The Ruins of Osun State Capital Before Aregbesola

By Nofisat Adeoye

August 2014, I landed in Osogbo, Osun State after several years in Lagos State. Everything looked same until I got to Olaiya, the popular junction in Osogbo which is the State Capital. I looked around and asked the driver; Where have you brought me to?

Looking at my confused face and probably getting that this is someone who had not been in Osogbo in a long time, he said smiling; We are in Olaiya now, the last bus stop, seems you have not been in Osogbo in a long time, this is the new Osogbo o.”

Truly, this is the new Osogbo. This is the news I have been hearing, the changed Capital, changed by the Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola led Administration.

I alighted from the bus and looked around, savouring the new scent and change, the new atmosphere, the new Osogbo. It was really a beauty to behold.

I remember the once rowdy Olaiya Junction, the filling station, the market, the saw mill, the slum. Everything gone except a well packaged market and now where that filling station, that saw mill, that slum once were, now stood the recreational center named “Freedom Park “.

This was different from where and what we heard in the news, it was all about Aregbesola demolishing buildings, creating havoc, rendering people jobless but this was beautiful.

My perspective about everything changed then, the papers lied, this was not just beautiful but also a superb creation.

Aregbesola had not only turned a once slum into a beautiful abode, he had also given a new face to Osogbo and to Osun in general.

All through my stay, I couldn’t believe the transformation that had taken place, a transformation one couldn’t have imagined. I had thought the Olaiya junction would be as littered as it was but that was all changed.

Aregbesola had and still continues to give a new face and identity to Osogbo and Osun State in the realm of the world.

The information I got is that he had planned a boulevard for that particular location, but for the bad finances, he would have turned it to a more beautiful scent than it is now.

Osun now has a place where people can recreate, unwind and enjoy to complete the chain of an healthy life after the hustle and bustle of the day.

Aside the fact that it promotes healthy living, it also makes the environment more serene and habitable for other residents especially the market men and women that ply their trade along the area.

One beautiful story about the capital of the State of Osun is of its roads, schools and inter-connected infrastructure that has changed the narratives.

Before Aregbesola, Osogbo used to look like a glorified village turned state capital but now looks that of befitting state capital with all basic attributes setting in place gradually.

From 2010 till date, the story of Osogbo has changed, and so, as the story of the entire State of Osun changed, with Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola that has now placed Osun on the pedestal of greatness, the one people savour to live in, do business in and develop with government.

Indeed, I say Kudos to Aregbesola as he Celebrates Seven Years in the Saddle!!!!! Osun a dara!!!