Global leaders met in London earlier this year to discuss how school meal programmes can improve educational outcomes and boost agricultural economies.
The meeting was co-hosted by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Agriculture & Food for Development and the Partnership for Child Development (PCD) from Imperial College London, which is working with governments to build the evidence base and provide technical assistance for the development of effective and sustainable home grown school feeding (HGSF) programmes. HGSF refers to school feeding programmes which procure their food from local smallholder farmers thereby supporting local rather than foreign markets.
In 2013, up to $75billion dollars was invested by the governments of 169 countries into school feeding programmes. It is estimated that for every $1 spent feeding school children, $3 are generated for the local economy.
Keynote speaker Rauf Aregbesola, Governor of Osun state in Nigeria, reported on the success of his state’s school meals programme, known as O’Meals, which feeds over 250,000 children every school day. The O’Meals programme provides employment to over 3,000 women and purchases food from over 1000 local farmers.
The experience of Osun tallies with that of governments from across the globe, the World Bank’s Professor Donald Bundy said. He noted that analysis from the influential book, ‘Rethinking School Feeding’ that he co-authored in 2009, had identified that countries were increasingly turning to school feeding programmes as a form of social safety net for their poorest communities. In Europe, in response to the recent recession, countries such as Spain, Portugal, France and the UK had implemented school feeding programmes as means to protect their most vulnerable members of society.
This growth in school meal coverage provides an opportunity for local agricultural economies, Professor Bundy said. “School feeding programmes provide a structured demand for agricultural produce and can, when implemented correctly, encourage wider economic development. Even crisis hit countries such as Cote D’Ivoire, Madagascar, Mali and Sudan are shifting to nationally run programmes which procure their food from local smallholder farmers.”
Speaking on behalf of the African Union’s New Partnership for Africa’s Development, Boitshepo Giyose agreed. “We’re seeing more and more sub-Saharan Africa countries adopting HGSF but they still need support to achieve this. International partners have a vital role to play in promoting cost-effective and sustainable programmes.”
Speaking at the event, PCD’s Executive Director, Dr Lesley Drake said: “Research shows that when properly designed, HGSF programmes can act as a win-win for both schoolchildren and smallholder farmers alike.
“For integrated school feeding programmes to succeed like they have in Osun, governments and development partners alike need to integrate HGSF into their policies, strategies and plans for agriculture and for education.”

Photos from the 6th Reunion Luncheon of the University Of Lagos Muslim Alumni at Eko Hotel & Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos on Sunday 20-04-2014

From left –* Vice Chancellor, University of Lagos, Professor Rahaman
Adisa Bello Presenting an Award to the Governor of the State of Osun,
Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola in Recognition of his Distinguished Efforts at
Good Governance, during the 6th Reunion Luncheon at Eko Hotel &Suites,
Victoria Island, Lagos on Sunday 20-04-2014.

Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola (middle); President
University of Lagos, Musilm Alumni (UMA), Alhaji Sikiru Lere Alimi
(left), Speaker House of Assemble Oyo State, Alhaja Monsurat Sunmonu
(2nd right) and Vice Chancellor, University of Lagos, Professor
Rahaman Adisa Bello (right), during the 6th Reunion Luncheon at Eko
Hotel &Suites, Victoria Island,Lagos on Sunday 20-04-2014.

From left -* Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola; Speaker
House of Assemble Oyo State, Alhaja Monsurat Sunmonu and Vice
Chancellor,
University of Lagos, Professor Rahaman Adisa Bello during the 6th Reunion
Luncheon at Eko Hotel &Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos on Sunday 20-04-2014.

 Osun State Governor, Rauf Aregbesola, Ondo state Governor, Olusegun Mimiko, Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi,
Osun State Governor, Rauf Aregbesola, on Friday urged Nigerians to imbibe the lessons of Easter, saying that peace and forgiveness were critical virtues in human existence.
Aregbesola, who described Easter as a period of sober reflection, enjoined Nigerians to live in peace and harmony at all times.
According to him, religious tolerance and peaceful coexistence among humans were necessary elements in the sustenance of development.
He said, “It gives me great joy to felicitate with Christians on this Easter celebration. As we rejoice in the glory of God, we must not lose sight of the teachings of the period.
“Jesus Christ came and laid his life for us. This is a demonstration of absolute love. We, as children of God, must learn to live in love and peace. We must learn to live an exemplary life. The redemption Jesus Christ made must not be lost on us.”
In his Easter message, Ondo state Governor, Olusegun Mimiko, urged Nigerians to pray for God’s intervention in the country’s battle against terror by religious extremists.
Mimiko described the terror attacks being witnessed in some parts of the country as “threatening the peace and corporate existence of the nation”. He added that peace was integral to national development.
He said, “The lesson is that we too can live a life of sacrifice for our country especially at this time when Nigeria appears to be at the crossroads in terms of the socio-economic and ethno-religious challenges besetting her.
“Beyond the eating and drinking in the course of the celebration, we should go to God in prayer to solicit His intervention against terror in the name of religion that is threatening the peace and corporate existence of the nation.”
“This counsel becomes imperative in the light of the fact that we do not have any other country to call our own.”

In a related development, Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi, also urged the people of the state to use the occasion to pray for God’s intervention in the affairs of the country.
He said that prayers were needed to bring lasting solution to the escalating cases of insurgency threatening the peace of the country.
The governor commended Christians in the state for living in harmony with other religious believers, which he attributed to the “peace being enjoyed in the state”.
In addition, Fayemi urged Christians in the state to use the period to pray for peace, development and prosperity of Ekiti as the state approached the governorship election to be held in June 2014.
Punch

This exercise is an attempt to develop a greater understanding of Nigeria at state level. As we had expected, our analysis confirms that Lagos State is Nigeria’s biggest economy, producing c. 12% of the country’s national income. Post-rebasing of GDP in 2013, we expect Lagos State economy to become Africa’s 13th biggest economy at c. $45bn – equivalent to Ghana.
Households in Nigeria’s southern states are better educated and have smaller household sizes. States that cluster around key commercial states also benefit from externalities. In the SW where Lagos State has the highest per-capita income, Oyo and Osun States also score highly.
Consumer companies are likely to find the greatest opportunities in states with greater purchasing power, as indicted by relatively high per capita income, including Lagos, the FCT Abuja, as well as Oyo, Osun in the SW and Kaduna and Nassarawa (both next to the FCT Abuja), and the Niger Delta states. We see opportunities for banks to expand services and employees into states that have a combination of high income and population densities, as that will provide the footfall required to open a bank branch. States that fit this profile are Anambra, Imo and Abia in the SE region; Akwa Ibom and Rivers in the Niger Delta region; and Osun in the SW. 
Below is the Socioeconomic profile of Nigeria’s states

Read/Download full report here Renaissance capital 36 shades of Nigeira

Reports filtered through a few days ago in all the major newspapers across the country that former Governor Orji Uzor Kalu broke with the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to endorse Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, Governor of State of Osun for a second term in office. Kalu is a respected political actor who served two terms as Abia governor between 1999 and 2007.
His visit to State of Osun coincided with two major political events in the state.
First, it was the day his political party, the PDP, conducted primary election for its governorship aspirants in the state: namely, Senator Iyiola Omisore, Senator Olasunkanmi Akinlabi a former Minister of Youth Development and Honourable Wole Oke former chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Defence. Earlier, Senator Adeleke, the first governor of Osun had withdrawn from the race with a proviso: “I don’t want the blood of my political supporters to be shared because of my governorship ambition.”
The Senator alleged that he and his supporters were thoroughly beaten by the thugs of Senator Omisore and those of the Minister of Police Affairs, Alhaji Jelili Adesiyan. “There is a likelihood of a breakdown of law and order if I participate in the primary election. Therefore, I am announcing that I will boycott tomorrow’s primary. Why should I allow somebody possessed by the devil to waste the lives of our people because I want to be a governor?
“A minister has continued to threaten that he would waste so many lives in the primary. I am boycotting the primary; I will participate when our party decides to conduct a free, fair and violence-free primary. But I will work for the success of President Goodluck Jonathan in 2015.” Senator Isiaka Adeleke has a reason to be circumspect for not letting down his guides.
The PDP candidate in Osun, Omisore has yet to explain satisfactorily to the people of Osun state and Nigerians at large, his alleged involvement in the murder of Chief Bola Ige, then Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation under former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration. If he did, it’s likely that Nigerians are not satisfied with his explanations, even though he has been exonerated by the courts.
Kalu may have been disenchanted by the PDP’s inordinate strive for bloodcurdling politics. He sees in Ogbeni a model of civil political buffer and a transformational figure whose commitment to good governance goes beyond merely gloating over a reconstructed kilometre of road by the previous administration. More so, he saw no reason to be wild about an Omisore’s candidacy.
The PDP leader, therefore endorsed Governor Aregbesola’s continuation in office, saying: “You don’t change a winning team”. He made the endorsement on Saturday, April 5, at the 15th edition of the Walk-to-Live in Ipetumodu, Osun State. Walk-to-Live is a monthly physical exercise that involves trekking of at least, eight kilometres by interested citizens of the state after which a round of various other physical exercises follow to ensure that the citizens remain physically fit and mentally alert.
The programme – in no small dimension – appears the best in closing the gap between the people and the government. Each edition of the programme sees excited citizens who cannot join the usually long and winding procession either staying in front of their houses; climbing topmost parts of their buildings to catch glimpses of the governor, movie actors and actresses and sportsmen who have become regular features of the event.
Young mothers who cannot stay at home strap their babies to their backs. Physically-challenged persons waddle their ways through the crowd to ensure they complete the ‘race’. Students, market men and women, old and the young want to be part of what they see as an engaging event that help them regain their self-confidence. It is common scene to see excited, ordinary citizens wanting to get handshakes with the governor and other top members of his administration.
Under the six-point development agenda of the state administration, which he calls “My Pact with Osun”, promotion of healthy living is one. “There can be no healthy living without constant physical exercises.” Ogbeni is always quick to remind his people each time people troop out to partake in what is appearing the biggest platform for mobilizing the people to action in the state.
Apart from other benefits now accruing from the event such as raising the political consciousness of the people, Governor Aregbesola has never failed to remind enthusiasts at the events on monthly basis that “Walk-to-live exercise was introduced because we realised that we have all forgotten the need to physically exercise ourselves. We are highly sedentary and socially wild; we must compliment this with engaging in physical exercise. Osun is promoting Walk-to-Live to ensure that we have a healthy people in a healthy state.”
This was what attracted the sport-loving former governor of Abia State to Osun that led to his endorsement of the governor of the state. He would later enthuse: “I am a statesman and PDP man. I made a promise a month ago to honour this Walk to Live event. Omisore is a personal friend of mine. Aregbesola is my friend as well. Governor Aregbesola has worked for the people of Osun. You don’t need to change a winning team. I also wish to express my support for our President, He is trying. Let’s pray for President Jonathan and let’s pray for Aregbesola.”
He would also add: “I want to thank the Governor for making today’s Walk Exercise in a way I have never done before. Governor Aregbesola has done well. I am not here on party basis. II am a bona fide member of my Party (PDP) …When someone has worked, we should learn to recognise performance in Nigeria. Governor Aregbesola has worked. There are few governors that can walk as we have walked today, without pure water being thrown at them. If what I have seen today is a test of popularity, then Aregbesola is indeed popular.”
Dr Kalu has engraved his name in gold as one individual who turned his back on inconsistent characters with moral deficits within the same political party to pitch his tent with a progressive candidate who can deliver the goods to the people – just the same way General Colin Powell broke with Republican Party to endorse Barack Obama’s presidency.
But when twinned with the partisan blindness in Nigeria political orientation, his endorsement of Aregbesola does reflect a significant shift. Kalu studiously spoke the minds of Osun citizens after several years of inelegant style of governance and outright despondency.
It’s obvious that the people have been delivered from the grip of an administration and a political party that has little or no socio-political and economic direction for them. Being permanently welded to acidic politics of bloodletting cannot change the people of Osun’s resolve to remain on the part of change. That is what Orji Kalu’s endorsement of Governor Rauf Aregbesola for continuity in office is about.
• Ikhide wrote in from Lagos, Nigeria.
THE NATION

Banking on the developmental strides in Osun State in the last four years, some Osun-based professionals will be coming together under the auspices of a non-governmental organisation, the People’s Welfare League, PWL, to hold an economic summit next week.

The summit, where stakeholders from different parts of the state and nationwide will share ideas on how to safeguard the achievements, is tagged ‘Orisun Aje 2014. It has as its theme: ‘Crux of Osun’s Developmental Masterplan: Analysing a Radical Economic Paradigm Shift’.
The summit will hold in Osogbo, the state capital, between April 29 and 30. PWL coordinator, Comrade Biodun Agboola, in a release, said the summit is expected to capture and expose to the whole world the new potentials and opportunities opening up in Osun State in the past 40 months of the Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola administration.
Agboola said: “Osun has been transformed from a backwater, agrarian state into one of Nigeria’s largest and most vibrant economies through a masterful plan that combines prudence, strategic focus and mass talent mobilisation.
NATIONAL MIRROR

Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State has described as unjustifiable, a 40 per cent reduction in the federal allocation being received by the state since July 2013.

Aregbesola spoke in Lagos on Thursday during the launching of a book, ‘Yoruba Elites and Ethnic Politics in Nigeria: Obafemi Awolowo and Corporate Agency,’ written by an associate professor at the University of California-Davies, Wale Adebanwi.
The governor said the reduction had no basis as the nation’s oil revenue did not fall, adding that “If there is anything my state does not have now, it’s money. We are managing with 40 per cent reduction in our allocation from the Federal Government.
“It is not as if I even enjoy saying I depend on the federal allocation, but the truth is that there is no magic that I would have made to suddenly taken our state out of dependence on the federal allocation.
“It is important for us to know that there is no justification for that 40 per cent reduction in our allocation. The price of crude oil has remained almost the same at $108 per barrel, and the benchmark, according to them, is $75 per barrel.”
According to the governor, the state is now being forced to source for funds outside the federal allocation in order to meet its responsibilities of paying the entitlements of civil servants and retired workers.
He said that “So we are not close to the benchmark of $75 and yet since July of last year, there is a 40 per cent reduction in our allocation. What that translates to I will tell you.
“It means I have to get N5.4bn to augment salaries and pension from July to December; N5.4bn extra, outside allocation, to ensure that since civil servants who are still active and those who have retired are paid their entitlements. What I receive from federation account is not sufficient to pay salaries.”
The governor, who represented a former governor of Lagos State and National Leader of the APC at the event, Bola Tinubu, who was the chief presenter of the book, bought copies of the new book at N5m on behalf of the Osun State and another copies for N500,000 for himself and announced N2m for the launching of the book on behalf of Tinubu.
NEWMAIL

Nigerian Juju Musician, Chief Commander Ebenezer Obey-Fabiyi presented a CD Album titled:- *Aregbesola: Agent of Change* to the Governor, State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola to Support his Re-Election Campaign in Ilesa, State of Osun on Thursday