Much has been written about the role technology played in bringing social and political change across much of Africa, but less is known about the technological revolution that is taking place and transforming people’s lives in Osun State, Nigeria. This deep and rapid mobile penetration is catapulting Osun State school children into the 21st century and bringing new and previously unimagined opportunities. African schools and universities are now exploring the use of mobile technology to assist teaching.
 
 

 
Whether critics like it or not Governor Aregbesola has laid foundation and remain the pioneer of digital education in Nigeria and he represents agent of change as far as digital education is concerned in Nigeria.. History of Digital Education will remember Governor Aregbesola as the first Nigerian to implement UNESCO recommendation on digital education. Nigerians need to visit Osun Sukuk Schools, Middle Schools and Elementary Schools. Governor Aregbesola has undertaken to build and equip schools with computer classrooms and training teachers to use digital media in education. In this line, Opon Imo “local content’’ in digital education has allowed teachers to use tablets to teach students. In the history of Nigeria, Governor Aregbesola will be remembered to be first leader to introduce digital education. Like India, Osun State is working to improve on Opon Imo. In years to come Governor Aregbesola will be remembered as part of digital education in Nigeria.
About 33 states in Nigeria are presently working on how to introduce digital education by using Osun model of Opon Imo. Opon-Imo, the first digital education revolution in Nigeria indeed, almost took books, libraries, laboratories and study materials off Osun schools that were introduced. Governor Aregbesola promised that there would be no need of students buying books and other study materials. The tablet of knowledge, indeed, served that purpose. The way secondary school students operate and interact with each other has drastically changed with the advent of OPON IMO, the first digital education revolution in Nigeria. Over the years, the impact of technology has been profound, not just in terms of making our lives easier, but also in terms of our approach to the way we carry out tasks, solve problems and resolve issues.
There is no doubt that Governor Aregbesola understands the role that technology can play in realising the vision for Nigeria’s growth – it is at the core of the Digital Opon Imo and a key driver across all plans devised by the Osun Government over the last four years. The government recognises the transformative power of technology and sees it as an enabler for the change that we all seek- be it in delivering better citizen services, digitising education records, efficient and productive functioning, or using technology to provide a new social security platform

UNTIL recently many students in Osun had never touched a tablet computer. But it took them about “one minute to work out how to use one when such devices arrived at Osun schools. Osun students were no slower to embrace the new tool. Teaching used to be conducted with a blackboard and a handful of tattered textbooks. Now children in groups of five take turns to swipe the touch screen of the devices, which are loaded with a multimedia version of Nigeria’s syllabus.
The prospect of many of Africa’s 300m pupils that want digital education has not escaped the attention of global technology giants either. A bigger question is whether digital tools will actually improve education. Early results are encouraging. In Osun reading skills improved measurably among school children. In Osun, researchers found that even in the absence of teachers, children figured out how to use tablets provided to them by Osun State Government, to teach themselves to read.
As we transit towards knowledge driven economies, the need to build human capacity to gain competitive advantage has become a front burner issue for developed and developing nations. This situation is seen as more critical for developing nations which hold the majority of the world’s uneducated and have suffered decades of education infrastructure neglect.
To reverse this situation, in line with the millennium development goals timelines, developing nations will need more than orthodox initiatives to bridge the huge learning gap. The use of Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) appears to be one of such promising innovative means of democratizing access and improving the quality of learning.
The State Government of Osun, under the leadership of Governor Rauf Aregbesola, in it’s resolve to champion inspiring innovations for Africa, has undertaken a ground breaking step to utilize ICTs to concisely tackle the learning problem through the Opón Ìmò Initiative. The State, through its Opón Ìmò Technology Enhanced Learning System (OTELS), has developed a learning tool that could revolutionize learning in developing states around the world. This tool is called the Opón Ìmò, “Tablet of Knowledge”.

The digital revolution has hit education, with more and more classrooms plugged into the whole wired world. But are schools making the most of new technologies? Are they tapping into the learning potential of today’s Firefox/Facebook/cell phone generation? Have schools fallen through the crack of the digital divide? This groundbreaking book offers a vision for the future of Osun State education that goes well beyond the walls of the classroom to include online social networks, distance learning with “anytime, anywhere” access, digital home schooling models.
Opon-Imo (Tablet of Knowledge), an e-learning device which is to solve educational needs of Senior Secondary School students of Osun State, introduced by Governor Rauf Aregbesola, have become one of the biggest known digital initiative in Osun’s educational history and Nigeria. Opon Imo has solve the educational needs of the state and cut cost in the sector as promised by Aregbesola upon its inauguration, the project has solved the major educational problems of the state, leaving with it huge progress that the state had battled with for a long time.
On Tuesday June 4, 2013 Governor Aregbesola, in a speech entitled, ‘Opon-Imo Enters the Stage’ had told the people of Osun, “It gives me great pleasure to welcome you all and to be here myself for this epoch-making event in the annals of this state…Today in the State of Osun, we are taking another momentous leap forward in our unflinching and unstoppable effort to lay a solid foundation for the education of our children. “The much-awaited Opon-Imo has finally arrived. The smart computer tablet has entered the education scene, to the glory of Almighty God, and to the victory of the public school students of Osun, but to the utter bewilderment of ill-meaning cynics, whose ardent wish is for the project to fail. Unfortunately for them, God has a different plan for Osun and for its good people.”

“This initiative, the first of its kind anywhere in the world, covers 17 core subjects with over five extra curricula subjects for senior secondary 1, 2 and 3 levels. The tablet contains over 56 textbooks, 900 minutes of virtual classroom lessons and 1000s (Thousands) of practice questions for WAEC and JAMB. In addition to aiding preparation for School Leaving Examinations, the introduction of the tool is expected to aid adoption of information communication technology (ICT) skills among students in the state,”
The typical Osun classroom like Indian classroom was once characterized by students sitting through hour-long teacher monologues. Now, technology is making life easier for both students and educators. Schools are increasingly adopting digital teaching solutions to engage with a generation of pupils well-versed with the likes of tablets and iPads, and trying to make the classroom environment more inclusive and participatory.
Governor Aregbesola has observed that in line with Osun’s increasing interest in technology for school education, there has been a rush of education-focused tablet computers in the market. It aims to eliminate digital illiteracy by distributing the Opon Imo tablets to students across Osun at free rates. While the project itself has become successful, it has generated a lot of awareness and interest among students around the educational tablet.
Aregbesola has observed. “Digital learning facilitated through tablets will revolutionize the educational space,” He has invested in developing content and services targeted toward tablet audiences. To start with, he offered Osun school curriculum-learning modules … and at home live products on the opon imo. Students can now have access to good teachers, educational content and a great learning experience anytime, anywhere.”
But even as schools in Osun are going through this transformation powered by technology, one key question is how big a role technology will play in the education sector. Technology plays a critical role in all these.. Despite numerous studies on the impact of ICT in education, the outcomes remain difficult to measure and open to much debate. It needs to be understood that technology is only an enabler and a force multiplier and cannot be treated as a panacea. We believe that impressive gains in teaching-learning outcomes are possible only through an integrated approach like opon imo intervention.
Inwalomhe Donald, inwalomhe.donald@yahoo.com, www.inwalomhedonald.com.ng

The Ooni of Ife, His Imperial Majesty Enitan Adeyeye Ogunwusi, Ojaja II, has pledged to turn the ancient city around to attract tourists and boost its economy.
Oba Ogunwusi, represented by Moses Olafare, his spokesman, made the promise at a news briefing held in his office within the palace in Ile-Ife Osun state.
 

 
Mr Olafare said that Ile-Ife was a land of expansion and a sacred town globally known as the source of the Oduduwa race.
“The town is known for its peaceful nature, accommodating to visitors and tourists, and home to 201 Yoruba deities,” he said.
The Ooni’s spokesman further told reporters that there were several historical monuments and sites in the ancient city that when developed into international standard, millions of local and foreign tourists and visitors would like to visit, having read about them in history books in the past.
According to him, the ancient city is endowed with shrines and monuments that include: the Moremi Ajasoro’s statue of liberty reputed as the tallest statue in Nigeria and the third in Africa.
In Osun, there are also the Oranmiyan groove, the Ooni’s palace, Olokun, Osara, Obatala, Orunmila, Oranfe and Oduduwa shrines.
He said that these and many more were the cultural heritages that tourists, visitors and Nigerians in the Diaspora could use to trace Yoruba history, their routes and other descendants of Oduduwa.
The monarch also said that no fewer than 200 tourists and visitors visited the Ooni’s palace daily, saying this was beside the over 500 visitors that visited the various shrines and monuments across the city every day.
“The hotel operators in Ile-Ife and adjoining communities, as well as operators of taxicabs and commercial buses, have been benefiting from the influx of tourists and visitors that throng the town regularly.
“Business men and women in addition to residents of the community have also been benefitting in one way or the other from the visitors and tourists that came into the town,” he said.
The monarch said that these had improved the living standards of the community, maintaining that since his coronation as the monarch, the town has continued to witness tremendous infrastructure development in areas of roads and provision of security for residents and visitors alike.
He lauded the state government for embarking on a holistic development of the state.
“The government has been playing its part by developing the various cultural sites, tourism and monuments across the state.
“I want to complement the state government’s efforts by upgrading the ones around me to international standards.
“It is part of my plans to give splendid facelifts to the several monuments and heritage sites across the city which I have begun to do.
“The idea is for tourists and visitors to have several attractions to see in the ancient city and to also have value for their visits and monies they will be spending there,”he said.
The monarch said that in the last one year of his ascension to the throne as the Ooni of Ife, the ancient town had recorded unprecedented human traffic and economic growth.

Respite has come the way of the government of Osun, as the Federal Government releases N80m to the coffer of the state this week, as part of the grants for Federal Government’s school feeding programme.
The Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande had disclosed in a statement made available to DAILY POST on Monday, stating that five states of Osun, Ogun, Oyo, Ebonyi, and Enugu, would be benefiting states in the second phase of the scheme.
 

According to him, Anambra state flagged off the feeding programme earlier in 2016, bringing the implementing states of the scheme to six.
Akande disclosed that payment for the Conditional Cash Transfer programme has commenced in all the nine pilot states including Bauchi, Borno, Cross River, Ekiti, Kwara, Kogi, Niger, Osun and Oyo.
Meanwhile, some stakeholders in the educational sector have expressed mixed feelings over the grant.
A retired Principal in one of the Public School in the state, Mr Sunday Anjorin, lauded the federal government’s initiative, as he commended Gov. Rauf Aregbesola for setting the pace for school feeding initiative.

Anjorin added that although, the federal government intervention is commendable, there is still more to be done in order to meet up with the huge financial responsibility Osun government incurred in the course of feeding the pupils at the elementary schools.
He observed that the scheme has enhanced the rate of enrollment in schools, urging the federal government to spread the gesture to all the states of the federation.
However, a member of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Mr Bamidele Idowu has advised the state government to be more transparent and accountable in the finance of the school feeding scheme, saying the figures claimed by O’Meal, the agency in charge of the school feeding system in Osun is “ambiguous.”
Idowu also charged the agency to use the federal government’s grant judiciously for the benefit of the pupils.

The seven cowries represent the seven grandsons of Olofin Oduduwa. Their military valour, diplomatic dexterity and trade mastery created wealth and resulted in their expansive kingdom.
 

 
The Brown Colour represents the colour of the earth and tone of the skin. The Ori Olokun stands for the common origin of the Yoruba and their dexterity in technology.
 
The Colour Band which is the Pan-African flag consists of official colours of the African race: the colour red represents the blood bond among Africans.
 
The colour black depicts the existence of the black race; the colour green denotes the abundance of wealth on the continent of Africa; The gold depicts the abundant mineral resources of Africa.

The Oyo and Osun state governments have paid N250 million each to the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) to end the crisis rocking the institution.

 
The Nation confirmed the development from a very top source in the university yesterday.
The source said: “Yes, both states have paid the amount as promised and the sum is now in the kitty of the university.”
LAUTECH students have been at home for eight months due to the industrial action by all categories of workers in the institution.
The crisis reached a peak last week when LAUTECH students protested to the Office of the Governor of Oyo State in Ibadan, the state capital.

While addressing them, the governor promised that each owner state would contribute a sum of N250 million to get back workers to their duty posts and build on it afterwards.
Governor Abiola Ajimobi said the sum would enable the institution to pay some salaries and reopen for academic activities before the end of this month.
Reacting, the President of the Students’ Union Government of the institution, Olatunde Bakare, commended the two governors, saying it was a way forward.
According to him, the sum, though not up to exactly what is needed to clear salary arrears for two months, would help kick-start the process of implementing the short term solution to the crisis.
Bakare said once the short term solution is implemented, it would pave the way for the
medium and long term solution the financial problem plaguing LAUTECH. He promised to confirm the payment.

As the State Government of Osun continues to make efforts towards getting education on a sound footing in the state, all is now set for the supplementary entrance examination into 4 of the new state of the art high schools across the state. The supplementary entrance exam is being conducted to further give opportunity to candidates who
claimed that they were not aware of the time the first exam was conducted and those who could not take part in the first exam as a result of late submission of their forms.
 

 
According to a statement signed by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Mr. Festus Olajide, the examinations into Osogbo Government High School, Wole Soyinka Government High School, Ejigbo, Adventist Government High School, Ede and Ataoja Government High School, Osogbo will hold at the school
premises tomorrow (Saturday 21st Jan 2017) in each of the high schools.
The statement urges students who have registered for the examination to be on seat at their various centres by 8:30 in the morning as the examination will start by 9 O’clock in the morning.