www.osundefender.org TUESDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2013
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VOL. 8. NO.153
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Front Page Comment
Who Killed Dwindling Federation Accounts: Ominous Portents Chief Bola Ige, The proverbial Chick- happen with the ecois that bizarre political democratic ‘democratic formerAttorneyens have now come nomic history of our economy whereby the party’ (PDP). home to roost. In our times come to be people grow poorer as The PDP will always be General and said tragic case they are written. Such a history remembered for its confir- the nominal national hollering like crazy. We will confirm the fiscal income expands. CerMinister of mation of the ‘Nigeria have already always profligacy of the hardly Paradox.’ The Nigeria tainly, by any yardstick Justice? been aware of what will ‘Peoples,’ clearly anti- Paradox as is well known Continue on Page - 5.
IGE
Structure Separation:
Aregbesola Compensates Shop Owners With N58m •Landlords To Get N750m
- See Story On Page 2
•(R-L)The governor, State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola; Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka; Human Rights activist, Mr Femi Falana (SAN) and former Lagos State Commissioner for Environment, Dr. Muiz Banire, during the Lagos Tribute to the late Nelson Mandela at Freedom Park, Lagos State recently
Court Remands Five Students Over Riot
- See Story On Page 2
News
OSUN DEFENDER Tuesday, December 24, 2013
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Structure Separation: Aregbesola Compensates Shop Owners With N58m •Landlords To Get N750m By ISMAEEL UTHMAN
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OVERNOR of the State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola has released a sum of N58,100,000 to compensate shop owners at Gaaji Mosque, Igbona, Ayetoro road in Osogbo, who were affected by the dualisation of Osogbo-Ila-Odo-Kwara State boundary road. Presenting the N100,000 Numbering 581, each of the shop owners received a cheques to each of the shop sum of N100,000 as owners, whose shop were compensation, despite the separated from the road, fact that they were not the State Commissioner for Land, Physical Planning originally entitled to any.
and Urban Development, Architect Muyiwa Ige, on Friday hinted that the original landlords of the affected structures numbering157 would also collect a sum of N750 million compensation from the state government in due time. Ige stated that the fund was provided to compensate the victims, as
a palliative measure out of the paucity of funds in the state, with a view to putting smiles on the faces of the shop owners, maintaining that Aregbesola is more than committed to the wellbeing and happiness of the residents of the state. He explained that the separation of houses from the roads was part of the urban renewal programme
of Aregbesola’s administration, aimed at beautifying major cities and towns in the state. Speaking at the event, the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Civil and Public Affairs, Comrade Waheed Lawal, said shops and houses that were separated from the roads in the affected areas were on the road setbacks and needed to be separated for dualisation of the roads and development in general. According to Lawal, owners of houses and shops on the road setbacks were not ordinarily entitled to compensation, but for Aregbesola’s human feelings, who released the N58million as palliative to the victims of the urban development
programme. He noted that the shop owners on the roads were properly and carefully enumerated, with a view to ensuring that none of them was left behind in the compensation, urging the beneficiaries to wholeheartedly accept the N100,000 cheques and manage the money judiciously. One of the beneficiaries, Mrs Mary Adeniyi, who spoke with OSUN DEFENDER at the event, commended Aregbesola for the gesture, saying that no one believed that the governor could compensate the shop owners in the areas. According to her, Aregbesola has demonstrated high moral sense of a leader, who has a listening ear and responsive to the plights of the citizenry.
Ignore Mischief Makers, Akere Urges Omoluabi Garment Owners By SHINA ABUBAKAR
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•The governor, State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola (middle); Secretary to the Ogun State Government, Barrister Taiwo Adeoluwa (left) and the son of the deceased, Chief Ademola Adeniyi (right), during the 40th Day Fidau for the late Madam Selimot Adeniyi at Ago-Iwoye town hall, Ogun State.
Investor Hails Aregbesola’s Infrastructural Development By KEHINDEAYANTUNJI
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business man, Alhaji Gafar Owolabi, Managing Director, Oroki Herbal Mixture has lauded the massive infrastructural development embarked upon by the current Governor Rauf Aregbesola’s administration in the State of Osun, describing it as a bold step to boost the economy of the state. He said, with steady ordinary effort to match. security and infrastructural According to him, development, the future of despite the meager the state is bright in term resources of the state, the of industrializations and governor has created 40,000 investment. jobs through OYES, Owolabi stated this combated insecurity during a chat with OSUN challenges and embarked DEFENDER in Ipetu-Ijesa, on massive road at the lunch of De Raufs, a construction. volunteer group, Likening the efforts of promoting the re-election A r e g b e s o l a ’ s of Governor Rauf administration on Aregbesola in Oriade Local education to the late Chief Government Council Area Obafemi Awolowo’s of the state. commitment to education, Owolabi, who led other he noted that the provision supporters of Governor of free school uniforms, Aregbesola from Ojokoro free meals and tablet of Local Government knowledge (Opon Imon), Development Authority have further put the state (LCDA), Lagos to the lunch, ahead of others. said they are proud to He added that the identify with the governor as a result of his performance in the state. According to him, Governor Aregbesola in the last three years has displayed uncommon zeal to banish hunger, embarked on massive i n f r a s t r u c t u r a l development and promote functional education in the state. He said it would be difficult for any indigene of the state not to support the governor for his second term bid, adding that Aregbesola has raised the bar of governance to high level that would take extra- •OWOLABI
governor has proven to the world that the success of any administration depends on its political will and capacity to face those challenges to better the lots of the people. “If you observe the a d m i n i s t r a t i o n , Aregbesola’s major political and administrative objective is to powerfully pursue the fight against poverty, lack of human dignity and political liberation from
political dogmatism. “He is patriotic and more focused on physical development for the generality of the people and with this exemplary character, he has earned for himself the respect of all and sundry, by turning vision to actuality, waste to wealth and failure to success.” He then urged the people of the state to support the governor to realise his second term ambition.
HE Commissioner for Information and Strategy in the State of Osun, Mr Sunday Akere has admonished owners of the Omoluabi Garment Factory to ignore the antics of mischievous politicians in the state, for the good of majority of youths. He disclosed this while This, according to him, delivering a keynote was part of the initiative of address at the end-of-the- the governor to attract year get-together of the investors to the state, with company held at Abere in a view to creating more the state. jobs. The commissioner said According to the the coming of the factory commissioner, no amount into the state has helped in of mischief would stop the keeping many state from entering into unemployed youths off the partnership with any streets and offered them a corporate organisation that legal means of livelihood. can help create jobs for the While recounting the teeming youths of the state. incident that led to the birth He added that another of the company in the state company, RLG five month ago, Akere Communications has recalled that the governor, completed its factory in the Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola state and would soon be mandated the company to commissioned and establish a branch in the contribute to the economic state before it could be growth of the state and its given the contract of inhabitants. sewing the Osun public Akere further revealed school uniforms. that another Chinese company would soon complete its factory, where Opon-Imo, Tablet of Knowledge would be Iludun in Osogbo. and During the court sitting, manufactured Inspector Taiwo Adegoke assembled for the use of appeared for the prosecu- public schools in the state tion; Barrister Nnenna and the country at large. He noted that the state Ngwu held brief for Mr N. Nagode for the first ac- governor is committed to cused person, while Mr building a state that is virile Bode Babalola appeared and strong socially and through for the second accused economically person, just as the other partnership with corporate accused persons were not organisations, irrespective represented by any coun- of the mischief by unscrupulous politicians in sel. The Presiding Magis- the state. It would be recalled that trate then ordered that the mischievous counsel should apply for some the accused persons’ bail politicians in the state were formally and ruled that alleged of writing a baseless the first and second ac- petition to the anti-graft over the cused persons be re- agencies manded in Ilesa prison ownership of the company. Earlier in his welcome custody, while the third, the Branch fourth and fifth accused address, persons were to be re- Manager of the company, manded at correctional Mr Oyedeji Abayomi appreciated the state homes in Osogbo. He then adjourned the government for creating an matter till February 4, enabling environment for businesses to thrive. 2014 for mention.
Court Remands Five Students Over Riot By SHINA ABUBAKAR
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IVE students of Ansar-ul-Deen High School, Osogbo, who were involved in disruption of pub lic peace, have been remanded in prison custody by an Osogbo Magistrate Court for allegedly jeopardising school activities. The students: Isaac school activities, an ofAwuzie, 18, Sulaiman fence contrary to section Amidu, 18, Gafar Tijani, 71 of the state criminal 16, Akeem Jelili, 17 and law. According to the charge Badmus Isiaka, 15 were denied bail by Chief Mag- sheet, the alleged students istrate Olusola Aluko, de- conducted themselves in manding that their coun- a manner likely to cause sel apply for their indi- breach of public peace and stole 25 pieces of exvidual bails formally. The charge sheet read in ercise books, belonging to the court alleged that the the state government, valsuspected students on De- ued N500, an offence concember 18, 2013 conspired trary to sections 249(d) together to embark on ille- and 390 of the state penal gal rioting, contrary to sec- code. The charge sheet distion 517 of the state crimiclosed that the suspects nal law 2003. It added that the sus- committed the offences at pects unlawfully as- about 8:30 am inside the sembled with sticks and school premises located at stones and jeopardised Testing Ground Area,
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News
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OSUN DEFENDER Tuesday, December 24, 2013
Youths Protest Power Project Compensation At Omo-Ijesa By KEHINDEAYANTUNJI
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OME youths at Omo-Ijesa in Oriade Local Government Council Area of the State of Osun last Thursday protested the compensations for land acquisition by the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) for a Hydro Power Project in the town. They alleged conspiracy by the contractor handling the project and the traditional ruler of the community, the Olomo of Omo Ijesa, Oba Pius Oladosu to underpay the beneficiaries. The angry youths also alleged that the process for the payment of the compensations was surrounded with secrecy, while people, who do not have farmlands in the affected areas were also f r a u d u l e n t l y incorporated. They displayed
placards with various inscriptions calling on the anti-graft agencies to investigate the process of payments and ascertain the total amount released by the defunct PHCN for the compensation. The inscriptions on some of the placards read: “We call on the EFCC to come and investigate what they are hiding”; Release our community money now”; They have squandered our heritage.” Spokesperson of the group, Prince Adedara Adegoke, who claimed to
be one of the affected people, stated that the affected land owners were paid N70,000 for a farm land of 4 hectares, contrary to the amount paid to the people of n e i g h b o u r i n g communities. He said: “Each of the farm owners in Erin Ijesa received averagely N500,000 as compensation for less than 5 hectares of land, but we wondered why our own is different.” Also, an octogenarian, Pa Joseph Obileye said he was paid N75,000 for 5 hectares of farm land with Cocoa, Kolanuts and Palm trees. While reacting, the
monarch, Oba Pius Oladosu dismissed the allegations and described the aggrieved youths as “disgruntled elements” who want to make the c o m m u n i t y ungovernable for him, saying, there was no controversy over the payment of the compensation. He said: “I have no other role in the payment of the compensation than informing my people whenever there was information from the PHCN contractor handling the project. I did not distribute forms or distribute cheques. “The PHCN representatives brought
the forms for the land owners in the affected areas and after they completed their own independent assessment, they invited the land owners to their office in Ilesa to collect their cheques. So, I don’t know why they are linking me with such ridiculous allegation.” The monarch added that every individual related with the contractors without the involvement of the town’s traditional council. Asked whether there was a compensation for the community, the monarch said, “I discussed with the contractor to also
encourage the youths and the community. Subsequently, the contractor gave the youths N300,000, which I distributed to them and gave the community N600,000, which I distributed to every household.” All efforts to reach the agent handling the compensations in Ilesa proved abortive, as he was absent from office during several visits by OSUN DEFENDER. The defunct PHCN had acquired the land in Odo-Akuro in Omo-Ijesa for the expansion of Power line high tension project.
Osun Lawmaker Bags Awards By KAZEEM MOHAMMED
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HE lawmaker representing Ede North Constituency in the State of Osun House of Assembly, Honourable Kamardeen Akanbi on Saturday bagged two separate awards. While he was honoured At the OYLM by the Ede Mapo Lions Club programme, the lawmaker with an Award of charged members of the Excellence for being group to continue to stand prudent in industrial by the ideals of Governor emancipation, he was also Rauf Aregbesola, who, conferred with an Award of according to him, has made Outstanding Lawmaker by a great impact in the lives a socio-political group, of the people. Osun Youths Liberation The support of the group, Movement (OYLM). according to him, would go He was awarded with the a long way in ensuring the OYLM award alongside his return of Aregbesola for a counterpart from Ede South second term to complete •The lawmaker representing Ede-North Constituency in the State Assembly of Osun, Honourable Kamardeen Akanbi Constituency, Honourable the developmental projects (left) being presented an award of excellence of the Ede Mapo Lions Club by the Timi of Edeland, Oba Adesola Johnson Ojo, just as he was he has embarked on. Lawal on Saturday. honoured with the Lions Clubs alongside four others. Speaking after receiving the awards, Akanbi, who is the knowledge of ICT as a taken over every aspect of and in the first batch, 55 the Chairman, House of By KAZEEM MOHAMMED source of wealth for the life, and there is the need to youths have been trained Assembly Committee on familiarise the youths in his Commerce, Cooperatives HE Deputy Speaker, State of Osun House of youths, urged them to seek constituency to what, he and graduated. advanced knowledge in According to him, and Empowerment, said Assembly, Honourable Akintunde Adegboye, described, as the knowledge another set of over 80 that the honour would spur representing Osogbo State Constituency has ICT, as they have been given of the 21st century. him to do more in his empowered 55 youths in the first batch of his Information the background through the youths have been registered He noted that his efforts to participate in the contribution to Edeland Communication Technology (ICT) empowerment training free-of-charge. were aimed at corroborating He then charged the and Osun as a whole. subsequent batches of the programme. administration of lawmaker not to relent in the “I was just doing what I The trained youths, who Speaker of the State his efforts aimed at Governor Rauf Aregbesola exercise. know how to do best, are in the age bracket of 16 Assembly, Akintunde then charged Honourable empowering the youths, not in its commitment to without knowing that and 23 were selected from Najeem the graduating youths not Salaam only in ICT, but also in other technological innovation to stop at the basic people were watching me. and drive for human knowledge of ICT they This is a great across the wards in his commended Akintunde for fields. exposing the youths to ICT, encouragement for me and constituency. Explaining the rationale development in the state. have been exposed to, but Presenting certificates to which according to him, is behind the ICT training, The programme, he said, they should seek further a lesson to other people. the way to go. the trained youths in “I feel elated for the Honourable Akintunde said was designed to be a sixSalaam, who described he believes that ICT has month intensive training knowledge in the field. Lions Club to have Osogbo on Thursday, the Also speaking, the state recognised me for my Commissioner for Regional efforts in industrial and Integration and Special commercial emancipation Duties, Mr Ajibola Basiru of Edeland. on the micro-credit According to him, the commended the lawmaker “This tells me that I have By FRACIS EZEDUINO scheme comes to an end. benefit of the Community for his commitment to the to put more efforts towards HE Special Adviser to the Governor of the State what will be of benefit to In his response, the Development Association technological advancement of Osun on Water Resources, Rural Board Chairman of the has also cut across, of the youths. the people I am The ICT, he said, forms Development and Community Affairs, Mr. Rural Development and irrespective of political representing in the state part of the educational parliament and I promise Adekunle Ige has stated that the ministry, which is Community Affairs, affiliations, noting that transformation of the not to relent in making known to be a service-provider, has devised many Alhaji Taofik Makinde, the beauty of the Aregbesola administration, more contributions to the means of generating revenue to augment other was its urging that all stakeholders development of Edeland sources of Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of commended the Special programme should play their roles to the Adviser, on all the continuous concept. and the state at large,” he the state. said. meaningful projects being Makinde, who thanked development of education Presenting the award to Ige dropped this hint in of the state, noting that a embarked upon by the the Special Adviser for in the state. Others present on the the lawmaker, the Timi of Osogbo recently during m i c r o - f i n a n c e ministry. his openness and occasion were the lawmaker Edeland, Oba Adesola the meeting of the He added that the accommodating spirit, Lawal commended him for ministry’s board, which organization has donated representing Egbedore State micro-credit scheme also requested that the N400 million, while the his efforts in ensuring the Constituency, Honourable resuscitation of the was the last meeting for state government would would go a long way in board members should be Abiodun Awolola; the contribute N200 million empowering citizens of made relevant in the Special Assistant to the moribund Cocoa Product the Year 2013. He also revealed that to make N600million to be the state, adding, “once implementation of Year Governor on Broadcast and Industry (CPI) in Ede. He described the honour the ministry’s micro- disbursed. the funds are repaid 2014 budget. Electronics Media, Remi as a great challenge, which, credit scheme, which the APC by the He then pledged the Omowaiye; Mr. Ige then promised promptly according to him, should involves giving grants to the board members that beneficiaries, there is support of his colleagues Chairman in Osogbo Local spur the lawmaker to make 18,000 women, focuses on the disbursement shall going to be availability of for the realization of the Government, Isiaka Araba; more efforts to the 600 trainees per local of the Alhaji Wale Lasisi and take effect as soon as the funds for more people to objectives development of Edeland Alhaji Jimoh Ogala among government council area government. awareness programme benefit”. and Osun in general. others.
Osun Deputy Speaker Empowers Youths In ICT
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Ministry Devises Means For IGR In Osun
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OSUN DEFENDER Tuesday, December 24, 2013
Dwindlingevant. Federation Accounts: Ominous Portents Since the falcon can no become the able powerful
Continued from Page - 1.
or measurement, the people of Nigeria have grown progressively poorer by every measure since 1999. Even the PDP’s leading light, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo has now confirmed this. The former President has done this not as a public service but for the purpose of selfpreservation. Nevertheless this opportunistic intervention confirms the trend that Nigeria’s public finances are in total disarray. Nigeria is today very much like a banana republic. In such a mode institution which ought to guide and guard the republic have been rendered totally irrel-
longer comprehend the falconer, even the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) cannot now fathom what exactly is going on in the nation’s national oil corporation, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
economic lever. It has also become for an authoritarian central (as opposed to federal) government a battering ram. Withholding allocation from the federation account to states is now being used as a political weapon to settle scores. A discussion with the This is not surprising for the embattled Governor of Rivers NNPC has become a stateState will confirm this. within-a-state. The corporation has now become essenSuch is the fiscal recklessness tially an outlaw. Since the of the central government provider of a bulk of the that no one is sure anymore of country’s finances has now the operating formula for gone out of control, the determining the income obligations of the state to streams into the federation its people have now gone account. A sensible way of out of the window. shoring up the accounts of the government will of course be In the absence of a feder- to implement the Steve alist framework, the fedOronsaye report and
eration account has now
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every government knows and sings it, but they never act it out. In contrary, Aregbesola is acting it out. He has demonstrated that he cares for the well-being of tomorrow’s leaders; because, to me, he believes that no nation can develop when the younger generations are left without being catered for. I must recall that on assumption of office, he stopped every payment in public primary and
secondary schools. With this gesture, parents have been relieved of the burden of school fees and some other charges. What the children of the masses need to do is to go to school and be serious, as they get qualitative education, just as the children of the rich do. It must be noted that the stoppage of this charges has done a lot in the lives of many, because there are lots of drop-outs today in
For the political patronage network on which the PDP central government resides cannot be touched. Of course it will only get worse. With pivotal elections on the horizon, reckless spending to purchase political operators, INEC and voters alike will now go up in geometric proportions. There is of course no need to just cry for the beloved country. Mercifully we now have a credible government-inwaiting! Thank God for that!
thereby use that
Aregesola’s Hand In The Education Sector N my capacity as a citizen of the State of Osun, I want to declare that the governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola has done tremendous work in the educational sector and we are proud of him. It is a public knowledge that before the present administration of Ogbeni came on board, the education sector was completely down to the extent that only the poor people can send their children to public schools, because the system was in shambles. We have massive road construction going on everywhere under this administration; we have also seen that this government is doing well in the area of youth employment, agriculture, rural and urban development and other sectors, but to me, as an individual, the rapid development in the education sector within three years of this government interests me more than anything else. Ogbeni Aregbesola has indeed proven to the people of Osun that he is indeed a lover of the masses. “The youths are the leaders of tomorrow”,
as a mechanism to cut down on the cost of the machinery of government. Unfortunately, this is not going to happen.
Nigeria, not because they are not intelligent, but because they lack ability to cope with the monetary demands for education. This inability has aggravated the rate of illiteracy in the state and in the country. Some of these drop-outs came to being due to the exuberant rate of SSCE, but here in Osun, apart from giving quality free education, the government of the day is also paying for the SSCE of
all the students in that category. Besides, the Opon-Imo project, an award-winning technological innovation is marvelous. I wish this was done in my days! Education has become so easy with the concept of Opon Imo. The present day General Mathematics and A1 in English is heavier than the Opon Imo. Opon Imo, which consists of 56 textbooks is Education made simple. Students now
find it easy and interesting to read. Reading habit before the advent of the present government among students was very low, but with the introduction of Opon Imo, the situation has really improved. There are many parents, who cannot even afford just one textbook, not to talk of all subjects, but with this tablet of knowledge, they have been relieved of the burden. There are so many other things that this government has done on education like distribution of school uniforms for students free-of-charge, increase in grants to schools, provision of educational materials and above all, construction of model school structures with conducive environment. I must say that Ogbeni has impressed the people with his innovation on education, of which my family is a beneficiary and all I can do on behalf of the generality of the people is to commend him. • A B R A H A M JESUDOYIN, Ogo-Oluwa Area, Osogbo, State of Osun.
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OSUN DEFENDER is published by Moremi Publishing House Limited, Promise Point Building, Opposite Guaranty 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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Anniversary OSUN DEFENDER Tuesday, December 24, 2013
THREE YEARS OF RAUF REVOLUTION IN THE STATE OF OSUN
So Far; So Good! (V) The last edition in this series ended with the detailed consideration of the various infrastructural projects embarked upon by the Rauf Aregbesola administration; with particular reference to road network. We beamed our searchlight on road projects which are in, or are connected to Osogbo, the state capital. Readers would agree with us that the list of road projects embarked upon so far; and which are still springing up daily is apparently inexhaustible. NIYI OLASINDE devotes this edition to other ones which time and space would permit us to place on record
•The governor, State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, addressing the crowd during the official commissioning of Oranmiyan Security Tower and Complex by the governor at Lagere, Ile-Ife, recently.
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MAGAZINE
OSUN DEFENDER Tuesday, December 24, 2013
So Far; So Good! (V)
•The governor, State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola (left) addressing Omoluabi Boys/Girls Club and Omoluabi Youth Club, during the official launch of the club, in commemoration of Aregbesola’s administration’s third year anniversary at the National Youth Service Corps ( NYSC) Orientation Camp, Ede, State of Osun, recently. Contiuned from page 5 wish of the Symbol that he should be bound Nigeria. Thanks to the enigmatic leadership be the glory, the market complex today Continued from last week. by his words at all stages of his of our indefatigable Ogbeni and his is being put to utilitarian use. OSUN T OWARDS its end, the last administration. In this edition therefore, we visionary team. We now shift focus to the DEFENDER Magazine in one of its edition focused mainly on the are proceeding with that selfsame task of remaining road infrastructure projects recent editions presented an account various road projects embarked upon highlighting details of the specific road within the state capital. of a vox pop conducted with a cross by he administration of Ogbeni Rauf Adesoji projects initiated and executed by the section of traders displaced from Aregbesola in the State of Osun; but it did Government Unusual in the State of Osun. •MDS / Railway Station / Ola Iya Access various illegal locations within the not contain the full list. In that edition, there As the case was with the last edition, we Way metropolis of the state capital. One of was a careful compilation of specific road shall pursue that assignment with all T HE earlier-discussed stretch of the respondents was Mr. Sunday projects which are either completed, sincerity of purpose. land in-between the old Rasco Jonathan, who confessed that he was ongoing or near completion stage and Cinema and the famous Ola Iya all prayers for the administration of In the last edition under reference, we almost ready to be delivered. In that edition, highlighted such road projects as: Igbonna Roundabout is a different ballgame from the Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola. This, we deliberately skipped drawing reference / Ago Wande / Oke Onitea Road; Olu Alabi present area of discourse. We now dwell on according to him, was due to the to the Six-point Integral Action Plan of / Anaye Market Link; West Bypass the area between the Railway Terminus per unquantifiable benefits accruing from his Ogbeni Aregbesola or other parts of his Pact modification; Bisi Bankole / Owoeye / se and the Ola Iya Junction; with the relocation from his former location at with the people of the State of Osun. For Apostolic Faith / Pepsi Cola ; Oke Fia / inclusion of the roadsides (left and right) of Ayetoro to the new shop he occupies the purpose of serving as reminder the Alekuwodo; and Orita Sabo / Orita Elelede / the popular MDS area. at the New Orisunmbare Market relevant portions of the Six-Point Integral Oluode Road. Others include Orita Gbaemu We have earlier bared our discussion on Complex. Action Plan of the Ogbeni Aregbesola / Isale Aro / Our Lady of St. Francis; Odi the Freedom Park, initiated and put in place The case of Mr. Jonathan is just one administration which he unveiled at the Olowo / Baptist High School /Gbodofon / by the incumbent administration at the out of many we have around us in recent wake of his election campaign in 2005; and Aregbe; Ola Iya Junction Opening; Oke Fia Railway Terminus situated at the area times. As a matter of honesty and which he regarded as his pact with his / Rasco / Old Garage Opening; Freedom hitherto referred to as Old Garage. Right from sincerity, many of the relocated traders people, on the basis of which he expected Park; and Rasco / Railway / Old Sawmill / the Railway Terminus Building to the Ola never realized their relocation as to be held accountable at every point in Olaiya Link from which we shall open Iya Junction, work in progress has currently blessing in disguise until they got to their time during his tenure of stewardship as discussion for this edition. reached advanced stages. The provisions new locations. Earlier parts of this the Chief Executive of the state shall here We make bold to assert that n al these made at that place include an overhead particular edition has reported how be referred to. Quoting directly from his road projects, the government Unusual of pedestrian bridge across the rail; obviously traders relocated from the Ola Iya / words in the introductory part of the pact, Ogbeni Aregbesola has ensured durability to avert occurrence of hitherto persistent Alekuwodo sawmill were full of Ogbeni had this to say: prayers for the Government Unusual on and solidity; so that the roads shall be able rail accidents. “My mission and ambition are to restore to stand the test of time and last for several The remaining strand of land to the side arrival at their new location. These are to the people, a state of peace, opportunity decades to come. Also, the State of Ola Iya Junction is meant for the provision indications to it that the government of for progress and room for the pursuit of Government of Osun has, for the very first of various amenities like conveniences, the day in the State of Osun means well prosperity in our time under a people- time ever put n place the State of Osun Road police post, eateries, recreational spots, and for the entire citizenry. friendly government. Maintenance Agency (OSROMA); which camp / retreat avenues and other social “I give you Six-Point Integral Action shall see to the care and maintenance of its amenities for the benefit of all. HEN the incumbent Plan, t the intent that they constitute my road infrastructure in order to ensure their At the sides of the main road linking the W administration is through articles of faith concerning which I want lasting quality and guide against unlawful Old Garage with the Ola Iya Junction, work with its urbanization efforts, to be held accountable at any time during damages to road facilities in the state. As is in progress to clear both sides of the road not only would the State of Osun be my stewardship.” pointed out in the previous editions, these of obstructions to free human and vehicular entirely turned around; but the state numerous road projects have not, in any movement and free flow of water during the capital, Osogbo, in particular, would OSUN DEFENDER Magazine does not way disturbed the execution of projects in rains. have transformed into a state capital in intend to bore its readers with the full details other sectors of life in the state. In a nutshell, The other side of the MDS area occupies the true context of it. Before now, the of the Six-Point Integral Action Plan all over the administration has touched lives of the the New Orisunmbare Market, a brainchild appearance and features of the city had again. We have always drawn reference to citizens in practically all sectors of life; both of the Bisi Akande administration in the been that of a glorified rural settlement. relevant portions of the Six-Point Integral in tangible and intangible ways. Today, it state. The prevailing lethargy over making Thanks and gratitude to the Action Plan of the administration in our has become so visible to all that the effective use of the ultra-modern market administration of Ogbeni Rauf Adesoji numerous editions. We shall swing into Government Unusual of Ogbeni Aregbesola complex since its erection and completion Aregbesola for deeming it fit to give action by doing justice to the remaining task has to its credit numerous ground-breaking in the early 2000s speaks volumes of the facelift to the state capital in order to of checklisting of specific solid projects achievements which are unprecedented and disservice dispensed to the state and its make it more befitting and able to stand executed in keeping faith with the promises which shall take several decades hence to people by the People’s Democratic Party contest with other given to the people. This exercise is being beat. The State of Osun has thus become (PDP)-led administration of BrigadierContiuned on page 7 embarked upon in consonance with the the envy of other states in the contemporary General Olagunsoye Oyinlola (rtd.). To God
OSUN DEFENDER Tuesday, December 24, 2013
MAGAZINE
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So Far; So Good! (V)
•AREGBESOLA Continued from page 6 state capitals in the country and yonder.
Also before now, Osogbo, the state capital was noted for narrow roads, illegal structures, unplanned terrains and indiscriminate bus stops and motor parks. The rowdiness and clumsiness which surrounded the city was not justified by the population; especially when it is considered that people are just beginning to troop in into the city on the impetus of the new vibrant and viable industrial cum commercial drive of the incumbent administration.
•Rasco / Railway / Old Sawmill / Olaiya Link was the point at which we THISdrew the curtains on the last edition. We traced the activities that had taken place along the expanse of area between the Rasco Cinema end of Oke Fia / Old Garage axis to the Olaiya area, bordering the railway line. We placed on record how the area had become a slum or ghetto; and how it had been that persistent occurrence of water erosion and flooding had made the adjoining environment not only unfit, but also unsafe for human habitation. In spite of that fact, people kept defying all safety rules and danger signals as illegal structures kept springing up dayin day-out in the area. Also, it was placed on record how the area had become trouble spot in view of the dilapidating structures and hideout spots for criminals. For the areas directly bordering the railway, people had found a convenient spot for dumping of refuse and indiscriminate defecation. Upon the fresh creation of the State of Osun in 1991, a portion of the affected area was initially used as Motor Park / Terminus for the defunct Osun State Transport Corporation (OSTC). That stretch had become desolate. In consequence, illegal structures had begun to spring up in the area. In a nutshell, the entire area had become an eyesore to all; and it had all along awaited the arrival of a focused and well-intentioned government to put it back in good shape. The canal end of the area also had long required proper channelization. The natural river course had grown bushy and obstructed by refuse dumped indiscriminately by residents and traders in the area. Today, the entire expanse has been cleared. The rubbish occupying the area has been ridded. The buildings and
•LAOYE-TOMORI
structures obstructing the river courses have been demolished. The river courses have been properly channelized. All the ghetto areas which had hitherto served as hideouts for hoodlums and criminals have been opened up and exposed. The area now looks befitting and free for human and vehicular movement. Work is still ongoing in the area. It is however certain that by the time the government is through with its effort on the area, there shall be provided a link; a sort of shortcut between the Old Garage area and the Old Olaiya Junction / Alekuwodo. One significant event worthy of mentioning which have taken place in the area since the time of compiling the last edition has been the broadening and dredging of the river course at Rasco end. It is a highly commendable landmark achievement on the part of the Government of the State of Osun that the perennial problems of water erosion and persistent flooding in the area have been arrested. Thick and heavy as the rains have been this year (2013); residents have been full of praises and prayers for the administration of OgbeniAregbesola for coming to their aid by rescuing them from the ravaging and horrendous calamity of water flooding and its ugly after-effects; which had hitherto become a recurring decimal in the area. Today, the entire area has been opened up. Even mere physical inspection shall reveal that the area and its residents have received a new lease of life and a clean bill of health; courtesy of the Aregbesola administration. •MDS / Railway / Olaiya Access Way is the expanse that THISis stretch parallel to the area examined above. It is the area due to the other stretch of the railway, closer to the main road linking the Old Garage of the Olaiya Junction. The stretch had hitherto been befallen by much the same predicament as the other stretch considered above. In addition, it was dotted with illegal structures; mainly shops, kiosks, stalls and al manners of movable structures for trading activities, which constituted obstruction to free human and vehicular movement. In consequence, the area became rowdy, clumsy, ugly and unplanned. Instead of having in place a layout befitting of the
heart of a state capital, all manners of occupants just erected structures after their patterns in gross violation of all rules of building and town planning. What an ugly and horrible spectacle it was! The patch of bushes in-between the road and the railway; which had not been developed was carelessly used for refuse dumping and human defecation, making the entire area stuffy, smelly and uncomfortable for passers-by. A greater portion of the bushy area was used as hideouts for hoodlums, hooligans, criminals and hemp-smokers. It was obvious that no meaningful attempts had been made by the previous administrations in the state to convert the area into some meaningful use. It is this area that the incumbent administration is now utilizing for profitable and more beneficial purposes. In the grand plan for the area, various amenities are to be provided in a matter of next few months for the maximum benefit of the generality of the citizenry of the state. Such amenities include park (already constructed), pedestrian bridges and rail crossing aid for cyclists (currently under construction), police station, conveniences for ladies and gents, warehouses, eateries and other facilities that could enhance enjoyment of all. •Ajegunle / LAUTECH / First Bank / Station Road Link had been long that this major ITlink between the main township road (Old Garage / Igbonna Road) and the popular Station Road, which form major exit to Ilesa and Ijesaland had craved for reconstruction. The way it was, the link served as access to the main entrance of the Ladoke Akintola University Teaching Hospitals (LAUTECH-TH) Complex (formerly State Hospital). This hospital facility and its College of Medicine is a fond legacy and joint asset between the State of Osun and its sister-state – Oyo State; and had been sited in Osogbo since the time of old Oyo State which comprised the two states. In view of the lucrative nature of a tertiary health institution of that magnitude, the hospital facility had attracted to itself an impressive number of shopping outlets. What is not impressive about it all was the fact that the shopping outlets were located in a fashion that violated every rule of a modernized market layout. This
situation had particularly been horrible and ugly more so a tertiary health institution is located in that area. It is important to note that the site of a hospital should have an aura of sacredness and sanctity around it. A good, clean and serene environment for a hospital is in itself an effective healing therapy. More so, the access provided by that road draws heavy human and vehicular traffic such that the area is almost always congested. This was a frightful barrier to easy access to service delivery in times of emergency. Even in normal times, the congestion constituted strong barriers to easy movement. It is this ugly situation that the incumbent administration in the State of Osun seeks to rectify by venturing into the rehabilitation of that road. The road which links the popular Station Road; which importance in the state capital has been underscored above; and which shall be the subject of our discussion at a later segment of this discourse. Today, all illegal structures dotting the roadsides and all such ones dotting all unallocated parcels of land in the stretch have been demolished. This development has paved way for easy human and vehicular movement in the area. Great kudos to the administration of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola in the State of Osun! •Station Road T HE stretch of road linking the Old Garage Area to the centre Continued on page 10
OSUN DEFENDER Tuesday, December 24, 2013
PHOTOTALK
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Convergence Of All Progressives Congress (APC) Ward Youth Leaders In The State Of Osun, At the Party Secretariat, Osogbo, State Of Osun, Recently. Photo: SHOLA ADERINTO
•(R-L) APC State Youth leader, Alh. Rasheed Adeniji; Acting State Chairman of the party, Elder ‘Lowo Adebiyi and the Secretary, Prince Gboyega Famodun during the programme.
•A cross section of APC Ward youth leaders in the state .
•Another cross section of youth leaders during the programme.
9
PHOTOTALK
OSUN DEFENDER Tuesday, December 24, 2013
Beautification Of Streets In Osogbo, The State Of Osun Capital In Preparation For Christmas And New Year Festivals By Governor Rauf Aregbesola’s Administration, As Captured By Our Cameraman, GBENGA ADENIYI, Last Saturday Night.
• Christmas light at Oke-fia Rounabout.
•Beautification of Stadium Roundabout.
MAGAZINE
OSUN DEFENDER Tuesday, December 24, 2013
So Far; So Good! (V) Continued from page 7
o the city, the Palace Area, popularly called Oja Oba; which also plays host to the Central Mosque; is the road under review in this segment. It is the same road that has been referred to in the just-concluded segment above. As has been pointed out earlier, it is this same road that projects further to Oke Ayepe / Oke Ijetu / D.O. Area of the city; and which exits into the Ijesaland axis of the state. From the Palace Area, there is a diversion of the road to the left hand-side towards Ibokun, the seat of Obokun Local Government Council Area of the state. Apart from this, this road connecting Oke Baale Area plays host to some significant places in the state capital. It is the main junction to the Main Campus of the multi-campus Osun State University (UNIOSUN). It is also the road leading to the headquarters of the state-owned media organization, the State of Osun Broadcasting Corporation (OSBC) – Radio and Television. In addition to these, the road is the access to the headquarters of one of the firstgeneration local government council areas in the state – the Osogbo Local Government. This is not to talk of the presence of the Federal Secretariat, which is under construction along that route. We can go on and on, but all we know is that there is huge presence of many places of note along that route which provides attraction to great crowd. The ancient residence of the late icon of culture, the Austria-born Susan Wenger is also located there. A great number of hotels, guest houses and hospitality places is located in the axis. Constructing a good motorable road to access such an area could not be a misplaced priority. To the right hand-side of the junction from the Ataoja Palace Junction is the road linking Isale Osun, which plays host to the main Groove of the Osun goddess. The internationally recognized deity of Osun, from which the state derives its name and identity, draws lots of adherents, worshippers, admirers, tourists and visitors from all parts of the world annually. On the basis of this feat, the Osun Groove got listed in October 2005 on the world tourism map; and the United Nations Educational, Social and Cultural Organization has listed the Groove as a world tourism centre. In effect, year after year, the Groove attracts increasing volumes of crowd; placing the irresistible demand on any responsible and responsive government to pave wide roads all around the place. All along, before the Palace Square
end of the Station Road, the stretch of the road from Gbaemu Junction is strewn with places of note – schools, arts and culture centres, churches and other worship centres; all of which contribute to make the place a beehive of activities. On the whole, fixing the Station Road in Osogbo is a major breakthrough achievement of the Rauf Aregbesola administration in the State of Osun. Right from the Old Garage Area of the state capital, the Station Road is an extension of the commercial nerve-centre of the city. With the proposed relocation of the Oja Oba and the location of the two major city centres along this stretch of road; that is, the Old Garage and the Palace Square areas, the ground is set for the dramatic transformation of the state capital, which had hitherto remained a semiurban centre into a highly urbanized city. •Old Garage / Orisunmbare / MDS other side of this stretch of THEroad has already been captured in an earlier segment of this report. That portion is that which centred on the MDS / Olaiya axis. The stretch of road from the Old Garage through the Post Office Junction to the New Orisunmbare Market Complex is covered under this sub-heading. The former feature of this entire expanse of road, as is the case with the Station Road just considered is narrowness; which has caused vehicles to be parked at roadsides; thus further narrowing down the road. With the ongoing broadening of these roads and the relocation of street hawkers to new organized market locations within the metropolis, the stage is set for the transformation of Osogbo into a real state capital – spacious, beautiful and well laid out.
Groove and the State Hospital Asubiaro. It also provides access to the famous Our Lady of Fatima / St. Francis Hospital; some notable schools and worship centres. It is therefore a great work of ingenuity that this road has been properly fixed. With the street median properly fixed and the street lights fully functional, the city life of the state capital has not only received a boost, but also the economic importance of the road has been maximized. The trouble spot at the junction of Fagbewesa Road has been blocked so as to enhance smooth vehicular movement. •Fagbewesa Road / Station Road N spite of spurious efforts by the I immediate past administration in the state to fix this road, nothing significant happened to it at the end of the day. Immediately upon the assumption of office of the incumbent administration, however, frantic steps were taken to restore the road to proper shape. These efforts paid off well at the end of the day. The Fagbewesa Road today offers a smooth safe ride to motorists and cyclists while pedestrians too enjoy a nice walk. The road, with the additional access it has from the Old Garage / MDS axis is a good shortcut. It also provides ample link with Egbatedo and Isale Ijebu areas of the city. •Aregbe / Akindeko /Capital Hotel spite of the location of a I N proposed housing estate somewhere along this route by the immediate past administration, the access roads at that entire area were not fixed. The major problem that bad plagued Osogbo city life all this while had not been that there had been too many motor vehicles; it had been that apart from the major roads, there had not been alternative routes. In effect, the major roads were overused and overstretched. The incumbent administration however gave a timely diagnosis to this problem and responded to it promptly. Today, the stretch of access from Opposite Aregbesola Campaign Office / First Bank Gbongan Road through Akindeko to Capital Hotel has been fixed right. This has saved a lot of traffic congestion within the state capital.
•Olaiya / Odi Olowo / St. Francis / Asubiaro / Ita Olookan it is true that this W HILEstretch of road had been constructed by an earlier administration, it is truer that the state of the road upon the assumption of the reins of power by the incumbent administration was not good enough. The road had become damages and the rate of congestion was higher due to wrong u-turn points. The importance of this road cannot be over-emphasized. It constitutes a faster link from the Iwo /Gbongan roads end of the city with the •Capital Hotel / Tinumola / Ilesa Road. It also aids faster access to Boorepo /Ring Road the Palace Square city centre. Aside IRECTLY opposite Capital this, the road links such other vital D Hotel lies a stretch of road places of note as the famous Osun
network covering the entire expanse of area to the opposite side of Technical College along Iwo / Ibadan Road of the city. In times past, these roads had been in an absolute state of disrepair. The importance of roads in this area is quite inestimable. With this road, taking exit from Capital Hotel area toward Ikirun / Offa, Iwo, Ilobu and other relevant places would not necessarily require passage through the ever-busy Oke Fia. The road network at this end has actually solved much of the traffic problems in this part of the state capital. •New Gbongan Road HE New Gbongan Road is T v i t a l and important in many r e s p e c t s . First, it is one of the major entry / exit routes for the state capital from many external places. Secondly, it links the city and several other areas of the state with the State Government Secretariat, Abere. Thirdly, it is one of the numerous federal highways which criss-cross the State of Osun. The shameful side to it is the fact that like many other Federal Government roads in the country, it was not well paved; neither was it well maintained in periods preceding the advent of the incumbent administration in the State of Osun. We have made it a point of duty in earlier parts of this series to clarify how the immediate past administration started its purported first phase of the Gbongan / Erin Ile / Kwara State Boundary Road; stretching from Akoda to Old Garage area of Osogbo, the state capital; and how the road project was slowed down throughout its sevenand-a-half years in office. Even then, the road project was haphazardly done. Upon its assumption of office, the administration of Ogbeni Aregbesola has turned the road Continued on page 11
•(L-R) The deputy governor, State of Osun, Otunba (Mrs) Grace Titi Laoye-Tomori; Governor Rauf Aregbesola; Assistant Inspector General of Police (Zone 11), Mr David Omojola and State Commissioner of Police, Mrs Dorothy Gimba, during a courtesy visit to the governor at Government House, Osogbo, recently.
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So Far; So Good! (V) Contiuned from page 6
around by redefining it and bringing it up to the standard of a true inlet / outlet into a state capital of modern times. As at the time of filing this report, the portion of the road from the Government Secretariat at Abere to Old Garage of the city is receiving attention in terms of broadening, provision of walkways, drainage, erection of bus stop sheds and general beautification. Also, matters relating to street-lighting and provision of parks cum ornamentation are receiving priority attention. Before now, motor parks were sited indiscriminately along the roads. Also, motorists parked their vehicles along roadsides, further narrowing the road thereby. Residential and other kinds of buildings were built with absolute disregard to the provisions of spaces from the roads. In most cases, too many spaces existed for u-turns. Activities of traders along the road were so rampant that there subsisted much of unnecessary competition and struggle for spaces among all road users. As could be visibly discerned, this road under consideration has lined up along it great retinue of corporate offices which attract crowds of people and vehicles. This situation caused much hiccups, headaches and upset. To worsen matters, there was no alternative route to this very one into and out of the state capital. By the time the incumbent administration is through with its reconstruction activities, all the matters of concern raised above would have been flung overboard. The incumbent administration is obviously leaving impressive imprints in the sands of time; such that would be difficult, if not impossible to beat. •New Iwo / Ibadan Road HIS road received its last T construction treatment during the military regime of General
Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (rtd.); prior to the carving out of the State of Osun out of the old Oyo State. The road, apart from linking the Iwo axis of the state with outside states, also provides an alternative route for the state and its populace to places like Ibadan, Lagos, Ilorin, Oyo, Ogbomoso, Aawe, Odo Oba and the rest. It is therefore significant to place on note its invaluable potential contribution to growing the economy of our dear state. At this time when work is going on, on the Ido Osun Airport, the invaluable contribution which this road wields for our state cannot be exaggerated. The prominence of Iwo in the State of Osun is rising radically. The road is also of great importance to travelers through our soils to other states. Already, Iwo is playing host to two or more universities, not to talk of other institutions. There also exist links through roads within Iwo axis to such other areas of the state as Gbongan (Ayedaade), Ikire (Irewole), Ejigbo, Ede and other parts which implies that the road project would enhance smooth massive movement of people and goods (mainly farm produces) upon its completion. It is on this note that we proudly conclude that the contract for the construction of the road has been awarded by the administration of Ogbeni Aregbesola. The project is expected to be delivered in months to come. We commend, in strong terms the administration of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola for its giant strides taken in the State of Osun. We forecast that by the time the administration is through with its development projects, especially in the area of road infrastructure provision, Osun would have transformed indescribably from the status of a glorified rural populace into a cosmopolitan status. By the time the administration of Senator Isiaka Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State also does its own bit along this axis, the regional integration roadmap of the South-
West geopolitical zone would be nearing full consummation. We thank God for this development. The West is fast moving toward the reclamation of its old place of prominence and greatness among the comity of states in the federation of Nigeria. •Ilesa Road HIS road is yet another among T the numerous ones that link the state capital with major divisions of the state. Apart from this, it links the entire state with the South-East and SouthSouth geopolitical zones of the country. Ilesa and the entire Ijesaland constitute vibrant food basket for the state and other parts of the country. The stretch of Osogbo-Ilesa Road is one of the road projects that have received mere lip-service from previous administrations since the time of the old Oyo State. Its construction at a time like this is most heartily welcome. We have dwelt much on the importance of this stretch of road in earlier parts of this report. •East Bypass TILL on combating the problem S of traffic congestion in Osogbo, the capital of the State of Osun, we now shift focus to another road project initiated by the administration of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, That road is the East Bypass; the twin-sister to the West Bypass, popularly known as Ring Road in Osogbo today. Any doubting Thomas on the intent and anticipated effectiveness of this road under construction would just need to take his cues from the usefulness of the existing Ring Road to human and vehicular movement. Also, the work of beautification it has wrought on the city is admirable. Yet al is not yet through with the West Bypass. By the time the planned upgrade of the road is in full swing, it shall be crystal clear to the most obstinate pessimist that its kind
•The picture showing the beautification of sections of Alekuwodo road in Osogbo in the night .
of toad project is crucial to fast-tracked development in practically all sectors. Much has been written on the East Bypass in our previous editions. The road project is planned to link the Iwo / Ede axis of the city from the Ido Osun end to the Ikirun/ Ila Odo / Erin Ile / Kwara State Boundary Road, currently under construction. The long road is planned to link the New Gbongan / Ibadan Express Road through the Ataoja High School / State House of Assembly belt and connect the city centre somewhere at the Ita Olookan / Ilesa Road latitude. From there, the road moves further to connect the earliermentioned city outskirts at the Testing Ground / Unity School area and burst out at the Power Line end. The ongoing project, named after the late monarch of the Source, the first and the last Governor of the Western Region, highly reputed royal father and great custodian of the Yoruba culture and traditions, the late Ooni of Ife, His Royal Highness, Oba Adesoji Tadeniawo Aderemi. Upon completion, the road would complement the West Bypass, the popular Ring Road in counting down on the problem of traffic congestion within the Osogbo metropolis. From the Osogbo / Iwo / Ibadan Road end of the city, the Oba Adesoji Aderemi Way shall provide an alternative route for motorists making it from that end, traveling either towards Ikirun or Gbongan; and who have no business doing in the centre of the city. In this, the road dispenses well its role as a bypass. Similarly, travelers through Osogbo from the Gbongan end, making it either towards Ikirun or Iwo could link the road midway at the House of Assembly crossing; provided they have no need to transverse the city-centre. This situation is also applicable to motorists plying the road from Ikirun end who may intend to avoid the hustle-bustle of the city by taking the route either to the Gbongan Road exit or the whole length of it to Iwo Road end; depending on their actual Contiuned on page 12
OSUN DEFENDER Tuesday, December 24, 2013
MAGAZINE
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So Far; So Good! (V)
•The governor, State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola (right); his deputy, Otunba (Mrs) Grace Titi Laoye-Tomori (left) and other dignitaries in a group photograph with Methodist School pupils during the distribution of School badges recently. Continued from page 11 destination. Finally on this note, road users coming from Gbongan end who intend to link Ikirun axis without getting into the city would also find the road very useful. We can also fashion out there numerous uses for the road for travelers from the Ilesa end and even those who intend to connect various ends of the city in a jiffy. It is hoped that when the Oba Adesoji Aderemi Way is completed, the long road shall impact wonderfully on the traffic flow of the state capital of Osun such that all unnecessary hold ups, congestion, hiccups and bottlenecks shall be removed. Another important role to be played by the road is that of providing direct access to and fro the Airport that is currently under construction. In this light, we can safely say that this road under review, alongside numerous other road projects ongoing or already completed in the State of Osun is preparing grounds for pragmatic and genuine transformation of Osogbo and the entire state by extension into a cosmopolitan setting. For the purpose of greater ease and convenience, OSUN DEFENDER Magazine strongly recommends that a feeder road should be paved directly from the Oba Adesoji Aderemi Way to access the Ayegbaju International Market from the rear. We do not doubt the ingenuity of the architects and planners of our roads in ensuring that several feeder roads are paved from different spots of the Aderemi Way to access various parts of the city. •Old Garage / Ikirun-Ila Odo-Erin IleKwara State Boundary Road has also been written M UCH on this ongoing road project. If we d not forget, this road project was supposed to form the Phase II of the entire Gbongan-Kwara State Boundary Road project spuriously embarked upon by the immediate past administration. If the reconstruction of that road project had been genuinely pursued by that administration; with all sincerity of purpose; then the entire stretch would have been completed a long while ago. We had, at various times during the time of that administration in office pointed out that if it had been its top priority
and commitment to pave the dualized road, then, the two phases should have been awarded simultaneously to two separate contractors. The two contractors should have taken the projects from their two extreme ends at Gbongan / Akoda as the case may be; and Erin Ile / Ila Odo. The road projects could have wonderfully progressed, with the Old Garage area of Osogbo as their meeting point. Today, apart from the fact that the administration of Ogbeni Rauf Aegbesola has brought the Akoda / Old Garage stretch of the road to 100 per cent stage of completion; work is earnestly in progress on the Old Garage / Kwara State Boundary stretch, which is hoped to be completed well before the administration is done with its first tenure in office. Already, all preparatory work on the road has been satisfactorily completed. This includes clearing the space for the second lane, blasting of rocks, removal of other obstructions and construction of culverts and bridges. Currently, tongues are being wagged by a cross section of detractors and pessimists, insinuating it as stark impossibility that the road could be completed within the stated length of time. The take of OSUN DEFENDER Magazine on that is that since it took the Oyinlola administration its entire years in office, spanning seven and a half years, to construct the Old Garage / Akoda Road as its only notable project; the stage which work has reached on this road within the space of a year is quite encouraging. The problem with cynics of the incumbent administration is that they are dazzled, petrified and confounded with the astonishing achievements recorded so far. Instead of being repentant, many of these cynics have preferred the path of denigrating the administration; just as they fear that these numerous achievements recorded so far shall work wonders at the next polls. So they stand stuck with fear of their obvious end – political demise. OSUN DEFENDER Magazine’s wise counsel to these spent politicians and their cronies is that they should bury their shames and put the patches of their failed political careers together as is being done in jigsaw puzzles all over again. One best thing to do in such situations is to begin to take recourse to
pitching tents with the camp of the progressives. Too much has been stolen; so much that the genuine owners, the people have noticed. The people have resolved that the only way out of their plight and enslavement is the purposeful governance of the progressives. The intimidating posture of the incumbent administration, thrown forward by the gait if its numerous achievements has convinced the people. So, they remain strongly convicted that the tide of progress must continue. Before we shift focus from this road in this edition, we have further remarks to make. With the rains just subsiding for the current year, the hope is high that the long dry season that is just setting in would give enhanced performances to the contractors handling the road project. The length of time between November 2013 and March / April 2014 would provide dry hand hard terrain with weather that is uninterrupted by incessant rainfalls which are enough facilitators to speedy progress of work coverage. God willing, we shall be here at the outset of the rainy season next year to assess the progress so far on the road project and other similar ones. •Testing Ground /Aderin / Orita Sabo / Onisekere Road road branches from the T HIS Power Line Junction and extends through the Orita Sabo Junction to terminate at the Orita Onisekere at the famous Ayetoro Area of the state capital. Before the advent of the Rauf Aregbesola administration, it constituted an eyesore, as it had become almost impassable. There are some other feeder roads linking this road with other communities in the area. Examples of these include the ones connecting Kelebe and the Christ Resurrection Power Assembly, a.k.a. CREPA. As part of the thrust of the incumbent administration, these roads have been fixed. The to the importance of this road must be underscored. It connects the Ikirun / Kwara State outlet of the state capital with the heart of the city – the Palace Square along Ilesa Road. What this implies is that any traveler into the city from Ikirun end is by it provided
an alternative route into the interior without undergoing any interruption. The same is applicable to those coming from that interior with the Ikirun Road outskirts as their destination. Also, motorists approaching the Kola Balogun / Testing Ground Area in the precincts of Osun Presidential Hotel and those wanting to avert the unnecessary delays on the Ayetoro / Omo West Area could take the route to burst out at Power Line Junction. In addition, those at Ayetoro / Onisekere Junction and adjoining areas who intend to go to Ilesa or avert delays to get to Oja Oba could also find the in road an escape route. It is this important nature of the road which has obviously accorded it priority attention by the administration of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola. By the road and the West Bypass, with the new East Bypass under construction, much solution would be proffered persistent problem of traffic congestion in Osogbo metropolis; in addition to the ongoing rehabilitation efforts on the Osogbo / Kwara State Boundary Road. •Gbongan / Akoda Road T I had been made known over and over again that the road construction efforts of the immediate past administration along Osogbo / Gbongan Road, especially, as far as road dualization is concerned terminated at Akoda. This means that the remaining stretch to Gbongan remained singlelane. The administration of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, in fulfillment of the promises of the SYMBOL that all roads leading into the state would be made befitting has begun the dualization project on the remaining stretch of the road. In addition to this, the Ife / Ibadan Expressway exit of that road is also being made broad, elaborate and risk-free. This is as the necessary flyovers are currently under construction. The implication of these developments include smooth and easy drive, convenient, flawless and hitch-free journeys, improving durability of motor vehicles, thereby elongating the ir life span and reducing to the barest minimum the frequency and incidence of carnages on our roads. To be continued.
13
INTERVIEW
OSUN DEFENDER Tuesday, December 24, 2013
Aregbesola ‘ll Get 80 Per Cent Votes In 2014 - Adaba Project Initiator Once in a while, some people are raised, whose particular function is to raise the hands of their ‘Moses’ in the time of battle. One of such people in our time is the person of Mr. Ademola Adeyinka, a successful financial expert and initiator of Adaba project, whose objective is to ensure that Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola emerges as governor of the State of Osun come 2014. KAZEEM MOHAMMED caught up with this financial guru, who has put in more than 20 years into the banking business and asked him some sundry questions about his project, affairs in the State of Osun, his political ambition and politics in general. Excerpts: OSDF: Can we meet you sir? ADEYINKA: My name is Ademola Adeyinka and I am from OrileOwu in Ayedaade Local Government. I have remained in the finance industry of the economy, where I trained as an investment banker with over 20 years of experience in banking and financial services. I am an alumnus of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, Nigeria, where I studied Politics, Philosophy and Economics. I also hold an MBA from the same institution. I am an alumnus of Lagos Business School, London Business School, where I did Corporate Finance and Wharton Business School in Pennsylvania, USA. I have been exposed to some of the best trainings in finance, leadership and management at some of the best schools in the world including Leadership Development Program at Harvard Business School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA among others. My experience in banking spans different areas, some of which include Public Sector, Corporate Banking, Corporate Finance, International Finance and Treasury in Intercontinental Bank, where I held the position of Treasurer of the bank from 1999 to 2005 and Divisional Head of Corporate Finance and Wealth Management from 2005 to 2009 when I left the bank. I played various leading roles in the management of the bank and was a major player in all the capital raising programmes of the bank, as well as the development of the bank’s relationship with leading international financial institutions, multilateral agencies and private equity firms before I left to set up my own financial advisory business along with other friends. We help companies and the public sector raise capital for different projects. Our firm is also involved in market research, public opinion polls, turnaround management, business strategy and human resource consulting. I am also a public speaker and I facilitate programmes on leadership, management, finance and public policy, public finance. I am married with children. OSDF: What is your political experience? ADEYINKA: I must confess that I have very little political experience because I have never run for any political office before and I have never been a card-carrying member of any political party, even though I have always aligned with political groups. My closest stint with politics was during my days in the university, when I was actively involved in students’ unionism. Of course, one has been a close watcher of our political development and it has been extremely difficult not to be political, when it comes to matters involving Nigeria. Being active is something I did not consider prior to now. OSDF: What motivated you into politics? ADEYINKA: Man by nature is a political animal, whether we want to accept it or not. I said earlier that it has been extremely difficult not to be involved in the politics of Nigeria, especially if you have the kind of training I have had and if you have stakes in this country and if you have no other country to call your own and if you are not ready to be a refugee in another country. It is unfortunate that we have watched for so long and complain without being involved. Many of us complain that politics is dirty and we tend to stay away. Yet, we complain about almost every government decision, which is the result of the choices we make whether by sitting on the political fence or voting for the wrong people or for the wrong reasons. The unfortunate part of Nigeria is that there is a high level of political illiteracy and that is the worst illiteracy that could befall a nation. It is the political illiterate that will take no part in his or her country’s political life. The political illiterate fails to realise that the price of garri and rice, house rent, cost of medical services, the welfare of children and aged, prostitution, robbery, terrorism, corruption, infrastructure all depend on the political decisions we make as individuals. How can I then not participate in what is fundamentally important and affects every aspect of my life. Some of us have since realised that from our non-participation, we submit our lives to all kinds of people. I therefore concluded and decided that we cannot continue to see politics as dirty and leave it to remain
dirty. I was further encouraged by the activities of people like Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, Raji Fasola and a few others, who have distinguished themselves and making effort to clean up the dirt in politics. We have to support them in the interest of our nation. OSDF: What informed your choice of the progressive camp? ADEYINKA: That was an easy decision to make. Life is all about making progress. The progressives are more focused on improvement in the human condition and you can see that play out in some of the states we control in ACN and now APC. You could look back and also see the impact of progressivism in the South West region controlled by Chief Obafemi Awolowo. It was therefore a no-brainer on which part of the political divide one should belong to. OSDF: Your comment on the merger ADEYINKA: Nigerians have suffered for too long. We have had a long standing headache as a people and it is only APC that can cure that headache which makes the merger a welcome development. The coalition of the progressives is one philosophy that has been advocated for a long time as the solution to the slow development of Nigeria. Throughout our political history, the progressives have been fragmented. In the history of Nigeria, this will be the first time the progressives will be making a real challenge for the centre and we must thank and appreciate all those who made this to happen in our lifetime. There are still other progressives outside the fold. My appeal to such people is to bury whatever personal differences and join their kith and kin in APC. We have to try to reach out to them; we must negotiate with them to come into the fold to rescue our nation. We will always have personal differences, but the interest of the generality of the people is what is most important and we need to cure the headache that our people have been having over a long period. It is time for new hands to lift the burdens of Nigeria. It is in our hands now to make this happen and we must not frustrate this move through pettiness. The world expects so much from Nigeria but we are grossly underperforming. I can assure you that the wretched of Nigeria will be wretched no more when the progressives take the centre stage come 2015. Well-meaning Nigerians must embrace this merger, they must support it and they must encourage others to be a part of it. It cannot be worse than it is under the current party so it is a risk worth taking even if you have your doubt. It is only a mad person that will be doing things the same way and will expect different result. What PDP is not able to do in 14 years, why do we think they will do it in another 4? It makes no sense to me. Nigeria can be better than it is and we have to make it happen. OSDF: What is Adaba Project all about? ADEYINKA: The ADABA Project is an independent constituency-based political action committee for progressive change that has evolved out of the exemplary leadership quality displayed by Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola and the need to build structures to support him in the interest of our state and our country in general. It is the political platform and independent campaign outfit upon which some of us at the constituency and my friends, who love my state are mobilising support for Ogbeni Aregbesola’s second term based on the good work he is doing and what we think our state will look like after his 8 years. We in the Adaba Project believe in government of, by and for people and in fiscal federalism. It is our opinion that a strong Federal Government is undermining life for the constituent states and this is totally unacceptable. We are working for a truly democratic and sustainable future. We are seeking ways outside government efforts to create jobs and financially empower our youths. We want our youths to prosper so that their prosperity can rub off on the community. We are also educating them politically. They should know what is at stake in Nigeria and I am happy to say that the few we have reached out to are more politically conscious. We are committed to social justice, human rights, civil liberties and peace which the symbol of our project represents. The
•ADEYINKA “Adaba” as you know is a warm bird, supportive, progressive, charismatic and peaceful. Peace has been one of the major achievements our state has recorded in the time of Ogbeni Aregbesola and that is symbolic. OSDF: Do you have any political ambition and why? ADEYINKA: The only political ambition I have is for Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola to come in for second term with the highest votes ever recorded for any gubernatorial election. That, in my opinion, is enough ambition for now. He is a leader I have a lot of trust in. When he speaks on national issues I hear my voice in him, I feel my passion in him and I feel my patriotism in his. It is given that he would win the election because the relics of the other parties left in Osun State cannot match the good work the gentleman is doing and the public rating he has. It will however not be enough to just win. We have to set a record. I am looking at a situation, where Osun will record the highest voters’ turnout and where Ogbeni will record at least 80% of the votes. For me, that is the only worthwhile KPI. We cannot expect 100% because even Jesus Christ had one Judas out of 12 disciples, so it has always been my guiding philosophy to expect a Judas in every twelve. We will try as much as possible to influence what happens in most parts of the state through our network, but don’t forget that the Adaba Project is constituency-based, so our work should be measured based on the result from our constituency of Ayedaade/Irewole/Isokan. The election in Osun will be the dress rehearsal for 2015 general elections, so it is a good opportunity to show them our logo. After the Osun election, then the Adaba Project can focus on the 2015 presidential election, which is a major one for this country. OSDF: What is your take on the economy of State of Osun? ADEYINKA: You know the economy of our state is mainly agrarian. Our people are mainly farmers, traders, and artisans. We have an appreciable Federal presence in addition to thousands of kilometres of motorable roads. Osogbo houses the National grid and we have rail lines that cut through the state. We are blessed with vast mineral resources which include gold, clay, limestone, kaolin and granite apart from the huge agricultural resources. There is no doubt that we have a lot of potentials as a state, which has been ignored by successive administrations. It is therefore a delight to see an astute and prudent manager become the CEO of the state. The excitement I have in this administration and Ogbeni’s team is the process of revitalisation of the economy, which they have embarked on. His administration is laying solid foundation for a robust economy, which many people may not be seeing now. I have no doubt that the second term will witness a lot of foreign direct investment and industrialization, which will make our people prosperous. We all just have to support Ogbeni and continue to pray for him. You cannot also ignore his plan for education. In no time we will be well rated in terms of the quality of our human resources which will include highly articulate, intelligent and aggressive workforce. For the structure of our economy in the state Ogbeni is doing what should be done. He should be supported and we are ready to support him.
OSDF: What is your general opinion on Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola’s leadership? ADEYINKA: Recall that I told you earlier that I have been to a number of leadership programs both home and abroad. I also mentioned that I facilitate leadership programs so leadership is an area I have done a lot of research work on. Ogbeni is a transformational leader and you don’t have many like him. Our views on his leadership style was aptly captured in the advertorial we did in The Nation Newspaper of 26th November to mark his 3rd Anniversary. That advertorial was placed to teach our people what leadership is all about and to project a man that other political office holders should emulate. I am very proud that he is my leader. His leadership skills only remind me of what we saw and read about Chief Jeremiah Obafemi Awolowo. I am learning a lot from Ogbeni and hope I will be close enough to see more in order to be able to develop a case study on his leadership style and submit to reputable institutions. OSDF: What message do you have for members of Adaba Project and the APC in the state against 2014? ADEYINKA: For members of Adaba Project, I want to thank them for the level of support we have received since the project started. Their commitment to the government of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola is something that is quite commendable. I want to tell them that the job is not over yet and I want to let them know that we have a long way to go in sensitizing people about their votes. They should not be tired but continue to endure and persevere. When the governor is being sworn-in for a second term, we would show what Adaba Project is really about. For the APC members, I want to say that this is the best time to go for the crown, to leverage on what is happening in Nigeria today to get to the Presidency. This is the best time for us to get the majority in the national assembly. For us to get about 60-70 percent of the states under the control of the APC, we should not allow petty interest to mess up a golden opportunity. We need to say the right thing in the media and also educate the people about their votes. The Federal Government should be ours because there is no better time than this. All hands should be on deck and there should be no time to sit on the fence. Those sitting on the fence should be converted into APC membership. We will get there by the grace of God. This country will witness progress under an APC government.
OSUN DEFENDER Tuesday, December 24, 2013
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INTERVIEW
We Won’t Allow The Noise By Opposition To Derail Us –Sunday Osun State Commissioner Akere is the Osun State Commissioner for Information and Strategy. In this interview with OLUSESAN LAOYE in Osogbo, Akere says those criticising Governor Rauf Aregbesola’s programmes are uninformed. He also posits that Nigeria will be better after the Peoples Democratic Party is broken into pieces by its greed. Excerpts: the way they are running the government, What is it like now in Osun State with the governorship election around the corner?
that is what others would be doing. We have not for once told anybody we would do this, when we know that we cannot do it.
In Osun State today I can assure you that the APC is solidly on ground and the party is already in the minds of the people. The government of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola has impacted positively into the lives of the people in the state. The present Osun State Government is a government which made a promise to the people of the state and kept it. The government has been tested and as well can be trusted.
What we are doing is what we programmed that we would do and that is exactly what we have been doing. We have been expending N50 on each pupil and this cost us N12.7million in a day and the figure is there for them to verify. If they are not satisfy they should go and do the enumeration of the pupils we have in our school and multiply what they get with the amount we said we are spending, that is simple. They are making the noise to detract us from what we are doing but we won’t allow their noise to derail us.
How about the urban renewal project of the government, we hear it has been cancelled due to paucity of funds as most of the capital projects are being financed through bond? Some people are saying that we are taking bond to finance capital projects; I don’t know what they want us to take bond to finance. Those who are saying this are out of their minds and do not realise what we are doing. The urban renewal project is one of the capital programmes of the government and is also one of the major cardinal agenda we promised the people of the state when we were campaigning. We promised that we are going to visit nine of the major cities in Osun because Osun happens to be one of the most urbanised states in Nigeria today, and that was why we said we are going to do urban renewal in nine of the cities. The cities are Osogbo, Ikirun, Ila, Ilesa, Ife, Ede Ikire, Iwo and Ejigbo. We are starting this project gradually with Osogbo and we expect that very soon, we would get to other towns. You see the issue of the urban renewal is to open up the cities, develop them to attract investors. Again the issue of whether we were taking bond to do capital project, I don’t know whether they expect us to take bond to do parties. The government believes that in developing the infrastructure here in Osun, it would create jobs for our youths and the investors would have something to attract them to the states. This is what we are doing and the bonds we took were dedicated to the projects of the government to build roads, schools and the urban development of our cities. We also intend to use the money to develop the commercial life in the state and that is what we are doing. Recently the issue of feeding of pupils was criticised and the argument was that what you are using to feed the pupils is rather outrageous? Those saying this I will say again are out of their minds. They should tell us what we should do because there is nothing that the government of Engr Rauf Aregbesola does that is not done openly. This is the first government since the creation of the state that is laying all its eggs on the table for everybody to see. We said that for each child that we are feeding cost us N50 and if we are feeding over 250,000 in all the public primary schools, in primary one to four in the state, the data is there for them to see. The issue is like the kettle calling the pot black. The opposition that is criticising us believe that because of their attitude and
What about the criticisms now trailing the government’s policy on the merger of schools and re-classification programme which the religious bodies were against? To us there is no problem over the reclassification of schools. You know that when something is new and there is change in the way people are doing things before, people would react to it. The issue to remodel the school system in Osun was introduced to give for elementary which is for the primary one to four, the middle schools which is for primary five to JSS 111 and the high school which is for SS1 to SS3. Because of the newness of the programme some people felt it could not work and they are opposed to it but we have taken time to explain to them and I don’t think that there is crisis about it anymore.
But the Christians in particular are saying that the government has failed to respond to their request on the issue, we also leant that all the meetings held on the matter were deadlock? The government met them and I think we have responded to all what they presented. The government did not at any time hide anything from them and it would be a surprise to us if they are saying that the government failed to respond to their request. The issue of the schools has been clearly explained to them which to our own understanding they must have been satisfied with the stand of the government. What do you think makes Osun different because the governor and government officials of the state always refer to it as special and unique? A lot of things are different about Osun. In the first place God gave us a leader that is endowed with knowledge in administration. We do a lot of things here in Osun and that is why we call our self an unusual government running an unusual administration and achieving unusual results. We thank God as well, that everything is working well for us in the state. We are not saying that other states are not doing it well but we thank God that everything we have been doing have been falling into places and that is what has made us a different state from others.
We are providing free meal for pupils in our primary one to four; we are the ones that started the rebranding of the state and call it state of Osun contrary to what it was being called before. We are the first that introduced unified school uniforms for all schools which is free for our pupils; we are
•AKERE the first as well to introduced Opon Imo (Tablet of Knowledge). These are the unique things the Osun State has been doing since this government came on board. All what we have been doing are ordained more so that the cradle of the Yoruba race is from the state. What will you say about the issue of boundary disputes in the state which many residents think Governor Aregbesola has not handled well? We are already on top of this even the dispute between the state and that of Ondo is also being resolved and to be honest with you, we are doing our best to ensure that there is peace in the state and there is no cause for alarm. Can you comment on the judicial and electoral process in the country? The judicial and electoral process in the country right now is fair. Although, we may not have gotten to where we should be but we are making some progress. If things were like this before 1998, Nigeria would have been better than this. Again if our democracy can last for 14 years, then there is hope that things would be better and this is an indication that the country is making progress politically. On Justice Salami’s case it is believed in some quarters that he was not treated well and the fact that Osun State matter is among the issues that caused his problems?
Everybody knew that the way Justice Salami was treated was bad. But our own position is that judgement for what people do belong to God. If people are in position today and they believe they will use that position to oppress others, then we leave such people to their conscience. We know that Justice Ayo Salami worked with a very clear conscience. As the image maker of the Osun State government what are your comments on the Freedom of Information Act? As a state, we accepted it because the bill is binding all over the state. In our own case there is nothing that we are doing which are in secrete. There is no decision of the government that would not go to the state executive council and there is no decision of the government that is not thrown open for the public. I am sure there is nothing those in the public would say is cloudy to them about our programmes and activities. Can you comment on the crisis in the PDP and the movement of the new PDP governors to the APC? The PDP is a party that is together by greed and it is that greed that is now tearing them apart. We are sure that Nigeria would be better after this greedy octopus is broken into pieces. As for the PDP governors now with us, I think they have taken the right decision and this, like I said before would be better for Nigeria. Culled from HALLMARK NEWS
OSUN DEFENDER Tuesday, December 24, 2013
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TUESDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2013 author of my T HEfaith said to the Thief on the right hand; “today you shall be with me in paradise”. For those who do not understand, the statement above was credited to the Lord, Jesus Christ, when he told the thief on the right side of the cross crucifixion, who rebuked the one on the left for scorning Jesus Christ, that he would sit with him in paradise. The thief on the right side thus received justification for expressing faith in the Saviour at the point of death. Indeed, nobody would have thought that a condemned thief would scale through to eternal glory, but the one on the right side that showed penitence for his misdemeanour got mercy from God and he became justified.
By ADE OLUGBOTEMI
What If Obasanjo Has Repented?
The scenario above represents a replica of the way people are feeling about the formal Head of State, General Olusegun Obasanjo (rtd) who recently wrote an open letter to President Goodluck Jonathan, who appeared to many stakeholders in the democratic circle of our land to have lost focus. The open letter has generated a lot of furore from many concerned citizens. Both positive and negative comments have been passed by individuals, who feel concerned about Nigeria that is drifting to chaos and oddity; and there is no audacity to blame anybody on either side, because our skewed rationalities may at times seem infallible. Majority carries the vote. The opinion polls that have been conducted seem to tilt toward a guilty verdict on the author of the controversial open letter. Many believe that the attitude of Obasanjo is like that of a warrior, who succeeded in eliminating many souls, but resist an attempt to swing a sword over his own head. Chief Obasanjo carried over his professional slogan: “soldiers are trained to kill” into his political voyage, as perceived enemies were hacked to death at random during his administration. We cannot forget quickly the fate of our own Uncle Bola Ige, whose death is still a mystery to us till date. People said Uncle Bola Ige saved Obasanjo’s life by alerting him of the plot to eliminate him by Abacha’s killer squad. We may not bother to talk of Harry Marshal, who was also a victim of misapplied executive fiat. There was an allegation of President Goodluck Jonathan wanting to spend two terms, when he actually promised to spend one term. Hmn! It is very certain that human beings are the most unpredictable of all creatures that God made; a verbal promise can be reneged on. If the promise is even coded, human ambivalence can prompt reversal, so that what was written in black and white is made to undergo obliteration or mutilation and be discarded, once it has no originality in the law of the land. ExPresident Obasanjo might have gotten carried away by the fact that he is no longer in office. He is now a social analyst that can comment on issues that bother on stability like other ordinary Nigerians.
In the face of all these, Obasanjo’s political pedigree is not in doubt. He is an elder statesman; having ruled the nation as a military heads of state between 1976 and 1979 and as civilian president for another eight years. He understands Nigeria and Nigerians inside out, and there may not be any Nigerian still living that can claim a greater currency in the knowledge of the nation’s political terrain. Asides, he is wise and politically rumbustious. His view about events in the country cannot be wished away. Talk of manipulations that have shattered hopes, he cannot be underrated. He therefore ranks amongst those that hold the key to Nigeria’s economic and political stability. The uncommon boldness to write an open letter to the President that he personally installed should be commended, because it is a sign that some things have gone wrong from his time as President and now. Nobility is not in never faltering, but in faltering and owing up that goofing has taken place. If key of prospect has inordinately been applied, the most honourable thing to do is to make a room for a correct application that may likely neutralize the corrigenda that resulted from earlier misapplication. If this is what exPresident Obasanjo is trying to do, it is good for the nation and for himself also. My consternation is about Chief Obasanjo’s ambivalence. He is difficult to understand when it comes to game plan. He may appear to be going the way to the right, when indeed he has his radar focused on the left. This has been proved to be so on many occasions. The only thing that needs clarification is that if this attribute is still being nurtured, I don’t know what Chief Olusegun Obasanjo stands to gain; considering his age and what he may wish to be remembered for after his departure from the planet earth.
•OBASANJO
Baba Iyabo might have forgotten that he once tried to bend the codified rule by attempting to have a third term in office as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria; when indeed the constitution allows for a maximum of two terms of four years each. Members of the National Assembly were treated to unprecedented palm-greasing that almost turned legislative functions to legislative escapade that would have brought the Republic to an abrupt end. If President Goodluck Jonathan wants to try his luck again, he is eminently qualified to do so because the country allows for two terms. If the court of law says the swearing-in that enabled Goodluck Jonathan complete Yar’Adua’s tenure should count is another ball game entirely This is not the first time we will be experiencing non-remittance of oil money. A lot of cover-ups have taken place in that all-important sector; causing a few opportunists to cheat on Nigerians to become stupendously rich.
Monopolization of oil field allotment by the chieftains of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) since the time of Olusegun Obasanjo’s presidency is the common knowledge both within and outside Nigeria. That allegation of cover-up against Goodluck Jonathan is therefore not strange. No wonder, General Theophilus Danjuma (rtd) told the whole world that he was flabbergasted by the proceeds from the oil field allocated to him. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo is generally known for unequalled predilection for vindictiveness. As a matter of fact, he is known to have exhibited his reprisal spirit against best allies in the likes of Bode George and Gbenga Daniel, who were known as his close confidants, before he showed them the stuff he is made of. Bode George dined and wined with prisoners before he was let off the hook, and Gbenga Daniel is now lost in political wilderness. What a great accomplishment in Obasanjo’s political game of attrition!
He was a political associate to late Nelson Mandela (though far younger), who is being celebrated around the world at the moment. I think Chief Obasanjo must have become so fascinated about the encomiums being poured on Nelson Mandela from around the globe. It is normal for any rational being to look back to where mistakes have been made, so that possible corrections can be effected. If this is what Chief Olusegun Obasanjo is trying to do, having caused the nation a lot of pains and agonies in her political retrogression and economic dwarfism, it is necessary we allow him. He only needs to convince us that he is not modelling another caricature that will enable him blindfold Nigerians the way he did in 2003 to capture the SouthWest of Nigeria by default. He may become justified if history vindicates him; as he from now henceforth does the job that is considered exclusive to logical Beings.
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