The Nation Newspaper

Tag: AREGBESOLA

  • 2014: ‘Aregbesola’s performance speaks for him’

    The Director-General of “De Raufs”, the campaign organisation of Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola, Comrade Amitolu Shitu, yesterday said the governor’s performance will give him victory in next year’s election.

    Shitu, who was the governorship candidate of the National Conscience Party (NCP) in Osun State in 2003, spoke with reporters in Ojodu, Lagos.

    He said there was no need campaigning for Aregbesola because his work speaks for him.

    Shitu, who is also the National Co-ordinator of the Committee for Democracy and Rights of the People (CDRP), said: “Aregbesola is a reformer. He has a passion to deliver the dividends of democracy to the people and has being delivering same. He has changed misfortune to fortune in Osun. People now sleep with both eyes closed.

    “Aregbesola believes in transformation. He has re-orientated youths, revived the ailing agriculture and education sectors. There is security and peace in the state.

    “He has catered for the health and general welfare of the people. He has devoted his energy, life and time to the service of Osun. He leads by example and he has meritoriously served the people.”

    Giving example of leadership by example, Shitu said: “Aregbesola’s first son is serving in the environmental department. He is packing waste and rubbish from the streets. That tells you the type of leader he is.”

    Shitu said he does not see Senator Iyiola Omisore of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as a threat to Aregbesola at the polls.

    He said Osun people know Omisore’s antecedents and described him as “a noise maker”.

    Though a member of the NCP, Shitu said he is on sabbatical from partisan politics because of his interest in Aregbesola and his style of administration.

    Shitu, who said he was in and out of detention 10 times between 1989 and 2001 for activism, urged the government to provide social security and unemployment benefits for the people.

    On the declaration of a state of emergency in three states, he said: “President Goodluck Jonathan is an unserious president. Any one who toes former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s line and hopes to succeed is a joker. A state of emergency cannot achieve any positive result because the one Obasanjo did in Plateau did not bring about peace. Till today, there is no peace there. Jonathan should stop deceiving himself. He is only after those that are not in his good books.”

  • Aregbesola inaugurates Hassan Olajoku Park

    Aregbesola inaugurates Hassan Olajoku Park

    Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola has described the late chieftain of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Alhaji Hassan Olajoku, as a martyr of democracy.

    Olajoku was killed on May, 2005, by gunmen at Gbongan Junction. He was a major financier of Aregbesola’s campaign organisation, the Oranmiyan Group.

    The late Olajoku hailed from Ilobu in Irepodun Local Government.

    Yesterday, Aregbesola unveiled a park named after the deceased at the spot where he was killed.

    The Hassan Olajoku Park has a multi-purpose hall, a guest house, a police post and a relaxation centre, among others.

    The governor’s wife, Sherifat; Deputy Governor Mrs. Titi Laoye-Tomori; Olajoku’s widow, Fausat; ACN stalwarts, top politicians and traditional rulers were at the event.

    Others present were the Secretary to the Osun State Government, Alhaji Moshood Adeoti; the Chief of Staff to the Governor, Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola; Osun ACN Chairman Adebiyi Adelowo; Osun ACN Secretary Prince Gboyega Famodun and top members of the Aregbesola administration.

    The rest were a retired Supreme Court Judge, Justice Bola Babalakin; the Olufi of Gbongan, Oba Adetoyese Oyeniyi; the Aragbiji of Iragbiji, Oba Abdulrasheed Olabomi and the Ataoja of Osogbo, Oba Jimoh Olanipekun.

    Aregbesola said the late Olajoku and the Oranmiyan Group stood for the progressive idea of using the instrument of governance to serve the people, better their lot and raise their standard of living in a peaceful atmosphere.

    He said: “This is an idea that unsettled the ousted administration, which was a government of corruption, mismanagement, misrule, terror and brigandage. Part of their murderous plan was to attack my friends and political associates and inflict on them the unbearable cost of their friendship and association with me.

    “Olajoku was the first victim of this diabolical plan. He was a major financier and supporter of the Oranmiyan Group. He saw and believed in the need for progressive change and firmly aligned and committed himself to the cause.

    “For this, he was brutally cut down at this very spot by the agents of evil on his way back to Lagos. In the oblique and malevolence-coloured view of our enemy, they thought they could stop us by eliminating our sources of support. They were sorely mistaken and deeply disappointed.

    “Olajoku had long been killed, but what he stood for, fought for and died for lives on. The same idea of progress was our source of succour and courage to press on and brave the odds.”

    Aregbesola said the park was not only to honour the late Olajoku, but also a monument to express contempt for the reprehensible minds that conceived the scheme to murder him and the despicable hands that carried it out.

    He said the park was also a symbol of peace, a monument of his administration’s commitment to peace and good neighbourliness and a token of its resolve to defend and protect the people.

    The Special Adviser to the Governor on Environment and Sanitation, Mr. Bola Ilori, said the park was a testimony that the state had returned to the era of peace, development and progress.

    He said the spot where Olajoku was killed, which was a place of tension, has been turned into a place of relaxation.

    Ilori said apart from honouring the late Olajoku, the park beautifies the state.

    Before the inauguration, the governor and his entourage went on a two-kilometre peace march from the Oke-Church Junction in Gbongan to the park.

    Mrs. Olajoku thanked the governor for immortalising her husband.

    She said Aregbesola has continued to be a pillar of support to the family since her husband’s death.

    The widow said Osun people were lucky to have a governor that is committed to the state’s reformation.

  • Osun’ll never experience flooding, says Aregbesola

    Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola has assured residents that the state will never experience flooding.

    Aregbesola spoke yesterday at the Leisure Spring Hotel in Osogbo, the state capital, during a sensitisation workshop on Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) for the wives of governors in the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Lagos Field States.

    He said flooding had been banished forever in Osun and urged the people to support his administration’s policies and programmes to have a friendly environment.

    Aregbesola urged mothers to inculcate values in their children to ensure a peaceful society.

    The workshop was attended by Aregbesola’s wife, Alhaja Sherifat and her counterparts – Dame Abimbola Fashola (Lagos) and Mrs. Funsho Amosun (Ogun).

    Mrs. Aregbesola said: “Our converging here today is an indication of our collective resolve to improve the standard and quality of hygiene and sanitation among our people.

    “The Southwest has always been known for innovation and the pioneering of human development activities in Nigeria and I am happy that, once again today, we are showing our leadership traits by coming together to promote sanitation in our communities through CLTS.

    “CLTS is a participatory approach, which facilitates positive behavioural change on sanitation among the people. The change is aimed at stopping open defecation, building and promoting the use latrines.

    “Reports from our development partners, especially UNICEF, puts the prevalence of open defecation across Nigeria at about 33 million people. Open defecation is a major threat to safe drinking water and public health.

    “It has also been reported that the diarrhoea rate in Nigeria is the worst in Sub-Sahara Africa. As caring mothers and mentors of the people, we need not remind ourselves of the large death rate from diarrhoea, which is solely caused by poor sanitation.

    “The report of the Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and UNICEF on Nigeria, which was released last year March, should further give us concern. While the trend in open defecation in rural areas has been decreasing, it has been rising in urban areas. “This is a danger signal, in view of the imminent financial burdens that will heap on our states, if the rate of diarrhoea swings up. Diarrhea is a major child-killer disease in developing countries. Consequently, intervention in sanitation remains a major way to curb it and the only process for now that triggers community stimulation towards achieving sustainable environment and behaviour change is CLTS.”

     

  • Aregbesola, Mimiko honoured

    Governors Rauf Aregbesola (Osun) and Dr. Olusegun Mimiko (Ondo) have received the Lion’s Club’s Melvin Jones awards.

    Aregbesola received the award in Ile-Ife, Osun State, while Mimiko received it in Osogbo, the state capital.

    Aregbesola said if government at all levels and private organisations partner in key areas, Nigeria and Africa will be great.

     

  • Aregbesola Lecture May 24

    Aregbesola Lecture May 24

    An annual lecture is to be held in honour of Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola.

    The inaugural edition will hold on May 24 at the auditorium of the Osun State University, Osogbo.

    Nobel Laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka will chair the occasion.

    Former Head of State Gen. Muhammadu Buhari is the Special Guest of Honour.

    National Leader of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) Asiwaju Bola Tinubu will deliver the maiden lecture, titled: Political parties and nation building in the eyes of the world: Lessons for the Nigerian State.

    Mr. Omobayo Aworele, the Chief Executive Officer of 1401 Solution Concept Limited, the organiser of the event, said 10 governors are expected at the lecture.

    Osun State Commissioner for Information and Strategy Sunday Akere is the Chief Host.

  • Osun is not broke, says Aregbesola

    Osun is not broke, says Aregbesola

    Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola yesterday debunked the rumour that the state is broke.

    He said Osun is economically strong, despite the massive construction work going on across the state.

    The governor spoke in Osogbo, the state capital, after inspecting some on-going projects.

    He said contrary to speculations in some quarters that the state was insolvent, its economy was growing.

    Aregbesola described some opposition leaders, particularly in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), as “political jobbers”, who cannot see anything good in his administration.

    He urged the people to disregard the rumour, saying: “Do not mind their claim that the state is bankrupt. You can see that there is massive construction work going on everywhere. If the state is insolvent, will there be these kind of development in virtually all areas?

    “Osun is not insolvent. The question of insolvency should not even arise at all. They are just jabbering and we will not be distracted by their negative comments.”

    On why he had not been inaugurating projects since he assumed office, Aregbesola said the inauguration of projects was meant for lazy leaders.

    He said in advanced countries, leaders do not roll out drums to inaugurate projects, adding that such ceremony was a waste of public funds.

    Aregbesola said: “Our administration does not believe in inaugurating projects. We believe it is the people’s projects, so why must you inaugurate it. In advanced countries, we do not see leaders inaugurating projects the way we do in this country.”

    He expressed satisfaction with the work done by the contractors handling various projects, adding that they were working according to specification and should complete the projects on schedule.

  • ACN hails Aregbesola, labour

    The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in Osun State has hailed Governor Rauf Aregbesola and labour leaders for resolving their dispute amicably.

    The party said it was happy with the public demonstration of the rapprochement during the May Day celebration in Osogbo, the state capital.

    It said the event turned out to be a carnival of love and solidarity. In a statement yesterday by its Publicity Director, Mr. Kunle Oyatomi, the ACN said the May Day celebration left no one in doubt that the governor and labour leaders have agreed to work together for the state’s progress.

    It said the demonstration of love by the labour leaders was evident of the maturity shown by both parties in arriving at a consensus.

    ACN said: “This peaceful, mature and responsible approach to conflict resolution is what Osun needs to consolidate on the massive reconstruction work Aregbesola and his team are undertaking.

    “The carnival-like rally is also a virtual endorsement of Aregbesola’s hard work and positive leadership, which labour leaders have acknowledged as unprecedented since the state’s creation.

    “This should put the opposition on notice that the 2014 governorship election is not going to be a contest but an endorsement by the people of Osun.”

  • ‘Aregbesola practises participatory democracy’

    ‘Aregbesola practises participatory democracy’

    Olusegun Bada is the Special Assistant, Research, Planning and Policy Implementation to Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola. In this interview with FAITH YAHAYA, he explains that the governor has transformed the state with his people – oriented programmes.

     

    The State of Osun is hardly mentioned when people talk of governments that have impacted lives. Why?

    The government has recorded tremendous achievements. We have estblished a solid database of indigenes from Osun State and this is done with the view of creating an avenue for inter-personal interactions between the Governor and the people. It is a novel idea whereby Governor Aregbesola occasionally brainstorms with the people on how to move the state forward. You must understand that it is from this kind of gathering that you can get different shades of opinions since all strata of the society are adequately represented. Also, in Abuja here, the government has been able to liberalize the attitude of indigenes who are indifferent to what is happening in the state. Now, they come and interact with the liaison officers and they tell them the development that is going on in their respective local government areas. For example, we have been able to ameliorate, as it were, the hardship being felt by the taxi drivers of Osun extraction here in Abuja. In the last two years, we have been able to provide about 60 cars for them. It is part of Aregebesola’s initiative.

    In concrete terms, what would you list as the key achievements of the Aregbesola Administration?

    In the area of infrastructure, what we are doing is not renovation. We are building and rebuilding. Prior to this time, nothing much could be said about the infrastructural facilities in the state. The teaching and learning aids were not there. But the story has changed today. The government recently distributed teaching aids to about 30,000 beneficiaries. We distributed chalks, boards, and every other thing. But before the distribution of the teaching aids, we distributed the Opon Imo. It is the “Tablet of Knowledge”. The teaching aids were only distributed to public schools. One of the integral elements of the Aregebsola Administration is to ensure that education is accessible even to the poor. The benefits that the rich hitherto enjoy should be extended to the poor. A lot of things are embedded in the Opon Imo.They include 56 textbooks, 17 subjects and 6 extra curricula activities. It also contains past questions of about a decade ago for children to practice for NECO and WAEC. The tablet takes care of three special areas in education. When a child is born, he is like an empty shell. Three things are supposed to be inculcated into him for him to have knowledge. We have the cognitive knowledge, affective knowledge and psychomotor knowledge. Cognitive knowledge is knowledge that you know, prior to this time, the head might be empty. Affective knowledge has to do with feelings, you will be happy that you are learning something. It can also be called affective domain. Psychomotor domain has to do with activities, involving extra curricula activity.  These three domains are embedded in the Opon Imo and it is a total form of education. Also, Aregbesola’s government believes that it is not the aesthetics of a school that makes up the school but the quality and content of education embedded in the students. At the same time, they are training and recruiting teachers to cope with the Millennium Development Goals (MDG). We are going to distribute 150,000 tablets to secondary schools but so far, we have distributed almost 60,000 to 70,000 of the tablets and it cuts across the whole state, even the rural areas. The tablet is powered by solar energy and in all these rural areas, we have installed solar charger to charge it. The tablet is user- friendly and it has instructions that will make it easy for users. However, it does not have internet facility because we are aware that children these days might want to use it to watch pornography amongst other things. So, the tablet is basically an instruction kit that will enable them practice their homework, go through past questions and access relevant textbooks. It is a revolution and I tell you, no state, no country in sub-Saharan Africa has tried it. It is sheer ingenuity of man and the wisdom that God gives man to do that. Bill Gate said recently that educational training is going to move from the ideal to the effective, people will now go about with tablets or something

    Apart from the focus on education, which other sector is the government looking at?

    In every local government in Osun now, they are tarring over 214 kilometres of roads. Osun State is experiencing massive infrastructural development. By the time you make the people proud of where they come from, they will not need to go to the urban areas. It will curtail the rural urban drift and it will encourage them to stay within their locality. Aregbesola’s government is engaged in what is called participatory democracy. Every Saturday, he goes to one city or the other for what they call jogging for healthy living. He interacts and interface with the elderly through the town hall meeting and apart from that, people above 65 years of age are given a stipend of N10,000 monthly because they don’t have to depend on their children who already have too much responsibilities. Before he came on board, the Internally Generated Revenue was about 250m to 300mbut now, the IGR in Osun is about 700m. Before the end of this year, it will reach about N1bn. The purpose of this is that no responsible government should depend on the federal allocation to take care of its recurrent expenditure profile. A responsible state government should be able to meet up with the challenges of paying its recurrent expenditure profile. The previous government borrowed money monthly to pay salaries but now, we pay salary as at when due. The issue of ghost workers has also been eliminated. E-payment is what is going on in Osun State now. The governor is serious about issues relating to prudent financial management, prudent fiscal responsibility as practiced in the best institutions in the world.

     

     

     

     

     

  • Aregbesola urges Fed Govt to declare emergency on youth unemployment

    Aregbesola urges Fed Govt to declare emergency on youth unemployment

    Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola has urged the Federal Government to declare an emergency on youth unemployment.

    The governor spoke yesterday in Osogbo, the state capital, at the graduation of participants in the Osun Youth Empowerment Scheme Technology, popularly known as O’YES-Tech.

    He said the scheme is the flagship of his administration’s policy to rescue unemployed youths from chronic idleness.

    Aregbesola noted that by arming the youths with necessary skills in Information and Communication Technology (ICT), his administration has opened their eyes to an area of limitless possibilities with the wherewithal to explore and exploit the possibilities.

    He said: “By the same token, we are also preparing our state with the human infrastructure to launch itself into an ICT centre of excellence in Nigeria and with the probability of an ICT reputation that will spread well beyond the shores of this country.

    “In the largest public sector employment programme in the history of Nigeria, the O’YES took Osun youths out of the unemployment market in their thousands, and put them firmly on a path to economic and financial liberation. But we refused to relent.

    “The O’YES-Tech is a key branch-out from its O’YES mother into another area of gainful possibilities – the Information and Communications Technology (ICT).

    “This is an area that holds the promise of consolidating our vision of youth employment and empowerment; with the added advantage that it will give Osun youths the enablement to function in what has become the centre of international commerce.”

    According to him, the programme was designed with a focus on the empowerment of other members of the Osun public, who may also want to acquire skills in this highly valued area.

    Aregbesola said the programme has been packaged to equip participants with an interpreted set of skills that will allow them to develop their professional careers in ICT and help them acquire the latest skills to build future capabilities by using world-class technology.

    He said: “Within days from now, 150 of the employed technicians are bound to leave for a three-month on-the-job experience at the company’s headquarters in Ghana.

    “I am also happy to announce that 750 of the successful trainees have been employed by another company, Chams Plc, for its operations in the State of Osun, while some others have also been taken up on full-time employment by the technical team working on the Opon-Imo.”

    The spokesperson of the RLG Communication, the company that partners the state in training the youths, Mr. Tosin Ilesanmin, promised that the company will train 20,000 but cannot absorb all of them.

    He said the training has equipped the trainees with skills that will make them self-employed and self-subsisting.

    One of the trainees, Adeniyi Waheed Adegoke, from Technical College Centre in Osogbo, said the programme exposed him and his colleagues to a lot of computer programmes and mobile phone assembly, maintenance as well as dissemble.

    The trainee said he is now self-employed, saying Aregbesola is the first governor he has seen who made promised and fulfilled that promise.

    Another trainee, Oyelade Omowunmi Balqis, said the programme means a lot to the participants, adding that it would employ as well as empower them for life.

    The best trainee at the end of the programme, Musbau Akinola, besides his certificate, won N100,000 monetary prize form the governor.

     

  • Aregbesola’s second term stickers flood Osun Assembly

    Stickers with messages rallying support for Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola’s reelection yesterday adorned most of the vehicles at the House of Assembly Complex.

    Virtually all official and private vehicles belonging to the lawmakers had the stickers.

    Speaking with reporters, the Speaker, Mr. Najeem Salaam, said: “My colleagues have decided to show solidarity with the governor based on personal conviction and because we are proud to be associated with him.

    We are happy with his performance, but this does not mean we are losing sight of our watchdog position.”