REVELRY as Osun roars back to life
After a lull in activities as a result of paucity of funds crisis that engulfed the state, Osun is gradually regaining the tempo. Assistant Editor ADEKUNLE YUSUF, who spent a week in the state, reports that the pace of construction works in Osun is still surprisingly frenetic
It was a brashly sunny afternoon Friday April 9, and the parking lot of a busy rendezvous in Osogbo, Osun State capital, was beginning to fill. Inside, in a splendidly decorated ambience, a middle-aged woman was racing against time, hurrying to place the menu list and other items on all the available tables. Gradually, people filtered in in twos and threes throwing loud banter. And with hilarious exchange of pleasantries over, it was time for binge eating a feast of great-tasting meals for a small coterie of friends.
However, midway into the sumptuous meals, a melodrama erupted. One of the ecstatic fun seekers, a light-complexioned man in blue agabada, inadvertently stirred the hornet’s nest. Governor Rauf “Aregbesola’s style is not good for Osun State,” he lamented openly, perhaps cavalierly as he was emptying a bowl of hot pounded yam. But he had hardly paused when he was shouted down by his friends, who swooped on him like hungry lions cornering a hapless game in the jungle. Without allowing him the benefit of elaborating on his point, his friends took turns to vent their spleen on their ‘opponent.’ One of them asked rather derisively: “Is it the roads or schools that you hate or what?” Before the ‘offending’ friend could answer the question, another livid man at the rear fired another salvo: “Apart from non-payment of salaries, which is not limited to Osun, tell us what the issue is?”
In the ensuing shouting match, reason prevailed eventually, as a melee was quickly averted before it degenerated into fisticuffs. But if the verbal brawl had left a puzzle unresolved, series of events in the following day, albeit unrelated ones, provided an adequate answer. Shortly after a heavy rain that brought relief to the populace on April 10, Governor Aregbesola, in deference to the request of a team of visitors who was in the state to assess the level of developments, embarked on a tour of his signature projects in Osogbo and its environs. By 5:30pm., the governor and his guests, including this reporter who was in the state at the time, drove out in a white coaster bus with minimum security backing no blaring of siren or other usual appurtenances of Nigeria’s men of power.
Beginning from the Government House in Okefia, the convoy was mobbed with shouts of joy and appreciation from residents. By the time the convoy first pulled to a stop at a fresh accident scene on Osogbo link road, the purpose was to show compassion and, if necessary, render requisite assistance to the victims. But hardly had the team alighted from the bus when the sympathisers became lighted up like a fuse, oscillating between volunteer caregivers and cheer leaders. Although the victims were said to have been taken to the nearest hospital, volunteer rescue workers who were busy separating the two cars that rammed into each other suddenly abandoned their work, chanting “Aregbe, Aregbe, Aregbe,” as the locals fondly call their governor. “Have you called the emergency? Any casualties?” the briskly governor inquired from the sympathetic crowd, who kept on hailing him instead of answering his questions.
Satisfied that the situation was under control, the convoy left the scene to see a new township road that had just been completed a few days back in the capital. And as the team made a detour at the rear end after inspecting the newly constructed road, some eagle-eyed residents had sighted the governor, with many of them quickly abandoning their chores to show love by waving their hands.
Suddenly, the chorus of “symbol, symbol, symbol,” rent the air. Perhaps to outdo others, a woman, sandwiched by her two children, strutted out of her shop, shouting on top of her voice in a manner that drew the amazement of everyone in the bus. “Governor, I want to entertain you. Governor, I want to entertain you,” she screamed and screamed as she displayed two plastic bottles of water and Coca Cola in the air. Apparently moved by the effusion of love towards the governor, one of the guests sitting next to him in the bus requested to know why the residents call him symbol.“Here in Osun, the people see me as the symbol of good governance and all that proper leadership entails,” Aregbesola explained.
After the convoy navigated its way out of the surging crowd, the team also passed through the Osogbo east bypass dual carriageway, named after the late Ooni of Ife, Oba Adesoji Aderemi. Designed to complement the Gbongan-Akoda dual carriageway (also under construction by the time of this visit) to reduce traffic congestion in the state capital, Oba Adesoji Aderemi road, which starts from Iwo-Osogbo roundabout and passes through Ofatedo, Ataoja Grammar School and Ilesa before terminating at the roundabout along Osogbo-Ikirun road, links the state capital to all neighbouring towns. An elated Aregbesola told his visitors that by the time the road is completed, commuters who have no business in Osogbo can access the capital without having a taste of traffic snarl in the belly of the fast growing city.
At the next port of call, an airport project under construction in Ido Osun, the governor took his guests on a nerve-wrecking exercise for about an hour. Specifically, Aregbesola took his visitors round the runway, a distance of about 3.5 kilometers with a view to debunking insinuations that the airport has become a white elephant project. While explaining the extent of work done on the project, he acknowledged that the pace of work had slowed down because of paucity of fund but assured that he would leave no stone unturned in actualising its completion. According to him, the MKO Abiola International Airport will serve human and cargo transportation. To benefit the state economy, the airport is primed to be an aircraft maintenance hub, not only for Nigeria but the entire continent. With only three aircraft maintenance hangers in Africa, the governor said making the airport attract business and boost the state economy is one of his priorities, adding that a situation where global package delivery and logistics firms, which make the bulk of their revenues in Nigeria but operate cargo terminals in less populous countries is unacceptable.
For the runway to reach its present state, 12.3 metres excavation and re-filling with laterite had been done, only requiring 500 mm asphalt overlay and construction of terminals and other equipment to make the airport ready for use. The governor added that both sides of the runway are equipped ab initio with water pipes, which will be the first of its kind in Nigeria a feature that will make the airport equipped with fire-fighting facilities readily available near the runway in case of any emergency landing or fire outbreaks. Beaming fulfillment, Aregbesola, an engineer himself, admitted that though the runway is yet to be completed, aircraft can land on it in its present state in case of an emergency. He acknowledged that he inherited the project from his predecessor, but has decided to make it see the light of the day because of the enormous economic benefits it will add to the state.
Education without tears
A chat with Mrs. Bamidele Kareem easily revealed her infectious joy. In her ramshackle house in Ada, Boripe local government area, she said her heart is full of gratitude, for she did not regret her decision to withdraw her wards from a private school where she was paying through her nose to keep her three children in school since the demise of the family’s breadwinner nine years ago. According to her, what gave her the courage to withdraw her wards from private schools is the revolution being witnessed in the public schools in the state. Although she acknowledged that her finances had almost dried off since her husband’s death, making it difficult to foot the exorbitant school fees bills charged by private school proprietors, she said she would have trudged on, as was her wont. “It’s like a personal favour for me. Payment of school fees is a burden I no longer worry my head about. Now with Aregebesola’s intervention, many public schools are far better than private schools. That’s why I will continue to pray for this man (Governor Aregbesola) to succeed in the education sector because what he is doing is unprecedented in this state,” Mrs. Kareem said.
Truth be told, education sector in the state was appalling until Aregbesola was sworn in as governor on November 27, 2010, said Alhaji Fatai Kolawole, Permanent Secretary (PS), State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Osun State. The all-important sector was signposted by decadent infrastructure, spewing low morale on the part of the workforce and poor performance of students in both internal and external examinations, the PS added. To demonstrate its seriousness, three months after inauguration, the state government convened an education summit in February 2011 under the chairmanship of Professor Wole Soyinka, Africa’s first Nobel Laureate, which produced a blueprint that is bringing about a revolution that is gladdening the heart of people like Mrs. Kareem.
To reposition the sector, as Kolawole explained to The Nation, Aregbesola embarked on a radical and comprehensive reworking of the structure and rebuilding of the entire education infrastructure in the state, starting from the reclassification policy. Boasting with aplomb, the PS said the reclassification of primary and secondary schools in Osun, touted as the first of its kind in the country, is done following global best practices and trends to benefit products of the system. Although the opposition initially mounted brick walls to thwart the coming on stream of the initiative, the reclassification intervention, which thrives on grade system, has been implemented without deviating from the 6-3-3-4 national policy on education or necessarily causing changes in the school curriculum. This is followed with an ambitious school infrastructural renewal in all the nooks and crannies of the state, with the government constructing state-of-the-art school buildings replete with modern facilities that now make not a few proprietors of private schools in the state green with envy. Kolawole, who took The Nation round many of the newly constructed structures, is confident that the conducive environment for teaching and learning is a boon that will make the state the envy of other states in the country.
With the commissioning of the Wole Soyinka High in Ejigbo, Ejigbo local government area, on Monday November 23, 2015, a new phase has since been opened in the annals of public education in Osun State. The school, a magnificent three-in-one edifice that serves as a model for all high schools in the state, has capacity for 3,000 students. In other words, each of all the high schools in the state is designed to sit 3,000 pupils, amidst facilities and environment that compare with the best anywhere. Each high school built by the administration of Aregbesola has modern facilities, including a borehole, a transformer, 72 classrooms of 49 square meters (each capable of sitting 49 students), six offices for study groups, six laboratories, 18 toilets for ladies, 18 toilets for men, one science library, one arts library, one facility manager’s office, one sick bay, four principal’s office, one bursar’s office, three general offices, one senior principal’s office, one record store, and one security shed/reception. Built with a total of 1000square-meters of floor space hall that is capable of sitting 1000 students for external exams or any other purposes, each high school is furnished with an Olympic-sized football field, seven-lane sprinting tracks for 100meters and 400meters, a pavilion, an outdoor basketball court that doubles as a lawn tennis court, plus an ample parking space for more than 75 cars.
That is not all. In the lower categories, that is elementary and middle schools, Aregbesola has commissioned hundreds of mega schools across the state. By the time The Nation went round the three senatorial districts of the state, hundreds of these magnificent structures are still under construction across the length and breadth of the state, including rehabilitation and refurbishing of existing facilities in some schools. Unlike the high schools, each elementary and middle school has a capacity for 1000 students, comprising 25 classrooms, two head teachers/principal’s offices, two staff rooms, one facility manager, one multipurpose hall, one food court, one library, one sick bay, 12 toilets for pupils, 12 toilets for teachers, one security house, among other amenities. Above all, this is matched with a novel school feeding programme in all its 1,388 elementary schools in the state, kitting high school students with opon imo (tablet of knowledge) and training and retraining of teaching personnel, numbering over 22,000. With all this, Kolawole predicted that “Osun will be a reference point in this country in terms of producing world-class, educated minds who are not only properly groomed to impact society but can hold their own anywhere in the world.”
‘Unprecedented strides in roads construction’
In Osun and beyond, Amitolu Shittu is a long-standing activist of repute that is acknowledged as an unrepentant critic of all previous administrations in the 25-year old state military and civilian. Now, in a twist that is widely considered as unusual, Shittu, 52, has morphed into a big fan of the sitting government in Osun. On a regular basis, his social media walls are always awash with information on latest achievements of the state government, including pictures of completed and ongoing road construction works, drawing both applause and condemnations almost in equal measure in the process.
But Shittu said he owes anyone no apology for “doing what is right.” He added that it is passionate belief that “supporting a good government in order to do more” is activism by other means. Like every member of over 50,000-strong the DeRaufs, a volunteer organisation he floated for promoting the ideals of Aregbesola, the veteran activist said he is “irrevocably committed to promoting good governance” by highlighting the achievements of the state government. “The late Gani Fawehinmi (his mentor in activism) taught me not to keep quiet when a bad government is in place. He also taught me not to keep quiet when a good government is in place. Aregbesola has built more roads and schools than any state government in the South-West. Because I live here, I have seen all the previous governments since the creation of this state. His strides in road construction are unprecedented, with over 1,000 kilometers of roads built to completion already. I stand to be corrected. I repeat, in every sector that touches human existence and development, no government has done one quarter of what this man (Aregbesola) has done. I challenge anyone to come to Osun so that I can take them around the state,” Shittu told The Nation.
Even if not everyone agrees with his method, it is hard to fault Shittu, for he is merely celebrating and drawing attention to the obvious. According to Ola Ibrahim, a banker in Osogbo, even the blind can attest to “Aregbesola’s phenomenal achievements in urban and rural roads construction and reconstruction.”Although there was a lull in activities when financial crisis engulfed the state recently, construction has resumed in all previously abandoned sites. Some of the projects that were badly affected are gigantic works involving inter-city roads, but contractors are busy working to deliver the projects. That explains why residents are often pleaded with to bear with the state government due to incessant traffic diversion inconveniences, as caterpillar and other heavy machines are now constantly at work on several road sites that are being repaired or reconstructed. According to Nurudeen Adeagbo, PS, Ministry of Works, Osun State, the contractors returned to sites throughout the state because of their faith in the leadership of the state, adding that they have an abiding commitment to complete the projects before Aregbesola leaves office.
Not only has the old Olaiya junction in Osogbo worn a brand new, the church and several residential buildings around the roundabout have been recently demolished to give way to a more betting urban landscaping. Also worthy of mention is the ongoing rehabilitation of the road from Olaiya to Jaleyemi to Ita Olokan junction in Osogbo. In fact, as at last month, record shows that the Aregbesola administration has completed the construction of the following roads in Osogbo alone: Station road Fagbesa Odi Olowo junction road (0.61km), Boorepo-Abaku-Eleede junction road (0.47km), Elelede junction Oluode Market Gbemu road (1km), Gbodofon-Jaleyemi-Gbemu junction IsaleAro road (1.79km), Ilobu road Adesina Crescent GRA road (1.35km), Oja Oba Osun Groove Gate with extension at Plantain area (1.02km), BalogunBiiro/OkeBaale road (0.85km), Alaafia Street Church Street by Awolowo Way (0.79km). others are Coca Cola Alekuwodo Capital Hotel road (2.33km), Oke Onitea road Anaye Market junction ( 0.42km), Anaye Market BisiBankole Alaafia Street (0.87km), Kola Balogun road junction FiawasayeOlohunosebi road junction (0.83km), Opposite Capital Hotel/Wonderful road Tinumola Orokiroad (1.21km), Tanisi Olorunosebi Keji Adigun road (1.8km), Odetoyinbo Dupe Aina Heritage Hotel road (3.28km), Adams Street Mercy Land road (0.67km), Osunbukola/Mercy Land Ajani Street Prime Petrol Station (0.98km), John Mackay Gbeja road (0.96km), Okefia Alekuwodo Olaiya (1km), Olaiya Jaleyemi ItaOlokan road (2.83km), Oroki Estate Ilobu road (0.85km), Steel Rolling Camp Kabelo Filling Station (1.015km). In all, except Olaiya Jaleyemi ItaOlokan road, which is currently undergoing reconstruction, it means nothing less than 26 kilometers of roads had been completed and commissioned for public use in Osogbo alone, costing the taxpayers N4.095 billion.
Another place that ranks high in the priority radar of Aregbesola’s administration is Ilesa, where a total of about 30 kilometers of roads have been completed. And with the exception of Ita Balogun Wesley Hospital School of Health Technology Ilesa/Akure Express road (4.4 km) that is currently undergoing reconstruction, all the following roads in Ilesa had been completed. They are Old Omeiran road (1.150km), Ibala Community Primary School OkeOmiru Oke Kunrin Osogbo road junction (1.060km), Tosho Obembe General Hospital (1.850km), Kayanfanda Street (1.600km), OkeOpo Community/GRA Iyemogun/Ilesa East (1.750km), Isokun/Osogbo road George Burton (1.050km), Lekoja Fadahunsi Avenue/Old Ife Ilesa road GRA ((1.540km), Isokun/Osogbo road – DIG Fagbola ((1.050km).
Other completed roads in Ilesa are: Lekoja Abiola Imo Junction Omo Olupe Street (2.680km), Idooko Junction Sawmill Alfa Olowogbowo (2.500km), Irojo Sabo Junction Agboworin Crescent Bolorunduro Amuta Junction (2.220km), Adebisi Aromolaran Street OkeAnu (2.319km), Ilerin Leventis Farms Prince Adeyinka Street Stadium Obokun (3.440km), including repairs of Inner Ring road, Old Ife road, Bolorunduro segment, Moroko segment, and Yemogun segment. All these gulped N3.885 billion, a development which perhaps excited Sunkanmi Ogungbamila, a trader in Ilesa, to say “the man (Aregbesola) will forever be appreciated even by generations not yet born for changing the face of our town.”
The long list above does not include a litany of ongoing intercity roads (federal constituency) in the state, 294 kilometers in all, and intra-city (federal constituency) roads, 80 kilometers in all. In the last five years, Aregbesola has also completed 21 kilometers of roads in Ede, including hundreds of kilometers in Ile Ife, Ikirun, Iwo, Ejigbo, Iragbiji, among other major towns.
Opening up rural access, electrification projects
Although Aregbesola has recorded giant strides in urban renewal interventions, these are not limited to the state capital and major towns alone. Ask Oba Muhammad Quasim Adekunle, Olowu of Owu-Ile, Ejigbo LGA, many rural communities and villages that never expected the presence of government in the localities will forever be grateful for the sitting government has done. “Hundreds of villages without roads or electricity now have good roads and electricity. These are places that never thought they would have these things in hundred years to come, but Aregbesola has done it,” the Oba said.
One of such roads dear to the heart of the royal father is the one linking his own domain, a border town, to neighbouring communities within Osun and Oyo states. According to Oba Muhammad, this is a road that has never been tarred in the history of the settlement, making it unmotorable. Yet that is the only route through which people can access the town that also leads to Oyo and Kwara states. To this end, Lere Oriolowo, PS, Ministry of Water Resources, Rural Development and Community Affairs, Osun State, said deepening rural access through opening up of villages and rural communities is a deliberate policy of Aregbesola’s administration. This, the PS added, is the governor’s way of touching the lives of rural dwellers positively, for the state government believes that grassroots empowerment can engender economic vibrancy and social revolution.
This initiative, which has brought tremendous joy to the once-neglected settlements, is manifested beyond rural roads. Communities such as Ijabe, Ekosin, Isale Awesin, Ifesowapo, Ijimo, Araromi, Adejumo, Ayelaka, Garage Olode, Agunbelewo, Owode, Temidire, Agbajowo, among several others, can now live meaningful lives, having benefited from the massive electrification projects of the state government.
As Osun becomes hub of cocoa production
To any unobservant passerby or first-time visitor, the newly-painted edifice in Ede may easily pass for just any other gigantic structure. But after a more than cursory look, especially after being welcomed by the humming of electrical and mechanical machines, it is easily discernible that the sparkling edifice has just resumed its former status as home to the production of quality cocoa powder and cakes. Thanks to the efforts of Governor Aregbesola, the once moribund Osun Cocoa Production Industry has been revived, now back fully into production after years of abandonment.
Expectedly, the news of the resuscitation of the cocoa products company has elicited euphoric feelings among farmers and non-farmers alike. Not a few expect to benefit from jobs and other opportunities the revamping of the factory can bring about, including revenue generate for the state. During a facility tour of the newly resuscitated industry, an elated Aregbesola boasted that, with the resuscitation of the dilapidated factory, Osun will soon become the hub of cocoa production in the country. This, by no means, will be a sweet music to the ears of cocoa farmers, merchants and consumers in the country. Done in partnership between the state and two Chinese firms, Golden Monkey of China and Skyron Cocoa Production Industry, the deal is 70-30 equity, coming after 15 years of inactivity in the factory. The governor, who also spoke on cassava production and processing activities in Osun, said his state is now the largest producer of cassava in the country, adding that his administration is always ready to provide an enabling environment for all investors.
While noting that the cocoa production plant will go a long way to support the state’s agricultural plan and efforts at developing cocoa farming in the state, Aregbesola said the new production strength of the industry is a thing of joy because the company currently produces 20,000 metric tons compared to 5,000 tons capacity in 2001 when it closed down. For this, the governor commended the partners for their commitment to the terms of the agreement by hitting the ground running with a factory with a capacity that is four times higher than what the maximum capacity of the industry before it became moribund. “From my projection, I want them to increase the strength of their production by consistently taking their production from liquid to powder and cake. With this production, the name of our state will be on the map of the world as a centre of excellence in the processing of cocoa and other products. Though the maximum capacity of this plant when it was operated last in 2001 was 5,000 tons but now, it is producing 20,000 tons. We praise those who have made it possible, especially for putting in their best to make it a reality. We are highly optimistic that this centre will support our agricultural efforts and economic drive to empower our cocoa farmers and merchants,” Aregbesola enthused.
Speaking in the same vein, Song Lin, Assistant General Manager of Skyron Cocoa Production Industry, said the management had increased and multiplied the production capacity four times than what they met before the agreement. She revealed that the company is presently producing cocoa liquid, adding that the company would soon be producing both cocoa powder and cake. Song also affirmed that as soon as the company installs more facilities, the company would definitely jerk up its production capacity. “Our cocoa liquid production at present is now 20, 000 metric tons as against 5,000 capacity the industry generated before. Our future plan after finishing our installation is to ensure that we increase the production capacity. Though we are only producing cocoa liquid now, but we are aiming to enhance our production to cocoa powder and cocoa cake so as to make up the complete production of this industry as this is the major production around the world,” she said.
Speaking on the modality of government and the Chinese investors, the Chairman Board of Directors, Skyrun Cocoa Production Industry, Chief Adewale Adeeyo, said the state has invested a lot of energy to make the project a reality. With the resuscitation of the company, Adeeyo said, the business of cocoa produce buyers and farmers has been positively rejuvenated, enthusing that cocoa suppliers have been coming regularly to the industry to do business. Like Aregbesola, Adeeyo predicted that the coming on board of the long-abandoned factory will engender robust economic activities that can turn the economy of the state around for the good of all. “We have done environmental impact on these facilities, which has attracted investors for better productivity. We are working round the clock to ensure that this state, through our company, will soon be the hub of cocoa exportation in the world just as the company has been exporting cocoa to China and Europe presently. We are also setting in motion means that will ensure that Skyrun Cocoa Production Industry will channel energy to ensure that it extends its capacity beyond the present state in not too long a period,” Adeeyo said.