Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, Governor State of Osun.
Osun has been ranked second in Human Capital on Nigeria’s first sub-national competitiveness index released by the National Competitiveness Council of Nigeria.
The report released this month by the council took two years of research into factors that drive competitiveness in Nigeria’s 36 states and the FCT.
The research, which was funded by Ford Foundation and The Tony Elumelu Foundation covered more than 2,000 businesses, 8,000 households, 400 indicators and four pillars.
In Human Capital, which covers education, migration, gender equality and health, Osun came second after Delta State, whilst Enugu State took the third position, just as Kebbi, Borno and Gombe took the last three positions respectively.
Osun recently received several knocks after BudgIT, a socio-economic organisation released its State of the State 2016 Report, where it claimed Osun cannot meet its obligations due to its huge deductions for debt repayment from its Federal Allocation.
Though the state continues to pay its work force in an arrangement that sees workers on levels 1-7 (67 percent of total workforce) receive their full salary, whilst workers in grade level 8-12 (25 percent of workforce) receive 75 percent of their salaries, while workers on grade level 13-17 (8 percent of workforce) receive 50 percent of their salaries, according to the Osun government..
Meanwhile, the state government in its defence on the BudgIT report, revealed that the state invested heavily in human capital, saying independent reports from several credible local and international organisations have ranked Osun high in all the Human Development Indices.
Commissioner for Information, Mr. Adelani Baderinwa, reacting to the report on Sub-National Competitiveness Index, said: “This again has vindicated our government. We borrowed funds for infrastructural and human capital development.
“The ranking of Osun as second in Human Capital amongst the 36 states of the federation in the First Sub-National Competitiveness Index is an endorsement of our belief that investment in education and other critical infrastructure can never be overemphasized.
