The enhanced infrastructures coupled with a conducive and ideal investment have attracted both domestic and international investors to Osun State.

With these, three investors; namely RLG Communication (a telecommunication/electronic company), Omoluabi Garment Factory and a Chinese company that will produce Opon Imo have already been attracted to the state.

Governor Rauf Aregbesola disclosed this while speaking with Journalists in Osogbo.

The governor also told newsmen that huge achievements were being recorded in the aviation sector with the ongoing airport being constructed in the state.

He said: “The airport project is not being built for the sake of having an airport alone. It is a project embarked upon to attract investment to the state. We can tell you now that we have signed a hanger facility contract agreement with two companies. When completed, the helicopter hanger facility would be the first in West Africa. By all these we plan to make the airport the aircraft hub in Nigeria.”

While saying that his administration was irrevocably committed to the ongoing transformation of Osun into a modern state, Aregbesola noted that it would stop at nothing at ensuring the successful completion of the ongoing urban renewal and beautification projects in nine cities selected for the urban renewal project.

The Governor said, “Every Nigeria deserves to live well anywhere they find themselves. All Nigerians must live in comfortable stead irrespective of where they are their ethnic or religious leanings.

He also disclosed that government intervention in education has started yielding dividends as the state now has the highest rate of primary school enrolment in the whole country put above 80 percent, adding that the state equally leads 35 others with the highest number of female enrolment in the same tier.

According to him, various policies of his government have also reduced poverty in the state to a meager 3.0 percent, the lowest in the federation by the figure released from the National Bureau of Statistics.

“What I can categorically tell you is that every step we take is tied to the lofty idea of making Osun to be self-subsisting and self-sufficient socio-economically.”

Source: http://businessdayonline.com/2013/08/osun-list-gains-of-investment-drive/

Dr Wale Bolorunduro, the Osun State Commissioner for Finance, Economic Planning and Budget, in this interview with Tunde Oyekola, speaks on the raging public debate on the debt profile of the administration of Governor Rauf Aregbesola and other issues. Excerpts:
What are the bases of the economic empowerment of the state by the state administration?
I will start by referring to a document which is the, six Integral Action Plan, which Mr. Governor used to contest election in 2007 and with which he won the election. His strategy is providing alternative solution to the problems facing the people. Mr. Governor has already coded his people oriented programmes into a book called the Green Book. This book is a people-oriented plan which clearly stated the objectives, the action that was used in taking Osun to the Promised Land.
The action plans include banishing hunger, unemployment and living problem; to restore healthy living, peace and harmony; to create an enabling environment, among others.
How are we going to improve educational system? We would build educational infrastructures, schools. When the private schools association in the state paid me a courtesy call, I told them that, this administration would build new schools across the state, and example of it is the one in Alekunwodo which is a model for other contractors to copy. And as I am talking to you, we have another 25 schools that are about to be completed and will be ready for commissioning before the forthcoming election.
Where is the economic linkage and where is the economic empowerment? The contractors that we are using were from the state (Osun). The labour and the materials we used were also from Osun due to the Osun Policy Content which says, we must use 75 per cent of the labour and get the material where the work is being done, you can see economic linkage there.
We employed artisans across board which we got some of them from the Technical Schools in the state and trained them. We even trained painters which would paint those schools. There is an aluminium and roofing company again, so we want these schools to be roofed with an aluminium sheets, because we don’t want our children to be distracted during rain.
It is not just a co-incidence that we have peace in Osun. We will create social-economic situation across the state by opening more roads. We are creating economic empowerment when people who have properties are having economic value.
We are also supporting the local government by constructing 238 kilometres of roads throughout the state. We want to empower the artisans by getting jobs and have money in their pockets; they are going to buy food in Osun.
Before the governor came into power, he had done a research on Agriculture. So, tools were given and also access to land by giving a 10 hectares of land to farmers. So, each farmer would have two hectares of land.
Once you can improve production, then the sellers would start exporting it to the outside world especially Lagos metropolis. We will be the only state that have built commodity  exchange where a guarantee price would be used to sell products to farmers.
We want to develop the traders who sell their farm produce to Nigeria Breweries and this will make them to improve on economic programme of the state. You can see our urban renewal programme in our cities such as Osogbo, Ile-Ife, Iwo, Ilesa, Ila, Ikire, Ikirun and Ejigbo.  As we are doing urban renewal in Ejigbo, the economic linkage with our people in Diaspora and Ejigbo will make the town a new city in its entirety. This also goes to other cities in the state.
We also talking with experts who are going to train some people on hospitality business, we are engaging a private developer who would assist in building befitting hotels. So, if we have a three-star hotel in Osun, business will boom because those business men and women would be able to stay in befitting hotels and transact business and this will boom and enhance our economy. So, these are the linkage that you can see in Osun. We have youth empowerment that is O’yes that deals with those youth that graduated from our higher institutions without getting jobs for years.
After serving the generality of the people, they were given N10, 000 every month for 20,000 of them which runs to N200million (monthly) being injected into the state economy.
Some members of the first batch of this O’Yes have trained themselves to be professionals in various fields. As I am talking to you, I have finalised arrangements for some of them to go to Germany to go and train for six months as successful farmers. So you can see economic linkage and economic empowerment in the state of Osun.
For O’Meal programme, the caterers were given utensils to use for cooking. Their clothes were sewn in Osun and they are given room to serve their people whenever they are free.
50,000 eggs were also supplied and given to students. You can see that the food stuff were supplied by the farmers. They are also taking fish from O’Fish and Chicken from O’Bush, So, when someone comes here and say he want to teach us about economic programme, then the person does not know what he is talking about.
You can’t do education programme without going into what will make it to work well. So, we go into  cloth making with the establishment of  Omoluabi Garment Factory which is the biggest factory in Nigeria today and it  will accommodate 3,000 workers.
Also, we are going to have trainers from China who will train the prison inmates on skills acquisition. Let us also fast track and look about our other programmes, Mr. Governor is putting up a programme of building up youth through the calisthenic programme which engendered leadership qualities in those children. Omoluabi boys and girls who would soon be launched will inculcate spirit of good leadership in the youths. These are laudable programmes of Mr Governor in improving economy of the state.
How are you sourcing fund for the projects?
At the base, we have gave promissory notes to our contractors, and this has given us a good basis which the contractor takes to the banks for borrowing money of which would make the contractors to perform. From the Capital Market, we should have borrowed N30 billion as the past regime borrowed N18 billion. You see, if former Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola had not been removed, he would have sacked workers because he borrowed N1 billion every month.
You can see that the organised labour in Osun State came out publicly to praise Mr. Governor for the people-oriented programmes he has been able to run in the state.
All these things are because of economic engineering. To go to the capital market is in vague, because we have to be rated through international market raters. We encourage other states to go into our programme through this issuance of bonds, and do things normally. Our own bond base is the O’School programme. Other states use our scheme, programmes and ideas so, we have expanded the space. Pension Commission are now working towards this line now in making sure that Pension bond is operating in Osun.
If you want to finance your deficit and cannot deliver the economic value and pay back easily, you are doomed. The private school operators have contacted me on how  to get ‘Opon Imo’, so this is a great development of the educational sector in Osun. The Ayegbaju Market, a private sector financed and that of Aje market as well as the on-going International Airport at Ido-Osun. In Osun, we are always challenging each other and always opening ways to private sectors for participation.
What is the debt profile of the state?
It is very simple. It is N30 billion, and it is a seven-year programme.
What is the motivation behind the renovation of the nine general hospitals and how much would it cost the government?
The renovation will gulp the sum of N1.7 billion and we have mobilised the contractor with about N600 million. Then, why are we doing this? The general hospitals are our heritage left by our forefathers. So, they are our monuments. I will give the example of the General Hospital in Ilesa, which I ateended when I was young, because the hospital is well planned and the facilities were intact then, but nowadays things have changed. So, why should we allow those facilities to rot? Hence, the N1.7 billion has been thrown into the budget of Osun, and this would let the artisans to work there and improve the economy of the state. We want the hospitals to look attractive and only that, a place where to rest and have a neat arena.We want Osun to be a place where people will come and say we have a good hospital in place.
What is the level of budget implementation in the state?
We happen to be the first state that can predict how much we are spending on our capital expenditure. Today, I can look at how much we have spent in three sectors. There is what we call outliers in the budget. Our revenue has moved up now. We are also paying the pensioners directly into their bank accounts, because it makes it efficient. We would have gone far, but the organised labour thought that we wanted to boot out  workers. But now they can see that we have good plan for them.
Despite the huge amount being spent on agriculture, it seems that average citizens are finding it difficult to put food on their table in the country. Can you adduce any reason for this?
Osun is relatively stable. The price of food is relatively stable. It was in Osun that we don’t have flood and this was due to the dredging of our rivers. We are trying to automate the system in the sense that each farmer would be able to get  inputs directly from the government.  Investigations  have shown that the prices of commodities in Osun are not high. In fact, market men and women in the state can also confirm it to you.

Osun State indigenes living in and outside the state have commended Governor Rauf  Aregbesola for his commitment to improve railway system in the state, as a means of transporting goods and services.

Indigenes of the state, who returned to the state from Lagos, Ilorin and Ibadan, through railway system last Friday and Saturday, expressed their happiness on the improvement on the use of train in the state.

The travelers said traveling by trains has lessened the cost for transportation, saying that they spent lesser money using the trains, when compared to traveling by commercial buses.

According to a resident of Ikotun in Lagos State, Alhaja Rafiat Ademola, there was an improvement in the use of trains, saying that many people traveled to Osun State by trains for the Eid ElKabir festival.

Ademola said; “I noticed that more trains have been coming to Osun and other states like Kwara. I decided to travel by train when I discovered that traveling by rail was cheaper than patronising commercial buses during the festive season.

For instance, I was charged N2500 for my transportation and luggage fee at a motor parkat Ikotun, Lagos, while trying to come to Osogbo by bus. I later decided to travel with the train when I could not bear the bus cost. I paid only N500 for my transportation”.

She therefore commended Aregbesola for resurrecting the use of train in the state, maintaining that road accident would be reduced with the use of railway system of transportation.

Speaking with OSUN DEFENDER at the Railway Station, Old Garage, Osogbo, a resident of Ilorin, Kwara State, Mr Abdul-Rahman Oriola, also called on the Federal Government to commit funds to the rehabilitation of railway system in the country.

While commending Aregbesola for his commitment to resurrecting train usage in the state, Oriola said travelers would spend less, while traveling by train.

Source: http://www.osundefender.org/?p=22324

In the state of Osun today like the Yoruba would say the tune is ‘new dawn, new drum’. As day dawns in the state of the Virtuous so does the Aregbesola administration comes up with not only a new progressive idea but also one form of developmental stride or the other. Of course for a visionary, focused and determined leader no challenge is insurmountable. What we are witnessing in the state of Osun today in terms of democracy dividends never enjoyed by the people of the state before, sort of lends credence to the popular saying that; ‘where there is will, there is a way’.
With the award of Gbongan/Akoda road contract recently to Ratcon Construction Nigeria Limited, the can-do administration of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola of the state of Osun is again set to achieve another feat in the area of infrastructure renewal, a key aspect of his administration policy thrust. The road, which was awarded at the cost of N29.3 billion is going to be a dual carriageway and not only this, it will also carry along with it construction of a trumpet bridge to be called Chief Bisi Akande Trumpet Bridge which will be constructed at Gbongan junction.
Reports in this newspaper quoted the Special Adviser to Ogbeni Governor on Works and Transport, Engineer Oladepo Sabiti Amudah who signed the contract with the company, as assuring that the road – which will be financed by the company with initial mobilisation of 15% – will be completed in 18 months. The 30 km expressway according to the Special Adviser, will include four pedestrian bridges, street lights, two layers of asphaltic surface with 60mm and 40mm thickness, reinforced concrete side drain, culverts and ditches, reinforced retaining wall, earthwork landscaping and road marking and signs. With this description even a lay man can easily have an insight into the quality of work to be delivered by the company. And it also shows that Ogbeni Aregbesola has a penchant for quality as evident in the roads he oversaw their constructions when he was commissioner for Works and Infrastructure in Lagos state.
The road revolution going on in the state of Osun under Ogbeni Aregbesola’s leadership deserves commendation. In contradistinction to what obtained during the era of the locusts (Oyinlola and company era) when inter-state and intra-city roads experienced unprecedented paralysis – being all things but passable – the roads in the state are now undergoing massive transformation. This is quite a feat as political and good governance observers with an eye on spectacular performance in government know that the condition of roads serves as one of the most physical measures of a government’s performance. Good roads no doubt enhance commercial activities and serve as a catalyst for economic growth while it boosts people’s happiness. In saner climes this is why good road network cannot be removed from the priorities of governments. Obviously if our nation is to be enlisted on the world map of development ours must not be different. Ogbeni Aregbesola knows this very well hence the road revolution initiatives he gladly embarks upon.
As we have consistently mentioned on this page the difference between a responsible and purposeful government like the one in the state now and its do-nothing predecessor headed by Oyinlola and his bunch of excuse givers, is just too clear. For instance the Gbongan/Akoda road construction project which is the subject-matter of this editorial had no head or tail for eight years of Oyinlola’s paralysis. Rather than doing that road even with the billions of naira his government borrowed from the bank at the tail the end of his government it only revelled in wasting the fund on white elephant project that never saw the light of the day – construction of stadia, that is. And not only for Gbongan/Akoda road project alone, the same unpalatable fate befell other projects embarked upon by Oyinlola’s maladministration.
By the time the Gbongan/Akoda road is delivered it will surely serve as Osun’s economic beehive. Being one of the strategic roads, and if we are not making a mistake here the most strategic one leading to the state Osun economy will experience an unprecedented boost at the completion of the road. We have absolute confidence in the ability of Ratcon Construction Nig. Ltd. to deliver the goods. We therefore urge the company to live up to expectation as a tested and trusted construction company. We wish both the state government and the company a glorious end as far as this newly awarded road contract is concerned.

Governor Aregbesola of Osun has said that the emerging network of roads in the state, south-west of Nigeria are meant to achieve the desire to turn the state to a mid regional commercial hub of the zone.
He said this as he turns the sod on another 18 kilometer Osogbo East Bye Pass dual carriageway marking the beginning of construction activities of the very unique N14.5bn road project.
His Director of Communications and Strategy, Semiu Okanlawon, quoted the Governor as expressing optimism that the emerging network of new roads in Osun will boost economic activities in no small measure.
The new project is coming less than two months after the flag-off of the Gbongan-Akoda dual carriageway, the construction of this road will ease traffic logjam in the state capital thereby making passing through Osogbo to other towns easier and aiding economic activities.
The new road starts from the Iwo-Osogbo Roundabout and terminates at the Roundabout along the Osogbo Ikirun Road.
The west side of the road was constructed in 1994 during the military administration of Navy Commander Anthony Udofia under the World Bank Assisted Multi-State Roads Project.
Source: http://nigeriapoliticsonline.com/osun-flags-off-second-bye-pass-road-as-aregbesola-says-roads-are-to-boost-economy/