The new educational system in the state of Osun is aimed at producing the total man who will not just be literate, but be educated enough to effect a positive impact in the state and the nation as a whole. The total man, in the words of the great avatar, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, “ … is what he is because the three main constituents of his entity-his body, brain and mind are fully developed.” The governor of the state of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola declared to the pupils of Salvation Army school Alekuwodo, Osogbo while inaugurating the new school system that “our dream is to make you all renowned scholars in the future so that you can be a pride to the state of Osun and the entire country”.
The reclassification of primary and secondary schools sectors into Elementary schools, Middle schools and High school is in line with global best practices and trends. It is worthy of note, that the new educational system in the state has not in any way deviated from the 6-3-3-4 National policy on education or effected changes in the school curriculum.
The colonial-education handed over to us was not aimed at producing an all- round scholar but to train clerical clerks, interpreters and messengers. Thanks to the likes of Chief Awolowo who gave the then Western region free but qualitative education that produced the present leaders. That investment in men by Chief Awolowo made the South West to remain the pacesetter in social and economic development till date, even though, unfortunately, the military intervention later ruined our educational sector. The civilian regime failed to revive the dying or dead educational institutions, while others merely paid lips-service to it.
The government of Ogbeni Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola inherited a poor educational sector just as what the former President of America Bill Clinton met at Arkansas when he became the governor in 1983. The standard of public education in Arkansas then was a disgrace. This prompted Clinton to make that sector a priority; and at the end of his first term his achievement in that sector was phenomenal. The same can be said of Aregbesola today, as the Osun people home and abroad, acknowledged the governor’s impact on the educational revolution, which has successfully placed the state on the global scale with the introduction of Opon Imo-tablet of knowledge that earned the state commendation internationally.
The educational reforms in the state involved the categorization of schools.
The elementary school, which is made up of Grades 1-4, admits pupils of age range of 6-9 years. The advantage that parents and pupils derive from this class of school is the proximity to the residence, trade and work place of parents. And that will not only save both parents and pupils the cost of transportation, but will also save them the trouble of early morning rush and closing time struggles to and from school. Enrolment in the elementary schools has been so arranged in cities to be 900 pupils per school while that of schools in rural communities may have less population, and the pupils need not walk long distances  in order to attend schools.
The Aregbesola’s administration has embarked on the construction of 13 elementary school buildings across the state at the cost of N14.76 billion.
The pupils in the elementary schools are already enjoying free meals in each school day. The availability of these free meals have tripled the school enrolment in the state,  making it the state with the    highest numbers of pupils’ enrolment in Nigeria. This idea of providing free meals to pupils was adopted in Britain in September 2013; the British government hopes this will save parents the sum of £50, 000 annually. It is worthy of note to mention also the state government’s the provision of unified school uniform free of charge, increase in school and examination grants, supply of instructional materials and customized exercise books.
The Middle school is made up of Grade 5-9 with Pupils of age range of 10-14 years. The schools are located within  2-3 kilometers radius of the pupils’ residents. The enrolment will be between 900 to 1000 pupils. The schools, when completed, will be state- of- the- art, with modern facilities. The High School is made up of Grades 10-12 with students of Age range of 15-17 years. These schools are located in old school compounds with a very large space.
The enrolment will be 3000 students per school The buildings, three schools- in- one complex, are state of  the art with modern facilities, staff quarters, standard laboratories, food courts, standard sporting facilities, a school hall of 1000 minimum sitting capacity and School Mangers for the proper facility management. The students in the High School are also beneficiaries of the unified school uniform and free Opon Imo-tablet of knowledge. The government has also increased school and examination grant as well as payment of WASCE fees. 20  High Schools are being built across the state, while some have already been completed.
Why is the Osun state Government investing this much in Education? In Aregbesola’s own words: “Education is the key to our economic revival and our perennial quest for prosperity. We must dedicate more of our limited resources to paying teachers better; expanding educational opportunities in poor and small districts.” This, indeed, is the philosophy behind the governor’s huge investment in education.
The Aregbesola educational revolution has received the popular support of a high percentage of the people in the state. This is evident in the high increase in the number of enrolment in the public schools across the state. The initial fear of government changing the names of the old schools has been put to rest with the commissioning of Salvation Army schools at Alekuwodo that retained its name. The rumour about government intention to Islamise the state via school classification has since been debunked. The intention of the government is to rejuvenate education in the state in accordance with Chief Awolowo’s philosophy of the total man.
What the governor needs now is the people’s maximum support  in form of regular payment of our taxes. The former names of school and locations are not as important as the provision of modern facilities in today’s world. Several institutions in Nigeria have either been relocated or have their names changed.  A good example is the relocation of a group of people from where they used to live at  the National Stadium area in Surulere, to Shitta Bey area of Lagos; the Kala- kuta Republic owned by afro-beat musician, Fela Anikulapo Ransom Kuti which was  razed down by unknown soldiers in the 1970s, was converted to Ransom Kuti Grammar School; CMS Grammar School was relocated from Broad street to Mushin area in Lagos; the Ibadan airport, which was formerly located at Sango area was later moved to Alakia area in Ibadan. The investments in education today will certainly produce a better generation of leaders that shall take our nation to its zenith tomorrow.
DAILY INDEPENDENT

In what analysts described as a parade of the most celebrated in the Nigeria’s ICT industry, organizers of the Africa Digital Forum and Awards [ADA] has instituted ADA Hall of Fame, which would induct Governor Rauf Aregbesola of the State of Osun and Technology Minister among others. Several industry bigwigs including the Governor Aregbesola have also announced that they would attend this year’s event on December 8, 2013 at the Sheraton Hotels and Towers, Ikeja, Lagos.
In addition, the guest speaker for the day has been confirmed while other leading speakers such as Executive Governor of the State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, who will be speaking on the theme ‘’Deepening e-governance, Transparency with Broadband Access’’, Ernest Ndukwe, who is the chief host, would support him and host, Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN), Executive Governor of Lagos State.
Special guest of honour is Omobola Johnson, Hon. Minister of Communication Technology. While the Keynote Speakers include the Executive Vice Chairman/CEO of NCC, Dr. Eugene Juwah, Prince Emeka Mba DG, National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), Gerald Ilukwe MD / CE, Galaxy Backbone PLC.
The event consists of the Africa Digital Forum (ADF 2013) where issues in the industry will be critically examined, solutions will be proffered, and the Africa Digital Awards Hall of Fame 2013 would celebrate outstanding individuals that have contributed immensely to the growth and leveraged on the potent power of ICT to innovate and execute different ideas.
The panelists are Austin Okere, Group MD of CWG, Chief Leo Stan Ekeh, Chairman Zinox Computers, Engr Emma Ekuwem, EVC Teledom Group, Engr. Florence Seriki Group MD Omatek Ventures, Ms Funke Opeke, MD Main One Cable, Engr. Lanre Ajayi, President ATCON, Engr. Gbenga Adebayo Chairman ALTON, Engr. Bayo Banjo, President NIG, Akinwale Goodluck, Corporate Services Executive of MTN among others.
ADA is the brainchild of Tayo Adewusi. His TV Network is watched on MITV, TVC, NTA, Focus Television on Cable and YouTube Channel. In addition, for effective coverage of this unique and futuristic programme the event is expected to be transmitted live on NTA, Streaming on the internet, Focus Television on Cable and the programme’s YouTube Channel, respectively.
According to Adewusi while responding to media questions on the extent of the planning for the programme, he confirmed that several industry leaders have confirmed their coming while some state executives have also confirmed their participation.
Among those to be honoured posthumously will be Engr. Alaba Joseph, former President of ATCON, Prof. Gabriel Ajayi, Pioneering DG of NITDA, Ndukwe Kalu, former President of NIRA. The history of Information and Communications Technology industry cannot be complete without the mention of these individuals, we will honour them though post humously, and we will make sure that we also celebrate the legends that are still leaving.
“There is no doubt that this inaugural edition of Africa Digital Awards Hall of Fame 2013 would celebrate exceptional individuals and corporate entities that have leveraged on the potent power of ICT to innovate and execute different ideas. And in line with the original concept of this programme, there will also be the Africa Digital Forum (ADF 2013) which will critically examine issues affecting the industry and uppermost in this time that we live in is the Broadband and how this can help transparency in government and e- governance among others’’.
Other sub-themes to be discussed at the Forum include: Using Broadband to drive Economic Development and Create jobs, Helping SME’S grow and prosper with Optic Fiber, Penetration, Quality of Service, Affordability, Tool for Cashless Society, Infrastructure as a critical resource among others.
NIGERIAN BULLETIN

In recognition of his quest to enhance wealth through massive increase in food production and agriculture, the governor of the State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola on Wednesday bagged an Award in Rwanda for his sterling performance in Agriculture.
The governor was presented with an award for “Innovative Agricultural Policy and Practice for Inclusive AgriBusiness Development in Africa” at the EMRC AgriBusiness Forum 2013 held at the Serena Hotel, Kigali Rwanda.
The AgriBusiness Forum 2013 with the theme “The Agri-Food sector: A catalyst for sustainable and Inclusive Growth in Africa was co-organised by EMRC and Rwanda Ministry for Agriculture and Animal Resources. The Rwandan Prime Minister, Mr. Pierre Damien Habumuremyi who was the Guest of Honour in his keynote address stressed that no nation can be said to be developed without it developing its Agriculture.
He urged participants at the forum not to treat with kids glove the deliberation on the importance of Agriculture and Agric Business for development of Africa.
“This forum must be at his best to spotlights the important business opportunities agriculture and agribusiness can provide Sub-Saharan Africa. The Agri-Food sector must be a catalyst for sustainable and inclusive growth in Africa, therefore all hands must be on deck to ensure that investors come to Sub-Sahara of Africa.” Habumuremyi pointed out.
EMRC presenting the Project Incubator Award  to Aregbesola who is one of the recipients for his effort at developing Agriculture in the state of Osun held that after carefully studying the state’s exploit in Agriculture, it decided to honour the governor.
The governor in his determination to frontally engage the social cankers of poverty, hunger, and unemployment started the Osun Rural Enterprise and Agriculture Programme(O’REAP) to train youth in farming.
A total of 610 O’YES Cadets were trained last year at the O’REAP Youth Academy Farm Centres located across the nine Federal Constituencies in the state, with selected participants at 20 per Local Government and 10 from Ife East Area Office.
This year’s edition of the O’REAP Youth Academy, witnessed a significant rise in the number of youth participants, each of the 332 wards in the state is fairly represented with three O’YES Cadets per ward, accounting for 996 Cadets to be trained in modern agriculture at the nine training centres of the O’REAP Youth Academy.
The commitment of the governor to raise agriculture from subsistence to mechanised farming is one of the major reasons for sending 40 youths to Saxony-Anhalt, Germany.
According to the governor, this training is in continuation of government’s drive to revolutionise agriculture in the state under the O’REAP and boost food productions for local consumption as well as export.
The administration is providing the necessary infrastructure and support for farmers with inputs, which requires supplying them with inputs such as improved seedlings, fertiliser and fumigants among others; giving them hundreds of thousand of already prepared hectares of land.

This landmark achievement was wrapped up in Osogbo, the state capital yesterday. According to the issuing houses, the sukuk was said to by the first Islamic bond in sub-Saharan African.
In attendance during the document signing ceremony was the Governor of the state, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola; the Deputy Governor of Ogun State, Mr. Segun Adesegun and the entire state cabinet.
The sukuk bond was issued in accordance with enactment of the Osun State Bonds, Notes and Other Securities Law 2012 and setting up the Osun Sukuk Company Plc. Though Islamic in nomenclature, the sukuk bond was a conventional bond and coordinated by the regular investors in the nation’s capital and money market
The bond was issued in accordance with the Security and Exchange Commission’s rules and regulations. The N14. 4 billion sukuk (14. 75 percent) fixed return tranche 2 has 42 investors with Lotus Capital Limited as the leading issuing house and Augusto and co, one of Nigeria’s leading rating agencies, as the rating agent.
The bond, which would be used to finance roads and school constructions across the state, is due in 2020. While authorising and approving the offer at the board meeting for the Sukuk Company, Aregbesola said his government took the sukuk bond as an opportunity for the development of the state.
Aregbesola appealed to the people to see the bond as an avenue to attract development to the state for the benefit of all and sundry.
“The Sukuk bond is a veritable avenue for us to access capital to develop our state.
We want our people to also see this opportunity that opens to us as such.
“In name the bond is Islamic but it has the conventional bonds’ characteristics and is coordinated by the regular capital and money market investors.
“Out of the 42 investors, only one of them (Jaiz Bank) is Islamic and the name sukuk is just a nomenclature. The investors are regular Nigerians,” the governor said.
The Commissioner for Finance, Budget and Economic Planning, Dr. Wale Bolounduro, described the sukuk as a unique product.
Bolounduro said this bond makes it possible for the first time in Nigeria for a government to open itself up to the capital market in transparent manner.
He said the landmark achievement has offered government of the state opportunity to optimise capital for business purposes.
The chairperson of Lotus Capital, Hajara Adeola said the bond was successful and over-subscribed.
She said the sukuk’s success represents a clear vote of confidence in Governor Aregbesola’s administration, the State of Osun and its people.
Adeola said the governor had become unique for his penchant for exploring novel ways of doing things adding that the sukuk represented  another instance of Aregbesola exploring new ways of seeking for the development of the state.
 

Two months after assumption of office, Aregbesola organized a world-class education summit to chart a new way forward in the educational sector of the State of Osun in conformity with the evolving global trends in the field. The summit, which was chaired by Nobel Laureate, Prof Wole Soyinka, had in attendance other veteran stakeholders who proffered solutions to the perennial problems being experienced in the country and Osun in particular.

Stakeholders agreed on having three structures of basic education that is elementary, middle and high rather than the existing primary, junior and secondary levels.  A comprehensive overhaul of physical and human component of the education system was also recommended.
Notable members of the Summit Includes: Prof Wole Soyinka, the Chairman of the Education Summit, Prof Peter Okebukola, Dr Akin Fapohunda, Dr Isaac Agboola, Prof Sola Adeyeye, Me Lere Osundina and State Government Functionaries of the State of Osun
See more at:http://www.nigerianbestforum.com/generaltopics/stakeholders-move-to-resolve-educational-crises-in-osun/

It is regrettable that a respected body like CAN can display so much ignorance in respect of education in Nigeria. To start with, the State of Osun like the rest of Nigeria cannot discriminate in the provision of educational facilities on the basis of gender or religion. Secondly CAN is operating from a false premise that some schools are Christian schools.
All public schools belong to all the people irrespective of their religious beliefs. If we Christians want to have schools over which we will have full control, the constitution provides for that.
Finally the history of the take-over of schools credited to Gowon is also false. The take-over of schools was a direct consequence of the Asabia Commission and I was the originator of the idea with my colleagues who served after me as advisers to that body. A main reason for that action was that the proprietors who received grants from government and fleeced parents through high fees made education very expensive. In spite of not investing their own money in education they failed to pay teachers on time if at all; they tyrannized teachers; they even went as far as not promoting teachers on merit especially if those teachers belonged to other denominations.
CAN should please do its research and acknowledge that Adefarasin emancipated teachers and Asabia, its sub-committee recommended the procedures for achieving that end, If CAN needs being educated on this issue, I will oblige. In the meantime it should stop spreading falsehood.
Aregbesola may or may not be guilty of wanting to Islamize Osun; that is not my concern here. Accusing him of using education is however not true.
Comments by Dr Amiel Fagbulu who retired as head of EMIS (Education Management Systems) from the Federal Ministry of Education and was retained as Consultant both by Federal Government & the UNESCO on Education Management Systems

CONTRARY to the criticisms that trailed the new education reform and re-classification of schools in the State of Osun, the state government stated Wednesday that the development was in sync with the Federal Government’s 9-3-4 system of education.
The re-classification exercise grouped schools into elementary (for age six to nine years), medium (for age 10 to 14), and high (for age 15 to 17). However, the Deputy Governor of the state, Titilayo Tomori, said in Lagos Wednesday that the exercise was to address the rot in the system and ensure that out-of-school syndrome ends in Osun.
She regretted that a section of the Osun public had misrepresented “the carefully planned reform programme” as an attempt to Islamise the state. She said: “For those who may not know, the school re-classification exercise is already yielding great dividends in our education system.
“The exercise, in which we put children of the same age group in the same school, is to aid effective deployment of resources and ensure that no child drops out of school between age six to 17.”
Christians in the state had last week and again on Monday protested against the merging of a Girls High School with Boys High School in Osogbo. Nevertheless, Tomori, who is also the Commissioner for Education, explained that the reform process began in 2010 with an assessment programme that “revealed the rot in our education system.”
According to her, “the rot we met on ground in 2010 when we came into office was abysmal and so were the students’ performance in our schools. It was at that period that May/June 2010 examinations results were released and only three per cent of candidates got five credits to gain admission into higher institutions.
“Going round the schools, we discovered that infrastructures have totally decayed, classrooms dilapidated and were all devoid of furniture, even as the environment was not conducive for learning. The appearance of the pupils, especially the elementary school children, was very bad. Some of them came in tattered uniform and some in mufti.
“This spurred us to immediate action and we held an education summit in February this year, which produced a communiqué in which the reform was agreed to reposition the education system. In it we planned to build 170 schools: 100 elementary, 50 middle and 20 high schools.”
Tomori added that the much criticised re-classification exercise started with Osun feeding and health programme, O-meal, to tackle malnutrition among school children.
She explained that “O-meal gives mid-day meals to no fewer than 300,000 kids everyday” and costs the government N14.9 million per day.
“But the outcome is that our children now look healthier and enrolment in school has increased. Absenteeism has totally stopped. Statistics available in the country now tells us that Osun has the highest number of school enrolment.
“But to prevent them from dropping out of school, we have moved children in primary five and six to middle schools, in readiness for secondary education. Those that want to exit from Osun to other states we give Primary Six Certificate. But for those with us, the exercise ensures they remain in school till age 17.”
GUARDIAN

While still basking in the euphoria of my recent admission into the Nigerian Law School for the next Academic Session, I woke up to read the Tuesday, 8th October, 2013 edition of Punch Newspapers and to my utter consternation, I was succinctly captivated by the headline that reads “Christians Protest Merger of Schools by Aregbesola”.
Reading through the position of the Protesters under the aegis of Osun Baptist Conference and the effort of the Government of the State of Osun to douse the ‘tension’ made me feel very sorry for our existence as a Nation and our inability to see any good in our diversity as a people living together under the name Nigeria.
Religions like ethnicity is a real problem in Nigeria simply because we the people wanted it to be and it has remain a constant factor for the myriad of challenges facing us. We have deliberately decided to attack each other when there are absolutely no reasons to. And where there are reasons we are ultimately blindfolded by our imaginative thought with “This religion wants to dominate us” syndrome. The animosity has eaten deep into our fabric so much so that governmental policies which are hitherto geared towards the betterment of all are immediately seen as an attempt to ‘Christianize’ or ‘Islamize’ the polity. And as followers we are so immersed into the quagmire of religious insensitivity so much so that extrication may force an innocent mind to think we cannot live together as one nation under God.
I have argued several times that there should be a separation between the Church (Mosque) and the State. A mixture of both is a beautiful recipe for disaster in public policy making and reaction to such policy. We must learn as a Nation to separate religious matter from core public interest especially in matters of Education. It is very important for our religious fathers and leaders to be dispassionate when it comes to matters of equal benefit for all.
The Missionaries may have founded many of these Schools but as of today they are funded and regulated by government and its agencies on education. It suffices to conclude that while they appear to bear Muslim or Christian names, their religious inclination do not go beyond the name. it is illogical, insensible and a flagrant disregard of the fundamental human rights as guaranteed by the 1999 constitution (as amended) for any Christian group to deny a Muslim kid the opportunity to attend a Christian named Government school simply because she uses Hijab. Conversely, it is lugubrious and repugnant to doctrine of natural justice, equity and good conscience for any Muslim group to seek to deny any Christian kid the chance to seek for public education as guaranteed by the law in a Muslim named government school for the unreasonable reason that she has refused to use Hijab or cover her head. We should not reduce our public schools to grounds of intolerance and hatred.
I attended Ansar-ud-Deen Primary School and I was very privileged to have many Christian friends (girls as at then) who never covered their heads and were never chastised as to why they did not. We sat side by side in class, played, joked, ate, drank, fought, studied and learnt together like all kids would do. It was at Ansar-ud-Deen I learnt “The Lord’s Prayer” and “The Grace” and till date I still can recite them in eloquent manner despite being a devout Muslim. We offered both Islamic Religious Knowledge and Christian Religious Knowledge (BK as it was fondly called then) as it was compulsory for all. The general theme of both subjects as we were taught was to inculcate in us the virtues of being good, spirit of brotherhood, neighborliness, love and respect for differences. We underwent examinations on CRK likewise my colleagues as they did on IRK. I grew up to understand the Christian faith, respect and appreciate of the differences. With my friends, we never cared if A was a Christian or a Muslim; we simply enjoyed our friendship and moved on.
Getting to Lagos State University to study Law offers another perfect example. In my 100level days, it was compulsory for all students to offer Islamic Law irrespective of your religious inclinations. In a class of over 350 students with more than 150 Christians, we all offered Islamic Law in a very interesting and competitive atmosphere. It was a beauty to see Christian and Muslim Law Students’ ‘argue’, share and compare knowledge on the verses of the Quran and Hadith taught in class. My Christian friends quoted verses of the Quran and argued with eloquence and precision during tutorial classes. We were not surprised to that when the results were released the ratio of high marks revealed that Christians had better ratios than Muslims. To add to the beauty, the lecturer-in-charge happens to be a very conscious Muslim and one-time leader of Muslims during his time on campus. We all laughed and joked about the result simply because we knew everyone merited the scores they got.
These are the virtues we grew up with. We learnt that in advancing the course of humanity, we only needed to appreciate the difference, learn and respect one another’s belief in an atmosphere filled with love and certainly not the one being promoted in the Nigeria of today by a Muslim towards a Christian and a Christian towards anything that has to do with Muslims. Our country cannot make any meaningful progress if we refuse to eschew this dangerous intolerance and lack of understanding we are deliberately brewing up every now and then.
Private Schools funded from private purses can continue to promote individual religions as they deem fit but government schools should be a platform of togetherness of all faiths in order to appreciate the differences and promote inter-faith relations. Afterall, government schools irrespective of the names they bear are funded by Tax-payers who are both Christians and Muslims.
We owe the ‘kids’ of today the duty to teach them how to defend, love and respect one another across all ethnic and religious divides after all we are all Nigerians. The government as a matter of urgency should call for dialogue between themselves on one hand and the Christian/Muslim leaders on the other hand on the reason, benefits of the policy and how they intend to keep the ‘beliefs’ of each founders in line with public policy as it demands.
Our diversity should be a blessing geared towards developmental strides for our Nation and not a reason for disintegration. May God bless all our Children and make them great personalities for the benefit of Nigeria and humanity as a whole.
Abdul-Aziz is a prospective Law Student at the Nigerian Law School and tweets at @backarray
DAILY POST
 

State House of Assembly of Osun has extended tenure of caretaker committees across the 30 Local government council areas, including Area council on the request of Governor Rauf Aregbesola.
Reading the letter addressed to the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Najeem Salaam by the state helmsman, where the need for the caretaker executive secretaries to proceed with a view to superintending payment of workers’ salaries before the eid l Kabir Muslim festival was canvassed for, the parliament’s primal inter pares observed that the extension, according to the governor would be halted immediately after the creation of the new local governments.
Speaker Salaam then asserted that the consideration to make the Muslim festival joyous for the local government workers who should get their salaries before the eid l Kabir was a genuine reason to accede to the request of the governor.
According to him: “Changing of signatures and bank processes could constitute a justifiable long process that could delay the workers’ pay, but with the extension of the local government interim management committees, the payment could be effected on time. And we shall still stand on the last screening exercise.
However, the governor has expressed his optimism to create more local governments before this year runs out, and immediately after the creation of new councils, the interim committees would cease to function.”
The Speaker then charged the executive secretaries not to embark on projects that would be abandoned, insisting that the parliament through its oversight functions would be watching the councils with eagle eye.
Signed:
Goke Butika Chief Press Secretary to the Speaker
OSUN DEFENDER