6YRS AFTER INAUGURATION: OPON-IMO DEVICE HAS TRANSFORMED INTO LEGACY PROJECT IN NIGERIA

Opon Imo is a technological innovation like 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th G network that has to be built upon. Governor Oyetola could change the content of Opon Imo which is a legacy project in Nigeria. Opon-Imo cannot disappear because it is a device of knowledge which millions of Osun State students and Nigerians have benefitted from. If the mega schools that Rauf Aregbesola built have not disappeared, Opon –Imo cannot disappear. Those that are saying Opon-Imo disappeared want to give bad name to Rauf Aregbesola. Aregbesola deserves commendation not condemnation for introducing Opon-Imo to Nigerians. Opon-Imo is one of the legacy projects of former Governor Rauf Aregbesola. Its sustainability now depends on Governor Oyetola the present governor of Osun State. Opon-Imo has not disappeared from Osun State public schools and it is left for the present government to sustain the policy. It is on record that former Governor Aregbessola came up with Opon-Imo, produced them and handover them to schools.
WHEN former governor of Osun State, Ogbeni Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola, launched tablet of knowledge popularly known as Opon Imo, the device was received with enthusiasm by students, teachers and parents believing that it will bring the needed revolution in the education sector, especially in the state.
But six years after in inauguration, the device has become a national legacy. The device, according to Aregbesola then cost the state government a little below N3 billion to build. Also, the device has three sections; e-textbooks, past questions (WAEC and JAMB) and virtual classroom for all approved subjects from SS1 to SS3. Though some residents of the state were sceptical about the sustainability of the projects, the state government insisted that it is sustainable and more cost-effective. Why we launched Opon-Imo—Aregbesola Explaining the rationale behind the project to a gathering of academia at the prestigious Weatherhead Centre for International Studies of the renowned Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts in the United States, Aregbesola said the device will save the state N8.2 billion in buying textbooks. Aregbesola told the gathering: “As part of our education reform, starting from next month, we are introducing Opon-Imo, an IPad-like computer tablet, which is a smart electronic teaching aid, to our secondary school students. This tablet is pre-loaded with 17 subjects that students offer during West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examinations, WASSCE, in the form of lesson notes and textbooks. It also contains six extra-curricular subjects in sex education, civic education, Yoruba history, Yoruba traditional religion, computer education and entrepreneurship education.”

Explaining the content of the device, Aregbesola said: “Also to be included in it is 10 years past questions and answers to be provided by the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board, JAMB, and the West African Examinations Council, WAEC. “The tablet has bridged the gap of carrying books in sacks, their wear and tear and subsequent replacement and also provides ready learning tools. Opon Imo neither has internet connectivity nor does it interface with other devices in order not to distract the students. Knowing that power is still a problem, especially in rural areas where there is no electricity, a solar charger will be supplied with it. “Through this initiative, the state government seeks to expose pupils of its senior secondary schools to information technology at an early age. “Our investment in computers for secondary school pupils was born out of our conviction that the future belongs to the digital age and it will be disastrous if our youth are not prepared for this.” Six years after, Opon-Imo visible in many states in Nigeria—Students However, six years after its introduction, Opon-Imo has become a national and international device in many schools.

Former Governor Aregbesola has been honoured by WAEC to lead digital education in Nigeria. This truly is a tremendous opportunity for Aregbesola to help more Osun students get access to quality education. In the new global economy, digital education is an increasingly important part of education, and Aregbesola looks forward to guiding efforts to further expand the reach and breadth of digital education and its courses throughout Nigeria.
West African Examination Council, WAEC, endorsed former Governor Rauf Aregbesola’s policies, especially in the education sector. Delivering a frame of endorsement to the governor on Friday, 3rd February, 2017, Head of the Nigeria National Office of the council, Mr. Olutise Isaac Adenipekun, who led a delegation of the national management of WAEC to the Governor’s office in Osogbo, said Governor Rauf Aregbesola’s interventions in education is “second to none” in Nigeria.
Whether critics like it or not former Governor Aregbesola has laid foundation and remain the pioneer of digital education in Nigeria and he represents agent of change as far as digital education is concerned in Nigeria.. History of Digital Education will remember Governor Aregbesola as the first Nigerian to implement UNESCO 2011 recommendation on digital education. Nigerians need to visit Osun Sukuk Schools, Middle Schools and Elementary Schools. Governor Aregbesola has undertaken to build and equip schools with computer classrooms and training teachers to use digital media in education. In this line, Opon Imo “local content’’ in digital education has allowed teachers to use tablets to teach students. In the history of Nigeria, Former Governor Aregbesola will be remembered to be first leader to introduce digital education. Like India, Osun State is working to improve on Opon Imo. In years to come Governor Aregbesola will be remembered as part of digital education in Nigeria.
About 33 states in Nigeria are presently working on how to introduce digital education by using Osun model of Opon Imo. Opon-Imo, the first digital education revolution in Nigeria indeed, almost took books, libraries, laboratories and study materials off Osun schools that were introduced. Former Governor Aregbesola promised that there would be no need of students buying books and other study materials. The tablet of knowledge, indeed, served that purpose.