The Osun Government in collaboration with the African Nations Development Programme has concluded arrangements to build 5,000 housing units of two-bedroom  bungalows  in five major towns  in the state to support the efforts of the present administration  of President Muhammadu Buhari.
 

 
 
This is contained in a statement made available to our correspondent in Osogbo on Friday by the media officer of the Osun State Ministry of Lands and Physical Planning, Olusola Adepoju.
Governor  Rauf Aregbesola was quoted to have said  this during the visit of the representatives of the ANDP to him in Osogbo .
The governor, who was represented by the Commissioner for Lands and Physical Planning, Mr. Akintunde Akinajo, said that about 400 hectares of land had been provided for the housing project and other infrastructures in the five towns.

He said the housing units would be built in Ede, Iwo, Ikirun, Ilesa and Ila-Orangun, stressing that  the state government had held  series of meetings with traditional rulers and other relevant groups in the five towns in a bid to carry all stakeholders along in the project.
He noted that all  the required documentations had been communicated to the ANDP on the selected sites.
While appreciating the ANDP for choosing Osun for the development project, the governor  assured the group of his total support.
He said the current administration in the state had invested so much in the development of infrastructure and others, saying this had created a framework upon which development could be built.
The Country Director of the ANDP, Mr. Eze Ifeanyichukwu, stated that the housing projects of  5,000 housing units of two-bedroomed  bungalows would have facilities such as hospitals, schools , police stations and markets.
According to him, the project was conceived to assist the low-income earners to have homes of their own.
He added that the project would commence after the groundbreaking ceremony.

The beneficiaries of the free train ride organised by Osun State government for peopled travelling from Lagos to Osogbo, Osun State capital have commended the state government for the gesture.

 

 
Speaking with newsmen when they arrived in Osogbo on Wednesday evening, the train passengers said the free train ride afforded them the opportunity to come to celebrate the Eid-El-Kabir with their relations.
Mrs Kadijatu Ibrahim, Mr Ramoni Ajisefini and Miss Wulemot Sulaimon who came to Osun with the free train ride lauded the administration of Governor Rauf Aregbesola for the gesture.
The train passengers including the indigenes of neighbouring states took the advantage of the train provided by the Osun State government to celebrate the Sallah with their relatives.
The passengers boarded the train from the Ido Terminus in Lagos and the travellers had fun from Lagos to Osogbo. The train stopped at terminus along routes such as Abeokuta, Ogun State and Ibadan in Oyo State.
Some indigenes of Kwara state who also boarded the Osun free train alighted at the Osogbo Terminus and took vehicle to their various hometowns including Offa and Erin-Ile.
After dropping the passengers in Osogbo, the train returned to Lagos to bring another set of people to Osogbo on Thursday. Meanwhile, the train will also take the passengers back to Lagos from Osogbo on after the Sallah.
The passenger of another Ilorin bound train that stopped briefly in Osogbo on Wednesday morning said they paid N1,200 for the trip. Majority of the passengers of the train who were going to Ilorin for Sallah urged the governor of Kwara State, Mr Abdul-Fatah Ahameed to emulated Aregbesola by providing free train for them in the next festive period.

The Triangular Group of Pensioners in Osun State has expressed dismay over what it described as politically motivated attacks on Governor Rauf Aregbesola by the 2011/2012 group of retirees.
 

 
They urged the group, led by Omoniyi Ilesanmi, to desist from actions and utterances capable of breaching the peace in the state.They said this in a statement by its Chairman, Rotimi Adelugba, who confirmed the group’s position on the true state of finances and its resolve to champion the plight of the pensioners.
In his words: “We are not the mouthpiece of the government but we are in constant touch with the Osun State government on its financial status, hence we consider it necessary to inform members of the public.

“As responsible senior citizens, we have been demoralised by the lies, unguarded utterances and malicious statements by the Ilesanmi group that the Aregbesola administration paid each political office holder who served between November 2010 and November 2014 N50 million each as severance allowance.”
He said the group also alleged that the government refused to pay their gratuities but instead spend the state’s lean resources on frivolities, “adding these allegations are baseless and unfounded.
“Available evidence shows that the severance allowances given to former commissioners and special advisers were in the range of N2.8 million-N4million and these were only paid to those who are entitled to such payment as gazetted in the state Public/Political Office Holders and Revised Remuneration Package Law of 2007, which is in consonance with the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) Act.”
The group said it was disturbed that the 2011/2012 pensioners have turned themselves into a weapon of destruction in the hands of the opposition party and have now resorted to cheap blackmail against the government, which has been responsible towards the welfare of the people in spite of the paucity of funds.
“We, however, appeal to Aregbesola to continue to offset the pensions and gratuities of our members as and when due, notwithstanding the cheap blackmail by Ilesanmi and his group,” he stated.

Osun governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola has been described as the best governor that continues to be a reference point of human capital development by the international community.

A United States’ economic consultant made this assertion on Wednesday, August 24, 2017, while speaking on “Media and Diversity Reporting” organized by journalists in Lagos.

“Osun and Lagos states remain the most cited examples of good and quality leadership among the 36 states of the federation in international economic and political circles in terms of management of human and material resources in West Africa.

“Osun is of particular importance because it is an agrarian state with little resources, dwindling national income but yet has been able to provide enviable records in terms of human development index,” Chief Segun Ajibulu, a tax consultant with the United States and President of South West Professional Forum (SOWPROF) wrote in an address sent to the organisers.

The address was read on his behalf by Mr Victor Fatunla, an official of the SOWPROF and the Managing Director of Factors Insurance Brokers, who represented the group at the event held at M Square Hotel in Lagos.

In the address, he said he was impressed that international community continue to show interests in what is going on in Osun state for various reasons.

According to him, the media needs to probe deep into what he described as a “revolution in politics and economy” that has taken place in Osun in the past seven years.

He urged journalists to engage Osun state constructively so as to rediscover the real story of the state’s success instead of depending on press statements from the opposition.

He said, “Beyond the false narrative that Osun has not been paying workers’ salaries, it is important for journalists to understand how the state manages to pay workers on levels seven downwards full salary till date inspite of the lean resources.

“We should find out how the state manages to pay 75 percent of workers’ salary for those on grades seven and below.

“We should find out how political office holders including the members of the State House of Assembly decide to earn only 50 percent of their pay, how the governor decides not to be paid any salary since assumption of office and above all how the state was able to build secondary and primary schools of international standards in the face of lean resources.”

He said the media has been concentrating on press releases by the opposition figures who take delight in demonising the state saying that independent observers and members of the international community continue to do independent reports on the state of Osun which puts the state ahead of many of her peers in terms of sustainable development.

“It should interest journalists to know why UNESCO, the world bank and various international institutions continue to partner with the State of Osun. It shows the moral integrity of the leadership of the state.”

He continued, “It amazes many in the global world how 150,000 computers were given to students, how 500 rural roads were constructed and how the state political leaders make sacrifices for the utilitarian good of the greater society.”

He also said diversity reporting means that journalists should deal with substance instead of allowing shadows to assume lives of their own.

He said, “This man won the most difficult election in modern Nigerian history. He was the first progressive government to stop the advance of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the build up to the 2015 Presidential election.

“The most vicious military and security machines were deployed against him, having identified him as the leading icon of the incoming goverment. There were security reports that the Federal Government led by PDP needed to demolish Ekiti and Osun states in order to clear the hurdle for 2015 presidential election.

“Ekiti fell like a pack of cards. But in Osun, it dazzled the PDP and their agents how Aregbesola fought literally with his blood to bring the PDP on her knees. What led to the victory was the conviction of Osun people that Aregbesola and his team was a better alternative.”

He said the defeat of the PDP in Osun paved the way for the eventual loss of the Federal government by the PDP machine.

Ajibulu said, “The Federal Government decided to borrow the school-feed programme from Osun. This is remarkable. If the National Assembly can make sacrifices by taking half of their salary as the political leaders in Osun do, Nigeria will be able to save about 50 billion every month.”

No fewer than 35 journalists from the print, electronic and social media attended the event.