Why Osun emerged as third largest economy- Renaissance Capital Renaissance Capital, a leading emerging markets investment bank in Africa, has explained reasons for the selection of Osun State as the third largest economy in Nigeria with GDP per capita of $2, 368, This is contained in the report of Social Economic profile of Nigeria ’s 36 states and Federal Capital Territory (FCT) released recently by Renaissance Capital. In the report, FCT emerged as the largest economy with GDP per capita of $4,094 equivalent to the per capita of Tunisia and Ukraine . This is followed by Lagos State -$2,915 equivalent to the per capita of Morocco and Sri Lanka . The State of Osun is the third with wealthiest people in Nigeria with per capita of $2,368, also equivalent to the per capita of Cameroon . The contribution of Osun and two others helped to raise Nigeria ’s GDP per capita during the year to $2,697. GDP per capita is often considered as an indicator of a country or state’s standard of living. It is the value of all final goods and services produced within a country in a given year, divided by the average (or mid-year) population for the same year. This shows that residents of FCT, Lagos and Osun State have the highest standard of living and purchasing power in Nigeria . According to the report, the GDP per capita of Osun state is higher than other South West states and oil producing states of the Niger Delta. The States following Osun in descending order of ranking include Oyo ( $2.165), Nasarawa ($1.997), Imo ($1.983), Kaduna ($1.860), Rivers ($1.859), Abia ($1.855), Bayelsa ($1.816), Anambra ($1.814), Akwa Ibom ($1.783), Edo ($1.756), Akwa Ibom ($1.631), Katsina ($1.554), Kano ($1.525), Cross River ($1.495), Zamfara ($1.492), Ondo ($1.457) and Ogun ($1.454) among others. The socio-economic profile report of the Renaissance Capital about the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ranking of states in Nigeria shows that Osun ($9.4bn) is also number seven on the ranking table. This implies that the GDP representing 3.5 per cent of Nigeria ’s GDP is the seventh biggest economy in Nigeria despite being a non-oil state. In this case the biggest state economies is led on the table by Lagos ($31.2 bn), Kano ($16.8bn), Oyo ($14.2bn), Kaduna ($13.3), Rivers ($11.3 and Katsina ($10.6). Again in terms of GDP, Osun led all the South East States and other oil-rich states in the South-South. The GDP of States behind Osun include Imo ($9.1 bn), Anambra ($8.9bn), Akwa Ibom ($8.2bn), Borno ($8.0bn), Bachi ($7.8bn), Niger ($7.6bn), FCT ($6.8bn), Edo ($6.7bn), Abia ($6.3bn), Plateau ($6.2bn), Benue ($6.1bn) and Delta ($6.0bn). Others follow in descending order with Gombe at the bottom of the table with GDP of $2.9bn. On assumption of office in 2010, the administration of Governor Rauf Aregbesola in Osun State had blocked all the leakages that were existing in the state revenue which jerked up the state internally generated revenue from N300million to N1.6billion. The Northern state of Jigawa, which is bothered by Niger Republic is home to Nigeria ’s poorest people with average per capita of $850 equivalent to that of Central African Republic . The emergence of Osun state as the third state with residents of highest purchasing power is informed by programmes of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola led administration such as Osun Youth Empowerment Scheme (OYES) which targets engagement of 20,000 youths annually. It is a revolving volunteers scheme designed to eliminate the frustration and paralyzing effect of unacceptably high and seemingly intractable youth unemployment pervasive in Osun nay, Nigeria . The OYES corps are deployed to productive services in identified areas of socio-economic life and paid a basic allowance to help cover basic needs. The scheme could only accommodate 8 per cent of those who applied in 2010 when it was launched. During the period over 250,000 youths applied to join the OYES as graduates of high school and tertiary institutions who had not found work for eight to ten years after graduation. Of this quarter of a million applicants, about 200,000 were qualified to serve as Cadet Volunteers. However, 20,000 persons were recruited as the first batch of the OYES in fulfilment of Governor Aregbesola’s promise to engage 20,000 persons within his first 100 days in office. According to experts from Renaissance Capital, consumer companies are likely to find the greatest opportunities in state with highest per-capita income such as Osun and FCT Abuja. They stated that: “We think consumer companies are likely to find the greatest opportunities in states with greater purchasing power, as indicated by relatively high per capita income, including Lagos , Oyo and Osun in the south west, Kaduna in the North and the Niger Delta states.” Another initiative which contributed to the rise in socio-economic profile is the Osun rural Enterprise and Agricultural programme (O-REAP). It was designed to revive agriculture as the main stay of Osun’s economy and consolidate on the giant strides made by the old Western Region Government. O-REAP is the State’s programme to achieve agriculture reformation and economic growth. The vision is to make the State of Osun the food basket of the South West and serve 10 per cent of the Lagos food market so as to boost the wealth of farmers. The programme has been creating job opportunities for farmers through massive increase in agricultural production. Agribusiness opportunities are being created by linking farmers to consumer and industrial food markets for the selling of their produce. This is also increasing household income and the internally generated revenue of the State through the payment of taxes for individuals engaged in the agriculture sector and other agro-allied industries. Another focus supported the report of Renaissance Capital is the Osun Elementary School Feeding and Health Programme now known as O-MEALS. It is the one of the few surviving school meal programmes in the country. It was formerly known as the Home Grown School Feeding and Health Programme (HGSFP) . This has now been restructured and enhanced by the administration of the State of Osun , to reach a larger number of students (254,000) and to empower over 3,000 community caterers. The feat recorded by O-Meals is beside Opón Ìmò Technology Enhanced Learning System (OTELS), developed as a learning tool that could revolutionize learning in developing states around the world. This tool is called the Opón Ìmò, “Tablet of Knowledge”. The government of Osun state last year commenced the distribution of free computer tablets otherwise known as ‘Opon Imo’ (tablet of knowledge) to students in the state’s Senior Secondary Schools. The distribution kicked off at Ataoja School of Science in Osogbo, the state capital, where about 387 students in SS 2 were given the mobile device. The government has said the learning device would be given to students in SS 1 to SS 3 in all its secondary schools The ‘Opon Imo’ contains apps such e-book library, integrated test zone and 17 virtual classroom subjects to enhance e-learning for the students. It has also created jobs for participants recruited by the manufacturer from Osun state. Despite the criticism of the unification of school uniforms, the programme as part of the effort by the State of Osun to create a unique identity for students, promote culture and stimulate the local economy has attracted additional socio economic benefits to the State. These include, the building of the biggest Garment Factory in West Africa , named OMOLUABI GARMENT FACTORY located in Osogbo. Also, the scheme is designed to empower some 3000 workers into the garment production industry. The state government provided 750,000 of these uniforms to all students in all public schools in the State to reduce the cost of providing school uniforms for parents and then enable them to invest the money in other areas to boost their purchasing power. In the drive to beat the first and second wealthiest states in Nigeria , recently, ingenious job creation strategies being employed was realized by the state government to banish poverty and unemployment when the Rlg Adulawo Technology City , a $50million worth investment was opened by Rlg of Ghana in Osogbo located along Ilesa-Osogbo road. This has opened yet another opportunity to boost the wealth of Osun people because at least, no fewer than 100 graduates of the OYESTECH scheme were absorbed in the first instance. There is certainty that more graduates will be employed in that company. The opening of the new technology city, Osun has recorded a landmark with the assemblage of Information Communication Technology devices such as ipads, laptops, telephone handsets, plasma television sets where youths from the state are assured of more employment opportunities. It is expected that the socioeconomic profile of Osun will jump to the first position at the end of 2014 with adequate security put in place, good road networks that link the various parts of the state, a re-orientated populace that now embraces the ethics of hardwork and honesty in businesses. Governor Aregbesola had promised to put the state of Osun with a population of 4 million on the path of socio-economic development when he took over. The formulation of right economic policies has been attributed for the growth in the economy of the Osun from N110 billion Gross Domestic Product (GDP) recorded in 2010 to over N800 billion last year. The GDP is the measure of economic activity. Thus, there are diverse economic activities that took place in the state in response to proactive economic policies of Gov Aregbesola. This includes trade, transportation, energy, mineral, energy, telecommunication, construction, agriculture and manufacturing, The ranking of Osun above Anambra, Enugu , Imo and Ebonyi among others implies that the level of economic activities in Osun is higher than these states. The steady investment in infrastructural development like dual carriage roads, power, hospitals and education among others contributed to the growth in the GDP of Osun. Renaissance Capital, a leading emerging markets investment bank in Africa, has revealed that Osun, Lagos and Oyo states are the leading economies in Nigeria . Another factor expected to improve economic activities and wealth of Osun people is the existence of six Universities including Obafemi Awolowo University , Osun State University , Bowen University ,Heritage University, Oduduwa University and Ladoke Akintola College of Medicine The GDP per capita will also continue to rise as Osun continues to produce more graduates from proactive programmes of the existing tertiary institutions including Federal Polytechnic Ede, Osun State Polytechnic Iree, Osun State College of Technology Esa Oke and Osun State College of Education, Ilesa. This will help to achieve the target of N10billion IGR.
Posted on: Tue, 01 Apr 2014 13:08:17 +0000
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