The Governor of Osun State, Rauf Aregbesola, on Tuesday said there will be no going back on his government’s human development policies as he launched the Osun Job Centre.
Aregbesola said the Osun Youth Empowerment Scheme policy brought great micro-economic impact on the state with N200 million monthly allowance given to the youth under the programme.
The Governor stated these at the commissioning of the Osun Job Centre at the parking lot of the Ayegbaju International Modern Market in Osogbo.
Aregbesola added that his administration is taking job creation to a greater height with the establishment of the job centre where government will not need to employ workers directly but create an environment where finding jobs will become easy for the unemployed and better jobs for the youths.
He pointed out that the centre will provide an interface between applicants and employers by maintaining a database that will be made available to employers who need to recruit, adding that it will also keep record of job vacancies which applicants can consult.
The Governor stressed that before the coming of his administration there was a high and frightening level of youth disorientation, which brought about the OYES that engaged 20,000 youths in public works in less than 100 days after inauguration.
According to him: “All the programmes we have implemented and the one of today have been captured in the Green Book which we entitled: ‘My Path with Osun.’
“Today, if you open the book, you will find all we have done and are doing. If anybody had told you that in Osogbo there would be the Nelson Mandela Freedom Park, would you have believed it was possible? But is it there now or not?
“If anybody had told you that a road would start from Osogbo and run through to Ila Odo Kwara Boundary in one tenure, would you believe it was possible? But is it there now or not?
“When I said we would employ 20,000 youths in our 100 days in office, many laughed and called us jokers. Today, has the joke been translated into truth or not?
“If anybody had told you that a second ring road would come into existence in Osogbo, would you believe it? But is it there now or not?”
The Governor stated that his administration is responsible to all the people in the state and not a section of it.
Aregbesola revealed that of the four million population of Osun State, there are 60,000 civil servants, retired and working, whose salary and pension are much more than the revenue accruing to the state today.
Aregbesola averred that to pay workers salary alone will amount to neglecting over 3.9 million people of the state.
He said: “If you are to use all the resources of the state to pay salaries life will be hard and unliveable, therefore our government uses its creativity to spread the resources we have to all citizens. By this, we can achieve development.”
In her speech, the Coordinator of Job Centre, Mobolaji Akande, said Osun State is the first state in the federation to establish such centre to help reduce employment crisis the country is battling with.
Mobolaji said the Job Centre was designed with two purposes of providing comprehensive data base of Osun State job seekers and provide a robust system for collating accurate figures of employment and unemployment rates in the state.
According to her, the data collated would help the state government to plan better for economic policies through highlighting areas of skills and skill deficits.
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