The new year speech of Gov. Rauf Aregegbesola, with the tenets of consolidation of “achievements” and content of promise, most especially on the issue of completion of array of projects his administration had embarked upon in the last six years has prompted a careful and painstaking evaluation in the face of socio- economic reality in the state.
It would be recalled that the Governor, in his speech on Sunday said the year 2017 would be a “year of consolidations on the various achievements of his administration” as he reeled out achievements of his administration in the year 2016 to include education, infrastructure, social protection services, urban renewal, provision of massive supports for business initiatives and several others.
According to him “This year, 2017, is going to be our year of consolidation. We are going to consolidate on all our programmes, especially in education, agriculture and road infrastructure, we are not going to abandon any of our projects, it is going to be our busiest year so far.
“We have great hope and faith that 2017 will be the best year for us and all the people of Osun.”
While the governor admitted that the year 2016 was one of huge trials, travails and tests for the state, he, however submitted that, “it was also a year of great victory and accomplishments.”
Meanwhile, a cursory look at what the Governor termed as achievements of his administration, coupled with assurance of completing all pending projects in the state, any discerning resident of the state might quickly and safely dismiss the speech as farce and mere rhetorics.
This conclusion could have been hinged first on a similar statement from the Governor during a break of Ramadan fast (Iftar)with journalists and members of civil society organisations in 2016, where Aregbesola emphatically said that all the road projects across the state, especially the East pass road would be completed before the 2-year anniversary of his second term in November 27, 2016, which never come to pass.
On the other hand, Aregbesola’s policy on education could not be logically considered as an achievement, base on the resurgence of incessant violent activities in the schools around the state as an aftermath of ” Re-classification” policy, in which schools were merged and many unfamiliar students were forcefully made to sit together in classes without requisite orientation process.
Aside the forceful merger of students of different backgrounds and social orientation without prior orientation efforts, the single uniform for all the students and pupils in the state has exacerbated the level of crime in schools, as identification became so difficult, which made students of one school to come and perpetrate criminal activities in another school with impunity.
On infrastructure, findings revealed that the cost of road construction and other infrastructural facility in the state is the highest in the country, for instance, a kilometer of road in the state costs between N1bn and N1.2bn , against the World Bank benchmark of N238m.
On the cost of school construction, Governor Aregbesola had come out to say that Anthony Udofia Elementary School, Osogbo, which is a 24-classroom cost N140m, while another school(Olufi Middle School) in Gbongan, with 29 classrooms cost N130m. Also, the 72-classroom of Wole Soyinka Government High School, Ejigbo was built at the rate of N750m.
The social protection services in the state is at its lowest ebb and simply disheartening, despite the Governor’s earlier bravado that he has capacity to pay salaries without monthly allocations accruing to the state, the sudden shortfall in the allocations coming to the state, due to acute fall in the global oil price had a shocking adverse effect on the people of the state, mostly the civil servants.
Salaries and pensions were owed for several months, and when the government deem it fit to pay workers, it was 50 percent of their total earnings, the scenario that unleashed untold hardship on the working masses in the state, with a resultant effect on the general economic wellbeing of all the residents, being a civil servants dominated state.
At the peak of this hardship, churches and mosques were forced to fend for their hungry congregations through benevolent donations from privileged members within and outside the state, and former joyous and happy families were broken and seriously fragmented.
Of course, the absence of industries, which could have been a better alternative for people at the point when the government failed in the area of employment further worsened the case, leaving amalgam of residents in the cold hands of hunger and misery.
Lives in the state have become more vulnerable, in the face of unabated and frequent cult-clashes.This development has made the state more volatile than never.
For example, between December 3 and 18, more than 10 people lost their lives to cult rivalry and battle for supremacy, while the government and security agencies in the state look the other way.
Many residents of the state have accused the government for treating the criminals hand-in-glove, alleging that some of the cultists are government’s thugs known as “State Boys” who are always recognised by the Governor on any public function.
Business activities in Osun is in shambles,and in reality, there is no provision by the government to support business initiative in the state, even the widely announced loans for small and medium enterprises in the count down to 2014 gubernatorial election turned out to be a mere political gimmick to cajole the electorate and get their votes.
The urban renewal policy of the government in the state was carried out without human face, as many people were rendered homeless without compensation in the course of road expansion, while thousands of shops were demolished and means of livelihood of hundreds of people callously taking away without solace.
All in all, the people of the state are in high expectation to see a change in the paradigm of governance and accelerated development with frugality, also, they aspire for governmental policies with human face and proactive steps to stem the tide of criminality.
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