Editorial review by; JIDE ADESINA
Edited by Veronica Olayinka Adesina
On a recent tour of the State of Osun, the Afrika Market editor found that most people from the state of Osun appear to not care if it’s the same sect Muslim/Muslim, Christian/Christian or Agnostic/Agnostic combination ticket as long as the candidates understand the ideology and principle of governance that will enrich their lives.
Take a cue from our political history- Chief Obafemi Awolowo and Chief S.L Akintola were Leader and Deputy leader of the western region in the first republic, respectively; Chief Bola Ige and Chief S.M Afolabi, Alhaji Lateef Jakande and Alhaji Jafojo, Chief Michael Ajasin and Chief Omoboriowo, were governors and deputies, respectively, sharing the same faith in the 2nd republic. Likewise Otunba Niyi Adebayo and Chief Paul Alabi, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola and Erelu Olusola Obada in the 3rd republic, and the list goes on.
One’s religion is a personal choice that may be attributed to one’s upbringing or environment; though it may contribute to a person’s character and virtues, it has absolutely nothing to do with competence or qualifications when it comes to politics. The people are not voting to elect spiritual leaders rather they need competent and qualified people with sound ideologies and strategies. Yes, most people would want the candidates to govern or rule with the fear of God however they understand that there are different routes to the Almighty. The pity about this new religion craze is that it is just another hustle. People trying to use it as an advantage to get what they can’t aspire to or get solely on merit.
Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola is an enterprising and visionary leader, he has succeeded in turning the economy of the state of Osun to a burgeoning state hence fast becoming an emergent economic state in Nigeria. His policies are people friendly and have mass based approach especially the education sector where ‘No child is left behind’ nor goes hungry; this is an enviable policy in the history of Nigeria. History and posterity will reckon with him ( Aregbesola) in terms of technological advancement, to date, OPON IMO .. is still the best in changing the face of education in modern times … Beyond the accomplishments in the education sector in Osun as testified to by Niyi Babade – a seasoned Journalist and media consultant, ‘we have to look at the landmarks in the agricultural, youth empowerment and tourism sectors where the governor is using O’REAP, O’YES and O’TOUR respectively as the tools of economic revampment and sustainability.
THE AFRIKA MARKET editor on tour of the state of Osun found that the state can actually be a market leader in the production of lowland rice and even upland rice. The state also have competitive advantage on cassava, vegetable and okro and even livestock. If you look at Iwo, you will see that there are livestock development opportunities in that area.” THE AFRIKA MARKET sees Osun becoming the food basket of the South-west and indeed Nigeria courtesy of Aregbesola’s O’REAP. To stress this point, the director general of the Bureau of Social Services declared, “This year alone, the state have done about 7,500 acres of land, I don’t think there is any other state in the South-west that has done that,”
O’REAP, according to Ajibola Basiru, Hon commissioner of Regional Integration and Special duties, ‘ Our Cardinal objectives is to focus on food production in the state. “We have done much in the area of agriculture and food production in Osun State”, Hon Ajibola Bashiru stated further: “We started in February this year and let me say O’REAP is focused on food production with much interest in food crops. Osun State’s strategy is to capture 10 percent of the food bill of Lagos State. By that I mean the foods that are sold and bought in Lagos State which by today is estimated at N3.5 billion.” “The administration has made agriculture a good drive for economic transformation of the state. Mr. Governor said agriculture is over 50 percent of his promise to the people of Osun. All the six points Integral Action Plan of Governor Aregbesola centers on agriculture.
The whole aim is to use agriculture as the key engine for economic transformation in the state of Osun. We have fertile land in Osun, we have commodity areas where we can build national competitiveness and one of those areas is rice.”
Directorate of social mobilization and guidance. Minister of Information and strategy, Ifaturoti, – “We have had over 300 co-operative societies registering for the O’REAP programme because the governor believes we must use co-operative as the major driver for the agricultural transformation of the state. Now, we have farmers gathering together to form co-operatives for food production and marketing. O’REAP programme is a business that works closely with the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Ministry of Commerce and other ministries. “We have experts in the field of public administration and that is the paradigm for development globally. No agency can do things independently.
We need a number of agencies working together. If for instance we need water in the farm settlements, we will go to the Ministry of Water Resources; if we need power, we go to the Rural Electrification Board, if it’s roads, we consult people in the Ministry of Works and Transport. So, in the transformation of a state, the work cuts across the various parastatals and agencies of government. So… what is important is to have a very strong co-ordination of all these efforts and a sharp capacity in the ministries to drive the transformation agenda.”
Farmers, according to him, are at the centerpiece of the O’REAP programme. “Roads are constructed to aid the farm settlements thus we are making life meaningful and comfortable for farmers. The road to Mokore farm settlement is now under construction and this road has been abandoned in the last 40 years. So, farmers are to benefit more than any other people in the O’REAP programme of the state government,” Ifaturoti added.
In the area of road reconstructions, ‘We are 90 percent through with 49 kilometers rural access roads in the state,’ Comr . Adedeji Gbenga Justice.
O’TOURS, is built by the Aregbesola government on the strategy of drawing people to Osun’s natural heritages and traditional festivals like the Osun Osogbo and Olojo in Ile-Ife. “We are ancient people and we rely on history. Osun State is the center of gravity, of Yoruba history,” Engr. Abimbola Daniyan, Team Leader, O’TOURS, stated. Daniyan added: “Yoruba in all parts of the world, either in Brazil, Cuba or America, cannot do away with Osun State because of its rich cultural heritage.
-On government intervention to take over Osun Osogbo festival fully, Daniyan said it is the duty of government to expand the economic and social space such that the benefits of culture can translate into economic benefits to a very large segment of the society. During the last Osun Osogbo festival, the Team Leader of O’TOURS said the state government introduced toilets for sanitation and provided security at the groove and in all parts of Osogbo. “We also have tourist centers like Jalumi and Kiriji war sites which are the results of our history and we are going to develop them to make them attractive to tourists. We also have Ayikunnugba water fall in Oke-Ila.
These are wonderful natural settings that already draw in people, but the point is to attract and increase more tourists to the state, and the plan is to develop these sites to international standards. We have the duty to satisfy our tourists and we have to be careful so that we don’t send wrong information to them, hence the need to develop them well.”
On O’YES, designed by the Aregbesola administration as a youth empowerment programme and to stem unemployment, one of the 2,000 volunteers who earn N10, 000 per month said, “The impact of O’YES is enormous”. But he will like the state government to consider the volunteers for permanent employment rather
than the status quo which affords them participation in the scheme for one year. The scheme costs the state government 200million naira every month.
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