Rauf Aregbesola, the Interior Minister, expressed his sadness at the present situation in Osun State in terms of development challenges. Aregbesola listed the condition of education in the state as one of these developments. He made this statement on Thursday after receiving the National Parent Teacher Association of Nigeria’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
The honor, in the minister’s opinion, is proof of his contributions to Osun educational advancement throughout his tenure as governor.
Adeolu Ogunbanjo, the Association’s deputy national chairman, gave him the award in his office in Abuja on behalf of Haruna Danjuma, the association’s national chairman. Aregbesola, who spoke at the ceremony, said that his administration gave Osun’s education the first priority while constructing 3,685 new classrooms and 11 top-notch new schools.
He claimed that his administration placed a greater emphasis on the importance and skill level of the education provided to students in Osun, and the results were plain to see for everyone except for his detractors, who were mainly elite and harbored sentimental attachments and nostalgia toward the names of their former schools.
He said “Osun was ranked as one of the 10th largest economy in Nigeria, ranked as 2nd highest in schools enrolment/attendance, next to Lagos State with enrolment moving from 15 to 45, and later to over 65 per cent by the time I left.
“But sadly today, the situation has changed. And it pained me that the vision and capacity that we demonstrated in delivering services to the people have been arrested. I am only putting the records straight and not to castigate anybody.
“In terms of security of lives and property, Osun was first in Nigeria peace index according to statistics from the National Bureau of Statistics (2018). Those who attempted to rob a bank in Osun paid the supreme price for their action as they were neutralised by security forces. We invested heavily on security and lifted over 700,000 people out of poverty.”
The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Shuaib Belgore, said that since becoming the Minister, Aregbesola has been building on his accomplishments in Osun and that his reforms have brought sanity back to the nation’s passport issuance process.
The award was given to Aregbesola, according to the chairman of NAPTAN, because of his history as a humanist and performer in Osun. He further stressed that the honor was intended to inspire not just the Minister but other public workers like him.
