The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola

  • Kollington Ayinla relocates

    Kollington Ayinla relocates

    THESE are definitely not the best of times for veteran fuji star, General Kollington Ayinla. The musician who has been battling with his health, we gathered, has relocated to his hometown in Kwara State.

    Kollington has been battling a strange ailment and sources close to him said it became worse and the fuji maestro had to relocate out of Lagos.

    Kollington had put up part of his house at Alagbado for sale to tackle the strange illness until the Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola, and his Osun State counterpart, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, came to his rescue.

    It was also learnt that he had also sold off his old fish depot (which he had owned for over 25 years), situated along Lagos-Abeokuta expressway, when the illness started.

  • Aregbesola lauded for increasing community devt fund

    Aregbesola lauded for increasing community devt fund

    THE Osun Agency for Community and Social Development Project (OCSDP) has lauded the state governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, for increasing the agency’s annual fund.

    Managing Director of the agency, Mrs. Funmi Abokede, at a press conference in Osogbo, the state capital, disclosed that the state government’s contribution has risen from N100million to N200million, noting that the increase will, no doubt, enhance the efficiency of the agency.

    Abokede, who said that out of 36states across the nation, Osun State was rated high in project implementation and prudent spending, said the state governor’s support for the agency has contributed greatly to the sustenance and development of community projects and also improving the living standards of the people in rural communities in the state.

    Abokede also disclosed that the agency was using the Community Driven Development (CDD) approach to take decision on allocation of resources to community groups, adding that interested communities are required to come forward with expression of their interest in the project.

    She said, “A formal sensitisation visit and a Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRP) have been carried out and members of the communities visited identified their needs in order of priority and elected the Community Project Management Committee (CPMC) members in a democratic manner under the supervision of the agency.

     

    “Every participating community is required to contribute ten percent of the project cost. The community contribution can be in cash and kind, and this is to ensure ownership and sustainability. Our agency has achieved a lot in some critical areas which have direct positive impact on the people of the community and this is done regardless of your tribe or where you hail from,” she declared.

     

  • Osun and the quest for continuity

    Osun and the quest for continuity

    A social commentator, Idowu Ajanaku, writes on the developmental programmes of the Aregbesola Administration and the people’s quest for continuity in Osun State in 2015.

    He, who comes to governance in Nigeria and wishes to be on the good side of history, must do so with a good dose of creative ingenuity mixed with the power of vision. He must come with candour laced with uncommon courage; to dare where angels feared to tread. And to leave impressionable imprints in the sands of time one must be propelled by policies and programmes that are people-oriented, pragmatic and purposeful as Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola has done since November, 2010. But it does not come by mere wishful thinking. No!

    The sterling factors that fuel such feats come from an inner nudge- to do one’s best and let history be the ultimate judge. Add these to some forms of divine touch; implicit belief in God the creator, a measure of righteousness and never forgetting the source of the rivers of fortune and the picture of the positive persona of our subject, Aregbesola seems complete. For a gubernatorial hopeful, who put all his faith in God during the trying years to reclaim his stolen mandate, and for a Nigerian male, who confessed openly that he had never philandered or strayed away from the arms of his loving wife and for a principled politician, who has remained steadfast and grateful to his political mentor Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, unlike the generation of goats, there are several lessons to learn. As for his support for the Yoruba cause,the South-West integration and the progressives he has been consistently focused.

    Driven by the will to win, against seemingly insurmountable odds, staked high against his frail figure, Argebesola came into office eminently qualified with a wealth of experience that spoke volumes about his sheer determination to make the desired change. For instance, as the erstwhile Commissioner of Works in Lagos state, the Centre of Excellence, the roads and bridges constructed during his tenure remain enduring legacies till this day. These as well as the solid infrastructure the admirable administration of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu laid formed the foundation built upon by the current Governor Babtunde Raji Fashola-led administration.

    Mounting the saddle as a critical thinker, he saw the need to reposition Osun within the constitutional framework of fiscal federalism that we all still dream about. So came: ‘The State of Osun,’ complete with its anthem and logo and the Omoluabi as the driving mantra for morality and responsibility in governance as well as a means for the citizens to have a sense of self-identity. Though back then lesser minds tried, vainly to rouse a rabble, they were soon reminded that before him Alhaji Lateef Jakande did the same in Lagos state. If Shehu Shagari as the then president did not bat an eyelid why should anyone now? And come to think of it-if we truly want to imbibe the doctrines of presidential democracy as the United States which we claim to emulate then each and every state needs such a distinct identity. Not just for its name sake but to imbue in the citizens self pride in what rightly belongs to them, rather than being seen as a mere appendage to an overlord of a federal government.

    That singular rebranding of Osun state was a right signal of the ground-breaking and epoch-making achievements soon to be unfolded from the fecund mind of the man fondly called Ogbeni Aregbesola. He knew from the outset that he needed to assemble a team of top technocrats to drive his vision which took some thorough thinking through. It was that team that came up with the now hailed Six-Point Integral Action Plan.

    And fully aware that no meaningful progress could be made in the absence of peace, communal peace and progress has reigned supreme in the entire state since the assumption of office of the administration in line with the sixth item on the Six-Point Integral Action Plan. At the inception of the administration, one major step taken in the line of enhancing justice and facilitating the judicial process was the institution of the Peace and Reconciliation Panel. That formed the platform for victims of “various acts of oppressive threats, intimidation and tyranny had been meted in the past went to table their plights. The intent of this, as defined and demonstrated by the administration, was not to punish, witch-hunt of black-list anyone; but to reconcile all opposing parties in every dispute and entrench peace process in the true spirit of Omoluabi.”

    Before then there were series of communal conflicts and centrifugal forces mostly by chieftaincy disputes and/or land boundary disagreements. It would be recalled that the erstwhile PDP-led administration in the state put in place forceful enthronement of royal/traditional fathers in many communities where such stools should ordinarily be declared vacant. But these have since been amicably resolved. The Aregbesola-led administration pacified the aggrieved parties; letting them see the need for peaceful resolution rather than taking the laws into their hands.

    One other area that deserves commendation is that of reducing to the barest minimum the culture of wanton waste that characterized local government administration in the state. It was the practice during the locust years of Oyinlola for PDP chieftains at the community level to grace the premises of local government council secretariats all over the state. That was especially on pay-days to collect unmerited salaries. The consequences were grave as that the councils were unable to achieve or execute impact-making solid infrastructure or put in place capital projects for the benefit of their people.

    According to Osun Defender, “another area where local government councils were victims of compulsory deductions from their monthly statutory allocation from the Federation Accounts was the compulsory N1 Million deduction from the monthly statutory allocation coming to each o the thirty local government councils and the Ife East Area Office in connection with the Songhai Programme. These deductions were made for a period of more than a year.”The rip-off amounted to N31 million every blessed month! But Ogbeni by plugging such obnvious loopholes, has since restructured them from drain pipes to service pipes delivering goodies to the rural populace with accountability as the watchword.

    Fully aware that sound education delivery would revolutionalize the thinking and actions of his people he took off on an illuminating platform. He had this to say on August 27, 2012 during the 21st anniversary of Osun State: Our focus is human development because it is humans that drive development, not machines…If our people have quality education, are gainfully employed and well fed, they will recreate their environment, create wealth and engender development. Our people are great and we have a history of greatness. Events since then have proved him right.

    The introduction of the first-of-kind Opon Imo as the Tablet Of Knowledge is one of such giant steps taken. In specific terms, it has 63 e-books covering 17 academic subjects as well as the History of the Yorubas, Civic Education, Sexuality Education, enterprise education, Ifa teachings on morals with tips on passing SSCE and living a healthy and happy life. Furthermore, the test zone comprises over 40,000 UMTE and WAEC practice questions sand answers spanning over two decades. There are mock tests in over 50 subject areas packed full with 29,000 questions with relevant images numbering 825.

    As rightly highlighted by Aregbesola during the launch of Opon Imo, it will enhance the students’ access to relevant texts “regardless of means, location or status.” Similarly, the students would be able to read ahead of their teachers on various subject areas. They could test their ability to grasp how much of the lessons taught has been fully understood.

    Also important, is the economic implication to the government purse. As noted by the governor: “If the government was to buy textbiooks for 17 subjects,51 Audio Tutorials, and JAMB past questions for for ten years for the SS class students it would cost the government abot N50.25 billion”.

    Interestingly, this laudable initiative is springing forth from where the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo instituted free education in the defunct Western Region back in the sixties. The joy in it all is the focus of government on providing quality education right from the secondary school level, ‘the fruits of which would be visible in a decade or even less from now.’

    Honestly,the current status of education in the country is far cry from what it should be. According a recent World Bank report, over 10 million Nigerian adults are stark illiterates while another 10 million of children of school age are out of school. It also decries a situation where there is a glaring disconnect between the supply of schools and the labour market.

    In a similar vein, the recent Education for All global Monitoring Report from UNESCO made available in May 2013 during the World Economic Forum on Africa, says that if the mineral and oil and gas resources in the country were judiciously utilized in a transparent manner Nigeria would be able to take 2.4 million out of the about 9.6 million out-of-school children off the streets. The country was listed as one of the 17 developing ones that could effectively make access to education for 86 per cent of this category of disenfranchised youths.

    Still on education, at the inception of the multi-campus Osun State University (UNIOSUN) in 2005/2006, the Oyinlola administration could not afford the means to finance and sustain simultaneously with theadded task of funding Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso, co-funded with its partner Oyo State. Oyinlola’s turned to local government for compulsory imposition of levies deductible from source of the monthly statutory allocation from the Federation Accounts. At the beginning, the fraction deducted was 10 per cent. Later it was reduced to 5 per cent monthly. But the harm has been done already. Again Aregbesola has since brought sanity to that querulous area of running the tertiary institutions in the state.

    .For long in the State of Osun, elections could not be held into local government councils. The issue at stake was to challenge the constitution of the State of Osun Independent Electoral Commission (OSSIEC). But on Friday, December 17, 2010, justice was dispensed through the judgment delivered by the Supreme Court of Nigeria.

    On the infrastructural front various completed and ongoing local government feeder roads attest to the desire for true rural transformation. Many have been achieved through the World Bank/ FGN- assisted Rural Access Mobility Project (RAMP).They are still being executed in the state in tandem with the well thought out Six-Point Integral Action Plan.Worthy of mention also is the Rural Electrification. The efforts made so far in the area of rural urbanization are contained in the activities of the Urban Renewal Committee.

    In a similar vein, the Lands, Housing and Physical Planning sub-sector has transformed the city of Osogbo in particular, which doubles as the host of the seat of the state capital. A lot of structures that were erected without proper planning have since given way to modern buildings. Before his coming, many residential houses were built anyhow and anywhere without approval from constituted authorities and without bathrooms, toilets and other conveniences; in gross violation of modern acceptable standards. Major roads linking Osogbo, Ikirun, Ila Orangun, Ede, Iwo, Ejigbo, Ikire, Ilesa and Ile Ife, Osogbo/Ikirun/Ila Odo/Erin Ile, Kwara State Boundary Road project as well as the Oba’s palace and Old Garage Area have enjoyed a face lift under the Urban Renewal Project. Indeed, the story has since changed for good.

    Still on infrastructure, in Osogbo metropolis alone, there are three international markets including the Ayegbaju International Market, the Aje International Market and the Dagbolu which have been transformed beyond the dream of the residents.

    Add all these to the paradigm shift to agriculture with O-YES project boosting food security, creating jobs and wealth for the teeming youths and one cannot applaud the political sagacity of Ogbeni Aregbseola. The acclaimed State of Osun has taken its rightful place not only as the economic hub of the South West but as model to others in the country. Osun’s transformation is no longer a dream but a sweet reality in only three years! Surely, he deserves another term to continue the good works he has started.

  • Aregbesola: Three years of renewal

    Aregbesola: Three years of renewal

    Three years ago, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola took over the reins in Osun State. Group Political Editor EMMANUEL OLADESU examines the achievements of the administration, which underscore the governor’s endorsement for a second term by stakeholders.

    Six years ago, a pall of gloom descended on Osun State. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had just wreaked a monumental havoc on the people. Following the governorship election. The loser, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, was declared the winner. Voters were dejected. The winner, Comrade Rauf Aregbesola, was left in the cold.

    Undaunted, the former Lagos State Works and Infrastructure Commissioner approached the temple of justice for redress. For three years, the legal fireworks raged. The people could only heave a sigh of relief, following the Oyinoloa’s deposition and subsequent inauguration of Aregbesola as the third civilian governor of the State of the Living Springs.

    The engineer-turned politician met a state writhing in pains. The stolen mandate had been used to the disadvantage of voters. Almost all the sectors were on their knees. Roads were bad. Schools laid prostrate. The morale of the civil service was down. Internally generated revenue was at a low ebb. Governance was reduced to a tea party.

    The euphoria of victory withered immediately in the face of the challenges. Aregbesola swung into action. His first step was to plug the loopholes. For six months, he did not have an executive council. Through this measure, he succeeded on saving N30 billion. His Spartan lifestyle, disdain for opulence and aversion for primitive accumulation made Aregbesola to reduce the cost of governance. The painstaking planning and metyicu-lous execution of projects have yielded dividends.

    Today, observers believe that the state is counting its blessings across the sectors. This, they argue, is in fulfillment of the promise to make the government friendly and responsive to public yearnings.

    Aregbesola re-christened Osun State as “Ipinle Omoluabi”, which translates into a state of character. In his opinion, the people should return to the old value and virtue, which defined their past and made their leaders to shun vices. An ideologue, he is also a believer in the Awoist philosophy of welfarism and “Life More Abundant.”

    For three years, the governor has canvassed for the practice of the federal principle and regional integration. Although he has come under fire for his federalist ideas, he is unrelented. To him, the clamour for decentralisation of power, preservation of identity and agitation for autonomy in a federal set-up is in tune with reality.

    Aregbesola promised to maintain a clean break from the past. Today, the governor has turned the state into a huge construction site. Many have applauded him for constructing roads that will connect the state with the neighbouring Ogun and Kwara States.

    Another key area his government has recorded transformation is the education sector. Shortly after assuming the reins, the governor organised the Osun State Education Summit. It attracted eminent Nigerians, including the Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, and other stakeholders. The public schools have become a burden to the society. Indigent students became drop-outs. The students, especially those in primary schools, were roughly dressed and malnourished. School buildings were in dilapidated state, students’ performance, both at the internal and external examinations, were abysmally poor.

    There were no instructional materials and tuition fee was beyond reach of many indigenes.

    From the recommendations of the summit, the government developed a blue-print. Since then, education has not been the same in the state.

    One of the steps taken by the administration in sharpening the sector is the provision of two pairs of unified school uniforms to each of 750,000 pupils in the public primary and secondary schools. It was meant to boost the morale of the students and promote unity among the public schools.

    The provision of free uniforms. This is apart from N800million. This is apart from N1.8billion being injected into the basic education, including the provision of examination and running grants and instructional materials for public schools.

    No fewer than 3,000 tailors were contracted by the government to sew the new uniforms made of Adire batik. The material was chosen to empower the artisans and Adire makers in the state. It has become a showpiece of creativity.

    The deputy governor and Edu-

    cation Commissioner, Mrs. Titi

    Laoye Tomori, said that N30billion has also been spent on the physical structures, especially the classrooms, to guarantee a conducive atmosphere for learning. She explained that the administration is also constructing 170 new model schools to replace the dilapidated buildings. The new classrooms will have state of the art facilities, adding that it will enhance and stimulate the teaching and learning environment.

    Tomori said that 20 schools are for students in Senior Secondary Schools. When completed, she said that each is expected to conveniently accommodate 3,000 students on the basis of 40 per class. Each of the structures will have an examination hall that can comfortably seat 1,500 students and two e-libraries; one for sciences and the other for arts and social sciences would cost the N700 million, according to the government. Many of these school building have since been completed and commissioned.

    For Junior Schools, from Primary 5 to Junior Secondary School 3 (JSS3), 50 of them would be constructed, each accommodating 1,250 students while the elementary schools, Primary One to Four, which would be 100 pieces, would accommodate 900 pupils.

    To further stimulate the interest of students to learning, the government has invented computer tablets. The equipment, designed in form of an iPod called “Opon Imo,” contains the entire senior school syllabus, including Yoruba traditions, past questions of the West African Examination Council (WAEC), National Examination Council (NECO) and Joint Administration and Matriculation Board (JAMB) for 10 years in the software design for the system.

    Besides, in a bid to encourage the enrolment of children in public schools, government has rejuvenated the school feeding programme, tagged ‘O’MEAL’. The programme has increased the enrolment figure in public primary schools by 40 per cent in the last session. Determined to ensure the sustainability of the programme, government also said it was committing N3 billion annually for its implementation.

    Besides, the government, which also increased the running and examination grants per student in public secondary schools to N150 and N400, making a total of N550 against the N150 made available by the last administration, and N400 per pupil in primary schools, has now decided to invest N500 million annually, for the scheme.

    The state-owned tertiary institu-

    tions are also funded ad-

    equately. School fees have been reduced. For those at the polytechnic and College of Technology, the fee was reduced from N42,000 to N25,000, while those in the state university was slashed from N205,000 for Law and Medical Students to N100,000. Sciences was reduced from N155,000 to N75,000 while Social Sciences and Art now pay N75,000, instead of N130,000.

    Another milestone in the educational sector under the current administration was the scholarship offered to all the 98 medical students of Osun State University (UNIOSUN) for their clinical courses to complete their medical programme in Ukraine.

    The intervention gulped N146 million at the rate of $7,000 each, comprising the cost of training, accommodation and other sundry matters while their parents were supposed for care of their feeding only.

     

    Security

     

    Aregbesola is presiding over a peaceful state. Security experts are of the opinion that the state has the lowest crime rates. “Aregbesola’s government places high premium on security of lives and properties.

    This stems from the belief that peace and security engender growth and development. On the contrary, insecurity poses direct threat to direct investment both local and foreign as no investor would risk investing in an atmosphere of violence and insecurity”, said his media aide, Mr. Semiu Okanlawon. He added: “Against this backdrop, apart from the regular police manning the state, government set up dedicated crime response team nicknamed Swift Action Squad (SAS), who are now visible in strategic areas in the state as well as identified troubled sports.

    “Government also equipped this special squared with five Armoured personnel Cars (APCs) and 25 patrol vans for surveillance. Government also constructed two state-of-the-art police stations and multi-force security control centre.

    “Additional 100 patrol vans were also to be provided for the SAS and seven more police state to be built. Currently, a state –wide distress management system, which would allow security agency to respond within 40 minutes, is being developed so as to guarantee effective and efficient crime, detection, crime prevention and crime control”.

    The community policing network is evolving to boost security network across the country. Thus, the government recently purchased a helicopter for SAS for area surveillance. The goal is to make the state a “no-go-area for criminals” and “a no-crime-area”.

    As a humanist, Aregbesola is an exponent of poverty alleviation.

    About 90 percent of the Nigeria’s over 150 million people are said to have been living below poverty line. An average Nigerian lives on less than a Dollar per day. The rising unemployment has compounded the poverty rate. The Aregbesola government’s response to this is a structural empowerment programme, a social security trust, for vulnerable indigenes. It is tagged “Agba Osun”. Under this programme, 1, 600 people are placed on monthly stipend of N10, 000 for their upkeep.

    The governor is also committed to youth empowerment. No fewer than 20, 000 youths were employed in Aregbesola’s first 100 days in office. The Youth Empowerment Program-me is tagged “OYES”. Beneficiaries are young volunteers who render community service. They are placed under a monthly stipend of N10, 000. Also, about 5000 youths have been trained to acquire special ICT skills through the “OYESTECH”. Last month, they had good tales to tell during their graduation ceremony. Some of them were employed by private organisations. Some received soft loans from government to start their business.

    Under the “OREAP Programme”, 600 youths were trained in the government’s Agricultural Enterprise Academy. Also, 50 youths were sent to Germany to acquire advanced farming skills.

    The administration has also recuited over 6000 qualified youths as teachers in the public schools. The school feeding scheme (O’MEAL) for the elementary school also employed about 3000 caterers, who cook delicious meals for the children.

    Equally, through the school uniform programme, government has empowered 3000 tailors, who were sourced locally to sew over 750,000 pieces of school uniforms for elementary, middle and high school children. All these schemes have reduced poverty and crime.

    Many experts have lauded the

    urban renewal efforts of the

    Aregbesola Administration. To improve the physical condition of urban areas,the aadministration has provided N100m counterpart fund to the UN-Habitat initiative.

    The partnership, which will explore the state’s urban renewal potential, will also focus on rural-urban developmental potential. The partnership is sequel to the collaboration of the state government with the UN-Habitat for the preparation of structured plans for nine cities.

    The cities, which include Osogbo, Ife, Ilesa, Ejigbo and Ikire, have been earmarked for urban renewal by the government. The partnership agreement was concluded at the UN-Habitat Headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, during the 24th Governing Council meeting of the agency. These programmes are aimed at preparing and implementing the structural plan project currently going on in nine cities in the state.

    The state’s N100m contribution to UN-Habitat was fully paid last year by the state government. In consonance with these preparations, the UN-Habitat has agreed to give technical support in the area of effective deployment of these tools.

    The training programme will address the unsuitable urban growth, problems affecting the environment and growing inequalities between the rich and the poor, and serious distortion in the form and functions of cities.

    Health is wealth. Thus, health care-delivery is a priority in Osun State.

    The government has planned the location of the facilities in such a way that the sighting of the hospitals, referral hospitals and healthcare clinics fall within reasonable radius to one another across the state.

    For example, a Primary

    Healthcare Clinic is sited within

    10 kilometers radius of every Osun town, with special attention to the needs of the children, women and elderly. Also, a functional General Hospital is sited within 20 kilometres radius of human habitation and referral hospitals within 30 kilometres radius of human settlement. The nine state-owned hospitals and 12 comprehensive healthcare centres have been rehabilitated for optimal functionality, easy access and quick service delivery

    In three years, government has also built 74 additional primary health centres. It has carried out six medical and surgical missions to offer free treatment and surgeries to several thousand citizens. Provisions have been made for over N300m worth of drug to state hospitals and primary health centres.

    Apart from physical development, government also focused on human capacity building in the health sector by empowering about 400 youths as paramedics to join Osun Ambulance Service Authority.

    Aregbesola believes that the health sector has not been uplifted to an optimum standard. Thus, it has shifted his attention now to training and upgrading of cadres of health sector. Oddly, this has not been done in the history of the state since its creation twenty years ago.

    The idea behind this retraining is for the medical personnel to be exposed to latest medical technologies and techniques in various fields of medical practices. Hence, the State of Osun Government has committed N18 million for sponsorship of six medical personnel to the University of Magdenburg Teaching Hospital, Germany.

    Aregbesola is of the opinion that no nation or state can thrive in an atmosphere of violence and insecurity. Peace and security are the major developmental ingredients without which any investor, local or international, can be attracted.

    Statistically, Osun is said to have one of the list crime rate in the country. The security of lives and properties ably guaranteed in the state is a veritable carrot the state dangles to investors and they followed.

    Dagbolu as a commercial hub is a mid regional market for the entire South West. Less than five kilometer outside Osogbo, it is expected to be a logistic village where various warehouses would be specifically built for relevant investors and manufacturers so that their goods would be sold to the people of the state at the exact prices they are being sold at Oke Arin in Lagos, for instance and other major markets in Lagos.

    There are also international markets for ready-made products. Currently, Ayegbaju International Market, located at the old governor’s office and Aje International Market, sited at the state Trade Fair Complex, Osogbo.

    Osun State is a tourist state. One of its major towns, Ile-Ife, is the cradle of Yoruba. The tourist centres in the state is being re-activated. “It is the priority of this administration to generate revenue through tourism and that is why we are developing the tourist sites”, said Sikiru Adetona, the Commissioner for Tourism.

    Recently, the government hosted the traditional rulers from the old Yoruba Empire, stretching to Togo and Republic of Benin. At the ceremony, the governor stressed the need for cultural renewal and unity among the members of the race.

    Aregbesola is very passionate about Southwest integration. He is one of the governors, whose commmitment to the regional vision has inspired the re-chanelling of creative ideas towards the drive for self-reliance in the region.

  • Between Tai Solarin and Aregbesola

    The other day I was reminded of the great and implacable educationist Tai Solarin (1922-1994) when I saw pictures of Osun Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola kitted in school uniform with a cap to match sitting in midst of students. From the wide grin on his goateed face, you would conclude correctly that the governor relished the moment and probably wished it was not a fleeting experience!

    It was no less excitable for the students.

    Perhaps the message Aregbesola sought to pass in posing with youngsters dressed like them is that when a leader is passionate about a policy, he must follow it up (beef it up?) with some outward tokenism. It is the equivalent of saying that examples are better than precepts.

    It is Tai Solarin all over again! Not satisfied with breaking new grounds in the education sector and in fighting the mighty establishment of his era in a crusade to secure education for the Nigerian child, Solarin would renounce society’s sartorial formality. He would not for instance wear trousers nor would he put on his native Yoruba attire. He resorted to khaki shorts and khaki or white short-sleeved shirts, all in protest against the neglect of the Nigerian child by the state.

    But for his age, he wouldn’t be an odd man on the grounds of Mayflower College, the school he set up in Ikenne, Ogun State in rebellion against the order of the day. He said the khaki attire was meant to kick against the non-delivery of free and compulsory state education to the children of the poor. He stuck to his position to honour the Nigerian child and was easily noticed at the numerous public gatherings he was asked to grace by hundreds of his loyal admirers and government functionaries.

    When military President Ibrahim Babangida invited Tai Solarin to chair the board of Peoples Bank, the social critic only accepted the offer because it was for him “an opportunity to serve the deprived folk”. Later the media would run rare photographs of Tai Solarin in flowing agbada with the imprint of Peoples Bank logo. Again to honour the people, he briefly abandoned the khaki. He wouldn’t take government job that didn’t give him room to serve the hoi-polloi.

    Setting up Mayflower saw the iconoclast in full flight of rebellion. He left the financial comfort of Molusi College, Ijebu Igbo, Ogun State where he was principal to found Mayflower in 1956. Nobody gave him a chance to succeed. Professor C.O Taiwo, upon noticing what Solarin and his wife Sheila were attempting to do, told Tai: “You are carrying a dead baby!”  At a point when the “baby” was to die following the refusal of the authorities to allow Mayflower students to take their WASCE exams, Solarin did the unthinkable: He took the youngsters to far away Ghana where they did the work! Such passion to serve humanity! Today, Mayflower is 57, outlasting those who derided its founder and predicted it would die at birth.

    A journalist wrote of the school: “Mayflower School has become a veritable centre of excellence, a fitting tribute to a man who believes that Nigeria’s salvation lies only in free and qualitative education at all levels for her citizens.”

    Are we not already seeing the Tai Solarin in Rauf Aregbesola who is also declaring that he is ready to give all it takes to offer all-round and qualitative education to the Osun child? Aregbesola is taking on the colossal opposition in the state to implement his policy. Like the illustrious Solarin, the governor is adopting unorthodox but legitimate means to achieve his goals. And the elite few are trying to run him down, pooh-poohing the steps he is taking. They say he can’t succeed on account of the massive deconstruction of the old order that he must undertake. The myopic critics of Tai Solarin’s day said the same thing when the man started his great crusade. But he succeeded.

    Nigeria is where it is (a sorry state) today because in the past we did not take the courageous step to halt the decay at its start and while in progress. Now it is a monster in our time. But it can only take an equally monstrous approach to kill a monster. Not to do so would amount to enfeebling the present and passing the death sentence on the future. Aregbesola is doing the right thing to abort this fatal trajectory. He is also conditioning the project with the appropriate passion.

    Discerning observers such as Senator Uche Chukwumerije have submitted agreeable comments on Aregbesola’s mission. He declared in 2012 when he visited the State of Osun: “The state and the country owe Governor Rauf Aregbesola a lot of gratitude for promptly laying a formidable foundation for education in the state. I will like to use this opportunity to advise other states, irrespective of your political affiliation: You must drop your ego and learn from the people-oriented projects and programmes of Governor Aregbesola.

    Classical German philosopher Wilhelm Hegel (1770-1831) said somewhere in his numerous works that great personalities in history appear twice, as it were. Later, Karl Marx (1818-1883), his compatriot of a more radical persuasion, ran a cynic’s post-script. Marx said Hegel forgot to add that when history so resonates, the first apparition is a tragedy and the second a farce.

    Tai Solarin was not a tragedy; nor Rauf Aregbesola a farce!

     

    • Ojewale is a writer in Ota, Ogun State.

  • Children’s survival must concern responsible govt, says Aregbesola

    Children’s survival must concern responsible govt, says Aregbesola

    OSUN State governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, has said that the survival of children must be of utmost concern to any responsible government. Flagging off the state Integrated Measles Campaign and Maternal Neonatal Child in Osogbo, the state capital, the governor said the joy of any woman was not only to give birth to a baby but to see him or her live and grow up to become somebody in life. Describing measles as a lifethreatening disease which kills children at their infancy, he noted that the children of today are the future of the state and the country. “Measles is a killer disease. And it is the enemy of children. It attacks and kills children at infancy. But this government is concerned about the children because they are our tomorrow. As government we will do everything humanly possible to protect our children. “And today we are happy that the secret and formidable weapon against this preventable killer disease is the vaccine. It is cheaper for government to control this disease through vaccination than any other means. Our government, therefore, will do everything possible to make the vaccine available for the sole purpose of weaning our children from measles,” Aregbesola said. Speaking earlier, the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Temitope Ilori, said measles is the highest killer of all vaccine preventive diseases.

  • Aregbesola gives Osun CAN N10 million for secretariat

    Osun State Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, has presented a N10 million cheque to the state chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) for the completion of its secretariat at Owode in Osogbo, the state capital.Presenting the cheque on behalf of the governor, the Commissioner for Home Affairs, Culture and Tourism, Hon. Sikiru Adetona Ayedun, urged the body to promote unity, harmony and peaceful co-existence with other religious faiths in the state.He noted that some mischief makers were trying to disrupt peace in the state through their campaign of calumny against the Aregbesola administration.The commissioner enjoined the body led by its chairman, Superior Evangelist Abraham Aladeseye, to avoid anything that could cause religious disharmony and rancour with other religious bodies and their members. The Special Adviser to the Governor on Culture and Tourism, Hon. Oladipo Soyode, dispelled the rumour that Aregbesola was planning to Islamise the state.Aladeseye expressed gratitude for the gesture, promising judicious use of the money.