Prof Yemi Osinbajo SAN writes a fitting TESTIMONIAL for Governor Rauf Aregbesola.....enjoy Response to Mr. Eyieyie on Aregbesola - By Prof. Yemi Osinbajo - August 7, 2014 I was greatly saddened to read the material written by Mr. Eyieyien urging The Remnants” to vote out the current Governor of Osun State Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola and vote in Chief Iyiola Omisore. I am also still somewhat puzzled as to how what appeared to be an opposition to a bond issue and other sundry allegations degenerated to the running down of the APC as an Islamic party, a propaganda tool notoriously deployed by the PDP through its various organs. Are we as Christians now being urged to support the PDP or what exactly is the message? Reason, is one of the most important contributions of the Gospel to development. From it emerge the practical concepts of fairness and justice for all, especially our enemies. Which is why lynching, even of an intellectual kind is unacceptable. I am not an unbiased intervenor, I had the good fortune of serving in an AD/ACN government in Lagos State. The ACN is a major partner in the APC. I will come back to the PDP APC issue presently. Also, I have known Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, Governor of the State of Osun, since 1999. We served on the policy committees of the then newly elected AD governor of Lagos State. He served in the infrastructure sub-committee and I, in the Justice sub-committee. I also served with him for 8 years in the government of Lagos State. He as Commissioner for Works and I as Attorney General. I developed a close personal relationship with him. His early ideological belief was shaped byMarxist-Socialist thinking, which probably influences his left- of- centre world view in governance. His first son Kabir went to university in Cuba on a scholarship. In 2005 when he graduated, only Rauf and I attended his graduation . He is a devout Muslim but liberal in his approach to other faiths. This is not unusual amongst the Yorubas largely because most families have both Muslim and Christian members and have always interacted without rancour. Of his six siblings only one other is a Muslim. All the others are Christians. His sister who is of the RCCG, is widowed ( her husband died a Christian) her two sons have lived with Rauf for years, he insists that they must practice their fathers faith faithfully. They both attend the RCCG. He and I shared and still share a burden to provide honest, transparent, people-centered governance. He is a scrupulously honest person, as Commissioner for Works in Lagos State he left office without a home and no financial comforts. I know, because aside from my personal and official interaction with him, I coordinated his legal team for the reclamation of his mandate for over three years. I know first hand, his difficulties with sustaining his family, and a small staff for that period. Not surprisingly no one can accuse him in Osun State of corruption. He is just not wired that way. Indeed, in keeping with that commitment to serve the people with complete fidelity, his major projects have been solely directed at alleviating the suffering and deprivation of his people. The hiring of, now 40,000 unemployed graduates , the provision of free balanced meals for all primary school children, provision of free uniforms, the provision of tablet computers for senior secondary school students containing all their textbooks, past jamb questions etc., monthly stipends to the elderly - all of these in a State that is the third poorest in Federalallocations and currently gets N2.6 billion monthly, a 40 percent reduction from 2013, courtesy of the Federal government. Mr. Eyieyien perhaps was not aware that even the 10 billion sukuk bond was purely for the building of 24 model state-of the art schools, most of which are now completed. The Wole Soyinka led Osun education summit recommended the replacement of the completely broken school infrastructure in Osun State with schools capable of accommodating 1000 students with modern labs, classrooms, power and sports facilities.
Posted on: Thu, 07 Aug 2014 22:23:01 +0000
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