Osun Lawmakers Consider State’s Development In 25 Years

Lawmakers in the Osun State House of Assembly, on Tuesday, advised the Governor of the state, Rauf Aregbesola, on a number of issues that would fast-track the development of the state.

At a special sitting held to review the State’s development 25 years after it was created, the lawmakers said the state had surpassed other states in the nation that were created at the same time.

One of the sectors that the lawmakers, however, urged the government to give more attention to, is the education sector.

The representative of Ife Constituency, Samson Eluwole, pointed out that although the state was having beautiful schools and education infrastructure, the current level of education in the state was pitiable.

He said the state, which is now down the ladder of the recent West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examination, needed urgent attention.

Honourable Eluwole, however, praised the State civil servants for their doggedness in the face of the current economic hardship.

” As of now, if you go to Ife-Ede road and Akoda-Osogbo road, you will discover that these roads have become death traps.

“For a decade now no one can boast of getting water from the public tap. Many infrastructures are on the verge of decadence,” he observed.

The Speaker of the Osun State House of Assembly, Honourable Najeem Salam, also advised the people of the state to be patient, emphasising that the hard times being experienced in Nigeria would soon be over.

He said: “People should be careful how they criticise the government.

“We know this is democracy but it does not mean we should hide under that to criticise the government unjustly.

“Osun is not the only state that is borrowing. Well-to-do countries like America, Saudi Arabia and even Venezuela that has the largest crude oil deposit are also borrowing. We should be mindful of how we judge”.

The House Majority Leader, Timothy Owoeye, noted the state had witnessed some level of development that were yet to be matched by other states in Nigeria.

“We now have 18 higher institutions in the state. A number that has not been achieved by any other state created alongside Osun state in 1991.

“The fact that we are having universities and nine polytechnics in the state explains the enabling environment for doing business in our state,” he told the House.

“The Future Looks Brighter”

The House Member representing Osogbo Constituency, Akintunde Adegboye, said the state, which witnessed a lot of stunted growth before Governor Aregbesola came on board, insisted that the past administrators were not responsible for the woes but insufficient capital was.

“When the Governor came on board, the trend changed as he took a bold step towards ensuring the state was having enough resources,” he reminded the House.

However, the lawmaker representing Orolu-Irepodun Constituency, Honourable Kameel Oyedele, urged the Speaker to expedite action on the bill proposing a Public-Private Partnership in the area of tourism in the state, requesting that it should be passed into law soon.

“I will only urge the Speaker to expedite efforts on how the private sector can come into the tourism industry in Osun. There is a bill to that effect and it is still waiting to be passed into law,” he stated.

Honourable Olatunbosun Oyintiloye, representing Obokun Constituency told the House members that Osun State had grown in leaps and bounds in the last 25 years, pointing out that the administration of Governor Aregbesola has indeed shown itself to be a pacesetter with most of the policies it had adopted, which other states were beginning to copy.

While acknowledging that paucity of fund had thwarted the growth of the state in some aspects, the members agreed that with committed leaders like Governor Aregbesola, who had raised the bar of governance,” the future looks bright for the state”.