PRP Candidate in Osun Guber, Busuyi Ayowole Commends Adeleke, Urge Improved Governance

By Our Reporter

The Governorship candidate of the Peoples Redemption Party, PRP, in the July 16 Osun State Governorship election, Engineer Busuyi Ayowole has commended Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke on his performance in the office in the last 100 days.

Busuyi through a letter addressed to the governor noted that sectors of health, education, security, and digital economy be decisively addressed.

He urged the governor to engage in periodic reviews of his administration.

Busuyi noted that the governor enjoys the goodwill of the residents of the state stressing that Adeleke should ensure that dividends of democracy reach all parts of the state.

The PRP candidate also congratulated the governor on his victory at the Appeal Court.

The letter reads in part, “First, I congratulate Your Excellency on your recent legal victory at the Court of Appeal where your emergence as governor of Osun State was authenticated afresh.

“It has been four months since your historic inauguration as the executive governor of our noble state. Therefore I, Busuyi Ayowole, have made it a point of duty to bring a unique appraisal forward to your government based on factors including:

· The needs of Osun State.
· The expectations of the people.
· Your constitutional obligations as governor.
· Your electoral promises to Osun State.

“Clearly, most residents and indigenes of Osun State presently exhibit a resolve to believe in your appealing personality. However, Mr. Governor, it is important to compliment the enormous goodwill which you gracefully enjoy right now with providing unprecedented and honesty-driven dividends of good governance to our people. I hope my honest review and suggestions as presented below make some impact on the success of your administration.

Busuyi urged Adeleke to digitalize the security of the state.

“Security: Osun State has been relatively peaceful under your government so far. However, I recommend a systematic upgrade of the state’s security architecture so the security of lives and properties can be continuously guaranteed. There was a recent move by zealous members of your party to form a series of WhatsApp groups for data collection towards popularizing places in Osun State on Google Maps! Your Excellency, the state can do better through the deployment of superior techniques and technologies with the enormous potential of our state parastatals. With the aid of Satellite Navigation systems like GPS or GLONASS, the state government should consider digitalizing street naming and property locations such that exact positions, to a precision of a few centimeters, can be accessible to law enforcement or fire departments in times of distress calls. The Osun State Government should consider looking in the direction of giving the personnel of Amotekun an edge over counterparts from other states by equipping the state-owned security network with digital gadgets and security workstations that are compatible with satellite navigation systems. While we hope that the state’s 293 emergency line will soon graduate from being a vision to reality, I strongly advise an upgrade of Amotekun to a level where the outfit can effectively manage the 293 emergency line as intermediary operators.

On health, he said “embarking on a state-wide mass surgery project within the first few days of your government is a commendable one. However, it is important to note that the challenges facing the health sector in Osun State are so huge right now that one could find it difficult to believe they can be convincingly resolved. Fortunately, the dilapidated state of our healthcare facilities is redeemable. I wish the government good luck with trying out different options for positioning our health institutions for productive performance. It might be worth it if the government considers acquiring some modest credit facilities specifically for the development of a functional health insurance scheme as well as an upgrade of our health facilities to a world-class status. With a functional government-backed health insurance scheme, the cost of treatment would not be a reason for unnecessary deaths in the state. Both the rich and the poor deserve proper medical attention. With a functional health insurance scheme in place, the Osun State government will be able to afford huge salaries and fees of a good number of leading top-notch consultant physicians and highly experienced surgeons across medical specialties.

In education, Busuyi said:
“Concerning our primary and secondary schools in Osun State, I would like your government to pay more attention to the people and the learning resources than the buildings. It is the laboratories, libraries, and seasoned instructors that matter most in the overall academic performance of pupils and students. The year of construction of a classroom does not really matter much. I consider it a productive idea if a modest renovation of existing classrooms in our schools can be considered in place of the usual fund-consuming demolition and rebuilding approach that many governors have subscribed to. Efforts need to be put in place for our tertiary institutions to be financially independent to a large extent; this is both tricky and risky but achievable and worthwhile if we are to own some of the finest tertiary educational institutions in the world.

While commenting on workers welfare, he said “Salaries and Pensions: It is common knowledge that salaries and retirees’ remunerations have been paid in a timely and desirable manner since the present administration took over in Osun State. Though workers are entitled to their pay, it is worthy of commendation that your government has made it a point of duty not to compromise the welfare of government employees on the payroll of Osun State. My little appeal to you however, Mr. Governor, is that many pensioners on the state’s payroll are poorly remunerated and an upward review of their monthly pension to complement the present economic realities in Nigeria is not a bad idea at all.

In the area of the economy, he said, “Digital Economy:
Looking in the direction of the digital economy within a few days in office was a smart move by your government. First things first, the foundation of focus on the digital economy ought to be laid from the official website of the state. My team did recently make attempts to review the website, and it seemed to be probably under reconstruction as of February 27, but some commendable improvements have been made as of the time of writing this letter on March 27. Frankly, though, the website is yet to be befitting of Osun State. Designers and administrators of the site need to be more meticulous with the management of the website. The website is yet to be equipped with e-commerce capabilities, implying that we are presently far from projecting our commitment to a regime of the digital economy through the website. In my honest view, the website’s functionality is less than 40% right now. How better can a government begin to give maximum attention to digitalization in the day-to-day running of the affairs of Osun State without a functional website? No way, Your Excellency. I recommend that seasoned consultants be involved in the upgrade of our website such that it can compete globally. I have no considerable idea of the composition of personnel at the Osun State Ministry of Innovation, Science, and Technology. It is however indicative through the Osun State website that the ministry seems to have a couple of Tech talents who should be empowered through sophisticated world-class ICT training and virtual internships for the eventual benefit of the State Government. Another indicator of the present administration’s limitations with the exploration of a digital economy regime is evident in the absence of a reliable roadmap for placing the Osun State Broadcasting Corporation (OSBC) on digital platforms. At the moment, the OSBC neither has an official website, nor a departmental site on the official website of the state government. In fact, the OSBC struggles to compete with most privately owned and less-funded digital media outfits in Osun State, despite the corporation having some of the most experienced broadcasters in the state. The recent flag-off of fiber optic cables installed in the state seemed to have been equated by your media aides with the activation of an advanced digital economy, but Tech experts will certainly disagree with that. It is therefore important that the present administration considers a result-oriented approach while attempting to enhance the economy of our state through elements of the digital economy.

In his conclusion, Busuyi said “having made some suggestions on how to consolidate on meeting the people’s expectations and providing the state with what is needed for 21st-century viability amidst global digitalization, it cannot be overemphasized that training and retraining of the workforce in Osun State basically has a direct variation with economic advancements in the state. Retraining public and civil servants should be considered a matter of emergency. By extension, as a matter of urgency, capacities need to be built as regards skill enhancements and ease of operation for artisans and technicians across the state to position Osun State for optimum economic performance through complementing a competent and productive public workforce with a private sector capable of creating goods and services that are exportable worldwide. This, no doubt, will have a lasting impact on the rapid growth of Internally Generated Revenues, thereby positioning Osun State for financial independence in the medium or long term.”