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TUESDAY, APRIL 15, 2014 From another PDP stalwart came a message of 'well done a good ambassador' to the workaholic and result-oriented Governor of the state of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola over the weekend. The pat on the back
VOL. 9. NO.045
Front Page Comment
Orji Kalu's assessment of Aregbesola given to Mr. Aregbesola by a former Governor of Abia state, Dr. Uzor Orji Kalu who was on tour of South-West
with his team is quite notable. And it reminds us of that very important quote from that great thinker, Jerome K. Jerome;
"It's always the best policy to speak the truth unless, of course, one is exceptionally a liar". Truth, they say, is bitter. But no policy surpasses speaking the truth. Continue on pg5
Who Killed Chief Bola Ige, formerAttorneyGeneral and Minister of Justice?
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IGE
Aregbesola Picks APC Guber Ticket With Fanfare •El-Rufai, Akamukali Warn Against Election Rigging - See Story On Page 2
•The governor, State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola (with mic), addressing after winning the All Progressive Congress (APC) Governorship Primary Nomination Election, at Nelson Mandela Freedom Park, Osogbo, State of Osun, last Saturday. Photo: GBENGA ADENIYI
Defeating Aregbesola More Impossible Than Difficult - Osun APC
- See Story On Page 2
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OSUN DEFENDER Tuesday, April 15, 2014
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Aregbesola Picks APC Guber Ticket With Fanfare •El-Rufai, Akamukali Warn Against Election Rigging By KEHINDEAYANTUNJI
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OVERNOR of the State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, has emerged the flagbearer of All Progressives Congress, APC in the August 9 governorship election in the state. The governor, after the Nelson Mandela Freedom collation of the party Park, Osogbo, APC congresses results in the National Assistant 332 Wards in the state Secretary and Chairman of scored 269,631 votes out the Congress Committee, of 355,729 registered Mallam Nasir Elrufai, last members of APC in state. Saturday, said the Announcing the result at congress was peaceful the state collation centre,
across the state and urged people to protect their votes in August 9. He assured that the APC would not relent in giving the best to Nigerians if given another opportunity by people of the state come August 2014. He said: “The National Working Committee of the party is proud of Aregbesola and have resolved that as soon as the APC takes over leadership
at the federal level, three out of the many good programmes of the governor would be adopted. The OYES scheme will be introduced in 36 states of the federation as well as the school feeding programme and the “Tablet of Knowledge (Opon Imo). “A political party gave its ticket to someone they believe can rig election but the people of the state must
protect their votes. I urge the people of Osun not to allow any form of rigging; you should be prepared to vote wisely and at the same time protect your vote jealously. “We are going to be here to protect our mandate; they can not rig South West. Those who rigged the South-West in 1964 knew what happened” ElRufai said. The former minister
•The governor, State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, addressing members of the Nigerian Union of Tailors, State of Osun Chapter, during the conferment of Life Patron of the union on him and endorsement of his second term in office in Osogbo last Tuesday.
Osun Assembly Promises Support For Police By KAZEEM MOHAMMED HE State of Osun House of Assembly has promised to give all the necessary support to the state command of the Nigeria Police to prevent any security breach before and during the August 9 governorship election in the state. Speaker of the Assembly, and recently that somebody Honourable Najeem Salaam, from here from another party gave the assurance while struggling to take over the receiving in his office the state, was appointed as state Commissioner of Minister Police Affairs. “We are not saying Police, Mr Ibrahim somebody should not Maishanu, on Thursday. This was just as the enjoying his power, but police boss promised not to every step that would be be dissuaded to stick to his taken must be lawful. “We urge the police and mandate to be fair to every other security operatives to party. Salaam who stressed that work together to maintain the activities of some the peace we are enjoying politicians have been here and whoever wants to showing signal of violence, disrupt that peace should be said, such attack like the one brought to book”, Salaam against a former governor, said. Responding, the Isiaka Adeleke, who was attack by politicians from Commissioner of Police the same party, PDP, must allayed the fear of the people, saying, “the fact be checkmated. He said: “We have been that the Minister of Police enjoying the peace since the Affairs is from here would assumption of the present not dissuade us from being administration, until recently fair”. He said that his mandate when the election is approaching that we are from the Inspector-General witnessing intimidation from of Police was to be firm, fair and professional, assuring some quarters. “We see this period as a that the mandate would be period of challenge for you, strictly followed. Maishanu also said that especially when the ruling party here is not the same the fact that Osun is very with the one at the centre calm would not make the
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police authority to relax, especially at this critical period of election. Promising to insist on the rule of law, the police boss urged the people of the state to give him benefit of
doubt and report any incidence to the police, instead of taking laws into their hands. At the event were the deputy Speaker, Honourable Akintunde
Adegboye; Chief Whip, Ipoola Binuyo; Honourables Samson Fafiyebi, Ajibola Akinloye, Bello Osuolale and Babatunde Komolafe among others.
Defeating Aregbesola More Impossible Than Difficult - Osun APC By ISMAEEL UTHMAN T is mere wishful thinking for PDP National Chairman, Alhaji Adamu Muazu, to say that, “it is difficult but possible for Omisore to lead the PDP to victory in the August 9 governorship election in the State of Osun. The All Progressives progress he has brought to Congress (APC) in a swift the State. response has described “Mu’azu’s wish for Osun Muazu’s wish to replace people”, the APC said, “is a APC’s Aregbesola with poisoned chalice; it is evil”. PDP’s Omisore as, “more According to the party, impossible than difficult.” “you cannot replace According to the APC, goodness with evil in broad what Muazu wants to do is daylight against the wish of like replacing a Winston the people who are Churchill with an Adolf beneficiaries of that Hilter in Great Britain. goodness. IMPOSSIBLE”, the party “What the PDP Chairman said. perhaps does not know is “Omisore is the antithesis that the only purpose of of Aregbesola in every Omisore in seeking Osun material particular of the governorship is a diabolical Osun political landscape, passion to reverse “the APC said, adding that everything Aregbesola has “these two people are poles done since November 2010 apart; the one notorious for to date. violence and terror while the “These include those other is popular for the landmark project initiatives landmark development and which the United Nation’s
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agencies, the British Parliament, the Deputy High Commissioner of Great Britain to Nigeria and several other international organizations have commended and cited as models for Africa and other developing countries. Even the PDP-led government had acknowledged and replicated some of Aregbesola’s spectacular initiatives. “So what could be their purpose for sponsoring a candidate who is sworn to destroy everything Aregbesola has done in the state?” The APC asked. The party continued:, “It is ok that at least the PDP chairman recognizes the difficulty of his misplaced wish to return PDP to power in Osogbo”. However, the APC assures Mu’azu that his party’s wish is outside the realm of possibility.
later presented the Certificate of Return to Governor Aregbesola. Obviously elated on his emergence, Governor Aregbesola commended members of the APC for presenting him for another term, saying the APC would not let the people down, considering its achievements in the last three and a half years. He said the task before the people of Nigeria is to wrestle power from the PDP at the federal level, saying it is not the destiny of Nigerians to be in penury. Aregbesola said: “Since 1999, a party has been at the helm of affairs in Nigeria and that party has done nothing but wrecked the nation, from North to South and in every part of this country, there is chaos, instability and violence everywhere and it is caused by the same bunch of destroyers, “They failed us in education, health, security and many others. The APC will guarantee security and stability throughout the country if voted into power. “For seven and a half years, that party of destroyers reigned in Osun; they virtually crippled and destroyed our state, the APC is ready to restore the glory of our dear state and rescue it from backwardness. We must all do everything within our power to ensure that the destroyers don’t return to power in this state” The governor assured the gathering that the development which the state has witnessed within the last three and a half years will continue as his government is ready to create wealth and ensure that there is enough food for all. “With what you have seen that we achieved in the last three and a half years, it shows that we are not just a government that dwells on empty promises, we don’t just promise and talk, we work out our promises. Before we came into power, the task before us was to do everything humanly possible to move the state forward and we shall continue with that trend. “The APC will ensure that there is food security, the APC will guarantee liberty and justice. Our party will make happiness possible again, peace will reign in our land through the APC, progress will come and we shall restore human dignity. These are the promises of our party. “We should all begin to tell ourselves that it is only the APC that can deliver good governance in the country; we should not leave the campaign to politicians alone,” he noted.
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OSUN DEFENDER Tuesday, April 15, 2014
Osun Bomb Blast: Prison Warder Revealed Suspect Was Not in Prison Till Aregbesola’s Declaration •We Do Not See Any Diary - Police By ISMAEEL UTHMAN
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EMBERS of the audience at an Osogbo High Court were on Friday stunned when a prison warder, Mr Toye Ayotunde Ajibade, disclosed that the prime suspect in the July 15, 2007 bomb blast that rocked the State of Osun Secretariat, Mr Adesanmi Abayomi, was not in prison custody for close to three years. Abayomi was ordered to be Governor Rauf Aregbesola was remanded in prison custody by declared the winner of the April Magistrate (now Justice) Jide 14, 2007 gubernatorial election Falola on March 10, 2008 by the Appeal Court. alongside some chieftains of Abayomi, according to the Action Congress who were sources, was taken to the accused of complicity in the Government House Annex, bomb blast. Osogbo by the Peoples But Abayomi, according to Democratic Party government the prison warder was not which compromised the brought back to the prison until suspect to implicate chieftains November 26, 2010 when of the Action Congress of
Nigeria (ACN) in the bomb blast. Testifying before Justice Adeyinka Aderibigbe on Friday, the prison warder said Abayomi spent two years; eight months and sixteen days outside prison without any bail paper presented to the prison authority. Ajibade who was admitted at the hearing of the matter as Prosecution Witness 5, stated that Abayomi was first reminded in prison on November 9,2007 and taken to the magistrate court on March 10, 2008 but did not return to the prison until November 26, 2010. Investigation revealed that
Abayomi was surreptitiously rushed to the prison when the news of Aregbesola’s victory at the court filtered into the state. Also, a Police Inspector, Mr Elisha Olusegun, who led a team of policemen from the State Crime Investigation Department (SCID), Osun Police Command, to the scene of the crime, said the police did not recover any diary in the wreckage of the exploded vehicle. According to Olusegun, who was the Prosecution Witness 4, after thorough search, only a tin was found inside the exploded Peugeot 505 car with some electronic gadgets and
some business cards. The police inspector stated that his team was the first investigative team to arrive at the crime scene. Olusegun’s revelation contradicted the claim of the Investigating Police Officer, Inspector Danlandi Audu, from the then Special Anti-Robbery Squad, who took over the matter after the purported discovery of the mysterious red diary. Audu who failed to produce the red diary when he was testifying before the court on March 10, 2010 said that the police indeed recovered the red diary under the driver’s seat of the car wreckage but he did not know what happened to the diary or its whereabouts. He said that the diary was nowhere to be found, disclosing that the diary was never shown to Adesanmi and that the suspect was not also with the police when they recovered the diary. It would be recalled that the Chairman of the Action
Congress then, now the Secretary to the Government of the State of Osun, Alhaji Moshood Adeoti, the then Secretary of the Party, Prince Gboyega Famodun, the Director of Publicity, Research and Strategy now the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr Sunday Akere, an elder brother to the Deputy Governor, Elder Sunday Laoye popularly called ‘Akunamatata’ an Assistant Director, Bureau of Communication and Strategy, Mr Gbenga Fayemiwo, were arrested, arraigned and remanded in prison based on the content of the said diary. The state Commissioner for Justice and Attorney-General, Mr Adewale Afolabi, who led other counsel from the state Ministry of Justice, asked for an adjournment of the case to enable him search for other witnesses. However, the case was adjourned till May 16, 2014.
Osun Awards N710m Fertilizer Contract
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•The governor, State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola (right), addressing a mammoth crowd during Endorsement of his Second Term in Office by Iwo Community, in Iwo Local Government, State of Osun, last Friday.
HE State Government of Osun at its last Executive Council meeting approved contract for the procurement of fertilizers ahead of the 2014 planting season to the tune of N710 million. A press statement issued by received the approval of the the state Commissioner for state government. He said the types of Information and Strategy, Mr Sunday Akere, after the meeting fertilizers to be purchased disclosed that the State include 3500 metric tonnes of Agricultural Development NPK at N6000 per bag and Programme (OSSADEP) 2500 metric tonnes of Urea at request to procure six thousand N5800 per bag. According to the metric tonnes of fertilezer commissioner, the company supplying the product, Sunshine Oil Chemical what they have been yearning Development Limited, would for, noting that marketers from deliver the consignment before within and outside the state will payment is to be effected. He added that the contract start coming to Osun to learn from them and this will boost sum covers logistics and haulage, saying the consignment must be the economy of the state. Present at the event were the inspected by both the State state the deputy governor, Tender Board and State Otunba (Mrs) Grace Titilayo Planning Committee prior to the Laoye-Tomori, the SSG, Alhaji payment to ensure conformity Moshood Adeoti, butchers in with the contract terms while Iwo, cow sellers and excited no variation will be accepted people of Iwo and environs. from the contractor.
Aregbesola Lays Foundation Of Modern Abattoir In Iwo By KEHINDEAYANTUNJI
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OVERNOR of the State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, last Friday turned sod for the foundation of the Ultra Modern Central Abattoir at Popo area of Olupona. The abattoir, according to to the railway line,” the the project manager, will have governor said. State Commissioner for the capacity to handle 200 heads expandable to 400 heads Agric and Food Security, Hon. Wale Adedoyin, declared that of cow per day. It is expected to be the meat industry in the state completed in the next 15 has been in a pitiable condition months on Public Private for quiet a long time with Partnership arrangement previous governments paying according to the collaborating little or no attention to the ugly company, Hanfirqul Nigeria situation which is why government of Ogbeni Limited. Speaking at the ceremony, Aregbesola has decided to take Governor Aregbesola said that the bull by the horn. “The intervention of Iwo was chosen because of its long history in cattle rearing and government in the sector has butchering, adding that the transformed to job creation abattoir when completed will which has necessitated the create job opportunity for the employment of nine qualified people of the area, as the Veterinary officers and other workers will be selected within supporting staff engaged mainly in the meat inspection the area. He said:” This abattoir duties and other vetinary project, on-completion will activities”. Adedoyin pointed out that attract graduates, as they will see for themselves that the abattoir to be built in Iwo contrary to the belief in some is one out of six which will be quarters that the business is for replicated in all the six zones illiterate class, they will then in the state, announcing that the see that meat business goes next sod will be turned in Osogbo this week by Ogbeni beyond what people think”. He described the abattoir Aregbesola. He added that it is the project as one that will attract huge economic benefit to the beginning of a new era for state when completed as there butchers, cattle dealers and is an already made market in ultimately the consumers of Lagos because the people in the meat in the state, as very city consumes over 6,000 hygienic and wholesome meat fit for human consumption cattles everyday. “The abattoir has an already would be made available to the made market especially in consuming populace. Representative of the Lagos and this is why we have situated the abattoir very close partner company, Hanfirqul
Nigeria Limited, Mr Dapo Adelosu, emphasized that the company is proud and happy to be part of history in the State of Osun. He said for the fact that the modern abattoir is the first to be built in the whole of Western Nigeria, it is a pointer to the fact that Osun is a unique, target-oriented state in the country. In their separate remarks, the
Chairman of the Butchers’ Association of Nigeria, Osun Chapter, Alhaji Tiamiyu Gafaru and the Chairman, Iwo Cow Sellers Association, Alhaji Wale Olufare, who both said that the two associations have jointly adopted the second term bid of Ogbeni Aregbesola stated that the abattoir when completed will go a long way in boosting their business. They said the abattoir is
Accreditation: NITDA Commends RLG Adulawo Factory By FRANCIS EZEDIUNO
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S part of its efforts to get accreditation from the Fed eral Government of Nigeria, communications giant, RLG Communications Nigeria Limited, conducted a tour of their newly-commssioned RLG and Adulawo Factory located on the Akure-Ilesa Expressway with a delegation from the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Sheda, Abuja. Speaking during the accredi- technical labs spread across. The offshoot of the training tation and assessment tour, RLG Communications Coun- gave birth to the opportunity try Director; Ilesanmi Tosin, of setting up a factory in Nigedisclosed to the inspection team ria which was commissioned on that the communications giant 30th of January, 2014 by the state governor.” started operations in 2011. He explained that with the He also revealed that the reason why NITDA was coming commissioning of the factory for a visit after a long while was and training of workforce done, because of the agency’s insis- the RLG was now ready to rentence that visible infrastructure der services to Nigerians which must be on ground before an was an important ingredient in inspection visit would be fea- adding value, adding that the communications company was sible. The country director stated the first to locally assemble that RLG got majority of its computers and GSM phones in work force from the State of the country. Ilesanmi also revealed that for Osun Government Youth Employment Scheme, OYES, who now, software and application were trained in information tech- were done abroad while the assembly was done locally with nology. According to him, ‘the train- the provision of local content. He maintained that the RLG ing was spread across the nine Federal Constituencies with Communications was not in the
market to run down competition but rather to encourage it, stressing that the company alone could meet the phone and laptop needs of Nigerians. As part of its encouragement of bio-diversity, the director revealed that it had installed a gas plant for bio-fuel, adding that with time, the factory would be replicated in other states of the Federation. The NITDA team which was led by Director, Admin and Human Resources; Mr. Jonathan Olaonipekun, took a tour round the factory to the research and development lab, training centre, technical lab, mobile phone and laptop assembly plants, warehouses, common rooms, kitchen and hostels, enterprises kiosks, locker rooms for male and female, show rooms, offices (admin and reception), customer services, control room, bio conversion plant and the 500 KVA transformer which was donated by the state government. In his response, Mr. Olaonipekun stated that it was a very interesting tour and he
was impressed by the level of work done. He assured the RLG team that the accreditation they sought would be given. Olaonipekun also charged the management of RLG to request the assistance of the state government in the provision of a standard police post to take charge of the security since the factory is sited along a busy expressway. Other members of the inspection team also commended the RLG team for the good work it had done and also advised them to get fire fighting gadgets and make available a medical unit in case of such emergencies. Others on the NITDA entourage included: Mr. Dejo Olawunmi; Assistant Director Infrastructure and Technical Support Service; Mr. Sarafa Lawal; Assistant Head Software and Outsourcing, Mr. AbdulMalik Bello; Principal Scientific Officer, Standards, Guidelines and Regulations and Mr. Oladokun Lukman; Senior Executive Officer, Corporate Affairs.
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OSUN DEFENDER Tuesday, April 15, 2014
Orji Kalu's assessment of Aregbesola Continued from pg1
And this is the reason why our society must not hesitate to recognise a few men of honour who have chosen to follow the path of honesty by being able to speak the truth when the need arises irrespective of their political, religious and other ideological beliefs. The positive comment by Dr. Kalu about the performance of Ogbeni Aregbesola in the state of Osun shows that there still exist among our leaders, those who prefer to say things as they see it irrespective of whose ox
is gored. We believe this to be the hallmark of honourable people. Even as a member of opposing political party Dr. Kalu would not close his eyes to the reality he found on ground in Osun apropos the sterling performance of Ogbeni Aregbesola.
other things that; "though I am a member of the Peoples Democratic Party, I cannot close my eyes on the numerous achievements the government of Aregbesola has recorded which spread across almost all areas of human life".
With his objective assessment of Ogbeni's performance in the state the former number one citizen of Abia state has identified himself as a person who would not see white and call it black and vice-versa. In his words over the weekend as reported by Sunday Sun Dr. Kalu had said among
While we cannot quote verbatim all that the candid Dr. Kalu said, it is still important to quote him further; "with what I have seen in Osun, I have come to the conclusion that the PDP has nothing to offer in this state. This is a state where you can see true development, a
state where the government is committed to the development of its state and its people. We will not because of our party divides not to say the truth". Dr. Kalu's courage for saying the truth as quoted above deserves to be appreciated. We are proud of him for his sense of candour. The PDP in the state have also heard for themselves from one of them. Thus what this means is that no amount of desperation on its part, no amount of running from pillar to post and no amount of campaign of calumny against the government of Aregbesola can make the party (PDP)
Omisore: Let’s Be Vigilant T
HIS is the time for the people of Osun to be vigilant and wary of the man who has been desperate for years to assume the governorship seat of the state without making any headway, but now has the ticket of his party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The fact is that the man I am taking about, Iyiola Omisore, has the trademark of violence and his actions and utterances within the past years, months and weeks have explained the kind of person he is. Don’t forget that this man, alongside his cohorts, including the present Minister of Police Affairs, Jelili Adesiyan, was fingered in the killing of the former AttorneyGeneral of the Federation, Chief Bola Ige, but were eventually discharged and
acquitted. His discharge was suspicious and still raising questions till today. We should not also forget that the role played by Omisore in April 14, 2007 governorship election in Ile-Ife, whereby many people were killed cannot be over-emphasised.
People would also not forget in a hurry, the killing of five innocent persons in a church in Ile-Ife at the eve of the 2011 National Assembly elections. The killing was suspectedly sponsored by Omisore. The most recent one was the attack on the
former governor of the state, Senator Isiaka Adeleke, who was also an aspirant of the PDP in the coming August 9 governorship election. With all these antecedents among others, one would wonder why this man is still walking freely on the
streets without anybody challenging him, to the extent of coming out to again say he wants to be a governor by hook or crook means. There is no doubt the fact that if this man eventually becomes the governor of this state, God forbid, Osun will be a
violent society, where criminals would have their ways. One other question that people need to ask is, what are the programmes this man has to transform Osun? This is because, somebody who is jostling for the number one seat of the state is expected to have come up with his programmes. Though, it is left for the people of Osun to decide who they want as governor, but in deciding, we must be vigilant and not allow ourselves to be deceived, so that we will not be returned to the era of violence which Osun was before Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola came in. •WASIU ADEYEMI, Ilobu, Irepodun Local Government Council, Area, State of Osun.
win the coming governorship election. No doubt the victory is for Ogbeni Aregbesola whose government has done much good for the state. It's also important to mention it at this juncture that Dr. Kalu would not be the first PDP bigwig to commend Aregbesola's performance. We recall here that Senator Chukwumerije did openly applaud Aregbesola's good work in the state when he and other members of the Senate Committee on education came on assessment tour to the state in 2011. He even recommended his (Aregbe's) style of governance especially his education r
reforms to other state governments then. In the light of the above we believe the truth has spoken for itself. Truth, as thesaying goes, is constant. It's uncoverable just as it's unchangeable. It will always speak for itself as it will speak in the coming election when the wish of the Osun electorate will prevail; when Ogbeni Aregbesola will have cause to stand before his people again to say; 'thank you for returning me, the good work continues'. Until then, who will tell the PDP and its desperate candidate not to continue to chase shadow?
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OSUN DEFENDER is published by Moremi Publishing House Limited, Promise Point Building, Opposite Guarantee Trust Bank GTB, Gbongan Road, Osogbo, State of Osun. All correspondence to the above mail address. ISSN: 0794-8050 Telephone: 0803-392-7286, 08033880205 Website: www.osundefender.com/index.php e-mail: osundefender@yahoo.com
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Renaissance OSUN DEFENDER Tuesday, April 15, 2014
THE OMOLUABI CONCEPT IN THE STATE OF OSUN
Humanizing Education Through Reclassification (III) The intention of this edition is to close chapters on the relevance of the schools’ reclassification exercise of the incumbent administration to the inculcation and propagation of the concept of Omoluabi in the presentday State of Osun. NIYI OLASINDE concludes the series as an opener to further issues to come on the Omoluabi ethos.
•O’CALISTHENICS, ONE OF THE INTEGRAL TENNETS OF THE OMOLUABI CONCEPT:A cross section of participants displaying calisthenics of ‘RAUF REVOLUTION’ and ‘OSUN A DARA’ during the Oodua Children’s Day celebration at Osogbo City Stadium in May last year. Inset: (L-R) The Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade; the governor, State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola; his wife, Sherifat and the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, on the occasion.
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MAGAZINE
OSUN DEFENDER Tuesday, April 15, 2014
Humanizing Education Through Reclassification (III)
•BOLD STEP IN THE DIRECTION OF SCHOOLS’ RECLASSIFICATION: The governor, State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola (arrowed), addressing his numerous admirers during his official commissioning of Baptist Central Elementary School, Ilare, Ile-Ife, State of Osun, recently. Contiuned from page 5 ·
Continued from last week. E find it most apt once again to maintain a link with the last edition in order to maintain a flow of facts in such a manner that no single aspect of idea brought to the fore is lost, hence we draw reference to the following relevant portions of the closing parts of the edition: Following the declaration of a state of emergency in the education industry in the state, the administration of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola swung swiftly into action when in February 2011, the first-ever Education Summit was put together for the State of Osun. The agenda and thrust of the summit was to actively engage a rich pool of ideas, skills, experiences and expertise of participants; drawn from diverse and related disciplines from Nigeria, Africa and the Diaspora in order to fashion out lasting panacea to the multifaceted hydra headed challenges that had hitherto plagued the sector. As part of the findings and recommendations of the summit, which was chaired by no less a personality than the academic icon and internationally reputed Nobel Laureate in Literature, Professor Wole Soyinka, the teaching-learning environment was identified to be of high preponderating and contributory influence on impact of delivery, efficacy and good outcome. It would not be a mismatch, therefore, to attribute the emergence and evolution of the State of Osun Schools Infrastructure Development Project, known for short as O’SCHOOLS to the numerous landmark breakthrough achievements of the inaugural Education Summit for the State of Osun held in February 2011. Another in the list of programmes rolled out by the incumbent administration sequel to the State of Osun Education Summit is the ongoing Schools Reforms and Reclassification. By the tone of the reclassification, no school was going to, in nomenclature or identity lose the name given to it by its initial owners before the take-over of the mission schools by the government in September 1975. Also by it, the speculation that some pupils or students would have to trek long distances to and fro schools on daily basis is off-track. It is also an unfounded fallacy that government has the ulterior motive of partial or massive retrenchment of teachers at the back of its mind by initiating the programme. In addition to this, the calculated lie fabricated that the Government Unusual has embarked on the mass demolition of school structures claimed to have been erected by the immediate past administration is both unsystematic and irrational. The governor has continuously spared no available medium to debunk these rumors. The Deputy Governor, who also doubles as the State Commissioner for Education has never relented in disabusing the minds of citizens and residents and insulating them from believing these bunches of lies. Below are excerpts from responses by Otunba Lai Oyeduntan to questions bordering on these malicious insinuations: On the negative protestation against the whole essence of providing the public education sub-sector with brandnew infrastructure, this response provides the most apt response: “Osun Schools Infrastructure Development Committee is the Project Management Office (PMO) of Schools Infrastructure Development Project for the State of Osun. The Schools Infrastructure Development Project is an
W
intervention mechanism, one of the intervention mechanisms introduced by the government of Ogbeni Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola to revamp the education sector of the state. Our project is essentially to superintend the development of the most decayed and largely dilapidated structures in the schools for basic education in our state. I don’t know whether I will agree with you that the public does not know. If anything at all, we have had a lot of exposure in terms of what we stand for, what we do, how we do it and even the activities that we have been engaged in. The name, the coinage ‘’O’SCHOOLS’’ has been the name for the committee to the extent that many of us have had to answer to the name ‘’O’SCHOOLS’’. O’SCHOOLS is the alias of the committee.” The impetus for the new infrastructural development is here given in lucid terms: “Firstly, there’s no difference. It is a development. It is an enhancement. It is an enhancement of the environment where our teaching and learning functions take place. Why I say there’s no difference? One, the setting on which we are doing our intervention is based on the existing schools. The schools are there, but they have deteriorated so badly that they had become dysfunctional. Yes, some people started that idea in the past, and it is time to improve on it, to modernize it, to bring it up to track with modern Twenty-First Century standards. So what we’ve been making is a transformational projection of what we have been doing and bringing it up to track with the best practices all over the world.” Reacting to the insinuation that demolished school structures are strong edifices that are legacies of the immediate past administration in the state, the chairman responded as follows: “Well, the truth is that we have had to remove dangerously dilapidated structures from our schools. One, at the beginning of this committee’s assignment, we toured the schools and found structures that constituted immediate danger to the users of the premises and this made us to invite the heads of the schools; that is the headmasters and the principals to give us reports and file their returns and give us details of such structures in their premises that are considered to constitute immediate danger to students. We received their requests and we found out that four thousand and fifty five (4,055) structures were noted to be dangerously dilapidated. You must know, for emphasis, we only go to remove those structures that have been identified by the schools. So we only go to those schools on invitation by the heads of the schools to help remove dangerously dilapidated structures. What that means in essence, is that whatever structures we remove, would have no adverse effect on the capacity of the affected school to function the morning after; because we are only invited to come and remove structures that were not in use as at the date of removal. So it is not true that the intention was to put the schools and the users in hazard or difficulties; the intention was not haphazard. The structures were demolished based on the specification of the users. It was structured and it was mapped out.” The devilish notion contrived that the administration intended through the O’SCHOOLS or the Reclassification exercise to make pupils or students of schools to trek long distances to and fro schools is debunked with this response: “It is not true. It is not possible. It is not practical that
we ever moved pupils/students from Ipetu-Ijesa to IjebuIjesa or any of such locations. First of all, I’ve thrown a challenge to the public. Anybody who can identify a structure that was removed without the invitation of the affected schools should please let us know or contact us. I don’t want you to confuse an attempt by a committee in the Ministry of Education to implement the new schooling structures. That is a different thing entirely. That was a recent event and the government is on top of it to make sure that this is done properly. For us as O’SCHOOLS, our relics, purview, our mandate is to superintend the introduction of infrastructure in our schools, and nobody has suffered any deprivation as a result of our activities. The only wholesale demolition we witnessed so far are those school structures marked for demolition for the purpose of immediate redevelopment; and as of today, twenty-four (24) of such schools have been developed.” Lastly in this edition, we shall refer to the Chairman’s response to questions bordering on speculated schools’ merger and the imminent submerging of initial ownership. Also, this response allays the fear of teachers’ retrenchment: “I would have to clarify certain things. The policy of restructuring the schooling system, the policies of even the average size, optimum size of these schools are not arbitrary. They are not new and they are not even farfetched. The results of that reorganization will justify the exercise. Right now, most of these schools are already of that same size. We have primary schools with the population in excess of one thousand (1,000) all over the state. We have secondary schools with population in excess of 2,000 plus all over the state. But what do you have? In one premises, you have three, four schools. In one premises, you have several schools. All we are doing is rationalization; which is optimizing the allocation, the application of resources. Part of the resources is the teachers, and they are on top of the chart. Why do you have schools with two teachers, three teachers; four teachers; five teachers; and they have two or more schools in that same premises? Why not aggregate them and reschedule them and make the time table and allocation of teachers a lot easier? Then comes the issue of maintaining the schools. The environment is very, very important for the development of the mind. That is even more so for the young mind, the young impressive mind. That is the budget and that is what we are aiming at That the environment should be conducive; and be of support to a developing mind that is learning and maturing into wholesome personality.” These question and answer sessions were held at a time when the schools’ reclassification exercise had not begun to take effect. At the time the responses were made, the idea of reclassification had not yet been publicly known it was then at the conception stage. Yet the responses are still found apt and relevant! This shows the depth and extent of the preparedness, commitment and consistency of the Government Unusual to its programmes and policies. The programmes and policies of the incumbent administration in the Sate of Osun are mutually reconstructive. They are integrative, well-knit, symbiotic, interdependent and interwoven.
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UR last edition closed at the point at which we were clarifying issues that had come up in previous editions pertaining to the events and happenings in
Contiuned on page 11
OSUN DEFENDER Tuesday, April 15, 2014
PHOTOTALK
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APC Congress And Governorship Primary Election In The State Of Osun Last Photo: GBENGAADENIYI. Saturday.
•(L-R) Senator Bayo Salami; Speaker, State of Osun House of Assembly, Honourable Najeem Salaam; Chairman, State of Osun APC Governorship Congress Committee, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai; Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola; State APC interim Chairman, Elder Lowo Adebiyi; member of the committee, Hajiya Ramatu Aliyu immediately after Governor Aregbesola collected his certificate of return last Saturday.
•(L-R) Secretary of the congress committee, Mr Olishe Emeka; Hajiya Aliyu and Mr Sunday Jacob (members).
•(L-R) Honourable Leke Ogunsola; Honourable Lasun Yusuf; Senator Jide Omoworare and former Speaker, State of Osun House of Assembly, Honourable Mojeed Alabi at the APC governorship congress.
OSUN DEFENDER Tuesday, April 15, 2014
PHOTOTALK
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APC Congress And Governorship Primary Election In The State Of Osun Last Saturday. Photo: GBENGA ADENIYI.
•Governor Aregbesola (with mic), addressing after winning the All Progressive Congress (APC) Governorship Primary Nomination Election, at Nelson Mandela Freedom Park, Osogbo.
•A sea of heads at the programme.
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PHOTOTALK
OSUN DEFENDER Tuesday, April 15, 2014
APC Congress And Governorship Primary Election In The State Of Osun Last Photo: GBENGA ADENIYI. Saturday.
•(L-R) The Chairman, State of Osun APC Congress Committee, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai in a handshake with Governor Rauf Aregbesola at the congress in Osogbo last Saturday.
•(L-R) Deputy Governor State of Osun, Otunba (Mrs) Grace Titi Laoye-Tomori congratulating her boss, Governor Aregbesola after he was presented certificate of return.
•Some of the INEC officials from Abuja at the Osun APC governorship congress last Saturday in Osogbo.
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PHOTOTALK
OSUN DEFENDER Tuesday, April 15, 2014
APC Congress And Governorship Primary Election In The State Of Osun Last Saturday. Photo: GBENGAADENIYI.
•Barrister Ajibola Bashir (in glasses) with APC members during the ward congress at Ward 7, Osogbo local government, Osogbo, last Saturday.
•A cross section of APC members at ward 5, Osogbo local government, Osogbo, during the ward congress.
OSUN DEFENDER Tuesday, April 15, 2014
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Humanizing Education Through Reclassification (III) Contiuned from page 6 the public education sub-sector in the State of Osun. The previous edition had sought out to dig deep in to the crux of the matter that constituted rot, decay and deterioration in the sub-sector; to the extent that as at the time of takeover of the reins of power and governance by the Aregbesola administration, the public education sub-sector in the state had so deteriorated that it was becoming almost extinct. It was in that regard that we set out at the earlier stage of that edition to trace the events which constituted the antecedents of the man Aregbesola in power, his determination and deep-seated interest in assuming the responsibilities of power and governance of the state, his election campaigns and his pact with the people of the state. There is a relevant portion of this pact which has become a sort of terms of reference for us in virtually all editions pertaining to ongoing reforms in the affected subsector. Owing to the down-to-earth relevance of that particular portion of the Pact, OSUN DEFENDER Magazine shall here draw reference to it all over again, at least for the purposes of emphasis and reminder. It runs as follows: “My mission and ambition are to restore to the people, a state of peace, opportunity, for progress and room for the pursuit of prosperity in our time under a people friendly government. I give you Six-Point Integral Action plan, to the intent that they constitute my actions of faith concerning which I want to be held accountable at any time during my stewardship. SIX POINT INTEGRAL ACTION PLAN · Banish Poverty · Banish Hunger · Banish Unemployment (Create Work/Wealth) · Restore Healthy Living · Promote Functional Education · Enhance Communal Peace and Progress” Further in the line of drawing specific reference, we have the following: CIVIL SERVICE REFORMS “There is the need for a civil service reform that will not lead to any loss of jobs as I Rauf Aregbesola do not believe in laying people off in the name of reforms. Our reform will make the work environment more conductive, stimulating and development oriented. Bonuses, incentives and regular awards shall be instituted to promote a culture of excellence in the civil service along with the prompt payment of salaries, allowances, leave bonuses and year end performance bonuses. Promotions and comprehensive salary reviews and increases shall be regular. Internal and external training, work exchange programmes and overseas training shall be actively reinstituted for comprehensive human development in the civil service. New Tutor General/Permanent Secretary Cadre shall be created for Teachers in new education districts for better school administration. We shall institute Home Ownership Scheme for public servants and also support and encourage their backyard food production business ventures.
•AREGBESOLA: Governor, State of Osun
We shall do a comprehensive review of civil service names and conventions as part of our efforts to create a people- friendly civil service. Appropriate nomenclature will enhance accountability and promote public access to the services of the ministry. A citizen with a complaint of blockage of drainage will find a Ministry of Roads and Drainages easier to identify with than Ministry of Works, a Ministry of Human Resources and Development will more appropriately communicate its services than a Ministry of Establishment.” WE now swing to the Education sub-heading of the Pact, which we quote as follows: PROMOTE FUNCTIONAL EDUCATION Vision: Eradicate the frustration of youths caused by education that does not lead to employment. “To achieve this, the government of AC under Rauf Aregbesola shall: · Provide free education at all levels in Osun State. Focus on functional education. Education that makes one useful to himself and society. · Improve incentives to teachers and work with the NUT to restore the dignity of the teaching profession. · Restructure administration of school management and create Tutors-General (Permanent Secretary Cadre) from among Head Teachers in three Educational Districts which we will establish.\ · Fix all collapsed educational infrastructures in all the schools. · Support with modern teaching aids and wellstocked libraries. · Ensure cooperation with parents and teachers to improve discipline and morality. · Introduce non-partisan community-based governing boards for all schools. · Reduce number of students per classroom immediately. · Introduce home development plans for teachers who wish to build houses in their home towns, through access to special mortgage packages. · Promote mass adult literacy and numeracy programmes. · Promote and support Special programmes that give special attention to education of girls and women. · Establish institutions that impart life-long skills for all, in and out of formal schooling. ON HIGHER EDUCATION AND UNIVERSITY · I am committed to ensuring that an Osun State University takes off on a sound footing and becomes a first-class institution with linkages to renowned universities in the developed world. · I will make every tertiary institution in Osun State an independent degree-awarding one. · Encourage use of services of retired, but not tired dons and administrators, from reputable institutions.” After the introductory and background aspects traced above, the last edition went ahead to dig deep and pungently the assiduous and dedicated efforts of the administration at turning the tide around in the public education sub-sector immediately after assuming the reins of power and governance in November 2010. In the light of this, we traced the declaration of a state of emergency in the entire sector and the holding of the first ever State of
Osun Education Summit, a convergence which was convened to brainstorm and rub minds over the numerous challenges which had plagued the Education sub-sector of the Social Services Sector of the state over time. We then perused the archives as we brought out relevant words of wisdom concerning the rich, resourceful and time-tested policies and programmes of the incumbent administration. Particularly, it was at the clarification of issues bordering on the much speculated proposed merger of schools and the ensuing insinuated effect of pupils having to be given the untold hardship of trekking long kilomtres distances to and fro their schools daily that we drew curtains on the last week edition. That speculation was confirmed to be untrue, unfounded, baseless and quite illogical. One of the first proactive and decisive steps taken in the direction of stemming the tide of rot and deterioration which befell our public schools was the revival and rejuvenation of the schools’ learning environment. It was a worthy; deserving and apposite step that if education was humanized by developing befitting environment, that action alone would go a long way in reviving the spate of decline in the entire education industry in the state. These reactions by the Chairman of the State of Osun Schools’ Infrastructure Development Committee Project, Otunba Lai Oyeduntan gives the background of the impetus for the schools’ develo0pment in infrastructure as pursued by the incumbent administration: “There is no maximum figure, and governance is a continuum. That means until all schools are brought up to par with the set standards, government should not relent in this direction. So we designed and redesigned our schools and they have not changed within the funding capacity of the government. Since funding is limited, we can now only go for what the government can afford and that is why we are limiting our projections to the stated figures. Well, I have this to say that no school project is being left untouched, why? It is because the concept of dilapidation and reconstruction is precise. Every school taken into consideration will not be abandoned.” Commenting on the number of units of these school structures to be constructed, the Chairman had this to say: “There is no maximum figure, and governance is a continuum. That means until all schools are brought up to par with the set standards, government should not relent in this direction. So we designed and redesigned our schools and they have not changed within the funding capacity of the government. Since funding is limited, we can now only go for what the government can afford and that is why we are limiting our projections to the stated figures. Well, I have this to say that no school project is being left untouched, why? It is because the concept of dilapidation and reconstruction is precise. Every school taken into consideration will not be abandoned.” On the plans ad intents of the administration at the initial stage, vis-à-vis the reality on ground as at the zero hour of implementation, this contribution represents the mind of government: “Yes, the practical it is. I mean it’s not just the optimists; even the realist should have cause to be hopeful. Why? Our plan is a minimum delivery of at least 50 Elementary schools, 33 Middle schools and between 10 to 20 High schools, within the next 15 months. I said 15 months because the high schools is a much bigger project which are projects that will take a longer time to accomplish or complete. And we have started. Out of those numbers,
Contiuned on page 12
•LAOYE-TOMORI: Deputy Governor and Commissioner for Education
OSUN DEFENDER Tuesday, April 15, 2014
MAGAZINE
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Humanizing Education Through Reclassification (III)
•PROMOTING THE ETHOS OF OMOLUABI THROUGH MASSIVE YOUTH EMPOWERMENT: The governor, State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola (with fez cap), leading thousands of OYES cadets in the endurance trek. With him are his deputy, Otunba (Mrs) Grace Titi Laoye-Tomori (right) and other dignitaries sometime ago. Continued from page 11 twenty-four sites are already under construction and some of them would be delivered in a matter of weeks. It is possible and it is not exceedingly optimistic that people are expectant. Government of the State of Osun is committed and we are, on our part as committee, we share the passions of the governor; we share the vision of the government and we are committed to that delivery of quality service and programmes for which this government is renowned.” The reality has not been denied; neither has the administration drifted from its promises to deliver this and that number of these structures for the various categories of schools. Reporting the plans of action of the State of Osun Schools’ Infrastructure Development Committee, OSUN DEFENDER Magazine once documented as follows: “At its inception, O’SCHOOLS as the Project Management Office (PMO) of the Government of the State of Osun was set out for the purpose of the development of infrastructure in Osun schools. In the beginning of its assignment, the primary mandate was to take all necessary steps to build and deliver within 24 months: · 100 elementary schools (2,100 classrooms); · 50 (62?) middle schools; and · 20 high schools Though the committee has not in any way wavered from its commitment to deliver its initial mandate to the people of the State of Osun, exigencies of the present time, governed by limitations imposed by available funds and time has caused it to streamline its efforts to immediately affordable units of structures. According to Otunba Lai Oyeduntan, the O’SCHOOLS Chairman, in a chat with OSUN DEFENDER Magazine crew earlier in the outgoing year, the immediate mandate of the O’SCHOOLS Committee is a minimum delivery of at least: · 50 elementary schools; · 33 middle schools; and · Between 10 and 20 high schools All within the next 15 months! The Chairman also revealed that out of these figures of school structures, work had started and was already progressing on 24 units; with high hope that some completed units shall be delivered latest before the winding of the 2012/2013 academic session.” In September this year, at the occasion of the official commissioning of the first in the list of 900-seater ultramodern schools built throughout the length and breadth of the state, the governor of the State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola made a declaration which confirmed that the claims adduced to by Oyeduntan in the above-quoted response has not turned out to be a farce eventually. The declaration as reported earlier in one of Osun Defender Magazine editions is recapped as follows: “With the present effort of the Government Unusual in the Education sub-sector of the state, we owe the administration nothing short of our kind understanding, support, cooperation and prayers. Let it be noted that as at the time of compiling this report, thirteen (13) units of Elementary schools; fifteen (15) of Middle schools; and
ten (10) of High schools are under construction throughout the nooks and crannies if the state. But once again, if anyone would kick against any policy rolled out for revamping the public schools by government as proprietor of the schools, such one also has the right so to do. But then, let us ask him and do the necessary verification if the accuser has any ward in those schools. It is only those who have wards in those institutions that are genuine stakeholders. It is only those whose children are in those schools who truly know how the experience had been, so they can now best compare what and what constitute the difference.” What the foregoing implies is that as at the time of releasing this edition, there are not less than thirty-eight (38) pieces of school buildings in the various categories of reclassification waiting for official commissioning on the occasion of commemorating the third year anniversary of the Aregbesola administration on Wednesday, November 27, 2013. These brand-new school buildings are one-intown; as they have dramatically transformed the State of Osun into the first among equals, and indeed in consonance with its famous journalistic slogan, a state that is a step ahead of others. The Salvation Army School located at Oke Fia / Alekuwodo Area of the state capital is a project executed as a demonstration master-piece to show to the whole wide world the high, lofty intents of the administration, with regards to turning around the fortunes of our public schools, especially in the area of infrastructure development. Since its official commissioning last September, the school has been effectively put to proper use as a middle school; to the pride of students who are enrolled in the school, admiration of all and sundry in the state; and envy of those who are yet to move into their own brand-new school buildings. As reflected above, the school buildings are soon expected to go round all the nooks and crannies of the state. We also need to add that the schools reconstruction drive of the incumbent administration is directed related to rebuilding of dilapidated buildings; but it is not limited to it. The blueprint encapsulating the tenets of activities which form the terms of reference of the State of Osun Schools Infrastructure Development (O’SCHOOLS) Project Committee reveal the following: a) School buildings as designed and approved; b) External works as designed and approved; c) Landscaping as designed and approved; d) Furniture for students and staff; e) Library, laboratory and workshop equipments; f) Sporting facilities; and g) Any other facility, structure and equipment that may be considered necessary for effective teaching and learning in the schools. It is contained in the said blueprint that to achieve the mandate set for it, the O’SCHOOLS committee assumed the ordinary meaning of infrastructure in this context to be, but not limited to these afore-listed areas of construction; thus the committee has a broad area of activity. It is further revealed in the blueprint that the mega schools are intended to be large enough to attract
necessary amenities and facilities to make learning and teaching environments more conducive and at par with modern-day schools. In actual fact, the school facilities put in place so far are conforming with these conditions. Commenting on the wholesome value of the Education Summit held for the state, its positive outcome and the various activities and events which formed a build-up to it, Otunbe Oyeduntan had the following to say: “Well, I’m sorry to say that I’m not aware that anybody has criticized that summit. I have not seen any fellow doing that! The summit was widely attended. It was widely graced from all over the world by people who are knowledgeable in education, policies, and even in intellectual aspect of it. I am going to answer that question simply because I was involved, both in planning and implementation; and the after-effects. How did we come about the summit? Long before Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola came into office, right from the moment he indicated interest and was given the ticket to contest, he had shown a lot of interest in education. As far back as 2004, he sponsored a remedial programme for Osun boys and girls preparing for external examinations. That time, 2,000 candidates were involved. Extra-mural classes were organized in Osogbo, in Iwo, in Ilesa - about 2,500 candidates I think. And Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola picked the bill to fund the classes, paid for their school certificate entry fee and paid them (the candidates) allowances. When the results came, it was disappointing! It was obvious that there was a lot more wrong with the education sector than trying all these cosmetic approaches for a solution. So between 2005 and 2011, there were so many committees he instituted focusing on education! That is why it was possible that within the first 100 days of his being sworn in, an education committee a summit chaired by no less a personality than Professor Wole Soyinka took place; inviting resource people from all over the world; many of them, our own people, who had made marks in the United States, in Europe, in the Americas and other parts of the country and Africa. Okay, the summary of the findings at that summit identified that it takes more than the teacher, it takes more than the pupil, it takes more than all of these to have all the impact that it requires to increase the fortunes of the education sector. One of these is that the teacher who will teach must be made more efficient. The students must be well prepared, and of course, the environment must be made more friendly and befitting - more enabling! So, the environment must be properly taken care of and that led to the uniform concept introduced by the Government of the state to encourage and of course to motivate the pupils. Teachers are being recruited and being retrained via programmes of training, retraining and promotion courses. Now, we are talking of the environment - we have the O’MEAL programme, we have O’UNIFORM, even O’TEACHERS, so to say, all came as a result of experts identifying and pointing out the crucial steps to take, to set the sector back on track.” On the place of the State of Osun Schools’ Infrastructure Development Project (O’SCHOOLS) among the synergy of programmes which share the “O” acronym under the Aregbesola administration, this was his contribution:
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MAGAZINE
OSUN DEFENDER Tuesday, April 15, 2014
Humanizing Education Through Reclassification (III)
•Oyeduntan: O’School Chairman Continued from page 12
“Yes. I would like to approach your question in two parts. One, “O” concept which is essentially branded; and for students of Psychology and Marketing, we understand issues from the back. Really to anchor the subconscious of the citizens, to harness their talents to the political unit - and this is all over the world. Go to America. America the beautiful! The average child in America does not know anywhere else other than America. And it instills and imbibes in them to accord the loyalty and commitment to service and the selflessness to contribute their quota to that America the beautiful. What we have now - Osun the beautiful! O’SCHOOLS, O’YES – “O” projects! “O” programmes! O’ Commitment! O’ Loyalty! O‘
Governance! A governance concept that focuses on the physical; that enters with programmes and activities that are measured with success or failure or the benefits obtained from it by the people. For the “O” concepts, the branding works well and wroughts wonders. That is one aspect of our programmes. The second question is the economic impact of projects and programmes. As I’ve always said that we cannot be talking of the naira or monetary value of projects we are having without considering the overall contribution in non-monetary terms to the overall economic development of the state. Also, well, our philosophy in O’SCHOOLS for the completion, philosophy for the supervision and the strategy for the site work focuses on the local economy. Go to any of our sites, every resource being used are largely sourced locally. Local builders, local artisans, local tradesmen, local supplies of materials and to a large extent, it’s a leverage policy to put the money that we are spending into the pockets of the people and looking at the big share which the projected capitals committed to the school projects, we are looking at the overall benefit the people can derive or which can accrue to them, even at the implementation stage.” It is the core policy of the Aregbesola administration to make sound quality control mechanism the hallmark of all projects executed with the taxpayers’ money. In road projects, school buildings, hospital facilities and virtually all physical projects put in place by the administration; all hands are always on deck to ensure that they are durable and of long-lasting quality. This claim is lent credence to in this response by the O’SCHOOLS project committee Chairman: “O sure, yes! O yes! Look, the essence of having O’SCHOOLS as Project Management Office is to ensure that our office is to help the contractors deliver - not just being there to supervise, we help them to deliver high quality jobs. In all that we do, we are not compromising on quality at all. Our mechanisms for control and supervision, both before, during and after the construction exercises are superb. In fact, I am very proud to say that we have involved a lot of supervision professionals across construction industries. We have approached the Nigerian Institute of Architects, the Nigerian Institute of Engineers, the NIB - the Nigerian Institute of Builders, and Institution of Surveyors Institutions that control professionals in the building industry to work with us in supervision. From their members, we have appointed people we call TSRs - Technical Site Representatives whose duties are likened to those of site engineers they are resident on the sites, they monitor the construction processes, and that is without prejudices! They hammer on standard professional requirements of supervising consultants as well as our own technical-in-house technical capacity to monitor and supervise work done; to supervise construction work on the site.”
•AWOFISAYO: SUBEB Board Chairman Concerning the abolition of special schools and single-sex schools, I think this is to the best advantage of all; the students in particular. Classification of schools as schools of science, commerce, arts and /or other branches of knowledge, to me, is unnecessarily discriminatory, and as such should be done away with. Also, single-sex schools impair and retard the development of students in heterosexual relationships, especially in later life. As a qualified teacher and expert in the field of education, I have long had my reservations over the expediency of entrusting a child to a single-sex school. Thank God that we now have a responsible and responsive government who thought it likewise. ON the whole, OSUN DEFENDER Magazine has the following concluding remarks to make. Concerning the unfounded speculations of schools’ merger, the good gestures of the Government Unusual deserve much of praises than denigration. With the few cases of completed new school facilities that we have seen, the old names of those schools have not been lost in the process. The most visible case in hand is that of Salvation Army Middle School at Alekuwodo in Osogbo, the state capital. At a time in the 1980s, precisely during the Buhari / Idiagbon military regime, when the merger of schools was earnestly in vogue, nobody dared question the wisdom of the administrations that carried out the reforms in the old Oyo State of which we in the present-day State of Osun were part and parcel. We have spoken extensively on the pitiable conditions of public schools that were inherited by this administration upon its assumption of office three years ago. During the time of the immediate past administration in office, the situation of our schools deteriorated so badly that we who are proud products of those public schools could not hold back our tears for our various Alma Mater. But the old proprietors of those schools (Christian missionaries, Muslim missionaries and communities) never decried the spate of rot, neglect and abandonment which the schools were made to witness. There was apparent conspiracy of silence as our schools were turned into public toilets, arena for social parties, Indian hemp joints, hide-outs for hoodlums and the rest of worst things that a school should represent. Upon this background, it is true and sacrosanct that he who blows the trumpet should be the one dictating the tune. It is also wise to admit that whoever sits in the driver’s seat determines the motion and movement of an automobile. In times past, some administrations in the state had managed the meager resources at the disposal of the state so badly that activities of government were almost dragged to a grinding halt. Also, some governments had failed woefully in the dispensation of social and other responsibilities to the governed. In these areas, they had the shortcoming of being counted among the list of responsible and responsive governments. A case in hand is that of the immediate past administration; during which time in office, subterfuge and profligacy stank to high heavens. Like the scriptures attest, we are all living witnesses to these contrasts. The Rauf Aregbesola administration in the State of Osun has so much impacted positively that it constitutes brazen show of ingratitude and wicked selfishness on the part of any person or group of whatever political leaning to attempt at castigating it just on the grounds that it has succeeded in blocking leakages from the treasury and for making most efficient use of our resources. The administration has also succeeded in increasing the revenue status of the state. These are supposed to be pluses on the ground that the administration should be awarded the highest pass mark when compared with any of the previous ones we ever had; or all of them put together. Though we on the crew of OSUN DEFENDER Magazine may not be in government; holding brief for the government of the day
•KOLABALOGUN: Social Welfare, Youth Sports and Special Needs would not constitute an act of mischievous meddlesomeness. We have the constitutional right like any other citizen of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to express our take and opinions on issues bordering on welfare, well-being and prosperity of our people. As responsive and responsible news media agent, we owe it a duty to direct the thought and mindset of our teeming readers along the right positive values. Today, if all our old schools should be returned to their initial owners, how many of these owners would be able to cope with all the present challenges of ownership in the Education sub-sector? With the present effort of the Government Unusual in the Education sub-sector of the state, we owe the administration nothing short of our kind understanding, support, cooperation and prayers. Let it be noted that as at the time of compiling this report, thirteen units of Elementary schools; fifteen of Middle schools; and ten of High schools are under construction throughout the nooks and crannies if the state. But once again, if anyone would kick against any policy rolled out for revamping the public schools by government as proprietor of the schools, such one also has the right so to do. But then, let us ask him and do the necessary verification if the accuser has any ward in those schools. It is only those who have wards in those institutions that are genuine stakeholders. It is only those whose children are in those schools who truly know how the experience had been, so they can now best compare what and what constitute the difference. After all, he who wears the shoe knows where it pinches! We on the crew of OSUN DEFENDER Magazine are not prophets. But sounding prophetic at this stage could not be sinister. In view of this, we foresee that as the morning shows the day, it is only political stability that can enable progress. Our students are a part of the society just like all the rest of us. The Aregbesola administration is on course doing its best by providing a conducive environment to enable them achieve their goals. Therefore, all must try hard to create that environment because that will reduce the rate of distraction in the surroundings. We agree very much with this submission by one of our sages. So far, we have devoted time and space to discussions on ongoing State of Osun Schools’ Redesign and Reclassification. The next one week or more so shall be interesting and eventful in the state. This shall be so because the administration of Ogbeni Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola in the state shall be celebrating its third year anniversary in office. The administration and the entire citizenry; most especially those who are progress-loving have every cause to celebrate. At the instance of this occasion, the administration shall be commissioning manifold projects; while new ones would be rolled out afresh. We on the OSUN DEFENDER Magazine crew are proud to be part of this celebration – celebration of excellence in administration. We therefore promise you a juicy special anniversary package. Weeks ago, we made a prelude to the anniversary package. We implore our teeming readers to be on the look-out for the commemorative package that would soon hit the newsstand with an amazing thunderous thud. We mutter our happy anniversary wish to all patriots. Osun a dara o.
·
Concluded.
FEATURE
OSUN DEFENDER Tuesday, April 15, 2014
14
APC And Osun Guber Poll
Despite the Governor Rauf Aregbesola developmental politics and policies with colossal empirical evidence everywhere in the State of Osun, would his ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) win the August governorship election in the state, asks ISAAC OLUSESI, pointing up the monumental grounds for the continuity of Aregbesola’s in office. The mechanisms further permit widespread effective public participation in the affairs of the state, eliminate apathy, alienation and cynicism, and bring a positive change in the quality of politics in Osun. Practically, the Aregbesola Walk-To-Live and Gbangedekun have institutionalized other policies of government, placed high premium on accountability, political virtue, leadership responsibility in the governance and party, and obligation of the Osun people.
contrast is manifest. Certain T HE ramifications safe guard the characteristic cohesion, unity, discipline, solidarity and interest articulation in the All Progressives Congress (APC), Nigeria, from diving into sheer political immaturity and anarchy, insensate hostility and mutual suspicion, and unbridled antagonism and acts of incendiarism. In the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP), Nigeria, however, the personalization of the party structures and an illiberal and anti-democratic political culture are political pathologies that have engendered a view of violently competitive politics and processes, meaning the Olusegun Obasanjo door-die politics, and which have also continued to encourage the subversion and desecration of the sanctity and inviolability of the electoral process, with disastrous consequences for democracy in Nigeria. In the PDP, the flexing of muscles often originates not most infrequently from the exchanges meant to show raw power, arrogance of office and a shameless exhibition of clownishness such that the embattled PDP, afflicted by the devaluation of its political morality, staggers continually from one moment of storm and stress to another moment of trial and depression. Hence, its escalated vulnerability to consistently unresolved internal rifts and haemorrhage, nursing self-inflicted wounds, having boxed self into the abyss of selfliquidation, obvious even to a political neophyte. For the ruling APC in the State of Osun, a public election means more than the ritual of voting. But would the APC win the August governorship poll in Osun? Public elections in Osun, to the Osun APC connect many things like high degree of the Osun voters’ political participation at the individual and group levels in the political process; Osun voters’ relevance within the political process and actual control of the government; and Osun voters’ freedom of views on participation, policies and actions of the government without inhibition to the free flow of ideas and discussion for a qualitative improvement of the system. All of these for one purpose: to reach the goals of the Osun Governor Rauf Aregbesola’s 6-Point Integral Action Plan, at the governance level. In Osun politics, the Action Plan and the APC are one and only one,an agenda for democracy and development. The Osun voters have entrusted their political being, political welfare and political future in the Action Plan and the party; and both the Action Plan and the party have demonstrated willingness and capability to look after the collective interests in the State. That is the sociology of the Action Plan and the APC, with the party leaders, party members and Osun voters as the seeing eyes, hearing ears and moving hands. The correlation between the APC effective leadership in the State and its effective membership has gummed up the Action Plan and the party, with the party leadership exerting desirable influence that moves the whole collectivity of Aregbesola’s state cabinet and the state parliament in a shared direction that has delivered such essentials as functional education, functional water, functional physical infrastructure, functional health, functional employment, functional agriculture, functional security and functional economy. Functional education. Primary school and secondary school basic funding grants were respectively raised to over N448 million and over N427 million per annum, respectively from the annual N7.8 million and N117 million; 252,793 elementary school kids being fed nutritious lunch meals daily through O,Meals, increasing primary school enrolment by 25 per cent; strengthened the physical and health profile of over 8,000 pupils through O’Calisthenics; strengthened the capacity of the State Ministry of Education by establishing zonal and local offices and three educational districts and creation of the office of tutor-generals and permanent secretaries; strengthened the capacity of teachers by exposing them to structured trainings; 50 model elementary schools, 31 model middle schools and 9 model high schools being built; 150,000 e-learning tablet computers, Opon Imo being provided for senior secondary school students in the State; and the State has moved up from 35th position in 2010 to 18th position in WAEC. Functional water. Ede headworks and Eko-Ende and Ipetu-Ijesa waterworks rehabilitated and upgraded with water production capacity increased from 17% to 30%; 122 hand pumps provided to 61 communities, with massive repairs of hand pumps across the state; 123 kilometer of waterways dredged and de-silted that have wonderfully kept Osun floodfree. Functional physical infrastructure. The Ido-Osun Aerodrome named MKO International Airport, 128 kilometers of 61 township roads and 294 kilometers of 20 inter-city roads being upgraded; Osogbo Railway Station, modernized; free and innovative rail service between Lagos and Osogbo being provided; Ultramodern mall with over 1000 shops, office spaces, key lamps, cinema, and trailer parks being built; new markets- Dagbolu market, Aje and
•AREGBESOLA
Aiyegbaju International markets, soonest to be commissioned; 1,132 kilometer of roads, 74 kilometer highway connecting Osun to Lagos and 47 kilometers highway linking Osun to Kwara State, 218 kilometers of roads in all the local government councils, and N14.4 billion worth of rural access roads to agricultural production clusters being constructed/reconstructed; transformers were massively distributed to 80 rural communities for electrification; Asejire- Gbongan-Owena Expressway, and selected strategic spots across the State, beautified and rebranded. Functional health. 74 new primary health centres built; 9 state hospitals and 12 comprehensive health centres being renovated; 50 state of the art ambulances for emergency services bought and distributed; 51 contracts for the renovation of all the state hospitals awarded at N1.7 billion; well over 363,253 and 502,174 patients benefitted respectively from the medical services at primary health and secondary health centres; N320 million worth of drugs provided for state hospitals and primary health centres; over 1000 Osun people have benefitted from the 6 medical and surgical missions, providing free treatment and surgeries. Functional Employment. 40,000 youths employed through Osun Youth Empowerment Scheme (OYES); 18,000 youths absorbed into the State civil service through O’YES; 600 youths employed through Osun Rural Enterprise & Agriculture Programme (O’REAP); 3,000 youth tailors employed through O’UNIFORM; 3,000 caterers engaged through O’MEALS, 400 Paramedics supported through O’AMBULANCE; 220 youth farmers supported through O’BROILER; 280 youth farmers supported through O’MAIZE; 5,000 youths trained through O’YESTECH; 1,500 fish youth farmers supported through O’FISH and hundreds of thousands of direct and indirect employments provided. Functional agriculture. N2.1 billion set aside for commercial agricultural credit scheme; 128 cooperative groups supported for maize and cassava production; over 300 farmer groups financed to run out-grower schemes (O’BOPS and O’FISH); cooperative farmers group supported to cultivate a 500 hectares vegetable farm, and a 400 hectares yam farm; 1,765 hectares of land cleared to support farmers; 2,000 farmers supported to plant 1.3 millions plantain suckers for refined plantain flour production; 27 existing farm service centres being upgraded, new ones being built; PPP-driven farmers, input supply scheme being developed; 610 youth famers trained in modern agricultural techniques; various agriculture intervention programs being set up in secondary schools; N14 billion IDA credit for 500 kilometer access road development to agricultural production clusters; 10,000 capacity cattle ranch being built; N320 million grain mopup fund being set up; and warehouses with 1,500 MT of capacity being completed. Functional security. Dedicated crime response team set up and equipped with 5 APCs and 25 patrol vans; 100 vehicles being procured to support the initiative; 2 mega police stations built, with 7 more being built; state-wide distress management system being developed ; and a surveillance helicopter, purchased to boost security monitoring in the state. Functional economy. The state internally
•OMISORE generated revenue (IGR) improved from N320 million monthly in 2010 to N1.5 billion per month; hidden investments valued at about N850 million recovered; N44.8 billion fund set up for operating expenses if / when federal allocations are delayed; successfully issued a seven-year bonds totaling N32 billion; N10.3 billion SUKUK bond secured to enable the raising of low- cost, long-term capital projects; introduction of e-governance system to enhance financial discipline in the use of state resources; State Tenders Board established that has saved substantial resources in the management of contracts, substantial resources accrued from the review of contracts, are being allocated to rural development programmes.
No wonder. There was an impressive turn-out of the people of the State for the recently held Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)’s voters registration exercise, that confirmed that the State of Osun APC’s public administration and governance in the state have uprooted apathy and indifference, and re-kindled interest of Osun people in the electoral process. Building to the exercise, the APC was busy, educating the registered and prospective voters on the dangers of apathy, and mobilizing the people to be defenders of democracy. The APC’s political education has regenerated an enlightened, politically conscious and vigilant electorate in the state; while the opposition party in the State, the PDP’s recent eruption of conflicts, killings, manning and looting at the INEC voters’ registration centres in the state have only made the PDP’s prospective voters very vulnerable to the fraudulent manipulation by the PDP dominant politicians and dominant groups. The demagogues in the PDP have thus signaled what absurd and grandiose manipulation of voters’ registers, brazen incidents of cheating and fraud, wide spread disparity between the number of votes at the polls and the final results of votes cast, to expect, come the August 9 governorship election. “Rigging in the past had clearly ruined the nation’s previous efforts at building a virile and democratic polity in Nigeria,” remarked HRH Oba Abdulrahaman Babatunde, Olosunjela of Osunjela Ijesa in Atakunmosa West Local Government Area of the state when a team of sitting parliamentarians paid a courtesy call in his palace after they had gone round some voters’ registration centres in Ijesa zone of the state. And Hon. Isreal Ajibola Famurewa, of the National Assembly, speaking for the visiting lawmakers of the APC extraction, had noted that “a voter’s card empowered the voter to elect leaders of clear vision and strong commitment to democracy and progress.”
The cluster of Aregbesola’s 6-Intellectual property, that is, the recoded State of Osun, State Flag, State Crest, State Pledge, State Anthem, and State Motto are the insignia of Aregbesola’s purposeful leadership that has stirred the desired mindset in the Osun electorate for empathy and patriotism and as corollary, growth and development of democracy and governance in the state. While the near eight years of the PDP in Osun government only showcased visible lack of manifest intellects for inventions that could position the State on the housetop, for distinction. All that came from the PDP were shoddiness, atrophy, rottenness, rustiness, decay, incompetence, corruption, irresponsibility, illogicality, cheating, thievery, serenity, imbecility, and such other governance vices that have rather worked the PDP into frenzy over the heroics of Aregbesola in intellectual governance (i-governance) in Nigeria.
The APC has re-fired enthusiasm of Osun people in politics and elections by its appropriate enlightenment, mobilization, and empowerment of Osun electorate to use their electoral power wisely and decisively to elect leaders and representatives of requisite integrity. Even the youths in Osun APC possess greater potential of energy and dynamism for effective political campaigns; as though the youths elsewhere constitute a threat to party survival and stability, should they be left unempowered as in the PDP. And the potentiality of the party women in the Osun APC has not been misused, misappropriated or misapplied. The women are fully integrated into the main stream of the APC development efforts that rub-off on the performances of the party in power in the state; and the APC women are committed to the party responsibilities as they bring sanity to the conduct of the party affairs.
By incisive and penetrating analysis, the Aregbesola’s intellectual property has provided the State with a rallying point for its internal and external affairs, displayed Osun virtues at home and abroad, provided the state with protections from misrepresentation and fraud, identified the State in any national enterprise, repositioned the State significantly on national ranking, and garnered in the varied peoples resident in the State the consciousness of patriotism and emphatism, wherever and whenever.
Aregbesola deploys every opportunity to deplore the politics of non-issues. He has always urged the voters in the state to vote for politics of good governance. And rightly, the APC in Osun has staunchly transformed the Osun environment of politics, economy and culture by the deployment of its capability, leadership and communicative capabilities.
The Aregbesola Walk-To-Live (WTL) has raised a corps of patriotic and dedicated followership across the state who determinedly continues to give effective leadership by example, that for instance has recently steered clear of manipulation of electoral procedures. The WTL inducts the mobilized people into the APC stable pattern of behavior, identity and loyalty just as the psyche and social sensibilities, economic perspectives and political views of the mobilized people are broken down and remodeled. While the Governor-Public Interactive Meeting, coded Gbangbadekun (GGD) effects meaningful participation in the state political space. The GGD re-awakens and re-orientates the people of the state to face, with renewed faith and re-invigorated vision the challenges of developing the state. Both the Walk-To-Live and Gbangbadekun inculcate in the Osun people the progressive values, progressive habits, and progressive orientation that have put the State on the path to greatness, created the right environment for the sustenance of democracy through the mutually reinforcing mechanisms of the WTL and GGD.
Unlike the imperfect or diminished hegemony of the ruling PDP at the centre, arising from the intended or unintended enormous intra-PDP conflicts; the hegemony that has itself contaminated the acceleration and sustenance usually associated with the epochs of perfect hegemony of revolutionary changes, to the total disadvantage of the suffering masses nationally, that also translated at the then PDP’s governed Osun into a volatile mix of fear and frustration, uncertainty and confusion, and hunger and deprivation of the Osun people. Today, the mix, volatile or less volatile has now been totally obliterated, blotted out in the State of Osun. No more fear and frustration. No more uncertainty and confusion. And no more deprivation and hunger, with Aregbesola as governor, always having a good head above his shoulders. The Aregbesola-APC continuity in office is the collective option of the Osun electorate. And the APC will win the state guber election.
•Olusesi is Assistant Director, Directorate of Publicity, Research & Strategy, All Progressives Congress (APC), State of Osun.
OSUN DEFENDER Tuesday, April 15, 2014
PHOTOTALK
15
Iwo Community Endorsed The State Of Osun Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola For Second Term In Office At Iwo Local Government, State Of Osun, Last Friday.
•The governor, State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola (in glasses) addressing his supporters during his endorsement by Progressives Congress (APC) in Iwo for second term in office, last Friday.
Nigerian Union Of Tailors, Osun Chapter, Endorsed State Of Osun Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, For Second Term In Office At Nelson Mandela Freedom Park, Osogbo, State Of Osun, Last Tuesday.
•(L-R) Deputy Governor, State of Osun, Otunba (Mrs) Titi Laoye-Tomori; Governor Rauf Aregbesola; President, Nigeria Union of Tailors, State of Osun Chapter, Alhaji Kasali Akinloye and Vice-Lady President, Mrs Oluwatoyin Abiola Alabi, during the conferment of Life Patron on the governor/endorsement of his 2nd term in office by the Nigeria Union of Tailors in Osogbo last Tuesday.
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S a prelude to the “demo cratic” war of succession that will make or mar Nigeria, irrespective of the outcome of the ongoing National Conference, the old west is being gradually militarised. The entire region appears to have been placed on the political equivalent of a war footing. The siege is on. It is the kind of shock and awe military terror that will turn Stormin Norman Shwarzkopf to a whimpering old bugger. A pincer movement is unfolding with the major strategic objective of paralysing the dominant political tendency in the region, or at the minimum render it hors de combat in the bid to capture power at the centre. You cannot be advancing when your stronghold has been set on fire. Militarily, it is known as a bridge too far. With Musiliu Obanikoro, the newly appointed Minister of State for Defence, war-gaming from Lagos all the way to the Ilaje coastline, with lyiola Omisore and JeIiIi Adesiyan sadistically probing the heart and plexus of the old region in Osun state, and with a column of reaction heading from Ondo to link up with joyous thugs and fifth columnists already in place in Ekiti-land, once again the Yoruba nation is being turned into a theatre of war and strife. This time around, it promises to be the mother of all political wars. But it is the charge of the light and light-headed brigade, and once again, they shall not pass. After the rubble might have cleared, Nigeria will never be the same again. No politician or political group will ever be allowed to come to the western sphere again with the threat of war as the antidote to peace and progress. Even for a libertarian and seemingly carefree people, there is time for everything. This is not an idle intellectual speculation, but a conclusion reached alter a rigorous interrogation of the unfolding political process in the region. It is either the dawn of a new era or darkness forever. The reasons for this stark conclusion are threefold, and they are historical and sociological in nature. It is proper to delve into recent history first. After the annihilation and political obliteration of the PDP from the region, the whole place has experienced a period of development and accelerated modernity. It IS not a perfect state but the fruits are showing for all to see. Not even personal hatred for the individual actors involved or animus towards the chief motivator can remove the fact. From Benin to Ekiti, through Osun, Oyo, Ogun and unto Lagos, the old West is experiencing a developmental resurgence akin to a religious revival. The people are grateful for the relative peace and stability that being relatively well-governed has brought unlike many other places in the country that have degenerated into hell-holes before our very eyes. You cannot give what you don’t have. At the federal level at least, the ruling party has shown itself to be ideologically bereft and politically bankrupt. As a party, the PDP is beyond soap and water. You cannot confront light, however imperfect, with darkness however perfect in order to make a dent in the evolving political consciousness of the sophisticated electorate of Western Nigeria, the PDP will have to come up with a superior paradigm of development and progress. It will have to come up with a visionary blueprint for the radical amelioration of the suffering and biblical misery which have plagued this land and turned Nigeria into the world capital of cannibal capitalism. But after fifteen fruitless years in power, it is clear that the PDP lacks the intellectual cadre, the political discipline, the psychological stamina, the moral magnitude and imagination to come up with a transformative blueprint. As its body language reveals, it is obvious that it relies mainly on force and thuggery, when it is not fanning the ember of religion and ethnicity in a dangerously polarised polity like Nigeria. The kind of murderous and misbegotten individuals its primaries have thrown up in western Nigeria shows its contempt for the feeling and sensitivity of the Yoruba people. The PDP is relying on old tricks where only
By TATALO ALAMU
The Siege Of The Light Brigade
•AREGBESOLA new techniques will suffice. It will meet more than its match in the old West. You cannot fight a modern battle with ancient weapons, particularly a battle also joined at the level of an intellectual contestation for human consciousness and the greater good of the greater community. Unlike the old guard progressives who were sold on law and order, the hazards of the Hansard and other parliamentary canards, the new generation of progressives cut their teeth on the streets and in the trenches fighting against military despotism. There is always a tide in human affairs. Anybody who witnessed the dogged ferocity, the relentless commotion with which Oshiomhole, Aregbesola and Fayemi and even the normally urbane and debonair Abiola Ajimobi fought to reclaim their stolen mandate will be living in a fools’ paradise to ever imagine that they will allow themselves to be flushed out of their respective gubernatorial mansions like terrified mice, more so when they have the might of the multitude behind them. Anybody who mistake Oshiomhole’s gamey gamboling for complacency, Aregbesola’s steely sangfroid and diligent defiance for loss of concentration, or Kayode Fayemi’s donnish demureness for loss of power appetite will have themselves to blame when real political hostilities commence. It is curious that despite all the information available to him on the disposition of the region, President Jonathan has allowed himself to be sold the impossible bêtise that all he needs to do is to spring some politically expired thugs on the region and the people will scatter. We hope the federal collaborators and their new recruits take note of this show of love and admiration.
The people of the west have never scattered before bullets. As their tormentors always find out to their peril, when they retreat it is usually to gather momentum for the next determined push against the bastion of reaction. In the history of modern Nigeria, the west has never sought to dominate anybody, but it will resist domination, whether internally or externally inspired. All the west had tried to do is to extend its vision of modernity and life more abundant for everybody, irrespective of race, region and religion. In this seemingly quixotic venture, it has met impossible and impregnable impedimenta, not to talk of an iron road block, and it has paid terrifying price in the loss of many of its golden children. But whenever these moderate ideals of human emancipation are brutally suppressed such as happened during the First Republic, the repressed always return with greater vigour and ferocity such as we witnessed in the Second Republic and the aborted Third Republic when an impossible coalition headed by M.K.O Abiola won a presidential election that was summarily annulled. In the Fourth Republic, the very same ideals have turned out to be the most potent threat to a clueless Federal Government. We cannot try to hang the messenger while ignoring the message. There must be something about this progressive ideal of an emancipated community which must explain their durability and persistent eruptions. What Jonathan and his henchmen should do is to study this ideal of governance, interrogate it intensely and see whether there are no lessons to be learnt. There is no harm in picking the brains of your
political adversaries. As old Abe Lincoln famously demonstrated, there are immense political advantages accruing from converting political adversaries to principled collaborators. The Nigerian project, or whatever remains of it, is too important to be left at the mercy of small minds. Having said all this, it is also time for our progressives to engage in intense soul-searching and deep introspection about the tortured trajectory of progressive politics in contemporary Nigeria and the kind of progressive ideals they want to bequeath to coming generations. There can be no successful externally induced plot without a successful internal conspiracy. Yoruba modern history is steeped in internal treachery, betrayals and perfidy. It may be due to the libertarian nature of the people which abhors despotism and unwarranted domination. In post-colonial Nigeria, the cloak and dagger politics have accentuated rather than diminish. This may be due to the epic sweepstakes of a predatory economy. But the question the progressives need to ask themselves is why since independence and up till now, the people who have always given them the worst troubles and headaches are people who have at one time or the other been part of the progressive umbrella. In the First Republic, the Action Group fractured irretrievable as a result of external plots and internally rebellion. In retrospect, it can be seen that the Action Group was a disaster waiting to happen, being an ersatz and unstable coalition of modernists, monarchists and outright rightwing reactionaries. But a firm lid could be placed on the simmering cauldron as long as there was a strong and charismatic leader like Obafemi Awolowo at the helm. In the Second Republic, the party fissured as a result of the jostling and jockeying for position among Chief Awolowo’s closest aides and lieutenants. In retrospect, it can safe be said that it was ironically the military bell that saved the UPN from catastrophic implosion. Awo himseIf hinted at this in his last epistle to the faithful in which he made an allusion to a coming Hegelian synthesis. Just before the Third Republic could be properly inaugurated, the entire party machinery seceded to the waiting military thus sealing Abiola’s fate. From that moment, the Republic died in vitro, as they say. Now in the Fourth Republic, we are witnessing a wearisomely familiar script with so many falcons deserting the falconer. Take a count of the following and find out where and how they originated: Omisore, Obanikoro, Dayo Adeyeye, the late Wahab Dosunmu, Gbenga Daniel and now the young and youthful Michael Opeyemi Bamidele. The situation calls for a candid evaluation of the following the mode of leadership recruitment to the progressive fold, the pattern of political preferment and the process of consensus building among the progressives. It is m human nature for those who have been given undue and premature preferment to develop outsize appetite for power and glory. While those who are sworn to the progressive ideal as a lifelong commitment to fundamental principles could afford to be sidelined or treated with brutal disregard, it should now be obvious that the political wayfarers and those who have not reached the level where individual ego can be subordinated for communal good would have none of that. Bar a few sublime souls, the anarchic ego is an outgrowth of anarchic and inchoate human societies. These are the historic demons the progressive leadership would have to grapple with as they seek to protect their political stronghold even while making a bold pitch for the centre. It is going to be a tough call, particularly given the cultural anxieties and markers of political incompatibilities the coalescing factions bring to the alliance. But it is not an impossible task. As for the light Brigade, perhaps it is time to retrieve their history books from roasted plantain hawkers.
OSUN DEFENDER is published by Moremi Publishing House Limited, Promise Point Building, Opposite Guaranty Trust Bank GTB, Gbongan Road, Osogbo, State of Osun. All •Culled from THE0803-388-0205, NATION correspondence to the Managing Editor, KOLA OLABISI, Telephone: 08033927286 (kolaolabisi@yahoo.com); Editor, KAYODE AGBAJE, Telephone: E-mail:
osundefender@yahoo.com, kayodeagbaje@yahoo.com. ISSN: 0794-8050.Website: www.osundefender.org.