November 2010 will remain indelible in the hearts of the people of Osun State. After a fierce and titanic battle lasting three and half years, Ogbeni Rauf Aregebesola's got his stolen electoral mandate restored by the Court of Appealon Friday, November 26, 2010.
Whereas the civilian administration of Chief Bisi Akande who ruled the state between May 29, 1999 and May 29, 2003 laid the solid foundation for the state in the areas of infrastructure, rural integration and good road network, there came the years of the locust, the wasted years of the mandate usurper, the ill-prepared and pretentious leadership of the Olagunsoye Oyinlola-led PDP government.
One year down the line, except for implacable and mischievous critics and those who are won't to view development only in physical and material terms, the positive transformation going on in Osun State is visible for all to see. Instructively, while it is on record that Awo came into power in 1951, he did not start his laudable free education programme until 1955. Awo's legacy are of course not in the number of roads, housing estates he built, they are mainly in the area of human capital development through education and vocational training, which explains why the people of the South-West became a force to be reckoned with amongst the various sections of the country. Meticulous planning, painstaking diagnosis of problems and solutions are the hall mark of great leaders.
A year down the line, the Aregbesola administration has demonstrated that a working and viable Osun State is possible. He has sufficiently demonstrated that he has the vision and determination to uplift the standard of living of the Osun people through massive investments in education, agriculture, employment generation, poverty reduction and health care delivery. In his search for the appropriate development paradigm to cope with the state's development challenges, Aregbesola's rescue programme took into consideration the economic and social condition of the people to which development is to serve. The rescue agenda ensures that the state's development challenges undergoes painstaking diagnosis with clearly defined objectives.
Since visionary leadership is no doubt a crucial variable in formulating and implementing an enduring development agenda, the Aregbesola administration has assembled a formidable team to work towards the overall development of the state and also to assist in correcting the past perception by our people that we are to serve our leaders instead of our leaders serving us for our collective interests. It is a thing of joy, that for the first time in the history of Osun State, we elected a visionary leader, an astute administrator who understands the developmental needs of the state. A leader who has a thorough grasp of development logic, Aregbesola understands what it takes to achieve real and sustainable growth, a leader who is people oriented, who recognizes people as assets and involves them to change their lot. His unalloyed commitment to service is not only recognized by the people of Osun but also by Lagosians where he cut his political teeth and various individuals all over the federation who have benefited in one way or the other from his milk of human kindness.
Since he assumed office, Aregbesola has displayed a business-like approach to the issue of governance. He is never wavering in the cause of serving his people and the desire to bring about the expected transformation in the state. His love for moderation and his astute commitment to the peace and progress of his people has won him the admiration of not only Osun people, but that of the entire people of the South-west. His manifesto, which has now become the blue print of his administration titled "My Pact with the Good People of Osun State through my six point integral action plan", seeks to banish poverty, hunger, unemployment (create work/wealth), to restore healthy living, to promote functional education and enhance communal peace and progress" is instructive.
These are the basic needs of the people that any well-meaning government must give priority attention to, which will consequently endear them to it. To say Aregbesola has fulfilled his promise to run a people friendly government will be merely saying the obvious. His land mark achievements are already manifesting in some sectors and will soon be evident in every other sectors of the economy, most especially in the education, agriculture and the health sector. The record are to be found in the 20,000 jobs created through OYES which is second to none in this country. He also gave the state a new identity as opposed to what obtained before. He adopted a branding approach by declaring the birth of a new Osun State known as Ipinle Omoluabi. The state got a crest, a flag and an ideology. People now understand the reason for being the citizen of the state and which to contribute their own quota to the success of the state.
In the educational sector, the state organized an Education Summit tagged "Resolving Education crisis in Osun State to address the problems of the sector. Solutions to the problems of the education sector were proffered. Outrageous school fees being paid by the students of the state-owned tertiary institutions under the Oyinlola-led PDP were drastically reduced by the Aregbesola's administration. Establishment of vocational centres in all the nine federal constituencies in the state is another project that Aregbesola want to use to banish poverty in the state.
Children in primary schools across the state have been enjoying free lunch since the governor mounted the saddle. Education have been restructured in such away that the state will now have neighbourhood schools that will cater for pupils of primary one to three. The junior schools, which might not necessarily be neighbourhood will be for pupils in primary four to JSS 3 that would be called Grade 4 to Grade 9; while the high school will be for SS1 to SS3, that is Grade 10 to 13 where the students can go to any institution of their choice,
Using Awolowo's model of farm settlements, the Aregbesola administration is obviously persuaded that it is a veritable strategy to conquer poverty, create wealth and jobs. The governor has set up farm settlements in each of the 30 local government areas of the state. The state government has also released funds to farmers through the Nigerian Agricultural Cooperative and Rural Development Bank to revolutionize agriculture in the state. Commodity warehouses are to be constructed across the state as storage facilities for agricultural goods to be transported to Lagos. There is also a plan to establish both industrial and residential estates in the state. The commercial axis of the capital is to be redefined through Central Business District (CBD) development and management. There is also a plan by Aregbesola's government to attract about 20,000 tourists from the Diaspora to the annual Osun Osogbo festival from which it hopes to generate about N7.5 billion by the year 2015.
Channing Pollock (1880-1946) probably had PDP in mind when he described a critic as a legless man who teaches running. To discerning minds, there is basis to wonder about the moral tripod the Osun State Chapter of the PDP stands when it seeks to probe the affairs of Osun State.
In saner environments, the PDP hacks would be covering themselves with ashes, wearing sackcloth in penitence for their atrocities against the people of Osun. After all, the good people of Osun now have the basis to compare the two eras: the era of Aregbesola led A.C.N. when they are being empowered versus the PDP government's inglorious era under which the people were pauperized.
The difference, as they say, is clear.
Aminu is national coordinator, Oodua Youth For Good Governance
Osun Defender