SPEECH BY THE GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF
OSUN, OGBENI RAUF AREGBESOLA, AT HIS INAUGURATION AT THE OSOGBO TOWNSHIP
STADIUM ON THURSDAY NOVEMBER 27, 2014.
Protocols,
It is with deep humility and gratitude
to the Almighty that I stand before this faithful assembly. Exactly four years
ago, we stood before God and before you to take a solemn oath to resume our
journey to greatness. We thank God Almighty for taking us through the first
phase of the journey and for enabling us to secure your mandate to keep us on
that glorious path for another four years.
We are also here to celebrate the
goodness of God and the indomitable spirit of the good people of Osun. We are
here to affirm the triumph of good over evil. We are here to celebrate
democracy as the ultimate instrument of political empowerment ever bequeathed
to humanity.
The journey to our inauguration today
began on the day of our inauguration, exactly four years ago, when the party we
displaced began to unleash a wicked engine of relentless falsehood to
destabilise our administration and bring our downfall. They have engaged in
every form of shenanigan and put every obstacle imaginable in our way.
They
have made strident effort to stir strife and sow the seed of discord. They made
the most disingenuous effort to break the chord of communal and religious
harmony that had existed for centuries among our people. They made futile bid
for office and pursued power for its sake with a demonic frenzy. The climax was
the unprecedented effort to manipulate the election and subvert the will of the
people on August 9.
Before, during and immediately after
the election, there was a siege on the state. Every act of terror imaginable,
including the unconstitutional detention of my deputy, was attempted. Security
agents of all hues invaded the state, many of them in balaclavas, paraded the
streets, shooting in the air with every intention of putting terror in the
people.
At the height of this outlawry, more than 700 leaders and members of
our party were arrested, mostly in the dead of the night, and an unconscionable
and treasonable bid was made to seize the Government House.
But they failed and failed miserably
and were routed and given the electoral mauling of their life because God is
with us and our people are indefatigable and indomitable.
And so, today we celebrate our people
who stood firm for democracy and liberty, who defied every form of provocation
and intimidation to make a democratic statement by voting and standing to make
their votes count. They have shown that no gun or sabre rattling can stand in
the way of a people who are determined to make a stand for liberty and
democracy.
As the result indicates, the over
700,000 voters’ turnout, making 54 per cent of the total registered voters was
the highest recorded in recent elections in the country. Also, our 394,684
total votes, a whopping 55 per cent of the total valid votes, was the highest
for any candidate in any recent governorship election.
We are not boasting; we
are simply acknowledging the enormity of the mandate given to us by our people,
even in the face of the most formidable terror machine arrayed against them.
In the past four years, we have
striven to keep faith with the people on the mandate given to us. We set out to
re-enact the Obafemi Awolowo tradition of leadership and good governance; a
tradition that set the Western Region apart. The formidable challenges
notwithstanding, we have delivered largely on our promises.
We began with ethical reorientation by
branding our state ‘Ipinle Omoluabi’.
We have been able to reawaken the consciousness of the values of hard work,
public spiritedness, maintaining a good name, chivalry and character moulding
in our people.
Within 100 days, we provided jobs for
20,000 of our youths and replicated same two years later. We revamped
agriculture and made it a profitable venture for farmers. We have positioned
our youth for greatness by providing them with quality education. We have
redefined the infrastructure of education by building state of the art schools,
proving cutting edge technology, free school uniforms, free meals and so on.
We have empowered our people
economically through all the ‘O’ projects: O’REAP, O’MEALS, O’BEEF, O’HUB,
O’HONEY, O’CLEAN and so on. We have made micro-credit available to our people
on a large scale and with direct injection, we have lifted the GDP of the
state, making Osun the seventh largest economy in Nigeria.
We have cared for the environment in
an unprecedented way. We have banished flooding and cleaned the environment of
filth. Our road construction projects, completed and ongoing, are incomparable.
There is no local government that did not partake in our local and intercity
road projects.
We have embarked on a most ambitious urban renewal programme and
we are fast returning our urban centres to beauty and aesthetic splendour. We
have cared for the old, weak and infirm while special people have not escaped
our touch.
We have delivered on our six integral
action programme. Our performance in the first term endeared us to you and
convinced you to give us the mandate for another term.
We shall continue on this path and
accelerate the speed of development in Osun. Our vision is to deliver 20 years
development in the next four years in economic, social and political fields. We
shall complete all ongoing projects and start new ones. We shall touch every
community in roads, education and infrastructure.
We shall touch every
household in wealth creation, security of lives and property, social amenities,
political empowerment, political representation and much more. We shall
consolidate on the foundation we are building and proceed to the superstructure
of prosperity and greatness for our land and people. Though the financial
challenges are daunting, we shall do everything within our power and the
unbounded resources of our land and people to achieve our goals without
faltering.
The mandate you have given us covers
all the peoples of Osun in their social, political, religious and ethnic
heterogeneity. There shall be no discrimination or disfavour against an
individual or group on account of identity or difference. This is our credo of
governance and we shall continue on this path.
Our adversaries have taken the road to
perdition by seeking to divide our people along religious and ethnic lines. On
this path, they will travel alone. Our diversity is our strength; God has
bequeathed to us the freedom of choice.
We are at liberty to be Christian,
Muslim, traditional religious worshipper, atheist, Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo, Ijaw or
Efik. What is unnatural and quite strange to Yoruba communal liberalism is to
engage in conflict on account such differences. Lest we forget, the religion of
PDP is poverty.
Nigeria is saturated with leaders who
are ever so quick to parade platitudes of their respective religion – denying
its faith, essence and positive values.
However, what we need at this time are
God-fearing and incorruptible leaders who will galvanize our people and
judiciously husband our resources to overcome our challenges. We must terminate the regime of self-seeking
manipulators who currently parade corridors of power, accruing political profit
by turning us against each other and further dividing us along ethnic and
religious lines.
The result of their politics of
division is that Nigerians are poorer in the last 16 years whereas Nigeria as a
country has never been richer save for recent months when oil price has
declined. This manifests again in their continued lawlessness evidenced in the
desecration of the National Assembly and the travesty at Ekiti Assembly.
They
have demonstrated without doubt their inability to protect Nigerians and the
territorial integrity of our country. We must therefore be determined to vote
out the party that has brought us to this sorry pass. We must show them the way
out. We must let them know that on their way to hell, they will walk alone.
Our party, the All People Congress
(APC) promises prosperity, national unity and integration, security of lives
and property, job and wealth creation, rule of law and constitutionalism and
deepening of democracy. All these have been showcased in all the states where
our party holds sway in Lagos, Oyo, Ogun, Ekiti (until recently), Edo, Imo,
Rivers, Kwara, Nasarawa, Sokoto, Zamfara, Kano, Borno and Yobe.
This is what we
stand for and this is why a greater number of Nigerians continue to accept us
and identify with us. Our present travails therefore is temporary. The PDP on
the other hand stands for poverty, misery and insecurity. They are prepared to
sacrifice the entire country as long as their hold on power is intact.
Come
February next year, Nigerians are going to say enough is enough. We are going
to beat them because they are beatable. The God that helped us to beat them in
Osun will also beat them for us in the national election. Do not be afraid, do
not despair. Victory is at hand.
To God almighty, the omnipotent and
omniscient, we owe our victory. I will however like to acknowledge and thank
everyone that contributed in one way or another to our success. I will begin
with our great party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), all the national
leaders of the party down the line but permit me to single out my leader and
mentor, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, for providing the inspiration to aspire, to
seek, to find and to triumph.
I will also like to thank my brother
governors in APC who have supported me in every way possible in the struggle. My sincere appreciation goes to all the legislators in the National Assembly
from Osun, especially the Director General of my campaign, Prof Sola Adeyeye,
who demonstrated uncommon doggedness and a youthful heart.
I cannot forget the
party in the state, from the ward to the senatorial districts and state
officials. The party was in the heat of fire, but they bore it with singular courage
and equanimity. I acknowledge the support and the inimitable role of council
chiefs and members of the State House of Assembly under the astute leadership
of our indomitable Speaker.
I remain grateful to my governance
team, the sharp instrument of my administration, for their unflinching support,
for staying the course and for achieving much from little. I am particular
about my Deputy, the Secretary to the State Government and my Chief of Staff.
My biggest thanks go to the people of
Osun for their faithfulness from time past even till the present. These are the
women groups, especially traders and market women, the artisans, hunters,
butchers, farmers groups, commercial motorcyclists, transporters, drivers,
civil servants, teachers, students, youths, organised private sector,
entertainers, financial institutions, journalists, God-fearing security agents,
artists and artistes, activists, traditional rulers, community based
associations, youth based associations, civil society organisations and the
coalition of political parties in the state. I thank you all. Your government
is here and we will give our all to serve you.
Lastly, my thanks go to my family,
especially my darling wife, who has held our home front with exceptional
devotion. Her prayers, faith in God and in me plus her sacrificial love are pillars
of unfailing support. I will not forget my mother, Iya Olobi, for her doting
care, her sacrifice and huge heart.
I thank you all for your kind attention.
Osun a dara!
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