIDAYS (COCOYAM PORRIDGE with VEGETABLE SOUP and BEEF, with A SLICE OF PAWPAW).

The community caterers were organised into 124 functional Cooperative Investment and Credit Societies (CICS) in order to benefit fully from bulk procurement and allied services. Necessary operational funds are then transferred to the personal bank accounts of each caterer through their CICS.
The account from which this funding emanates is secure because it is not accessible through issuance of bank cheques. Funds can only be transferred from the account into the caterers’ and other contractors’ accounts by approved mandates.
The caterers receive funds in advance concerning meals to be prepared for school pupils within a two-week period (i.e. 10 school days). For organisational purpose, the number of pupils assigned to each caterer varies and so is the fund allocated.
The caterers each benefit from a government facilitated interest-free loan of N41,500 for the acquisition of their cooking and other kitchen utensils. The loan repayment period is spread over 36 months, with N1,152.78kobo deducted from their account every month. Already, our community caterers have each repaid a third of their loans.
I must also note that the community caterers are provided free-of-charge with a pair of uniforms (comprising gowns, caps and aprons) by the State Government of Osun at a cost of N11.6 million to the government.
The financial implication of feeding our Elementary school pupils is the expenditure of N12.7 million every school day, while the sum of N601,400 is paid out to the 3007 community caterers as transport fares on a daily basis. The financial expenditure for the O’MEALS is shared between the State Government and the constituting local government councils on a 40-60 per cent ratio respectively.
For effective implementation, the O’MEALS Programme is monitored at various levels. At one level, there are Planning Officers within the Local Government Education Authority office who are responsible for carrying out the implementation logistics. They act as liaison between the O’MEALS Office and the community caterers.
There are also the Local Inspectors of Education who also operate at the local government authority level. Then, there are the Independent Monitors who are drawn from the ranks of retired civil servants, Parent Teachers Association and community leaders. The O’MEALS Secretariat staff act as coordinators for the monitors.
In keeping with our Backward Integration policy, the O’MEALS has an input supply chain that is linked to our various agricultural development projects. Consequently, our OFOPS (Osun Fisheries Outgrowers Production Scheme) provide the catfish used for the school feeding programme.
The same applies to eggs, chickens, and cocoyam which also serves as material input for the feeding programme. Indeed, our administration initiated a ‘Cocoyam Rebirth Programme’, which is a major project under the direct supervision of the Osun Deputy Governor.
The Cocoyam Rebirth Programme scheme was designed with the aim of directly reaching the grassroots and practicing farming communities on how to improve and enhance cocoyam production, utilisation and marketing in the state. The ultimate objective is to revitalise cocoyam cultivation, with a view to using it on the O’MEALS menu.
In view of this, a training session was conducted for state and local government extension workers on cocoyam utilisation, production, marketing and post-harvest handling. The training programme, held on June 28, 2012, was attended by 234 extension workers.
A similar training programme was conducted for 2,000 farmers on August 8, 2012 across all the nine Federal Constituencies in the state. In the end, 332 Osun Youth Empowerment Scheme cadets, one from each of the electoral wards in the state, were selected as Cocoyam Off-takers for the rebirth programme.
The passion, prudence and seriousness we deployed to the implementation of the O’MEALS has earned us the worthy support and partnership of the London-based Partnership for Child Development (PCD).
Through this fruitful collaboration, we have received technical assistance in redesigning the school feeding programme through endorsement of the Transition Strategy Plan Document. The PCD also facilitated a Study Visit for four officers from O’MEALS Secretariat, along with a member of House of Assembly, to Accra in September 2013 to see the Ghana School Feeding Programme.
In the same vein, the PCD has facilitated technical assistance in collaboration with CHI Pharmaceuticals and Osun State Government on School Health and Nutrition (SHN) activities in public Elementary schools, especially regarding deworming of school pupils.
It is also, among other assistance programme, helping in the production of a programme document to better guide the implementation of the programme, as well as the appointment of a consultant to facilitate the development of Monitoring and Evaluation System for O’MEALS Programme.
The introduction and sustenance of the O’MEALS Programme has enabled us to achieve many of our development objectives. These include among others: Increased enrolment of pupils in our Elementary schools. To be sure, within the first five weeks of our introduction of the O’MEALS, elementary school enrolment shot up by 38,935 pupils.
Today, Osun has the highest Elementary school enrolment in Nigeria, second only to Niger State, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. This has had the implication of increasing our annual expenditure on O’MEALS to about N3 billion. And this does not include staff salary.
The programme has likewise improved the health status of our school pupils benefiting from the programme. It has drastically reduced the incidence of school absenteeism in comparison with the pre-O’MEALS period.
As a result of the O’MEALS, the production capacities of the farmer-suppliers of farm produce has been boosted, with corresponding increased prosperity for smallholder farmers.
The multiplier effects of the economic and material empowerment of different segment of society, consequent upon the implementation of O’MEALS, has had a redounding impact on the lives of our people and economy of Osun.
The O’MEALS is thus one programme that is worthy of every naira and kobo that had gone into it.
I thank you all for giving me your valuable time.

THE last 40 months of Governor Rauf Aregbesola’s administration in Osun State have indisputably been the most eventful in its 19-year history – at least in terms of developmental strides.
It is now crystal clear from the Osun example that the economic progress and development of any state are largely functions of the vision, will and ingenuity of the leadership. Osun State used to be rated among the backwaters of the Nigerian economy. The belief was that the state was inherently disadvantaged and thus incapable of making any major economic leap forward.
For one, Osun is 34th of the 36 states in terms of statutory allocation from the Federation Account. Again, the state’s poor economic profile limits the capacity to generate substantial revenue through taxes. Successive administrations had thus confined their vision and ambition within the limits of the paltry federal allocation and an internally generated revenue of approximately N300 million monthly. It is thus not surprising that the Aregbesola administration inherited a state characterised by rising unemployment, gross decay of public infrastructure and unsustainable debt.
However, through the determined and innovative implementation of its Integration Action Plan of banishing poverty, banishing hunger, banishing unemployment, restoring healthy living, promoting functional living and enhancing communal peace and progress, the Aregbesola administration has remarkably turned the Osun story around. For instance, the Osun Youth Employment Scheme (OYES) has created 40,000 jobs and injects N200 million into the local economy monthly. Farmers are being supported to boost food production and enhance food security. The massive road construction undertaken across the state has had a beneficial impact on economic productivity.
In the education sector, ingenious policies have led to the establishment of such enterprises as Omoluabigarments to produce school uniforms on a massive scale and O’meal to provide one meal per day for school children. These ventures generate jobs and stimulate economic activity. Consequently, not only has the state’s internally generated revenue risen to N1.6 billion monthly, Osun State has the lowest poverty index in Nigeria, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
Against this background, the administration could easily have assumed it had reached the limits of its performance and thus rest on its oars. The organisation of the recent two-day Osun Economic Summit, however, indicates that the Aregbesola government is determined to raise the benchmark of performance even higher. Tagged ‘OrisunAje’, the theme of the summit was ‘Crux of Osun Economic Developmental Master Plan: Analysing Radical Paradigm Shift’. The summit provided a forum for critical stakeholders in the state – civil society organisations, trade unions, cottage industry owners, community-based organisations and key financial institutions – to appraise the performance of the Aregbesola administration, deliberate on ways of improving current gains as well as identify new potentials and opportunities that could be explored to further uplift the state.
It is noteworthy that the summit was initiated and driven by an Osogbo-based Non-Governmental Organisation, the Peoples Welfare League (PWL), thus giving it the requisite independence to objectively assess the performance of the administration as well as identify its strengths and weaknesses. Equally significant in this respect was Aregbesola’s charge to participants in his opening address not to be patronising of his government but to critically and dispassionately analyse its policies and programmes. It is of course obvious that this is the only way that the summit can be useful in adding value to governance in the state as well as justify the resources committed to it.
We urge the state government to borrow a leaf from Lagos and institutionalise the summit as a critical and objective partner in achieving purpose-driven and qualitative governance. Above all, it must ensure that the summit does not end as a talk shop; its recommendations must not gather dust in government shelves as most other summits, they must be utilised for the development of the state.

Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun state yesterday described the activities of Boko Haram as a misguided mission which has no basis in Islamic religion and the teachings of Prophet Mohammed.
He said the campaign of the group “against education and female involvement is totally misplaced”.
“It is purely a misguided mission and must be stoutly countered with all gravitas. The group itself must be pulverised because of the sorrow it causes in homes and the privation it makes some children to suffer with respect to education”, Aregbesola said.
He stated this in a lecture at the 10th Mosobalaje Oyawoye Endowment lecture organised by the Faculties of Life and Physical Sciences, University of Ilorin. The governor was represented by his Special Adviser on Innovation, Science and Technology, Eng. Azeez Ajayi.
DAILY TRUST

The State of Osun House Committee on Education, Science and Technology has charged all stakeholders in the state education sector to ensure the smooth running of all schools in the state.

Chairman of the Committee, Folorunso Bamisayemi, who spoke on behalf of the members, gave the advice while hosting the Permanent Secretary and the management of the Ministry of Education including the Tutor-General representing  the three senatorial districts of the state.

He said the welfare of teachers, pupils and even the stakeholders cannot be compromised, saying the issue of welfare is germane since education remains the bedrock of all forms of development in the world.

On teachers transfer, the chairman stated that the newly recruited teachers have to start their service at the rural areas to solve the problem of lack of teachers in the rural areas in line with the policy of the present administration.

While urging the education authorities to carry along the committee, he said the committee is essentially put in place to assist and move education forward in the state.

Also, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Mr. Lawrence Oyeniran, had said that the ministry had been working hard to move education forward in the state.

The Tutor-General in charge of Osun West Senatorial District, Mr. Oyebamiji Adisa, who spoke on behalf of his colleagues, said they have been meeting the school heads regularly with the aim of charting ways of improving the education sector in the state.

DAILY INDEPENDENT

Osun.gov.ng team caught up with Hon Wale Adedoyin, the Honourable Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Security in the State Of Osun. It was an opportunity to shed more light on the agric transformation in the state and the vision of Ogbeni Aregbesola to turn around the economy of the state through agriculture. An explicit interview indeed… Below are excerpts from the interview.
OSUN.GOV : What is the vision of the present administration concerning agriculture?
Hon Adedoyin: The vision of the present Administration is to supply at least 10% of daily #3.5 billion worth of food (i.e. food consumption propensity) in Lagos market. This would be achieved through the evolvement of a progressive, buoyant and productive agricultural sector able to guarantee food security and adequate returns on agricultural investment capable of attracting youths, other individuals and corporate bodies to the sector. The mission is achieving food security, wealth and job creation, youth empowerment, economic transformation and making the State of Osun the hub of agriculture and an emporium of commerce in the South West of Nigeria.
OSUN.GOV: How far has this vision been achieved?
Hon Adedoyin: The vision had been achieved to a very great extent with the initiation and implementation of Osun Rural Enterprise and Agriculture Programme (O-REAP) under the Aregbesola Administration. The Government has put in place O-REAP as an intervention programme to explore the potential of the State to ensure massive food production, boost the state economy, achieve an acceptable level of farm income, reduce income variability, improve competitiveness of the agricultural sector assure safe and high quality produce as well as food security.
The notable Agricultural Interventions and laudable achievements follows:1,606 OYES Cadets have been trained in Modern Agriculture at the newly established O-REAP Youth Academy located in the 9 Federal Constituencies while 250 other youths have been trained in agricultural production at Leventis Foundation, Ilesa;  also 20 youths including O-YES cadets, O-REAP Youth and the general public have been sponsored to Germany in pursuit of advanced practical training in Agriculture, and twenty others are receiving refresher course in German Language at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife and would soon go to Germany. Concerning agric in schools, we are catching them young, in that wise 153 Secondary Schools across the State have been supported in various Agricultural programmes such as Poultry, Piggery and Crop Production.
We also have Young Farmers Club also launched in Schools; In the area of storage facilities, we have built 1 (No.) 1000 MT Warehouse, 1 (No.) 500 MT Warehouse, 7 (Nos.) 120 MT Mini Warehouses and 92 (9.2MT) Cribs have been constructed across the State to serve as On/Off Farm Storage Facilities; Our farmers have also been provided with credit facilities, presently  3,645 Farmers across the State benefitted from the sum of N476,350,000 from the Government Guaranteed Agriculture Loan Scheme; 268 Farmers benefitted from the sum of N45,662,065 from O-REAP Loan Scheme and we have earmarked N40m as loan to support Piggery Farmers in the State.
Land clearing is a challenge to farmers because they do not have the capacity to do that but we intervened,  3,070.3 Ha of Land Cleared; 6,209.4 Ha of land Tractorised across the State. It is useless to plant and not transport the produce to the market, with regards to that,  a total of 156 Km of rural roads were constructed including 25 Km road asphalted in Mokore Farm Settlement, 20 Km in Alaguntan at Ago-Owu Farm Settlement), 6 Km road at Esa-Oke Farm Settlement, 39 Km road at Pataara, 58 Km roads at other farms and an 8 Km road under the Quick Impact Intervention Project (QIIP). We have also invested in aquaculture, 3 Fish Farm Estates was established at the 3 Senatorial districts in the State namely Esa-Odo, Iwo & Owalla.
A total of 120 Metric Tons of Catfish have been produced in partnership with Kayolad Nigeria  Limited, under Osun Fisheries Outgrowers Scheme (OFOPS) which was supported with N36, 800,000 to promote Fish production and train Youths. Similarly, under OFOPS, a sum of N253million was provided under arrangement with Feg-Agro Nig Ltd which is the Scheme Manager, Association of Aquatic Farmers & Agro-processor of Nigeria(AAFAN), State of Osun branch to produce 800 metric tons of catfish as well as processing for value addition. The scheme has supported 400 Fish Farmers.
The big one which has impacted on our school feeding programme is the partnership between TUNS Farm Nig Ltd, TUNS is the Scheme Manager under our Broiler promotion programme. We call it Osun Broiler Outgrowers Production Scheme. A sum of N539,435,200 was provided for 578 farms in which over 3,779,400 Day-old Chicks were raised. The farmers have made over N185million as profit in this scheme.
We have invested and encouraging every aspect of agriculture for the benefit of our people and our economy.We are encouraging piggery production, catfish tilapia breeding, honey breeding, cattle breeding and processing. This medium is not enough to detailed all that we have done.
OSUN.GOV: You promise to offer free transportation services by Railway for farmers, what is the status of this programme?
Hon Adedoyin: The free transportation services by railway for farmers was initiated and implemented to facilitate transportation of goods and farm produce to and from Lagos free-of-charge. This was intended to eliminate transports cost and invariably translate to more profit for farmers who will not pay for transport. The goal is to make farm produce available at farm prices in Lagos and through that capture 10% of the food market in Lagos. The free freight for food commodities is part of our agricultural programme intended to assist our farmers to market their produce, minimize wastage and improve their earning power. The food hub is yet to be completed to the desired level while the depots are not fully ready for supply of agricultural products to 57 markets in each of the 57 Local Governments in Lagos.
The free freight for agricultural commodities is not catching on with the people as much as we would want, as farmers are yet to take full advantage of the free freight because they are still held down by the old method of transportation.The government of the state of Osun is still improving upon the Memorandum of Understanding between her and the Nigerian Railway Corporation. There is no prohibition on how many times goods can be moved.
OSUN.GOV: Osun Cattle Hub in Iwo, what informed the project and how far have you gone in these projects?
Hon Adedoyin: The Osun Cattle Hub, otherwise referred to as the Beef Chain Development Project, was initiated by the Aregbesola Administration with the primary objectives of introducing new genetics to improve the carcass and meat quality of local cattle. The programme targets an initial 10% of the Lagos cattle market estimated between 165,000 – 200,000 cattle per year. The programme is expected to fatten and slaughter cattle in Osun for the Lagos market. The facilities we have provided in the hub includes: Construction of three (03) feedlot paddocks, sinking of four(04) boreholes rehabilitation of electricity supply, re-construction of one of the two(02) junior staff quarters  and grading and construction of farm road within the complex.
OSUN.GOV: The Government is upgrading infrastructure in the Farm Settlements, can you please enlighten us further on this?
Hon Adedoyin: The upgrading of infrastructure in the nine (09) Farm Settlements were undertaken to create favourable and conducive environments for farmers in the rural areas so that they have access to their farmlands. The Administration of Ogbeni believes that infrastructures such as good roads, electricity, potable water, etc would not only enhance human living but would also greatly boost socio-economic activities of our people. In collaboration with Rural Access and Mobility Project of the  Ministry of Rural and Community Development, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (MAFS) had completed a 12-kilometer road from Iwo to Pataara, an 18.7 kilometer Mokore Farm Settlement Road in Ayedaade Local Government Area of the State and a 5-kilometer Esa-Oke to Esa-Odo Farm Settlement Road in Obokun Local Government Area   as well as a 10.8 –kilometer Idi- iroko to Akinleye road in Iwo Local Government Area of the State. It also supervised the construction of four cell box culverts at River Oba on Idi-iroko and Akinleye roads.
To sustain the roads and ensure that the over #2 billion   spent on rural roads by the Government do not amount to a waste, maintenance groups were formed to carry out routine maintenance on the roads. This giant stride has given farmers unrestricted access to transport their farm produce from farm to market in urban cities. With the upgrading of infrastructures, the MAFS had touched the lives of rural dwellers positively and repositioned the people at the grassroots for economic vibrancy. The intervention is now paying off as it is aiding government efforts of guaranteeing food security in the State.
OSUN.GOV: What is the Government of Osun doing on opening up land and clearing it for farm purposes?
Hon Adedoyin: The State Government is opening up land and has been given such farmland to farmers in order to boost food production in the State. In 2011  ,the Government 50 hectares of land at Mokore Farm settlement and allocated the land to O-REAP farmers, while in 2012, 100 hectares of land Was cleared at Akinleye, Iwo Farm Settlement and allocated to 20 O-REAP farmers. In 2013, the administration cleared77.8 hectares in Ifon- Orolu, 74.7 hectares in Ila- Orangun, 52.4 hectares in Ago- Owu and 48.3 hectares in Iwo. Government also gave support to the settlers on land tractorization in 2011/2012 in four farm settlement including Ago- Owu, Esa-Oke, Iwo and Mokore
OSUN.GOV: School feeding programme and Agric are inter-related, what is the connection?
Hon Adedoyin: The Osun Broilers Out-growers Scheme (O-BOPS) and Osun Fisheries Outgrowers Scheme (O-FOPS) are the two agricultural initiatives under O-REAP that are inter-related to the Osun School Feeding Programme (O-MEAL). Both O-BOPS and O-FOPS under the Scheme Manager enjoy linkage with O-MEALS which is another laudable initiative of the Aregbesola-led Administration whereby broiler chickens, fresh fish and red cocoyams are bought back by the State Government from the participating farmers to feed primary school children.
The MAFS supplies chicken and fish for a balanced meal for almost 250,000 pupils. The Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security is represented at the Steering and monitoring Committee of the Osun School Feeding Programme which facilitates continuous dialogue for the success of the Programme. The scheme is hereby recommended for replication in other states of the Federation on accounts of its tremendous success.
OSUN.GOV: From when you took over as Honourable Commissioner and till now, how will you rate this administration effort?
Hon Adedoyin: The Government efforts have focused on massive food production through land preparation, mass mobilization of existing and new farmers, and introduction of new techniques, improved seedlings and easy access to other important inputs that would make farming extremely profitable and attractive. No doubt the efforts of the State Government have yielded positive results and the government is still very much committed to turning the State into the food basket of the nation. The state Government of Osun had invested much in Agriculture and had committed more time and energy to agriculture which is the primary focus of the present Administration. Though our people would say,” you cannot be a judge in your own case” l, however, in the words of Chinua Achebe “A lizard that jumped from a tall “Iroko Tree” would praise itself even if no one else did”.
The present Administration had recorded tremendous success in diverse areas of agriculture including land clearing, provision of improved varieties of seeds and seedlings free- of charge, provision of fertilizer at highly subsidized rates e.t.c. Indeed we have brought back the lost glory of agriculture in the State and efforts of the Aregbesola-led Administration should be rated very high for the sterling achievements in many areas of agriculture.
OSUN.GOV: What is the greatest problem agric is facing in the State?
Hon Adedoyin: Agriculture in the State of Osun is confronted by multifarious challenges including Land tenure system, poor storage, transportation, processing facilities that are surmountable. Other major challenge facing Agriculture in the State is rain-fed agriculture, the unpredictability of rain and long spell of dry season. The greatest challenge facing Agriculture in the State is that of marketing with occasional market gluts recorded about certain commodity. The marketing challenges were identified on maize, cassava and fish due to bomber harvest occasioned by the O-REAP intervention programme.
OSUN.GOV: Osun has been classified as the 7^th largest economy. Has Agric played any factor in this?
Hon Adedoyin: Yes! Agriculture is the mainstay of our economy in the State of Osun, Nigeria. The sector provides food for the citizens, raw materials for the agro-allied industries and employment for over 70% of our economically active population who are engage (directly or indirectly) in the practice of agriculture.
OSUN.GOV: Youths are running away from agric what efforts you are making to encourage and attract them to it.
Hon Adedoyin: One of the peculiarities of Agriculture is the gestation periods of agricultural produce takes place over time and space. Youth are not aroused to the fascinations of agriculture because agriculture does not give quick gains compared to the Okada syndrome.In its bid to empower, encourage and attract the youths to Agriculture, The Aregbesola-led Administration had initiated and implemented many youth friendly programmes including O-REAP Youth Academy, Agriculture – in- Schools programme and the Young Farmers Club. Twenty (20) youths (including O-YES cadets, O-REAP Youth and the general public) have been sponsored to Germany in pursuit of advanced practical training in Agriculture, and twenty others are receiving refresher course in German Language at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife and would soon go to Germany while 1,606 were trained in modern agricultural practices for massive food production.
The youths have been formed into cooperative groups and registered with the Ministry of Commerce, Cooperatives, Industry and Empowerment for self employment.. The Government of the State of Osun had put in place other programmes in the area of agricultural input supply at 50% subsidy as well as fisheries, livestock and veterinary services to mitigate the various challenges associated with agriculture.
There are also agricultural mechanization (land clearing and tractorization) services rendered free of charge or at highly subsidized prices to reduce the drudgery of human labour, about which youth are known to have demonstrated a strong aversion. The Youths have been equipped with requisite skills that will enable them to contribute adequately to agricultural production even as they legitimately earn a decent and virtuous living. The involvement of youth in agriculture is another way of tackling the menace of youth unemployment.
OSUN.GOV: There is a partnership between Osun and the State of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany; can you brief us about this?
Hon Adedoyin: There is a robust collaboration and partnership between the State of Osun and the State of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany in the area of agriculture especial on training in modern and establishment of soil and food laboratory.  The decision to send 40 youths for training in Germany was prompted by the country prowess in the field of agriculture. We believed in tapping from the wealth of experience of a leading economy in Europe (Germany) that does not import but export food products.  The 20 youths have been formed into cooperatives and empowered for self employment.
OSUN.GOV: What other innovation is the administration making in improving agric practices in the State?
Hon Adedoyin: Government cannot do everything. We are strategizing and improving more on Public-Private Partnership in the implementation of projects for   efficiency and sustainability. In addition, we are also investing in soil and food Laboratory Analysis, provision of irrigation facilities for all year round farming and agricultural land expansion and land bank. In all, we are in partnership with international research institutes and we will always introduce innovations capable of raising the standard of living of our people and the state in general.
OSUN.GOV: Thank you so much sir for taking time out to attend to us
Hon Adedoyin: I also say thank you too. It is a pleasure.
 

Download inspiring Quotes from the Governor of the State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola. Today’s Quote is focused on GOVERNANCE. Visit the website at www.osun.gov.ng  or Twitter @stateofosun for more updates on the State of Osun and its projects.

Governor Rauf Aregbesola will today, 19th May, 2014 unveil his highly rated school feeding programme, O’MEALS, in Abuja where governors, ministers and international experts will gather to share his administration’s experiences for the benefits of farmers, community and Nigerian pupils.

Soon after this summit, Governor Aregbesola is expected to play host to state governments who are keen to learn from the Osun O’MEALS experience to achieve a sustainable implementation strategy for all-round benefits of stakeholders.

Governor of the State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, who is expected to be one of the keynote speakers at the parley, is expected to share the experiences of his administration with other states and Federal Government on how to achieve an integrated benefit chain for farmers to enjoy maximum advantages from the school feeding programme.

On 22nd January, 2014, Governor Aregbesola had, through the invitation of the Partnership for Child’s Development in conjunction with Imperial College, London, addressed the Parliament of the United Kingdom on the successes recorded by his administration on the school feeding programme.

Apart from Governor Aregbesola, his Kano State counterpart, Engineer Rabiu Musa Kwankwanso; the Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina; Minister of Health, Professor Chukwu Onyebuchi; Education Minister, Barrister Nyesom Wike; will also deliver keynote speeches at the occasion.

On the international scene, leading experts from the Imperial College, London, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, World Bank and World Food Programme are also expected to share their international expertise with the gathering for the benefit of the Nigerian child.

In order to share from the Osun experience and build on it, the Minister of Education, Barrister Nyesom Wike, with support from the Vitol Foundation, has invited his counterparts from the Ministries of Agriculture and Health, the Governors from Osun State and Kano State and development partners including the Partnership for Child Development, the World Bank and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, to discuss how best to support other Nigerian states looking to benefit from HGSF programmes.

Described as a win-win situation for children and smallholder farmers alike, Home Grown School Feeding programmes, as implemented for hundreds of thousands of pupils in Osun Elementary Schools, provide hot fresh nutritious meals using ingredients procured from local smallholder farmers.

The programme which dates back to 2004 when 13 states of Nigeria implemented HGSF as a pilot programme, regrettably remained in only two states of Osun and Kano after a decade of its operation.

Till date, only the states of Osun and Kano, are still feeding their school children just as its impact of 28 per cent jump in primary school enrolment in addition to the creation of over 3,000 new jobs under the Aregbesola administration become the high points of state level experiences to be shared at the meeting. Only Osun has kept the scale in which the scheme is implemented.

The Osun State Government’s development of school feeding has benefited from the technical advice and support provided by Imperial College London’s Partnership for Child Development (PCD). PCD in partnership with the World Bank and WFP has been providing directed, evidence based support for the design and management of school feeding programmes linked to agricultural production.

While speaking about the summit, Dr. Lesley Drake,the Executive Director of the Partnership for Child’s Development (PCD) said,
“The meeting is an excellent example of high level inter-ministerial collaboration at the federal and state level  to design sustainable school feeding  programmes which will improve the lives of children and smallholder farmers across the country”. 

Immediately following this meeting a technical workshop in Osun, hosted by the state Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, will be held for states that are keen to learn from Osun’s expertise in running sustainable HGSF programmes.

Photos from the Two-Day Conference of Foremost Traditional Rulers in Osun on the Overall Development of the State at Centre for Black Culture and International Understandings, Abere, State of Osun on Thursday 15-05-2014

From right, Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola; Nigerian
Poet, Writer and Social Critic, Odia Ofeimun and Ooni of Ife, Oba
Okunade Sijuade, during a Two-Day Conference of Foremost Traditional
Rulers in Osun on the Overall Development of the State at Centre for
Black Culture and International Understandings, Abere, State of Osun
on Thursday 15-05-2014

From left, Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade; Governor State of Osun,
Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola; Orangun of Ila, Oba Wahab Oyedotun and Ataoja
of Osogboland, Oba Jimoh Olanipekun, during a Two-Day Conference of
Foremost Traditional Rulers in Osun on the Overall Development of the
State at Centre for Black Culture and International Understandings,
Abere, State of Osun on Thursday 15-05-2014

From left, Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade; Governor State of Osun,
Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola; Orangun of Ila, Oba Wahab Oyedotun and Ataoja
of Osogboland, Oba Jimoh Olanipekun, during a Two-Day Conference of
Foremost Traditional Rulers in Osun on the Overall Development of the
State at Centre for Black Culture and International Understandings, Abere, State of Osun on Thursday 15-05-2014