Let
the bookmakers take note, let the so-called experts learn from the
ordinary people and let the historians write that history is being made
in Osun this very day. The power of e-learning and its resultant
benefits now wait at the fingertips of our children. This was not the
result of a gift from a stranger or from accident.
This fine development
is the harvest of innovation, hard work and the commitment to public
education and enlightenment of our children by the governor of the State
of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola and his excellent team. On behalf of
the children and their parents, I thank the governor for opening this
important portal of knowledge to our youngest ones.
The introduction of Information and Communication Technology,ICT, in
Education and the provision of Opon-Imo (Computer Tablets) for students
in the public Senior Secondary Schools in the state is groundbreaking
and signposts the dynamic future of tertiary education in the state and
beyond.As a result of this important initiative, school children
hitherto separated from the global stream of information and knowledge,
are now connected with and to the world by virtue of “opon Imo.”
By investing in this modern tool of knowledge and adapting it to
local needs so that our children may more easily benefit, Governor
Aregbesola and his administration have improved our educational
resources by a bold quantum leap. Things that once were outside the
grasp of our system to teach or learn are now in the hands of both
teachers and students. Knowledge we would have struggled for months or
years to acquire is now available in minutes and seconds. What the
governor has done is revolutionary and beneficial. It is a symbol of the
positive benefits of progressive governance commitment to the welfare
of the people and to the future of our children.
The governor did not do this to attract accolades. He did this
because it was the right thing to do. He did this not for himself but
for posterity. In so doing, he and his team have acted boldly to secure
both the present and future educational well-being of the children of
Osun.
With “Opon Imo” and other programs, we are witnessing the silent
revolution that reached this state once Governor Aregebsola took the
reigns of governance from those who had previously abused them to work
only for their own selfish benefit. Today, Osun is alive as if a new
dawn has come to it. The state now as an air of progress, justice and
equity. Improvement and development now mark this state. Ditto for other
Action Congress of Nigeria States. From Lagos to Edo, Ekiti, Oyo and
Ogun States the imapact of good governance is being felt.
We surely live in a world of numerous possibilities in which new
tools, ideas and technology are being fashioned to do things more
effectively than before. Perhaps, the most astounding development in the
past decade or so has been the opening of frontiers for acquiring
knowledge. Since the advent of the computer technology, the creation of
the cyber space and the migration of content from multiple disciplines
of knowledge, the ability to educate and learn have benefited greatly
but only for those governments and individuals with the wisdom to take
advantage of these breakthroughs. The trend in ICT offer better
opportunities for learning and leaders must appropriate them to move
their societies forward
Recognizing the critical role the Internet plays in knowledge
acquisition, the United Nations has invested resources to produce the
famous low cost lap tops for school children in developing countries,
particularly Africa.
Opon Imo is our answer to conquering the diseases of illiteracy and
the lack of knowledge. It is a bold, courageous step toward engendering
e-learning and to place Osun on the map of states leading the way in
this nation and in africa with regard to modernizing public education.
What Osun is doing all other states should and must do. It is nothing
short of unlocking the doors of knowledge to our youth. And a
knowledgeable nation eventually becomes a prosperous, stable and just
one.
The significance of what we witness today cannot be drowned by the blustering of our political detractors. Their vision can be described in one word: Empty. We have seen it and there is nothing to it.
The significance of what we witness today cannot be drowned by the blustering of our political detractors. Their vision can be described in one word: Empty. We have seen it and there is nothing to it.
Rather, this milestone will be recorded as a classic example of how
one visionary leader brought the world to his people and his people to
the world. How he empowered them with knowledge, validating the maxim
that knowledge with power.
The youth and children who benefit from this tool will someday
represent us. They will become leader in business, banks and boardrooms,
they will be scientists and engineers, and they will learn to fly our
air crafts, run government, teach in our universities and build the
nation. The seed for that bright future is being sown. We all have a
responsibility to water it and watch it grow into a bountiful harvest.
I thank you for listening.
Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. June 3rd, 2013
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