A look at governance in the state of Osun since the inception of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola brings home once again the essence of governance. Considering the focus and the gradual multi faceted transformation going on in that state, one is bound to conclude that the new approach/orientation brought by Aregbesola into governance throws a challenge to the mimetic that being welfarist puts impossible ‘financial burden’ on the government for which the abdication of certain responsibilities are inevitable. Needless to say his is a challenge to the status quo of how we have come to understand governance in Nigeria.
An overview of Ogbeni’s governance will reveal the followings: (a) a peoples’ oriented programs and policies (b) a focus on cost effectiveness and long term benefit (c) a balanced approach in the employment of societal resources where the tide of ‘private accumulation’ is stemmed by a proactive collectivism that is as effective, competitive and protective of the weak, and (d) a strive to reach the largest number of people with programs and policies that cut across all the strata, all the divides of the society.
There is no doubt that Ogbeni intends to follow the steps of the late sage, Pa Awolowo when he brought out his SIX-POINT INTEGRAL ACTION PLAN as his ‘pact’ with the people. The link between the contents of the pact shows that it goes beyond just employment of catchy words to defraud the people, when in substance such so called programs could be lacking. Essentially the programs in his ‘pact’ are integrated (related to one another which affords for leveraging), and also connects the various grades of people in the society – the young, elderly, men and women. Again the content of the pact which is six in number shows not only the centrality of the people in the ‘thought processes’ of the program, but also the link between peoples’ empowerment and societal growth. The ‘Action Plan’ contains basically the following: to banish poverty; to foster communal peace and progress; to promote functional education; to banish hunger; to restore healthy living and to create work and wealth.
The centrality of the people: To start with, hunger and poverty no doubt stifles rigorous thinking which militates against the germination of ideas and holds a people down. Every right thinking government ought to be concerned about how hunger and poverty are banished or reduced to the barest minimum in order to extract the full potentials in the individual. This kind of concern (unlike some bourgeoisie formulations which expects the ‘magical’ hands of a thoroughly manipulated market to ration resources, leaving the weak vulnerable) connects the various needs and potential growth areas of the society. For instance, the ‘O Meal’ ‘food-subsidy’ program which targets around 254,000 school children for feeding on a daily basis connects farmers (of whatever size) to government’s patronage, provides an avenue for moderate income and wealth, and gradually reforms and repositions the agricultural sector of the state.
Through this singular initiative the support structures and institutions needed for a thriving agricultural sector are expected to start picking up such as the agricultural boards, the River Basins, the silos, and other elements associated with agro allied industries – the forward/backward integration between the industry and agriculture that has eluded the country for long may gradually return! In this way, farmers have ‘backers’ (the government) which serves as ‘lender of last resort’ to them by ensuring that harvested crops are not allowed to waste or get sold below their value out of fear of their perishing. India recently in its bid to stamp out hunger and revive its agricultural sector floated a record $200 billion bond ‘food security’. With such initiatives in the state of Osun, the era of ‘Agro-Dollar’ may be beckoning!
In the area of education the government not only decided to make it free and accessible but equally strives to take out some of the inherent burdens on some households which may make the assimilation of knowledge on the part of some pupil difficult; and this explains the ‘O Meal’ program. For the secondary school students, the Opon Imo has become a program which every serious minded government is thinking of copying as a sure way to resuscitate the fallen standard of education right from the secondary school. Students not only have all their subjects compiled in one piece, but also have access to a ‘virtual’ class room and library. The ‘tablets’ are not only cheaper and more durable than the normal books, but through it an ‘entrepreneurial’ base dedicated to providing back up services could develop. These are multiplier effects of a genuine endeavor to improve the lives of others. With the Opon Imo tablets, the state has an edge and is positioned to outclass others by the time the results would start to trickle in
Prudence: One common thing about the above stated programs (the O Meal and the Opon Imo tablets) is their cost effectiveness, which is a product of both a rigorous way of thinking and an innate sincerity. It is the lack of these factors (rigorous/critical thinking and sincerity on the part of most leaders) that has made some people to pronounce that free education is impossible and that welfarism as a state policy is outdated. As a landlocked state with a moderate income level, the state strives to improve its most feasible resource base – agriculture- with a target to reach 10% of the Lagos food market part of which was responsible for a leap in its internally generated revenue (IGR) from a meager 300 million to a whooping 700 million naira!
This explains why it was one of the first states to quickly key into the railway revamping project of the federal government by making the stopovers in the state ‘hubs’ for transporting agricultural produce to Lagos. The partnership with UNICEF in the area of agriculture also shows his ability to sense opportunities where some exist. Around 1830 rural farmers have access to farm inputs through the partnership. Besides UNICEF is a big spender on foods and grains for the numerous impoverished children around the world; a symbiosis that connects the state to the world food market may be emerging!
Accommodation: Communal peace and progress is another impressive area of Ogbeni’s administration and this was why we said that his thinking and imaginative ability challenges existing beliefs about governance. While some states in the country are thinking of obliterating the cultural/religious differences amongst their people by substituting for that a ‘stony secularism’ that bears semblance to no one, Ogbeni taught accommodation of all elements in the society based upon the principle of equal consideration. This ensures that the various socio-religious elements are provided avenues as well as resources to ventilate their conviction. If one could recall, this was once one of the things that made America a cultural ‘melting’ pot until recently when some inept leaders abandoned this principle and embarked upon a racial/religious chauvinism. For equity, justice and peace among a diverse people, a study in Ogbeni’s method is recommended!
Flexibility: With his reputation as a socialist notwithstanding, Ogbeni has demonstrated the flexibility necessary for achieving good governance through adaption of useful elements from rival ideologies, not the least because of their insufficiency. If socialism had crumbled and capitalism wobbles, he has employed a middle course which focuses on achieving results amid the prudent utilization of resources for now and the future. In line with the cautious opening up of the economy of the state, there is a partnership base for individuals to thrive even as the government plays the role of a balancer cushioning socio economic disparities that may arise.
The outright employment of over 40,000 youths through the O YES program is a direct intervention in the redistribution of state resources. As for economic drive, the state of Osun assumed its essential role by putting itself at the center of development as a practical correction of the misunderstood concept of ‘private sector’ driven economy. The private sector would only be able to drive an economy that is already developed and well articulated through a roadmap that only the government can formulate if all must be protected, and if economic growth must translate to economic development which in the ultimate means getting economic gains to the largest number of people.
As Harold Laski said ‘the title of (or the entitlement) of the state to obedience lay in its performance of three functions: (a) it secured order, (b) it provided a technique of peaceful change, and (c) it enabled demands to be satisfied on the widest possible scale’. Aregbesola obviously continues to strive about how the demands of the citizens would be met far and wide; he has without reliance on the use of force secured order. Although the content of the order secured is usually a source of friction/tension in societies especially when under such ‘order’, primitive accumulation goes on by those who secure the order.
Transparency and fairness has been demonstrated so far with regard to the utilization of state resources and this explains why security is not brought about by heavy security/military presence in the state, but rather by the confidence and trust which not only the government command from the people, but also one which is shared among the people themselves. As to a peaceful technique of change, the people will definitely expects a man of similar orientation when the time comes for him to leave the saddle; and if what has been achieved in the state is a reflection both of his ingenuity and the position of his party, the people may not be willing to change a winning team soon!
In the final analysis, the elements of people’s empowerment, equity and accessibility to socio economic opportunities, peaceful communal relationship, provision of support for the otherwise vulnerable ones in society and a high educational target are some of the most visible aspects of Aregbesola’s governance in the state of Osun that stand him out among his colleagues. A repetition of some aspects of these elements in other states of the federation would definitely move us closer to the Nigeria of our dream.
We therefore salute such towering courage and believe the sky is just the beginning!
Hon.Olumuyiwa Jimoh is a member of Lagos State House of Assembly representing Apapa 2    

Today marks the third anniversary of the Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola administration in the Osun State. OLAJIDE OMOJOLOMOJU takes a panoramic view of how the administration has fared in keeping with its promises to the people of the State of Living Spring.
The primary responsibility of any responsible government anywhere in the world is the general well-being and security of its citizens. This the Rauf Aregbesola-led All Progressives Congress, APC, administration in the State of Osun has held in high esteem as it has kept its promises with the people of the state.
The Osun’s experience in the spheres of infrastructural and human capital development in the last three years is worth applauding when compared to what Governor Aregbesola met on ground and what he has been able to do. Unusual happenings are unfolding in all sectors in the state, with the Aregbesola administration’s midas touch, which has completely transformed and changed the status of the state.
On inauguration exactly three years ago, Aregbesola pledged a friendly government that was totally committed to unlocking the latent potentials of Osun people. This promise he has kept. In the last three years, the educational sector of Osun has completely been transformed and its status changed.
The transformation in that sector was the outcome of the education summit spearheaded by renowned Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka and other stakeholders, convened by the current administration shortly after assuming the mantle of leadership of the state on November 27, 2010. Prior to the inception of the present administration in the Osun, public education had been so badly managed that only pupils whose parents could not afford the financial implications of private schools were left in the public schools.
The students, especially those in primary schools were roughly dressed and mal-nourished. School buildings were in dilapidated state, students’ performance both at the internal/external examinations were abysmally poor.
There were no instructional materials, while tuition fees in the state-owned tertiary institution was beyond reach of most Osun citizens. But today, some success stories are believed to have been recorded in the sector owing to some drastic steps taken by the government in solving the problems.
Steps taken to nip the rot in the education sector in the bud by the Aregbesola administration include: the provision of two pairs of unified school uniforms to each of 750,000 pupils in all the public primary and secondary schools across the state to boost the morale of the students and further promote unity among the public schools in the state at the cost of N800m; the injection of N1.8bn into the running of basic education in the state, including the provision of examination and running grants as well as education instructional materials for public schools; the injection of N30bn to give a new lease of life to the structures and classrooms under which pupils studied, whereby the state government is constructing 170 new model schools across the state to replace the dilapidated buildings with state of the art facilities expected to enhance and stimulate the teaching and learning environment.
Another remarkable feat in the sector was the introduction of the famous ‘Opon Imo,’ a tablet designed after the ipad, which contains the senior secondary syllabus, including Yoruba traditions and culture, past questions of the West African Examination Council, WAEC, National Examination Council, NECO and Joint Administration and Matriculation Board, JAMB.
Other innovations in the sector include the rejuvenated school feeding programme, tagged O’MEAL, reduction in the fees paid by students in all the five state-owned tertiary institutions, from N42,000 to N25,000 for those in polytechnics and colleges of technology and from N205,000 to N100,000, N155,000 to N75,000 and N130,000 to N75,000 for law and medical students, sciences students and social sciences and arts students respectively in the state university and the scholarship granted to 98 medical students of Osun State University for their clinical courses so as to complete their medical programme in far away Ukraine.
It is unarguable that Osun remains one of the few states in Nigeria which can be adjudged to be peaceful and with the lowest crime rates, simply because the Aregbesola’s government places high premium on security of lives and properties.
Believing that security engenders growth and development, the state government set up dedicated crime response team, nicknamed Swift Action Squad, SAS, now visible in strategic areas in the state as well as identified troubled sports.
Government also equipped this special squad with five Armoured Personnel Carriers, APCs and 25 patrol vans for surveillance. Government also constructed two state-of-the-art police stations and multi-force security control centre. Not done yet, additional 100 patrol vans were also to be provided for the SAS and seven more police stations to be built.
Currently, a state-wide distress management system, which would allow security agency to respond to distress calls within 40 minutes, is being developed so as to guarantee effective and efficient crime detection, prevention and control.
About 90 percent of the Nigeria’s over 150 million people are said to have been living below the poverty line. Aregbesola government’s response to this is a structural empowerment programme that targeted both the young and old. Among these intervention programmes are: Agba Osun: Over 1,600 vulnerable elders across the state have been selected through a comprehensive enumeration as beneficiaries of the state’s social security for the most vulnerable old people in the state. Each of these elders are placed on monthly stipend of N10,000 for their upkeep and forestall the ugly trend of these old people roaming the streets begging.
Mass empowerment of youths: With its first 100 days in office and in keeping with its promise, the Aregbesola administration employed 20,000 under the Osun Youth Empowerment Scheme, OYES, as volunteers for community service and placed on monthly stipend of N10,000 each.
Through OYES, about 5000 youths trained to acquire special ICT skills through the OYESTECH. Just last month, they all graduated with some of them employed by private organisations and some other empowered by government through soft loans to start their own business. The OREAP programme also empower 600 youths in the government’s agric enterprise academy as well as sponsored 50 youths to Germany to acquire advanced farming skills.
In order to improve the physical condition of urban areas of Osun State, the Aregbesola administration has provided N100 million counterpart fund to the UN-Habitat initiative, to explore the state’s urban renewal potential, and also focus on ruralurban developmental potential. Under this initiative, Osogbo, Ife, Ilesa, Ejigbo and Ikire, among others, have been earmarked for urban renewal by the state government.
With the payment of the state’s contribution of N100m last year, the UN-Habitat has agreed to give technical support in the area of effective deployment of a training programme, which will address areas like unsuitable urban growth, problems affecting the environment and growing inequalities between the rich and the poor and serious distortion in the form and functions of cities, among others. With its belief in the popular maxim: health is wealth, the Aregbesola administration is working to ensure that every citizen of the state should effortlessly have direct access to healthcare delivery.
To this end, government plans primary healthcare clinic within 10 kilometres radius of every Osun town with special attention to the needs of children, women and elderly; a functional general hospital within 20 kilometres radius of human habitation and referral hospital within 30 kilometres radius of human settlement.
All nine state-owned hospitals and 12 comprehensive healthcare centres have been rehabilitated for optimal functionality, easy access and quick service delivery, with the construction of additional 74 primary health centres across the state. Government has also carried out six medical and surgical missions to offer free treatment and surgeries to several thousand of citizens.
Apart from physical development, government has also focused on human capacity building in the health sector by empowering about 400 youths as paramedics to join the Osun Ambulance Service Authority.
Government has also embarked on the training and retraining of medical personnel with six of them on sponsorship to the University of Magdenburg Teaching Hospital, Germany. With the pervading peace and tranquillity in the state, Osun has become investment destination for potential investors, both local and international, who have also taken advantage of the veritable investment carrot dangled before them by the Aregbesola administration.
Dagbolu as a commercial hub is a midregional market for the entire South West. Situated less than five kilometres outside Osogbo, it is expected to be a logistic village where various warehouses would be specifically built for relevant investors and manufacturers so that their goods would be sold to the people of the state at the exact prices they are being sold at Oke Arin in Lagos, for instance, and other major markets in Lagos. There are also international markets for ready-made products.
Currently, Ayegbaju International Market, located at the old governor’s office and Aje International Market, sited at the state Trade Fair complex are examples of how the state government has been transforming Osun.
NATIONAL MIRROR

Pictures from the annual Sapara Williams Memorial Law Week, at Kings Centre, Governor Aregbesola was in attendance, the event held at Ilesa, State of Osun on Tuesday 26-11-2013

Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola; President, Customary
Court of Appeal, Justice Glorial Olagoke and Chairman on the occasion,
Chief Felix Fagbohungbe (SAN), at the annual Sapara Williams Memorial
Law Week, at Kings Centre, Ilesa, State of Osun on Tuesday 26-11-2013

Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola; President, Customary
Court of Appeal, Justice Glorial Olagoke; Chairman on the occasion, Chief Felix Fagbohungbe (SAN) and National 1st Vice President, Nigerian Bar Association, Chief Osas Erhabor, representing NBA
president, at the annual Sapara Williams Memorial Law Week, at Kings Centre, Ilesa, State of Osun on Tuesday 26-11-2013

Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola; President, Customary
Court of Appeal, Justice Glorial Olagoke; Chairman on the occasion, Chief Felix Fagbohungbe (SAN) and National 1st Vice President, Nigerian Bar Association, Chief Osas Erhabor, representing NBA
president, at the annual Sapara Williams Memorial Law Week, at Kings
Centre, Ilesa, State of Osun on Tuesday 26-11-2013

Mrs Olubukola Oyawoye, the Osun Commissioner for Environment and Sanitation, said on Tuesday in Osogbo that the state government spent N2 billion in the last three years on dredging. Oyawoye stated this while fielding questions from journalists at a programme tagged News-Point, organised by the correspondents’ chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists in Osun.
The commissioner said the dredging was part of the Six-Point Integral Action Plan of Gov. Rauf Aregbesola’s administration. The aim of the plan is to banish poverty, unemployment and hunger from the state, as well as restore healthy living, enhance communal peace and promote functional education.
Oyawoye recalled how at the inception of Aregbesola’s administration in 2010, the government introduced measures to curtail flooding in all flood-prone areas. The commissioner said that as at 2012, the dredging covered 123 kilometres in more than 100 communities. The dredging of streams and rivers was carried out in Ipetu-Ijesa, Ife-Ilesa, Ejigbo, Iragbiji, Ode-Omu, Iwo, Ila-Orangun, and Osogbo.
In Osogbo alone, no fewer than 15 rivers, streams and canals, which include Okooko, Ogbaagba, Akepe, Odigun, Arungbo, Alekuwodo, are being dredged and de-silted on a continuous basis, according to the commissioner. “What we have spent in three years cannot equal what can be lost to flood disaster in one day. But since the inception of Aregbesola’s administration, we have not lost lives or property to flooding,” she said.
Oyawoye listed regular sanitation exercise, beautification project which involves tree planting in nine major cities, building of comfort stations as parks and public toilets as some of the achievements of the government.
(NAN)

Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola has reiterated his determination to eradicate poverty and further boost economy of the state by providing jobs for youths.
Aregbesola, while signing a Memorandum of Understanding with the International Breweries PLC to expand its business to employ additional 15,000 workers into its workforce, said the partnership is to motivate and encourage the company to retain its investment in Osun State.
The governor maintained that the state government would create an enabling environment for willing investors, adding that his administration has taken various steps to turn around the fortunes of the state economically.
He commended the management of International Breweries Plc for selecting Osun State for the investment, urging them to be involved in the backward integration for the benefit of those producing raw materials needed for production.
“The collaboration of the IB Plc will help to create about 150,000 direct and indirect jobs in the state. This will boost the economy of the state and the multiplier effect of this will reflect greatly on our economy,” he said.
Otunba Michael Daramola, IBL chairman lauded the efforts of Aregbesola’s administration in transforming the state and increasing the number of industries. Daramola noted that the development informed the decision of the company to expand its scope of operations in the state.
DAILY TRUST

The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun State has congratulated Governor Rauf Aregbesola on his third anniversary in office.
In a congratulatory message, the party’s Interim Chairman, Elder Adelowo Adebiyi, described the Aregbesola administration’s achievements as “second to none” in the state’s history.
APC congratulated the people for having Aregbesola, “who is transformation personified and a trail blazer”, as their governor.
It said the administration’s three years in office have been “years of total transformation”, adding that Aregbesola has restored hope to the people.
APC said: “Aregbesola has brought hope to the state and restored its lost glory. He has made governance meaningful again to the people, who, for seven-and-a-half years, experienced maladministration, victimisation, underdevelopment and ill governance.”
The Chairman of the Lagos State House of Assembly Committee on Information, Segun Olulade, also congratulated Aregbesola.
In a statement, he said Osun, under Aregbesola’s visionary leadership, has recorded landmark achievements in the last three years.
Olulade said: “Osun people are the direct beneficiaries of good governance, under the visionary leadership of Rauf Aregbesola, and I congratulate them for choosing a leader that measures up to their aspirations.”
Olulade said the only way to sustain the development in Osun was to re-elect Aregbesola.
He said: “Without fear or favour, I confidently say that the Aregbesola administration has surpassed the expectations of the people in terms of road construction, youth development, education, agriculture and infrastructure, among others.”
THE NATION