The Nation Newspaper

Tag: AREGBESOLA

  • Reforms in our tertiary education not based on religion or witch-hunt —Aregbesola

    Reforms in our tertiary education not based on religion or witch-hunt —Aregbesola

    The Governor of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, has described the speculation that the ongoing restructuring and reforms being carried out in all the state owned tertiary institutions were aimed at retrenching workers as false and baseless.

    The governor also noted that the idea behind the reform exercise was not to witch-hunt but to bring up the quality of the lecturers, saying his administration will not do anything that will purposely inflict pains on workers, citizens and residents of the state.

    Aregbesola stated these while addressing people during the official commissioning of N140m E-Library and N34.4m Ultra-Modern Lecture Hall of Osun State College of Education (OSSCE), Ila-Orangun.

    He pointed out that the era of when graduates from colleges of education will be looking for jobs in other sectors will soon be over in the state.

    He said such amounts to a loss for government and a waste of time for the students when it happens.

    He added that polytechnics and colleges of education will henceforth organise remedial instructions for secondary school leavers preparing for the SSCE retake and admissions into higher institutions.

    He said: “You will all agree that there have been many innovations in education and those still teaching with the knowledge they acquired 20 years ago have fallen behind time.

    “We must also improve the quality of our teachers, if we want to improve the quality of education we are giving to the young ones. This puts to rest the false, unfounded and malicious speculation that the government is closing down these schools.

    “The reforms must also bring up the quality of the lecturers.  I must also add that the government has no intention of witch-hunting or victimising anyone for his or her religious, political or ideological leaning.

    “What we are trying to do is to ensure everyone is qualified and fits into the bigger picture of the holistic education we are providing in the state,” the governor said.

    Aregbesola added that a reasonable measure of freedom must exist in any academic community to be able to bring out the best in the faculty and students, stressing that he as a product of academic freedom cannot therefore poison the well from which he drank.

    He, however, stated that freedom carries responsibility and that responsibility begins with critical self-examination.

    The governor said academic institutions should be capable of self-examination leading to self-regeneration.

    He noted that a critical mass must emerge from every institution, nudging it towards self-redefinition and self-correction, in order to retain its relevance. In his address, the Provost of the institution, Professor Isaac Olayinka Oyewole, commended Governor  Aregbesola on his selfless contributions towards rebuilding and repositioning the education sector, saying he is the first governor to achieve such giant strides in infrastructural development in the state.

    He pointed out that the new library was designed to be able to accommodate 2,000 users at a time, emphasising that with the new transformation, the institution can conveniently boast of housing the modern digital library unit.

    He said the new library building was constructed to fulfil the need for more reading space to complement the existing one, noting that the step was also taken in fulfilment of the greater demand of the NCCE Accreditation Panel.

    He said: “The edifice houses e-library section with 300 computer units, one big computer server, 5KVA inverter, a local Area Network that connects all the units of the library together.

    “Currently, it is equipped with reading tables and chairs to seat about 1000 users at a time. It also houses 25,000 textbooks and reference materials with about 9,000 academic journals.

    “It contains 12,000 past student projects and about five-year-old newspapers and magazines.”

    The provost revealed that the newly constructed lecture hall is a 2010/2011 merger TETFund intervention to cater for the poor accommodation for lectures, hence helps to complement the existing lecture halls in the college.

    He said the lecture hall was designed to accommodate 500 students at a time, saying the new hall was constructed under the TETFUND Special Grant at the cost of N34,497,886.50.

    Earlier, the Chairman, Governing Council, OSSCE, Mr. Niyi Akande, who described Governor Aregbesola as a true democrat, said Aregbesola has been using his noble discretion in ensuring that the college achieves a lot of development within the shortest possible time.

    He assured the state of the institution’s commitment in achieving the transition of the college to a degree-awarding institution.

    Akande said the council had performed tremendously in rescuing the college’s land from trespassers, cleansing students’ admission processes and expanding opportunities for improved internally generated revenue of the college.

    He noted that the construction of the ongoing classroom blocks and offices will greatly facilitate the college’s transition to a degree-awarding institution as being inspired.

    “This council right from the first day it visited the college on June 14, 2013, saw its job well cut for meaningful physical development of the institution as the decadence observed in the traditional ways of doing things had changed.

    “Our belief was that in the wake of such attitudinal change could we break the prevailing culture of impunity which was holding the college by the jugular, thereby choking it so much that the college had become comatose at the time of our appointment.

    “We thank Mr. Governor for his understanding of our position and for lending us a shoulder to cry upon during the endless crises we have gone through in the last three years in the service of the college”, he added.

  • Ambode, Aregbesola advise Muslims on virtuous living

    Ambode, Aregbesola advise Muslims on virtuous living

    Lagos State Governor Akinwunmi Ambode and Osun State Rauf Aregbesola have urged Muslim faithful to keep on with the principles of the holy month of Ramadan, which are love, peace, kindness, compassion and happy co-existence.

    Ambode spoke in Lagos House, Ikeja, at a special Eid el-Fitri celebration organised by the state government to mark the end of fasting.

    Aregbesola gave his counsel in a message to the adherents that thronged the praying ground for Eid el-Fitri prayer at Oke Baale area of Osogbo.

    Addressing those at the Lagos House, Ambode said it was only when the principles of the season were sustained beyond Ramadan that the fasting period could be given true meaning.

    The governor, who said that this year’s Ramadan was unique in the sense that the 30-day fasting period was fully observed, thanked the Muslim faithful for their prayers and urged them to keep praying for the state and the country.

    He said: “As your governor, I seek for your support and cooperation as we move into the second year of this administration. We must all play our parts and keep relating with this government and we will not fail in making Lagos work for all of us.

    “While thanking everyone that has spared time to join us in this get-together, I enjoin Muslim faithful and indeed all Lagosians to sustain the lessons of Ramadan,” Governor Ambode said.

    Wife of the Governor, Mrs. Bolanle Ambode, thanked God for giving Muslims the strength to complete the fasting, but stressed the need for them to remember the essence of the holy month and the expected renewal of faith and spiritual cleansing of souls.

    She said: “It is important for us to continue with the principles of the Holy Month. Ramadan represents love, peace, kindness, compassion and happy co-existence. The Holy Prophet held these principles in high esteem and lived His whole life around them.

    “Therefore, as brothers, sisters, neighbors, co-workers, we must love one another, show kindness to one another and live together in peace. It is when we do these beyond the fasting period that we give true meaning to the Ramadan,” Mrs. Ambode said.

    But Aregbesola said the essence of Ramadan is for human beings to be reborn spiritually.

    He said fasting teaches virtue, resilience and endurance, which must be upheld by Islamic faithful.

    He urged Muslims not to detract from the part of virtue and righteousness that they observed for 30 days of Ramadan.

    The governor noted that the best thing for Muslims to do after the fasting is not to go back to old ways of sins.

    “Today marks the end of Ramadan. It is without doubt that for 30 days, we endured hunger, thirst and obedience.

    “These are what Allah command of us. During this month, we came together as one. We shared together; we loved ourselves and prayed to God for forgiveness.

    “Fasting teaches the utmost virtuous. The virtues of endurance, tolerance, love, honesty and determination in the face of adversity. It is all these that renewed our beings and made us spiritual.

    “I urge us to hold on to all the qualities. Even though Ramadan has ended, we should not let these good qualities go with Ramadan. We must not depart from this path of virtue again,” Aregbesola said.

    He urged Muslims to live in harmony and extend hands of understanding and love to people of other faiths, saying Islam best exemplifies peace among people of the world.

    He assured the people that better days lie ahead despite the present economic gloom.

    In his sermon, the Chief Imam of Osogbo, Sheikh Musa Animasahun, emphasised the need to continue to fear God and do the right things after the fasting.

     

  • Aregbesola preaches peace

    Aregbesola preaches peace

    •Tasks all religious adherents on cooperation and understanding

    Governor of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, has called on Muslims nationwide to pray for peace as the country is going through tough economic and security challenges.

    This was contained in message to adherents of the Islamic faith on the occasion of the Eid el- Fitri celebration.

    Aregbesola, in a statement by the Director, Bureau of Communication and Strategy, Mr. Semiu Okanlawon, admonished the Muslims to imbibe the salient lessons of Ramadan and emulation of the humility, good neighbourliness, understanding and love exemplified by the life of Prophet Muhammad.

    According to him, Muslims must exhibit qualities such as commitment, discipline, obedience to and love of Allah, and apply same in their daily relationship to their fellow human beings irrespective of ethnic and religious affiliations.

    He enjoined the people of the state to live in peace and extend hands of fellowship to their neighbours so as for the peaceful and tranquil atmosphere in the state in the past five years to continue unhindered.

    “It is a known fact that this is not a good time for the country. The economy is in doldrums. There is palpable air of insecurity all over the country.

    “As we wade through these economic and security turbulence, all we need, leaders and the led; Muslims and Christians and adherents of other faiths, is to come together as one and cooperate with President Muhammad Buhari to jointly pursue our a common destiny.

    “I congratulate the entire Muslim community in the country for successful completion of fasting.

    “This is the time that we must either come together to jointly take our country to the height it deserves among comity of nations or most assuredly ruin it by hanging separately. All hands must be on deck for us to move forward.

    “We must stop paying leap service to fundamental necessities which are catalyst for development or else this nation would remain a dwarf to other nations, which ought to take directives from us,”Aregbesola said.

     

  • Aregbesola: we ‘ll not be deterred by sponsored media attacks

    Aregbesola: we ‘ll not be deterred by sponsored media attacks

    Osun State Governor Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola has said his administration will not be deterred in its resolve to take the state to an enviable height, despite sponsored media attacks on his person and government.

    The governor, who hosted reporters at a fast-breaking dinner, tagged: “Iftar with Ogbeni”, at the Banquet Hall of the Government House in Osogbo, said his administration remained firm in its commitment to making life meaningful for the people, despite attacks in a section of the media.

    Aregbesola, who described journalism as a noble profession, urged journalists to make professionalism their watchword.

    He said they should verify the authenticity or otherwise of information at their disposal before going to press.

    The governor, who  noted sponsored attacks and abuses in the media, done to pull down his administration and discredit his person, said if truth had been given its place over the years, newspapers would not malign his administration.

    He admonished journalists to champion truth, fact, balance and accuracy in whatever they do as the watchdog of the society, saying there is need for them to be conscious of whatever they present to the public.

    Aregbesola said: “My joy tonight is that our state continues to survive despite the mischievous, desperate and malicious contents in some sections of the media against our government. Unfortunately, the media in recent times have portrayed our government as one of the worst in the country, whereas the reverse is the case.

    “It has erroneously portrayed us as a famished state. About this time last year, it was as if heaven would fall. It was as if the world was collapsing in our state. What churches do normally became an opportunity to portray us as a famine-stricken state. One person even went to the extent of donating his wardrobe allowance.

    “Everything was made to look as if people were dying on the streets. Recently, I still read in our papers that we are owing salaries, while the reverse is the case. I have decided to ignore such tantrums.

    “Available records have shown that there is no iota of doubt that some journalists have demonstrated their hatred for us through their adamant disposition to falsehood, baseless and unfounded claims against our noble political voyage.

    “I wonder why they find it difficult to display high sense of commitment to journalistic ethics and media professional code of conduct despite the conspicuous realities.

    “The pertinent question is that whether or not the media assesses itself, facts must always be disseminated and reported, and it is on the basis of this we have always advised media experts to support the dissemination of reliable, accurate, objective, authentic, impersonal, non-sensational and factual news.”

    Aregbesola reaffirmed his commitment towards the completion of projects, saying no stone would be left unturned to give the people the dividends of democracy.

    He promised to continue on the template of good governance and pro-masses policies, saying “when the going gets tough, the tough gets going.”

    The governor enjoined the people to support his administration by performing their civic responsibilities through the payment of taxes. In his view, unless governments seek alternatives to crude oil revenue, the future is bleak.

  • Aregbesola renews call for environment protection

    Aregbesola renews call for environment protection

    •Sterling Bank donates kits to highway managers 

    Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola has reiterated the importance of the environment to the existence and general well being of mankind.

    He spoke at the presentation of kits to the highway managers by one of the leading commercial institutions in the country, Sterling Bank.

    The governor decried the carefree attitude of Nigerians to the environment, saying the manner in which people overlook the environment without attention to the general cleanliness of where they live is worrisome.

    According to him, besides the biological make-up of human beings as they are created by God, it is only the environment that makes them what they are.

    Aregbesola noted that for people to live a healthy and productive life, the environment must be clean, bright and well catered for.

    Stressing the importance and the need to take care of the surrounding, he said after food, the next thing on the priority of human beings is the environment, as it can make or mar human existence, depending on the way it is attended to.

    The governor hailed the bank for contributing its quota to making the environment a better place for the people.

    He urged other corporate organisations to emulate the corporate responsibility demonstrated by Sterling Bank.

    The bank’s Executive Director, Mr. Lanre Adesanya, said the presentation of the kits is in line with the bank’s strategic focus on the environment as one of its corporate responsibilities.

    He said environmental cleanliness is one of the cardinal points of Sterling Bank’s corporate responsibilities.

    Adesanya praised the governor for his administration’s effort at changing the landscape of the state despite the challenge being faced in the public and private sectors.

     

  • Poor Aregbesola!

    Poor Aregbesola!

    Poor Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola! It seems the Osun State Governor can never put a foot right in the eyes of the powerful Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) whose control of the Nigerian media is hard, if not impossible, to match. His crime, as he himself aptly put it the other day in response to the gratuitous attacks he has been subjected to of recent, seems to be that he insists on being a good Muslim.

    Not too long ago he was called all manner of names for daring to declare the first day in the Islamic calendar a public holiday in his state whose Muslim population is probably the majority. For his critics it didn’t matter that the Solar calendar from which Christmas and New Year celebrations derived is not universal. It also did not seem to matter that the declaration deprived non-Muslims of nothing.

    Gratuitous as those attacks were, however, they were still understandable; as governor, the buck for any administrative order stopped on his table.

    The same cannot be said of the most recent attacks he has been subjected to over the ruling on June 3 by an Osun State High Court in Osogbo in favour allowing female Muslim students to wear Hijab in all public primary and secondary schools in the state.

    Justice Jide Falola’s ruling on Hijab was not the first. The first was nearly two years ago in October 2014 when Justice Modupe Onyeabor dismissed a similar suit filed in May 2013 against the Lagos State Government by two 12-year old girls under the aegis of the Muslim Students Society of Nigeria, Lagos State Area Unit, over the government’s ban on Hijab.

    In her judgment, Justice Onyeabor said the state’s prohibition of the wearing of Hijab over school uniforms within and outside the premises of public schools was not discriminatory. According to her, the ban did not violate sections 38 and 42 of the 1999 Constitution as claimed by the plaintiffs. They had contended that the ban violated the two sections which gave them the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion.

    Instead, the judge said, the right they sought violated Section 10 of the Constitution which said “The Government of the Federation or of a State shall not adopt any religion as State Religion.”

    In deference to the ruling by the judge the plaintiffs decided to respect the state’s dress code but appeal her judgment. The case has since pended before the Court of Appeal and is likely to go all the way to the Supreme Court.

    The contrast between the restrained reaction of the Muslim leadership in Lagos to its loss and the petulance of the Christian leadership at both the state and national level in the Osun case could hardly be sharper. And the extent to which the newspapers have indulged the Christian leadership in their petulance spoke volumes about their fairness, balance and objectivity.

    Since the June 3 ruling Aregbesola has been accused of trying to start a “war” – in the words of Vanguard of June 15 – over religious dressing in his state. Several newspapers have carried pictures of some students in their choir and Church attires to their schools when they reopened on June 14 following the “June 12” public holidays.

    The prophesy of this fabricated “war” may yet be fulfilled if it all depended on the CAN leadership – and the newspapers.

    As the chairman of the state’s chapter of CAN, Elisha Ogundiya, said in a statement on the court ruling, “Christian students in all public schools founded by Christians with the toil and sweat of our forefathers in the faith (will) have no choice but to start wearing garments and vestments as part of their school uniform for the propagation of our faith, given that Justice Saka Oyedije Falola declared the right of female Muslim students to do same, as what is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander as well.”

    Reverend Musa Asake, CAN’s General Secretary, was even more unequivocal in blaming the governor for creating what he called a “religious crisis” between Muslims and Christians in the state.

    “Although they are talking about court judgment,” Asake said, “what I can say is that Aregbesola is responsible for whatever is happening in Osun State. We at the national level are in total support of the decision by the Osun State chapter of CAN that Christian pupils should attend classes in choir gowns, Girls Guide and Boys Scout apparels, including white garments, depending on whatever attire appeals to any Christian parent.”

    As Christian leaders, the partisan statements of Ogundiya and Asake are understandable, albeit untenable. Not so, the editorial of the Nigerian Pilot of June 17, which was both untenable and impossible to understand.  The governor, the newspaper said, “should not in his usual demeanour sound as one who shares in ignorance and pretense over a matter that is volatile like the looming religious crisis…It is wrong timing for the world to see him as a religious fundamentalist nursing a hidden agenda TO ISLAMIZE OSUN STATE.” (Emphasis mine).

    Any newspaper worth the name should know there is separation of powers between the Judiciary and the Executive arms of government. It should also know that recognising a manifestation of any religion is not the same as adopting it as state religion.

    This is what makes it truly baffling that the Osun State governor should be held, not just vicariously, but directly responsible for the ruling of a court. But then, as the man himself said, it seems his crime is that he insists on being a good Muslim.

    “Is it,” to use his own words, “a crime that I am a Muslim, is it because I struggle to be a good Muslim that everything I do is being misunderstood? I think I don’t deserve all these lies against me.”

    The man has challenged any one with evidence that he ordered the wearing of Hijab to bring it. Not a single one of those calling him names has done so. And it’s unlikely that they ever will.

    Aregbesola has done all he can to be a good Muslim, which means being fair to all religious persuasions in the state. Contrary to what his critics say, our Constitution never said Nigeria is a secular state. My Advance English Dictionary defines secular as “of or relating to the doctrine that rejects religion and religious considerations.” The very opening words of our Constitution say we are “…a Sovereign Nation under God.” This is clearly no rejection of religion.

    Even Section 10 of the Constitution that the Lagos State High Court Judge cited as her basis of banning Hijab in the state did not reject religion. It only says none should be adopted by the State.

    The section may look like a contradiction of Section 38 which gives us the freedom of religion and to manifest it. But it seems contradictory only if we assume recognising any manifestation of a religion amounts to adopting it. This assumption is clearly a fallacy. Otherwise it would mean, for example, the fact that we celebrate Christmas means the country has adopted Christianity as the State religion.

    Just like Christmas is a manifestation of Christianity so is Hijab a manifestation of Islam, albeit even more so, because an adult woman is considered naked without it. It is indeed an irony that the Christian leadership should object to a dress considered ideal for Christian women who dedicate themselves to serving God, as reverend sisters do.

    Section 38 of our Constitution says we are all entitled to our faiths and to the freedom to “manifest and propagate it…in worship, teaching, practice and observance.”

    I find it impossible to understand how my daughters or my wife wearing Hijab in public violates the right of a non-Muslim to manifest his or her own faith. I find it even more impossible to understand how doing so amounts to the country adopting Islam as State Religion.

    In any case if anyone felt threatened by female Muslim students wearing Hijab I would have thought the proper thing to do was to go to court and seek redress rather than defy a lawful order issued by a lawful authority.

    Aregbesola was not the one who said female students can wear Hijab to school as part of their uniform. It was the courts that did. Those who disagree should go there and test their presumptions of the rights of their children to dress to public schools as they deem fit instead of trying to make a straw man out of Aregbesola, the easier to destroy him.

     

  • Aregbesola compensates houses, farm owners affected by road projects

    Aregbesola compensates houses, farm owners affected by road projects

    NO fewer than 450 people whose farms were affected by road construction in Osun State received monetary compensations yesterday.

    Three other people, who houses were affected by road construction in the rural areas, also collected key to a newly built house.

    Handing over the monetary compensation and keys to the beneficiaries, Governor Rauf Aregbesola said the compensations were in fulfillment of government’s promise that people would not be burdened by developments on-going in the different parts of the state.

    e handed over cheques of N28 million to 450 farmers, including some traditional rulers, whose farms were affected by construction of roads in the rural areas by Rural Access and Mobility Project (RAMP).

    The three individuals who collected keys into their new houses worth N10 million include; Mr. Adebisi Dauda (Yinma Aba Village); Mrs. Comfort Odebode (Gbengbeleku Village) and Akinwale Oyetade (Gbengbeleku Village) all in the suburb of Ile-Ife.

    Among those who also collected monetary compensations were traditional rulers, whose farms were also affected by construction.

    They are Oba O. Fatanmi (Olura of Ira); Oba Olugbenga Omole (Olumukoro of Mokoro); Baale Bunmi Bamosun and an Evangelist, Makinde Samson.

    Aregbesola said the administration would remain unwavering in its rural-urban integration in the state so as to open up the farms for easy transportation of farm produced.

    According to the governor, 500 kilometres of rural roads had been penciled down for construction out of which 225 kilometres has now been completed.

    “It is our commitment to open up our rural areas and make life easy and comfortable for our farmers.

    “This is why we are constructing the roads in other to make all our farms accessible.

    “Besides, this roads will also make it easy for the farmers to transport their farm produce from farms to the market. This will boost commercial activities while alleviating the suffering of farmers as well.

    “We intended to construct 500 kilometres of rural roads across the state. As we speak, we have constructed 225 kilometres and still going on.

    “Those we gave compensation to are people whose property and farms were affected. We promised them that they will not suffer any hardship owing to the development in their domain.

    “We have, by this payment of compensation, fulfilled our promise to them,” Aregbesola said.

     

  • I never ordered use of hijab, says Aregbesola

    I never ordered use of hijab, says Aregbesola

    •Governor: we ’ve recorded 57.46 per cent in education performance

    OSUN State Governor Rauf Aregbesola yesterday clarified that his administration and himself have never ordered the use of Hijab by female Muslim students in public schools.

    He spoke at the “Roundtable on Development Collaborative Framework for Education Development and Advancement” organised by the Development and Advancement in Western Nigeria (DAWN) in Osogbo, the state capital.

    The governor urged those who accused him of ordering the use of Hijab by Muslims  to bring concrete prove to “substantiate their mischievous claims”.

    Aregbesola challenged those accusing him of plunging the state into religious crisis to present a video or voice recording, written speech evidencing  where he commanded or ordered female Muslim students to wear Hijab on their uniform.

    According to him, the programmes introduced into the state’s education rebranding were the resolutions that came out of the education summit organised by his administration after coming into office.

    Aregbesola said the resolution of the summit, headed by Nobel Laureate Professor Wole Soyinka, never considered nor recommended any religion.

    On education in the West, the governor noted that the downward trend in education should be worrisome due to its role in growth process, bringing enlightenment to the human mind,  platform for leadership recruitment and the means for character building and good citizenship.

    The governor stated that when he came to government, the first task of his administration was to convene an education summit, which was chaired by Soyinka.

    He added that all interventions of government in education since inception came from the recommendations of the summit and nothing about religion.

    His words: “There is nothing religious in any of our policies. The fact on ground contradicts our opposition’s claim. The choice of my deputy governor tells it all. I knew she attends a Pentecostal church before I picked her. Everything we have done in the line of education is in line with the resolution of our education summit.

    “Against all speculations, I have not ordered the use of Hijab, I challenge anybody with evidence to come out and show that I have made a proclamation on Hijab.

    “If I have permitted Hijab, will the Muslim have gone to court to challenge it? Is that not contradictory? Is it a crime that I am a Muslim? Is it because I struggle to be a good Muslim that everything I do is being misunderstood? I think I don’t deserve all these lies against me.”

    Aregbesola told the participants that his administration is constructing state-of-the art 100 elementary schools, 50 middle schools and 20 high schools in addition to rehabilitating the existing ones.

    He added that the schools in the state before his intervention would have attracted rebuke from animal rights activists if government had put pigs there.

    The Osun school feeding programme, tagged: O-MEALS, he said, has provided the template for national adoption and implementation of free meals in schools.

    He added that he was invited by the British Parliament twice to share Osun’s experience with the world.

    According to him, his administration’s efforts and intervention in education has been massive, stressing that there has been qualitative and quantitative improvement in the performance of pupils and general education of youths.

    “Those who say we are declining are not being honest. The following data will put a lie to the unfounded allegation of our detractors that the performance of pupils has gone down under our watch.

    “In 2007, the state government put forward 36,171 candidates for WAEC examination out of which 2,483 representing 6.86 per cent had credit pass in five subjects, including English and Mathematics.

    “In 2008, it was 37,715 candidates with 3,813 pass, representing 10.11 per cent. In 2009, it was 39,676 candidates, with 5,545 pass, representing 13.98 per cent. In 2010, it was 43,216 candidates, with 6,777 pass, representing 15.68 per cent. These four years gave us an average of 15.68 per cent.

    “However, our administration started sponsoring candidates for WAEC in 2011. That year, we fielded 53,293 candidates, had 11,672 with pass, representing 21.98 per cent. In 2012, we fielded 51,463 of which 11,431 passed, representing 22.21 per cent. In 2013, we also fielded 47,013 candidates, recorded 9,301 pass, representing 19.78 per cent.

    “In 2014, we sponsored 47,672 candidates, 9,316 of them passed, representing 19.54 per cent. The average performance for our first four years was 20.88 per cent. Compared with the average performance (13.26 per cent) of the three years that preceded us, the percentage improvement in performance during our tenure is a huge 57.46 per cent,” the governor said.

    Mrs. Laoye-Tomori described the gathering as one that would help restore the lost glory of the Southwest educational sector.

    She stated that the time has come for all and sundry to stamp-out all impediment and turn around the education sector not only in the western region but in the whole country.

    The deputy governor identified education as the only mechanism that will salvage the nation from its present socio-economic, political and educational challenges.

    She advocated that collective participation and regional integration among the various governments would lead Southwest out of its challenges.

    She disclosed that the state under the leadership of Aregbesola has successfully implemented pro-masses policies that have contributed and impacted greatly in the lives of the citizenry especially the young ones.

    “I am very happy that this round table meeting would in no doubt improve the qualitative and quantitative performances in education sector of our region as it seek to arrest the apparent decadence and rot in our education.

    “Though it is unfortunate that education in the country seems to be on decline, but as a matter of fact, we must muster efforts to strengthen the superior legacy which we are known for.

    “Governments at various capacities must come together to bailout the nation from the present deplorable state of education in the country. Mrs. Laoye-Tomori said.

     

     

  • Aregbesola urges corps members to be creative

    Aregbesola urges corps members to be creative

    Osun State Governor, Rauf Aregbesola has charged youth corps members to see the national youth service scheme as a platform to develop themselves in skill acquisition. The governor gave the charge through his deputy, Chief Mrs. Grace Titi Laoye-Tomori, during the swearing-in ceremony for the 2016 Batch ‘A’  course corps members at the National Youth Service Corps permanent orientation camp, Ede, Osun State.

    He said the objectives of the scheme are geared towards encouraging self employment, equipping potential entrepreneurs with techniques for successful management of small scale businesses and uplifting the dignity of self reliance among the youths.

    According to him, there are sundry opportunities for the corps members to key into and maximise their potentials for self actualisation. The governor said: “It is imperative to stress that gone are the days of expecting an automatic life-time job immediately after service. The attitude that majority of our young graduates put up is that creative thinking and individual initiative ended with graduation. “This is absolutely wrong. You need to apply creativity more now in the face of unemployment bedevilling the nation. I would rather advise you to focus more on self employment.”

    Aregbesola said that the NYSC scheme has proved to be a veritable and enduring vehicle for effective youth mobilisation in addressing critical issues of national integration and nation building.The governor said that corps members are recognised as the pillars on which “our future greatness lies and this has informed our commitment to providing you with the enabling environment to optimally realise your potentials.”

  • Why Nigerians must embrace agric, by Aregbesola, Ogbeh, Ooni

    Why Nigerians must embrace agric, by Aregbesola, Ogbeh, Ooni

    OSUN State Governor Rauf Aregbesola, Minister for Agriculture Chief Audu Ogbeh and Ooni of Ife Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi have urged Nigerians to embrace farming as an alternative to oil for economic recovery.

    They spoke at the 2016 flag-off of cashew planting season and roll out of cashew expansion programme facilitated by Oba Ogunwusi, at Ogudu Village, Ife-East Local Government Area of Osun State.

    According to Aregbesola, the only way for Nigerians to contribute meaningfully to national economic growth was for able-men and women to go back to farms.

    He called on political office-holders in the three tiers of government to stop relying on the “failed oil sector” and look for means to sustain the economy.

    The governor noted that there could be no better time than now for the citizenry to ensure that the economy move away from relying on oil to agriculture.

    He said: “I am particularly happy and enthralled at the efforts being made to promote the cultivation of cashew, noted for not just being a food crop, but a cash crop as well.

    “This is well timed at this season when it has become imperative to diversify our economy from its oil orientation to others more sustainable areas like agriculture.”

    He hailed President Muhammadu Buhari for living up to the expectations of Nigerians through his achievements in the last few months, saying the uniqueness of his good governance had been felt in all aspects of the economy, especially in agriculture.

    The governor, who described cashew as a money-making and health-promoting crop, said the state is ready to partner with any investor to boost the agricultural sector.

    He lauded Oba Ogunwusi for complementing his efforts to revamp agriculture in the state.

    He implored other traditional rulers to emulate the good gestures of Oba Ogunwusi in rendering social services to the society.

    The Minister of Agriculture, who described the flag-off ceremony as the beginning of agricultural revolution in the country, said the stage has already been set to ensure massive plantation of cocoa, plantain and banana across the nation.

    Ogbeh said the ministry was ready to embark on plantation of two million cashew every year for the next four years.

    The minister stressed that the purpose of quick intervention in agriculture by the Federal Government was to ensure that the nation regain its lost glory as the food basket of Africa.

    Oba Ogunwusi said 2,000 hectares of land had been acquired and cultivated for cashew plantation, adding that as soon as the people are showing interest in farming, more land would be released for that purpose.

    He was delighted on the commencement of this year 2016 Flag-off of Cashew Planting season in Ife, saying with that, Ife had proven its stand as the ancestral home of Yoruba nation.

    The royal father further noted that the flag-off ceremony was a clear testimony to efforts of the state government towards the resuscitation of agriculture.

    Oba Ogunwusi, who decried the slide in the oil sector, said the time has come for government at all levels to shift attention to agriculture in stimulating and reviving the nation’s economy.