Osun mega schools could be part of the solution to address the problem of out of school children in Nigeria considering the level of insecurity and school children adoption in the north today. It is said that in Nigeria, about 13.5 million children are not in school, even though primary education is officially free and compulsory. And though many projects have been made to reduce this frightening figure, it seems Nigeria is nowhere near tackling this issue which poses social and security problems to the whole country. But underutilised Osun mega schools have the capacity to reduce out of school children.
I want to appeal to President Tinubu that 11 Osun mega schools have the capacity to reduce the number of 13.5 million out of school children in Nigeria. There is need for President Tinubu to partner with Osun State to address the problem of out of school children in Nigeria.
There are 11 mega schools that Rauf Aregbesola administration constructed, 10 are being used, the 11th one is 95% completed . The schools can accommodate 3000 students each, but those schools were underutilised by former Governor Oyetola and President Tinubu can partner with Osun State to use the mega schools for out of school children in Nigeria.
I want to call for federal-state partnership to use the mega schools. Federal-State partnership could be introduced in these mega schools so that pupils could come from any part of Nigeria to Osun to learn and enjoy the facilities in these schools as a solution to 13.5 out of school children in Nigeria. The truth now is that Aregbesola has built schools that can reduce the number of out of school children in Nigeria. I want to appeal to President Tinubu to use Osun mega schools for out of school children.
One of the landmark initiatives of Rauf Aregbesola as former governor of Osun State was the introduction of Osun Sukuk fund and Sovereign Sukuk in the domestic financial markets in 2013 to raise N11 billion to finance 11 Osun sukuk schools. Each of the 11 mega schools has 72 classrooms with a capacity for 3,000 pupils (one of the schools is still under construction).
Three of the schools are in Osogbo, the state capital – Ataoja Grammar School, Fakunle Unity School and Osogbo Grammar School. Others are Ilesha Grammar School, Wole Soyinka Government High School, Ejigbo, Akinorun Grammar School, Ikirun, High School, Ila, Adventist Grammar School, Ede, Oduduwa Secondary School, Ile-Ife, Ayedaade Grammar School, Ikire. Iwo High School is still under construction.
However, the schools, which cost about N1.5billion each, were underutilised by former Governor Oyetola– with no corresponding population. Many of the schools have just 1,000 pupils, which means that about 2,000 spaces in some of the classrooms are deserted. The school located in Ejigbo has about 500 pupils of the 3,000 the building can accommodate. Only one school is operating at full capacity. Pressident Tinubu should take note that Osun State has 11 mega schools that can reduce the number of 13.5 million out of school children in Nigeria. The mega schools, which are two-storey buildings, are now underutilised. One of them, Fakunle Unity Secondary School, has over 2,000 pupils while others have below it. The majority of the remaining nine schools have about 900 pupils attending those schools.”
It is on record that the first set of Sukuk projects emerged from Osun State, hence, the Sukuk projects in Nigeria will ever remain the bequeathed legacy of former Governor Rauf Aregbesola who was the first Nigerian to introduce it. In Osun, Sukuk funds were used to finance construction of education projects, among other development initiatives with which former Governor Aregbesola laid a solid foundation for the future of the state which helped to convince former President. President Muhammadu Buhari when he described the newly completed Sukuk steel structure Osogbo Government High school as an educational legacy that should be emulated by other states of the federation, thanking the former governor for exposing Nigeria to the Sukuk market which has drawn increasing interest from sovereigns, multilateral institutions, multinational and national corporations both from developed and emerging economies to finance investments in a wide range of economic activities and development projects.
When former Governor Aregbesola took sukuk bond, a section of the media said that Aregbesola wanted to Islamize Nigeria. Now that sukuk projects have been commissioned and used, the media is silent. It is on record that the first set of Sukuk projects emerged from Osun State, hence, the Sukuk projects in Nigeria will ever remain the bequeathed legacy of former Governor Rauf Aregbesola who was the first Nigerian to introduce it. The overall direction and potential of the market are certainly well recognized, particularly in its role in contributing towards greater economic development of Osun. There is significant potential for the Sukuk, With this calibre of governments following suit to obtain Sukuk, it is now crystal clear that Aregbesola is not just a leader, but a leader that set positive pace globally.
History will remember Rauf Aregbesola for indeed some major developments in Nigeria, school feeding programme, sukuk bond for national development, first governor to embrace 4th industrial revolution etc. Aregbesola has encouraged the issuance of sukuk in Nigeria because we needed to diversify the instrument in the bond market. Aregbesola worked hard to introduce sukuk fund for education in Nigeria. Osun took the initiative and helped in introducing it to Nigeria. The greatest lesson is that when Governor Aregbesola adopted Sukuk, an Islamic bond to help the state execute educational projects, his critics were calling for his head. Many said it was part of his ploy to islamize Osun. The sukuk loan was liquidated last year.
As governor, Aregbesola built 11 state-of-the-art 3,000-capacity model secondary schools, in addition to rehabilitating and upgrading the existing ones. Each school has 72 classrooms which can comfortably accommodate 49 students and six rooms for study groups. It is equipped with six laboratories, 36 toilets separated equally for boys and girls, two libraries for science and arts each, a facility manager’s office, a bookshop, and a sick bay. Aregbesola introduced ‘Opon Imo’ (the tablet of knowledge), a digital education tool, ethics and discipline in public schools, and even established a state-wide agency on public school discipline. He introduced calisthenics and school feeding and health programme.
Inwalomhe Donald,
Osogbo, Osun state
