Osun Receives Facelift 4 (TO BE CONTD)

[Defender]

WHEN in 2007, the incumbent Governor of Osun State, Ogbeni Rauf Adesoji  Aregbesola rolled out his election manifestos, contained in his Six-Point Integral Action Plan, most people found a greater part of his promises to the people of Osun State unbelievable, specially, those bordering on employment and job-creation. To pessimists, the aspects of the action plan which had to do with provision of employment for youths and teeming school-leavers were an abstraction which would only take a magician or some miracle worker to attain. Speficic reference to those portions touching on employment is here made:

"BANISH UNEMPLOYMENT (CREATE WORK AND WEALTH)

No Job Loss, more jobs

"Osun people are peaceful, dignified and hardworking people and desire gainful employment for their children and themselves. Rather than policies that will create employment and wealth for the people, the policies of the PDP government in place serve to enrich a few at the expense of the majority of our people. As part of our GOVERNMENT UNUSUAL programme, I Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola makes a pact with you the good people of Osun State; in the presence and by the grace of God Almighty that our government shall create immediate Employment for 20,000 people within our 100 days in office..."

Judging by what subsisted in the state in periods that predated 2007, the fears and pessimism of wider segments of the people were not quite unnecessary. The PDP-led administration of Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola which held sway over the state in those times also made endless lists of promises, most of which turned out to be moribund, comatose and unfulfilled. Excerpts from Oyinlola's Inaugural Address to the people of Osun State on Thursday May 29, 2003, tagged "Mission Statement" here recaptures such empty promises:

".... I wish to acknowledge your massive and impressive support for the People's Democratic Party as evidenced by your remarkable decision to embrace the PDP at all levels in the last polls. I thank you very much sincerely for your support, encouragement and the very warm disposition shown to the People's Democratic Party in Osun State. I enjoin you to join hands with our administration in our task of building a just and egalitarian society where our people will not be oppressed or denied their rights. We are poised to set new standards and bring back once again an era of peace and prosperity.

"It is most gratifying to note that for the first time in a long while, the people of our dear state have chosen to align the government at the centre. This development will undoubtedly impact positively on the physical and general development of Osun State. It is the policy of the PDP administration in the state to cooperate fully with the Federal Government in our avowed determination to improve the standard of living of the citizenry.

"I am of the strong conviction that with all of us working together and with God being with us, we shall place Osun State on the path of progress. I therefore solicit the support and cooperation of the good people of Osun State, particularly all the interest and pressure groups to enable our administration achieve its set goals and objectives. Kindly permit me to observe that Osun State, our dear state yearns for development.

"Events of the past clearly point to the fact that our state requires a vibrant leadership that is totally committed to the well being of the polity. I wish to assure you all that I have studied critically the various activities of government in Osun State and have arrived at the conclusion that the task ahead is enormous but achievable.

"My fellow citizens, the immediate major thrust of our policies for the priority will be security, Water Resources, Transportation, Agriculture and Provision of an Enabling Environment for the socio-economic development of Osun State.

"In the weeks months ahead, specific details of our administration will unfold as we settle down more and understand better the position of records put together by the immediate past administration in the state."

We can go on and on. Unfortunately, that administration proved itself bedeviled in the final analysis. As a matter of fact, the Oyinlola administration had no business being there; as it left pressing issues of life-touching significance untouched throughout its time in office. Many of its programmes and projects in the line of employment generation and improvement of people's standard of living, which turned out to be drainage pipes through which enormous proportions of our resources were siphoned and diverted shall be accorded attention in appropriate segments of this report.

Today, it is gratifying indeed to realise that another administration that is better-focused, much well-envisioned and service-oriented is in place in Osun State. The unemployment menace which had proven intractable to a previous administration that was focusless in more than seven years has now received lasting solution by the Aregbesola administration in a mater of 100 days in office. Rather than engaging in a search or study of situation that is visible and committing enormous resources to a venture which constitutes a mirage, Aregbesola has forged ahead pungently, in this earliest part of his administration to tackle unemployment problems head-on. This remarkable feat is unprecedented in the annals of governance in this part of the world.

OSUN DEFENDER Magazine wishes to mention in passing that since November 27, 2010 when the present administration assumed the mantle of leadership in our state up till the kick-off time of the Osun State Youth Empowerment Scheme (OYES), friends and acquaintances never stopped pestering us over the 100-day ultimatum set for the immediate employment of 20,000 youths as promised by Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola.

In life, any event, activity or programme that is time-bound attracts solemn observation by critics. In most cases, people feign ignorance as they conduct time-counting assessment of events-expecting failure on the part of the object of observation. When a student goes to school, a large proportion of observers who we may likely mistake not to take any interest, watch and wait for the outcome of the student's career. As a matter of fact, these subtle observers count time in years and wait for the success or otherwise of students.

Having successfully scaled through rigorous years of academic pursuits, these sets of observers never give up to count time and watch when the school-leaver would record a meaningful breakthrough by taking up his rightful place in the world of works and the entire society. This is the same climate that subsists in our society concerning governance.

Whether it was known to him or not, people followed Oyinlola's administration with keen, often uneasy interest. In the long last, the entire years of that administration ended up in a farce. It is not unexpected therefore that actors, admirers, loyalists and die-hard supporters of that kind of failure called administration would anticipate  nothing short of show-down for another administration.

The good part today is that by turning out 20,000 young cadets into the society as vibrant change agents within 100 days in office, Governor Rauf Aregbesola has set the stage for the dramatic transformation of our state into a free, truly democratic and egalitarian economy. Detractors of the administration and of the individual fortunate youths are kept confounded; reeling squalidly under the effects of the ensuing glad disappointment thereby. The many more days of surprise and confounding realities prophesied to be laying in wait earlier in the year by OSUN DEFENDER Magazine are here. The young cadets of the Osun State Youth Empowerment Scheme (OYES) have begun to dispense auspicious role in the ongoing Environment Emergency in the state.

TO BE CONTINUED

Osun Defender