Osun State Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola has described the flood that wreaked havoc in Osogbo, the state capital after the Eid-El-Kabir Sallah as devastating and advised people of the state to desist from indiscriminate dumping of refuse on the water ways.
Speaking during his visit to affected areas including Oke-Onitea, Rasco, Fiwasaye and Gbomi, the governor commiserated with the relatives of the person who loss his life in the flood and also sympathised with those who lost properties.

 
The Governor said the flood occurrence took the state by surprise given the heavy investments of his administration on flood prevention since 2011.
“Considering our efforts in the past, we never expected this kind of flood. Our government deeply regret the flooding that has affected our people,” he said.
After the tour which took him to all the areas affected Aregbesola said, “We have been quite committed to ensuring absence of this calamity since the advent of our administration as we have been regularly dredging the waterways on annual basis and as a matter of fact, we are still very much indebted to those who normally work with us to ensure cleaning of our waterways.”
The governor attributed the development to what he called the negative impact of people’s activities on the environment, adding that a huge accumulation of wastes remains a major invitation to flood.
But the opposition party in the state blamed governor Aregbesola for the loss of lives and properties insisting that the governor must explain what he did with the ecological funds given to the state.

Gov. Rauf Aregbesola of Osun on Thursday in Osogbo attributed the recent flooding in the state to the negative impact of the people’s activities on the environment. Mr Semiu Okanlawon, the Media Aide to the Governor, said in a statement that the governor expressed the view during a tour of communities affected by flood recently.
 

 
 
The communities are Okeonitea, Rasco, Fiwasaye and Gbomi. Okanlawon quoted the governor as saying that “huge accumulation of wastes remained a major invitation to flooding in the state’’ as it blocked the waterways. He said the governor appealed to the people of the state to be hygienic and to cooperate with the state government in maintaining good liveable environment.
 
“Our people must henceforth obey government sanitation control and the collection of waste that we put in place. “If we religiously follow it, we will never experience this devastating flooding, everyone is urged to dispose his or her waste responsibly,” the governor added. He, however, expressed sympathy with those affected by the recent flooding, Okanlawon said.
 
The governor said the flood took the state by surprise judging by the heavy investments of his administration on flood prevention since 2011, Okanlawon added.
 
He added that considering its efforts at ensuring clear waterways in the past, the state government never expected the flooding. “Since 2011, the government has been embarking on massive dredging of waterways in all parts of the state in order to prevent such disaster.
 
“As a matter of fact, we are still very much indebted to those who normally work with us to ensure the cleaning of our waterways. “Our government deeply regrets the flooding that has affected our people,” Okanlawon quoted the governor as saying.

Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun Wednesday evening expressed sympathy with residents of the state capital Osogbo who were affected by flood.
Aregbesola, in a statement by the Director, Bureau of Communication and Strategy Mr. Semiu Okanlawon, was quoted as speaking during his tour of the affected areas which included Okeonitea, Rasco, Fiwasaye and Gbomi.
 

 
The Governor said the flood occurrence took the state by surprise judging by the heavy investments of his administration on flood prevention since 2011.
“Considering our efforts in the past at ensuring cleared waterways, we never expected this. Our government deeply regret the flooding that has affected our people,” he said.
Since 2011, the government had been embarking on massive dredging of waterways in all parts of state in order to stave off such disasters.
After the tour which took him to all the areas affected Aregbesola said,
“I have moved around to commiserate with the victims whose properties were affected by this disaster.
“We have been quite committed to ensuring absence of this calamity since the advent of our administration as we have been regularly dredging the waterways on annual basis and as a matter of fact we are still very much indebted to those who normally work with us to ensure cleaning of our waterways.”
The governor attributed the development to what he called the negative impact of people’s activities on the environment adding that a huge accumulation of wastes remains a major invitation to flood.
He said, “This happens mostly when the negative activities of the people impact on the environment as we have seen a huge accumulation of wastes blocking the free flow of waterways.
“I want to use this opportunity to appeal to our people to heed our call to live very hygienic life. Let us cooperate with the government in the maintenance of good liveable environment.
“Our people must henceforth obey the government sanitation control and the collection of waste that we put in place because if we all religiously follow it, we will never experience this devastating flooding.
“Our government is aware that those who cause this are not living in this environment but the consequences of their unhygienic culture caused this -the loss of millions of naira and assets.
“Let us all run away from what we called pains, agony and misery to our fellow human beings as everyone is urged to dispose his or her waste responsibly.
Pastor Dayo Oluwamakin of the Christ Apostolic Church Gbonmi area, while speaking with Governor Aregbesola during the tour commended the governor for what he called the government’s previous efforts at preventing what used to be the annual disaster before the advent of the Aregbesola administration.
He said he was sure that the government had done well in preventing flood before this latest incident.

The Government of Osun on Thursday described as fallacious, demand by the State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party to justify how the state spent ecological funds in the wake of the flood that affected some parts of the state capital.
 

 
The government said it smacks of total ignorance and mischief for the PDP not to recall how funds such as ecological funds were used to play dirty politics and victimised states under the control of the opposition party.
The Government, through a statement by the Bureau of Communication and Strategy, Office of the Governor, said Osun did not get any ecological funds to execute its massive projects which prevented flood since 2011.
“Osun did not receive any ecological fund from the disastrous PDP Federal Government from November 27, 2010 to May 29, 2015. We have depended on our legitimate revenues from all sources to annually dredge our waterways up till 2015 when revenue decline hindered our efforts,” the Bureau’s statement, signed by its Director, Semiu Okanlawon, explained.
The Bureau said despite the dirty politics played by the PDP government at the centre, Osun remained one of the few states that had never experienced any flooding since 2010/2011 till the unfortunate incident of Tuesday, September 13, 2016.
It said the government of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, left no part of the state untouched in its proactive massive projects to save the environment.
The government asked the PDP to go back to its records to remind itself of the wickedness it perpetrated against states under opposition parties throughout its 16 years of clueless rule.
“We are concerned with the agony of our citizens and shall do all in our power to limit the pains and prevent a re- occurrence, as we are committed to eliminating all hindrances to free flow of water in the canals, drainage systems and waterways in the state. All obstructions to free flow of water in these channels will be removed, while property blocking easy access to the drainage channels thus preventing adequate management of them will be separated,” the statement added
Calling on the people to desist from indiscriminate dumping of refuse and waste into the canals, the government reminded residents of the need to patronise registered waste collectors and the authorised dump sites.
The statement also advised those seeing the unfortunate incident as avenue to jubilate to search their conscience adding that the people of Osun are quite aware of the massive projects executed to prevent flooding in the state since the inception of the administration.

The Osun State government has promised to intensify efforts to ensure that waterways are clear to avert a recurrence of flooding that led to the death of one person and destruction of property.
 
 
 
Governor Rauf Aregbesola and his Deputy, Mrs Titilayo Tomori-Laoye, made the promise on Wednesday evening when they visited some of the areas affected by the flood to commiserate with them.
Addressing reporters at the Cac Oke Igbala DCC Headquarters in Gbonmi area of Osogbo, Governor Aregbesola said his administration was deeply sorry for the loss of life and property of the people.
Regularly Desilting Waterways
The Governor urged the residents to desist from indiscriminate dumping of refuse, which he said was largely responsible ‎for the flooding.

He said his administration had in time past invested so much in dredging the major waterways identified as flood prone zones ‎to avert such occurrence.
Governor Aregbesola, however, promised that his government would ‎intensify efforts at ensuring that the waterways were made free to avert future occurrence.
“We have been very much committed to ensuring absence of this calamity.
“Since the advent of the administration, we have been regularly desilting the waterways on an annual basis.
He said that although the state had received a flood alert, the government had, considering its deflooding efforts, it never expected it to have the devastating effect.
It had rained heavily for hours in Osogbo the capital of Osun State, resulting to flooding of some communities.
Residents said help that came from the emergency agencies or the state authorities was late.

Channels Television’s correspondent, who returned to the scene of the incident, said residents property have been destroyed and the flooding has left one person dead.
A woman and her daughter were trapped in a store just as many of the residents around one of the communities were stranded after a bridge collapsed.
One of the residents affected said the cause of the flooding was a bridge that they said drainages within the area were channeled, which they insisted was too low.
“The government should break down that bridge and carry it up just like that of Ajegunle and create a very good gutter here. That is all we need,” he requested.
 
Credit : Channels TV

Governor Rauf Aregbesola and his Deputy, Mrs Titilayo Tomori-Laoye, on Wednesday visited some of the flood affected areas ‎this evening to commiserate with the people.

Speaking to journalists at the CAC, Oke Igbala, DCC headquarters Gbonmi Area in Osogbo, the state capital, Governor Aregbesola said his administration is deeply sorry for the loss of life and property of the people.
The governor, who noted that indiscriminate dumping of refuse is largely responsible ‎for the flooding, advised the people to desist from blocking the waterways with refuse.
He said his administration had in time past invested so much in dredging of the major water ways identified as flood prone zones ‎to avert such occurrence.
He, however, promised that his government will ‎intensify efforts at ensuring that the water ways are made free to avert future occurrence.
An unidentified driver lost his life while several properties got submerged in flood as a heavy downpour left bitter tales for many residents of Osogbo, the Osun state capital.
Some residents in areas like Testing Ground, Rasco, Oke-Onitea, Fiwasaye, Gbomi and Iludun in Osogbo have been counting their losses as the rain came down heavily for three hours, causing flood in many parts of the city.

As his tradition, the Governor, State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola turned the “Ileya” (Eid ul Adha) festival into a carnival-like procession and endorsement of good governance celebration in the city of Osogbo, the State Capital this morning.
Dancing and acknowleging cheers fro a mammoth crowd who expectantly trooped out to catch a glimpse of their hero governor on his way to the Eid Praying Ground at located at Orita Baale, Osogbo.

Vantaged on top of his official vehicle, petite Ogbeni acknowledged cheers from Muslim faithfuls and enthusiastic citizens during the 2016 Eid-El-Kabir ride from the Government House to Osogbo Central praying ground, Oke-Baale, Osogbo.

Mammoth crowd cheered and celebrated with Osun Governor Aregbesola, at Eid ul Adha Festival 2016 in Osogbo

Mammoth crowd cheered and celebrated with Osun Governor Aregbesola, at Eid ul Adha Festival 2016 in Osogbo

Mammoth crowd cheered and celebrated with Osun Governor Aregbesola, at Eid ul Adha Festival 2016 in Osogbo

Mammoth crowd cheered and celebrated with Osun Governor Aregbesola at Eid ul Adha Festival 2016 in Osogbo

Mammoth crowd cheered and celebrated with Osun Governor Aregbesola at Eid ul Adha Festival 2016 in Osogbo

Mammoth crowd cheered and celebrated with Osun Governor Aregbesola at Eid ul Adha Festival 2016 in Osogbo

Mammoth crowd cheered and celebrated with Osun Governor Aregbesola at Eid ul Adha Festival 2016 in Osogbo

As a part of the Silver Jubilee Anniversary Celebrations marking the creation of Osun on August 27, 2016, President Mohammadu Buhari on September 1, commissioned Osogbo Government High School. The school has the capacity for 3,000 students; equipped with all modern academic and sporting facilities, it is rated as one of the best schools in Nigeria. The status of the school is a fallout of Gov. Rauf Aregbesola’s resolves to standardise education in the state. For the benefit of the uninitiated, Aregbesola convoked an education summit between Feb.7 and Feb.8, 2011, barely three months into his administration, which was chaired byProf. Wole Soyinka. The summit’s communiqué  eventually became the fulcrum of Aregbesola’s education policy direction.
 

 
The new administration, acting on the education template, set a target to build 170 well-equipped model schools across the state, categorising them into elementary, middle and high schools, each with a maximum absorptive capacity of between 1, 000 and 3,000 pupils. In addition, it decentralised the Teaching Service Commission (TESCOM) into three districts. Teachers Establishment and Pension
Office (TEPO) was also established for training and retraining, promotion, prompt payment of salaries and allowances and taking care of teacher pension. The government approached the Department of Nutrition Sciences at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, to formulate a feeding roster that could give the best possible balanced diet.
Presently, more than 254,000 elementary school pupils are fed on nutritional meals — chicken, fish, beef, eggs and fruits every school day on the platform of O-Meals programme, which is meant as a bait for greater enrolment of pupils in schools as most poor parents see it as a respite. Records show that
primary school enrolment rose from 155,318 at the inception of the programme to 254,793 (62.8 percent increase). The state government insists that the N3.5 billion spent on the meals annually is an incentive to farmers to produce more as there is a guaranteed readymade market for agricultural produce, while the programme empowers 3,007 trained caterers and food vendors.
To make the new school system work, more than N354 million was committed to the provision of instructional materials, home economics facilities, science equipment and other teaching kits for the public primary and secondary schools. The scheme is being understudied by federal and state governments.
The Aregbesola administration has also committed N800 million into the free school uniform programmes at two pairs. Residents of the state say that the uniform has brought uniformity to schools in the state, thus fostering a sense of belonging in public schools.
There is the Omoluabi Scholar Coaster Buses for easy transportation of students atN20 per daily trip for  each pupil, while primary and secondary schools running grants were increased from N7.4 million to N424 million and N117 million to N427 million per year respectively. Likewise, some categories of students are given computer — Opon Imo –, the e-learning tablet designed to make learning interesting and easy.
The device contains all books required for the Senior Secondary School syllabus, the last 10 years past questions of WAEC, NECO, and UTME. Observers note that in 10 years, Opon Imo would have saved the state more than N50 billion of physical purchase of hard copies of textbooks for the 17 subjects taught in public schools. They note that the innovation has earned the United Nations
World Summit Award for ITC innovation as the 4th best e-learning device in the
World.
The state government has increased  bursary award from N2, 000 paid to each final year students of all courses apart from Law and Medicine to N10, 000, and each final year students in Medicine and Law from N3, 000 to N20, 000 each.
However, due to the raging financial meltdown, these subventions could no longer be accommodated after the third year of the administration.
Aregbesola has, therefore, instructed the management of the four tertiary institutions in the state to look at their areas of strengths and weaknesses. Before this administration, Osun occupied the 34th
position on Federal Allocation with virtually nothing to write home about in terms of Internally Generated Revenue. This notwithstanding, the administration has demonstrated that with little resources but targeted intervention, innovation and political will, dramatic and unprecedented
progress is achievable.
For every project Aregbesola does, he looks at how it is going to benefit the very poor people, seeing governance as a way to develop society by empowering the people.
He believes that investment in today’s children and youths would yield the best returns in the not too distance future, and create a level playground for every child.
Concerned residents of the state, therefore, have observed that the impact of the Aregbesola administration will surely come in the fullness of time and be harvested by the next generation.
Ademola wrote from Osogbo, Osun State and can be reached via 08037127929

Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State yesterday enjoined Nigerians to be selfless in the discharge of their duties as he joined others leaders in goodwill messages to Muslims on the occasion of the Eid-el-Kabir festival.
 

 
Aregbesola said selflessness helps build a nation adding that when the welfare of the people is most paramount, it leads to the emergence of a society with peace, equality and growth.
In a statement signed by the Director, Bureau of Communication and Strategy, Office of the Governor, Mr. Semiu Okanlawon, Aregbesola said commitment, perseverance and prayer are the key ingredients needed as the country passes through its worst trial moments.

The Governor urged Muslims to pray for the peace and stability in the country.
He said the country will make progress towards the fulfillment of its great potentials as a nation if Nigerians promote peace, security and stability, which are very essential for development by showing greater respect for national safety and public order laws.
The governor tasked adherents of Islam to imbibe the lessons of commitment, dedication and obedience to higher authorities as inherently demonstrated by Prophet Ibrahim’s willingness to sacrifice his son in obedience to the will of God which the Eid-el-Kabir commemorates.
Aregbesola restated his administration’s commitment to the people of the state, adding that the president Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government will continue to do all it can to improve the living conditions of Nigerians.
The Governor said the emerging new Osun with better infrastructure, security of lives and property emanate from the readiness of the leadership in the state to remain selfless.