The Oluwo of Iwo, Oba Abdulrasheed Adewale Akanbi, has said going by the present economic and financial realities in Osun State, the state is sick. The first-class king made this disclosure during Engineer Ademola Adedapo’s annual secondary schools quiz competition held in Iwo. Oba Akanbi said: “Osun may find it difficult to pay wage bill. The government should overhaul the civil service. Osun will never rise if there are two vehicles to 30 drivers. The civil servants should upgrade themselves so that they can be more productive.

"We have a problem in Osun and we have to shout and tell the world that we are sick in Osun. We need a medicine and we have to find the medicine for Governor Oyetola to be successful. He is a politician and it may be hard for him to even say what I am saying now. I can say it because I am a traditional ruler, who believes in the truth.It is just the truth I am telling you. We need to upgrade and update our civil service to be ICT compliant and we have to create a way to find other jobs for them in the civil service.


"With what is going on in Osun, we don’t have the money. I am in this government and it doesn’t matter because I am a traditional ruler. I have to be concerned on how government can succeed.“We have so many workers for some jobs. I am not telling them to retrench, but government should find some ways out of this situation. How much is the allocation of Osun State in a month? Can it pay the wage bill or salary? Civil servant themselves should be more creative. Civil service is the largest employer of labour in this state and the IGR is nothing. We need to create more IGR.


"The traditional rulers should be involved in this.All our natural resources and all these festivals that we celebrate should be sources of revenue to the state. There should be general overhaul in the civil service. Osun is dying. The state is paying so much money and not making money. People have to pay tax and there should more ways of ensuring the payment of informal taxes. There are many income being generated through informal sector and is not coming to the government."


https://enewsnigeria.com/osun-state-is-sick-we-need-medicine-oluwo-of-iwo/

OSUN is sick because APC infected her with thievery, corruption, thuggery, lies, deception, propaganda, misery &poverty

The first time I will agree with the bling king.
APC is the sickness.

2 vehicles to 30 drivers.

Not just Osun but the entire country. Too many redundant civil servants (not to mention ghost workers) draining resources that could be better used to serve the greater public good and welfare. But dem never born the governor that will exercise the political will to do something about it because the opposition will turn it into a political weapon to demonize such a governor. Any governor that dares to trim the civil service work force will automatically become 'public enemy' number 1.

afroniger:
Not just Osun but the entire country. Too many redundant civil servants (not to mention ghost workers) draining resources that could be better used to serve the greater public good and welfare. But dem never born the governor that will exercise the political will to do something about it because the opposition will turn it into a political weapon to demonize such a governor. Any governor that dares to trim the civil service work force will automatically become 'public enemy' number 1.

That is the disadvantage of democracy in Nigeria.

otokx:


That is the disadvantage of democracy in Nigeria.

Indeed it is. In a democracy, the majority can even choose to elect the wrong candidate sef. As long as he lies promises/tells them what they want to hear. Truth of the matter is that any first-term governor in Nigeria that can manage to not owe civil servants salaries would have a brighter chance of securing his second term, even if he does so at the expense of much-needed infrastructure. And that will not change anytime soon.

This is the state that has been governed by a party that boasts about INFRASTRUCTURE and abracadabra IGR.

Did the APC urchins not say that their infrastructure will provide jobs? Where are the jobs now? Where is the IGR in Osun now?

It is clear to everyone now that the socalled APC progressive ideaology is not working. It cannot work. It is anchored on heavy borrowings.

The ideology may only be suitable for places where the level of education is very low. That is the reason APC attacks education.

The first task of any APC government is to attack education so viciously. They make sure school fees are increased so that only few people will have access to it. They don't care if schools are closed for 5 years. It is aimed at weeding out as many people as possible from attaining intellectual independence.

Their ideology is aimed at making many people artisans and NURTW members. Their idea is that the middleclass is not necessary. They hate the idea of people challenging them with superior arguments.

afroniger:


Indeed it is. In a democracy, the majority can even choose to elect the wrong candidate sef. As long as he lies promises/tells them what they want to hear. Truth of the matter is that any first-term governor in Nigeria that can manage to not owe civil servants salaries would have a brighter chance of securing his second term, even if he does so at the expense of much-needed infrastructure. And that will not change anytime soon.

Why are you siniging another tune now?

What about those 'infrastructure' that APC has 'provided' in Osun? When are they going to generate IGR now?

The civil servants salaries were not paid for several months under the guise of providing 'infrastructure' in Osun.

porka:


Why are you siniging another tune now?

What about those 'infrastructure' that APC has 'provided' in Osun? When are they going to generate IGR now?

The civil servants salaries were not paid for several months under the guise of providing 'infrastructure' in Osun.

Osun people apparently prefer their salaries being paid regularly than infrastructures. And they made that clear through their voting pattern in the last governorship elections in the state. Infrastructures costs money, a shitload of it too, mind you. You can't expect to have the kind of infrastructure Dubai has without sourcing the money for it somehow. It's either you tax heavily, borrow heavily to pay for building such infrastructure or you depend on investors to come and build them with some sort of incentives. But most investors/industries won't even come and invest unless some basic infrastructures are already in place. So something has to give.

For most states in Nigeria that are addicted to being dependent on federal allocation, don't expect much in terms of fantastic infrastructure/development anytime soon because the people generally don't understand that development comes at a cost, expensive one at that. Plus, they seem not to be comfy with the idea of paying taxes which is one of the ways government can raise money for capital projects.

Presently, according data released by NBS, the bulk of most government IGR in most states (with the exception of Lagos and a handful of other states with decent amount of industries and thriving private sector) come from paye tax deductions from civil servants salaries, which also explains why all states that are owing salaries also have extremely low IGR; which makes sense because without salaries there'll be no paye revenue. This is the case in most 'civil service' states.

We need to go back to the drawing board and come up with a local/customized model of development for ourselves as a country because the current one is simply not working and neither is it sustainable. China is not a democracy, yet it is outpacing the U.S (which is the beacon of democracy) in terms of development, because it is operating a homegrown system that is working for it as a nation.

afroniger:


Osun people apparently prefer their salaries being paid regularly than infrastructures. And they made that clear through their voting pattern in the last governorship elections in the state. Infrastructures costs money, a shitload of it too, mind you. You can't expect to have the kind of infrastructure Dubai has without sourcing the money for it somehow. It's either you tax heavily, borrow heavily to pay for building such infrastructure or you depend on investors to come and build them with some sort of incentives. But most investors/industries won't even come and invest unless some basic infrastructures are already in place. So something has to give.

For most states in Nigeria that are addicted to being dependent on federal allocation, don't expect much in terms of fantastic infrastructure/development anytime soon because the people generally don't understand that development comes at a cost, expensive one at that. Plus, they seem not to be comfy with the idea of paying taxes which is one of the ways government can raise money for capital projects.

Presently, according data released by NBS, the bulk of most government IGR in most states (with the exception of Lagos and a handful of other states with decent amount of industries and thriving private sector) come from paye tax deductions from civil servants salaries, which also explains why all states that are owing salaries also have extremely low IGR; which makes sense because without salaries there'll be no paye revenue. This is the case in most 'civil service' states.

We need to go back to the drawing board and come up with a local/customized model of development for ourselves as a country because the current one is simply not working and neither is it sustainable. China is not a democracy, yet it is outpacing the U.S (which is the beacon of democracy) in terms of development, because it is operating a homegrown system that is working for it as a nation.

You succeeded in muddling things up.

The government in Osun State right now is a continuation of the immediate past government that boasted of 'massive infrastructure' already provided. Have they not been provided? Why are you saying Osun people don't like infrastructure? Why the sudden attacks on the civil servants who just want to be paid their salaries in order to 'live within their means'?

Osun State was one of your first experiment of 'progressivism'. They have procurred all manner of debt to finance 'infrastructure'. That was what we have been told. Has the experiment failed? Are you regretting the provision of these 'massive infrastructure' now? How come the magic is not working again?

Why are you people in the habit of making unreasonable comparisons? UAE is a sovereign country with Dubai as its largest city. It has only 9.3m people living in it. It produces 2.9m barrels per day (More than what Nigeria, with over 170m people, produces daily). It is an Emirate without any accountability to anyone apart from the mullahs. If they like, they can carry money and purchase football clubs in Europe or spend in casinos in North America they will still have enough balance to experiment with.

Even with all this, it took them over 30 years to get all you see there in place. But you want Osun to develop to Dubai by magic at the expense of the civil servants salary. Why this unnecessary mention of Dubai each time?

Nigeria's own Abuja was built from the scratch over several decades. It boasts of fairly reasonable infrastructure more than any city in the country. Has that translated to 'massive jobs' now? Abuja simply does not have any economy outside government business. There are even more universities located in Osun more than there are in Abuja with all its infrastructure. (Note that licenses for these universities were obtained long ago).

China''s economy is the creation of the west. There is absolutely nothing home grown in it. Companies in the west simply took their production to China and other Asian countries to reduce labour costs back home. What China did was to swallow their pride and open their economy to globalization instead of continuing with stupid economic policies. You have a lot to study on how these things have played out.

Yet, for all you have read about China, it is still a developing country. Human development ranks higher on any scientific index than so-called infrastructure. The economy of a nation is about what people produce. The value of the socalled infrastructure in an economy is not more than what people use it for. As long as you see Chinese students going to American universities to study science and technology and economics and finance, China will merely struggle behind America.

China will never be competitive without innovation. Innovation elevates the economy. China is not structured to be innovative with the kind of political system it operates. Plurality of leadership accelerates innovation more than the command style they operate in China currently.

It is not infrastructure that use people, it is human beings that use infrastructure. You cannot just be riding up and down in trains without any meaningful thing to do. Development should not come at the cost of human existence: human beings are the ones being developed. If you ask people to drop dead because you want to develop, what have you deveoped.

With this type of shifting the goal post in your new narrative now, you are only saying that your bogus 'infrastructure leads to jobs' conjecture has failed woefully in Osun State. Except you are saying that 'massive infrastructure' have not been provided.

porka:



You succeeded in muddling things up.

The government in Osun State right now is a continuation of the immediate past government that boasted of 'massive infrastructure' already provided. Have they not been provided? Why are you saying Osun people don't like infrastructure? Why the sudden attacks on the civil servants who just want to be paid their salaries in order to 'live within their means'?

Osun State was one of your first experiment of 'progressivism'. They have procurred all manner of debt to finance 'infrastructure'. That was what we have been told. Has the experiment failed? Are you regretting the provision of these 'massive infrastructure' now? How come the magic is not working again?

Why are you people in the habit of making unreasonable comparisons? UAE is a sovereign country with Dubai as its largest city. It has only 9.3m people living in it. It produces 2.9m barrels per day (More than what Nigeria, with over 170m people, produces daily). It is an Emirate without any accountability to anyone apart from the mullahs. If they like, they can carry money and purchase football clubs in Europe or spend in casinos in North America they will still have enough balance to experiment with.

Even with all this, it took them over 30 years to get all you see there in place. But you want Osun to develop to Dubai by magic at the expense of the civil servants salary. Why this unnecessary mention of Dubai each time?

Nigeria's own Abuja was built from the scratch over several decades. It boasts of fairly reasonable infrastructure more than any city in the country. Has that translated to 'massive jobs' now? Abuja simply does not have any economy outside government business. There are even more universities located in Osun more than there are in Abuja with all its infrastructure. (Note that licenses for these universities were obtained long ago).

China''s economy is the creation of the west. There is absolutely nothing home grown in it. Companies in the west simply took their production to China and other Asian countries to reduce labour costs back home. What China did was to swallow their pride and open their economy to globalization instead of continuing with stupid economic policies. You have a lot to study on how these things have played out.

Yet, for all you have read about China, it is still a developing country. Human development ranks higher on any scientific index than so-called infrastructure. The economy of a nation is about what people produce. The value of the socalled infrastructure in an economy is not more than what people use it for. As long as you see Chinese students going to American universities to study science and technology and economics and finance, China will merely struggle behind America.

China will never be competitive without innovation. Innovation elevates the economy. China is not structured to be innovative with the kind of political system it operates. Plurality of leadership accelerates innovation more than the command style they operate in China currently.

It is not infrastructure that use people, it is human beings that use infrastructure. You cannot just be riding up and down in trains without any meaningful thing to do. Development should not come at the cost of human existence: human beings are the ones being developed. If you ask people to drop dead because you want to develop, what have you deveoped.

With this type of shifting the goal post in your new narrative now, you are only saying that your bogus 'infrastructure leads to jobs' conjecture has failed woefully in Osun State. Except you are saying that 'massive infrastructure' have not been provided.

You are the one muddling things up bro. In my post I tried to explain one of the reasons why Osun's IGR hasn't improved commensurate with the new infrastructure that the immediate past governor put in place (which is even barely adequate by modern standards). Osun's case really isn't that peculiar relative to other states in Nigeria because most states are still spending more on recurrent expenditure than on capital expenditure. I agree that productivity and human capital development is a huge factor in determining economic progress, and from some news reports I came across, the state scored the second highest in human capital development under the last administration.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/guardian.ng/news/human-capital-development-index-osun-ranks-second-in-nigeria/amp


Perhaps it is valid to argue that the fruits of that administration's efforts may take some time to manifest as they merely laid the foundation for a more productive populace.

Don't get it twisted. I am not endorsing the idea that civil servants should be owed salaries. No. But a situation where the allocation that comes into the state can barely pay the salaries of civil servants, whom (according to Aregbesola) constitute less than 2% of the entire population of the state, calls for some serious sober reflection on our current system of governance.


In Osun's case, apparently the immediate past governor felt he could sacrifice workers salaries for his idea of 'developing' the state, and evidently this didn't go down well with at least half of the state's population.

The crux of my argument is that a lot of Nigerians generally seem to measure progress in governance based on prompt payment of workers salaries, which some state governors are well aware of. I first got some insight into this during a conversation with an Oyo state indigene some years back after I asked him why the general populace (especially in within the state capital) seem to love ex-governor Rasheed Ladoja so much years after leaving office, and his response was simply that it is because under his tenure the civil servants always got their salary payment alerts by the 25th of every month (two other residents of the state also later confirmed this sentiment). He didn't achieve much else beyond that to earn their fondness and adulation; he didn't raise the state's IGR during his tenure (the state was completely dependent on federal allocation, just like most other states before the crash of oil prices), no memorable or legacy infrastructural development to his name, except prompt payment of salaries.

As per your view on China, let's just agree to disagree because I am in no mood for any back and forth debate over that.