The Nation Newspaper

Tag: OSUN

  • Osun discovers 71 ghost workers

    Osun discovers 71 ghost workers

    Seventy-one ghost workers were discovered in Osun State during the last screening exercise carried out among ministries, agencies and departments of government and public secondary schools.

    The Permanent Secretary, Local Government Service Commission and the Chairman of Personnel and Job Audit Committee on MDAs and Secondary Schools, Mr. Dayo Olaluwoye, made the disclosure while submitting the final report of his committee to the state Head of Service, Mr. Sunday Owoeye.

    Olaluwoye explained that out of the Seventy-one ghost workers, thirty-nine were deceased while thirty two were supposed living individuals, disclosing that the ghost workers have been collecting salaries without coming to the office.

    He expressed gratitude to workers for their cooperation during the period of the exercise.

    In his remarks, the Head of Service, Mr. Yinka Owoeye, commended the committee for redeeming the image of the Civil Service by doing a thorough job while discharging the duty assigned to them.

    Owoeye, who observed that the MDAs and Secondary Schools Committee was just one of the four Committees set up for the screening exercise at the time, said that the use of Civil Servants for the screening exercise had saved the Government lots of money compared to the use of Consultants.

    He said screening of workers is an on-going process, adding that those that had issues with their certificates should endeavour to clear themselves.

    He charged all public officers in the State to be revenue collectors in their respective areas of operation in order to revive the economy of the state.

  • Five killed, others injured as truck crashes in Osun

    At least, five people on Friday evening lost their lives in an accident at Akoda junction, Ede, about ten kilometers from Osogbo, Osun State capital.

    It was gathered that the accident occurred when a truck coming from Gbongan end of Osogbo Gbongan road lost control as result of over speeding.

    It was further gathered that the truck lost its break and ran into people hawking at the road side, killing five and injuring another five.

    The Head of Operations, Federal Road Safety Corps, Osun Sector Command, Mr. Rufus Ajibola Adewumi, who disclosed that the accident was caused by over speeding, said the casualties include two male adults, one female adult and one male child strapped to her mother’s back.

    He added that four people were injured while one person who was trapped in the crash escaped unhurt.

  • Aregbesola and challenges of development in Osun

    Becoming governor was not, for Rauf Aregbesola, the fulfilment of an ambition. It was for him, the beginning of a mission: a mission to transform his beloved state, Osun. Prior to his assumption of office on November 27, 2010, the scandalous performance of successive governments, with the rare exception of the Bisi Akande administration is better imagined than real. As a result of poor governance by successive governments, the state infrastructures were in a terrible state of decay. The level of rot, particularly, the degree of moral decadence he met on ground was totally unacceptable to him. Consequently, he embarked on far –reaching reforms to make the state measure up to the standard of what a modern society should be and put it on the path of irreversible posterity. The arrested development of the state explains why Aregbesola was in a hurry to develop the 25 year old state when he came on board in 2010, and was consequently spending up to 80 percent of the state’s resources on capital projects.

    Corrupt public officials and beneficiaries of the old order were not happy with him, because after devoting such a humongous sum to the execution of capital projects, there was little or nothing to steal coupled with the fact that he also blocked all areas of leakages. The foregoing made him unpopular amongst the elites and thieving public officials who have been feasting like vultures on the meagre resources of the state. But to the commoners, the toiling masses and the vulnerable who are in the majority, the anti-corruption and attitudinal change crusade of Aregbesola is a welcome development. In any existing economic or political system, there are those who would naturally oppose the emergence of ideas formulated towards endowing a progressive society. These are those that have been recently uncovered and referred to as a “cabal” opposed to the provision of the people of the state of Osun with the right kind of leadership as symbolized in the pragmatic and quality style of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola. They are those who have gone to town, with wild, despicable allegations and malicious propaganda to paint Ogbeni Aregbesola in bad light, cause mischief, misinform and disrupt the existing good relationship between Aregbesola and the appreciative people of Osun.  Like Winston Churchill, Aregbesola might be vilified for his principled position, but no one can fault the altruistic and patriotic motivations for his actions. Like the saying goes, “Diamonds are forever”. Changing global reality in our new world is making leaders that have vision look like narrow-minded, satanic, heartless and wicked while making those without vision look like saints.

    I have watched with a sense of bewilderment, the unrelenting smear campaign against Aregbesola administration and his person.  It is as if Osun is the only state in Nigeria owing its workers salary arrears due to dwindling allocation from the federation account. The opposition, a section of the media on its payroll and the “lynch mob” have found an opportunity in the current economic recession affecting the whole world to vent their spleen on the governor for the sole purpose of deflecting attention from their uncomplimentary activities of their days in power, partly responsible for our present economic woes.

    In just three years, Aregbesola has been able to prove that something good can, indeed come out of Nazareth. He has pulled Osun from the backwaters of underdevelopment, illiteracy, ignorance and disease, to a state that is on irreversible path to prosperity. To realize his vision, the governor had, on assuming office, initiated a strategy of building up reserve of funds with which it could leverage for the projects it has planned to do. His government did two things that nobody thought he could do. By November, 2010, when it assumed office, the state had borrowed a whopping N1 billion to pay salaries. Yet, this did not stop the new administration from recruiting 20,000 OYES members! It was that same period that the state paid bonus to its workers. The abiding question is: How did the Aregbesola do it? By March of the following year, Aregbesola had restructured the state finances to the extent that the state was no longer in any precarious financial condition. The state has stopped borrowing money to pay salaries; it never failed to pay N200 million monthly allowance to OYES volunteers. In less than three years of his first four year- tenure, chroniclers of history would establish Aregbesola’s massive interventions in hitherto rotten and neglected sectors such as education, environment, agriculture, infrastructure, tourism, health and security. From better –developed education system, to well- equipped hospitals, to empowered people; to policies geared towards empowerment, poverty alleviation and a social security programme that protects the vulnerable.

    The state of Osun’s experience in the spheres of infrastructure and human capital development is also worthy of commendation when compared to what the administration of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola met on ground and how he has been able to transform Osun in less than three years. The current economic recession affecting the state, nay Nigeria notwithstanding, Aregbesola has so far demonstrated that, with great determination, Osun State could become the envy of many and the pride of her citizens at home and in the Diaspora. Osun State infrastructural facilities, though yet to be completed due to the economic meltdown, is the symbolic representation of Aregbesola’s government’s  resolve to eradicate the decadence of the past and link the state and subsequently, the people with the future.

    Aregbesola’s efforts at repositioning Osun State have not gone unnoticed. The World back in conjunction with 14 states in Nigeria have replicated the OYES initiative in those states. Aregbesola was invited to address the UK parliament on the Schools Feeding Programme and on his innovative tablet of knowledge, “Opon Imo”. Even the Muhammadu Buhari-led APC federal government has incorporated some of his programme, especially the School Feeding Programme and the N5000 stipend for the unemployed graduates into its programme.

    Aregbesola has within three years in office pioneered changes geared towards the achievement, improvement and sustenance of good quality of life for the citizens of the state. He has within so short a time in office demonstrated that where there is a will, there is always a way. Surely, the good that Aregbesola has started in Osun State, though, temporarily hindered by the current economic recession, will outlast him; it will live long after he would have passed on. Since he meant well for the state, he deserves the support of people. In this historic battle of repositioning the state, he needs to be encouraged, not scared. And since this battle is collective, not personal, he deserves solidarity, not brickbats.

     

    • Aminu is National Coordinator, Oodua Youth for Good Governance .
  • Osun begins ‘verification’ of workers

    Osun begins ‘verification’ of workers

    The Osun State government has directed workers to provide “necessary information about themselves to prove that they are genuine”.

    A  circular by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of  Finance, directed civil servants to fill the form, stating their name, ministry or agency, CHAMS Staff I.D. number, phone number, name of bank and a print out of their Bank Verification Number (BVN)

    The circular also stated that all completed forms should be forwarded to the ministry not later than Wednesday.

    The circular added:  “Returns from local governments should be collated on local government basis by the Ministry of Local Government, Chieftaincy, Water Resources, Rural and Community Affairs.

    “Returns from all tertiary institutions should be collated by the Office of Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology.

    “Returns from elementary and middle schools should be collated on local government basis by the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) while returns from high schools should be collated by the respective education districts.”

    The statement said all completed forms are to be submitted with a cover letter  endorsed by the Accounting Officer of each ministry or agency and should be addressed to the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Osogbo.

  • Striking doctors’ demand impossible, says Osun govt

    Striking doctors’ demand impossible, says Osun govt

    •Govt action laughable— Doctors’ spokesman

    Osun State government yesterday described the demand of striking doctors in the state as impossible in the face of the present economic reality of the country.

    Chairman of Osun Special Committee on Health, Dr. Simeon Afolayan, during a press conference in Oshogbo stated that in the face of the current economic realities, it remains unbelievable that doctors would insist that they would not be bound by the modulated payment regime agreed to by over 39,000 other workers of the state.

    Afolayan, a former Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health and the Hospital Management Board, held that the decision of the state to live within its means in the light of the shortfall in revenue to the state was taken by all stakeholders including all the representatives of labour unions and government.

    He added that the doctors were dully represented on the committee that sits on all the revenues coming to the state and decides what goes into payment of salary and the running cost of government.

    “There is no way we could back down on this because, in the first instance, other professionals had accepted the agreement reached with labour.

    “Doctors were eager to join the general strike called by NLC even though they claim they are not affiliated to NLC but they refused to resume work when the strike was called off. When it is convenient for doctors, they hearken to the voice of labour unions only to claim decisions taken by the same union is not bidding on them.”

    He added: “The doctors have remained recalcitrant despite all entreaties by leading lights of medical profession.

    “They refused the popular agreement, what should government do? How can we reverse a decision accented to and agreed with by over 39,000 workers because about 100 people are dissatisfied.”

    He said because of the seeming emergency situation the abandonment of work has created by the doctors, the state would not fold its arms and watch the health sector suffer any hitch as a result of the abandonment.

    He said the government is deploying doctors from the Ministry of Health, Bowen University, the police, army and others to mitigate what could have been the effect of the works abandonment.

    Afolayan called on well-meaning Nigerians to look at the issues involved in the demands of the doctors and see whether they are in tune with the realities of the current worsening global and national economic situation and how it affects Osun.

    He pointed out that doctors have embarked on different actions bordering on abandonment of their duty post for about 11 months out of which government had even paid them for six month without working.

    He added that by civil service regulation, workers who absent themselves from work beyond certain limit are deemed to have resigned their appointments, adding that the rule has taken effect and those doctors, who still want to render services, have been given fresh opportunity to do so by government.

    He added: “The government cannot be seen to be promoting and encouraging lawlessness by a group or individuals. This is a recipe for anarchy.

    “That the doctors have abandoned their duty post for about 11 months and the state’s healthcare delivery system is still functioning calls to question their relevance.

    “The government commends the civil servants and other workers in the state for their loyalty, sacrifice understanding and commitment to the service of the people of the state in this special time and deplores the selfishness and blackmail antics of the doctors.

    “In the face of the current economic realities, it remains unbelievable that doctors would insist that they would not be bound by the payment regime agreed to by over 39,000 other workers in the state which was arrived at after a rigorous deliberation on the finances of the state within the context of the national economic realities.

  • Lagos, Delta, Osun, Niger get N160bn from pension fund for infrastructure

    A total of N160 billion out of the N5.1 trillion pension fund has been invested in four States Bonds towards infrastructure development as at September 2015.

    The States include Lagos, Delta, Osun and Niger State.

    This was made known in a report made available to The Nation by the National Pension Commission (PenCom).

    According to the report, these four States are able to benefit from the pension fund because they have implemented the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS).

    The report stated that pension assets totaling N160 billion was invested in State Bonds towards infrastructure development.

    It however showed that not all States have adopted the CPS.

    It read: “11 States and the FCT have commenced implementation while 11 States have enacted pension laws on CPS but are yet to commence implementation in the period under review.

    “Three States have enacted Laws, which need to be reviewed as they vary substantially from the provisions of the pension Reform Act (PRA) 2014 while 12 States are at the bill stage.

    “Aside from the four states that benefitted from the fund in the period under review, other States that have implemented the CPS are Ogun, Jigawa, Zamfara, Rivers, Kaduna, Anambra, Enugu and FCT.

    “States that have enacted pension laws but are yet to commence implementation are Ekiti, Edo, Gombe, Ondo, Nassarawa, Kebbi, Kogi, Sokoto, Oyo, and Taraba while those who have enacted laws but need to be reviewed are Adamawa, Bayelsa and Kano”, the report stated.

    Meanwhile, Chairman of Premium Pension Limited, Aliyu Dikko adviced State Governors to comply with the CPS in other to access it for infrastructure.

    He noted that it is in their own interest to comply because once they comply, a lot of opportunities are opened to them.

  • Osun’s strategy against unemployment

    The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) revealed that no fewer than 5.3 million youths are jobless, while 1.8 million graduates enter the labour market every year. This figure could be a conservative estimate of the actual number of unemployed youths in the country, going by previous statistics released by NBS, which put the number of jobless Nigerians at 20.3 million.

    The above is a reflection of previous governments’ inability to design policies that will create more jobs, or provide enabling environment that could encourage both individuals and the private sector to expand employment opportunities without let or hindrance.

    It is in line with the above that the Osun State Government established an office known as Osun Job Centre. This is in pursuance of a key component of Governor Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola-led administration’s Six Point Integral Action Plan which is banishment of unemployment from the state. The Job Centre is established as a State Government-funded one-stop employment agency with desk offices located at each of the 30 local government areas.

    The Centre will act as a facilitator between job seekers and employers by providing employment information and services to a wide range of people, from the unemployed looking for employment, the underemployed looking for better jobs, to employers advertising job openings. It is aimed at eradicating barriers to employment by promoting education, training and business enterprise. It will contribute to the personal development of the labour force through the creation of opportunities for their productive engagement and utilisation.

    The centre provides employment service tools such as an infrastructure for the business community to post its skills needs as well as in-house computers with free access to the internet.

    To provide a venue where job seekers can meet and network with representatives of prospective employers from diverse sectors of the economic with the possibility of securing employment.

    However, the private sector also has a role to play in creating employment, as experience has shown that government alone cannot provide all the needed jobs.  Unemployed persons will also have to start working towards self-employment, through which they may even provide jobs for others.

    Unemployment and poverty have become serious problems that all levels of government must tackle with sincerity of purpose to keep the nation’s youths productively engaged and out of avoidable trouble.

    These efforts by Osun government are worthy of emulation by other states of the federation. Governor Aregbesola once declared that Osun, out of the 36 states, has the lowest rate of unemployed people, particularly among her teeming youths, due to the determination of his administration to banish poverty and unemployment among its people.

    This new move at establishing a job centre is just one of them. These efforts were recently corroborated by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, when he declared that Osun is one of the states with lowest in poverty.

    “The indication (in Osun) is that because there is a lot of investment on the people, poverty has been reduced and that is what we (the Federal Government) are trying to achieve in Nigeria,” Osinbajo said.

    Aregbesola was quoted as saying: “The development of micro and small businesses forms a core component of our poverty alleviation and economic empowerment strategy.

    “This is part of our six-point integral action plan that, among others, seeks to banish poverty, unemployment and hunger.

    “We have designed programmes aimed at unlocking our people’s creativity and genuinely set them on the path of self-employment and self-reliance.

    “I am certain that our people are hard-working and would at all time take pride in working to earn a decent living.

    “With the numerous programmes we are implementing, we are on the road to change the fortune of our state and lives of our people for better.

    “Many of these programmes such as OYES, O’REAP, O’YESTECH, O’MEALs, O’Schools, O’Beef and O’BOPS, among others, have offered many of our youths self-reliant job opportunities.”

    • Ayo Akinola, is a publisher and media consultant based in Lagos and Bola Akande is a former commissioner for Human Resources and Capacity Building, Osun State

     

  • Way out of Osun crisis, by finance expert

    Way out of Osun crisis, by finance expert

    A finance expert, Deji Akinsola, reviews the economic situation in Osun State, pointing the way forward for the state. He spoke with Basirat Buraimah

    How did Osun State find itself in this financial mess?

    I don’t think it is fair to single Osun State out in the financial predicament enveloping the whole world.

    It is a worldwide crisis. The financial meltdown is global. It cannot be felt equally though. In Nigeria, it will be unfair to single out Osun State to be in crisis and I know it is nation-wide.

    I know many states to be 23 months behind in salary payment. Almost every state owes but then, when it comes to Osun, I think it is a peculiar case because of the giant strides that Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola came with in the first two years of his administration. It is that standard that people are using to measure him and that is why it appears that the impact is felt more in Osun.

    But the state benefitted from the bail out and financial packages backed by the Federal Government.

    When it comes to public finances, one needs to be very careful; what the states got was not a bail out but a loan. I want to crudely define a bail out. A bail out is meant to be a dash but when you are talking about a package the Federal Government made to the distressed states, it was more of a loan. People have said at different forums that the bail out from our financial crisis is death accumulation. The figures that are being pronounced by the opposition are so ridiculous. They are larger than life figures.

    The payment terms were such that they will be deducted from the federal allocations. One of the criticisms against the Osun administration is in terms of the quantum of the debt that the administration is alleged to have taken. At different quarters, they are saying it is too large.

    Speaking as a chartered accountant, the definition of too much is determined by the returns you are getting from such a loan.

    If you take a loan and you invest it, inasmuch as you can make N1 as return after meeting all obligations, it won’t be too much. If you take a loan for financing and at the end you have negative returns; that is the definition of too much.

    People have been saying that Osun State is grossly indebted and then the bail out of almost N35 billion is going to further compound that alleged indebtedness.

    When you talk about public or private financing, it is made up of two critical aspects. We have equity and debt. Equity means the contributions of stakeholders while debt is borrowing. Those are the two principal sources of funding. There are certain things you cannot do with the loan. The loan shouldn’t be used to pay salaries. If you must borrow, it must go into investments that will yield returns to repay the cost of the capital and leave you with something. If you use loan to pay salaries then you are going into a deep hole. I want to agree with the last administration in terms of bail out. It is better to look for equity to meet the expenditure. That is a way forward.

    Well, if you are talking of the way forward, we should look at where we are coming from. The administration started on a brilliant footing. No matter how brilliant your ideas are, you need funds to execute such ideas. This administration started with a beautiful vision where Osun will surpass Lagos.

    Aregbesola’s vision is to remove poverty. He invested them into the future and education. Any investment in security can never be wrong because it promotes the code of the economy. When you invest in security, it will attract both internal and external investors. It will generate income to create a better income.

    What can be done to revive the state’s economy and take it back to those glorious days?

    We need to look into good governance and education. We need to move away from oil. The 2016 Budget was based on $38 price of oil per barrel with N2.2 trillion deficits. The fall in the price of oil has widened the gap. We need to shift focus and obviously agriculture is it.

    We need to go back to the basics. Government should invest in agriculture. Government should support initiatives that will make agriculture strive. Government should not involve itself in granting agric loans. Government should not bother itself with the provision of fertiliser.

    If agriculture is lucrative, people should source the fund to meet the investment. When they now grow cash and food crops, then they can sell them. Government should negotiate with banks. In terms of sourcing agriculture and fertilisers, they should go to the banks.

    The government should make it a national policy. It should give guarantee to existing farmers and new ones. No matter how many tons of grains produced. The beauty of this is that it will spur people to go into agriculture on a commercial basis not on a sentimental basis.

    In the United States, the government will mop up all the excess products. Even at a loss to it. In most cases, the government sells agricultural products abroad so that they will not discourage farmers and potential ones.

    Apart from encouraging agriculture, which other ways can government go in raising fund?

    If you want to make any progress, there is no other way than go into taxation.

    We have to educate the people about the beauty of taxation. We have to create the awareness. As far as I am concerned, taxation and the application of taxation should be introduced into primary school curriculum, secondary and tertiary institutions so that people will have a very sound understanding and its beauty both to themselves and the government. The government should follow it up with an aggressive collection plan.

    One beauty of taxation is this; when people are taxed normally, it makes lion out of them. They want to be involved, they want to know. It is something that is affecting them directly. There is no direct impact on the people. If you want to embezzle N 2.5 billion, you will need to increase the income tax of people with certain per centage. We have to invigorate our tax drive and initiate aggressive collection.

    As a last resort, we need to look at borrowing and we must know how much we want to borrow and what we want to do with it. We must never borrow for consumption. Salary must be based squarely on Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).

    Any government that wants to succeed should use 25 per cent of its IGR for salaries.

    Other things will be internal and one of it is what we have already embarked upon and that is how to empower the people. Governance shouldn’t be about business. It should be about the provision of environment where people can do business to generate income and pay a portion of that to the government.

    The governor has introduced an Osun Certificate of Occupancy (O Cof O) that gives you a security backing. All over the world, any bank you go to will want to know if you want to go into secured borrowing. The best form of collateral is the certificate of occupancy. It will give them a peace of mind and fast-track the loan application.

    It will reduce the cost of borrowing. You can use the certificate to borrow money from bank to generate wealth and then the state can come to take a portion. We have our younger ones that are willing to leave the country for several reasons because the world is now a global village.

    One of the key requirements of an embassy is that you won’t be relying on them. If you attach your C of O to the application, it will make processing faster. These are the things Aregbesola has put together so that people can borrow money go into trade, make money and pay back loan and pay their taxes.

    We are looking inward and the nation in general. The government should not be directly involved in agriculture, regardless of the quantity of their produce. Any government that wants to make progress must have short-term, medium-term and long-term plans.

    We must invest in security. A secured environment is an attraction. We must invest in health.

    The people are recognising the quality in this administration. Anything that this government wishes to do must have the input of the people and going for aggressive collection of taxes. We collectively got into this mess and we must collectively get out of it. The government must lead people into the Promised Land.

     

  • Two arrested with human skull in Osun

    Two men- Korede Ayofe and Jimo Bello- have been arrested for alleged possession of a “decomposing” human skull in Iwo, Iwo Local Government Area of Osun State.

    The police, after a tip off,  arrested the suspects at Owoyo.

    A knife, hoe and a motorcycle were also reportedly found on the suspects.

    A mentally challenged woman, Aminat Kazeem, reportedly set her room ablaze and burnt herself to death in Ikire, Ayedire Local Government Area.

    Sources in Maro, where the incident occurred, said Kazeem was burnt beyond recognition.

    They said the police were informed after the incident, adding that the fire consumed the building.

    Police spokesperson Mrs. Folasade Odoro said the police were investigating the incidents.

  • Way out of Osun economic crisis, by finance expert

    Way out of Osun economic crisis, by finance expert

    Deji Akinsola, a finance expert, reviews the economic situation in Osun State and suggests how it can get out of the economic crisis. He spoke with Basirat Buraimah. 

    How did Osun State find itself in this financial mess?

    I don’t think it is fair and it is not right to single Osun State out in the financial predicament enveloping the whole world.

    It is a worldwide crisis. The financial meltdown is global. It cannot be felt equally though. In Nigeria, it will be unfair to single out Osun state to be in crisis and I know it is nationwide.

    I know many states to be 23 months behind in salary payment. Almost every state is owing but then, when it comes to Osun, I think it is a peculiar case because of the giant strides that Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola came with in the first two years of his administration and it is that standard that people are using to measure him and that is why it appears that the impact is felt more in Osun.

    But the state benefitted from the bail out and financial packages backed by the federal government.

    When it comes to public finances, one needs to be very careful; form me what the states got is not a bail out but a loan. I want to crudely define a bail out. A bail out is meant to be a dash but when you are talking about a package the federal government made to the distressed states, it was more of a loan. People have said at different fora that the bail out from our financial crisis is death accumulation. The figures that are being bandit by the opposition are so ridiculous. They are larger than life figures.

    The payment terms were such that they will be deducted from the federal allocations. One of the criticisms against the Osun administration is in terms of the quantum of the debt that the administration is alleged to have taken. At different quarters they are saying it is too large. Speaking as a chartered accountant, the definition of too much is determined by the returns you are getting from such a loan.

    If you take a loan and you invest it in as much as you can make N1 as return after meeting all obligations, it won’t be too much. If you take a loan for financing and at the end you have negative returns; that is the definition of too much. People have been saying that Osun state is grossly indebted and then the bail out of almost N35billion is going to further compound that alleged indebtedness.

    When you talk about public or private financing, it is made up of two critical aspects. We have equity and debt. Equity means the contributions of stakeholders while debt is borrowing. Those are the two principal sources of funding. There are certain things you cannot do with the loan. The loan shouldn’t be used to pay salaries. If you must borrow, it must go into investments that will yield returns to repay the cost of the capital and leave you with something. If you use loan to pay salaries then you are going into a deep hole. I want to agree with the last administration in terms of bail out. It is better to look for equity to meet the expenditure. That is a way forward.

    Well, if you are talking of way forward we should look at where we are coming from. The administration started on a brilliant footing. No matter how brilliant your ideas are, you need funds to execute such ideas. This administration started with a beautiful vision where Osun will surpass Lagos.

    Aregbesola’s vision is to remove poverty. He invested them into the future and education. Any investment in security can never be wrong because it promotes the code of the economy. When you invest in security, it will attract both internal and external investors. It will generate income to create a better income.

    What can be done to revive the state’s economy and take it back to those glorious days?

    We need to look into good governance and education. We need to move away from oil. The 2016 budget was based on $38 price of oil per barrel with N2.2trillion deficit. The fall in the price of oil has widened the gap. We need to shift focus and obviously agriculture is it.

    We need to go back to the basics. Government should invest in agriculture. Government should support initiatives that will make Agriculture strive. Government should not involve itself in granting Agric loans. Government should not bother itself with the provision of fertilizer. If agriculture is lucrative, people should source the fund to meet the investment. When they now grow cash and food crops, then they can sell them. Government should negotiate with banks. In terms of sourcing agriculture and fertilizers, they should go to the banks. The government should make it a national policy. It should give guarantee to existing farmers and new ones. No matter how many tones of grains produced. The beauty of this is that it will spur people to go into Agriculture on a commercial basis not on a sentimental basis.

    In the United States, the government will mop up all the excess products. Even at a loss to it. In most cases, the government sells agricultural products abroad so that they will not discourage farmers and potential ones.

    Apart from encouraging agriculture, which other ways can government go in raising fund?

    If you want to make any progress, there is no other way than go into taxation.

    We have to educate the people about the beauty of taxation. We have to create the awareness. As far as I am concerned, taxation and the application of taxation should be introduced into primary school curriculum, secondary and tertiary so that people will have a very sound understanding and its beauty both to themselves and the government. The government should follow it up with an aggressive collection plan.

    One beauty of taxation is this; when people are taxed normally, it makes lion out of them. They want to be involved, they want to know. It is something that is affecting them directly. There is no direct impact on the people. If you want to embezzle N 2.5b you will need to increase the income tax of people with certain per cent. We have to invigorate our tax drive and initiate aggressive collection.

    As a last resort, we need to look at borrowing and we must know how much we want to borrow and what we want to do with it. We must never borrow for consumption. Salary must be based squarely on Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).

    Any government that wants o succeed should use 25 per cent of Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) for salaries.

    Other things will be internal and one of it is what we have already embarked upon and that is how to empower the people. Governance shouldn’t be about business. It should be about the provision of environment where people can do business to generate income and pay a portion of that to the government.

    The governor has introduced an O Cof O (Osun Certificate of Occupancy) that gives you a security backing. Government will do due diligence. A all over the world, any bank you go to will want to know if you want to go into secured borrowing. The best form of collateral is the certificate of occupancy. It will give them a peace of mind and fast track the loan application.

    It will reduce the cost of borrowing. You can use the certificate to borrow money from bank to generate wealth and then the state can come to take a portion. We have our younger ones middle age that are willing to leave the country for several reasons because the world is now a global village. One of the key requirements of an embassy is that you won’t be relying on them. If you attach your C of O to the application, it will make processing faster. These are the things Aregbesola has put together so that people can borrow money go into trade, make money and pay back loan and pay their taxes.

    We are looking inward and the nation in general. The government should not be directly involved in agriculture. Regardless of the quantity of their produce. Any government that wants to make progress must have short term, medium term and longer term plan. Included in the longer term plan should be education. It is kind of empowering the people to make them become responsible citizens. The level of government expenditure will come down in health. If you have a good job you will be able to get qualitative health insurance. We must invest in security. A secured environment is an attraction. We must invest in health. The people are recognising the quality in this administration. Anything that this government wishes to do must have the input of the people and going for aggressive collection of taxes. We collectively got into this mess and we must collectively get out of the mess. The government must lead people into the Promised Land.

    How do you see the streamlining of the ministries by the governor?

    Streamlining the ministry to a manageable 12 is a step in the right direction. We must cut our material according to the cloth that is available. It is a right step. It has now come to a manageable, realistic and focus-oriented team.

    I trust the judgment of the governor to be able to bring in people who have robust understanding. There must be a rigorous understanding. Finance is as sensitive as it can be. The role of the governor in a state is to spend money.

    I want to secure the state; I want to provide social amenities etc will lead to are spending. The role of a good finance commissioner is to look for money, to source funds particularly internally through the IGR to be able to meet the government’s expenditure.

    He is also to be able to report to the governor and the people the amount generated and expended in terms of recurrent expenditure and in terms of capital investments. I’ve spoken specifically about the finance ministry because that is my forte.

    The government must look for able-minded men that will be able to drive its vision and to be able o take our people out of where we are; from the sorry state that we are in to the Promised Land. This is the kind of men that we need in this coming administration.

    The Aregbesola government is the government of Osun people.  We voted this administration in the first time and we did a second time and it is our government and administration. Yes, things are tough now. When the going gets tough, the tough gets going. With the support of the people, we will get to where we deserve to be. People should give their support so that we will reap the glorious benefit at the end of the day.