The Governor of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, has said his administration has made a huge success in re-branding Osun and making the people of the state to be productive through hard work and commitment to duty.

He said his government has succeeded in changing the people’s attitude towards hard work and productivity as being reflected in the path of prosperity the state has been trailing.
 

 
Aregbesola held that his government successfully executed meaningful infrastructure projects which could have been difficult to do now if not done at that period with loans that were granted to the state.
Governor Aregbesola made the statement while addressing the people at the ‎‎2018 National Productivity and State of Osun Merit Awards/Public Service Lecture, at Aurora Event Centre, Osogbo.
‎Aregbesola who described hard work and productivity as the bedrock of development said his administration has moved Osun from civil service state to industrial and commercial state through the promotion of hard work and productivity.
He tasked Nigerians on the need to be hardworking and see work as the only means of human survival in life.
For him, “Productivity is the ability to alter any state of matter or service, alone or in combinations into a more desirable form – product or service and the process of bringing about that alteration or the effort we put into achieving this is called work.
‎”The inescapable truth is that our productivity is very low, this is why poverty is prevalent in our land. Even in agriculture which is the main occupation in Africa, productivity has been very low.
“If we can double our food output from cultivating the same land size as we currently do, it is possible to eliminate hunger from the land, but this will require innovation in crop science, agriculture mechanisation, improved inputs and agriculture entrepreneurship.
“We should however develop a template for measuring productivity in the public sector, both corporately and individually. For an organisation, we should be able to measure productivity by relating corporate objectives with the resources deployed.
“For an individual, productivity should be measured by the inputs of salaries, infrastructure and tools available and other emoluments received in light of set goals and job description. ‎
“So, to overcome our plethora of challenges as a people, as a state and as a nation, we must engage in productive activities to satisfy our needs while ensuring that we do not jeopardize the interest of the future generations to come”, Aregbesola added.
In his goodwill message, a foremost international labour leader and Chairman Osun Revenue Apportionment Committee, Comrade Hassan Sunmonu, lauded Governor Aregbesola for always exhibiting rare commitment and high sense of sensitivity to workers’ needs since assumption of office.‎
He said the state government under the leadership of Governor Aregbesola has remained committed to the general well being of the entire workforce in the state.
Sunmonu however commended the workers in the state for being cooperative and collaborative to the state regardless of the present economic realities.
According to him, “the Aregbesola’s administration has shown extra-ordinary leadership quality in the management of the state resources for the betterment of all, particularly the workers in the state.
“Even at a time the state was battling with economic doldrums, Osun government remained dogged and resilient in the financial management of the state’s resources coupled with the needs of the workforce in terms of prompt salary and emoluments‎ payment to both active and passive workers.
“Osun government has demonstrated high sense of commitment to the welfare of workers to the extent that no worker was neither retrenched nor relieved from service even at a time the state was experiencing economic hardship.
“As the Chairman of Revenue Apportionment Committee, a committee set up by the state government to oversee the entire revenue coming to the state on monthly basis, we have been successfully managing salary payment since the committee was constituted.
“We resolved at the modulated salary at a time the state found it extremely difficult to pay full salary and we thank God that we are improving on‎ this because the state took the decision at a right time to the extent that many states came to learn and understudy how Osun managed her workers in terms of salary and pension payment at economic challenging periods’, he added.
Earlier in his welcome address, the Head of Service in the state, Festus Oyebade Olowogboyega, lauded the administration of Governor Aregbesola for prioritizing the general well being of workers in the state.
He lauded the state government for promoting productivity, diligence, steadfastness and wealth creation in public and private sectors in the state.
Olowogboyega expressed gratitude on the state’s determination at raising the bar of good governance with positive rewards on the lives of workers, saying Osun has become a model in the civil and public service management since the inception of the present administration.
The number one civil servant in the state thanked Governor Aregbesola for always showing heart of love and care to the plights of workers in the state, which has made Osun workers to be the most efficient in the country.
‎Some of the awardees includes: the former Governor of the state, Chief Adebisi Akande (Most Outstanding Politician); Osun Deputy Governor, Iyaafin Titilayo Laoye Tomori (Most Loyal Deputy Governor); Speaker Osun House of Assembly, Hon. Najeem Folasayo Salam (Award of Excellence in Effective Parliamentary Practice); Osun Chief Judge, Justice Adepele Ojo (Award of Excellence in Administration of Justice); General Overseer Redeemed Church of God (Father of the State); Akinrun of Ikirun, Oba Rauf Olayiwola Adedeji (Most Distinguished Traditional Ruler).
Others include: Chairman Osun State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress, Prince Gboyega Famodun (Outstanding Party Administrator); Acting Secretary to the Osun State Government, Sen. Mudashir Hussain (Award of Excellence in Humility), Commandante, Osun Youth Empowerment Scheme (OYES), Colonel Enibukun Oyewola (rtd) (Award of Excellence for Youth Creativity and Engagement) among others.

The Governor of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, has on Monday predicted a brighter future for the state.

Aregbesola hinged the future rosy future prediction on the fact that his administration has laid a solid infrastructural foundation upon which the future of this state could be erected.
 

 
The Governor gave this assurance in his address to the people of the state on the occasion of the anniversary of the state creation.
Osun was created in 1991 from the parent Oyo State.
Aregbesola said his administration has laid the foundation for prosperity and enduring development in eight years.
According to him, his government has also reawakened in the people of the state the Omoluabi consciousness, which he described as an infrastructure of the mind that prepares people for greatness through hard work and goodly disposition to fellow humans
Aregbesola said eight years under his watch, the economy of Osun received a huge boost.
However, the governor, sounding optimistic, noted that the best is yet to come for the state, adding that the path before Osun and its people is very bright like the northern star.
The Governor also reiterated the importance of education, one of the cardinal programmes of his administration, as central to growth, development and the path to greatness.
“The path to greatness remains a good and qualitative education. We must all strive to provide it for our children and those in need of it around us. We must remain creative and use our God-given talent to solve problems around us. We must all work hard and love and have peaceful disposition towards our neighbours.
“In our own way, we have contributed significantly to the growth and development of Osun and in spite of the daunting financial challenges we faced in the second term of our administration, we are leaving Osun far better than we met it.
“Osun has recorded political, economic and physical development in the last eight years, more than at any point in its history. From the 30 local government areas and one area office, Osun now boasts of additional 31 Local Council Development Areas, three Area Councils and two Administrative Offices.
“Elections were conducted into them under the parliamentary system of government and the councils have since been inaugurated and are providing democratic governance to our people at the local level.
“Under our watch, the economy of Osun has received a big boost. We engaged over 40,000 youths in social work, empowered more than 150,000 artisans and traders with more than N20 billion soft and interest free loans.
“We have transformed education with reforms in all areas which include the building of brand new 21 Elementary Schools with 531 classrooms; 30 Middle Schools with 770 classrooms; and 11 High Schools with 792 classrooms, in addition to refurbishing old ones. The fortunes of secondary school leavers who wrote external examinations have improved tremendously under our watch. From the 15 per cent matriculable pass archived in WAEC by the administration before us, the figure has shot to 54 per cent under our administration,” he said.
Aregbesola stated that his government provided security for our people, took care of the aged in a way that has never been done before.
He noted that with constructions of intra and inter-states roads as well as rural roads within the state, Osun has been opened up and every nooks and crannies are now accessible with little efforts.
He also disclosed that his administration’s emphasis on sanitation and healthy environment has left the state clean and neat than it was eight years ago.
He called on the people of the state to vote the candidate of All Progressive Congress in the governorship election on 22nd September so as to guarantee continuity of the progress and achievement recorded in the past eight years.
The Governor continued: “More importantly, we have transformed the physical environment of Osun. We did this through the construction of more than 2,000 kilometres of roads, including 10 kilometres in each local government area. We have taken care of the environment and curbed flooding. Osun, particularly the capital city, Osogbo, is neater and more beautiful than we met it.
“On September 22, less than a month from now, there will be Governorship election, preparatory to our disengagement. It is a historic point in the annals of Osun.
“I can only implore you to build on the foundation we have laid by ushering in a progressive government that have served you these past eight years by way of continuity.
“We should display the Omoluabi ethos during the election, conduct ourselves peacefully, avoid violence and manipulation of the electoral process and think of what is best for the state, all our people, our children and the future of our state.
“I must thank and express my deepest appreciation to all those who have taken this state to where it is, beginning from all former administrators in the state – military and civilians – and the pioneer civil servants.”

The Commandante of Osun Youth Empowerment Scheme (O’YES), Colonel Enibunkun Oyewole Rtd, has stated that the State Government of Osun under the leadership of Governor Rauf Aregbesola has changed the lives of thousands of youths in the state through the scheme.
 
 

 
Oyewole said this during a media chat with newsmen in his office in Osogbo on Thursday.
The O’YES Commandante noted that the scheme has helped the state to manage unemployment rate to a considerable manner, adding that the National Bureau of Statistics, in its publication rated Osun State to have the least unemployment rate.
Oyewole who stated that many O’YES cadets have been sent abroad for training in various skill acquisitions, noted that a sum of 3.6 billion naira is expended on the scheme annually.
He explained that the success of the programme attracted the attention of the World Bank, which studied it and certified it to be a viable and sustainable solution to the problem of youth unemployment in Nigeria and consequently recommended it to the Federal Government and other states in the country.
The result, the Commandante said, is the Youth Employment and Social Support Operation (YESSO) and N-Power programme that was launched in Abuja, adding that about 23 states have sent delegates to the state to understudied the programme.
He said the scheme was established in 2010 out of the precarious effects of unemployment in the state while describing it as one the greatest achievements of Aregbesola in office.
“OYES was introduced to effect and affect life by putting an end to unemployment in the state. The youth have had a better life approach and positive attitudes through the job.
“Some of my cadets are landlords who have built their houses through the money earned from the scheme and over 22,000 indigenes of the state are in OYES in all the geographical zone.”
He also noted that over 42,000 youth have benefitted from the scheme, adding that peace, calm and good behavior have been restored in the lives of jobless youth who doesn’t have any job doing and has also served as additional multiple sources of income to those who are into business and other job in the state.
“The scheme has not just taken its roots, it has empowered over 40,000 youths with life changing skills top become better citizens.
“From their rustic pedestrian living, the volunteers have broken free from poverty to become employers of labour.
“With savings from their monthly stipend of ten thousand Naira (N10,000.00) per month per volunteer, it was shocking to discover how they have turned their meagre income into small and cottage scale business concerns with further assistance from their relations.”
“Osun Youth Empowerment Scheme (O’YES) cadets which is a revolving volunteer scheme designed to eliminate the frustration and paralysing effect of high and seemingly intractable youth unemployment pervasive in the state and country at large.
“It aims at equipping as many young men and women with positive work ethics and culture, self sustenance, resourcefulness and respect for the environment. It is designed to develop youths with character and competence.”
He however directed those who applied for OYES to go and check their names online, saying the portal had been opened and that the list of qualified applicant has been released.
The Commandante said training will starts in all the local government areas of Osun State on Monday for those whose name is among the successful applicant that came out.
He therefore thanked Governor Aregbesola for creating the scheme to butter the bread of Youths in the state.

Against the build-up to September 22 governorship poll in Osun, Governor Rauf Aregbesola, on Monday cautioned members of the National Youth Service (NYSC), serving in the state against being used by desperate politicians to perpetrate electoral fraud or any form of malpractice.

Aregbesola handed down the warning during the closing ceremony/terminal parade of the orientation course for the 2018 Batch B corps members, at the NYSC permanent orientation camp in Ede, Osun.

He emphasised the need for the corps members not to succumb to monetary inducement from some politicians, who may want to seek favours, capable of eroding the sanctity of the election, stressing that it was imperative for the NYSC members to maintain the oath of neutrality throughout the election exercise.

According to Aregbesola, “you all have been rightly informed during the swearing-in ceremony of your role in the forthcoming election in the state.
Ensure to abide by the advice which came to you through seasoned officers of the scheme and its collaborating agencies when you are called upon for participation in the election process in the course of your service year.

The African Union Economic, Social and Cultural Council says Osun State Governor,  Rauf Aregbesola,  has justified the essence of governance with the level of infrastructural developments witnessed by the state in the last seven and a half years that he has been in the saddle.
 

 
According to the AU-ECOSOCC, Aregbesola’s efforts in terms of infrastructure development cut across roads, schools, hospitals, security, agriculture and other social intervention programmes.

For his effort, AU-ECOSOCC gave Aregbesola an “award of excellence in good governance and physical infrastructural, capital and human developments” in Osun State.
The governor’s Media Adviser, Sola Fasure, quoted the AU-ECOSOCC Representative in Nigeria, Dr Tunji  Asaolu, as commending his principal on Saturday when he paid a courtesy visit to the governor.
The visit, Fasure explained, came after the AU-ECOSOCC completed a three-day Agenda 2063 Advocacy Project Inspection Tour of Osun.
Asaolu visited Aregbesola in company with the AU-ECOSOCC Head of Secretariat in Nigeria, Ambassador Chinwe Maduke; the Ambassador of Antigua Barbuda in Nigeria, Wallace Williams; and AU-ECOSOCC attaché, Mrs Kamsi Onyeuche.

Governor, State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola has approved the recruitment of another batch of cadets for the year 2018-2020 in the Osun Youth Empowerment Scheme (OYES).
 

 
The announcement was confirmed on the official twitter handle of the OYES @OYESHQ on Tuesday.
It said the recruitment portal will open tomorrow, Wednesday 8th August, 2018.
The new recruitment will see another batch of 20,000 Youths enlisted into the scheme which has so far taken off the streets 62, 000 unemployed Youths of the state.
Since inception in 2011, the scheme has opened doors of opportunities for cadets as they have recorded successes in all sectors of the economy.
Its components like OYESTECH, O’AMBULANCE, Traffic Marshals, Green Marshals and many more have provided platforms for those engaged to find veritable platforms to become business owners, professionals and job creators at respective levels.

Governor Rauf Aregbesola has been honoured with the Spirit of Emancipation Award of Excellence in Trinidad and Tobago by his host country’s Emancipation Support Committee.
The event held at the Lidj Yasu Omowale Village in Port of Spain, the capital city.
 

 
Aregbesola was accompanied by his wife, Alhaja Sherifat Aregbesola, and top government officials, including the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Dr Ajibola Bashiru; Commissioner for Home Affairs, Dr Obawale Adebisi; the Special Adviser on Culture and Tourism, Mrs Taiwo Oluga; the Director General in the Office of Economic Development and Partnership (OEDP), Dr Charles Akinola and the Chairman of Osun State Tourism Board, Bimbola Daniyan.
Presenting the award to the governor, the Chair of the Emancipation Support Committee of Trinidad and Tobago, Mr Khafra Kambon, hailed Aregbesola for his commitment to the emancipation of the Black race in the tradition of the great pan-Africanists.

He thanked him for attending the Emancipation Day celebration and for identifying with the people of Trinidad and Tobago and the Caribbeans.
Kambon said: “We have decided to honour our brother, His Excellency Rauf Aregbesola, for his commitment to the emancipation of all black people in the rich tradition of the great pan-Africanists, like Dr Kwame Nkrumah, George Padmore, W. E. B. du Boise, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe and others.
“We feel honoured for him to have attended this year’s Emancipation Day with a delegation from Osun State. We have, therefore, decided to honour him with this award, not just from Trinidad and Tobago, but also on behalf of all the people of the Caribbean.”
Aregbesola urged his hosts to carry on the torch of the emancipation of Black people so that the struggles of the past would not be in vain.
He said: “I feel at home, with my brethren here in Trinidad and Tobago. I can see that all black people are one. I share your aspirations and struggles and I urge you not to rest on your oars until there is freedom for all black people wherever they are found.
“I thank the Emancipation Support Committee and especially my brother, Khafra Kambon, for the honour done to me today. This award will spur me to greater commitment to fight for the freedom and emancipation of all black people.

“I look forward to greater cooperation between our two nations – economically, socially, culturally and spiritually. If the blacks in Diaspora are successful, it will lift the blacks on the continent. By the same token, if the blacks on the continent are poor and downtrodden, it will negatively affect the status of Diaspora blacks.
“I have had a good time here. My greatest joy is being able to connect socially, culturally and spiritually with our people. I will, therefore, take with me the happy and joyous memory of my stay in Trinidad and Tobago and the warmth of its people.”