100 DAYS: Imole is Radiating Osun State

By Sarafa Ibrahim

On November 27, 2022, Senator Ademola Adeleke was inaugurated as the sixth Executive Governor of Osun state. Right there, Governor Adeleke made it abundantly clear that Osun state is set for a new and refreshing experience.

"Under my watch as Governor of Osun State, I will boldly correct all past injustice, corrupt acts or policies by any previous administration which are against the collective interest of our people," Governor Adeleke noted in his inaugural speech. "Let me state here that from the education, health, mining sector, agriculture, road infrastructure, and supply of portable water, let it be known to all that it is no longer going to be business as usual. And I repeat, it is no longer business as usual," he added.

And 100 days in office, Governor Adeleke has delivered on his pledge to reverse the ugly trend of the past and focus the resources of the state on what will truly serve the people of the state. He has made considerable progress in reversing the ugly trend of the past and setting the course for Osun state to be on a path of a stronger and brighter future.

In fact, Governor Adeleke has kept his administration focused on his principal goal of making sure the people get the benefits of the resources that accrue to the state. This explains the extraordinary transparency he exhibited just a few days after coming into the office when he opened the financial book of the state to the Osun people through the traditional rulers. It was a clear distinction between Governor Adeleke and his predecessor, notorious for running the finances of the state in an opaque manner.

Guided by the desire to improve the situation of the people as promised during the campaign, Governor Adeleke initiated a series of policies and programs, which have begun to have a trickle-down effect on the average person. At the top is the ambitious effort of Governor Adeleke to ensure that people across the state have access to drinkable water.

Initially, there was skepticism, but in just 100 days, Governor Adeleke showed he meant business by undertaking the installation of motorized boreholes in each of the 332 wards in Osun state. The intervention will make it easy for people across the state to access drinkable water, and in effect, help fight against waterborne diseases that are common as a result of the unsafe water available to the people of the state. This is however a short-term remedy for the people of Osun state as Governor Adeleke had embarked on moves to ensure that portable water reached every home in the state in the long run.

On the issue of the welfare of workers and pensioners, particularly on the 30 months' half salary and arrears owed by the previous administration, Governor Adeleke proved the fidelity of his assurance. Before coming to office, Governor had expressed reservation at the unfair treatment meted out to civil servants and senior citizens as a result of the failure to pay their owed benefits by his predecessor, promising to do something about it as a Governor.

In the frame of 100 days in office, Governor Adeleke kept to that promise as he approved a template to offset the inherited wage debt for workers and pensioners in the State and Local Government Service. On that strength, half salaries for January 2016 were paid to workers and pensioners, with subsequent payment of arrears of half salaries and pension arrears scheduled to be paid in every quarter beginning from the second quarter of the year 2023. Not done, Governor Adeleke also approved the payment of four months' deductions under the previous administration while approving the cash backing of the 2019 to 2022 promotion exercise for all active civil servants.

This gesture by Governor Adeleke has been a lightning bolt in renewing the hope of retired officers and boosting the morale of the active public. It is why the Joint Labour Movement of Osun State wrote to commend Governor Adeleke for the uncommon show of kindness, which it held "will definitely serve as a veritable drive for increased productivity of our dutiful members."

And more, Governor Adeleke's approach to ensuring a healthy Osun people is laudable. Under the 'Imole Surgical and Medical Outreach', Governor Adeleke availed at least 2,000 persons in each of the nine (9) federal constituencies in Osun the rare opportunity of having their varying health challenges solved. A total of 18,000 beneficiaries across Osun state received medicare, ranging from free surgeries for Cataracts, Pterygium, Hernia, and some swellings on the body. Persons with medical conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, malaria, cough, and tuberculosis, among other diseases were also catered for.

This is aside from the enrollment of 3000 persons in Osun state on the Osun Health Insurance Scheme (OHIS) free of charge to expand healthcare access, especially for those who cannot afford it. As a result of the intervention, beneficiaries are relieved of the burden of funding their healthcare needs, which had in the past worsened the condition of many and in extreme cases, caused untimely deaths.

As the healthy campaign helped the Osun people stay in shape to pursue economic activities, Governor Adeleke turned to the potentially impacting pieces of his agenda. He plans to turn around the deplorable condition of public infrastructures, especially road networks, to drive economic development. Governor Adeleke initiated the construction of 20km of roads across the nine (9) federal constituencies of the state, which at the moment are at advanced stage of completion.

In line with his commitment to complete abandoned project by the previous administration, Governor Adeleke mobilized contractors to the site of the Osogbo/Ikirun/Kwara boundary, and the 20km stretch of the abandoned road is near completion. What this represents is a sincere attitude towards improving the state of infrastructures in the state, and in effect, ease the challenges faced by users, which will definitely drive investment interests in Osun state.

To speed up and spread development at the grassroot, Governor Adeleke within his 100 days in office distributed N518 million to 40 communities across the state to enable the communities attend to their peculiar needs. Embedded in the intervention were the rural electrification projects, social and community development needs, which will ensure that people at the grassroot feel the benefits and impacts of the government. Benefiting communities were given the needed resources to attend to peculiar needs, making sure that no one is left behind. 

Also going slowly is the Adeleke administration's efforts to reposition public schools in the state by improving facilities to aid qualitative learning as evident in the commitment to renovate 30 schools in the 30 local governments in Osun state. The newly renovated schools will be equipped with at least 50 computers and internet as well as boreholes to serve their water needs. A similar renovation of the Primary Healthcare Centre (PHC) in the 332 wards of Osun state is being undertaken by the Adeleke administration.

At the same time, Governor Adeleke unveiled a broad tech innovation intervention, which will bridge the digital divide, and even more important, position the state to tap into the trillion-dollars digital economy sector. Fully Google mapping Osun state as being pursued by Governor Adeleke will open up the state to the entire globe, and in turn, create new job opportunities for young people and boost economic activities of the state. 

Deepening internet penetration in Osun state is also at the heart of Governor Adeleke's pursuit in his 100 days in office, which was put into effect on March 6, 2023, by signing a Memorandum of Understanding with Oodua Infraco to commence immediate deployment of Fiber Optics across Osun state. The first phase of the intervention will cover 64 kilometers at no cost to the state as the government is waiving payment for Telecom Right of Way in return for free connectivity to our schools and health centres when the broadband project is completed.

This is what an effective government looks like, delivering for the people it was elected to serve. In just 100 days in office, Governor has shown the capacity to put in place the type of policies and interventions that can bring about the manifestation of good governance for the people and sustainable development in Osun state. It is very much certain that he will continue to deliver the foundation for a brighter and more prosperous future for Osun and its people.

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