Osun Position as Second Wealthiest State Justifies Aregbesola’s Financial Prudence – Baderinwa

The recent report of the Financial Derivatives Company (FDC) that ranked Osun has the second wealthiest state in Nigeria in 2017 has been described as the manifestation of delivery of good governance by Governor Rauf Aregbesola.

Osun was declared as the second wealthiest amongst its peers in the country.

Speaking on the development, Commissioner for Information and Strategy in the state, Mr Adelani Baderinwa said the report was a sincere and professional assessment of economic activities and development in the state in terms of income and expenditure and how it positively affects the people in general.

Osun State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Adelani Baderinwa

According to Baderinwa, Osun could not have been rated less going by the prudence and judicious management of the little resources accruable to the state by Aregbesola, who has demonstrated to be a good and prudent manager of resources.

The FDC in a report released by its Managing Director, Bismark Rewane titled: “How the States Performed in 2017,” on Tuesday said in one of the top three economic analysts in Nigeria, Osun had the lowest net Federal Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) allocation but was not delinquent in the payment of salary arrears.

Osun, according to the report, is the second best in the measured “Misery Index” with a 16.37 per cent inflation rate, which also sums up with the rate of under-employment and unemployment.

The report noted that despite the financial quagmire all states across the federation experienced in the last financial year, the ingenuity of the Modulated Salary Structure by the state government yielded positive results.

Baderinwa maintained that the projects, programmes and policies being put in place by Aregbesola have no doubt developed the economy of the state, improve the wellbeing of the people and guarantee security of life and properties.

He said: “The FDC report is a welcome development; it actually reflects the social and economic development in the state. This type of report is coming for the fourth time in six months from veritable and independent sources – the first from the United Nations (UN) Multi-Dimensional Poverty Index 2016, second from the National Bureau of Statistics, the Renaissance Capital, a leading emerging markets investment bank in Africa and now the FDC Misery Index 2017.

“We make bold to say that all the three reports, the last of which is that of the FDC, confirmed Aregbesola’s ingenuity, vision and ceaseless efforts in transforming the State of Osun to an Eldorado, socially, economically and in terms of infrastructure.

“Programmes like Osun Youth Empowerment Scheme (OYES) which provides job for 40,000 youths, Osun Free School Feeding progamme named ‘O MEAL’ which employs over 3334 women who prepare meals for the school children, Osun Rural Enterprise and Agricultural Program (ORAEP), designed to empower the farmers have contributed immensely to the development of the state.”

Baderinwa said Osun economy will in no time receive boost when the $30.5million contract won by the Osun RLG/Adulawo Technology Company for the supply of Terrestrial Broadcast Set Top Boxes flows into the market.

He noted that the 15-year-old moribund cocoa processing industry in Ede has been revived by the Aregbesola’s administration, disclosing that a Chinese company, Shanghai Golden Monkey Group was ready to invest N10billion into the economy of Osun state through cocoa processing and production.

The company, according to Baderinwa would have the capacity to provide 1,000 jobs for the unemployed youths in the state in the next two years when it begins full production.

The commissioner maintained that Aregbesola’s administration has provided and invested heavily on profitable and lasting infrastructure that has been enhancing and continue to uplift the economy of the state.