Osun State Commissioner for Finance, Dr. Wale Bolorunduro yesterday chided critics of the Rauf Aregbesola’s administration over the state’s debt, saying the allegations were untrue.

Bolorunduro, who delivered a monthly lecture of the Correspondents’ Chapel of the Nigeria Union Journalists (NUJ), held in Ibadan, spoke on the topic: “Improving Public Finance for Better Governance: The Example of The State of Osun,”described the allegation as unfounded.
According to him, no financial institution in Nigeria could grant such an amount as loan. He described those making the allegation as ill-informed and unnecessarily sensational in their allegation.
“I wonder what they are saying, I think what they (opposition) didn’t know is the dynamics of public financing, which our governor is injecting into the system,” he said.
He nevertheless explained that instead of going to the banks, “we went to the capital market and registered a programme and before you know it, we have raised enough money needed for the development of our state.”
Speaking on the state of the Nigerian economy, Bolorunduro said in order to take Nigeria to where it should be, the economy should be allowed to work.
The commissioner added: “If we must develop as a nation, we must find local lasting solution to our peculiar problems. We must endeavor to do things differently to change the scenario for the better.”
Furthermore, he pointed out that the Aregbesola administration was focused on zero-based budgeting which promotes value for money expected to lead to economic growth and development.
He disclosed that the debt sustainability plan done by the state government had shown that the sum of N60 billion was needed to turn round the state within 10 years.
“Apart from Lagos State, we (Osun) are the only state that has done debt sustainability plan for 10 years.
“If there must be development in Nigeria, it must come from the states and it would be through infrastructural development that will stimulate investments,” he declared. We must endeavour to do things differently,” he declared.
THISDAY 

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Apparently worried by the general collapse of moral values in Nigeria and the growing resort to violence by youths, the Osun State government recently launched a number of initiatives to address the problem.
First, Governor Rauf Aregbesola, in November last year, launched the Omoluabi Clubs initiative which is targeted at rekindling the Yoruba Omoluabi spirit and values of honesty, hard work, good breeding, honour, integrity and enterprise among youths in the state. Omoluabi, in Yoruba language, means a respectable, responsible and honourable person with distinctive good breeding.
The charter of the Omoluabi Club , which   contains the Purpose, Motto, Charter, Organisation and Activities lists the ways through which Osun State hopes to reform the morals and general character of its youths.  The club, which was realised through the State’s Ministry of Youth, Sports and Special Needs, will work with documents such as the Omoluabi Clubs Workbook, the Charter Companion, which comprises various subjects, and the club’s Constitution, which defines the rules of the association.
The State Government says the club gives hope for the youths because it will give them avenue to engage in beneficial extra-curricular activities. Reports on the Omoluabi Club concept say it came in response to the perceived inadequacies of Western education to produce in Nigerians and Africans the personality types that have produced human advances in science, technology and manufacturing, in other societies.
According to the state government, the bid to re-orientate Osun youths, emanates from the desire to recreate, restructure and nurture the human mind to the stage where there appears to be a difference between the African mind, which is oftentimes   superstitious, submissive, dependent, carefree and submissive while that of persons in the developed countries of America, Asia and Europe, are oftentimes rational, scientific, inquiring, challenging, daring, and irreverent.
The Omoluabi Clubs are expected to create in Osun youths a modern mindset, based on the moral, physical and intellectual attributes of our youths. It is designed to inculcate in youths a mindset that knows that their fates are not just in their stars, but also in their hands. It will also make them embrace the need for change, and to avoid ignorance in preference for knowledge and rational thinking.
Members of the club will be guided to tackle poverty and social problems. They will promote ethics, productivity, creativity and a culture of savings and investment, while abhorring corruption, dependence, wastage and magic. The voluntary organisation is divided into Omoluabi Boys and Girls Clubs for ages 12 to 17, and Omoluabi Youth Clubs for ages 18 to 35. The two clubs are open to all youths, irrespective of religion, tribe,  political party, sex, race or belief.
The activities of the club will include physical, creative, educational, community and Life skills programmes, with adult partners who will serve as mentors, officers and volunteers.
The focus will be on the moral, physical and intellectual development of youths to become models of good character, innovation and excellence, in order to develop a better and more prosperous society. The clubs will focus on developing a people committed to a better life for all; people who are happier, cleaner and healthier, courageous, organised, diligent, knowledge seeking, friendly, humane, problem solving, compassionate, thrifty and investment-focused, and respectful of the rights of others. The hope is that members will be developed into people of high esteem who have respect for rules and laws; have high self esteem and are proud of their heritage, culture and history; and are ready to shun indolence and superstition and committed to doing their bit in nation-building.
The bid for ethical revolution in Osun is, indeed, a step in the right direction. Of late, the collapse of moral values has become a serious issue in the country, resulting in the worsening of sundry vices such as armed robbery, rape, prostitution, terrorism, kidnapping for ransom and violence in schools.
In Osun State in particular, the government has been so worried about reports of violence and attacks by Secondary School students on fellow students, a teacher and a school principal that it decided to set up a panel to address the issue.
Last December, the state government constituted a special committee on discipline in Osun Public Schools to unearth the immediate and remote causes of indiscipline in the state’s public schools and recommend possible solutions to curb the trend. The government also called on members of the public to submit memoranda that could help to restore good discipline and moral tone in the state’s schools.
The government required the memoranda to identify the nature and types of indiscipline in schools, immediate and remote causes of the problem and the roles of principals, teachers, parents and others in the worsening disciplinary situation in schools and also recommend solutions.
Osun State is, however, not the only state that has problems with the breakdown of ethics and moral values in its schools and the general society. It has become a serious problem throughout the country.  Only last month, a Secondary School (2) student of Meteorite Standard School, Ayetoro, Ogun State, identified as Fatai Badmus, was killed by fellow students following a squabble between SS 3 and SS2 students because he dared to stop the fight. He was stabbed in the chest and died in the hospital he was rushed to.
Ogun is not the first school where such an ugly incident would be recorded. In fact, violence and brigandage have virtually become  badges of honour in some schools where the most violent students are most respected. Beyond students, immorality and corruption have taken over the society and there is very little respect for the rule of the law in the country.
Certainly, it is necessary to evoke the moral and ethical values that helped virtually all Nigerian ethnic groups to build humane societies, and teach these values to the coming generations.
In the absence of any such initiatives by Federal Government agencies such as the National Orientation Agency (NOA) and the Office of the Special Adviser to the President on Ethics, it is good that Osun is spearheading this remarkable programme.The government, however, should make participation in the club’s activities compulsory for all students in the state.  The issue of morals and ethics cannot be optional, for any reason.
Instead of the idea of an elitist voluntary club that may not catch on or survive this administration, the Osun State government should consider making the Omoluabi initiative an after-school programme for its schools where lectures and activities on the Yoruba essence and culture can be taught. it could even take 30 minutes of regular school time, complete with its own syllabus and examination, if found to be necessary. Under Nigeria’s federation, that is quite possible.I also recommend this laudabe initiative on ethics to the Federal authorities.
 BIOREPORTS

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Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola has urged Nigerians to rededicate themselves to rebuilding the nation so that peace will reign.
He spoke yesterday during the Armed Forces Remembrance Day celebration in Osogbo, the state capital.
Aregbesola said every citizen must work for a united Nigeria free of poverty, unemployment, self-centredness and ethnic chauvinism; a country where genuine democracy will be assured.
He said: “We must all participate in realising this dream. We must not succumb to the debilitating power of hopelessness. Let us take a cue from those who have died for the country. They were hopeful that better days would come for Nigeria, otherwise, they would not have fought till death.
“We must draw inspiration from this kind of mind set. The rising resignation on the part of many compatriots, with respect to the present multi-layered woes of the country, is not in the least helpful.”
Aregbesola said people must avoid turning Nigeria into a country that does not appreciate the positive contributions of its citizens.
Urging Nigerians to appreciate the noble undertakings of soldiers, he said the families of the slain heroes must not be abandoned.
The governor said: “The Federal Government needs to come up with an effective system of reintegrating discharged members of the armed forces into the civil society.
“Retirement from this area of service should not serve as the beginning of the erosion of the human dignity of these officers. In the same vein, since there are two sides to a coin, the discharged officers must ensure that their conducts do not undermine military honour and integrity.”
Aregbesola urged Nigerians to make up their minds that as the country enters its election years, polling booths will not become war zones.
At the ceremony were Deputy Governor Titi Laoye-Tomori; Commissioner of Police Mrs. Dorothy Gimba, and the Ataoja of Osogbo, Oba Jimoh Olanipekun, among others.
THE NATION

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Education, as they say, is the bedrock of any nation. This axiom has gained traction in the modest efforts of Governor Rauf Aregbesola of the State of Osun. In all ramifications, the state towers over others in addressing the educational needs of its people.
This is in spite the fact that Osun ranks 34th among the 36 states of the Federation on the revenue allocation table. Ogbeni reasons that “the only way to conquer and banish abject poverty from humanity is through conscious education of the mind towards productive engagement, which in turn will trigger creativity and productivity that will meet the basic needs of man”. This is more so with the recent United Nations Educational, Scientific, Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) report which says 10.5 million Nigerian children have no access to basic education.
If there is any sector Aregbesola holds tenaciously dear to his heart since his assumption of office, it is the education sector and its composite development such that it would meet the yearnings of, and be accessible to every inhabitant of the state.
Interestingly, his effort has yielded tremendous result with the renovation of dilapidated schools structures and building of model schools to replace the decrepit ones. Since then, pupils and parents alike have been applauding the governor.
The governor has committed billions of naira into the elementary and middle school buildings, which will each accommodate 900 pupils. The high school buildings will have capacity for 3,000 pupils. The state has almost delivered 100 of such buildings at the elementary, 50 at the middle, and 20 at the High school levels – making a total of 170 in all – in his first term in office.
The Middle Level is from Primary Four to Junior Secondary School 3 (JSS 111) (now classified as Grades 5 to 9), for pupils aged between 10 and 14. At the High School Level, the age range is between 15 and 17 years for Senior Secondary School I-III pupils, to be known as Grades 10-12. The schools have been designed so that residents, groups, organisations, or individuals, religions or interest would not suffer as a result of the school reform.
The reforms are aimed at meeting UNESCO’s standard for compulsory education by 2030 and to eliminate excruciating poverty.
Apart from building structures, the Governor has employed some 3,000 women who have been cooking for the elementary school feeding programme. This is in addition to the programme boosting the production capacities of farmers and suppliers of farm produce, as well as poultry farmers and cattle rearers to supply the food for the menu. The pupils eat eggs, chickens, fish and red meat to enable them meet nutritional requirements for mental development.
In addition to the free education policy of the state government where the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB ) are paid for, Governor Aregbesola has established Omoluabi Garment Factory in the state which caters for school uniform needs of the pupils across the state. With this, parents who would have otherwise bothered themselves about school uniforms for their wards have swiftly enrolled them in schools across the state without buying uniform for them since it has been provided for by government.
For his noble strides and enduring legacy in the education sector, Aregbesola was honoured by the Yoruba Education Trust Fund, (YETFUND), two months ago, as the best governor of the year in the Southwest – nay Nigeria – who has dedicated the largest chunk of his budgetary allocation to the promotion and development of education for actual growth of the Yoruba people in particular, in so short a time.
The group singled out the award winning Opon Imo (Tablet of Knowledge) as the basis for the award. The technology wonder is in a class of its own. The tablet is preloaded with 17 subjects examined in the West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examinations (WASSCE) in forms of lesson notes, textbooks, mostly provided by publishers and master teachers’ input. Content verifiers, who happened to be some of the local teachers, were also made to verify lesson notes on each subject. Besides, seven extra-curricular subjects, such as Sexuality Education, Civic Education, Yoruba History, Ifa Traditional Religion, Computer Education and Entrepreneurship Education, and 12,000 Yoruba Proverbs were also included.
The device also allows pupils to assess themselves through the e-testing platform with which they can solve 10 years of past questions for the examinations conducted by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) and WAEC. Audio tutorials further aid students through virtual study plan.
The state saved a whopping N8.4 billion for hard copy textbook as just N200 million was spent to purchase the 56 e-books on Opon-Imo with 150,000 user licences from a major educational publishing company from the country.
As it is structured, the Opon-Imo ensures that each pupil has an e-textbook, not only in all the subjects he is taking, but also on every subject offered at secondary level. This, in itself, is legendary and revolutionary!
A report in October by the African Health, Human and Social Development Information Service, Africa Coalition on Maternal Newborn and Child Health and Pan African Campaign against Forced Marriage of Under-age Children gives credit to the state.
“Among the 36 states in Nigeria four states – Osun, Lagos, Imo, Enugu – feature in the all-best categories for all indicators: highest girl-child education, highest female literacy, lowest adolescent girl ‘marriages’ and lowest underage birth rates”.
There is no gain saying that it is on the basis of Aregbesola’s commitment to educational development that school enrolment has increased and students have recorded improved performance in both WASSCE and JAMB.
However, it is clear that there is a lot more to be done with the poor WAEC results released a few days ago that falls short of UNESCO standard.
The council withheld results of 38,260 candidates, representing 12.88 per cent, over alleged examination malpractice and sundry issues. Yet, for anyone to gain admission into the tertiary institution in the country, you must obtain at least five credits, including English Language and Mathematics in WASSCE or Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (SSCE) conducted by the examination body.
The situation in the nation’s basic education system, as well as tertiary institutions calls for national emergency or requires a call to emulate Governor Aregbesola who has devoted a huge chunk of the state’s resource for educational development of Osun people. We await such a time in Nigeria when the plight of the electorate form the fulcrum of governance, as witnessed in the state of Osun.
•Ikhide writes from Lagos.
THE NATION

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As I write, the Governor of the state of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola is on his way to United Kingdom with a sole purpose of educating the parliament of the imperialists on how feeding of the elementary school pupils could stimulate economic recovery and push the frontier of agricultural sector, a feat that has never been achieved by any Nigerian leader dead or alive.
This man we are talking about does not parade fleet of degrees, but through self development and the dint of hardwork, he is an institution, and inexhaustible well of knowledge, and the man who sees tomorrow. Hate him, like him, Aregbesola is a living legend, and his intellectual and philosophical approaches to governance is now globally acclaimed.
As an aspirant to the office of the governor, I met Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola in his office at his Osogbo campaign office, sometimes in 2006, and the journalist in me provoked a question on how he intended to facilitate economic recovery for state in line with home grown device, and he came up with ‘open heaven’ approach.
Open Heaven! I was confused, and he rolled out the statistics of men of God, who have taken the world by storm of gospel, whose anointing and ministration can bring as much as half a million people to anywhere they are, noting that majority of them are from Osun, a federating unit in Nigeria.
Aregbesola reasoned that Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye, a proven man of God is from Ifewara, from Ijesha enclave located in Osun, and if the clergy fondly called Daddy GO by his church members could turn Lagos/Ogun state axis to a city that is larger than some local governments in the country, something of that nature could happen in Osun if the state government could tap from his glory at home.
Still finding the corresponding value of the “Open Heaven” approach, the then Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure of Lagos state went further that Prophet Abiara is from Osun, and he commands large congregation of Christ followers wherever he preaches gospel, and creating a ground for him to spread anointing in the state would be a plus for the traffic of people, and he hails from Ijesha stock like Adeboye.
He spoke about the acceptability of Pastor Mattew Ashinmolowo in the Christendom worldwide, and how he has created a prayer city in United Kingdom, noting that the presence of his church in Lagos is a plus to Lagos economy, and that such a man from Ode Omu, state of Osun could draw traffic of people to the state if there is a ground for the convention of his church in his state.
Pastor Kumuyi is from Osun, and the blind know that his church, Deeper Life is a force to reckon with in the Christian denomination in the country, and his presence in the state could draw close to half of a million Christians from all over the country to Osun. He mentioned Life Oasis, Victory Chapel, and others.
He equally mentioned Prophet Fakeye of ‘Ayo ni o’ Cherubium and Sherafum church, Prophet Obadare of Christ Apostolic Church, and others, and he argued that for the fact that majority of them are from Ijesha, it is logical to situate a prayer city in Ijesha axis for the purpose of drawing the men of God home, with a view to replicating what they have done to develop other cities of the world.
So, when his campaign for governorship election thickened, he made the establishment of Open Heaven an issue, and he articulated it very prominently at a governorship debate organized by the Osun state chapter of Nigeria Union of Journalist (NUJ) among other issues.
However, it is surprising now to see the set of cynicists and irritants who first raised hoax that Aregbesola wanted to Islamize Osun, now criticizing the Open Heaven initiative that could turn around the sleeping economy of Ijesa axis to Eldorado. They argued that the thinking was to embezzle funds to be used for the forthcoming election.
Whereas the same set of people had earlier tagged Aregbesola a pagan, a priest of Ogboni confraternity, they even insinuated that he had initiated his first son, Kabiru to the confraternity, and when he declared Hijrah holiday, they said he intended to Islamize the state, and when the traditionalists got their due, they said the man is ‘babaalawo’.
It is quite clear that the former governor of Oyo state, Alao Akala was a failure in all ramifications, a situation that made Abiola Ajimobi’s administration an instant success when he took over the mantle of leadership and began to fix the needful, and one of the guys that managed his government is one Diran Odeyemi, now the spokesman for Mr. Iyiola Omisore, a governorship aspirant of PDP who is at the forefront of antagonizing Aregbesola’s initiatives, to which some have become success story. I pointed to this fact to allow you to connect the nexus of the latter day accountability advocates.
Imagine, if a governorship aspirant cannot decipher a master plan for revenue generation, and unique initiative, what will be his lot if he walks his way to the Government House? He can only see religion, where economy is the issue; he can only see election, where over all interest is a factor, and he can only see locking of the money in a safe, where development is demanded. And that is the man who wants to govern the state. May God deliver Osun and its people from devil and his advocates.
GOKE Butikakuro is a journalists of intercontinental exposure.
OSUN DEFENDER

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Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State yesterday called Nigerians to respond to the yearnings of officers and men of the armed forces, saying the families of the departed officers must not be left to suffer.
The governor made this call in an address he delivered at the Armed Forces Remembrance Day celebration held at the Cenotaph site, Ayetoro, Osogbo, the state capital.
Aregbesola said: “Let me mention here again that the Federal Government needs to come up with an effective system that will ensure the successful rehabilitation and easeful reintegration of discharged members of the armed forces to civil society.
“Retirement from this area of service should not serve as the beginning of the erosion of the human dignity of these officers. In the same vein, since there are two sides to a coin, the discharged officers must, as well, make sure that their conducts in retirement do not undermine military honour and integrity.
“They must endeavor to put their specialised skills and training to the service of the society in meaningful ways.
OSUN DEFENDER

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Photos from the Armed Forces Remembrance Day Celebration 2014, at Army Cemetery, Osogbo, State of Osun on Wednesday 15-01-2014

Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola (middle); Commander,
Engineer Construction Regiment, Ede, Brigadier-General Gbenga Adeyemi
(left) and Commissioner of Police, Osun Command, Mrs Dorothy Gimba
(right), during the Armed Forces Remembrance Day Celebration 2014, at
Army Cemetery, Osogbo, State of Osun on Wednesday 15-01-2014

Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola (right); Commander,
Engineer Construction Regiment, Ede, Brigadier-General Gbenga Adeyemi
(left) and Commissioner of Police, Osun Command, Mrs Dorothy Gimba (middle), during the Armed Forces Remembrance Day Celebration 2014, at
Army Cemetery, Osogbo, State of Osun on Wednesday 15-01-2014

Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola (2nd right); his
Deputy, Mrs Titi Laoye-Tomori (3rd right); Commander, Engineer
Construction Regiment, Ede, Brigadier-General Gbenga Adeyemi (right);
Commissioner of Police, Osun Command, Mrs Dorothy Gimba (4th right)
and others, during the Armed Forces Remembrance Day Celebration 2014,
at Army Cemetery, Osogbo, State of Osun on Wednesday 15-01-2014

Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola (2nd right); his
Deputy, Mrs Titi Laoye-Tomori (left); Commander, Engineer Construction
Regiment, Ede, Brigadier-General Gbenga Adeyemi (right) and Deputy
Commandant and Chairman, Nigerian Legion Osun Chapter, Colonel Alimi
Samotu (2nd left), during the Armed Forces Remembrance Day Celebration
2014, at Army Cemetery, Osogbo, State of Osun on Wednesday 15-01-2014

From left, Deputy Governor State of Osun, Mrs Titi Loaye-Tomori;
Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola; Deputy Commandant and Chairman,
Nigerian Legion Osun Chapter, Colonel Alimi Samotu and Commander,
Engineer Construction Regiment, Ede, Brigadier-General Gbenga Adeyemi,
during the Armed Forces Remembrance Day Celebration 2014, at Army
Cemetery, Osogbo, State of Osun on Wednesday 15-01-2014

Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola laying the wreath
during the Armed Forces Remembrance Day Celebration 2014, at Army
Cemetery, Osogbo, State of Osun on Wednesday 15-01-2014

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