Aregbesola’s Performance: Osun People Will Return APC To Power In 2018 – OTAN By Inwalomhe Donald
Aregbesola is the best governor Osun state has so far had according to President, Occupational Therapists Association of Nigeria- OTAN, Victoria Amu. Amu has scored Governor Rauf Aregbesola very high by using the six-cardinal programme of his administration. Amu is not the one that give in to sycophancy, but she can tell that in all of these six cardinal programmes and more, Aregbesola has done very well and, by the time he is stepping down in November 2018, you will see even more. In education, in health, in housing, in agriculture, in infrastructure, among others, Aregbesola has done very well. Amu is not saying Aregbesola has achieved the same level of success in all of them but Aregbesola has touched all of them.
Given the resources that Aregbesola met on ground, he has done very well. Let me tell you the problem, if you spend N200million on infrastructure, you will see 90% on ground. If you spend the same N200million on health, you probably may not see more than 50% because more of the investments go into emoluments. Same for education; in fact, Aregbesola has spent more money on education than on infrastructure but one is showing because the other is an invisible social service. Look at health, when he came in 2010, the entire work force in the sector was about 1,500.
In the first year alone, he added more jobs in the sector and he has been adding in batches, all of them will be paid.
Victoria Amu, President, Occupational Therapists Association of Nigeria- OTAN, expressed confidence that APC will win Osun 2018 election. Osun is not a bad state. Just as the state did in 2011, 2014 and 2015 elections, God will use the good people of Osun to strengthen the party, the APC, into office in Abuja, the state and indeed many more states in 2018 and 2019. Aregbesola has done well; he has taken the state to new heights. Osun people are very reasonable, Osun people are very aware; they know the difference between pretenders, and those who will genuinely work for their welfare. They know APC is pro-people; they are not thieves. The only offence people say Aregbesola or his government has committed is that he has not allowed people to steal like they used to.
According to Amu, when Aregbesola came in and things moved fast, I was happy. When things dwindled, my criticisms set in. However, being on ground here has made me realize that Aregbesola is the BEST Governor Osun State has so far had. And yes, he beat Bisi Akande
On the tour of Osun State, President and some members, Occupational Therapists Association of Nigeria- OTAN, Inwalomhe Donald and others were at Isoya, a rural area is Ife South LGA, and travelled deep as far as 200 kilometers, to see that the government has, through RAMP, started the construction of what I believe to be a 214-kilometer road cutting across Araromi and others. Along that over 200 kilometers of road, we found a primary school. Because of the stretching distance, the government provided them a special school bus to take the students to and from school, especially because the road is still dusty, undergoing construction
Thou the opposition party (PDP) claimed that no single road has been constructed in Odeomu since the inception of Ogbeni Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola administration till date of which series of roads has been constructed,starting from ODEOMU to ipetumodu road,round face road in Odeomu,oke ago road and other roads to mention few
Lest I forget, when we stopped at Isoya, we spoke to this woman. She told me they used to take their farm products to the roadside to sell because they couldn’t be accessed. Now, with the road construction commenced, it’s helped their businesses. The government divided this rural zone into eight compartments. They gave each this tricycle. This is to help the farmers move their products to and fro the roads at a charge of N50, the woman said. As we travelled deep, we saw the many others.
Although a lot of people didn’t see why we travelled this far, but the state wanted us to see that even the deepest rural areas weren’t left behind in the plans. On our first day, we visited some poultry farmers who talked to us extensively about the loan program the government has in place in for them. Over 700 farmers have so far benefited from it. It is currently ongoing, too.
The basic requirement to get the loan is have a well functioning pen and apply. The government will send representatives to inspect and ensure it meets the required standard before the loan is granted. Now, loans aren’t given in cash to the farmers. They get 2000 birds per pen (if they have more than one, they get 2000 birds for each). They are also given vaccines, feeds, veterinary doctor and two farm assistants. The government pays the doctor and farm assistants.
OTAN saw a farmer who has 6 pens, if I remember correctly. When asked how they make money, the farmers said income depends on how well they cater for the birds. OTAN team saw a farmer who has 6 pens, if I remember correctly. When asked how they make money, the farmers said income depends on how well they cater for the birds. When it’s time for sales of the birds, the government sends reps to weigh them, and record the total weight. The government sends buyers. The money goes to the government, which then deducts N2m from the money and gives the rest to the farmers. They said it takes 6 weeks to raise the birds, and they make at least N350,000 every 6 weeks, per pen! One of them showed us slips
Aregbesola’s government also built 22 primary schools like this. In some cases, the existing structures were demolished and new ones built; in others, they just started afresh. Each school has 800 students.
The government sends buyers. The money goes to the government, which then deducts N2m from the money and gives the rest to the farmers. They said it takes 6 weeks to raise the birds, and they make at least N350,000 every 6 weeks, per pen! One of them showed us slips.
We didn’t go to Middle Schools, which I learned there are 15 of them, but we went to two high schools. The government built 11 of magnificent structures like this. Each has basketball court, 1500-capacity auditorium, 72 classrooms, WiFi, huge car parking lot. This is the second one we went to: Ilesha Government High School. The same specs as mentioned above. It’s interesting to note that each high school has 3000 students, 3 school buses to convey them to and from their homes at a charge of N20 only.
The students pay N1000 ONLY! This fee goes directly to the facility management companies managing the school. The students pay directly into their bank accounts. Each school has a different management company.
Now, we had a meeting with the Governor and had to ask him a lot of questions, to which he graciously answered all. Although one of those questions touched his emotions when said people alleged he’s imposing a guber candidate on the party.
I’ll however talk about the issue of salary, which is the most enraging of all things associated with Aregbesola. He said when he came into power, he checked the data to find that Osun workers make up for only 1% of the population of the state. The report by some groups in Osun is a clear attempt to malign Aregbesola and paint the state government as deliberately paying half salary. It is only a section of workers on grade level 13 and above that receives painfully 50 per cent of their salaries based on agreement between the government and the labour unions.
Outside that category of workers on grade level 13 and above, no other receives half of his or her salaries and the workers in this category are just about 20 per cent of the state’s workforce. Workers on levels 8-12 receive 75 per cent of their salaries while officers on levels 7 and below receive their full pay. Only 28 per cent of the state’s total workforce received modulated salary, and that the remaining 72 per cent of the workers have been earning their full salary and are not being owed any outstanding salaries.
Inwalomhe Donald writes from Osogbo, Osun State. He can be reached via [email protected]
