- Continued from last week.
LAST edition closed at the point at which we were giving attention to other sectors and sub-sectors of the state’s economy as to the trendy events witnessed in them during the first tenure of Ogbeni Aregbesola in office. We must sound the note of reminder that our focus in the entire attempt is to bring out the numerous achievements of the Government Unusual; with a view to infer expectations or bring out perceived areas of next focus for the administration during its second tenure in office. The last edition, after giving graphical narrative of events which formed build-up to and fall-out from the August 9, 2014 Gubernatorial Election in the state, printed succinct pictures of events, activities, projects and programmes which formed the milestone achievements in sectors and sub-sectors like Home Affairs, Culture and Tourism and Information and Strategy. Starting with the remaining parts of truth concerning the Information and Strategy Sub-sector, we now turn to give consideration to other sectors and sub-sectors:
A whole world of difference exists between the two administrations. The introduction of another public forum aimed at bringing the governor in close contact with the people has served tremendously to demystify myths, lies and falsehood peddled around by the opposition in the state. More than this, it has provided the governor and his team with the ample opportunity of getting accurate feel of the needs, desires, wishes, yearnings and aspiration of the people; even to the basest grassroots. We saw Gbangba D’ekun actively at work as build-up to the last Governorship Election in the state.
The quarterly-held Ministerial Press Briefing held at the instance of the State of Osun Ministry of Information and Strategy is another effective tool wielded to bridge likely communication gap that could arise between the government and the governed. One of the latest held editions of the press conference, which featured the commissioners of all ministries, some general managers of parastatals and senior special assistants to the governor has done well to demystify the activities of government and guided right the perception and mindset of the generality of the people. Apart from this, the State Executive meetings are no longer as far-between as they used to be during the Oyinlola years. The total number of State Executive meetings held during the entire Oyinlola years is put between fifty and seventy; whereas the administration of the day makes it a point of duty to meet weekly in order to discuss and pool ideas together to move the wheel of development and progress of the state forward in an accelerated fashion. On occasions when those meetings are not held, there must be some other important businesses of government preoccupying the governor and his cabinet. For example, sometime during the just-concluded year (2014), the governor and his cabinet took time off during the period slated for the normal State Executive meeting to pay an unscheduled visit to the sites of some completed/ongoing projects in the state, especially, within Osogbo, the state capital. There is no time when the former State Commissioner for Information, Honourable Sunday Akere would not brief the people on the outcome of the deliberations of the State Executive Meeting
Concerning the state-owned media houses, there has been huge investment by the State Government of Osun to the media houses to boost their effectiveness, sufficiency and productivity in terms of education, public enlightenment and information dissemination concerning happenings globally and the various activities of government. The Osun State Broadcasting Corporation (OSBC) Radio and Television, Oke Baale, Osogbo has witnessed massive overhaul and rehabilitation which has brought about lots of improvement on their scope of operation, news contents and telecast. The New Dawn Television (NDTV), Ibokun has also been improved in similar vein. The same is true of the Osun State Broadcasting Corporation, Orisun FM, Ile Ife. These media houses have been lifted up to the level of standards obtainable elsewhere in the world. We intend to add in passing that the incumbent administration has the plan in the pipeline to commence another media station; a radio station named Omoluabi FM. According to the former Commissioner of Information and Strategy, Honourable Sunday Akere, the station, which shall be totally committed to transmitting in the Yoruba language and its various dialect s shall soon commence transmission, say, during this year (2015).
The first transformation witnessed by the Reality Television Service (RTS), Iwo was that of change in nomenclature and broadening in its scope of operation. Immediately on assumption of office, the Aregbesola administration changed the name of this outfit to Reality Radiovision, Iwo. The implication of this is that the station’s activities are no longer to be confined to television telecast, but there is going to be a sort of broadening to include radio broadcast. In pursuance of this, the station has been reinvigorated tor the two purposes with huge capital outlay. The reconstruction of parts of the station which were devastated by the inferno of the Oyinlola years earlier mentioned above has been carried out. Also, gadgets and equipment that were missing have been replaced. Other materials and equipment which procurement contract works had been awarded but which were abandoned have been supplied. Other materials and equipment which had not been awarded or provided for have been supplied; while shipment of a great deal of materials and equipment for the smooth operation of the station is being currently awaited. During the course of the year 2013,, the test-broadcast of the Reality Radiovision, Iwo’s Radio segment, branded Odidere FM 96.3 Frequency commenced. This hint was first dropped no less person than the political head of the ministry at the time, Honourable Sunday Akere.
Before drawing the curtains on the activities of this sector and its performances in the past forty-eight months viz-a-vis the previous seven-and-a-half years, we need to mention the plan in the offing to make some of the stations specialized stations. These stations include the New Dawn Television, Ibokun; which is intended to telecast issues purely in the field of Education; while the OSBC Orisun FM, Ile Ife is intended to broadcast issues relating purely to Culture and Agriculture. These giant strides present the summary of events and activities in the Information and Strategy segment of life of the state in the last forty-eight months or thereabouts. Further details shall be bared in later segments of the report.
THE series so far has been out to document the many good sides of the government of the day, typified as “Government Unusual”. In earlier editions, we have considered how the administration was exemplified as people-friendly t through the numerous people-oriented services it had continued to render to the indigenes and residents of the state since its coming on board on Saturday, November 27, 2010, following the verdict of the Federal Court of Appeal sitting in Ibadan, Oyo State. In the space of time under review, spanning forty-eight months or thereabouts, the state has witnessed unprecedented radical growth, development, progress and enhancement in practically all facets of life. So far so good, the lease of life witnessed has been accelerated to the extent that it is quite safe to conclude that the state has never in her annals had it so good. We on the team of OSUN DEFENDER Magazine like other progress-loving people around look back proudly with nostalgia at the glorious era of late Chief Obafemi Awolowo as the Premier of the defunct Western Region; and at a later date, that of late Chief Bola Ige as the Governor of the old Oyo State during the Second Republic; and with the astounding performances of Ogbeni Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola and his indefatigable team, we have come to the conclusion that all is not lost for our state and the entire nation of Nigeria. With the score sheet he has in four years into his first tenure in office, we are reassured that with the depth of depravity in the society of today, we are still blessed with men who are not self-seeking but who have the interest and love of our teeming populace at heart and who, in the true spirit and traditions for which our culture and forebears were long reputed, can hold their own to champion the cause of humanity for the good of the generality of our people and that of the generations yet unborn. With Aregbesola and his team at the saddle of governance in our state, we have been blessed beyond measure.
THE Local Government, Chieftaincy Affairs and Community Development is our next port of call. This sub-sector witnessed utter debasement and degradation during the period of the fiery siege unleashed on the state by the erstwhile administration in the state. First and foremost, we have, in earlier parts of this series of this edition, seen how countless number of illegal deductions was indiscriminately made from the monthly statutory allocation of the thirty local government councils and the Ife East Area Office during that inglorious reign.
We also mentioned how local government councils were relegated to a position of mere existence since they could not function in the true context within the statutory provisions laid out for them as the third tier of government in Nigeria. During the days of that administration and its umbrella party, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), it became forbidden for local government councils in the state to tar roads or to execute other tangible projects that are vital and that we all know could impact the lives of people at the grassroots meaningfully. By this sad trend, the monthly statutory allocation accruing to government at the third tier in the state from the Federation Accounts became target for randy politicians in the name of executing a number of projects centrally at the state level. At the end of the day, no particular project which the administration claimed to have committed the monies so deducted to was carried to a logical conclusion. We shall now take a look at some few of such phantom projects and programmes.
It was the practice during those past years for dependants, cronies, sycophants, bootlickers and party faithful of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to adorn the premises of local government council secretariats all over the state at month-ends; especially on pay-days to collect salaries for services not rendered. These unearned salaries caused the payroll of council areas in the state to overbloat; thus leaving the councils practically unable to execute meaningful capital projects for the ultimate benefit of the generality of the people in their domains. So the local government councils merely existed as money machines to satisfy the lustful desires of the categories of people highlighted above.
At the inception of the multi-campus Osun State University (UNIOSUN) in 2005/2006, it was too glaring even to the Oyinlola administration that his administration could scarcely afford the means to finance and sustain a citadel of that grandeur; more so, simultaneously with the burden of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso, which it had to co-fund with its partner Oyo State. The next available option for that administration was to turn to local governments for compulsory imposition of levies which were deductible from source upon the arrival of the monthly statutory allocation from the Federation Accounts at the centre. At the beginning, the fraction deducted was 10 per cent. Later it was reduced to 5 per cent monthly. Such were local government councils in the state plundered, in defiance of voices of dissent raised by patriots and diplomats against the unconventional practice. The ruling party of the time, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) itself could not intervene; obviously because the practice had become stock-in-trade for it anywhere it held sway. Clearly, the practice was seen as the easiest way of making cheap money to dole out to its numerous cronies and hangers-on.
Another area where local government councils in the state became 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 time more than a year. The implication, as OSUN DEFENDER Magazine pointed out continuously in those days is that in every month, the administration made from this particular heading of deductions alone a cool sum of N31 Million! Readers are left to sum the deductions up for a year and a half in order to actually determine the huge plunder made out of the local government accounts in the state during the People’s Democratic Party (PDP)-led Oyinlola administration.
One measure employed by the ousted administration in order to get through with its heinous agenda with the local government councils in its days in power was that the party (People’s Democratic Party-PDP) manipulated that the administration succeeded in getting a bunch of scarcely educated nominees to clinch tickets into the councils as chairmen and councilors. This ploy was ensured to ascertain that whoever emerged would not be able to hold his own or raise questions concerning any order or directive issued out to him while in office. That explains why the local government political functionaries in those dark days were all prefects and mostly puppets.
Here we are. In today’s State of Osun, the local government councils are functioning with full capacity; even so, more than at any point of time since their establishment. The first thing Aregbesola did upon his assumption of office was to abolish all forms of deductions from their monthly statutory allocation accruing from the Federation Accounts. This was done to enable the government at the grassroots dispense good democratic governance to the people at that level; and to do so to full capacity. Evidences to this abound all around us today; and they subsist in forms of good motorable roads, potable water provision, environmental sanitation, agriculture, employment generation and youth empowerment, good medical/health delivery services, distribution of free insecticide treated mosquito nets, to mention just a few.
So far in the State of Osun, elections could not be held into local government councils. This is no fault of the government of the day; but attributable to continuous suits filed by the opposition against government. First, it was against the composition of Caretaker Committees at that level. We are all living witnesses to the way that case ended. Today, the case filed by the opposition to challenge the constitution of the State of Osun Independent Electoral Commission (OSSIEC) has been botched. We now have a fully constituted OSSIEC in place. There are high prospects to holding free, fair and credible local government polls anytime during the New Year; especially with the coast clear over the re-election of the Rauf Aregbesola administration. What we intend to bring out is that these continuous litigations have caused elections into local government councils not to be held in the state.
Upon the assumption of office of Ogbeni Aregbesola for his first term in office, he embraced the illegitimate chairmen and local councils he met on ground; in spite of their illegitimacy! This was even against the backdrop that the preceding administration had earlier defied a court injunction ordering those council chairmen and members to quit office. Aregbesola stayed in with those illegal office holders till their ouster came most naturally. Aregbesola assumed office on Saturday, November 27, 2010; the illegitimate council “prefects” of Oyinlola years were ousted on Friday, December 17, 2010, via the justice dispensed through the judgment delivered by the apex court of the land, the Supreme Court of Nigeria.
It has become as clear as the dawning day today that fundamentally, peace and tranquility came to have foothold in the State of Osun as soon as the Aregbesola administration came on board. Prior to the emergence of the administration, tension was high. The state was hot. Insecurity and uncertainty filled the air. Like the Biblical House which divides against itself that will not stand; the ruling party of the day was the cause of the whole tension. The contention for governorship ticket within the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) ahead of the proposed 2011 Gubernatorial Elections was enough to snuff life out of the state and bring its entire people into extinction. Thank goodness, that election never saw the light of day. It became most unnecessary as the earlier-held one (2007 Polls) got upheld for the right candidate in a sudden twist of miracle. Those developments marked the genesis of the trend of progress which we enjoy; relish and savour; and celebrate today.
Lastly, there is all likelihood to suggest that before the horizons darken for the next year 2015, there shall have been created for the State of Osun not less than additional twenty-seven (27) local government council areas; thereby hastening the pace of progress and development and bringing the government closer to the people.
ANOTHER vital sub-sector of the Social Services Sector in the life of our state is Health Services. Services in this sector are also rendered free by the incumbent administration. During the 2011 fiscal year, the government of the State of Osun recorded remarkable achievements in the health sub-sector, particularly, in the provision of infrastructure, procurement of drugs and medical consumables, capacity building of the medical and health workers, free screening of people with eye defects and provision of free eye glasses and drugs, free surgical operation to remove hernia, lumps in the breast and keloid, etcetera. The Free Qualitative Health Programme of the Aregbesola administration was pursued with all doggedness and determination in the year 2011. As a mark of the administration’s commitment to Free Qualitative Health Programme, a total sum of N191.7 Millionwas expended by the Government of the State during the year on purchase of drugs and medical consumables alone. This giant stride was carried on unabated in the year 2012 and subsequent years till date.
According to Governor Aregbesola, in pursuance of the administration’s vision to save our people from all avoidable diseases and deaths; government would continue to increase accessibility to quality health care services in all the nooks and crannies of the state by ensuring the completion of all ongoing hospital projects down the lifespan of his administration; as well as the upgrading of the comprehensive health centres and general hospitals in selected towns in the state. The School of Health Technology, Ilesa and the schools of Nursing and Midwifery, Osogbo have also begun to receive adequate attention and care. Particularly, they have started to receive adequate funding and supply of equipment in the 2012 fiscal year. This kind gesture has continued into year 2013 and subsists till date. The tempo is still rotund.
The governor drew attention to the significant improvement that had been made in the reduction in neo-natal, infant and maternal mortality. Also, he drew attention to how increased immunization coverage and other relevant indicators of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) had taken place. He commented that the fight against the scourge of Human Immuno-Deficiency Virus / Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV / AIDS) would continue to be pressed with renewed vigour in order to ensure that the prevalence rate is reduced to the barest minimum. He also made it known that the State Action Committee on the Control of AIDS (SACA) would metamorphose into a full-fledge agency in 2012. This promise has also seen the light of day. Also, rapid response teams in the Health sub-sector comprising surgeons and experts have been set up during subsequent years to attend aptly to the health needs of the people.
Ogbeni Aregbesola made his words his bound in 2012, when he, in conjunction with his Oyo State counterpart devoted quality attention to the development of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology Teaching Hospital (LAUTECH-TH),Osogbo. In order to truly restore healthy living to the people of the State of Osun, the incumbent administration allocated a total sum of N1.8 Billion in the draft 2012 Budget for the execution of its programmes in the sub-sector. As was pointed out by the governor, the government’s spending on health was not limited to the sectoral allocation alone. Spending on environment, job creation and poverty alleviation and other programmes of government that promote the welfare and happiness of the people would definitely impact positively on health. On account of the Osun State Agency for the control of AIDS (OSACA) – a brainchild of the Aregbesola administration; and the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology Teaching Hospital (LAUTECH-TH), the budget size for the sub-sector was eventually reviewed upwardly in the last year’s Appropriation Act.
It is highly commendable how great improvement and remarkable facelift have been brought to bear on the public health facilities in the state. During all the held series of Ogbeni Till Daybreak and Gbangba De’kun; two versions of the public enlightenment (sensitization)/ audience participation programme organized by the incumbent administration, it instilled all progressive-minded members of the audience with pride how the various functionaries of governments recounted their achievement in the general overhaul of public hospitals.
Worthy of great commendation is the introduction of Osun Ambulance Service, nicknamed O’AMBULANCE. This rapid response mechanism to accident and emergencies has been of auspicious and invaluable assistance in saving lives of citizens who would have been sent into their untimely grave.
We count it most unnecessary to go back to recounting the sad experience of the past dark years when the emergency health services in the state were close to nothing. We only wish to raise our hearts of thanksgiving to God who has blessed the state and its residents with responsible and responsive government. Today, health services and drugs and consumables are qualitative, comprehensive and accessible and all are rendered / provided free of charge in all public hospitals across the state.
We also need to commend the intervention efforts of the Aregbesola administration in stemming and containing the outbreak of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) during the just-concluded year (2014). We do not need to dwell much on this as the frantic effort of the administration in the mentioned regard remains fresh in memory.
IN the area of Finance, Commerce, Industry and Industrialization, the ongoing Rauf Revolution has so overwhelmingly impacted on the socio-economic lives of the people of Osun that the state is currently being transformed into a land of full prosperity and bright full opportunity for all citizens. Before his assumption of office, the state had nearly been run into insolvency by the impostors who held her and her people captive. Aside the fact that there were no meaningful projects on ground to justify the presence of a government in the state during that dark era; the flimsy excuse on the tongue of the executive of the time is that there was shortage of funds to execute projects that would have impacted positively on the lives of the people. As if to add salt to injury, the handlers of the state at the time always lamented that they were financing the salaries and allowances of civil/public servants in the state through bank loans and overdrafts. Not only that, they rushed to obtain a loan from a commercial bank to the tune of N18.3 Billion
(first installment of about N36 Billion) about three or four months to their ouster from office. He did this in utter defiance to and total disregard of the voice of reason by members of opposition and all other stakeholders who meant well for the state. At the end of it, nothing tangible could be found on ground as evidence to having sunk such enormous sum into the economy of the state.
Upon his assumption of office, one of the first most terribly threatening challenges the incoming administration met on ground; and which it must find urgently surmountable was huge repayment and servicing of huge debts of which the just afore-mentioned loan is a component. Upon all, the Oyinlola administration was always indebted to workers a backlog of salaries and allowances; while substantial amounts of pension and gratuity were owed to senior citizens (retirees). We once mentioned the high school fees regime that characterized the education sector in the state in those days. On top of it, authorities of state-owned institutions of higher learning were compelled to provide counterpart funding for the payment of salaries and allowances of their workers. Other arbitrary fees were charged on pupils/students at all levels of public schools in the state just as it pleased the inordinate desires of those at the helm of affairs. This is not to talk of illegal, indiscriminate deductions from local government monthly statutory allocation, just as it was deemed necessary! Upon all, tongues of all top functionaries of that government wagged for shortage of funds.
This sad trend was reversed by the Aregbesola administration. The loans and debts were immediately totted up and rescheduled; while all avenues through which substantial amounts in revenue that would have accrued into the coffers of the state were leaking out were blocked. Ever since, all forms payments of revenue into the coffers of the state have been made through e-banking. Through this latter measure, the monthly revenues of the state have been raised by an upward of N20 Million! The spate of ghost worker has been successfully combated. Also the school fees regime at the tertiary level was instantly reviewed backward, while education at primary and secondary levels became free in all ramifications.
The practice of making illegal deductions from the local government statutory allocations ceased with immediate effect. All contractors who had hitherto defaulted/abandoned contract works assigned to them were mobilized back to site. The entire backlog of salaries, allowances and retirement benefits met on ground unpaid was settled. Also, an instant end came to the imprudent practice of having to approach commercial banks for loans and overdrafts over any expenses of the state. In short, accountability, probity, prudence; transparency and integrity which had been debased as core values and virtues of the Yoruba race were restored. Today, we are all better for it. More details have come to fore in subsequent editions of this series.
During the period of the fiery siege, which lasted for complete seven-and-a-half years; Osogbo the state capital had completely lost its hard-won status as a commercial city. Earlier efforts by the Alliance for Democracy (AD)-led administration of Chief Bisi Akande to regain these lost grounds were not accorded continuity. The Orisunmbare Ultra Modern Market constructed by that administration was not put to use; instead, it became refuse dumping ground. In the event of time, it became overgrown with weeds and bushes, hence an abode for rodents and reptiles. That was under an administration which self-styled itself as Ore Ara Ilu i.e. People-Friendly Government.
Today, under a more capable government administered by Ogbeni Aregbesola, the Orisunmbare Ultra Modern Market has found its full use; likewise other shopping spaces privately developed at various legitimate locations within the state capital and all other locations throughout the entire state. If the non usage of the facilities all this while had been a result of people’s resistance to change, the massive development projects being embarked upon, involving demolition of illegal structure had made them to take recourse to normalcy and abide by rules of civility and decency. Today, Osogbo metropolis is a better place to behold.
Apart from the Orisunmbare Ultramodern Market in Osogbo, other efforts at reconnecting Osogbo and the entire state to their rightful place in commerce are ongoing. The reconstruction work at MDS and Station Road of the city shall soon be commenced. Already, the Railway Station and Old Garage area of the city are already a bee-hive of activities, even as the railway services in the state are being resuscitated in collaboration with the hitherto moribund Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC); a feat that the Federal Government could not have recorded! It is also placed on record that the Aregbesola administration has since inception been providing free conveyance for indigenes of the state who intend to travel home during festivities like Id-el-Kabir, Id-el-Fitri, Christmas/New Year and Easter. According to the former State of Osun Commissioner for Commerce, Industry and Co-operatives, Alhaji Jayeoba Alagbada, at a Quarterly Press Briefing organized at the instance of the State Ministry of Information and Strategy sometime during year 2013, the free railway transport services facilitated by the Government of the State of Osun through his Ministry had by May 2013 transported up to 20,000 travellers during festivities to Osun. This figure has consistently moved upward, as more and more travellers patronized the free rail transport which they have found to be cheap, economical, safe, secure, timely and responsive. Even travellers from neighbouring states have benefitted immensely from the scheme.
Another major step being currently taken in the direction of commerce in the state is the world-class Ayegbaju International Market fully constructed, commissioned and delivered at the site of Old Government Secretariat in Ogo-Oluwa Area of Osogbo, the state capital, The intention behind the creation of this market is to provide a spacious avenue for selling finished products carted in from Lagos via the railway; while agricultural produce are carted back through the same means. For this purpose, the Osogbo Railway Terminus has been given facelift, including in spaces, pedestrian bridge, warehouses and other facilities to upgrade it to the new status. With the emergence of the New Ayegbaju Market, traders would be saved the risks, rigors, time and cost of going to Lagos for replenishing their stock. In effect, consumers too will be offered quality products at the same moderate prices obtainable in Lagos. This shall contribute in no small measure to the economic welfare of the people of the state. It is expected that the first phase of shops at the Ayegbaju International Market will be delivered for official commissioning any moment from now.
Similarly, another market has sprung up through the dynamic leadership of Ogbeni Aregbesola. That is the Aje International Market at the Ido Osun outskirts of Osogbo, the state capital. The site of this market is the Trade Fair Complex which the Oyinlola administration claimed falsefully to have developed to international standard. Amply located close to the proposed Ido Osun International Airport, named as Moshood Abiola Airport, the market shall upon completion tower prominently to aid and promote international trade as well as boost the commerce of the State of Osun.
Another in the list of markets being constructed in the state is the Dagbolu International Market, at Dagbolu Village, Oba Junction, along Ikirun/Ofa Road of Osogbo, the state capital. This market is clearly the largest of the three projects with full facilities to fit the status of an international market. Proximity of the railway system to the location of this market is a big plus. The location of the three markets shall serve the purpose of feeding other towns in the state based on their nearness to specific axis.
Other efforts of the Aregbesola administration in the area of commerce include the construction and development of the Ido Osun Aerodrome to the full status of an international airport named M.K/O. Abiola Airport; development of industrial estates in the State of Osun; and development of Ajagba Fair complex at Ilesa and Olufi Complex at Gbongan, with similar ones in Osogbo, Ikirun, Ede, Iwo, Ile Ife and Ila Orangun. Concerning the M.K.O. Abiola Airport, Ido Osun, it is an International Airport, the contract for which is to the tune of N4.6 Billion, to be completed and delivered before the end of the current year.
We should not fail to mention the upgrade and full utilization of the Free Trade Zone; a spacious land mass acquired by the State Government since the time of the immediate past administration. The effort of the incumbent administration has yielded the dividend of securing the land for the state for use as assemblage plant for mini buses, popularly called korope. When the activities of the plant fully kick off, the plant would be the hub of supply of the specific brand of China-made mini bus for all states of the federation.
We also wish to document the siting of the Bola Ige Mechatronics Centre in Esa-Oke. The purpose of this, aside provision of means of livelihood to more and more of our citizens, is to entrench maintenance culture in our citizens. Through the activities of the centre, care and maintenance would be provided for automobile, with a view to lengthening their lifespan and ensure their smooth use by motorists and commuters alike.
One memorable feat recorded in the area of commerce is the participation of the state at the Niger State Trade Fair held in Minna around July, 2012. It would be remembered that the state had topmost ranking at that trade fair. In addition, in further pursuance of the concept of Omoluabi, arrangement is in top gear by the Government of the State of Osun to introduce standard measures and scales to the state to avoid cheating and inordinate wealth-making; so as to attract and endear more of patronage to Osun market.
The industrial thrust of the Aregbesola administration does not end with the foregoing. Aside the Osun Youth Empowerment Scheme (OYES); several empowerment programmes have been organized, particularly, for women and other classes of people in the state. Also as an offshoot of the Osun Youth Empowerment Scheme, several training programmes have taken participants to different parts of the world, like OYES-Tech and the agricultural training which has taken participants to Germany. The Aregbesola administration has also invested hugely in the electricity supply situation of the state with the view of boosting the industrial and commercial drive of the state thereby. Today, electricity supply has so improved that Osun is ranked as one of the states in the federation with the most constant and regular supply of electricity. The massive investment of government in improvement of electricity supply includes distribution of electricity transformers and planned installation of three more feeders to connect the state to the main grid if the Power Holding of Nigeria; as well as the planned integrative efforts with other states of the South West to provide alternative source of energy via the abundance of natural gas in oil-rich Ondo State. Internally, the recently launched O’Clean Plus is a waste management drive of making wealth from waste and producing alternative source of household energy consumption through biogas. It is hoped that this venture, when commercialized, shall impact boost on the economy of the state.
The most recent stride in the direction of Trade, Commerce, Industry and Cooperatives is the provision of credit and loans for traders and investors in the state. The State Government of Osun, under the aegis of the State of Osun Micro Credit Agency has committed a sum of N40 billion to this scheme, which is intended to lift the bar of enterprise, self-dependence and poverty reduction among the people, indigenes and residents of the state. Already, beneficiaries who emerged through transparent and unbiased scrutiny system are smiling home with robust sums of credit with which to solidify the bases of their businesses. In addition, motorcycles, mini-buses (popularly known as korope) and luxury buses are provided for commercial transport operators in the state through their various trade unions with convenient yet expedient terms of pay-up.
NEXT point of consideration is environment, sanitation and hygiene. This vital sub-sector is of high essence if lasting health and well-being are desirable anywhere. This is because a healthy mind resides in a healthy body, which is in turn domiciled in a clean, healthy environment. In the past, Osun was a victim of a grossly degraded environment; with incidents of pollution and indiscriminate refuse disposal being very rampant. We cast our minds back to the ugly sights of the past, the perennial flooding and erosion that threatened the residents of the state with extinction and the undulating terrains which our roads had been turned into. We remember in particular the flood of July7, 2010; which inflicted serious damages of incalculable value on people in Osogbo and other parts of the state; and in which many lives and inestimable property perished. We remember similar incidents which occurred in earlier years during the time of the immediate past administration. We remember those terrible stenches occasioned by huge refuse heaps which dotted our streets; even within the metropolis of Osogbo, the state capital. We remember the pollution that continuously characterized the adjoining communities to the State Hospital, Asubiaro; where mortuary pollution nearly made the people prone to attendant dangers of epidemics. We remember how carcasses of animals and even corpses of lunatics simply littered the streets and were watched to complete processes of decomposition there without proper disposal or burial, thereby threatening the health and good living of the people. The list is long indeed!
Today, the Aregbesola administration has made all these ugly sights and smells a banished outcast that no one dare harbor in our midst. Right from the inception of his administration, Aregbesola took the bull by the horns when he declared a 90-day emergency on environmental sanitation. He took the decisive step of introducing bi-monthly and weekly environmental sanitation exercises as the case may be to execute rapid transformation of our towns and cities into decent places of abode for healthy individuals, and to sustain the culture of cleanliness, which, according to sages, is next to Godliness. Today, sanitation and safe health practices have so much become internalized in the lives of our people that clean environment has become their creed. What this implies is that people now troop out en masse to observe sanitation willingly without being coerced or instigated. People now abide by simple laws of decent refuse disposal, a feat hitherto considered unrealizable by pessimists!
To corroborate these gestures, the Government Unusual has invested massively in the sanitation drive of the state through certain initiatives like the inauguration of the Osun Youth Empowerment Scheme (OYES), the O’CLEAN programme and recently, the O’CLEAN Plus. Also, there has been massive investment in the purchase and provision trucks and equipment for collection, disposal and processing of wastes and their conversion into wealth.
With the State of Osun Waste Management Agency (OWMA) properly in place, the waste disposal efforts of the incumbent administration is availing much to arrest problems hitherto associated with environmental degradation and pollution. This is done quite effectively with all hands on deck; even with the active collaboration of the private sector.
Any moment from now, the first step shall be taken toward ensuring that our streets, roads and communities are rid of indiscriminate waste disposal; even as waste disposal baskets shall be distributed to all commercial bus / mini-bus operators so that passengers do not just drop waste papers, nylon and other materials through window panes to the roads. This intervention effort, according to OWMA sources shall soon be extended to other stakeholders so that the measures shall be broad-based and all-encompassing. Readers shall bear with us that these mentioned activities are just a tip of the iceberg in the list of activities so far embarked upon by the administration of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola in reversing the ugly trend of dirty environment in the State of the Virtuous.
This New Year promises higher grounds to be reached in this sector; even as residents show promise of greater cooperation and participation in activities bordering on the conservation and preservation of the environment.
To be continued.
