Leadership Is Empty Without Vision, Says Aregbesola

Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola has said leadership is empty without vision, adding that vision without action will not lead to development.
The governor spoke yesterday in Osogbo at the opening of another state-of-the-art elementary school in Isale-Osun.
Residents gathered at the 1,000 pupils-capacity AUD Elementary School to catch a glimpse of its 28 classrooms, hall, sickbay, staff room, grassed courtyard, basketball court and recreational area containing swings and toys.
Aregbesola said his administration’s policies and programmes are “deeply steeped in vision, well-oiled by passion and firmly backed by action”.
He said as far as education in Osun is concerned, the government is on a mission to develop the greatest asset in nature and the human mind.
The governor said: “When I assumed office as governor, I had a vision of what the future of education in Osun public school should be like. It is a vision that sees our public sector education on a comparable level with what obtains in the most educationally advanced parts of the world.
“It is towards the realisation of this vision that the energy and attention of my administration have been resolutely focused. It is a vision that we intend to see through without minding the obstacles in our path.
“This education mission is solely driven by public interest, without preference for any private interest, be it religious or otherwise. As I said during the last elementary school inauguration in Ile-Ife, the goal of our education policy is to bring about human advancement and progress, which are desires that are common to all members of the human family.”
Aregbesola said the overriding purpose of the state’s education policy is to give children what it takes to be masters of their environment, urging critics of the policy to change their mindset.
He said: “In the building of more schools, we will keep on confronting them with the evidence of their futility, and with the accompanying message that they cannot alter our focus, neither can they derail our mission.
“For this is one mission we regard as our sacred duty towards our children and those unborn, and we will not fail them. And if only for their sake, we will stick with what we are doing until our mission is accomplished.”
The Deputy Governor, Mrs. Titilayo Laoye-Tomori, who is also the Commissioner for Education, said school reforms have confirmed to the people that the administration is determined to salvage the “battered” education sector.
She said the improvement in the results of pupils in public examinations showed that the reforms are yielding fruits.
Mrs. Laoye-Tomori said: “Today, we are witnessing the fulfillment of one of the governor’s electioneering promises. Since the commencement of the school reforms, we have built 1,724 classrooms in 39 schools across the state and the job continues. This administration is determined to create a level playing field in the education of children in Osun.”
THE NATION