- Kazeem Badmus
Osun Youth Empowerment Scheme, popularly called O’YES, was introduced by former governor Rauf Aregbesola immediately after he resumed office as the 4th executive governor of Osun State and officially launched on his 100th day in office, in fulfilment of one of the cardinal points of his manifesto.
The scheme whose slogan was culled from the popular rhyme “Apa lara igupa ni iye kan [families are like the arm, while the extended family are like the elbow].
“B’aye ba nfe e lonii (If the whole world loves you today), Ti o ba lowo lowo, won a tun fe o lola [If you are still rich, they will love you tomorrow as well]
Abi ko wa nipo atata [If you are in an esteemed position] Aiye a ye o si terin terin [You will be honoured with “fake”laughter].
Je ki o deni ti ra ngo [If you unfortunately lose your money or position]
Ko ri bi won ti nyin mu si o [They’ll turn their back on you]
Iya mbe fomo ti ko gbon [There is suffering for the foolish child]
Ekun mbe fomo ti nsare kiri [and there is sorrow for the child that have no plan or vision].
Mafowuro sere ore mi [Don’t waste your formative years, my friend]
Mura sise ojo nlo. [work hard and plan well now, because time waits for no one]” transformed the job landscape of the state.
Aregbesola who became the governor on the 26th of November, 2010, in fulfilment of a manifesto promise earlier made to the people of the state launched the Osun Youth Empowerment Scheme, a revolving 2-year volunteers scheme on December 17, 2010, less than 100 days as governor.
His commitment to liberating the youth led to the engagement of 20,000 youths all at once, a manner unprecedented in Africa’s history.
The empowerment scheme, apart from being a deliberate programme designed to energize the State’s comatose economy; is also a radical and innovative approach to tackling unemployment, youth restiveness, and potential criminal tendencies.
One of the qualities of a visionary leader is to ensure the vision becomes reality by stating clear goals, outlining a strategic plan for achieving those goals and equipping and empowering each member to take action on the plan at the organizational, team and individual levels.
Aregbesola had the vision to empower 80,000 youths in eight years and, as a leader, laid out the strategic plans on how to achieve the goals.
The first batch of 20,000 volunteers were divided into different specialised cadres such as: Public sanitation, Public Works Brigade, Green Gang, Osun Sheriff Corps, Traffic Marshalls, Osun Paramedics, Sanitation Czars and Teachers Corps and were thereafter deployed to productive services in these identified areas of our socio-economic life.
The success of the first batch led to the second, which was a fill-up as only 2,000 persons were taken in.
20,000 were admitted for the third batch, while the same number was admitted in September 2018 before the exit of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola in office.
Another trait of a good leader is non-discrimination against people. Aregbesola, while establishing the scheme, did not discriminate against those who will be the beneficiaries.
Irrespective of where you are from, the scheme absorbed anyone who is a youth, residing in the state, and qualified.
Thousands of non-Osun indigenes benefited from the programme, with many now doing well in their area of work.
The scheme was a success in that the World Bank and the Federal Government of Nigeria adopted OYES templates as YESSO and N-POWER, respectively.
Speaking with OSUN DEFENDER, the former Commandant of the scheme, Colonel Enibukun Oyewole (rtd), said, “These people were trained and re-trained on the needed skills to perform on their jobs. Some of the cadets were sent to Germany for agricultural training, some went to India and Pakistan for ICT and Info Geometric, and some to Ghana for ICT, among others.
“Many are now employed in Adulawo Technology Village in Ilesa. Many went to Abuja for renewable energy training, and there are comparative studies to Rwanda, Kenya, and on and on. You will also find our cadets in many of our universities and higher institutions of learning. All these are geared towards making them a robust human being so that after the two years, they can stand on their own.”
One of the beneficiaries of the scheme, Oseni Ibrahim told the medium that the Information Communication Technology (ICT) training he had during the scheme shaped his life.
Ibrahim, a native of Oyo state, said the skills acquired during the training are what he was feeding on, appreciating Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola for giving the youths a bright future.
No Recruitment Under Successor
After the exit of Aregbesola, the scheme witnessed a graveyard silence in its activities as his successor, Mr. Gboyega Oyetola didn’t recruit until after he lost his re-election bid on July 16, 2022.
The Commissioner for Youth under Oyetola, Mr. Yemi Lawal while giving reasons as to why the scheme did not recruit in 2020 said, “The last batch of O’YES recruitment was done in 2018 and was supposed to terminate in 2020, but due to the pandemic that ravaged the entire world in 2020, we couldn’t do anything that required gathering of people.”
Oyetola, after losing the election, started the process of recruiting a new batch of cadets, a development that generated condemnation from members of the public.
Adeleke Disbands O’YES
The incumbent governor of the state,
Ademola Adeleke, having won under the umbrella of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on February 16, 2023, cancelled the empowerment scheme and pledged to replace it with Imole Youth Corps.
However, seven months later, the state government is yet to kick off the new scheme with youths in the state calling for its introduction.
Conclusion
Aregbesola empowered 62,000 youths in Osun State and OYES remains the biggest Grassroots Youth Empowerment Initiative in Nigeria and Sub-Saharan Africa.
The scheme has been commended by the World Bank as an admirable model for incorporating the Work Component into Western Social Security System.
Till date, no state has surpassed the record.
