Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun state has led a delegation to Germany in search of new insights on modern agriculture in order to further realise the dream of making Osun the food basket of the South West.
 

 
This, the administration believes will help empower citizens and improve the quality of life for residents in the state. On Saturday, the Ogbeni-led delegation stopped at Lindau, in the district of Anhalt-Bitterfeld, Germany.
 
Ogbeni Aregbesola went with series of questions about modern agriculture, hoping for new insights from German farmers like Arnold de Vries who the Governor visited on his sheep farm. Osun state Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola alongside his delegates with German farmer, Arnold de Vries Arnold de Vries had taken-in two interns from Osun State for training on his farm in the summer of 2016. Osun, is an agricultural state and significantly larger than Saxony-Anhalt, but modern agriculture is still a long shot and the Governor’s team is ambitious to close the gap.
 
That is why the project “Support for Capacity Building in Food Production” was launched in 2012 between States of Saxony-Anhalt in Germany and Osun in Nigeria, for youths of the state to undergo internships in modern agricultural enterprises in Saxony-Anhalt. Well over 40 Nigerians from the state of Osun have already benefited from this scheme.
 
This was confirmed by Ogbeni Aregbesola during his visit to Bauer de Vries in Lindau. “We have to feed our population somehow, and effective agriculture, as it is done here in Germany, can help us,” he said. His visit to Saxony-Anhalt is a kind of educational trip. However, the trip is also intended to thank the farmers who took interns in for hands-on training.
 
The administration has invested heavily in laying the foundations for modern agriculture in the state, and lies in wait for bountiful harvest. Recall that Ogbeni Aregbesola recently ordered the planting of 5 million plantain suckers in the state of Osun as a means of providing food for the citizenry.
Governor Rauf Aregbesola was accompanied by Speaker of the State of Osun House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Najeem Saleem, amongst other top government officials.

Ikirun is situated within the tropical zone with latitude 07°55′North and longitude 04°41′E of the Greenwich Meridian. It has boundaries on the North by Inisha, on the South by Osogbo, on the West by Iragbiji and on the East by Eko-Ende. The town is surrounded by hills of Oke Afo, Oke Iba and Oke Amola.
 

 
Ikirun is a gateway to the northern part of the country and is also strategic because of the railway station present in the town. The indigenes are predominantly farmers cultivating crops within and outside the town. Trading activities is prevalent in the town thus making it commercially viable.
Administratively, Ikirun is the headquarters of Ifelodun Local Govt and the population is 96,748 according to the 2006 Population Census.
The Akinrun of Ikirun is the traditional ruler and Chairman Council of Obas in Ifelodun Local Government Area of the State. Places of importance in Ikirun includes: Federal Government College, Unity School, Igbo Irele, Basetan Cave and River Eko Ende. The town is also blessed with Rivers Osere, Ontoki, Ponjo and Amo.

Al Mu’minaat, the Believing Women Organisation has commended the Osun State government for its quick intervention in preventing another religious conflagration.

 
The Amirah of the organisation, Hajiyah Mulikat Abiola Hassan applauded the sagacity of the authorities in resolving the hijab imbroglio between Muslim women and the Charms Plc., a biometric capturing company. In a press release issued in Osogbo, the Amirah Hassan said timely intervention of Governor Rauf Aregbesola succeeded in preventing the breakdown of law and order in the state.
 
It would be recalled that Chams Plc, officially engaged by the state government for biometric capture of it’s workers had, during the exercise, insisted that female Muslims uncover their ears and turned back those who refused the order.
 
They claimed that such had been the practice in the past and Hijabites had cooperated, insisting that the latest exercise involving new staff could not be an exception.
 
Mrs Hassan warned government functionary who often discriminate against hijab-wearing ladies to desist from heating the polity, wondering why the Osun State biometric capturing would be different from other national and global exercise
 
“We have done many capturing without removing hijab or exposing our ears:- when going on Hajj, at immigration office for international passport, National ID Card, Driver’s Licence, Voter Registration, SIM Card registration, IPPIS, BVN registration and opening of Bank account among others.
 
“Enemies of this nation who wish to drag the country into religious crisis must beware of similar calamity in their personal lives if they do not desist.
 
“They must know that the era of docility has gone for good and Muslim Sisters are more than ever before, ready to defend their rights in a most civilised manner and within the ambit of the law. Let all public officials and private individuals who are involved in this uncivilised act desist forthwith.”
 
The Amirah who commended the management of Chams Plc for obeying the law of the land, also appreciated the newly recruited staff of Osun state who remained calm despite being discriminated against and harassed because of hijab. She also lauded the perseverance and maturity displayed during the ordeal.

Nigeria’s enduring economic recovery will only materialize only when the country revitalizes her investments in agriculture and make it a venture that attracts the bulk of the most productive segment of the population.
 

 
This was the conclusion of the Governor of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, as he brought together all officials of the state involved in the agriculture sector to further find fresh ways to improve the state’s performance in agricultural investments.
At the interactive session with officials of the State Ministry of Agriculture and it’s agencies, Governor Aregbesola painted a gloomy picture of imminent acute famine and drought the nation may likely face if the heavy reliance on oil continues.
A statement by the Bureau of Communication and Strategy in the Office of the Governor signed by the Director, Mr. Semiu Okanlawon, quoted Governor Aregbesola as saying that the Governor declared that oil can no longer be the economic mainstay of the nation if it plans to exit the recession facing it present.
The Governor charged the agriculture officers in the state to sit up, redouble their efforts and re-dedicate themselves towards the transformation of the dreams of the state from peasant, rural, subsistent agricultural state to a modern, industrial and commercial agricultural state.
Aregbesola said, “At this critical juncture and judging from the economic crisis of the present, the country and our state have no alternative than to diversify and stop relying on what comes from Abuja, if we must survive.
“We must forthwith stop importation of food items and start cultivating our own food crops. We have everything we need to be a great agricultural nation. Let us undertake a survey to know where each state has comparative advantage over others.
“Our Ministry of Agriculture and its agencies must put their acts together and go back to massive agricultural practice and production.
“The situation at present requires that we do everything humanly possible to awaken the huge potentiality of our agricultural sector.
“Failure to do this leaves us with only two alternatives. It is either we float or sink, but in our state, we shall float because our administration is determined to leave no stone unturned this time around at ensuring general wellbeing of its citizenry in making the state food basket of the nation.”
Aregbesola was quoted further as noting that unless the nation and the state plunge their resources and energies towards agriculture, millions of people, particularly children, will face serious hunger.
He stated that only agriculture can rescue the nation from the nationwide and global economic meltdown currently being experienced arising from the oil glut and the activities of the Niger Delta militants.
Governor Aregbesola said that the only panacea to the current economic imbroglio is for every serious minded government to rise to the occasion and look for alternative means by exploring the abundant potentialities in agriculture.
The governor said with less than two years to the end of his administration, he would not relent in his bid to turn around the sector so that there would be food security .

Governor Rauf Aregbesola has led a delegation to Germany in search of new insights on modern agriculture in order to further realise the dream of making Osun the food basket of the South West.
 

 
This, the administration believes will help empower citizens and improve the quality of life for residents in the state.
 
On Saturday, the Ogbeni-led delegation stopped at Lindau, in the district of Anhalt-Bitterfeld, Germany. Ogbeni Aregbesola, came with series of questions about modern agriculture, hoping for new insights from German farmers like Arnold de Vries who the Governor visited on his sheep farm.
 
Arnold de Vries had taken-in two interns from Osun State for training on his farm in the summer of 2016.
 
Osun, is an agricultural state and significantly larger than Saxony-Anhalt,  but modern agriculture is still a long shot and the Governor’s team is ambitious to close the gap.
 
That is why the project “Support for Capacity Building in Food Production” was launched in 2012 between States of Saxony-Anhalt in Germany and Osun in Nigeria, for youths of the state to undergo internships in modern agricultural enterprises in Saxony-Anhalt. Well over 40 Nigerians from the state of Osun have already benefited from this scheme.
 
This was confirmed by Ogbeni Aregbesola during his visit to Bauer de Vries in Lindau. “We have to feed our population somehow, and effective agriculture, as it is done here in Germany, can help us,” he says. His visit to Saxony-Anhalt is a kind of educational trip. However, the trip is also intended to thank the farmers who took interns in for hands-on training.
 
The administration has invested heavily in laying the foundations for modern agriculture in the state, and lies in wait for bountiful harvest. Recall that Ogbeni Aregbesola recently ordered the planting of 5 million plantain suckers in the state of Osun as a means of providing food for the citizenry.
 
Governor Rauf Aregbesola was accompanied by Speaker of the State of Osun House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Najeem Saleem, amongst other top government officials.