Urban renewal under Aregbesola unprecedented, massive -Cleric

A cleric and Chief Imam of Ansar-ur-deen Central Mosque in Osogbo, Osun State, Alhaji Sanusi Imogbemi, on Friday adjudged the Rauf Aregbesola administration as the very first administration since the creation of the state to ensure the emergence of Osogbo as a truly capital city.
Imogbemi listed previous governors and military administrators before Aregbesola whom he said made some semblance of efforts at changing the face of the state capital, but left with not much impact.
The cleric stated that former Governor Bisi Akande tried within the limit of the resources, but said his efforts at constructing a befitting state secretariat for the state would go down as one of the landmark achievements of his administration.
He said some of the courageous decisions being taken by the Aregbesola administration could have been taken before him by his predecessors to develop the state.
Imogbemi said: “When Aregbesola began to remove illegal structures around Osogbo for the transformation of the state capital, there was uproar, but only the discerning could realize that this was for the good of the state capital.
“Today, the status of Osogbo, the state capital, has confirmed that what some people wanted to use to blackmail the government was for the good of all of us.”
The Chief Imam said one of the governors had confessed that he would have embarked on some of the projects, which today now earn Aregbesola his popularity, but for the advice given by his aides who said such efforts would not be popular.
He said the development efforts, though very heavy and noticeable at the state capital for obvious reasons, also cut across the entire state.
The cleric said this is why the response of the people of Osun State to payment of taxes have been encouraging, adding: “We are ready to pay taxes because we know this is a trustworthy administration, which is using the taxes for development of the people.
“If, for some people who had ruled this state before, we would not have shown interests in paying taxes.”
Imogbemi advised Aregbesola not to listen to side talks as he said those given to mischief would continue with their mischief no matter how sterling his performances are.
The cleric prayed for the governor and against all the machinations of those seeking to halt the development of the state.