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The employment of 20, 000 youths within 100 days of Ogbeni Aregbesola's administration in Osun state under the laudable OYES (Osun Youth Empowerment Scheme) is no mean feat. This is stating the obvious.
Bearing testimony to the above assertion is the submission of the World Bank team that visited the state recently on assessment mission and the resolve of the team to support the state government in its youth empowerment initiative.
The team had, during the visit to the state to assess the OYES, expressed delight at the government's effort at engaging the youths and left with a promise to help the government expand the scope of the scheme.
The sector leader of World Bank on Human Development and task leader on Youths Employment and Social Support Operation (YESSO), Professor Foluso Okunmadewa had said after assessing the corps at their various duty points that ''this is the third time we are coming to the state to assess the scheme and so far, we have discovered that the government is showing other states in the country how to get their youths engaged. We are seeking the response of the corps members so as to understand it more and help the state build upon the success it has achieved''. Of course no commendation can be greater than this.
Like the WB team observed, the state government's effort in the area of youth engagement is commendable and it speaks a lot about the determination and resolve of Ogbeni Gomina to fulfil his electioneering campaign promises. One of the cardinal objectives of the present helmsman in the state is to 'banish poverty' and the whole world can now see clearly the concrete steps being taken by him towards realising this objective.
Creation of 20, 000 jobs within three months of an administration cannot be said to be a puny achievement. It is a great stride and especially given the fact that such is unprecedented not only in the history of Osun state but also in the annals of the country generally.
That a state government would be as generous as to give out such a number of jobs to its youths within just three months of its existence has never happened in any state of the federation before. Not even the almighty federal government that controls the chunk of our natural resources has ever achieved this milestone. It takes focus, vision and creativity to be able to achieve this and this tells much about the creative power cum intellectual savvy of Ogbeni.
A practical step towards banishing poverty that is so pervasive across the land today is to create job, no doubt. The lack of jobs for the teeming population of our youths is responsible for the high increase in crimes and social vices that are prevalent amongst them
with attendant dire consequences for our society. An idle hand is the devil's workshop as the saying goes. Creation of employment opportunities for the youths therefore becomes imperative and necessary condition towards curbing criminal activities amongst the youths. When the youths are engaged, little or no time will they have to engage in negative activities but a non-engaged hand is easily prone to committing crimes.
In Osun state today, people are seeing the difference between a government that is committed to addressing the plight of the people and the slothful, non-creative and do-nothing one as exemplified by the Oyinlola-led illegitimate government. Of course the wall that demarcates the territory of vision and creativity and that of visionlessness and indolence is just too high – high and solid. How on earth can we compare a focused, efficient leadership with a visionless and inept one? They are not just comparable. This is why Aregbesola's administration has made a mark within just a year while the Oyinlola administration proved to be an abysmal failure for a whole seven and a half years. Surely, the era of inefficiency and inept leadership had gone with Oyinlola and his team of interlopers – never to resurface again in the state of the Virtuous.
The World Bank team has given its words to assist the state government in the area of youth empowerment. It is good news to hear that Osun will benefit from N50 billion World Bank/Federal Government Youth Empowerment fund. We hope this will not prove to be an unfulfilled promise. While we urge the WB not to renege on this promise to assist the state in this regard, we like to call on the state government too not to rest on its oars in its voyage to lead the state to the promise Land.
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It's well!
Osun Defender