The Commissioner for Education (State of Osun), Mr. Kola Omotunde-Young has called on parents and guardians especially in rural areas to desist from the habit of sending their children to markets and farms during school
hours.

He said parents who refuse to comply with the advice will be made to face the full wrath of the law which includes imprisonment, as it is
an offence punishable under the law to deny students education.
The Commissioner stated this during a recent inspection visit to some schools across the state in a bid to boost teaching and learning
activities.
He said absentee students will definitely not be aware of what is taught in schools thereby leading to their poor academic performance.
The Education Commissioner also enjoined parents and guardians to provide textbooks, notebooks and required learning materials to their children in support of government’s efforts and as part of their responsibilities to their wards.
He reminded parents and guardians of the need to see the education of their children as onerous task which must be done in collaboration
with the government, stressing that their future can be guaranteed through proper education of their children.
He noted that the quality of teaching and learning is judged by the ability of pupils to read, write legibly and understand. He encouraged
teachers to do more and ensure that the children put under their care can read, write well and understand. He said it is because of the
pupils that all who work in the Ministry of Education and schools are engaged and that henceforth teachers and Education Administrators
shall be appraised based on the performance of their pupils and students
The Commissioner also charged Principals and teachers of schools in the state to ensure that teaching and learning take place in decent
and clean environments and stressed that the government of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola is determined to lay a solid foundation for functional education in Osun.
Some of the schools visited are St. Richards Elementary/Middle School, Gbongan Olufi Government Middle School, Baptist Day Elementary and Middle School, Mojapa, Gbongan.
Others are St. James Elementary and Middle School, Lagbaka, Gbongan and Gbongan-Odeomu Unity High School.

Lack of educational law in the curriculum of teachers’ education has been identified as a knowledge gap in Nigerian education.

This observation was made by the State of Osun Head of Service, Dr. Olowogboyega Oyebade while receiving the Provost of his alma mater, Adeyemi College of Education, Professor Olukoya Ogen along with the national officers and State alumni members of the school.
While attributing the myriad of abuses in Nigerian Schools to took of knowledge on the basics of law, Dr. Ojebade submitted that when teachers are acquainted with educational law, they would be refined and become teachers.
He then admonished the authorities of Adeyemi College of Education to introduce it into its’ curriculum, explaining that it will make their programme enriching and promote the School as a model to other Colleges and Universities.
The Head of Service also called on the Federal Government to remove all legislative and legal hindrances in the way of turning the College to a full –fledged university, affirming that it is eminently qualified to be so, being one of the celebrated pioneers of good education in Nigeria.
Earlier in his congratulatory message to the new Head of Service, the Provost of Adeyemi College of Education, who was represented by his Deputy, Dr. Samuel Akintunde had described him as a beacon of light to the School, expressing the confidence that he would provide exemplary leadership.
The Provost, who later presented a congratulatory letter to Dr. Oyebade on behalf of the management Staff and students of the school, also gave a book and customised clothes.
The National Public Relations Officer of the Association, Mr. Yemi Olugbamigbe, who described Dr. Oyebade as a good ambassador of the College, also appreciated his dedication to service, commitment to self development and versatility which, he observed, had made room for him. He also presented a giant photograph of the Head of Service of him as gift from the national body of the association.
Also speaking, the State Chairman of the Alumni Association, Mr. Abiodun Oyemakinde, who described the new Head of Service appointment’s as well deserved solicited his support for active leadership participation not only at the state level of the Alumni but also at the executive committee of the association.

The State of Osun will in no distant time be free from the scourge of illegal mining. This is because efforts geared towards eradicating the menace that costs both government and the public is by the day yielding positive results.
 

 

Findings reveal that the government with several interventions has restored sanity into the process of exploring mineral resources in the state, curbed environmental degradation and importantly increase the state’s Internally Generated Revenue.
In the new initiative revealed over the weekend, the state government of Osun through Chams Plc, a leading technology company said it has taken biometric details of over 5,000 artisanal miners in several mining communities across the state.
The Osun government said with about 5,000 miners now registered biometrically with the state, adequate security can now be guaranteed around mining host communities.
According to the government, the registration, though continuous, has given the state adequate database structure that will create opportunities for artisanal miners, saying with the database, Government will organize the artisanal miners into Cooperatives for empowerment.
Speaking to journalists, some residents of the State lauded government for the initiative in curbing the activities of illegal miners which causes havoc to the environment.
They held that the new procedure will make government’s mining inspectors to be of immense help to the miners as well as the communities involved to ensure both parties benefit from the process.
In the past years, the sector has experienced all sort of uncoordinated activities as many illegal miners operate without government regulation.
This was why government employed services of mining expert with the aim of bringing sanity into the sector believed to have been neglected.
Speaking with newsmen, Special Adviser to the Governor on Forestry, Natural and Mineral Resources, Mr. Babatunde Ajilore, flanked by the Project Manager, Dr Abiodun Oladipo said that the government had painstakingly restored orderliness and put in place proper regulatory measure to curb illegal mining in the state.
He said government’s effort to know those behind mining activities in the state was borne out of its determination to protect lives and property of the residents against environmental degradation and as well raise revenue bar of the state.
“The governor initiative on precious stones which gold is one of them started in May, 2017 and it is targeted at organising the activities of the miners. There has been a lot of chaos regarding environmental degradation and a lot of security concerns but we have painstakingly taken rigorous actions to curb lawlessness.
“We are able to identify the dealers, agents and labourers. All our approaches are done in a sustainable manner so that the environment is protected and future generation can benefit from the legacy,” Ajilore said.
“We have met with the agents who are numerous in number because there are reports that many of these people come from West African nations to mine the gold.
He noted that the State has written to the federal government to create a synergy and invoke the mining Act 2017, to foster better understanding between local, state and federal governments.
“We have gotten the approval from the federal government to enact this and the State of Osun governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola has inaugurated the committee which is called Mineral Resources Management Committee (MIREMCO).
The committee comprises of the Federal mining officer, representative of Federal Ministry of Environment and other major stakeholders in the state.

The state of Osun House of Assembly has directed the Management of Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) to restore power to parts of Osogbo, Olorunda as well as Egbedore Local Government which have been in darkness for over a month to revive business activities in the affected areas.
The directive was given during a house session with the management of IBEDC and affected communities at the floor of Assembly complex in Osogbo.
Speaker State of Osun House of Assembly,  Honourable Najeem Salaam,  frowned at the service of IBEDC Osogbo which he said has wrecked havoc on the peoples’ welfare.
He lamented the power outage in some places which encourages crimes in the affected communities in the state.
It would be recalled that the State House of Assembly had last week directed the management Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) to appear before it to defend their position in respect of the blackout in some part of Osogbo, Olorunda and Egbedore local governments in the state respectively.
According to the speaker “we remain the voice of voiceless, if House of Assembly cannot do this for the people who else can do it.
We want our people to live safely and comfortable and we cannot fold our arms for electricity users to suffer”, he added.
He charged the security agencies in the State to put adequate measures in place to secure the entire hide outs in the state for the safety of dwellers of the communities.
In their separate remarks, the lawmakers lamented series of difficulties encountered by their constituencies from IBEDC services.
They all alleged that the company services were nothing to write about describing the company’s attitude as “taking the communities for granted.”
The parliamentarian also charged the IBEDC management to make sure electricity is restored to the affected communities in the state within three weeks to enhance commercial activities.
Also, the lawmakers advised the IBEDC to work on weak transmission cable across the state to guarantee uninterrupted power supply.
Meanwhile, in their responses, the company’s Regional Technical Manager, Engr. Salami Waheed and Business Manager Engr. Ogunleye Kazeem appealed to the whole House and numerous customers affected by the blackout claiming that the situation was beyond their control.
According to the officials, the epileptic power supply was as a result of overloading of feeders and weak transmission conductors.
According to them, “It is not our intention to put people in darkness for long”.

Information Officers in the State of Osun have been urged to strive and develop themselves intellectually and be abreast of happenings
around them in order to be relevant and justify government investments in them.

 
 
This admonition was given today by the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Ministry of Information and Strategy, State of Osun, Mr. Adelani Baderinwa while declaring open a training programme organised by the Ministry for Information Officers, Sound, Graphic Artists and Photo Journalists in the Ministry.
The Commissioner said that because the Ministry is saddled with the responsibility of information dissemination in the form of publicity,
mass orientation, projection and promotion of government activities as well as agenda setting, the Information Officers have to be up and
doing by developing themselves physically and intellectually to perform these duties creditably well.
The Commissioner informed the participants that, the training programme was as a result of Governor Aregbesola’s determination to
enhance capacity building, human development and efficiency in service delivery in all the agencies of government in the State through
constant training and retraining of the staff.
He therefore enjoined the trainees to avail themselves the opportunity of the programme to further develop themselves in information
gathering and dissemination to encourage the government.
Earlier in his goodwill message, the Head of Service, Dr. Olowogboyega Oyebade had advised the trainees to realise their importance as the mouthpiece of government by projecting and propagating government activities without blemish.
He said that for the trainees to perform this role without errors, they should develop themselves to face the challenges that modern day
technological development may bring, part of which the training will expose them to.
Dr. Olowogboyega enjoined the trainees to avoid unnecessary criticisms, be selective perceptionally especially about government
activities, avoid being loquacious and be self-conscious always to protect their integrity as the image makers of government.
The Head of Service wrapped up his goodwill message by informing all workers in the State to avoid all forms of social malaise, be
punctual, resourceful and dedicated to their work as rewards await those who excel in their beats.
In her address of welcome, the Coordinating Director of the Ministry, Mrs Femi Webster- Esho thanked Governor Aregbesola for approving and making sure that, the training programme takes place noting that, it had been a long time since such training took place in the Ministry.

In an attempt to assist the Government on Educational sector, the Agency for Community and Social Development Project (CSDP) is set to increase its effort in Educational sector through rehabilitation of school buildings in rural communities in the State of Osun.
The General Manager, Osun Agency for Community and Social Development Project (CSDP), Mrs. Funmi Abokede gave this hint on Thursday during a day sensitisation workshop for the Education Secretaries and Heads of Planning Department in 15 local Government Areas that are currently addressed under poverty survey report of the state of Osun held at Osun CSDP conference Hall, Old Governor’s office, Osogbo.
Mrs. Abokede who was represented by the Monitoring and Evaluation Manager of the Agency, Mr. Bashir Adeyemo lauded the state government for prompt approval and release of the yearly government counterpart contribution for the education sector.
She added that the Governor of the state, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola has directed the Agency to increase its intervention in school buildings in rural communities that need rehabilitation.
According to her, “the CSDP is designed to support the development, appraisal, coordination, implementation, supervision and evaluation of group and community based plans and the provision of financial grants there of”.
“The overall goal of the community and social development project is to improve access to services for human development in the rural Areas” she added.
In his goodwill message, the operations Manager, Osun CSDP, Mr. Felix Akinwande appreciated the Education Secretaries and Planning Officers for the importance attached to the workshop and for the cooperation they all displayed.
He said that Osun adopted CSDP because of the benefits involved and urged community to rise for the challenges of education interventions.
According to him, “Osun CSDP needs to come in because government cannot provide everything for its people”.
The Project Officers of Osun CSDP, Mrs. Aduke Obelawo added that the meeting was a fall out of directive from the Governor of Osun on education intervention in the state and she urged the participants to make good use of the meeting for education development.
However, the Chairman Forum of Education Secretaries, Pastor Moses Olu Adewale from Ila-Orangun who spoke on behalf of the participants appreciated Governor Aregbesola for all his efforts to develop the State particularly the education sector.
According to him, stakeholders in the education sector pledged to work with the government to ensure the development of education in the state and made it known that after the intervention of Osun CSDP, education would be made more attractive to school children in their various domains.
Amongst the participant local governments were Ejigbo, Ila, Olorunda, Ife-North, Boluwaduro, Atakumosa East, Odo-Otin, Atakumosa West.