The Nation Newspaper

Tag: AREGBESOLA

  • Aregbesola urges Fed Govt to join job creation efforts

    Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola has urged the Federal Government to complement the efforts of states in job creation.

    The governor noted that if the Federal Government showed the same level of commitment to job creation, like the states, youth unemployment would reduce.

    Addressing reporters in Abuja at the launch of the Youth Employment and Social Support Operation (YESSO), the governor noted that “if the Federal Government matches each state’s effort at youth empowerment scheme one-on-one, it will go a long way in reducing youth unemployment and even eliminating all the security threats, which are indeed a manifestation of youth unemployment”.

    He said if the Federal Government could match the states’ efforts in the fight against unemplooyment, nobody would accuse it of favouring one state over the others.

    Aregbesola said: “If the state employs or empowers 1,000, let the Federal Government also employ or empower 1,000; if the state can do 10,000 or 100,000, let the Federal Government match it with the same 10,000 or 100,000. It is easier for the Federal Government to do it.”

    A youth engagement programme, he said, is the panacea for the prevailing insecurity and threats across the land.

    “I am miffed, disturbed and worried by the spate and scale of insecurity in Nigeria. It is also clear to me that there can’t be a solution outside providing something for these army of unemployed youth,” the governor said.

    Aregbesola noted that the energy, vibrancy and creative talents that abound in young people are vital ingredients of development, which only need to be properly channelled into productive ventures.

    The governor said it is the government’s duty to positively engage youths for social and economic development.

    He said: “Keeping young people meaningfully engaged is not only a sound economic policy, it is also a sensible approach to good governance. No effective or successful governance can take place where there is rampant unemployment among the youths.”

    Using Osun State as a positive example of government’s intervention in youth empowerment, Aregbesola said the Osun Youth Empowerment Scheme (O’YES) became an effective mechanism of massive public sector employment which offered some income but great hope for the youths who are absorbed into the scheme.

    Through the scheme alone, the governor said, N200 million is injected into the economy of Osun State every month as allowances for the cadets.

    This, he stressed, has multiplier effects.

    Giving the success recorded by the O’YES initiative, Aregbesola said the World Bank studied it and certified it to be a viable and sustainable solution to youth unemployment in Nigeria.

    The global bank, the governor said, recommended it to the Federal Government and other states as a model.

    The result, he said, is the Youth Employment and Social Support Operation the Federal Government launched yesterday.

    The Federal Government will build a registry of beneficiaries of its youth empowerment programme, the Finance Minister, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said yesterday.

    The former World Bank chief, who is also the Coordinating Minister for the Economy, spoke yesterday at the official launch of the Youth Employment and Social Support Operation (YESSO) in Abuja.

    She said the government “will build a registry of beneficiaries and begin to have a very strong record and those at the bottom end of the ladder in the country who need assistance to be ascertained”.

    Dr Okonjo-Iweala said the government cannot target and help those who need help, if it does not know who they are.

    She said: “One of the things that will be done is to begin to register them. This will complement what is being done at Subsidy Reinvestment Empowerment Programme (SURE-P) at the federal and state levels because the Federal Government is using it to create jobs. This is what the states are also doing.”

    The Federal Government, the minister said, would have a conditional cash transfer to enable it “develop incentives for those who are unskilled in our communities and many youths who need opportunities in life. This is one instrument that will target them and help them build jobs and help them build their businesses.”

  • Minister assures Aregbesola on water projects

    Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola has hailed Water Resources Minister Mrs. Sarah Reng Ochekpe for ongoing water projects in Ilesa and Ile-Ife.

    The governor spoke yesterday during his visit to the minister in Abuja.

    He thanked her for including Osun on the list of beneficiaries of the Federal Government’s water scheme.

    Aregbesola said Osun people would remain grateful for the water schemes, adding that Ilesha had been without water for almost 50 years.

    He urged the minister to include other areas in the state in next year’s budget.

    The governor said his administration would collaborate with the Federal Government to ensure that the projects are completed on time.

    Mrs. Ochekpe said she was pleased to know that her ministry is the first Aregbesola was visiting since he assumed office.

    She said the projects would be completed by the second quarter of next year.

    The minister said Osun would benefit from the Irrigation Fund for agricultural development.

  • ‘Aregbesola is not acting for Tinubu’

    ‘Aregbesola is not acting for Tinubu’

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun State has condemned the newspaper report that Governor Rauf Aregbesola has taken over the party’s national leadership in the absence of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, who is abroad for medical treatment.

    In a story, titled: “Aregbesola takes over as APC leader…Osun gov in charge in Tinubu’s absence”, The Sun yesterday said Aregbesola would act for Tinubu.

    In a statement by its Media Director Mr. Kunle Oyatomi, APC said it was surprised by “such a wild and baseless speculation, which is aimed at causing acrimony and tension in the APC”.

    The party said: “We are miffed by this totally wild speculative report, especially by a paper of The Sun’s standing. It is baseless and uncalled for. We do not know how Tinubu’s absence could cause any vacuum in the APC’s leadership.

    “With the current communication technology in the world, how does Tinubu’s physical absence at meetings inhibit his contributions to the affairs of the party? And if they must know, Asiwaju is not in any way incapacitated. He never hid the fact of his knee injury, for which he has sought adequate medical attention.

    “We challenge those behind the report to ask themselves where they would place other party leaders, like Chief Bisi Akande, Chief Audu Ogbe, General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) and other governors.

    “The speculation about Aregbesola becoming the APC’s leader cannot be taken seriously by discerning minds. It is the handiwork of mischief makers bent on causing disaffection in the party, knowing that APC is the party to beat in the next general election.”

     

  • Aregbesola deserves second term – APC Chieftain

    Aregbesola deserves second term – APC Chieftain

    Osun State Governor, Rauf Aregbesola has been commended for his ingenuity in transforming Osun State within the last two and half years in office.

    A Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ondo State, Prince Solagbade Amodeni who spoke to reporters in Akure, the state capital expressed delight on various positive innovations initiated by the present administration in Osun state

    According to him, the projects are on development of infrastructures, dualization of major roads, employment generation and qualitative education among others.

    Amodeni who served as Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources in the early part of Dr. Olusegun Mimiko’s administration described Aregbesola as a symbol of transformation and good governance who works day and night for the emancipation of the society and its people.

    According to him, with the pace of development in the state, Osun would soon become a pace setter amongst other states in visible development.

    The former chairman of Akoko South East, urged electorates to support the present administration in Osun state beyond 2014 to enable it sustain its developmental efforts.

    Amodeni urged opposition parties to appreciate the remarkable feats performed by APC’s government in Osun and other Southwest states.

    He stressed the need for promotion of regional integration programme to attract development to the Southwest.

    On the crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the politician noted that the development was the gradual collapse of the ruling party that had took Nigerians for a ride in the past 14 years.

    The APC leader lamented that PDP had brought untold hardship on the citizenry in the midst of the nation’s vast resources.

    He predicted that the dominance of the party in polity would soon fizzle out with the emergence of APC and other rival poilitical parties.

  • Aregbesola, minister disagree on fertiliser distribution

    Aregbesola, minister disagree on fertiliser distribution

    Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola yesterday said the Federal Government’s fertiliser distribution scheme is a failure in Osun.

    He rejected claims by the Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina, that 3.5 million farmers had benefited from it through the Growth Enhancement Programme, arguing that “no farmer in Osun benefited from the initiative”.

    Aregbesola spoke in Abuja at the 19th Nigerian Economic Summit while participating in a debate centred on “Growing Agriculture at the state level”.

    Adesina said: “The old fertiliser business was just a racket. In the old times, people just filled papers at the federal level. Fertiliser did not get distributed and people got paid. With President Goodluck Jonathan’s support, we cleaned up that sector and the state governments participated. The Federal Government’s participation is 25 per cent and state governments pay 25 per cent of the subsidy.

    “When we started last year, we reached 1.5 million farmers. This year, we have reached about 3.5 million farmers and we expect to reach five million more before the end of the dry season. So it is that synergy between the federal and state governments to take agriculture as a business, rather than a development programme, that makes things work.”

    Responding to the minister’s comments, Aregbesola said: “If Osun had benefited from the scheme, the state government would not have spent about N1 billion on fertiliser for farmers. I see the spirit, the zeal and the passion of the minister of Agriculture. However, the fertiliser distribution did not get to my state.

    “Whatever the governor of Anambra State experienced, I did not experience. I committed close to N1 billion to procuring fertiliser when the one arranged through the agents you put together failed. That is the truth. We cannot continue to pretend that all is well.”

    The governor debunked claims by the Federal Government that youths were interested in agriculture, saying: “We have spent billions of naira clearing lands and giving them to farmers, but the few of them that went there have done nothing. They know roaming about the streets begging for money pays better than staying on the farm.

    “The solution to this problem is the creation of incentives for farming. There must be a guaranteed minimum price for agricultural produce to enable farmers live comfortable lives. If that is not there, we are joking. Most farmers would not want to farm because farming today is still not a business in Nigeria.”

    Aregbesola urged the government to give zero-interest loans to farmers.

  • Aregbesola inaugurates garment factory

    Aregbesola inaugurates garment factory

    •3000 jobs in Osun

    Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola has said his administration will continue to provide infrastructure and security for businesses to thrive.

    Aregbesola spoke on Monday in Osogbo, the state capital, while inaugurating the Omoluabi Garment Factory.

    He said the factory is a testimony of his administration’s investment drive, adding that the state has the required market as well as the human and material resources.

    Aregbesola said Osun pupils were given uniforms to give them a common identity and purpose, as well as a sense of unity and pride, which “had been lost to the decay in public schools” before the inception of his administration.

    He said: “Through this alone, we provided job opportunities for our market women, who supplied the materials for the uniforms, and about 3,000 tailors.

    “This factory will, henceforth, produce the school uniforms. It will employ our people, buy its input here and the batik it will produce will be sewn by our tailors.

    “All of these, among other gains, will have numerous spin offs that will rebound to the advantage of the people. The uniform material will be sold and sewn at controlled prices to make it affordable for our people. You are not only assured of quality; you will get it at good prices.”

    The governor said the factory is one of those established through the revitalisation of the education sector.

    He said another factory will soon begin the production of the e-learning tablet, Opon-Imo, and other electronic gadgets in Ilesha.

    Aregbesola urged the managers of the factory to be innovative and “uncompromisingly committed” to quality, saying: “This might appear to be a small beginning, but what I am seeing is the onset of a giant clothing industry that will take the nation and West Africa by storm in the future.”

    He said his administration was focused on the implementation of policies that “would improve the lives of the people”.

    The General Manager, Operations, Bank of Industry (BoI), Mr. Joseph Babatunde, hailed Aregbesola’s “visionary leadership”.

    He said his bank provides financial support for the training of fashion designers, whose products would be consumed locally and abroad.

    Babatunde called for a review of the agreement between the government and the bank to accommodate more trainees.

    The factory’s Managing Director, Mrs. Folake Oyemade, said by the end of the year, over 3,000 tailors would have been trained.

    She said: “Today’s ceremony is a demonstration of one of the governor’s campaign promises. He promised to make Osun an industrial haven, where youths, as leaders of tomorrow, would be catered for through skill acquisition, job creation, poverty alleviation and wealth creation. This is just the beginning of better things to come.”

     

  • Osun Osogbo: Beyond feasting

    Osun Osogbo: Beyond feasting

    •Tourists will fly into Osogbo next year, says Aregbesola

    This year’s Osun Osogbo festival may have ended but the commerce that comes with the cultural and tourism event is still on-going, reports Evelyn Osagie.

    Founded on an ancient covenant about 1370 years ago, the Osun Osogbo Festival has grown to become a monumental event that has gone from being another religious activity to becoming a mega-commercial one.

    Over 1,000 years after, the ancient city of Osogbo, like an unseen hand of its goddess, has continued to draw many from within and outside the country. And it was that time of the year when the state witnessed a large influx of Osun devotees and tourists. For two weeks, the Osun State capital was their choice-destination.

    They came for its water, its art and most especially its goddess. It was two weeks of carnival of festivities that began with the cleansing of the town called Iwopopo followed by the lighting of the 641-year-old lamp called Olojumerindilogun. This was followed by Iboriade four days later, which is the assemblage of all the crowns of past kings (known as Ataoja) for blessing. Highlight of the festival was by the procession, featuring the votary maid, Arugba bearing the sacred calabash allegedly containing the people’s prayers to the grove where it is dropped in the river.

    For the people of Osogbo and their king, the Ataoja of Osogbo, Oba Jimoh Oyetunji Olanipekun (Larooye II) it is not just period of reunion and rededication but also one of hospitality which has become a money-spinning sector.

    And with the grove, which bears the handiwork of the late Susanne Wenger, being enlisted as a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) World Heritage Site since July 15, 2005, this has added life to its tourism activities.

    So, the festival has grown from religious to an economic activity earning the state and its people revenue.

    As Osun devotees and culture lovers celebrate and tourists felicitate, the town’s purse swells. While dancing and chanting, Oore yeye, their purses resonate with rich patronage.

    Tourists’ participation at this year’s edition, according to the Special Adviser to the Governor on Tourism and Culture, Mr Oladipo Soyode, doubled that of last year by 100 per cent, adding that hotels within the capital were fully booked so much so that many had to settle for hotels in the adjoining towns. It also affected the smooth flow of traffic in the face of ongoing roads construction. But that did not stop beehive of cultural and commercial activities.

    With local and international brands on hand to entertain, the increase in tourists also spelt an increase in patronage and commerce. Even the local artisans were not left out in the business aspect. As the visitors moved from town to town , theartisans went out to outdo oneanother to catch these potential clients’ eyes.

    Determined to tap the potentials that the festival, and by extension, the sector holds, the governor added a musical concert, that held in Lagos penultimate Sunday, to the fiesta “to boost participation of youth”. “To be able to carry everybody along, we have to have programmes that they would be able to connect with. To win the youths, we have to go to them. And we thought the best way to take it is to take the festival to them in the way they would understand which through the concert we held in Lagos,” he said.

    According to Osun State Governor Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, the government has resolved to ensure that “the yearly celebration of the Osun Osogbo Festival records progressive increase in the number of participants”. “We will continue to creatively package the festival so as to enrich its tourist charm,” he said.

    The state plans to raise tourists to state from 5,000 to 20,000 with a target revenue of N7.5 billion by 2015. In addition to what his administration is doing in Osogbo, the state capital, Aregbesola said he is determined to promote tourism across the state. He said: “The state government is unreservedly committed to heightening the economic aspects of these social affairs.”

    The runway of the old airstrip at Ido Osun, he said, would be widened to 2.4 kilometres as part of his administration’s plans to turn the state into a mega-commercial destination and improve revenue generated through tourism to boost its economy and employment rate.

    Foreign tourists, he said, would be flown into the ancient town for celebration, adding that by then the airport that is under construction would have been completed. “With tenacity of purpose and unflagging resolve, we are investing in the development of tourism infrastructure. By next year’s edition, tourists will fly into Osogbo. Aside from promoting our culture, it would also help to boost the commercial life and development of the state. In this year’s budget, we earmarked N300 million for the upgrade of the various tourist sites across the state. “With development in tourism, we want to massively boost private and public revenue generations in arts and craft, tours guide, transportation services, hospitality services, and entertainment venues like amusement parks and theatres. We will not rest on our oars in ensuring that the ancient cities in the state are made suitable for habitation and investment. This development will result in increase in revenue generation, which will in turn significantly improve the standard of living of our people,” he said.

    To show that it means business, the government organised a Trade Investment and Cultural Conference that featured over 60 investors, and culture proponents worldwide during the festival. The summit, according to the Commissioner for Commerce, Industry, Cooperative and Empowerment, Mr Ismaila Jayeoba-Alagbada, is geared towards tapping into the huge commercial potentials that the tourism sector holds, “thereby promoting commerce and industry on a large-scale”. Even though the festival and the conference have ended, investors are still around scouting for potential partners and prospective business opportunities in the state, according to Alagbada. The week-long event, according to Alagbada, featured investment conference, business-for-business summit, cultural conference and site visitation, among other activities. It was organised by the State’s Ministry of Commerce, Industry, Corporative and Empowerment with Ministry of Home Affairs, Tourism and Culture.

    He said: “Over 60 investors from America, France and Netherland participated at the Trade Investment and Cultural Conference that began last Monday and ended last Sunday with departure. A lot of them are still around doing site visitation. The Osun State government organised the summit to boost commerce and industry in the state; and to connect small businesses with bigger brands. No doubt, our people are industrious and highly talented, hence, the government want to harness their potential by giving them the boost them need to become world players in the global market.

    “There were lots of partnership and collaborations with the foreign investors. And they opportunity of knowing what is required of them in the international market.

    “It is first of its kind; others we have had involved African in Disapora but this is the first time that we would be having foreign investors and brands interacting with those of people here in the state.”

    Oba Olanipekun called on the Federal Government to complement the state’s efforts in tourism “to avert the negative social impacts at the maturation of the industry.”

  • ‘Aregbesola’s achievements unparalleled’

    Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun State Elder Adelowo Adebiyi has said residents should be grateful to God as they celebrate the state’s 22nd anniversary. Osun was created in 1991.

    In a statement signed by APC Publicity Director Kunle Oyatomi yesterday, Elder Adelowo said: “Osun has witnessed unprecedented reformation and socio-economic re-engineering in the last 33 months, thanks to the execution of the APC’s Six-Point Integrated Plan by Governor Rauf Aregbesola.

    “There is hardly any family in Osun that has not been directly affected by the administration’s projects, such as O’YES, O’REAP, O’CLEAN, O’SCHOOL and attempts to turn the state into the economic hub of the Southwest.

    “The achievements of the administration are unprecedented. At no time in the days of the locust, between 2003 and 2010, did we enjoy the peace we have today. In those days, the people lived in constant fear for their lives, due to the activities of the criminals and political thugs in power.”

    The APC chairman urged the people to pray for those in government and the party that made the current development possible, saying: “It is the least they can do in appreciation of God’s gift to them in the person of Aregbesola.”

    He urged the people to continue to support the government to achieve greater successes.

     

  • Why I’m sending youths to Germany, by Aregbesola

    Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola has explained why he is sending some youths to Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, for advanced training in agriculture and food production.

    He said after the training, the youths would help the state move from subsistence to mechanised farming.

    Aregbesola spoke yesterday in Osogbo, the state capital, at a send-off ceremony for the youths.

    He said his administration was determined to provide enough food for local consumption and exportation.

    The governor said the administration had been providing infrastructure and support for farmers, such as improved seedlings, fertiliser, fumigants and cleared farmlands.

    He said the government was liaising with reputable local and international partners, such as the Institute for Agricultural Research and Training (IAR&T) and the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, for technical assistance.

    Aregbesola said: “Our efforts are geared towards taking farming from the subsistence level to the modern/commercial level, because that is the level at which farming is really worth it as a profession.

    “To realise this goal, it is needful to add value to our agricultural practice by applying advanced knowledge in science and technology. We have adopted a multi-pronged approach to achieving this objective.

    “On one hand, we are providing the necessary infrastructure and supporting our farmers with input. This requires supplying them with input, such as improved seedlings, fertilisers and fumigants, among others; giving them hundreds of thousands of hectares of already prepared farmlands; reviving old farm settlements that were the hub of agricultural miracles in the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s era; opening up rural areas through aggressive road construction and rehabilitation to facilitate easy accessibility and movement of goods from farms to markets; and the linking of farm produce from Osun to the huge market in Lagos via the Lagos-Osun Rail Logistics System.”

    Mr. Olumide Ojo, who spoke for the trainees, thanked the governor for giving them such a privilege and pledged not to disappoint the state.

    The trainees will undergo a four-week course on modern agriculture and food crop production techniques at an agricultural training school in Germany.

    After this, the trainees would be attached to 11 large-scale co-operative farmers in Saxony-Anhalt for eight weeks.

     

  • Ikirun rallies support for Aregbesola’s second term bid

    The people of Ikirun, the headquarters of Ifelodun Local Government Area of Osun State have rallied support for Governor Rauf Aregbesola’s second term bid.

    On Saturday, they trooped out in large numbers and marched round the ancient town in solidarity for the governor.

    The Akirun of Ikirun, Oba Rauf Olayiwola Adedeji, before the procession which involved different professional groups such as market women, barbers’ association, tailors and others, said the event was not political but “to show appreciation to the governor for the unprecedented development the town and its environs had witnessed in his tenure.”

    The monarch, who noted that the appreciation of the people of Ikirun to Aregbesola and his team was in three folds, said the governor appointed many of his subjects into his cabinet and boards of agencies and parastatals; construction of the dual carriage way passing from Ikirun to Ila-Odo, a border town with Kwara State, as well as the on-going construction of Dagbolu International Market in the council area.

    He said, “Aregbesola is passionately developing towns and communities across the state, including Ikirun. We have never had it this good. As far as we are concerned, Aregbsola is a winning horse which should not be stopped midway but should be allowed to finish the race.

    “The dual carriage way passing theough Ikirun and the Dagbolu International Market and his other laudable projects on our soil are capable of transforming our lives economically and socially. What we are doing, rallying support for Aregbesola’s second term in office, is beyond politics.”

     

    The monarch added that the governor’s policy to change the face of the state through the urban renewal programme was not a punitive measure but for the good of the state.