Governor Rauf Aregbesola of the State of Osun recently clocked three years in the saddle of governance of the state. In this interview, the governor speaks on how far he has been able to fulfill the pact he made with his people. He also clarifies the issues surrounding the new education reform of his administration.
Your Excellency, three years down the line, what has been your experience so far? You will recall that the people of Osun State wanted a change before you came in as their governor. How would you describe your three years in the saddle and are there memorable events you will like to recall?
As to my own evaluation of the three years we have spent so far, it is a rollercoaster… exciting and stimulating and that is why I used the word rollercoaster. When you are on a rollercoaster, no matter how efficient you are, sometimes you feel the world is upside down, and there are moments when your faith that nothing will happen to you is the only thing that keeps you going. I remember I also used the word excitement; the excitement our presence usually generates among the people shows their hope in our ability to deliver and one could say without any iota of doubt that we have impacted on majority of the people.
We have affected in a positive way all households through our approach to governance. Our transitional approach is that human beings are taken as the central figure of all our activities. It is this approach to governance that makes it almost impossible for any Osun resident not to have benefitted directly from our administration. I want to give a quick run-down of what we are talking about in the human development programme of our administration.
There is what we call human angle or social impact in which so far, we engaged 40,000 youths in community social public works, and let me tell you that it is the first of its kind in any part of Africa, south of the Sahara. We don’t mind what some people may say about it; the truth is that our youth empowerment programme is self-encompassing.
But some people are saying that the programme is designed to assist you to realise your ambition in 2014?
I will come back to that; let’s quickly do the run-down. From there we moved to ethical revolution. We rebranded the state. It happened just three months after our inauguration. We created an image for the state, from just an ordinary state in Nigeria, a state that by name, by insignia is unique. We branded it the State of Osun, Ipinle Omoluabi, meaning ‘The State of Dignified and Upright People’. And not that alone; we created an anthem, a flag, and a crest. We gave the state a renewal that compelled attention. We did not stop there. To achieve the best for our children, we assembled eggheads to critically look at all facets of education. These erudite scholars came up with a policy that will make our state the best in basic education. It is the recommendations of the summit that are being implemented to the letter.
Part of it is free feeding in which we feed all pupils in primaries one to four, not just with any meal, but we give midday meals that include egg consumption, beef consumption, fish consumption, chicken consumption, with daily supply of the basic carbohydrate foods that the children need. Among the new education reform is the provision of free school uniforms for about 350,000 students. It is worthy of note that the school meal programme basically increased pupils’ enrollment at a very high rate. We met 180,000 pupils and they are now 350,000 and we provided all with free uniforms without discrimination; it greatly reduced absenteeism.
We are renewing our state through our urban renewal programme. We are building roads, intra-city roads and rural access roads. Our security status has changed because we introduced armoured personnel carriers. We have them in adequate number; we are still working on getting more. Our security agencies now have adequate mobility facilities. We have functional, effective and efficient ambulance services all over the state. On welfare package, we support farmers as it had never been done before. We gave them loans; we gave them improved seedlings, and other agro-chemical needs such as fertilizers were provided. We identified vulnerable elderly people and support them monthly with N10,000. These are some of what can easily be recalled, which show that we have touched the lives of the people.
Also, about healthy living, we introduced youths’ calisthenics, which teach our young ones to work in collaboration. We pay the WAEC fees of our students. These are few of the programmes that show our commitment to the lot of our people. I cannot imagine any household in Osun that can deny the impact of our administration.
Your Excellency, what has been the response to Opon Imo being an innovation that I learnt some states are interested in emulating? What is the feedback so far?
For your information, I have given most of the governors a copy of the device since not all of them attend the NGF. Of course, all the governors that come to the meetings of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum now have a copy of Opon Imo. Anyone of them that wants Opon Imo for their students may, therefore, request and they will get them. The feedback is sensational of course; everybody knows that Opon Imo is a platform for the democratisation of knowledge. It weighs 1.1kg and it contains all textbooks that you need in the school.
It has 10 years questions and answers from JAMB, NECO and WAEC, and it contains tutorials where on your own, you can assess yourself and follow up what you have been taught in school. It is an amazing tool that transforms education to a game. Because of its light weight, you can lift it to anywhere and study anywhere. It takes the classroom to the student; Opon Imo takes the classroom to the students wherever they are; that is the most attractive quality of the device. Though a teacher is still required to teach, but whatever it is, you have everything a teacher will teach and much more in your hand always. The response has been sensational.
Sir, what are the challenges in the distribution of this device to the students or have you succeeded in distributing it to all of them?
There are 150,000 students in high schools. The device is meant for high schools. We have procured as at today about 25,000, which have been distributed this year. The project office of the scheme has sent some people to China to complete the importation of another set of 30,000 that will be given to students in the SSCE classes. We have reformed our education system. We now run the American system of elementary school which is Grade 1 – 4, middle school which is Grade 5 – 9 and high school which is Grade 10 – 12. It’s just a mere change of name. We are committed to providing physical infrastructure that would enhance learning in a conducive and attractive environment on age-grade basis.
How far has your government been able to handle differences in opinion on school merger and re-classification exercise? We read in the dailies about the issue of one Principal that was beaten up in Ejigbo.
The school reform has gone down well with our people and we received their cooperation, contrary to the fear being expressed as the fallout of our well-structured programme by a few locals.
How?
If you follow well the sensational report of friction, you will want to ask yourself if we have only Baptist denomination in Osun. Not even all Baptist schools were affected. In how many schools were the protests recorded? Just three Baptist Schools namely: Baptist College, Iwo, Baptist High School, Ede, and Baptist High School, Osogbo. Now let me bring you down memory lane. You know that in the Western Region, there was no town without at least five secondary schools; some had as many as 10. Since Yoruba land is highly urbanised, there was, therefore, no town in Osun with less than 20 schools with five of them being secondary schools. What that means is that we can multiply that by 20 and you have 100.
The schools are more than 100 but for the sake of clear evidence of the very limited and inconsequential protest, let us assume the figure. If anybody, therefore, says three out of 100 schools are a key issue to the act, then I wonder. There is no way you can have such programme and not have slight dislocation that would warrant some agitations. The number I used is just for the purpose of my thought. In reality, there are over 3,000 schools when you bring in elementary, middle and high schools; there cannot be less than 3,000 schools in the state. Let me say 1,000; so if there are about 1,000 schools, and there are pockets of protests in three, is it not disgusting that anybody would refer to protests in three schools as significant where 1,000 schools are involved? And that tells you the joke of the sponsored report; but we are moving on. It is worthy of note that all the schools involved are public schools.
They have been public schools since 1975; they are not just public schools now; they have been so categorised without any whimper or counter claim since 1975 when government took them all over. Where then was the force as claimed? Why the cry about Christian/Muslim school? I don’t think it is even good for us to go into that. If not for diabolical reasons, since when have Yorubas been so polarised on religious basis? We should ask ourselves this basic important question that is fundamental to our own race. Yorubas have been liberal on all issues, and most importantly on religion. There is no home in Yoruba land that does not have a fair representation of the three major religions, Christianity, Islam and traditional religion; and I challenge anybody to claim otherwise. If Yorubas have been living together like this, where then is the basis for this allegation that we mixed Christians with Muslims? Christians, Muslims, and traditional religion adherents have been permanently connected in Yoruba land; I don’t know of any other tribe, but in Yoruba land, all religions are in permanent interaction.
Where, therefore, is the logic and truth in the allegation that one group of students is being mixed with the other? It is the imagination of some people who think such lies can destabilise the state’s vision. The Yoruba, in their emotional respect for themselves, refused to change the name of the schools after the takeover of the schools until today; and that is why all the schools are still bearing their names. The idea must not be misconstrued to mean ownership. I want people to independently go and take the demography of the schools before our reform; they will be shocked by their findings.
Considering the meagre resources of the state, how do you source funds to implement your numerous projects and programmes?
You admit that we are improving infrastructure; you admit that we are transforming the state; you admit that the state is a huge construction site; your concern is the source of the funds for all of these considering the meagre allocation that we receive in the state; but there is this adage that says when the going gets tough, the tough keeps going. We didn’t come here without adequate preparation. We were surely aware of the challenges we shall face. Our trust for the state is encapsulated in a booklet entitled ‘My pact with the people of Osun’. We had a retreat that lasted for five days in 2005 where we developed that six-point integral action plan: banish poverty, banish hunger, banish unemployment, promote functional education, promote healthy living and restore communal peace.
Already, I have communal peace due to the fact that I had the best tutelage under the most resourceful finance manager in Nigeria, Asiwaju Bola Hammed Tinubu. After eight years of tutelage, Asiwaju Hammed Tinubu to me is the most versatile public finance manager I know. Under him, I acquired the capacity to stretch every kobo in the public treasury to the farthest limit in public service. What you see there is prudent management of the limited resources of the state for the highest number of people in the society.
Yes, we take loans, but no bank can give you a loan if you don’t have an account with them. There is no metaphysics you can use; we can’t say because metaphysics is efficacious and think we can use it to manipulate banks to give out loans. There are already established vessels through which you can obtain loans from the banks. Either fixed or current account, you must have a cheque with which to draw your money. The transaction in the bank does not start and end with a person. I need to let you know that a financial institution is insulated from sharp or any magical manipulation; so the way of engagement there does not permit anybody to take money beyond his capacity.
So, whenever I read all those talks about us owing huge sums of money, I ask myself, ‘Is it ignorance?’ for I have the feeling that for you to say you want to be a governor, there is a minimum of financial management that you should have. It should be clear to you that no financial institution will lend you money beyond your capacity. Whenever I read them, I ask myself, ‘what bank can part with what they are claiming we owe?’ But to answer your question, I want to say emphatically that we are prudent, very innovative and committed to delivering the dividends of democracy to our people.
What are you doing about IGR?
We have improved the internally generated revenue of the state from the leftist level of N300million a month to N1.2billion per month. It is not easy; yes you are right by your statement that allocation is dwindling; yet Osun is moving. After all, just last Thursday, I announced a 100% increase in the 13th month salary we have been paying workers in our service.
LEADERSHIP NEWSPAPER

Osun state government has spent over N2 billion on the expansion of waterways in different locations across the state as part of strategies to prevent flood.
The state Commissioner for Environment and Sanitation, Professor (Mrs) Olubukola Oyawoye, disclosed this while featuring on News Point, an interactive programme organized by Correspondents Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).
She said the effort of the state government was aimed at putting an end to flood which had ravaged the state before now.
She stated further that the proactive measure of the government at ameliorating flood has saved many lives in the state.
Professor Oyawoye said “Flooding was the order of the day when this administration came on board in 2011, but in the last three years of this government nothing of such has happened.”
She added that “the state government has been able to expand over 120 kilometers of water ways in over 100 communities in the state in the last three years.”
The commissioner also commended the virtue of the people of the state for changing for better in the area of sanitation.
DAILY TRUST

Governor, State of Osun,  Mr Rauf Aregbesola, is planning to establish a yam flour factory in Ife-Odan in Ejigbo Local Government Area of the state, to ensure that food is sufficiently available in the state at affordable prices.
The acting General-Manager, Osun State Agricultural Development Corporation (OSADEC), Mr Kayode Olanipekun stated this at a meeting with relevant stakeholders held at the conference room of the corporation.
Olanipekun disclosed that the present administration has spent a lot of money on agriculture programme in order to make life easier for farmers, adding that the government wants to put an end to farmers’ difficulties by ensuring that their labour is not in vain.
He also encouraged yam farmers, who need government’s assistance, to submit their requests at OSSADEC in order to ensure that all farms are fully mechanised for land clearing, ploughing, harrowing and ridging.
The OSSADEC boss, therefore, appealed that farmers who benefitted from the interest-free loan should pay back on time in order to appreciate government’s effort to boost agriculture.
TRIBUNE

State of Osun chapter of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) has dissociated itself from assertion of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) that the school reclassification in the state could trigger terrorism.
The Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN)  described the assertion as mere rumours that are capable of disrupting developmental stride of the government.
The leadership of the state chapter of CAN recently had a story credited to it in a newspaper that the school reclassification policy of the government is capable of triggering terrorism in the state.
But at a meeting with the government representatives in Ibokun on Sunday, the PFN state chairman, represented by his vice in Ijesa zone, Pastor Joel Balogun said that the school reclassification is seen as part of the efforts of the government to effectively monitor the education within its limited resources.
“We see the assertion that the school reclassification can trigger terrorism as mere rumour and we in PFN can never be carried away with such rumours. We understand that the exercise is aimed at cutting cost and ensuring proper monitoring of our schools, with a view to getting the best for our children. Though, we are not politicians, we are men of God, but we have seen that this government is doing well in terms of development and we are praying for the success of the government. Instead of spreading rumours, we, as men of God owe it a duty to evangelise to people and bring them to our fold and that is what we should be doing”, he insisted.
Appealing to the government to ensure that the schools that being merged retain their names, as promised, he said that this would settle the issues generated by the reclassification exercise.
The Chairman, Obokun II chapter of the fellowship, Evangelist Remi Adediran also urged religion leaders not to mislead the people on what he described as lies and rumours.
He also said that rather than misinterpreting the government programmes and policies on education and other programmes, the government should rather be commended.
In their separate submission, the leader of the State Assembly of Osun, Timothy Owoeye; the lawmaker representing Obokun state constituency, Samson Fafiyebi; the Commissioner for Environment, Professor Bukola Oyawoye and Special Adviser on Agriculture, Festus Agunbiade said that the school reclassification is aimed at giving the best to the students.
The government officials who are all christians said that the rumour being carried about against Governor Rauf Aregbesola by CAN are baseless and capable of causing disharmony among all the religion faithfuls.
The Assistant Director, Bureau of Communication and Strategy, Office of the Governor, Olatunbosun Oyintiloye, who was the host, wondered why anybody would alleged Aregbesola of wanting to sponsor terrorism.
According to him, the interest of Aregbesola is to get the best for the state and its people, saying, “he has never interfere in my own religious as a christian, rather, I influenced him to meet my father in the Lord in person of Pastor  William Folorunso Kumuyi.
“So, it does not infringe on anybody’s religion and he is not ready to do so, because he beliefs that religion is a personal conviction.
“As a born again christian, I have been working with him for over seven years now as a close aide and if he is somebody that discriminates, I would not still be with him till now because I represent Christ in this government like others do”, Oyintiloye stressed.
WORLDSTAGE

The Governor of the State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola and the group-managing director of Omatek Computers, Florence Seriki, alongside other dignitaries have expressed interest to participate in the forthcoming NewsDirect Third anniversary lecture/ awards ceremony. This will enable them to receive their awards as Best Governor of the Year and Best Female Entrepreneur of the Year respectively. The event is scheduled to take place in Lagos on Dec 12, 2013 by 4pm at De Renaissance Hotel, Ikeja by 4 pm.
According to a statement confirming her participation, the Omatek GMD expressed her sincere gratitude to the organising Committee of the NewsDirect 2013 awards.
According to the statement, “We write to accept this Award, a double honour indeed; and express our profound gratitude to all members of the Organizing Committee of the 3rd Annual Nigerian NewsDirect Award, 2013.”
The statement also added that, “This award is in recognition of her outstanding achievements as a leading African entrepreneur in ICT sector; and the first African CEO to assemble computers in this part of the region.
“We, therefore, wish to express our sense of gratitude and appreciation to the entire NewsDirect award committee; and do enjoin you to proceed with your programmes and arrangement, to ensure a successful and hitch free event. Other recipients include Reginald Stanley-Best Regulator of the Year, MD Flying Doctors-Dr Ola Orekunrin-Outstanding Female CEO of the Year.
In the corporate award category, the board will honour OilServ Limited, Seplat Petroleum, Masters Energy, First Bank, Babcock University and LADOL among others.
The award/annual ceremony being put together to commemorate the third anniversary of Nigerian NewsDirect newspaper will feature the presentation of papers on “Enabling Environment, infrastructure development, funding and capacity building”.
Guest lecturers include the Group Executive Director Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Mr Abiye Membere, and Osun State Commissioner for Information
BUSINESS DAY ONLINE

Photos from the All Progressive Congress National Mobilisation Committee’s Visit to Osun at Government House, Osogbo, State of Osun on Tuesday 10-12-2013

Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola (7th right); his Imo State Counterpart, Governor Rochas Okorocha (7th left); Deputy National Secretary All Progressive Congress, Mallam Nasir El-rufai
(6th left); APC Chieftain, Chief Audu Ogbe (8th left); Former Aviation
Minister, Femi Fani-Kayode (4th left); Ogun State All Progressive Congress (APC) Leader, Chief Olusegun Osoba (6th right); Imo State Deputy Speaker, Donatus Ozoemena (3rd left); APC National Organising
Secretary, Senator Osita Izunaso (3rd right); National Women Leader, Mrs Sharon Ikeazor (5th left); Interim Chairman Osun APC, Elder Adebiyi Adelowo (left) and others, during the All Progressive Congress
National Mobilisation Committee’s Visit to Osun at Government House,
Osogbo, State of Osun on Tuesday 10-12-2013

Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola (4th right); his Imo State Counterpart, Governor Rochas Okorocha (3rd left); Deputy National Secretary All Progressive Congress, Mallam Nasir El-rufai
(2nd left); National Women Leader, Mrs Sharon Ikeazor (left); Ogun
State All Progressive Congress (APC) Leader, Chief Olusegun Osoba (3rd
right); APC Chieftain, Chief Audu Ogbe (5th right) and others, during the All Progressive Congress National Mobilisation Committee’s Visit
to Osun at Government House, Osogbo, State of Osun on Tuesday
10-12-2013

Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola and his Imo State Counterpart, Governor Rochas Okorocha acknowledging cheers from the All Progressive Congress Supporters in the State, during the Party’s
National Mobilisation Committee’s Visit to the State at Osogbo City
Stadium, Osogbo, State of Osun on Tuesday 10-12-2013

Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola and his Imo State Counterpart, Governor Rochas Okorocha acknowledging cheers from the All Progressive Congress Supporters in the State, during the Party’s
National Mobilisation Committee’s Visit to the State at Osogbo City
Stadium, Osogbo, State of Osun on Tuesday 10-12-2013

Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola and his Imo State Counterpart, Governor Rochas Okorocha acknowledging cheers from the All Progressive Congress Supporters in the State, during the Party’s
National Mobilisation Committee’s Visit to the State at Osogbo City
Stadium, Osogbo, State of Osun on Tuesday 10-12-2013

No fewer than 147,000 children of school age have been enrolled in public elementary schools in the state of Osun this current 2013/2014 academic session.
Governor Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola made this known at the weekend in Lagos while speaking after being conferred with a Special Award as a Man Making a Difference(M.A.D) in the 2013 GAME Award for his outstanding contributions to educational development in the state.
The Governor said the state was ranked second state with highest number of out of school children in the federation but today stands as best in elementary school enrolment in the South West following the introduction of these education oriented programmes and increase in the state government’s investment in education.
Mr. Aregbesola, who said coming 34th among the thirty-six states of the federation in terms of federal allocation did not deter his administration from fulfilling his electioneering campaign promises to the people of the state, said actualization of his six point integral action plan have positively impacted on lives of people of the state.
Governor Aregbesola said tackling youth unemployment in the state was part of what attracted him into government and prompted him to give employment to 20,000 youths within his 100 days in office through the Osun Youths Empowerment Scheme (OYES) and other youth employment driven programmes like O’REAP, O-HUB, O-FISH among others.
The Governor thereafter called on Nigerian youths to work hard towards the actualization of their dreams and aspirations for life to positively transform the nation saying the future belongs to those who plan for it today and work hard towards the actualization of their dreams.
OSUN DEFENDER

Aregbesola made the promise in Ile-Ife during the inauguration of Oranmiyan Security Tower and Complex.
He also called for the engagement of competent security personnel to work at the security tower and complex.
He said that competent personnel, who would not abandon their duty posts, would be engaged to tackle the rising menace of armed robbers and hoodlums in the town.
Aregbesola said that Ile-Ife had been constantly under the siege of armed robbers and hoodlums due to the heavy concentration of banks and other financial institutions in the town.
He, however, said that the tower would facilitate efforts to monitor all the nooks and crannies of Ile-Ife, while enhancing the safety of the town.
He said that the security tower and complex would boost economic activities in Ile-Ife, particularly in the Lagere neighbourhood where the tower was sited.
Earlier, the Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade, who was represented by Oba Samuel Omisakin, the Obalufe of Iremo, Ile-Ife, commended Aregbesola for executing several development projects in the state.
Sijuwade said that the governor had considered it expedient to initiate plans and strategies to tackle the security challenges facing the people of Ile-Ife and Osun in general.
He urged the citizens of the state to support the efforts of the Aregbesola-administration to take the state to greater heights.
(NAN)

Photos from the induction of Governor Aregbesola into the Hall of Fame for Africa Digital Awards, at Sheraton hotel Lagos on Sunday 8/12/2013

Professional Telecommunication Engineer, Corporate, Entrepreneur and
Business Management Trainer, Engineer [Dr] Ernest Ndukwe (right) ,
during the induction of Governor Aregbesola into the Hall of Fame for
Africa Digital Awards, at Sheraton hotel Lagos on Sunday 8/12/2013

Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola [3rd Left]; Chief Executive
Officer of Computer Warehouse group [CEO] Mr. Austin Okere [2nd Left];
Former National President of the Association Telecommunication Companies of
Nigeria [ATCON]; Engr. [Dr] Emmanuel Ekuwem [Left] Coordinators Mr. Tayo
Adewusi [2rd Right] and Professional Telecommunication Engineer, Corporate,
Entrepreneur and Business Management Trainer, Engineer [Dr] Ernest
Ndukwe [right], during the induction of Governor Aregbesola into the
Hall of Fame for Africa Digital Awards, at Sheraton hotel Lagos on
Sunday 8/12/2013

Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola presenting Award to the
President of the Nigeria Internet Group [NIG] Engineer. Bayo Banjo,
during the induction of Governor Aregbesola into the Hall of Fame for
Africa Digital Awards, at Sheraton hotel Lagos on Sunday 8/12/2013

That it took over three year’s battle to recover his mandate from the ousted government of Olagunsoye Oyinlola is now history.  Nobody gave Ogbeni Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola the chance of winning the legal battle. Some of his supporters gave up at the eleventh hour while waiting for the final Court of Appeal judgment. It was the longest electoral battle in the history of Nigeria and at the end of the trial, the Electoral Acts were amended in order to reduce the period of electoral litigation to 180days.
The government of Aregbesola from inception promised to be a peculiar administration, and three years later the governor has lived to its promises. The six integral action plans of the government remained the compass that guides the working and actions of the government. The government sets out to battle; Poverty, banish hunger, banish unemployment, restore healthy living, promote functional education, and enhance communal peace and progress.
At the inception, for about eight months, the governor refused to appoint commissioners as it was the custom in all democratic states. This action of Aregbesola did not go down well with the political opposition who took the new government to the cleaner and threatened to take legal action against the governor. But Aregbesola remained unmoved for he has his trick up his sleeve, and when he eventually appointed the commissioners, he told the nation that the state was not financially buoyant to afford the financial implication of political appointees , he averred: “ I used the first eight months to save enough fund for the projects and programmes of the government, our predecessor took a bank loan that grounded the financial wheel of the administration to the tune of 18.6 billion naira to finance stadia projects when we were not hosting any sport competition.
Every effort to renegotiate with the bank where the loan was taken failed until we found another bank that bought over the said debts and granted us a convenient loan to finance our projects.” The judicial panel of enquiry set up to probe the loan found the  Oyinlola guilty over the aforesaid loan. However, the government moved ahead and began the journey of a new state that has since turned around the fortune of the state to the level that the blind could feel the changes and the deaf could see the gigantic development of the state, even the political opponents have been silenced from their initial negative propaganda of non-performance, to the allegation of turning the state into a debtor state. This negative gab has not fit in to the image of the government as quite often, the financial institutions such as Central Bank, Debt Management Office have excluded the state from the list of debtor’ states.
The next issue that surprises the opponents is the employment of 20, 000 youths that were engaged within a hundred days in office by the governor under the OYES-Osun Youths Empowerment Scheme. This singular acts was the first of its kind in Nigeria. The ousted government did not waste time from writing off the scheme as ridiculous and insulting for the state graduates to be engaged in communal work with ordinary 10, 000 naira per months. They accused the government of deceit over the numbers said to have been engaged.  Aregbesola was not bugged by the negative criticism; rather he asked them to verify the actual numbers under the scheme from First Bank who paid the youths monthly. He also replied the opposition by demanding from them what were they able to do for the same youths for a period of 90 months they were in power in the state, if the pain and the anguish of these youths did not touch the opposition, at least, the implication of having army of youths roaming the street without any means of living could trigger high level of crime in the state and the nation as a whole.
While the opposition was criticizing, parents and participating youths were full of praise and appreciation of the government actions of making them bread winners. The critics were still on the same page when the government engaged another batch of 20, 000 youths making it 40, 000 youths that have participated in the scheme so far and many of them apart from being engaged by the government, a large percentage are today trained and empowered to become entrepreneurs and employer of labour.
This OYES scheme has since received the approvals of the World Banks which in turn  sold the good idea to the Federal government and supported the scheme financially, the Federal government has since  kicked off the scheme under the name YESSO. The prophet is said not to enjoy respect at home, the Aregbesola scheme that was ridiculed and disparaged by political opponents is today being celebrated nationwide for embarking on such a noble scheme in reducing the joblessness in our nation among our youths. The Aregbesola government has also got the youths motivated in taking into farming via O’REAP, through training within and outside Nigeria, by also clearing virgin lands for large scale farming, loans schemes and farming equipment as well as fertilizers to boost farming in the state. Consequently the state is gradually becoming the food basket of the South West through massive food production and the vision of kicking out poverty has become a reality and the peace and security is reigning in the state as poverty which Nehru Gandhi said to be” the harbinger of crime” has been conquered.
This effort of the government has made Osun to be voted as second best in poverty index in Nigeria, the Federal office of Statistics has also adjudged it as the best among the states with less percentage of unemployed youths.
State of Osun was another burning issue, a deviation from the commonly use of   “state”. The opposition accused the governor for trying to secede for having the audacity to call State of Osun, the introduction of a state anthem provides the opposition the ground to call the state a rebellious one. But the governor was unbowed, but told those that care to know that “we are charting courses that had never been charted”. The governor declared that the long military rule had mesmerized the nation to the extent that we have forgotten that we are a republic. That the oppression by the military has made some educated ones to have lost the import of Nigeria as a Federal Republic. Aregbesola defended his choice of using “the state of” as constitutional,and  that the constitution did not put any prefix or suffix. He cited section 176 of the 1999 Constitution Federal Republic of Nigeria to draw home his defense. Today, more than eight states in Nigeria have followed his footsteps.
. Opon-Imo tablet of knowledge, an educational iPad that today has earned the state and the governor international award and recognition was born in controversy. When the tablet was launched, the political elite especially the opposition was acidic in their condemnation of the device to them, the governor and his son were merely milking the state of its resources. The tablets cannot be cost effective; the priority of the state ought not to be the tablet. Newspapers columnists added insulting articles upon articles ridiculing the government, but like the Right brothers were disparaged initially but celebrated till date over invention of aircraft, the Opon Imo tablet of knowledge has become an international phenomenal, that has earned one award after the other, the governor himself declared at the launching “with this Opon Imo Africa has come of age”. Indeed, Aregbesola has added his name among the people that contributed to the development of knowledge among mankind.
 DAILY INDEPENDENT