Engr. Remi Omowaiye is the Commissioner for Works and Transport in Osun State and a known ally of Governor Gboyega Oyetola. He also served as a Commissioner under the former Governor Rauf Aregbesola-led administration in the state.
In this interview with Assistant Editor, ‘Dare Odufowokan, Omowaiye debunked growing insinuation in some quarters when he said that the ongoing reform in the state’s education sector is not political nor targeted at any group or person. He explained that the reforms as well as other policies and actions of the Oyetola administration are driven by desire of the people across the state for certain changes to be effected. Excerpts
SOME insinuations are trailing the reforms being carried out in the education sector of your state. Is it true that these changes being embarked upon by your administration are more political than anything else?
I will say what we did is more of a re-jig, than a reform. Also, I will say I am in a good position to talk about this because I served in the last administration and I am in the current administration. Democracy is about the people mainly. Like our former governor and leader, Rauf Aregbesola, will always say, power is about responsibility. The people of Osun have given us the responsibility to decide what is good for them and we must do that as much as possible.
The Gboyega Oyetola administration in the state is people-driven and will always respond swiftly to the yearning of the masses. You will recall that prior to his election as governor, Oyetola had, during a debate with other governorship candidates, promised to take a critical look at the education policies in the state with a view to effecting changes where necessary. He specifically said if a change of the single uniform policy is the wish of the people, he was open to changing it. So, I can conveniently say that the reforms are part of our campaign promises.
Also, DFID recently came up with a Citizens’ need assessment in Osun State and part of what they reported back is the single school uniform policy. Apart from that, we have been at loggerheads with a lot of religious bodies, alumni bodies and other stakeholders on this issue since. We have just been managing. When we realized that the people wanted us to change these things, we set about finding out what the majority would really like.
It is not as if everything introduced by the previous administration were thrown away; no, not at all. The one-uniform policy in the state has been abolished while some schools have been returned to their former names and states. We are also cancelling the policy that abolished single sex schools in the state. Some girls’ schools that had boys enrolled into them and vice versa will now return to their previous names and states. But we are keeping faith with the Opon Imo because that is something that has brought a lot of accolades to Osun within and outside the country.
We also noticed the reduction in the number of teachers and we have started the recruitment of 2, 500 teachers who must be registered with the Teachers’ Council. We are returning to the 6-3-3-4 system so as to conform with the national education policy. We are cancelling the 934 system.
But how sure are you the reforms are actually what is good for the state and not just some impulsive request by some people following the emergence of a new government?
It is important for us all to know that the reforms were not just about impulse or just what the people want. After we heard from the people through a report brought to the executive council by the Ministry of Education, which was mandated by the governor to look into the issues, we wanted to be sure that it was the best thing for us to do. Then we felt it was more than what the executive council alone could decide on. So, a seven-man committee within the executive council, headed by the deputy governor, was put in place to further review the report and advice.
They were given two weeks. Dr. Charlse Akinola, the Chief of Staff to the governor, who also served in the last administration as a strategic policy person, was also in the committee. But the committee felt the need to expand the scope of the discussion and that led to the 13-man panel headed by Professor Olu Aina with General Alani Akinriade, and Professor Ibidapo Obe as part of the eminent persons on board. Experts from all arms of the sector from primary to secondary and the tertiary institutions were on the panel. Representatives of teachers, of principals and of head-teachers, as well as other stakeholders were part of the team that looked at the education policies in the state and they came up with a number of recommendations which we as a government, unanimously agreed to.
So, you are convinced the reforms are what will bring about improvement in the sector?
I will say again that Oyetola administration is people driven. I am the Commissioner for Works and I have superintended over a number of road projects. I can tell you that these road projects are all based on needs assessment, not about politics and or political leaders. In democracy, you cannot have the support of everybody. I can tell you the overwhelming majority’s view is being respected in all we do.
As a government, we ensured strong consultation as the implementations of the reform goes on. We are leaving Opon Imon because the panel recommended that we leave it while we do a lot more round the vocational and technical education. And I can tell you that is one area Aregbesola did a lot. We are continuing where he stopped. The conflict created by the offices of Tutor-Generals and Headmaster-Generals and Permanent Secretaries, was also looked into. The resolution is oen that resolved the clash in command line and we are going to implement that too.
What has been the response of the people to the reforms?
The responses show that the changes are people driven. I must be sincere with you. We need to give it to both Governor Oyetola and his predecessor, Aregbesola. The former governor said something when he was handing over to Oyetola that the new governor may need to review some things; he should go ahead and do so in the interest of the people. Secondly, in all these reforms, Aregbesola has admitted the fact that he and all of us were part of the last administration. So, the changes we are making are ways of improving on what we have done before.
The review committee carried everybody along in its assignment. And in the implementation, we will not leave the people out. And because we are APC and we are of the Asiwaju Tinubu extraction, we cannot but hearken to the desires and demand of the people. Power belongs to the people and when you are given power, it is expected that you will use it to meet the demands of the majority of the people. That is always the focus of this administration.
Aside the reforms in the education sector, what other things have your administration done since taking office 15 months ago?
In Nigeria today, there are a lot of audio governors but Gboyega Oyetola is not one of them. He is an action governor who believes that one’s work should do the talking. When we came on board, we discovered we needed to do a lot in the health sector. We decided we must start from the grassroots. We have done a lot in improving the Primary Health Care Centres. We decided to revitalize one PHC per ward across the state.
We didn’t just decide on the structures, we are also talking about the equipment and drugs. As we speak today, we have awarded 300 PHC contracts. Well over 200 PHCs have been completely revitalised according to WHO standard. We didn’t just stop with PHC. General Hospital Ejigbo is ready for commissioning; General Hospital Ifetedo is ready for commissioning. The State Hospital, Osogbo, was in comatose when we came and we have done a lot to completely rehabilitate the place.
And how has your own ministry fared?
When we came in, we inherited a lot of projects from the last administration and as I speak with you, we have mobilised many contractors back to sites to continue these projects. Any moment from now, we are going to start work on five kilometer road per local government. Two weeks ago, we awarded about 54 kilometres of roads across the state. We are going to commission a lot of projects before the end of the year. And the good thing about the governor is that he has a financial background, so he will look at his cash flow before embarking on projects.
That has paid off because today in Osun, we now pay full salary and we pay monthly without owing. He is doing all he can to move the state forward. He is looking into areas like mining, small scale industries and the likes. He wants the people to be able to earn while living in the state. Job creation and youth empowerment are two areas he is working hard on.
Would you say Oyetola came prepared for the job given the peculiarity of governance in Osun?
He has brought in a lot of ingenuity so as to ensure that things move. One is our improved collaboration with the federal government. My ministry is working very seriously with the Federal Ministry of Works to do a lot of things and this is paying off. Oyetola has looked at his balance and his purse and he is planning everything he is doing with all that in mind. His financial background has really helped his administration.
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