The establishment of the State Traditional Medicine Practitioners Board hasbeen approved by the state government and the inauguration date will be announced soon.
 

 
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Dr Akinyinka Oluseyi Esho made this disclosure during the meeting held with the Traditional Medicine Practitioners representatives in his office.
He stressed further that the Board will manage the activities of Traditional Medicine Practitioners in the state.
According to the statement, the Government of the State of Osun, under the leadership of Ogbeni Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola, will not relent in its effort to see that people living in Osun have access to all inclusive health care.
Present at the meeting were Deputy Director, Primary Health Care, Mr Tunde Adekunle ,Chief Kayode Esuleke, Chief Olalude Oluajo and the desk officer, Mr Moronkeji Bolarinwa.

The wife of the Governor, State of Osun, Mrs Serifat Aregbesola today put smile on the faces of  less privileged children when she presented various gift items to them at FOMWAN Orphanage and the Motherless and Abandoned Babies Home and Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Hospital, Jaleyemi both in Osogbo, the State Capital.
 

 
Mrs Aregbesola, who was represented by the Coordinating Director, Ministry of Information, Home Affairs, Tourism and Culture, Mrs Femi Webster Esho said that the items were presented to the Orphanage homes in the spirit of the season.
According to her, the presentation of the gifts is an annual event, which  is done by the Office of the First Lady and the Ministry of Information, Home Affairs, Tourism and Culture and used to celebrate with less privileged children who are Christians and Muslims.
At FOMWAN Orphanage Home, Mrs. Aregbesola appreciated the workers taking care of the children and prayed that Allah will continue to protect and provide for them.
In her reaction, the Amiral of the Orphanage Home, Alhaja Babalola thanked the wife of the State Governor for her kind gestures which always bring smiles on the faces of the less privileged.
She therefore prayed that Allah will continue to protect, direct and provide for her and the Management and Staff of
the Ministry of Information, Home Affairs, Tourism and Culture.
Similarly, at the Motherless and Abandoned Babies Home at Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Hospital, Jaleyemi, Osogbo, Rev. Sister Mary Elizabeth Akinlotan, who received Mrs Aregbesola’s delegates to the Orphanage expressed her sincere gratitude to Mrs Serifat
Aregbesola for providing for the needs of the less privileged in her characteristics manner.
Highlights of the programme was the presentation of food items and baby care products to the management of the two orphanages homes.

In line with the commitment of  the government of the state of Osun to continue to  invest in education, students of the  Kuta Community  high Schooll, Kuta,  were presented with tablets of knowledge ( Opon Imo) yesterday.
Excitement greeted the presentation of the tablets of knowledge as the students openly displayed their joy.
The Principal  of Kuta Community  High School, Mr Asifat Musibau who spoke after the presentation , thanked the state government for its continued support of education in the state.
Mother of one of the students who received the tablet of Knowledge,  Mrs Lateef Silifat also praised the governor of the state who she described as a man of vision for sticking to his guns in the face of adversity.
 

 

The Principal  of Kuta Community  High School,  Mr Asifat musibau(right),presentimg  a Tablet of knowledge  (OPON IMO),  to a student, Olalekan Daniel.  With them is his Sister,  Ojo Damilola (left), during the Distribution  of Tablet of knowledge by the State  Government  to students  of Kuta  Community  High school, Kuta,  State of Osun

The Principal  of Kuta Community  High School, Mr Asifat musibau (right), presenting  a Tablet of knowledge  (OPON IMO),  to a student,  Oloyede Bukola, during the distribution  of Tablet of knowledge by the  State Government to students  of Kuta Community  High School , Kuta  State of Osun
 

The Principal  of Kuta Community  High School,  Mr Asifat musibau (right), presenting  a Tablet of knowledge  (OPON IMO),  to a student, Oyelude Ayomide. With them is his father,   Mr Oyedeji  Samson (left), during
the distribution  of Tablet of knowledge by the State Government to students of Kuta  Community  High school, Kuta,  State of Osun
Students  of Kuta  Community  High  School and thier Parents,  after collecting tablets of knowledge, during the distribution of Tables by the State Government in their School at Kuta, State of  Osun.

In one of his essays, American author, Wilfred Peterson wrote: “big thinking precedes great achievement.” With the benefit of hindsight, Rauf Aregbesola has left his marks on history and his successors will have to do a lot to rival his achievements. And, as the governor marks six years as Osun State helmsman, an attempt at appraising his stewardship is, in my view, not out of place.
 
 

 
Let’s start with the Education sector where Aregbesola’s rich, nurturing, and healing contributions are well known to students of political history. In the last six years, his administration has successfully completed about 100 out of the promised 170 mega schools. Others, though delayed due to obvious reasons, are more than 60% completed. With the employment of about 7,350 teachers, professionally trained and equipped to improve learning in public schools; and with the retraining of more than 5000 others, one is not left in doubt about the “remarkable improvement in the pass rate of students presented for the West African Secondary School Certificate Examination (WASSCE)from 6.86% in 2007 to 46.3% in 2016.”
With the creation of Osun Education Quality Assurance and Morality Enforcement Agency, Aregbesola’s government has also succeeded in restoring high quality education, discipline and morality into our schools. And, apart from being the only state in the country that has so far been providing free, nutritious lunch for its primary school pupils through its now-repackaged Osun Elementary School Feeding and Health Scheme, the programme, alongside others such as youth empowerment and elderly welfare schemes, have been adopted by the Federal Government.
Pundits will agree with me that, in a recessed economy such as we have found ourselves, diversification is one sure way out of the woods. Aregbesola creatively recognizes the importance of agriculture as the ‘future of Osun State’. Little wonder he has visited no fewer than six farm settlements in recent times. In simple language, a visit of this size and shape will not only aim at reviving the glory of the sector, it is also an avenue to get first-hand information from the farmers with a view to improving the revenue base of the state. It is also in a bid to make Osun State the food hub of the Southwest region that 20 of its youth were recently sent to Germany, a country renowned for her industrial and technological edge, to learn the science of mechanized farming.
At a time like this, we need to challenge those who claim to have been championing our cause to reveal to us the structure and the nomenclature of our cause. Quite frankly, I’ve always wondered why a 25-year old state like Osun could not boast of at least 25 first-rate, world-class industries! In truth, that was the sorry state of the state before Aregbesola changed it for good. RLG Technology Institute, Ilesa; Omoluabi Garment Industries, Osogbo; and Bola Ige Mechatronics Institute, Esa-Oke among others, have not only come to stay, they, alongside the once-moribund-but-now-revived Cocoa Products Industry in Ede are now adding to the state’s revenue base.
Again, we shouldn’t forget in a hurry his bold step in according Osogbo its pride of place in the comity of state capitals in Nigeria even as he deserves commendation for his intervention in local government administration in the state. With the creation and successful take-off of 61 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs); 3 Area Offices; and 2 Administrative Offices from the former 31 Local Government Areas, Aregbesola has succeeded in bringing government closer to the people, apart from the encouragement of even development of towns and villages within the state and positive improvement in the state’s revenue base.
Kudos to this visionary leader for the importance his government attaches to the socio-economic revivification and huge infrastructural development of the state! Aregbesola’s quality leadership could also be felt in the rehabilitation and equipping of government hospitals with state-of-the-art facilities. Apart from the building of Diabetes Centre at Ede, in collaboration with some Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), state hospitals all over the state were also upgraded in line with global standards; and procurement of drugs from our hospitals have become so simplified that patients can now walk in and get drugs without the usual bottlenecks hitherto attached to the process.
Welcome ‘OponÌmò’, the stand-alone, e-learning device, which has unfortunately become an object of needless, benighted controversies. While Aregbesola’s traducers characteristically see it as yet another in the series of successive governments’ phony projects though which funds are senselessly siphoned into private pockets, it must be noted that, economy-induced challenges notwithstanding, not less than 23,000 units of the customized computer were distributed to pupils in Osun State-owned schools during the first phase while the second phase which took effect in November 2015 is still in progress. As we speak, those already retrieved from outgone students are undergoing reconfiguration to give students newly-promoted to SSS 3 class the equal opportunity of using the ‘Tablet of Knowledge’.
Democracy hath no fury than a people abandoned! Give it to the astute administrator who has succeeded in building a productive and workable system. Today, issuance of Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) goes for as low as N30,000.00 as against N100,000.00 for a piece of land measured 15 by 30 metre (50 by 100) and it can be got within 3 months. We have the ‘Omoluabi Scale’ (Osunwon Omoluabi), put in place, principally, to eliminate cheating and leverage on the control of commodity pricing while not overlooking its advantageous health implications.
The politically-motivated Hijab narrative! The economy-induced salary palaver! The storm-in-a-teacup merger of schools! The ridiculously over-bloated Osun debt profile! And, of course, the alleged Islamization agenda! As Aregbesola’s government is midterm and sort of winding down, one cannot but expect more of distracting surprises from closest allies, distressing betrayal from false friends, willful nonsense from hitherto party members, obsessive egotism from the narrow, uneducated mind, deceitful drama from the weird, stunningly ignorant whose portion is in beliefs that reject persuasion; and frustrating innuendos from the “foxes, the little foxes” scandalously scheming to pitch the governor’s administration into turmoil. In any case, these are some of the hypocritical ingredients of the ‘nothing-goes-according-to-plan’ political broth and only focussed governance can serve as antidote!
In 2013, Osun emerged with lowest unemployment rate in Nigeria! But how come we are where we are and where do we go from here? The truth, the bitter truth is that Nigeria’s current economic situation and its attendant complications are signals sufficient enough to warn this notoriously extractive, not productive, system that something needs to give before it is too late! As things stand, no fewer than 33 states are struggling to pay their workers’ salaries and more than 25 of them are prisoners to the bailout loans given to states earlier in the life of the Muhammadu Buhari-led administration. Should Federal Government deem it fit to cancel these loans, allocations accruing to states
from the Federation Account will heave a sigh of relief and Osun will be better for it. Furthermore, with right regulations and incentives, coupled with efficient monitoring of loans disbursement to farmers, it’s just a matter of time before agriculture regains its lost glory in the state.
Similarly, if the national government can actualize its promise of employing 200,000 youth before the year runs out, its trickle-down effect will in no small measure impact on the state’s economy. Over and above all, eventual formation of state executive council and constitution of local government administration will go a long way in creating the prosperity we desire in Osun.
All said, with Aregbesola’s honourable intentions, innovative interventions and crowning achievements, won’t we rather agree with Anthony Udofia that “it is globally acceptable to borrow money to do capital projects”?
May powers and personalities assigned to derail Osun’s beautiful destiny, scatter!
 
abiodun KOMOLAFE
KOMOLAFE writes in from Ijebu-Jesa, Osun State, Nigeria (ijebujesa@yahoo.co.uk)
abiodun KOMOLAFE,
020, Okenisa Street,
PO Box 153,
Ijebu-Jesa, Osun State.

Governors in the South-West geopolitical zone on Monday held the South-West Economic Summit at the Oyo State Governor’s office in Ibadan, where they all agreed to play common politics of development to aid economic growth and development in the zone.

The governors present at the meeting were the host Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State, Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State, Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State, Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State, Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State and Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State, who was represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Rotimi Adelola.
The meeting, which had the theme, ‘South-West Governors Economic Forum,’ was convened by Ajimobi.

Speaking on behalf of the governors at the end of the forum, Fayose said that the meeting was called to discuss several issues of common concerns to the geopolitical zone in view of the challenging economic circumstances confronting the nation and its constituent parts.
He said the governors had agreed to start playing politics of development, go beyond their political differences and put the Yoruba people first in their endeavour.
Fayose added that the forum also agreed to use the collaboration to improve on infrastructure, security, commerce and other areas in the interest of the geopolitical zone. He said that all the governors had agreed that regional integration was the best way forward for the Yoruba race.
Fayose said, “This meeting was called to discuss several issues of common concern to the geopolitical zone in view of the challenging economic circumstances confronting the nation and the people.
“We have agreed to start playing politics of development by going beyond our political differences and putting our people and the geopolitical zone first in all things. We also agreed to use this collaboration to improve on the infrastructure, security, commerce and beyond in the interest of the region.”
Also speaking after the meeting, Ambode emphasised the governors’ decision to put political differences apart for the interest of regional growth and welfare of the people.
“We have declared here that irrespective of our political differences, our people must come first. Overall, we must move our people in the direction of prosperity. The prosperity of the region is in the best interest of the states. It is more about the people and not about politics,” said the Lagos governor.
Ajimobi said the commitment and presence of the governors were testimonies to the importance they had placed on the common challenges and problems confronting the people of the region.
Recounting the present economic predicament that had befallen the country and its effect on state governments’ inability to pay workers salaries among others, the governor noted that the region with all its potential and resources had no business with underdevelopment, poverty and low quality of life.
The next edition of the forum will be hosted by Ekiti State in 2017, where the governors are expected to review development in the South-West since the last meeting.

It is almost six years that Osun State Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola has been in the saddle. He was returned to office in November 27 2014, for a second term. Like in other states, Aregbesola met the state in debt with abandoned projects. He however took only sukuk loan at zero percent interest rate for 11 High Schools project that have direct impact on the lives of the people. He has worked on roads, flyover and airport construction.
From Debt Management Office (DMO) 2015 Annual Report, the total public debt outstanding between 2008-2015 for external stock rose. The total debt service the same period saw the percentage of external debt service drastically reduced from 11.46 per cent to 5.96 per cent, while the percentage of domestic debt servicing grew drastically, increasing the cost of the total debt service since the cost of domestic borrowing is atrociously higher than the cost of external borrowing and this is Aregbesola’s strategy of managing Osun’s debt.
 

 
It’s an established fact that the willingness and ability to borrow do not automatically translate into economic growth. If you agree with this fact, how productive are the country’s recent borrowings?  Governor Aregbesola has observed that our internal debts continue to represent more than two-thirds of Nigeria’s external debt profile, when the cost of servicing domestic debts is ridiculously far more expensive than servicing external debts.
The Governor has questioned government’s continuous borrowing internally when doing so results in insufficient funds, skyrockets the cost of borrowing and above all, crowds out the real sector from the money market? Shouldn’t the high cost of domestic borrowing override whatever are the assumed benefits? Since both London Interbank Offer Rates (LIBOR) and the US Treasury Bonds rates offer far better interest rates for sovereign borrowings, why have we continued not to take advantage of cheaper interest rates?
Osun State raised a sukuk bond worth N10b (some $62m) from the capital market to fund educational development – the first of such by Africa’s biggest economy. Governor Aregbesola is aware that Islamic financial instruments such as sukuk, which attracts zero percent interest has been used to finance infrastructure projects in countries like Malaysia and Indonesia, and in the Middle East, and could attract investors from such countries.
He knows that Islamic finance requires a clear link with real economic activity and transactions have to relate to a tangible, identifiable asset, which comes in handy in the case of infrastructure financing. The governor’s strategy in managing Osun Debt favoured the issuing of a sovereign sukuk, which will send a much-needed positive message to the market amidst the negative investor sentiment that persists currently. He expressed confidence that Nigeria’s maiden sovereign sukuk, which will be oversubscribed as both domestic and foreign investors have appetite for exposure to Nigeria. He therefore urged the DMO to take advantage of this unique opportunity to make a mark on the sukuk market in spite of the challenging times.

In a bid to secure debt relief for inherited debt that will free up funds to meet financial obligations to workers, contractors and other debtors, Osun and other states have topped the list of 11 states, which have issued Federal Government bonds (FGN Bonds) to 14 commercial banks under a debt-restructuring programme facilitated by the Federal Government. The 36 states of the federation had approached President Muhammadu Buhari in June to ask for a bailout that would enable them pay salary arrears to their employees and meet other pressing obligations.
Seizing on the opening, 22 states of the federation have applied to the Debt Management Office (DMO) for their debts to be restructured into FGN Bonds. The Director-General of the DMO told the Nigeria economic council that based on the approval of the president on the plan to restructure bank loans of the states into FGN Bonds in order to address their fiscal imbalance, 22 states submitted reports and applied for restructuring as at August 19.
Governor Aregbesola has studied Osun low multilateral debt, which is the total amount of money that Osun State owes to international financial institutions, such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The state only took sukuk bond to build 11 High Schools and no other loan. These financial entities insist that the repayment of multilateral debt becomes priority over any other outstanding loans.
The governor equally studied Osun State bilateral debt, which is a simple loan arrangement between Osun State and a single lender. Such loans are called “bilateral” because there are only two parties to the loan, each with an obligation to the other: One will provide a specific amount of money under the terms of the loan agreement, and the other will repay the money as provided for in that same agreement. Osun sukuk is under multilateral debt. According to DMO, the country’s public debt-to-Gross Domestic Product remained sustainable as a result of the insightful management of the debt portfolio, even in the midst of crude oil price slump.
Osun debt continues to be sustainable in line with IMF debt sustainability threshold, despite all these volatilities in the international capital market and the collapse of oil prices. The people of Osun State have nothing to fear over the level of Osun debt and its management, but should see this period as the time to work harder to grow the economy. Osun Sustainable debt has allowed the state to meet its current and future debt services obligations in full, without recourse to further debt relief or rescheduling, avoiding accumulation of arrears, while allowing an acceptable level of economic growth or without compromising growth. Osun has met IMF debt sustainability threshold, which is a measure of Osun solvency, that is, to ensure that accumulated debts are serviced without defaulting and she is able to sustain her debt servicing overtime. Generally, Osun has a borrowing space under the International Monetary Fund (IMF) debt sustainability threshold of 45% for which Nigeria and other low-middle income countries are.

SINCE he was sworn-in, Governor Aregbesola had publicly announced the need to reduce the recurrent expenditure so that more money would be made available to capital spending, which is critical to growing and diversifying the state’s economy. How far has Osun government succeeded in making these necessary cuts; and where exactly have these cuts been made in this effort to reduce recurrent expenditure? In other words, based on real amount spent on capital expenditure, how much reduction was made from 2011- 2016?
Governor Aregbesola introduced sukuk as a debt management strategy that the percentage of external debt service drastically reduced, while the percentage of domestic debt servicing grew drastically, increasing the cost of the total debt service.
The opposition parties in Osun State had claimed that Osun debt profile is not sustainable but the Director General of DMO has proved them wrong. DMO and others are working hard to introduce Sukuk in Nigeria; The Director General of DMO said he was delighted that Osun took the initiative and helped introduce it in Nigeria. By this, Osun is one of the best states in public debt management, he said.  Nwankwo, who did not give the figure on the actual debt explained that the state needed to be encouraged in term of the management of debt because it had not borrowed beyond its capacity. According to the Director General, the nation’s debt GDP ratio has fallen from 22 per cent to 13 per cent. He said, “Our debt is sustainable because the GDP is much lower now. However, in spite of that, government will continue to be very prudent, conservative in its spending.Fanoro is Special Assistant (media) to Osun State Governor.
Aregbesola is well grounded in managing finances and has brought this to bear in the manner he has gone about financing massive infrastructure in Osun as other states sleep away over the recession. Aregbesola’s proactive thinking has taken Osun higher over his six years and these shows that governors all over must become thinkers and not just come in to do things the normal ways. Innovation is the way to go and Ogbeni is the example.

The Governor of the state of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola has again called on traditional rulers to ensure security of lives and property of people in their domains.
The Governor gave the charge while presenting the instrument of appointment to Obaala of Ila Orangun, Obaala Samuel Olufemi Otitoola at the event that was held at the Palace of Orangun of Ila.
 

 
 
The Governor ,who was represented at the event by the Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Moshood Adeoti said traditional rulers are the custodians of culture and custom of their people saying they know their people better than the security operatives.
Governor Aregbesola lauded the humility and kindness of Orangun of Ila Orangun, Oba Wahab Kayode Oyedotun Bibire l for his subjects. He described the referred monarch as peace loving and progressive saying government will not do anything to undermine his authority in his domain.
The Council Manager of Ila Central Council Development Area, Mr Afolabi Fapounda thanked the Governor on behalf of the people of the town for creating Local Council in Ila saying the action will boost the economy of the people of the area.
The Orangun of Ila Orangun, Oba Wahab Kayode Oyedotun Bibire I appreciated the government for elevating one of his Chiefs to part ii status. He said Obaala Samuel Otitoola is not Obaala of Oke Ejigbo but Obaala of Ila Orangun.
In his welcome address, a community leader ,Prince Oye Agboola described the new Obaala as a very quiet, brilliant and intelligent person who is poised to work for the development of Ila Orangun.
Obaala Samuel Olufemi Otitoola thanked the Governor for the honour done him promising to rededicate himself to the development of Ila Orangun. He appealed to the people of Ila to continue to support and cooperate with government.
Other personalities that graced the Occasion were the Olufon of Ifon, Oba Al Marufu Mogbagbeola, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Local Government, Chieftaincy, Water Resources, Rural and Community Affairs, Mr Muftau Oluwadare as well as prominent sons and daughters of Ila Orangun.