The State of Osun House of Assembly has said that it would continue to focus on its primary assignment, with a view to delivering on its legislative mandate within the remaining period of the current Assembly.
 

 
The speaker of the state parliament, Dr. Najeem Salaam made the remark on Monday while presiding over the plenary of the Assembly at the state House of Assembly complex Osogbo.
At the plenary presided over by the speaker, two items were deliberated upon as contained in the order paper for the day.
The first was the State of Osun Asset Management Agency Establishment Bill 2018 on which the House dissolved into the committee of the whole for further consideration.
Clauses 10-17 of the Bill were debated as the lawmakers engaged in deliberations with expresion of varied opinion while the Clauses were subjected to scrutiny.
The outcome was later reported as corrections and amendments made at the committee level were read out with unanimous decision on what was agreed upon to form part of the Bill.
However, the other item was the report of findings of the House committee on Judiciary, Human right, Justice Public Petition and Legal matters on administration of criminal Justice Bill 2018.
The report as submitted by the committee chairman Hon. Osuolale Bello from Ifelodun State constituency was debated on the floor after which the House suspended further deliberation pending the time the model used by the committee would be made available.
Addressing the plenary, the Speaker commended the committee for a job well done. He stressed the need to move faster in the business of the legislation and stating that the Assembly would focus on its primary assignment assuring that the parliament would delivered on its mandate to the good people of the state.
The speaker, Dr. Salaam also expressed His gratitude to those who keep faith with him during the just concluded All Progressives Congress Governorship Primary Election in the state.
According to him, “my gratitude goes to you all for keeping faith with our bond as one people with common destiny in the last few years, three years to be precise in the life of this Sixth Assembly. I am most grateful to God that makes our relationship uniquely defined”.
He appreciated those who stood by him while the battle lasted, while also thanked those who expressed their democratic right differently.
He then urged his colleagues to focus on their primary assignment to whom they are elected to do and be diligent in their legislative business.
He said “I will like to say that this parliament must strive to deliver on its mandate because in the next few months, this assembly would be winding up and posterity will surely judge us, using our productivity and delivery”.
He advised the parliament to set their binocular lens to all areas of their oversight functions and set up feedback mechanism on laws they have pass and structures they had consented to with a view to ensuring that their labour is not in vain.

Local Government workers in the State of Osun have been charged to reciprocate the good gesture of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola-led administration in the state sequel to the unconditional approval of outstanding promotion and conversion exercises.
 

 
The Chairman, Local Government Service Commission gave the charge recently through the Coordinating Director of the commission, Lekan Babalola while presenting Promotion letters to officers in various departments of the Local Government councils.
According to him, the governor deserves commendations on this giant stride particularly on the welfare of workers, tasking the council workers in the state to understand the plight of the government, as the government is committed and sincere to pay all backlog of salary and pension arrears.
Barrister Babalola who was accompanied by some principal officers of the commission, including, Mrs M.O Irelewuyi, Director of Promotion, Appointment and Discipline and Alhaji Buraimoh, Director of Finance and Establishment assured the council workers a hitch free conversion exercise as experienced during the just concluded promotion exercise.
He added that those who sat for ASCON last January would also have the opportunity to attend the exercise.
Reacting, the Nigeria Labour Congress Chairman, Comrade Jacob Adekomi who is also a Local Government worker, while receiving his promotion letters appreciates the Governor of the state and the management team of the commission for the gesture.
While charging the staffers, Engineer Jacob Adeyeye, the State President of Nigerian Union of Local Government Employees in the state pleaded for more commitments to duties by council workers, saying indolence must not be tolerated in any form in the service.
Also, the beneficiaries of the exercise pleaded with the state Government to backup the promotion with the necessary finances it deserves in time so as to cushion the effects of the current economic hardship.

The State of Osun Commissioner for Education, Mr. Wasiu Omotunde-Young, has said the performance of pupils in the West African Senior School Certificate Examination has improved by 284 per cent.
Omotunde-Young said this at a press conference in Osogbo on Thursday.

He said the state recorded just 15.68 per cent in WASSCE in 2010 just before Governor Rauf Aregbesola assumed office but said the state achieved this feat through the deliberate efforts of his administration to reposition the education sector.
 
 

 
He stated that the administration attached so much importance to the sector while stressing that this was why the administration embarked on massive infrastructural  development in schools across the state and to also reinvigorate the school feeding programme.
He said, “To ensure truth is told and records are straightened for all to know, so that the public will no longer be misled, the Ministry of Education applied to the West Africa Examination Council to officially furnish us with performance results from 2006-2017 in the West African Senior School Certificate Examination.
“The results, official from WAEC , show that the best performance by students in Osun for those with five credits including English and Mathematics in the West African Senior School Certificate Examination in the five years before Aregbesola was 15.68 per cent.
“With the focussed, deliberate and purposeful intervention of the Government led by Aregbesola in the Education Sector, the State has achieved 284 per cent  improvement in the performance of students in same examinations from 15.68 per cent in 2010 to 44.47 per cent  in 2017 examinations.
“Not good enough yet, but it is a pointer to a better future based on the foundation laid by Aregbesola which should beallowed to germinate to fruition with continuity, by those who share his vision.”
The commissioner said that Aregbesola was working to ensure that the sector in the state produced educated persons who were honest, courageous and rational. Such, he said, must be fluent in their mother tongue and at least one international language.
The Aregbesola administration, he said, set up Quality  Assurance  and the Morality  Enforcement  Agency and deployed education marshals which he added had led to a substantial reduction in moral decadence and indiscipline  among pupils.

Governor of the State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, has described the death of the Chairman of Punch Nigeria Limited, Mr. Gbadebowale Aboderin, as shocking and very sad.
In a statement by his Media Adviser, Mr. Sola Fasure, Aregbesola said the late Aboderin exited at a time he was most needed in the media and sport sectors.

 

 
The governor noted that while alive, the deceased was a pillar of sports, particularly basketball, on which he devoted time and invaluable resources.
Aregbesola stated that with the little time he spent in the media industry, he proved himself a shrewd businessman, who left indelible footprints on the sands of time.
The statement read in part, “I received with shock and utmost sadness the news of the death of Mr. Wale Aboderin, the Chairman of the Punch Nigeria Limited. To say that the news of his death was sad and devastating is an understatement. It sounded like a dream but the reality of the story jolted me back to the obvious — death, the necessary end of every creature.
“The deceased was a nice, quite unassuming and easy-going gentleman when alive. His enthusiasm was infectious. He was a man of deep conviction of his Christian faith but tolerant of others and never imposing.”
Recalling his time with the Aboderin, Aregbesola said, “The last time we were together, he was vivacious, humorous and full of life. He gave no indication of death or any health challenge that should give cause for concern. Being a scion of the illustrious Aboderin family of Ibadan, he certainly lived an exemplary life worthy of emulation. He contributed in no mean way to national development through the media, sports and youth development. He paid his dues.
“On behalf of my family, the government and good people of Osun, I commiserate with Wale’s immediate family, the entire Aboderin family and Punch newspaper on his departure. May the Almighty God give them the fortitude to bear this huge loss,” Aregbesola said.