State of Osun athletes have been rewarded for winning medals for the state at the 2012 National Sports Festival – Eko 2012. The event held at the state sports council pavilion had the medalists and their coaches getting cash reward for their performance in various sporting events.

The Deputy Governor of the State of Osun who is also the Commissioner for Education, Otunba Grace Titi-Laoye Tomori has advised parents in the state to ensure adequate training and monitoring of their children in line with the ethos of Omoluabi noting that charity begins at home.
Otunba Tomori gave this advice during an unscheduled visits to the palace of the Ogiyan of Ejigbo, Oba Omowonuola Oyeyode Oyesosin, Ejigbo Baptist High School and Nigeria Union of Teachers, (NUT) House, in Ejigbo.
Otunba Tomori, expressed happiness on seeing students back in school and the Principal of Baptist High School, Ejigbo Comrade Layi Oguntola in good condition after the crisis that rocked the school.  She said the government of the State of Osun would not condole any act of indiscipline from any student and condemned the ugly incident in its entirety as a gross act of indiscipline from the students.
She stressed that before the occurrence of the incident at Ejigbo Baptist High School, indiscipline among the students had been identified in the schools and government had put in place necessary machinery to address the situation. Otunba Tomori noted that the consequence of indiscipline, thuggery
and hooliganism will be grave if unchecked. She therefore appealed to the teachers to see the students as their children and urged them to brace up in bringing discipline back to the schools.
OSUN NEWS

Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola has again said that the reclassification of schools by his administration is not aimed at obliterating the Christian heritage or the legacies of any other group.

It was made known in the capital of the Osun State, Osogbo, on Wednesday at the opening of the 23rd state congress of the All Nigeria Confederation of Principals of Secondary Schools.
It should be mentioned that Aregbesola has been criticized, especially from the Osun State chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria, for merging male pupils and hijab-wearing pupils with those in Christian’s mission public schools.
CAN accused the governor of planning to obliterate the legacies of Christian missionaries in the state with the policy and demanded that the policy be reversed or schools be returned to their owners.
However, the governor claimed that his action was primarily aimed at addressing the decay in the education sector without any religious motive.
He said, “We merged schools not because we want to silence any group, destroy cherished legacies or to unduly favour any religious or social group above another.”
According to him, the goal of the policy is to deploy their resources evenly and justly across our public schools.
The President of ANCOPSS in Osun State, Mrs. Motunrayo Olagunju, who favoured the new policy, warned the people of the state against politicizing education.

Osun State Governor, Rauf Aregbesola, has reintegrated that the agricultural policy of the state government is aimed at fast tracking the industrial development of the state.
The governor, in an address during a courtesy call on him by the first batch of 40 Osun youth returnees from Germany in Osogbo, revealed that his government has drawn up a blueprint on the broad policy of Osun Rural Enterprise and Agriculture Programme (O’REAP).
He added that Osun, under his leadership, aims to transform its largely subsistence agriculture into big-time commercial enterprises.
Aregbesola noted that the major reason behind the training project was borne out of his administration’s belief that youth affairs form a cardinal part of his agricultural revolution programme if it is to succeed.
He stressed that the belief makes it imperative for Osun to change the view and attitude of young people towards farming as a dry and drab business fit only for old and retired folk.
According to him, “in order to encourage the youth to embrace agriculture, therefore, we have to open their eyes to the immense opportunities for wealth creation and self-actualisation that abound in the business.
“If the interest of young people is to be re awakened in agriculture, therefore, they must be introduced to modern farming technology and techniques.
“Modern technology and science have the advantage of not only opening up enormous business opportunities in agriculture, they also create a big boost in production and yield, resulting in massively increased profit and wealth for the farmer.” The governor told the gathering.
Aregbesola charged the cadets to bring to practise what they have learnt in Germany to bring food production in Osun to a phenomenal increase.
DAILY INDEPENDENT

No fewer than 147,000 children of school age have been enrolled in public elementary schools in the state of Osun this current 2013/2014 academic session.

Governor Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola made this known at the weekend in Lagos while speaking after being conferred with a Special Award as a Man Making a Difference(M.A.D) in the 2013 GAME Award for his outstanding contributions to educational development in the state.
Represented by his Deputy, Mrs. Grace Titilayo Laoye-Tomori, Governor Aregbesola said education programmes like O-Meals, O-School, O-Uniform and O-Calisthenics have positively repositioned public school education in the state which was at its lowest ebb at the inception of his administration in 2010.
The Governor said the state was ranked second state with highest number of out of school children in the federation but today stands as best in elementary school enrolment in the South West following the introduction of these education oriented programmes and increase in the state government’s investment in education.
Mr. Aregbesola, who said coming 34th among the thirty-six states of the federation in terms of federal allocation did not deter his administration from fulfilling his electioneering campaign promises to the people of the state, said actualization of his six point integral action plan have positively impacted on lives of people of the state.
Governor Aregbesola said tackling youth unemployment in the state was part of what attracted him into government and prompted him to give employment to 20,000 youths within his 100 days in office through the Osun Youths Empowerment Scheme (OYES) and other youth employment driven programmes like O’REAP, O-HUB, O-FISH among others.
The Governor thereafter called on Nigerian youths to work hard towards the actualization of their dreams and aspirations for life to positively transform the nation saying the future belongs to those who plan for it today and work hard towards the actualization of their dreams.
Presenting the award to Governor Aregbesola, Professor Pat Utomi, who commended the Governor for his people- oriented programmes, said transformation of Lagos State was not an accident but a product of logical thinking which could be traced to Governor Aregbesola’s leadership style during his time as Commissioner for Works in Lagos State between 1999 and 2007.
Describing culture as what determines future of any nation, Professor Utomi appealed to well meaning Nigerians to assist in giving education to children from poor homes as a way of giving them a better tomorrow adding that life is not all about how much money one has but about what one is able to make out of life.
In the words of another awardee, Mrs. Mo Abudu, she urged Nigerian youths to desist from losing hope in the future of the country saying Nigeria is a country endowed with avalanche of blessings and opportunities for all.
In his speech, initiator of the award, Mr. Abiola Salami, said conferment of the award on Governor Aregbesola was aimed at cultivating leadership instinct in youths and to teach them that leadership is not about position but one’s disposition for life.
INFOMISTER

Governor of the state of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola has said the present administration in the state is committed to the welfare of the people as government they say exists for the people.
He stated this today at the Banquet Hall of the Government House while playing host to members of the Osun Anglican Diocese led by Bishop James Afolabi Popoola who paid him a courtesy visit.
Governor Aregbesola ,who was responding to the thank you speech of the leader of the Osun Anglican Diocese ,said it is the duty of every responsible government to deliver basic amenities to the masses and make everyone under its watch enjoy quality leadership.
Ogbeni Aregbesola said his government is ready to maintain smooth relationship with every sector of the community in the state.
He added that the present administration in the state is also striving hard to ensure that every religious faith has free hand to operate adding that stability, peace and harmony can only exist when there is no religious sentiment or bias.
While calling for religious harmony among the various religious faiths in the state ,the Governor stated that religion will have no meaning in human affairs if it does not have harmony in relationship saying that most of the laws in all religious books are not for God but for humans so as to serve as guide to the people.
He added that civilisation demands that everyone deserves the right to be allowed to practice what ever faith noting that salvation is not a collective thing but an individual matter in which people should not handle with sentiment.
The Governor ,who spoke on the importance of putting God first in all things ,attributed the success of the present administration in the state to support of the Almighty God.
Speaking earlier, Bishop James Afolabi Popoola, had thanked the governor on behalf of the diocese for meeting the demand of the diocese which is the tarring of the major road that leads to the Bishop’s court in Isale-Aro, Osogbo.
The Diocese also felicitated with the Governor on the occasion of his third year in office and prayed for more success of the Aregbesola-led administration in the course of governance.
The clergyman also lauded the various efforts of the Ogbeni Aregbesola at ensuring religious harmony in the state stressing that it is only when there is religious harmony that there can be development .
OSUN DEFENDER

A look at governance in Osun State since the inception of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola brings home once again the essence of governance. Considering the focus and the gradual multi faceted transformation going on in that state, one is bound to conclude that the new approach/orientation brought by Aregbesola into governance throws a challenge to the mimetic that being welfarist puts impossible ‘financial burden’ on the government for which the abdication of certain responsibilities are inevitable. Needless to say that this is a challenge to the status quo of how we have come to understand governance in Nigeria.
An overview of Ogbeni’s governance will reveal the following: (a) a people-oriented programmes and policies (b) a focus on cost effectiveness and long term benefit (c) a balanced approach in the employment of societal resources where the tide of ‘private accumulation’ is stemmed by a proactive collectivism that is as effective, competitive and protective of the weak, and (d) a strive to reach the largest number of people with programmes and policies that cut across all the strata, all the divides of the society.
There is no doubt that Ogbeni intends to follow the steps of the late sage, Pa Obafemi Awolowo when he brought out his six-point integral action plan as his ‘pact’ with the people. The link between the contents of the pact shows that it goes beyond just employment of catchy words to defraud the people, when in substance such so-called programmes could be lacking. Essentially, the programmes in his ‘pact’ are integrated (related to one another which affords for leveraging), and also connects the various grades of people in the society – the young, elderly, men and women. Again, the content of the pact which is six in number shows not only the centrality of the people in the ‘thought processes’ of the programme, but also the link between peoples’ empowerment and societal growth. The ‘Action Plan’ contains basically the following: to banish poverty; to foster communal peace and progress; to promote functional education; to banish hunger; to restore healthy living and to create work and wealth.
The centrality of the people: To start with, hunger and poverty no doubt stifles rigorous thinking which militates against the germination of ideas and holds a people down. Every right thinking government ought to be concerned about how hunger and poverty are banished or reduced to the barest minimum in order to extract the full potentials in the individual. This kind of concern (unlike some bourgeoisie formulations which expects the ‘magical’ hands of a thoroughly manipulated market to ration resources, leaving the weak vulnerable) connects the various needs and potential growth areas of the society. For instance, the ‘O Meal’ ‘food-subsidy’ programme which targets around 254,000 school children for feeding on a daily basis connects farmers (of whatever size) to government’s patronage, provides an avenue for moderate income and wealth, and gradually reforms and repositions the agricultural sector of the state. Through this singular initiative the support structures and institutions needed for a thriving agricultural sector are expected to start picking up such as the agricultural boards, the River Basins, the silos, and other elements associated with agro allied industries – the forward/backward integration between the industry and agriculture that has eluded the country for long may gradually return! In this way, farmers have ‘backers’ (the government) which serves as ‘lender of last resort’ to them by ensuring that harvested crops are not allowed to waste or get sold below their value out of fear of their perishing. India recently in its bid to stamp out hunger and revive its agricultural sector floated a record $200 billion bond ‘food security.’ With such initiatives in the state of Osun, the era of ‘Agro-Dollar’ may be beckoning!
In the area of education the government not only decided to make it free and accessible but equally strives to take out some of the inherent burdens on some households which may make the assimilation of knowledge on the part of some pupil difficult; and this explains the ‘O Meal’ programme. For the secondary school students, the Opon Imo has become a programme which every serious minded government is thinking of copying as a sure way to resuscitate the fallen standard of education right from the secondary school. Students not only have all their subjects compiled in one piece, but also have access to a ‘virtual’ class room and library. The ‘tablets’ are not only cheaper and more durable than the normal books, but through it an ‘entrepreneurial’ base dedicated to providing back up services could develop. These are multiplier effects of a genuine endeavor to improve the lives of others. With the Opon Imo tablets, the state has an edge and is positioned to outclass others by the time the results would start to trickle in
Prudence: One common thing about the above stated programmes (the O Meal and the Opon Imo tablets) is their cost effectiveness, which is a product of both a rigorous way of thinking and an innate sincerity. It is the lack of these factors (rigorous/critical thinking and sincerity on the part of most leaders) that has made some people to pronounce that free education is impossible and that welfarism as a state policy is outdated. As a landlocked state with a moderate income level, the state strives to improve its most feasible resource base,  agriculture- with a target to reach 10 percent of the Lagos food market part of which was responsible for a leap in its internally generated revenue (IGR) from a meagre 300 million to a whooping 700 million naira! This explains why it was one of the first states to quickly key into the railway revamping project of the federal government by making the stopovers in the state ‘hubs’ for transporting agricultural produce to Lagos. The partnership with UNICEF in the area of agriculture also shows his ability to sense opportunities where some exist. Around 1830 rural farmers have access to farm inputs through the partnership. Besides UNICEF is a big spender on foods and grains for the numerous impoverished children around the world; a symbiosis that connects the state to the world food market may be emerging!
Accommodation: Communal peace and progress is another impressive area of Ogbeni’s administration and this was why we said that his thinking and imaginative ability challenges existing beliefs about governance. While some states in the country are thinking of obliterating the cultural/religious differences amongst their people by substituting for that a ‘stony secularism’ that bears semblance to no one, Ogbeni taught accommodation of all elements in the society based upon the principle of equal consideration. This ensures that the various socio-religious elements are provided avenues as well as resources to ventilate their conviction. If one could recall, this was once one of the things that made America a cultural ‘melting’ pot until recently when some inept leaders abandoned this principle and embarked upon a racial/religious chauvinism. For equity, justice and peace among a diverse people, a study in Ogbeni’s method is recommended!
Flexibility: With his reputation as a socialist notwithstanding, Ogbeni has demonstrated the flexibility necessary for achieving good governance through adaption of useful elements from rival ideologies, not the least because of their insufficiency. If socialism had crumbled and capitalism wobbles, he has employed a middle course which focuses on achieving results amid the prudent utilization of resources for now and the future. In line with the cautious opening up of the economy of the state, there is a partnership base for individuals to thrive even as the government plays the role of a balancer cushioning socio economic disparities that may arise. The outright employment of over 40,000 youths through the O YES programme is a direct intervention in the redistribution of state resources. As for economic drive, Osun State assumed its essential role by putting itself at the centre of development as a practical correction of the misunderstood concept of ‘private sector’ driven economy. The private sector would only be able to drive an economy that is already developed and well articulated through a roadmap that only the government can formulate if all must be protected, and if economic growth must translate to economic development which in the ultimate means getting economic gains to the largest number of people.
As Harold Laski said ‘the title of (or the entitlement) of the state to obedience lay in its performance of three functions: (a) it secured order, (b) it provided a technique of peaceful change, and (c) it enabled demands to be satisfied on the widest possible scale’. Aregbesola obviously continues to strive about how the demands of the citizens would be met far and wide; he has without reliance on the use of force secured order. Although the content of the order secured is usually a source of friction/tension in societies especially when under such ‘order’, primitive accumulation goes on by those who secure the order. Transparency and fairness has been demonstrated so far with regard to the utilization of state resources and this explains why security is not brought about by heavy security/military presence in the state, but rather by the confidence and trust which not only the government command from the people, but also one which is shared among the people themselves. As to a peaceful technique of change, the people will definitely expects a man of similar orientation when the time comes for him to leave the saddle; and if what has been achieved in the state is a reflection both of his ingenuity and the position of his party, the people may not be willing to change a winning team soon!
In the final analysis, the elements of people’s empowerment, equity and accessibility to socio economic opportunities, peaceful communal relationship, provision of support for the otherwise vulnerable ones in society and a high educational target are some of the most visible aspects of Aregbesola’s governance in Osun State that stand him out among his colleagues. A repetition of some aspects of these elements in other states of the federation would definitely move us closer to the Nigeria of our dream. We therefore salute such towering courage and believe the sky is just the beginning!
•Olumuyiwa Jimoh is a member of Lagos State House of Assembly representing Apapa 
PM NEWS

Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, his Deputy, Mrs Titi Laoye-Tomori, the Commissioner for Agriculture, Prince Wale Adedoyin and other executive members, during a reception for the first batch of  Youths of the State of Osun after their Agricultural Training in Saxony Anhalt, Germany and their parents at the Government House Osogbo on Tuesday 03/12/2013

Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola [3rd right]; his Deputy, Mrs Titi Laoye – Tomori [2nd left] Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Moshood Adeoti [2nd right]; Commissioner for Homes
Affairs, Culture and Tourism, Hon. Sikiru Ayedun [2nd left]; Commissioner for Agriculture, Prince Wale Adedoyin (left) a graduant,
Miss Khairat temitope Bello (right) and some of her 20 colleagues at the back row, during a reception for them as the first batch of 40th
Youths of the State of Osun after their Agricultural Training in Saxony Anhalt, Germany, at Government House Osogbo on Tuesday 03/12/2013.

Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola (4th right); his Deputy, Mrs Titi Laoye-Tomori [7th left]; Commissioner for
Agriculture, Prince Wale Adedoyin (4th left) and other State Executive members, during a reception for the first batch of 40th Youths of the
State of Osun after their Agricultural Training in Saxony Anhalt, Germany. With them are their parents at back row, at Government House
Osogbo on Tuesday 03/12/2013.

Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola (middle); his Deputy,
Mrs Titi Laoye-Tomori ; Commissioner for Agriculture, Prince Wale
Adedoyin (5th left); SSG, Alhaji Moshood Adeoti (6th right) and other State Executive members, during a reception for the first batch of Youths of the State of Osun after their Agricultural Training in Saxony Anhalt, Germany. With them are their parents at back row, at Government House Osogbo on Tuesday 03/12/2013