The people and workers in Osun State have been enjoined to cooperate with the governor, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola, in his effort to deliver on his electoral promises.
The Senator representing Osun East Senatorial District and Chairman Senate Committee on Rules and Business, Babajide Omoworare made the call yesterday.
In statement by his Media Assistant Tunde Dairo, Senator Omoworare said  the financial difficulty currently experienced in the state is an imposed national crisis which the APC led Federal Government is working round the clock to resolve.
While commending President MuhammaduBuhari for his fatherly gesture through the bailout plan,  Senator Omoworare said: “The  bailout is a short term measure to ameliorate the economic hardship imposed on the federating states by the previous PDP led administration. Hence, states must look inward to generate more resources with people friendly and acceptable policies if they intend to break even.
“Workers in Osun should be commended for their perseverance and understanding as shown during this trying period. A collective solution for a lasting result and economic repositioning of the state is a necessity which must not be trivialised or politicized.”
THE NATION

*gives newspaper 15 days to retract publication

A member of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners in Osun has on Wednesday denied that it has urged the Central Bank of Nigeria to put an embargo on the N34.988bn bailout loan released to the state for workers salaries and pensions.

Mr. Tunde Oguniyi, who was quoted by Punch newspaper as the Chairman of Osun NUP made this denial while speaking with journalists shortly after the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Osun government signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the disbursement of bailout loan which commenced on Wednesday.

Oguniyi said at no time did he speak with the PUNCH correspondent while denying being the chairman of NUP or a member of the executives in the state.

Oguniyi held that he was the state Chairman of 2011/2012 retirees, a subset of the Nigerian Union of Pensioners (NUP) Osun Chapter‎.

‎He stated that he did not ‎address a press conference or signed a press statement let alone granting any interview in whatever form to the Punch newspaper or the correspondent in Osun.‎‎

Oguniyi stated that he was embarrassed by the publication of the Punch Newspaper‎ of September 16, 2015, where he was quoted to have called on President Muhammadu Buhari and the National Assembly to declare emergency rule in Osun because the state is gravitating towards anarchy because of non-payment of salaries and pensions.
The former NUP boss held that there was no time that he spoke with any media outfit in Osun or elsewhere in Nigeria that Governor Rauf Aregbesola has refused to use the bailout fund for what it was meant for.‎
‎He threatened to drag the Punch Newspaper to court within 15 days if the story is not retracted by the organisation. He described the report as false and that which could damage his reputation.

‎According to him, “I woke up this morning, reading in the Punch that I addressed a press conference calling on the CBN to stop Osun bailout. The report is a misrepresentation and completely false. It could have been sponsored by faceless people whose identity are not clear to me.‎

“The period that the Punch reported that I was addressing press conference, I was at the Government Secretariat negotiating on salary of pensioners as one of the 8-man negotiating committee of the NUP.
“I still find it disturbing on how it is possible for me to be negotiating in Abere on behalf of my colleagues and at the same time addressing a press conference even when I am not the chairman or secretary.

“I am not the chairman Osun NUP and at no time was an executive member of the union, Dr. Olunlade is the current Chairman but to my surprise, I was quoted as the Chairman who signed a purported statement that I have not even sighted as at the time of addressing you.

“The report is wicked, ridiculous and malicious and it is important for me to dissociate myself from such report because there was no time we discussed such press conference or anyone sought my consent to such press release.

“Before coming here this morning, I have contacted the Punch correspondent and I gave them 15 days ultimatum to retract the story or meet me in court.” Oguniyi stressed.

After a stream of cheery developmental news, the Osun opposition, with both hands, grabbed the demon of unpaid salaries — and hard, it nailed the Osun government.
It thoroughly demonised Governor Rauf Aregbesola and his ambitious social and physical infrastructure programmes, donning the Ogbeni in an unflattering garb — a grand hypocrite in the progressive space, that should be condemned by all!
Which lover of the masses, they ask in triumph, cheeks bathed in subversive tears, would sit pretty and watch his people go hungry, months on end, without salaries?
It was all emotive blackmail, of course.  On the salary issue, the governor was not unfazed any more than he created the failure, though his finances were rather tight, with virtually every kobo over-leveraged, on ambitious — over-ambitious, many insist — capital projects, such that any shock, no matter how slight, was catastrophic.
The real culprit was, however, former President Goodluck Jonathan — his recklessness with the national till. This point Ripples made in “Osun’s politics of the belly” (July 7), when it argued that since the Jonathan Presidency caused the problem, the Muhammadu Buhari Presidency should fix it, instead of the media roasting of victim governors, which solved no problems.  The president did just that.
But the blackmail grandly resonated.  Those unconvinced by its logic were easily swept by its pathos; with not a few succumbing fast to plaintive kith-and-kin, going hungry and clearly angry, for not earning salary, for no less than six months.
Well, all is fair in war — and the Osun government, in the clouds most times, plummeted back to earth!
Now, with a Federal Government-secured loan to clear the salary backlog, is the demonization set to end?  Not a chance!
For one, play on emotions is the exclusive preserve of those who cannot build clinical arguments; or the mischievous, who have nary a case.
For another, the Osun opposition is not about dismantling its egbirin ote — what the Yoruba would call a complex web of intrigues — for in Aregbesola’s failure lies their own salvation!  When, after all, comes from the gods, another potent blackmail weapon, ala unpaid salaries, to torture a clear and present nemesis?
So, enter a fresh controversy: the reported verification, in the build-up to clearing the salary arrears.
The Osun opposition insists it is yet another example of the government’s coldness to the plight of the Osun workers — for why is the verification bobbing up “now”, on the virtual eve of settling what was owed?  Some especially creative minds even posit, swearing by all they hold dear, that the government had “fixed” the salary money to earn some “quick interest”, while workers continued starving!
To be sure, the government has not exactly done itself much favour by the verification’s timing, with its high blackmail value: its opponents’ penchant for eternal spinning; and a jaded workers’ near-zero resistance to emotional manipulation, masquerading as hot sympathy.
Still, the government insists that since Osun would continue re-paying the loan far into the future, it was an excellent time to vet the salary bill, lest the money ends in some ghost pockets.  That makes a lot of sense, though not a few would be too angry to see reason with it.
It could also well be that a few ghosts and their ambassadors are the most trenchant in the protest racket — for the more raucous the racket, the more the confusion; and the more the confusion, the better chances the ghosts continue to get paid!
Whatever is happening, the Ogbeni owes the Osun people clear explanations and full disclosure.  At the end, the government would do what it must do to protect public money and its own integrity.
So, with the opposition always buzzing with mischief, of the most fantastic hue, it may be morning yet on Osun’s day of eternal intrigue!
Still, the Osun government must be gratified it continues to point the way, for the rest of the country, to the welfare state; despite its lean resources.  Two policy news appear to reinforce this point.
Two weeks ago, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo announced the Federal Government was set to implement the All Progressives Congress (APC) campaign promise of a schools feeding programme, which, apart from boosting school attendance, would also boost investment in agriculture, catering and allied lines.
On September 9 in Osogbo, as the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) kicked off its nationwide distribution of plastic chairs to schools, a Federal Government official confirmed Osun’s leadership in this schools welfare programme.
“The home-grown school feeding programme, the O’Meal,” said UBEC’s Dr. Yakubu Gambo, “is one programme that has endeared the governor to us because he is the only governor doing it despite the capital intensive nature of the programme.”
Governor Aregbesola, present at the occasion, weighed in: “We are building state-of-the-art 100 elementary schools, 50 middle schools and 20 high schools.  This is a big project by any standard,” he gushed, “which has injected life into the construction industry; and has provided jobs for artisans and professionals.”
Prince Felix Awofisayo, the Osun SUBEB chief, was not left out of the developmental whoop: “Let me reiterate that the provision of functional education for the citizenry,” he declared, “as the administration is anchored on the implementation of a cohesive and an all-encompassing six-point integral plan.”
So much developmental news in a day — a far cry from rumbling tummies, plotting adversaries and scapegoating media, just as it was at the beginning, before the salary demon!
It is the final triumph, then?  Hardly!
‘Governor Aregbesola needs a cabinet now to finish as strongly as he started, before the salary catastrophe.  If he delays, he risks facing a crisis — an internal crisis — much more lethal than the hell-raising Osun opposition can ever muster’
And the battle next time would not be solely from the Osun opposition, even if its bad-tempered buzz would always vibrate; but more dangerously from inside Aregbesola’s own camp, which may well, not unfairly, declare itself starved of legitimate pork.
Thank God, the salary odyssey is coming to an end.  The Ogbeni should draw a closure as swiftly as he can, and bring smiles back to the cheeks of Osun workers.  He should also seek funds to complete his grand capital projects, among them crucial roads.  It is nice developmental news, from Osun, is hitting the wires again, after the horror tales of the past months.
But the come-back would not be complete without the governor constituting a cabinet. Nearing the end of the first year in a four-year second term, it is time to bring in as many bright and committed minds as possible — for it is a challenging juncture, demanding a brilliant and committed collective.  It could make the difference between success and failure.
Governor Aregbesola needs a cabinet now to finish as strongly as he started, before the interregnum of the salary catastrophe.  If he delays, he risks facing a crisis — an internal crisis — much more lethal than the hell-raising Osun opposition can ever muster.
THE NATION

The concern of the Osun State government is how to sustain payment of salary after using the bailout to clear salary arrears, Chief Whip of the House of Assembly, Oladoyin Bamisayemi-Folorunso, has said.
Folorunso said the state will be back to square one because its monthly allocation of N1.6 billion falls short of the N3.6 billion monthly wages.
He spoke yesterday on Sunrise Daily, a Channels Television programme.
He said Governor Rauf Aregbesola had been holding consultation with stakeholders, including labour unions, traditional rulers and opinion leaders, on the way forward. “This is the moment of clarity for the government and the workers. The present wage bill of N3.6 billion is unsustainable,” he said.
The lawmaker said payment of the salary arrears would start today. “I can assure you the workers will start receiving their pay in the next 24 hours. The rumour that the bailout had been diverted is not true; the money is intact.
“Our concern is that after the bailout, what next? That was why the state government had been brainstorming with the stakeholders. The state’s economy can’t sustain six tertiary institutions. That is why all of us should come together and face the reality. It is either we sacrifice or we continue to face the problem of salary arrears.”
On Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), Bamisayemi-Folorunso said the people are not ready to pay tax. The government introduced a flat rate of N1, 500 per adult, which sparked off protest. He said given the state of finance, government may have to rationalise its work force because, according to him, the state revenue could not sustain the current 35,000 workforce.
But tertiary institution workers said they will not accept a salary cut. They insisted that their full salary, including allowances, should be paid since the bailout was meant for that. They advised the government to stop pension deduction because the previous deduction was last remitted to the pension firms last September.
THE NATION

Contrary to insinuations by the Osun Peoples Democratic Party PDP that the Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola has diverted the bailout loan to finance contracts, the National President, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Aliyu Wabba ‎has said that the Osun bailout loan is intact.

Comrade Wabba made this disclosure while speaking with journalists shortly‎ after the union and other labour leaders met behind closed doors with the governor in his office in Osogbo.
‎
The NLC boss stated that NLC and other leaders who had come on a fact-finding mission have confirmed that Governor  Aregbesola has no intention to divert the bailout funds on any project in the state as speculated in by the opposition.
Wabba described the allegation as misleading and unfounded, stating that Osun government and labour leaders have come to a common ground on how the bailout funds would be disbursed for the payment of backlog of workers’ salary.

He said the union and the state government have agreed to set up a five-man committee to oversee and work on the improvement of the state Internally Generated Revenue in order to prevent the state from future economic problem.

Speaking on the progress made by the meeting, he noted that the state government has agreed to pay the backlog of salaries from the bailout loan it received.

He added the delay in payment of the bailout by Osun government was occasioned by concern on the sustainability of the state resources to continuously meet up with the payment of workers’ salary after the bailout loan had been expended for the purpose it was meant for.

The NLC boss stressed that the union has assured the governor of its support in boosting the state IGR so as to make the state to meet up with its recurrent and capital expenditure as well as other commitments.
According to him, “I want to make it clear to the whole world that Governor Aregbesola has no intention whatsoever to divert the bailout funds for the execution or completion of any project in the state as he is ready to use the money for the payment of workers’ salary arrears.
“We have reached a fruitful and workable ground with Mr. Governor on how the backlog salaries of our members would be paid.
“Our union has comprehensively discussed with Mr. Governor on  how the state IGR would be exponentially elevated so as for the state to meet with all its engagements as the governor envisaged largely on the sustainability of the state workforce in terms of salary payment”,
Comrade Wabba noted.

Speaking on the position of the state government towards the resolutions made at the meeting, he stressed that the governor was bordered by the state of the nation’s economy which he said has negatively affected the allocation received by the state.

Wabba said that Aregbesola was of the opinion that unless the state IGR is improved, the state would be incapable to settling the bills of her workforce. Comrade Wabba said the union has come to realize the position of  the state government on the need for all the stakeholders in the state to work collectively at blocking all leakages and as well increase the state IGR.

•Aregbesola seeks cooperation with NSA
The Nigerian Statistical Association (NSA) has urged on the Federal Government to involve the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) in the monitoring of crude oil export and refined petroleum products importation with a view to ensuring reliable statistical data on the nation’s merchandise.
This is even as it also called for urgent review of the existing policies guiding the economic activities in the Export Processing Zones (EPZs) such that the export-import trade business in the zones could be accessible to agencies involved in data collation and production for national planning and development.
Setting this agenda for government at the just ended 39th Annual Conference of the Association in Oshogbo, Osun State, its National President, Dr Mohammed Tumala, said these policy measures were required to get accurate data on Nigeria’s merchandise trade trends on a broader scale and by implication, support statistics-based planning for development.
Tumala, who described the exclusion of statistics as a core subject in secondary school curriculum as undesirable for the country, said the involvement of the NCS in crude oil lifting and fuel import regime, given the agency’s capacity to do so, would go a long way in minimising the abuses that had characterised the oil and gas industry operations over the years.
On the current moves to build a credible identity database for Nigerians as well as the  anti-corruption crusade in the country, Tumala said such agenda would only succeed if the relevant agencies had the right data to work  with and also involve professional statisticians in the collation, analysing, production, and application of such statistical data on their investigations.
He therefore advised security agencies such as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to see how they could begin to rely on and adopt proactive data mining approaches to fight financial and other crimes in the country.
While expressing the readiness of the NSA to partner with the various agencies including the EFCC, Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (CPC), Directorate of State Security Services (DSSS) and the National Identity Management Commission  (NIMC), Tumala said  the group was prepared to help state governments establish their Bureaux of Statistics to support their drive towards effective policy implementation.
In his opening speech at the Conference, Osun State Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, appealed to the association to rise to the challenge of helping the country develop a credible statistical database on key areas of education, health and the economy, among others, with a view to supporting the tiers of government in basing their developmental agenda on statistics-based planning.
THE NATION

The suit filed by Justice Oloyede Olamide Folahanmi against the Speaker of the Osun State House of Assembly, Najeem Salam, and 10 others has been re-assigned to another judge and further hearing of the case fixed for October 5, 2015.
The case was hitherto handled by Justice Adeyinka Aderibigbe, a vacation judge. Aderibigbe, while giving the order, said the process of adjournment was to allow counsel to the plaintiff, Kanmi Ajibola, serve the third to ninth respondents duly.
The defense counsel, Lawal Ibrahim and Idris Mikail, had tendered two applications before the court in the sitting.
The applications contained a counter-affidavit to show that the complainant was not truthful in fair hearing, despite her proxy and also an application seeking the court to dismiss the case on grounds of baseless facts and improper serving of the defense counsel.
Oloyede, a serving judge in the state, who was recently queried by National Judicial Council over her unethical and impropriety disposition, had sent a petition to the House of Assembly, calling for the impeachment of Governor Rauf Aregbesola for allegedly financial mismanagement.
The Assembly, however, dismissed the petition on August 4, 2015 following the recommendations of a seven-man ad hoc committee set up to investigate the allegations and recommended appropriate sanctions against her.
Ibrahim, while speaking with journalists, said that the application brought by the plaintiff was not meant for this court to entertain, because the decision of the House cannot be quashed by order of certified right.
He said, “No disciplinary action taken against her yet and her right to sue has not been crystalised.
“The application is just a waste of time; as you can see, there is no urgency in the case, hence their request for adjournment.”
DAILY INDPEPENDENT

The Government of the State of Osun on Monday assured the people of the state that the N34.988billion bailout funds received from the Federal Government will be used for the very purpose for which it was received.

The Bureau, in its statement by the Director, Mr. Semiu Okanlawon, explained that while the first batch of payment this week will be effected through the allocations received for the month of July, this is only pending the conclusion of the verification exercise which the labour itself called for in order to determine the actual workforce of the state.

The clarification, according to the Bureau of Communication and Strategy in the Office of the Governor, became necessary given the various insinuations and manipulations of the minds of the people giving the impressions that the funds will be diverted to other purposes.

“We are using the opportunity to assure the entire workers in the state that all arrears of salary and pensions will be paid from the bailout funds as the reason for which it was received. And this is why the government has ensured that the verification exercise is concluded and the actual figure of workers is determined for the purpose of payment,” the Bureau stated

Explaining further, the Bureau said that bailing out by the Federal Government will not be a continuous thing in the life of Nigeria, adding that the current bailout scheme was necessitated by the economic doldrums the ousted PDP-led Federal Government plunged the country into.

The statement said the government must protect fully the interests of its real workers who toil day and night to ensure the growth and development of the state.

“It is therefore pertinent for workers themselves to ensure effective conclusion of this process in order to ensure they reap the fruits of their labour and prevent the criminal and dubious activities of those who reap where they do not sow.

“Therefore, we must agree that civil service reforms are absolutely critical at this stage in the life of our dear state. There is a need for the engagement of all critical segments of leadership of government and labour for the necessary actions that will make the service effective, efficient and economic.

“If our state, and by all means, the entire South-West region will become financially and materially viable, a wholesome review of what works and what does not  must be carried out and implemented with considerable alacrity and efficiency.”

The statement ended with the Governor reemphasising his commitment to sustaining the many social programmes his government operate, stating that compassion with the distressed and poor members of society is the true definition of successful leadership.

Prof. Oyawoye Bukola, an Environmentalist and former Commissioner for Environment, Osun, said the state has food inspectors that monitors and oversees activities of food vendors in the state.
Bukola, who made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday, said government was in partnership with Food Vendors Association to ensure standard and hygiene.
She explained that food vendors’ association in the state was well organised, saying that it also regulates activities of food vendors to make sure they keep up to standard.
She added that the food vendors association was part of the stakeholders’ forum of the state ministry of environment which helps to monitor food vendors’ activities in the state.
The ex-commissioner said whenever the association report vendors that are defiant and don’t keep to standard for hygienic in food preparation, the state task force (environmental officers) go after them.
Officers are deployed to visit such vendors’ places of operation and sometimes sanction them when found guilty.
She said from time to time, the ministry holds interactive meetings with executive members of the food vendors association in the state.
According to her, consultants are also engaged to go round and check the environment and quality of water used by the food vendors to prepare their foods.
Bukola said in some cases where vendors were at fault, the first thing they do was to correct and educate them.
She also said when unregistered food vendors were seen hawking, they stop such a vendor, and ascertain where he/she prepared the food.
Bukola said the effort was to safe guard the health of the people and to make sure the food was prepared under hygienic conditions.
(NAN)

After a stream of cheery developmental news, the Osun opposition, with both hands, grabbed the demon of unpaid salaries — and hard, it nailed the Osun government.
It thoroughly demonised Governor Rauf Aregbesola and his ambitious social and physical infrastructure programmes, donning the Ogbeni in an unflattering garb — a grand hypocrite in the progressive space, that should be condemned by all!
Which lover of the masses, they ask in triumph, cheeks bathed in subversive tears, would sit pretty and watch his people go hungry, months on end, without salaries?
It was all emotive blackmail, of course.  On the salary issue, the governor was not unfazed any more than he created the failure, though his finances were rather tight, with virtually every kobo over-leveraged, on ambitious — over-ambitious, many insist — capital projects, such that any shock, no matter how slight, was catastrophic.
The real culprit was, however, former President Goodluck Jonathan — his recklessness with the national till. This point Ripples made in “Osun’s politics of the belly” (July 7), when it argued that since the Jonathan Presidency caused the problem, the Muhammadu Buhari Presidency should fix it, instead of the media roasting of victim governors, which solved no problems.  The president did just that.
But the blackmail grandly resonated.  Those unconvinced by its logic were easily swept by its pathos; with not a few succumbing fast to plaintive kith-and-kin, going hungry and clearly angry, for not earning salary, for no less than six months.
Well, all is fair in war — and the Osun government, in the clouds most times, plummeted back to earth!
Now, with a Federal Government-secured loan to clear the salary backlog, is the demonization set to end?  Not a chance!
For one, play on emotions is the exclusive preserve of those who cannot build clinical arguments; or the mischievous, who have nary a case.
For another, the Osun opposition is not about dismantling its egbirin ote — what the Yoruba would call a complex web of intrigues — for in Aregbesola’s failure lies their own salvation!  When, after all, comes from the gods, another potent blackmail weapon, ala unpaid salaries, to torture a clear and present nemesis?
So, enter a fresh controversy: the reported verification, in the build-up to clearing the salary arrears.
The Osun opposition insists it is yet another example of the government’s coldness to the plight of the Osun workers — for why is the verification bobbing up “now”, on the virtual eve of settling what was owed?  Some especially creative minds even posit, swearing by all they hold dear, that the government had “fixed” the salary money to earn some “quick interest”, while workers continued starving!
To be sure, the government has not exactly done itself much favour by the verification’s timing, with its high blackmail value: its opponents’ penchant for eternal spinning; and a jaded workers’ near-zero resistance to emotional manipulation, masquerading as hot sympathy.
Still, the government insists that since Osun would continue re-paying the loan far into the future, it was an excellent time to vet the salary bill, lest the money ends in some ghost pockets.  That makes a lot of sense, though not a few would be too angry to see reason with it.
It could also well be that a few ghosts and their ambassadors are the most trenchant in the protest racket — for the more raucous the racket, the more the confusion; and the more the confusion, the better chances the ghosts continue to get paid!
Whatever is happening, the Ogbeni owes the Osun people clear explanations and full disclosure.  At the end, the government would do what it must do to protect public money and its own integrity.
So, with the opposition always buzzing with mischief, of the most fantastic hue, it may be morning yet on Osun’s day of eternal intrigue!
Still, the Osun government must be gratified it continues to point the way, for the rest of the country, to the welfare state; despite its lean resources.  Two policy news appear to reinforce this point.
Two weeks ago, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo announced the Federal Government was set to implement the All Progressives Congress (APC) campaign promise of a schools feeding programme, which, apart from boosting school attendance, would also boost investment in agriculture, catering and allied lines.
On September 9 in Osogbo, as the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) kicked off its nationwide distribution of plastic chairs to schools, a Federal Government official confirmed Osun’s leadership in this schools welfare programme.
“The home-grown school feeding programme, the O’Meal,” said UBEC’s Dr. Yakubu Gambo, “is one programme that has endeared the governor to us because he is the only governor doing it despite the capital intensive nature of the programme.”
Governor Aregbesola, present at the occasion, weighed in: “We are building state-of-the-art 100 elementary schools, 50 middle schools and 20 high schools.  This is a big project by any standard,” he gushed, “which has injected life into the construction industry; and has provided jobs for artisans and professionals.”
Prince Felix Awofisayo, the Osun SUBEB chief, was not left out of the developmental whoop: “Let me reiterate that the provision of functional education for the citizenry,” he declared, “as the administration is anchored on the implementation of a cohesive and an all-encompassing six-point integral plan.”
So much developmental news in a day — a far cry from rumbling tummies, plotting adversaries and scapegoating media, just as it was at the beginning, before the salary demon!
It is the final triumph, then?  Hardly!
‘Governor Aregbesola needs a cabinet now to finish as strongly as he started, before the salary catastrophe.  If he delays, he risks facing a crisis — an internal crisis — much more lethal than the hell-raising Osun opposition can ever muster’
And the battle next time would not be solely from the Osun opposition, even if its bad-tempered buzz would always vibrate; but more dangerously from inside Aregbesola’s own camp, which may well, not unfairly, declare itself starved of legitimate pork.
Thank God, the salary odyssey is coming to an end.  The Ogbeni should draw a closure as swiftly as he can, and bring smiles back to the cheeks of Osun workers.  He should also seek funds to complete his grand capital projects, among them crucial roads.  It is nice developmental news, from Osun, is hitting the wires again, after the horror tales of the past months.
But the come-back would not be complete without the governor constituting a cabinet. Nearing the end of the first year in a four-year second term, it is time to bring in as many bright and committed minds as possible — for it is a challenging juncture, demanding a brilliant and committed collective.  It could make the difference between success and failure.
Governor Aregbesola needs a cabinet now to finish as strongly as he started, before the interregnum of the salary catastrophe.  If he delays, he risks facing a crisis — an internal crisis — much more lethal than the hell-raising Osun opposition can ever muster.
THE NATION