By November 27, 2018, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola’s second term tenure will end as the Governor of Osun State . One of the things his era will be remembered for is the re-introduction of Calisthenics. During school anniversaries, inter house sports, government official visits to schools, it is now an easy exercise for school children to entertain their guests.
In major national and state anniversaries, such as Independence, State Creation and Children’s Day, Calisthenics display is the only event that often attracts spectators to the state city stadium.
It is among the leading ceremonies listed to usher in the Osun Governor-elect, Alhaji Gboyega Isiaka Oyetola, who will be inaugurated on November 27as the governor of the state.
Calisthenics was introduced by the Old Oyo State Governor, Chief Bola Ige in 1980/81. Aregbesola, in 2011, engaged two Calisthenics experts from Cuba to train 40 Physical and Health Education Instructors and Games Masters in Osun.
The training experience culminated in a display of “Osun at 21” Anniversary Celebration, August 27, 2012; the first ever major Calisthenics Display in the state with only a Nigerian precedence in the one put up by the Late Bola Ige, at the Liberty Stadium in the Old Oyo State during the 2nd Republic.
In the last six years, however, five other major calisthenics displays during various Anniversaries, and some other indoors displays, have taken place without the Cubans, under the tutorship of those they trained, including the spectacular Oodua World Children’s Day Celebration in 2013 graced by Late Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuade and the incumbent Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi along with Obas from Oduduwa lineage; and this year’s Children Day Celebration. Over 20,000 students from Middle and High Schools in more than 30 schools from Osogbo and Olorunda Local Government Areas have passed through the training exercises, which lasts up to 90 days in some instances.
In 2017, there was a new dimension with the introduction of the State-wide School Competition that allowed entry from all public schools in Osun. At this level, more than 40 schools across the state formed themselves into nine teams, training for two school terms, with elimination displays and Senatorial Stage championship and Prizes. The Grand Finale took place in November 2017 between teams representing the three Senatorial Districts as a part of activities to celebrate 3rd Year Anniversary of the Second Tenure of Rauf Aregbesola Government: over 5,000 students were involved. Apart from trophies, plaques and certificates of participation, N10,500,000 prize money was awarded by the state government for the sports facilities development of the participating schools.
By the 2018 state-wide competition, Aregbesola directed that private schools be allowed to participate. Of the 27 schools that registered, only 14 could make it to the elimination stage. After the assessment of their display performances between Monday 22 and 29 October, 2018. Glory Group of Schools, Okuku, a private school in Odo-Otin Local Government Area; St. Raphael College, Ikire, also a private school, and St. Micheal RCM, Ibokun, a public school came best three schools. They got N1 million and a trophy each while the first runners up, L.A. Middle School, Ilesha, Nahada Group of Schools Inisa and Ife-Oluwa Middle School Osogbo got N750,000 each. The second runners up category, Osu Community Middle School, Osu, Olive Branches Schools, Osogbo, and Anglican Central Government Middle School. Ile-Ife got N500,000 each.
Other five schools in the last category; Anglican Middle/High School Ife Odan, Oba Laoye and Anasru-Islam Middle School, Ede, Oluorogbo Middle School, Ile-Ife, Shekinah Schools, Inisa and Osun North Anglican Diocesan Comprehensive High School, Agbeye got the consolation prize of N200,000 each.
This 2018 edition of the school competition will be concluded with a grand finale on November 21, as part of the programmes of the inauguration of the Oyetola administration. The champion will go home with a giant trophy and N2 Million, the runner-up with N1m and the third placed team will go away with N750,000.
Director, Department of Social Mobilisation and Grassroots Mobilisation and Guidance in the Office of the Governor, Bayo Ojo, said the prize reward is among others, to encourage more participation and assist the schools in improving their sporting facilities in the quest of the government to institutionalise Calisthenics as part of school curricular, noting that playgrounds these days have become scarce resources in schools, especially private schools, a road block to the psychomotor domains objectives of education in Nigeria.
He said 27 schools indicated interest in the competition but 14 eventually made it past the preliminary training into the competition stage, leading to the emergence of the three finalists.
He said this year edition accommodated private schools to participate in the competitions, which has expanded the scope of the programme and solicited for the support of the private sector to sustain the programme describing it as worthy in building a better future for Nigeria.
Commissioner for Education, Omotunde Young, praised Governor Rauf Aregbesola for the initiative, adding that it requires unusual understanding and strong leadership to sustain a programme like calisthenics considering its huge cost and solicited for private sector intervention, especially considering that Calisthenics is one of the best brand-able sports for children.
According to him, in 2017 alone, over 6,000 students were engaged which has transformed their lives through discipline, mental alertness, precision, team work among other Omoluabi virtues acquired through the calisthenics game.
Whenever the government desires to stage calisthenics specifically for anniversaries, about 5,000 students are gathered as a “state team” from dozen contiguous schools in Osogbo and Olorunda Local Government Areas, with the government being responsible for their training, costume and welfare. In order to take the burden of refreshment and transport to the training ground away from their parents, N300 daily is given to each participant for upwards of 90 training days. Although the total monetary commitment, including the cost of costume for 5,000 persons, is huge, it is a direct investment into 5,000 families, apart from the beauty and benefits of Calisthenics. These are among several such social interventions and protection programmes are what have impacted on State of Osun to lower its crime and poverty levels to one of the very lowest in Nigeria.
“However,” explains Mr Omotunde-Young “with the new template of Statewide school competition, the schools, parents and the Parents-Teachers associations, are directly responsible, voluntarily, for the welfare and costumes of each of their teams. The State Training Crew trains the Physical Education Instructors and games masters of those schools. This way, schools, private and public, has taken ownership and control of the process with government continually guiding and supporting the process with training knowhow, competition staging and prizes, while expecting brand and private sector support in the nearest future.”
The Head of Service, Olowogboyega, said in the history of the state, no governor understands the philosophy of sound and qualitative education like Governor Rauf Aregbesola who has demonstrated unprecedented commitment to educational development.
He said physical education is foundation of education and any society that lacks such is heading for doom and urged the teachers to sustain the institutionalisation of calisthenics in schools.
He said it is only Aregbesola that understands governance best among all the governors that have administered the state and the school curricular designed by his administration are the best in the country.
Olowogboyega commended the teachers for the recent strides in the West African Examination Council (WAEC) with 70 percent performance in English and Mathematics.
He said: “Aregbesola has brought the riddles of impossibility through calisthenics and it is the teachers that will solve this problem; your commitment and determination are important for the success of the programme.”
