The performance of the Osun State government since the inception of the Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola’s administration came under scrutiny recently at an economic summit in Osogbo, the state capital tagged ‘Orisun Aje 2014’.
At the summit organised by the Peoples Welfare League (PWL), a non-governmental organisation, mind boggling issues bordering on the survival of the ordinary man, particularly the rising wave of unemployment and the widening gap between the rich and the poor were raised and solutions proffered.
The venue, Osogbo Holiday Inn, was full of activities during the two-day summit attended by civil servants, artisans, cottage industry owners, trade unions and politicians who rubbed minds on the way forward in the country.
The theme of the summit; ‘Crux of Economic Developmental Masterplan: Analysing Radical Economic Paradigm Shift’ captures the mood of the organisers, who believe it was time to better the lots of the people.
Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola in his remarks said, Nigerian masses are living at the mercy of harsh economic policies and urged government to re-evaluate the situation.
He said the reduction in states’ monthly allocation by 40 percent was a declaration of war on the Nigerians people, noting it would widen the gap between the haves and the have not.
He said government at all levels must work to reduce the poverty level to pave way for a better society, adding that the Federal Government’s unilateral decision reducing money meant for state cannot be justified.
The governor noted that the country still sells its oil at the same rate in the international market.
Aregbsola said the summit is coming at a critical moment in the country’s national life, urging policy makers to tap into it.
He said: “Summit like this is to conceptualise ideas to improve the living condition of the people. The primary focus of this summit is to look at the successes of government and advised where it has not lived up to expectation.
“I urge you to give this summit all the seriousness that it deserves because in the long run, Osun will not only be the beneficiary but the entire country will key into the outcome of the deliberation and use the formula to advance their causes.
“Osun in the last three and half years has made progress from the backwater of economic regression to the fertile place of economic abundance.
“The transformation inspired by this transition is observably manifold in areas of arresting unemployment, reducing inequality among the people, capacity building etc. I must say that Osun economy has substantially grown from where we took over the governance of the state,” he said.
The governor said Osun State has fought poverty and the result available for confirmation, stressing that the state has the lowest poverty index in Nigeria. “It is not a phantom wish, it was published in 2012. Five states in the lowest unemployment rate in Nigeria are Abia 11 percent, Oyo nine percent, Lagos eight percent, Kwara seven percent and Osun three percent.
“In the poverty index, Osun is rated second only to Niger State; however, we don’t even know their parameter for arriving at the index because Niger State is not even among the best ten on the unemployment index. So, when you marry our performance on unemployment with our crystal performance in poverty, I will say we are the best governed state in Nigeria,” Aregbesola said.
The co-chairman of the event and former Secretary General of the Organisation of Africa Trade Union Unit (OATUU), Comrade Hassan Sumonu, noted that the rapid physical transformation of Osun State indicates that the Aregbesola administration is working to better the lots of the people.
He said: “Osun State has been greatly transformed. When my tenure as Secretary General of OATUU ended, I had the choice of staying back in Accra, Ghana or coming back to live in Abuja or Lagos. However, when I visited Osun, the transformation was so massive that it struck me in a big way and I have chosen to live here ever.
“I support all the developmental initiatives that are people-oriented and capable of bringing about development. Any government that has a pact with the people must honour and fulfill that pact for such a government to remain a darling of the people.”
Sumonu advised other governors and the Federal Government on the need to study and adopt the Osun State template for socio-economic development, adding that unemployment rate in the country is growing and worrisome.
He said government at all levels must stop playing politics with the lives of the people. He stated government must embark on progra-mmes that will better the lives of the governed.
“This is the type of approach the whole country needs. The Federal Government and other states must put politics aside and see how it is possible to replicate Osun’s pragmatic approach to employment generation and wealth creation all over the country. Nigeria will be better for such selfless consideration,” he said.
The chairman of PWL, Comrade Abiodun Agboola said, the summit was organised to allow stakeholders reflect on government prog-rammes and contribute to the development of the country.
He said: “PWL, as the third eye of the public has elected to shoulder the responsibility of bringing the stakeholders together in order to assess the situation of governance in Osun State in the last 40 months in line with our tradition.”
Osun State Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Mr. Ismailla Alagbada, in his paper entitled: “Overview of Developmental Indices Before, Now and the Projection for the Future: Osun as Microcosm in Nigeria,” said the only way government could make progress is to proactively engage the people.
“The people only appreciate government when they leave office, which is why the Aregbesola six-point agenda is squarely about the people. I must say before Are-gbesola came, infrastructure in the state was comatose. No investor in his right mind will come to such a state except the situation was redressed.”
Corroborating the position of the commissioner, Prof. Oyesoji Aremu in a paper titled: “Welfarism and People Oriented Development: Modern Governance Ethos” said government must be transparent and accountable to the people for it to be trusted.
He urged government to create the enabling environment that will ensure economic growth.
“That is why we have most of the challenges now confronting the country in form of insurgency because concerted efforts have not been directed to it. Regrettably, when you have insurgency it cannot be completely wiped out, you can only manage it,” he said.
THE NATION

The State of Osun Security Council Monday evening described the jungle justice being meted to suspected kidnappers and ritual killing suspects as wicked, uncivilised and therefore unacceptable to the government.
In a press conference jointly addressed after a crucial meeting, all the heads of security agencies said the act of jungle justice is totally condemnable, warning that government will not fold its arms and allow the society to descend into anarchy.
The security chiefs included the army, police, State Security Service, NDLEA, Immigration, Head of Prison Service, and the Federal Road Safety Commission.
The meeting came on the heel of recent wave of summary arrest of suspected kidnappers and burning them in some towns in the state.
The statement, read on behalf of the security chiefs by the Commissioner of Police, Ibrahim Maishanu, warned that any individual or group of people, found taking laws into their own hands by killing any suspect illegally would be made to face murder charge.
Maisanu said the security agencies have the capacity and network to track any individual or group that takes laws unto itself, warning the people of the state to hand over any suspected person to the police or the nearest security agencies rather than turn themselves into executioners.
“The act of dishing jungle justice to suspects is therefore barbaric, uncivilised and unacceptable in a governed society. The security agencies will not fold their arms and watch our society descend into anarchy.
“By this token, any person or group of persons that constitutes a mob, takes laws into his or their hands and lynch any suspect is not morally or legally better than the suspects. Such person or group of persons will be caught and made to face murder charges, which is punishable by death,” Maisanu said.
The police command boss averred that in an organised society, every citizen is involved in law enforcement through vigilance, report of suspicious and criminal activities to law enforcement agencies and in some cases, carrying out citizen’s arrest.
He stated that whenever any suspect is arrested, the lawful thing to do is to handover the suspect immediately to the police.
The police commissioner noted that there is never a time a citizen is allowed to take laws into his or her own hands and become the complainant, jury and executioner – meting out jungle justice based on his or her own whims and caprices.
According to the police chief there is the rule of law under democratic rule and it is the sacred duty of law enforcement agencies to uphold the law, enforce the law, apprehend criminals and make sure that criminal suspects face the law.
He reaffirmed the security agencies commitment and determination to maintaining and protecting lives and property and above all the fundamental liberty of all.
He continued: “This is what we do every day, 24 hours. It is on record that, with the assistance and cooperation we have received from the state government, criminals have been deterred in Osun and the state has one of the lowest crime rates in the country.
“It is also a fundamental axiom of justice that an accused person is deemed innocent until proven guilty. It is the sacred duty of the courts to determine and establish guilt or innocence and impose appropriate punishment. This is because a mistake, especially of identity or mission, can occur.
“Mistakes of this nature, therefore, once made, are irreversible and an innocent life would have been taken. Where the suspects were burnt to death, for instance, it is difficult or impossible to establish their identity and consequently establish their guilt or innocence.”

Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State has reiterated the commitment of his government to total abolition of poverty in the state, stressing that his administration is committed to the welfare of the people of the state.
The governor, who spoke in Osogbo, the state capital after the disbursement of N600 million to select women in the state, stressed that his administration was driven by egalitarianism and equity.
Aregbesola hinted that his administration had committed much resources to ensure total alleviation of poverty in the state to make life more meaningful to the citizenry, especially the women.
He said the state government had partnered Grooming Micro Finance centre, Lagos to bring lasting solution to the problem of poverty among the people of the state.
The governor disclosed that over 18,000 women had benefited from various loan schemes of his administration since the inception of his administration, adding that more women and youths would still benefit from the government in the area of empowerment.
He said: “We are committed to our crusade against poverty and we will not relent on our oars to ensure that poverty is wiped out in a promising state like Osun, despite the meager resources available to our administration.
“As a government, we have realised that development is incomplete without consideration to the human aspect. Ours is a combination of both infrastructural and human development,” he added
DAILY SUN

I am a Nigerian, proud of my country and what our fathers and those before them have achieved.  I am an “Andrew”, one of those that left these shores for greener pastures but fortunate enough to be one of those that have come back home after 18 years of living in the west.

I would like to first address the barrage of western media coverage of the unconscionable act of the abduction of over 270 of our daughters and children in Chibok about three weeks ago. I want to state categorically that this is a sad time in the history of our nation with our daughters missing. The question is does this event warrant the nonstop barrage by the western press on our country and how ‘we’ and our country are failures?  Nigeria all of a sudden is a pariah in the world stage because of this single event carried out by evil men?
Let us take a step back in the not too distant history, did the event of September 11^th 2011 not happen in the United States with over 4,000 lives lost on a single day in a single location? Did the terrorist bombing on the London Underground not happen in July 2005 in the United Kingdom with several lives lost? Did the governments and people of these countries become pariahs on the world stage? All nations and people worldwide rallied around the people of these western countries to condemn and support them through the difficult period in their history. The people and most importantly of the UK and USA learnt from these incidents, looking at root causes and taking preventive action to avoid a repeat of those horrendous incidents. Nigerians need to proudly be united at this difficult time and ensure this never happens again.
We must and will find our girls with the assistance we are now receiving from several countries but as a nation and people, we need to address a few issues.
The incident at Chibok was a failure of leadership, whose leadership you may ask? Failure of leadership of you and I; not just the Federal Government of Nigeria or the state governments alone.
As a people, we have buried our heads in sand individually like ostriches, with no concern for our fellow Nigerians, while this may have been more rampant with the political class, we have all stood by over the last few years of our democracy watching as the divide between the rich and poor grew wider, equality in standards no longer existed in the nation our fathers and fore father fought and died for. The middle class disappeared and we just watched; it is not my business! I am not a politician! As long as I can feed my immediate family, nothing else matters! “We the people” had the power through the ballot box to engender change, put true servant leaders in leadership positions with policies and programs to deal with germane issues of infrastructure, development, improving the economic lot of Nigerians as a people both now but most importantly for the future but we keep failing in this regard! We allow a few miscreants without vision or leadership qualities either get voted or rigged into office. That is a topic of discussion for another day and piece though!
Let’s get back to the issue at hand, why did Chibok happen? What do we need to do to avoid a repeat! Are there local solutions that have worked anywhere in the African or Nigerian environment?
Respectfully, I put it to you that Chibok happened due to a lack of engagement of the youth in our environment. It happened because of the inequality of standard of living between the ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’ that are neighbors in my country and the flagrant display of ill gotten wealth.
Rather than engage our youths constructively, they were used for political gains, stupidly in most instances armed and then dumped by their political benefactors! What do young people in this situation do? Help themselves through violence and crime! Why are we surprised!
It is at this point that I will like to refer our leaders and but most especially you, the reader of this piece and our nation to one of the states in Nigeria, the state of Osun where a guy who calls himself ‘Mister’ Governor has lead his team and positively dealt with a variant of this issue of youth engagement, personal self worth, building bridges and security through various programs of which I will only focus on one, the OYES program.
In 3 years, 40,000 unemployed youths were engaged by the leadership of this state between 2011 and 2013, what do you as an intelligent Nigerian think happened to crime rate in the State of Osun? Of course it went down! These were individuals that were sitting at home frustrated with themselves, their parents, community and of course their government. These were youths that had little or no self worth of themselves now adding value to their community. Waking up in the morning and having a sense of purpose, dignity in contributing to their community and environment but most importantly being taught life skills on independence. Some of the graduates of this scheme have become farmers, business owners etc. The first female ambulance driver in Nigeria is a graduate of this scheme.
Is this scheme an end all be all solution to our issues? No, but it is a bridge, a solution in the right direction. My fellow compatriots and lovers of our nation, why would the World Bank recognised this initiative as a solution that addresses youth engagement in developing countries but we in Nigeria cannot see the benefits as leverage! Forget whose innovation it was, forget their political party, let us as a people begin to use what has worked or is working towards the development of our nation, Nigeria, the giant of Africa.
I know I said I will only mention one thing but pardon me I just love my country too much.
When will you and I start holding our leaders to account to implement policies that may not be popular but that positively impact and benefit our people? In Tanzania, Julius Nyerere changed the national language from English to Swahili to bring about unity of purpose amongst the several tribes and languages in his country; today the people are stronger as a nation. Nkrumah in Ghana made the ‘Kenteh’ the uniform of the nation, can you imagine the number of jobs that policy created and maintains in their textile industry, what that that single policy has done and continues to do for the Ghanaian economy?
In the State of Osun, Rauf Aregbesola, Mr. Governor introduced a single free uniform for all students in primary and secondary schools. All the uniforms are produced in his state making over 3,000 unemployed people get trained as tailors with a feeder system with new student intakes and replacements yearly, is it a surprise that the Nigerian Federal Bureau of Statistics named Osun the state with the least unemployment in 2013 with less than 3%.
While I’m not a statistician, I was at a forum a few days ago when someone said that Katsina and Kano indigenes at some point in the history of Nigeria formed around 20% of the manufacturing workforce because of the textile industry, which is now docile!
Can you imagine what it would mean to unengaged youths in the state of Katsina and Kano, even the entire northern Nigeria if the Federal government of Nigeria made ‘Ankara’ the uniform of this nation with all civil servants wearing it with minimal deduction made from their salaries. Cap that with a ban on importation of fabrics into Nigeria, and BOOM! What happens to the economy of northern Nigeria, it explodes with jobs and industry
Leadership is not always about being the innovator, it is about leveraging and implementing policies and solutions that have or are working. Leadership is about taking tough decisions, probably rejected by a few but to the benefit of the majority.
Nigeria, bring back our girls but most importantly, start the process to avoid a repeat of Chibok.
Dotun Babayemi writes from Gbongan, Aiyedaade local government, State of Osun.

The transformations in the various sectors of the economy of Osun have been described as indices that have shored up the economy of the state in no small measure.
This was the observation of the Assistant Director, Central Bank of Nigeria, Osogbo Branch, Mr. Macduff Efetabore Okoro, who also said the current administration of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola is affecting lives in manners never witnessed before in the state.
The apex bank chief spoke at the commissioning of the South-West Zonal Office of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria.
While proposing a toast to the State of Osun, Okoro said the state is currently reaping some enduring dividends of democracy in the past three and half years.
Highlighting the areas of development, the CBN boss identified quality and affordable education, youth empowerment, roads and other infrastructural developments as some of the areas massive impacts have been recorded.
He averred that adding to the changing terrain for doing business, there is a new impetus and momentum to breathe life into the economy which has been dormant before the advent of Aregbesola’s government.
“It is pleasing to note that, in the State of Osun today, there is the Osun Rural Enterprises and Agricultural Programme (O’REAP) which has engaged tens of thousands in food crop cultivation, fisheries, beef production and even cocoyam cultivation.
“Also there is the private partnership participation arrangement with TUNS FARM as the “Scheme Manager” to manage the state’ Broiler Production Scheme and about 200,000 birds are produced on monthly basis.
“In the area of Youth Empowerment, the State is excelling through Osun Youth Empowerment Scheme (O’YES) which has engaged over Twenty Thousand (20,000) Youths and won several commendations from institutions like the World Bank and O’YESTECH through which over five thousand (5,000) Youths had been successfully trained for self-empowerment,” he said.
According to him, with the various job schemes, there is hardly any home or family in state that has not felt the impact of government.
He added that the introduction of the Tablet of Knowledge (Opon Imo) into the education sector in the state has impacted positively on the standard of education, ranking the state among the best in the country.
He continued: “The education system had also been impacted upon such that the standard could be said to be among the best in the country.
“The major highlight in this area is the Opon Imo Technology Enhanced Learning System (O’TELS) initiative where computer tablets were distributed to senior secondary pupils in public schools in the state.  It is on record that Opon Imo has won numerous awards in Nigeria and abroad.
He identified other areas where the government has earned the praises of the citizenry as investment in road infrastructure where hundreds of kilometres of urban and rural roads had been repaired and some constructed and investment in security which has made the state of Osun to be reputed to be one of the safest states in Nigeria.
While speaking, Aregbesola said his administration has shown the path to be taken nationally if the problem of unemployment would be solved.
He noted that,‎ through the careful execution of his policy on banishment of unemployment, osun has engaged 40,000 youths in decent ventures through ‎the Osun Youth Empowerment Scheme (O’YES).
The governor also added that the state is working towards making a huge commercial success of his agricultural programmes, ranking high in the promotion of investment in agro-processing.
‎According to him, “Our initiatives in the education sector of the state drive empowerment and increase economic activities. The Osun Elementary School Feeding and Health Programme (O’MEALS) ensures that about 300,000 children are fed daily.
“The farm produce used to maintain this programme, which is sustained with N3 billion annually, are sourced from farmers in the state. About 3,000 women are employed and empowered to prepare and serve the food.
The governor said the CIBN and his administration have certain goals in common, listing the vision to diversify the economy and establishment of the state as a hub of enterprise, trade and commerce in South-West Nigeria as part of the goals.
 
“As for the Institute, it is positioning the state as a centre of professional banking education in the region”. The governor told the gathering.
He assured that his administration is committed to ensuring the security of life and property in the state, adding that in the last three and half years, it has improved the security condition in the state.
Aregbesola averred that it is not accidental that Osun today is one of the most peaceful states in Nigeria.
He said, “We will continue to consolidate this and see to it that, at all times, banks and other business areas in our state are formidably secure.
“Armed bandits and robbers who dare to test our steely security presence will never live to tell the tales of their misadventure”. The governor assured the audience.
Responding, the President/Chairman of Council of the CIBN, Dr. Segun Aina, described the opening of the zonal office as another landmark achievement in the history of the institute.
Aina expressed optimism that the opening of the office would trigger huge economic activities and commercial benefits in the state.
“I have no doubt in my mind that the opening of the CIBN South-West Zonal Office in Osogbo will bring enormous economic and social benefits to the people of Osun and surrounding states,” Aina said.
In his remarks on behalf of all traditional rulers present at the occasion, the Akinrun of Ikirun, Oba AbdulRauf Olayiwola Adedeji, said the establishment of the coordinating zonal office of the South-West in Osogbo is a great honour to the state.
Akinrun, who is also a patron of the institute said the idea of establishing the zonal office is to enhance professionalism in the practice of banking in Nigeria.
“It is a singular honour to us in the State of Osun that the activities of the institute and its branches in six states will be coordinated henceforth from here in Osogbo. This is a great honour done to us in the State of Osun,” the monarch said.

Photos showing the ‘before and after’ images of The Ojuirin, Osogbo Transformation

No fewer than Twenty Five Thousand, Two Hundred and Eighty Three (25,283) students of the Osun origin have benefited from bursary awards with a sum of N521 million.
The state government said the effort is in furtherance of its determination to ensure that education is available to all indigenes irrespective of their financial conditions.
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Mr. Lawrence Oyeniran, at the weekend, explained that a sum of N275.7 million was paid to final year students of the state origin across Nigerian tertiary institutions for the 2012/2013 academic session.
He added that a special grant to the tune of N17.3 million has also been paid to Law school students of Osun Origin in six campuses of the Nigerian Law School for the 2012/ 2013.
Oyeniran stressed that the sum of N208.6 million was paid to 20,215 final year students from 74 institutions and N18.5 billion to 185 law school students in five campuses last year.
According to him, “What the Rauf Aregbesola-led administration has done with the payment of Bursary to the students is in compliance with one of the six-point integral action plan that focuses on the provision of functional education.‎‎
“We should not forget that N2,000 used to be paid as bursary to final year students in colleges of education, N3,000 to all undergraduates and N10,000 to law students and their counterparts in colleges of medicine.
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“With the coming of Aregbesola, bursary award to student in tertiary institutions is now N10,000 flat, irrespective of the student’s course of study, while N20,000 is being paid to final year students of law and medicine and a generous review of the N10,000 to students of Nigerian law schools to N100,000”. The director noted.
The Bureau of Communications and Strategy in the Office of the Governor, while restating the administration’s commitment to the restoration of functional education, said that all the education initiatives of the administration that are being commended from far and near are aimed at producing students who are well-prepared and who can compete with any student in any part of the world.
“It is less than four years that this revolution started. The results are already showing. The surest way to change the society is to change the way people are educated. This, this government has challenged itself to achieve,” the Bureau’s Director, Mr. Semiu Okanlawon said.
He added that the many recognitions received by the state’s education policies are enough testimonials that Osun has the template for solving many of the disturbing national questions.
“For instance, the Federal Government has now realised the need to introduce the school meal programme. This is one programme that has increased school enrollments in Osun. It alleviates poverty and create jobs for local food vendors and farmers. The ripple effects are just simply tremendous,” Okanlawon added.

Photos showing the reaction of the people of Osun during the Commissioning of  ’23 Road Network for Osogbo