O’School Osun: Aregbesola’s Bold Education Revolution in Nigeria (2010–2018): Wahab Abiona

“Between 2010 and 2018, Osun State saw WAEC success rates rise from 15.7% to 46.3%, and SSCE ranking improved from 34th to the top 10 nationally. The O’Meal program boosted school attendance by 25%, while over 150,000 students received Opon Imo tablets, saving ₦50 billion on textbooks. The state employed 3,230 new teachers, built 170 state-of-the-art schools for over 200,000 students, and renovated 2,000 classrooms, making Osun a standout model of education reform in Nigeria”.

When Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola assumed office as Governor of Osun State in 2010, the state’s education sector was deeply troubled. Infrastructure was in decay, and student performance plummeted, with just 15.7% of students earning credit passes in WAEC, while truancy and under-resourced schools plagued the system. In response, Aregbesola launched the O’School Program, a sweeping and multifaceted reform initiative targeting the root causes of educational decline. This program aimed not only to improve academic outcomes but to redefine the purpose of education in Osun by embedding moral values and digital innovation.

Vision and Structural Reforms.

The reform blueprint was borne out of a 2011 high-level education summit, chaired by Nobel Laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka, which brought together stakeholders to redesign the state’s educational framework. One of the summit’s key outputs was the restructuring of the school system into three tiers: Elementary Schools (Primary 1–4), Middle Schools (Primary 5–JSS 3), and High Schools (SSS 1–3).

The O’School initiative embraced a holistic approach, integrating infrastructure development, teacher recruitment, digital learning, moral instruction, nutrition, and discipline enforcement under one umbrella. These interventions were guided by the Omoluabi ethos, a Yoruba moral philosophy promoting ethical values such as integrity, honour, critical thinking, discipline,  diligence, and community spirit.

At the heart of the reform was a massive infrastructure overhaul. Aregbesola’s government built 170 modern school complexes across the state: 100 elementary, 50 middle, and 20 high schools. The schools are large-capacity institutions, with elementary and middle schools accommodating about 1,000 students each, and high schools holding 3,000 students.

These facilities were equipped with modern desks and chairs (over 62,000 units), fenced compounds, medical rooms, toilets, libraries, science laboratories, boreholes for water, and green recreational areas. Additionally, over 2,000 classrooms in existing schools were renovated to match the improved standards. One notable example, the Ayedaade Government High School in Ikire, was designed to host 3,000 students and was commissioned in 2018 with Nigeria’s Federal Education Minister in attendance. President Muhammadu Buhari commissioned Osogbo Government High School, Osogbo, with a 3000-student capacity, on September 1, 2016.

To meet growing educational demand, the administration recruited approximately 3,230 new teachers in 2013, enhancing student-teacher ratios and subject coverage. Teacher training and capacity development programs were also introduced to improve instructional quality. A particularly innovative addition was the creation of Education Marshals officers tasked with curbing truancy by identifying out-of-school children and returning them to classrooms. This real-time intervention helped combat absenteeism and reinstated a culture of discipline in public schools.

One of the educational reform program’s most important components was O’Meal, a homegrown school feeding initiative that served nutritious meals to over 252,000 elementary pupils daily. The meals were prepared using locally sourced ingredients such as eggs, chicken, and vegetables, supplied by Osun-based farmers and youth from the Osun Youth Empowerment Scheme (OYES). Within six months of the program’s rollout, student attendance increased significantly by 25%, a great achievement in a region struggling with school dropouts.

Another major component was the O’Uniform Scheme, which provided free uniforms and sandals to all public school students. This not only reduced the financial burden on parents but also stimulated the local textile industry, particularly through the establishment of a garment factory in Osogbo, which created jobs and boosted small-scale manufacturing.

Arguably, the most transformative innovation was the introduction of “Opon Imo”, a solar-powered tablet preloaded with the full senior secondary curriculum, past exam questions, Yoruba cultural modules, and interactive study guides for WAEC, NECO, and JAMB. Over 150,000 students received the device. International bodies such as UNESCO, WAEC, and the United Nations World Summit Awards praised the initiative. It also saved the state over ₦50 billion in textbook procurement costs.

The impact of these reforms was dramatic. The percentage of students earning five or more credits in WAEC (including English and Mathematics) rose from 15.7% in 2010 to 46.3% by 2016. Osun moved from 34th to 18th in national rankings within a year and entered the top 10 performing states by 2013. These improvements demonstrated that systemic investment in hardware (infrastructure) and software (human capacity and curriculum) can yield substantial gains in learning outcomes.

The O’School reform uniquely integrated Omoluabi values into the educational process in a society facing moral erosion. This included character education, community service, and structured extracurricular activities. Calisthenics, a form of group physical exercise involving music and coordinated drills, became a signature part of student development. Additionally, programs like the Omoluabi Boys and Girls Club encouraged leadership, responsibility, and teamwork among pupils.

O’School Osun has been recognized as a model education reform program in Nigeria and beyond. Its combination of digital innovation, infrastructural transformation, nutritional support, and moral instruction has been referenced by international development partners, including the World Bank. The Federal Government’s Homegrown School Feeding Programme drew heavily from Osun’s O’Meal model, and the Opon Imo tablets sparked nationwide conversations about digital learning in public education.

The O’School Program under Governor Rauf Aregbesola represents a landmark in Nigeria’s subnational education history. In less than a decade, Osun State transitioned from a failing system to a nationally celebrated example of education reform. The program’s core pillars, modern infrastructure, daily feeding, teacher revitalization, digital learning, and moral instruction delivered a threefold improvement in academic performance and reinvigorated public confidence in government schools. While the need for sustainability and rural outreach remains, the initiative is a blueprint for transforming education and impacting the economy through bold, integrated, and values-driven policy interventions. It is a testament to what is possible when visionary leadership meets strategic execution in the education sector.