Osun Defender February 27th 2014 Edition

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www.osundefender.org THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2014

PEOPLE FIRST

Aregbesola And His Traducers: Facts, Fictions and Fallacies CONTINUE FROM Pg. 5

For instance, the state has added 10,407 new teachers to the list of public schools teaching staff in Osun.

Thus, the state now has 12,715 teachers in primary schools and 7,848 teachers in secondary school. This translates to a 54.8 per cent increase in the number of teachers in public schools the administration inherited.

The same applies to nonteaching staff whose num-

ber has also increased by 56.4 per cent. As a result, the salaries and pensions of primary and secondary school teachers now cost the state government N16.8billion and N10.3billion respectively on an annual basis, which amounts to a total of N27.1 billion per annum.On the free school uniforms, the state has expended N900million, while the elementary school feeding programme costs N3.6 billion every year.

On the supply of furniture to schools, the state has spent N2.5 billion, while N503 million is expended on instructional materials which were not part of public school education before Ogbeni assumed office.

Aregbesola’s administration is so encompassing such that both his traducers and allies are awed by his spectacular achievements.

Only last year, his govern-

ment spent about N162 million to bail out 87 medical students who are now continuing their programme in Karachi University. A couple of years from now the state and parents alike will be celebrating their graduation as trained medical doctors.

These and more are what Aregbesola’s traducers wish to obliterate through fictions and fallacies.

VOL. 9. NO.025

Who Killed Chief Bola Ige, formerAttorneyGeneral and Minister of Justice?

N 50

IGE

Osun To Disburse N600m To Women Entrepreneurs - See Story On Page 2

•The governor, State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola (right), presenting gifts to Minister for Water Resources, Mrs Sarah Ochekpe (2nd left) while with them, Chief of Staff to the state governor, Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola (2nd right) and Director, Dam Operations, Dr Emmanuel Adanu (left) during a courtesy visit to the governor in his office at Abere, Osogbo, last Thursday.

Photo: GBENGA ADENIYI.

Carry Police Along In Your Activities - New Osun CP

- See Story On Page 3

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OSUN DEFENDER Thursday, February 27, 2014

Osun To Disburse N600m To Women Entrepreneurs

By FRANCIS EZEDIUNO

Government of the State of Osun is to T HE disburse a total of N600 million to women entrepreneurs in the state.

This is coming as no organised by the State of fewer than 200,000 Osun branch of the CBN people would benefit for stakeholders in from the Central Bank of Osogbo, the state capital, Nigeria (CBN) N2billion Governor Rauf Micro, Small and Medium Aregbesola said the state Enterprises Development government will, in the Fund (MSMEDF) in the next few weeks, begin state. the disbursement of the The state government is N600 million to empower to add its counterpart women of the state. fund of N2 billion, The governor, who expected to increase the was represented by Dr beneficiaries to 400,000. Wale Bolorunduro, State Speaking at a day Commissioner for sensitisation workshop on Finance, at the workshop, the N220 billion said the state government MSMEDF fund

had worked out modalities with microfinance banks to disburse the loans to the beneficiaries.

The governor, who urged the people, especially women of the state, to maximise the opportunity of the CBN loans, described women as a major factor in the economic development of the state.

While promising that the state was ready to maximise the apex bank’s loan for the development of the state and its citizenry, he stated that the state government would provide its counterpart fund very soon, saying the

state government would provide bank guarantee for the cooperative groups in the state that show interest to access the fund.

Speaking further on the economic policy of the state government, Aregbesola stated that when the present administration came on board in November 2010, the gross domestic product (GDP) was N5 billion, which it had increased into over N9 billion in Year 2013, and condemned critics of his government.

He pointed out that, according to the Federal

Government data on GDP, the state is currently number seven out of 36 states of the federation, adding that the opposition parties in the state lacked knowledge about the economic development of the state.

However, as part of its economic drive, the state is to commission the multi-million naira Osogbo Ayegbaju International Market soon for usage of the traders across the state.

In his address at the workshop, Macduff Okorode Efetabore, the CBN controller in Osun State, disclosed the reason why the apex bank initiated the MSMEDF fund, saying it was to develop the economy status of the over two million Nigerian citizens, particularly the 60 percent of women entrepreneurs, within the period of 10 years.

Effetabore maintained that, “the MSMED fund has two broad objectives, which are social and commercial. The social/ development fund shall constitute 10 percent, with grants 5 percent, interest drawback 3

percent, managing agents’ operation cost 2 percent.

The commercial fund shall constitute 90 percent of the fund as follows: Wholesale funding; 90 percent of the commercial component and guarantees/ refinancing; 10 percent of the commercial component.

“Considering the peculiar challenges faced by women in accessing financial services in Nigeria, the revised micro-finance policy, regulatory and supervisory framework in section 4.2(1V), provides that women’s access to financial services should increase by 15 percent annually in order to eliminate gender disparity.

“In order to achieve this, 60 percent, which is N132 billion of the fund has been earmarked for providing financial services to women.

“In operating the fund, special consideration shall also be given to institutions that will provide financial services to graduates of the CBN’s Entrepreneurship Development Centres (EDCs).”

Herbalist Bags 14-year Jail Term For Defrauding Client

By ISMAEEL UTHMAN

popular herbalist in Iwo, headquarters of Iwo Local Government Council Area of the State of Osun, Mr Toyese Ayokunmi, has been sentenced to a 14-year imprisonment by a State of •A completed road project along Ajia Estate, Ijebu-Ijesa, State of Osun, as captured by our cameraman, GBENGA Osun High Court, sitting in the town.

ADENIYI, last Saturday.

Ayokunmi bagged the jail Akinkanngudu was term after he was arraigned at the court on a convicted by Justice three-count charge of Adekunle Adeigbe for conspiracy, obtaining defrauding one of his under false number which has been clients, Ismaila Abiodun to money pretence and stealing. slated for 30th of June, 2014 the tune of N2.7 million.

The convicted herbalist still remained intact and Abiodun fell into the had earlier entered a not Dayo Oyebanji, of his thereby solicited the convicted

By FRANCIS EZEDIUNO herbalist’s trap, readiness to combat fake support of Osun IRS in when the former sought guilty plea when the case first came up before the for spiritual assistance court.

T HE newly-deployed Federal Road Safety number plates, as well as fake realizing this dream.

Commission (FRSC) Sector Commander to the drivers’ license that have He, however, reminded from the latter, for safe Counsel to the State of Osun, Mr. A. Hussein, has paid the Internal been become rampant in those that were yet to delivery of his expectant Government of the State of Revenue Service (IRS) a courtesy visit, stressing the need most of the states in Nigeria. comply with the new plate wife.

Osun led by the Director Ayokunmi, who was of Public Prosecution He then said that, the number directive to quickly to strengthen the already-existing symbiotic relationship called (DPP), Mr Dapo Adeniji deadline for the new plate do so before the lapse of the popularly between FRSC and IRS. While speaking during under the leadership of Mr. told the court that Abiodun duration. the visit, the Acting paid the money into Skye Chairman/CEO of Internal Bank with Revenue Service, Mr. Dayo Account number

By TAJUDEEN HAMMED Oyebanji appreciated the 1010048160 and code mutual understanding consumers feel the Government Council Areas number 254 for the existing between the two THE Special Adviser to the governor of the State nutritional values of came first, Ikirun Zone, convict. of Osun on Home Affairs, Tourism and Culture, Adeniji further stated agencies in the aspect of which comprises of Mr. Oladipo Soyode, has charged youths to indulge traditional foods. that the convicted herbalist discharging their statutory Highlight of the event Ifelodun, Boripe, Ila and in the eating of traditional instead of foreign foods that duties. was the showcasing of Odo-Otin Local Government had committed offences have nutritional values to enable them live healthy. contrary to sections 1 (1) He then promised to traditional foods from Council Areas came second, and (2) and punishable render all the assistance at Soyode, who was have nutritional value to the Osogbo, Iwo, Ede, Ikirun, while Iwo Zone that under section 1 (3) of the his disposal to make the represented by the door steps of the younger Ife, and Ijesha zones with comprises of Iwo, Ayedire, Advance Free Fraud and FRSC fulfil their statutory Permanent Secretary of the generation who may have food like: Iyan Ewu, Iyan Ola-Oluwa, Ayedaade, Related Offences Act 2006 duties, especially in the area ministry, Mrs. Olajumoke lost the real value of typical Gbere, Eki, Sokun-Sokun, Irewole and Isokan Local and 390 (9) of the Criminal Dodo Ikire, akara Osu, Government Council Areas Code Cap 34, Volume 11 of enforcing compliance to Bello gave this charge in African food.

Also speaking at the Igbalo, Ojojo, Dele, Efo came third.

Laws of Osun state of payment of road taxes and Osogbo during the Present on the occasion Nigeria, 2002. levies, which was required Traditional food Festival event, the General Manager, Ebolo, feregede, isapa, Delivering his judgment for the growth of the state’s Competition organised for Osun Tourism Board, Mr. ogunmo, moin-moin, and a were the Iyaloja of the State food vendors in the state.

Abiodun Balogun host of others. of Osun, Alhaja Awawu on the case, Justice IGR. convicted At the end of the Asindemade, directors and Adeigbe The Special Adviser challenged the food vendors In his response, the new Ayokunmi and sentenced competition; Osogbo Zone, to always cook real African reiterated the efforts of the staff of the Ministry of FRSC Sector Commander, him to 14 years’ which comprises of governor of the State of foods and make use of locust Home Affairs, Tourism and Mr. A. Hussein assured the imprisonment with hard Internal Revenue Service Osun in bringing the age- beans, rather than modern Osogbo, Olorunda, Orolu Culture and Osun Tourism labour. and Irepodun Local long traditional foods that alternatives, to allow the Board.

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New Osun FRSC Sector Commander Visits IRS •Harps On Cordial Relationship

Tourism Commissioner Charges Youths On Traditional Foods

If you have a story or advert for us, contact 08033927286, 08033880205, 08061197897, 08023191891.

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OSUN DEFENDER Thursday, February 27, 2014

Carry Police Along In Your Activities - New Osun CP

By FRANCIS EZEDIUNO

gubernatorial election slated for AS the 9th of August, 2014 in the State of Osun State draws nearer and political atmosphere is gathering momentum, the newlydeployed Commissioner of Police in the state, Ibrahim Maishanu, has warned against illegal rallies and campaigns, stressing that any politician found wanton would face the wrath of the law. briefing at the police He made this known headquarters, Osogbo, during his maiden press the state capital, recently.

The police boss informed politicians and other members of the public, who may be supporting political parties of the need for them to always brief the police before embarking on processions, assemblies, campaigns or rallies in order to make necessary security

arrangement that would prevent any breakdown of law and order.

“It is necessary to warn politicians and other people in the state to avoid taking laws into their hands and always trust that the police will do the right thing, if properly briefed”.

Maishanu further warned politicians of the

need to ensure that their activities are legal and assured them of a level playing ground throughout the period of the election.

He however advised them to play by the rules of the game to avoid being dealt with according to the law.

According to him: “Politicians should play by the rules of the game and allow themselves and their activities to be guided by the provisions of the Electoral Act. “I want to assure all the political parties of a level playing ground before, during and after the election.

I also want to assure the entire people of the state that the police will leave no stone unturned in ensuring security of lives and properties during the election period.

“To this end, it is imperative for me to say that politicians and other members of the public should follow due process. It is also necessary to warn politicians and other people in the state to avoid taking laws into their hands and always trust that the police will do the right thing if properly briefed.

“All processions and rallies must be peaceful and respect the right and safety of other people.

The idea of blocking roads during rallies and procession, and attacking innocent citizens, including security men, will no longer be tolerated.

“Anyone who breaches public peace would be dealt with and punished according to the law,” the new police boss warned.

Strengthen Female Empowerment In Engineering – APWEN Urges Govt •3rd from left: Special Adviser to the Governor on Local Government, Chieftaincy and Community Development, Honourable Bisi Odewumi; former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Chief Whip in the State House of Assembly, Honourable Banji Akinremi, Ife-North APC Interim Chairman, Elder Rufus Awotidoye and others during the New Year party organised by Odewumi recently.

Photo: JESUDOYIN ABRAHAM

Court Frees Man Over Stealing Charges

By ISMAIL OLADOSU

Magistrate’s Court 4 sitting in Ilesa, State of Osun, last week convicted and sentenced a 20-year old Adeyeye Victor to caution and discharge him for house breaking and stealing of valuables that were worth N50,000 belonging to Pastor Moses Abiala of Mercyland Covenant Church at Isale General, Ilesa.

Magistrate Falase, while one of the frames of his delivering the judgment, house before he could gain said she decided to tamper access to where he stole justice with mercy, having the items.

He noted that the 20considered the plea of the defence counsel, Mr A.O year-old Victor had made Olawole, who pleaded that stealing his habit since he the accused person acted was in primary school.

According to him: under the influence of power that was beyond “Victor was my pupil him (though not while in primary school, recognized in law) as the and he has been stealing accused person pleaded since then. Whenever we guilty to all the charges reported him to his mother, the mother used to defend preferred against him.

He told the court that him.

“She would even want the accused person had earlier spent 37 days in to pick a quarrel with the teachers. So, his mother detention in Osogbo.

The prosecuting contributed to the boy’s counsel, Mr. Kehinde ordeal,” he concluded.

The Magistrate came Ojugbele, read the twocount charge of house- down heavily on Victor’s breaking and stealing to the father, Mr. Amos Adeyeye, accused person and listed for reckless abandonment the stolen items as: two of his son, which she said, DVD Players, Sumsung was responsible for the Digital Camera, school boy’s present predicament.

She added that if bag, N20,000 cash among others, which the accused Adeyeye had not failed in person also admitted to his responsibilities as a father, this kind of fate have stolen.

In his testimony, the would not have befallen the complainant, Pastor accused person.

She therefore, advised Moses Abiala, told the court that the accused the accused person’s person forcefully removed parents be more prayerful A

and to always involve their son in their prayers to enable God redeem his life.

The prosecutor however called the attention of the court to the criminal aspect of the case, while giving it a moral consideration.

He noted that stealing was a criminal offence and justice must be done to it since the accused person has confessed to the crime.

While making his plea, the defence counsel, Mr. A.O Olawole, asked the court to temper justice with mercy as per the plea of the accused person, having submitted himself to the magnanimity of the court. He said the case of his client was not ordinary, as he was usually remorseful after committing the act.

Olawole promised the court that he would be a part to the reformation of the boy, if the court could have mercy on him, since he did not have any former conviction.

The court was however thrown into emotion, when the father of the accused person, told the court that his problem was supernatural, as seven out of his ten children had died one after another without a known cause.

He added that his first

child was the one standing trial in the court, while he was still battling with how to raise the two younger ones.

Adeyeye told the court that he left Victor with his mother-in-law in Ilesa, while he lives Ibadan.

He said he has made several efforts at ensuring that his son did not go wayward.

Adeyeye narrated how he handed over his son to the members of a vigilant group when he was informed of the boy’s criminal activities, but this did not achieve the desired result as he became worse than before.

Magistrate Falase then sentenced the accused person to caution and discharged him, while warning him against indulging in any criminal to in future, as the court would not hesitate to send him to prison, should he be brought to the court for any criminal act offence again.

She noted that sending the accused person to the prison at his age would only aggravate his problems, because he would be fraternizing with hardened criminals, while urging the father to take proper care of the boy.

By BOLANLE BABALOLA

Association of Professional Women Engineers of Nigeria (APWEN), Ilesa chapter, has appealed to all the tiers of government to strengthen female empowerment on engineering.

The Pioneer and middle and high schools in Chairperson of the Ilesa Ilesa axis, on Wednesday Chapter of the union, 30 th October, 2013, to Engineer (Mrs.) Mojirade sensitise them about Oloruntoba, made the engineering profession. appeal during a courtesy She also stated that visit to the management of female pupils from 23 OSUN DEFENDER schools were invited for Newspaper in Osogbo the programme held at Ilesa recently. last year, while some Engineer Mojirade interesting male pupils also disclosed that APWEN participate in the was established principally programme. to empower women and “APWEN is set aside for pupils of secondary and female engineers in order tertiary institutions and to to encourage the younger encourage female children girls in our schools. What to engage in the men can do, women can profession of Engineering. do even much better,” she In his response, the said.

Managing Editor of the She stressed that, the medium, Mr. Kola Olabisi, major aims of the queried her on why her association are to give group was just coming out awards, scholarships and of its shell, to which she empowerments to pupils gave a contrary answer. as well as create According to her, the awareness for the younger organisation had ones. organised a careerShe thereafter appealed counseling session tagged, to the state government not “Introducing Girls to to relent in supporting the Engineering” for the association. female pupils of both T

HE

Change Of Name

Change Of Name

I, formerly known and addressed as JIMOH SAHEED, now wish to be known and addressed as JIMOH SAHEED OLALEKAN. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

I, formerly known and addressed as MISS O Y E L O W O O Y E D O Y I N OMOLARA, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS P O P O O L A O Y E D O Y I N OMOLARA. All former documents remain valid.

General public should take note.

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OSUN DEFENDER Thursday, February 27, 2014

Sanusi: Jonathan Administration Encourages Corruption - Civil Societies

By BOLANLE BABALOLA

IVIL society groups in the State of Osun under C the auspices of Osun Civil Societies Coalition has accused President Goodluck Jonathan of encouraging corruption, just as they decried what they called unlawful suspension of the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Mallam Sanusi Lamido.

The civil societies Abiodun Agboola and described Sanusi’s Ismaeel Uthman suspension as a witch-hunt respectively on Monday, and an attempt to suppress the President erred in law the truth on the on the suspension of the controversial missing $20 CBN governor, arguing billion in the Nigerian that the president did not National Petroleum follow due process.

Corporation (NNPC) Quoting the Article 11 accounts. (f) of the CBN Act 2007, According to the Uthman maintained that coalition in a press the President lacked the statement signed by its power to remove the CBN Chairman and Publicity governor without the twoSecretary, Comrades third majority support of

the Senate, describing the step of the President as total disregard for the law with impunity.

Uthman stated that the way and manner President Jonathan has been handling corruption issues since he came into power was not encouraging, saying that a president that is serious tackling corruption problems headlong would never let Sanusi go at the critical time of the unremitted

NNPC $20 billion controversy.

The spokesperson said: “We are not advocating for Sanusi, but we advocating for the rule of law. We are not saying Sanusi is a saint or guilty of any crime, but if the President is going to take any action on Sanusi or any issue, he must follow due process and rule of law.

“The way President Jonathan goes on Sanusi’s suspension is awful and

unconstitutional. Nigeria can never get rid of corruption with this kind of unserious attitude to corruption cases.

“Believe it or not, Sanusi was suspended by the President because some members of a cabal told the President to take that step.

Sanusi was suspended because the cabal wants to silence the NNPC unremitted $20 billion matter. The suspension is a distraction on the main $20 billion fraud.

“President’s Jonathan’s action and body language on corruption cases are not encouraging.

The president is encouraging corruption with his unserious attitude on corruption and we are afraid Nigeria would never move forward with this kind of attitude.”

He therefore called on the President to reverse the suspension and allow the rule of law to take its course on the missing NNPC $20 billion.

Two Men In Court Over Cultism

By SHINA ABUBAKAR

WO men, Paul Patience, 21 and Sunday Suyi, 21, were last Monday arraigned before an Osogbo Magistrate’s Court for allegedly being members of an unlawful society.

The accused persons Ilesa. were alleged of belonging However, the accused to a secret cult known as persons pleaded not guilty Eye, an offence contrary to the four-count charges to section 64(A) of the preferred against them in state criminal law. the court.

They were also said to Their defence counsel, have unlawfully Mrs Bose Dada prayed possessed dangerous the court to grant them bail weapons such as axe and in the most liberal term, cutlasses and could not saying the accused explain how they got the persons are presume weapons; an offence innocent until the contrary punishable under section is proved without 430 of the state penal reasonable doubt. code.

She added that the The charge sheet read accused persons would in the court disclosed that not jump bail if granted and the accused persons did would provide credible posses illegal arms with sureties to guarantee their intent to cause chaos and readiness to stand trial. intimidate members of the The Police Prosecutor, public.

Inspector Mireti Wilson It stated further that did not object to the bail the accused persons application, saying the committed an offence court was at liberty to contrary to and punishable grant bail as it pleases. under Section 516, and 80 Presiding magistrate, of the criminal code cap Mr Olusola Aluko then 34 vol.II law of Osun granted bail to the State of 2003. accused persons in the According to charge sum of N50,000 and one sheet made available to surety each.

OSUN DEFENDER, He then adjourned the the accused persons matter till April 1, 2014 for committed the offences mention. on February 16, 2014 in T

•Members of Ifesowapo Social Club in a group photograph after their Annual General Meeting and open declaration for the State of Osun governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola in Osogbo recently.

How Private Schools Cajoled Teachers To Buy Computer Tablets

By FRANCIS EZEDIUNO

is no longer news that the Government of the IT State of Osun has successfully distributed Opon Imo, tablet of knowledge, to pupils of high schools (senior secondary) within the state.

Going by records, this Just recently, OSUN was the first time that such DEFENDER gathered that a feat was being achieved some private schools have globally. started to buy into the trend but on a somewhat negative trend.

The proprietors of some members to run the affairs private schools within of the club for another two Osogbo, the state capital, years. investigations revealed, Those elected were: have started to make it Alhaji Rafiu Abimbola compulsory for both their (Risky) as Chairman; Mr teaching staff and pupilks Rasaki Mustafa (ViceChairman); Mr Bili to purchase mini-laptops Adewumi (Gen. popularly called ‘notebook’ Secretary); Mr Muideen as a way of rivalling the Agunbiade (Asst. Gen. state government’s free Secretary); Mr Niyi Oni distribution of these tablets (Fin. Secretary); Mr of knowledge to pupils of Kamoru Bello (Treasurer); public schools.

At a school located Mr Musbau Bankole (Auditor); Mr Semiu around Dada Estate in Kareem (Store Keeper); Osogbo, visited by the Mr Gafar Afolabi medium’s reporter, some (Organising Secretary); teachers there lamented the Mr Ismaila Fatai (Asst. hardship such venture was Org. Secretary); Mr Mutiu causing them.

Ganiyu (Club Whip); Mr They stated that with a Musliyu Adeleke (Asst. salary of N15,000 and the Whip); Madam Adepele sale of the notebook going (Matron); Madam Yemisi for N58,000, they were Oladunjoye (Asst. Matron) finding it very difficult to and Oluwole Odelade cope financially.

(PRO).

It was revealed also that

Group Holds AGM, Supports Aregbesola’s Second Term social group in the State of Osun, Ifesowapo

A

Social Club, has added its support to the current wave of support to the second term ambition of Governor Rauf Aregbesola.

The club made this known during its recent Annual General Meeting (AGM) held at the club’s house located at Abaku area of the state capital.

According to the club Chairman, Alhaji Rafiu Abimbola (Risky), the club members considered it worthwhile to support the second term ambition of the state governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, in view of the monumental developmental programmes and policies he has embarked upon since his inauguration in November, 2010.

Speaking further on the club’s support for the governor ’s bid for a

second term in office, Abimbola reiterated that no sane lover of the state will not support the governor’s second coming, as this remains the only way to ensure the continuity of the developmental strides of the governor, which are evident all over the state.

“Governor Aregbesola deserves our collective support to ensure his return to office for a second term, with a view to ensuring the completion of his various policies and programmes that are evident all over the state,” he stressed.

The club members also used the occasion to elect new executive committee

a compulsory monthly deduction of N8,000 was expected to be made from their monthly salary for the next eight months before they would be able to meet up with their payment.

In another school visited, the pupils’ were requested by the school authority to compulsorily purchase mini-computer tablets for the sum of N25,000.

Some parents interviewed lamented that it was too high for them and they were contemplating withdrawing their wards.

They explained that in a

case where parents had two or three children in such school, they would have to part with either N50,000 or N75,000 apart from their school fees that was already exorbitant.

While noting that instead of spending such amount on mere computer tablets, they were willing to withdraw their children from the private school and enrol them in a public one, since the level of academic excellence and pupils’ welfare has improved positively.

Security Tip In Osun The government of the State of Osun has procured special security numbers for use by people in distress.

The numbers are: 08100000481, 08100000482, 08100000483, 08100000484, 08100000485, 08100000486.

All the numbers became operational since August 17, 2012.

Please, note and call to assist Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, the elected governor of the State Of Osun, in sustaining a peaceful and crime-free environment.

- Management

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OSUN DEFENDER Thursday, February 27, 2014

lic primary and secondary schools. It is Aregbesola And His Traducers: Facts, Fictions and Fallacies disgusting to hear the PDP crying wolf CONTINUE FROM BACK PAGE

T HISThis has been achieved tremendously through the new school reforms system. To be sure however, the scheme did not indiscriminately combine schools without adequate consideration to sensitive factors such as faith, communal sensibilities and location. It is a lie from the pit of hell that Muslim named schools were merged with Christian named schools or that Muslim students were merged with Christian students. Where would the wholly Muslims or Christians students have been sourced for the imaginary mixing, when both public and private schools in Nigeria are never religiously segregated.

Aregbesola has demonstrated in governance that he is absolutely prepared for 21st century leadership where information technology holds the ace. Without ICT, it would have been difficult for the state to provide all the text books needed by over 150, 000 students in high schools. To provide just three text books, which are not enough for the students to perform well in their final WAEC and NECO examinations. That would have cost the state government a whopping N4.5 billion annually. But with the introduction of Opon Imo (Tablet of Knowledge), it costs N250 million only for the

government to provide virtual text books for all the books needed by the students to write (WAEC, NECO and JAMB) for the 150,000 students in the high schools.

Opon Imo has garnered several awards for the governor’s bold initiative and the state.The tablet is preloaded with seventeen (17) subjects offered by students in the West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examinations (WASSCE). The subjects in Opon Imo have been designed in forms of lesson notes, textbooks, mostly provided by publishers and master teachers’ inputs. Content verifiers, who happened to be some of the local teachers, were also made to verify lesson notes on each subject. Besides, seven extra-curricular subjects, such as Sexuality Education, Civic Education, Yoruba History, Ifa Traditional Religion, Computer Education and Entrepreneurship Education, and Twelve Thousand Yoruba Proverbs were also included.

Test platform for students’ self assessment to monitor their own comprehension and mastery of the subject, including 10 years past questions and answers provided by the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) and the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), as well as questions and answers in 17 (Seven-

teen) ordinary level subjects. The subject are English Language, Mathematics, Agricultural Science, Economics, Principles of Accounts, Literature in English, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Yoruba, Commerce, Further Mathematics, History, Geography, Government, IRK and CRK. Audio tutorials were also embedded in the Opon-Imo to further aid students through virtual study plan.

The state would save a total of N8.4 billion by not buying textbooks. It rather spent just N200 million for the purchase of the 56 e-books on Opon-Imo with 150,000 user licenses from a major educational publishing company in the country. As it is structured, Opon Imo ensures that each student has an e-textbook, not only in all the subjects he is offering, but also on every subject offered at secondary school level. This in itself is legendary and revolutionary! Some critics queried the introduction of “Ifa Corpus into Opon Imo as idolatry in the 21 century”.

What a contradiction, when one considers the basic nuance of knowing that Opon Imo is a product of the laws of binary features, from which computers are made? How many educated PDP hirelings know that computer is made from Ifa Corpus?

It is interesting to note that the reforms have led to a radical increase in grants and subventions for the administration of pub

New ICT Complex Is A Ticket For Development

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T is with pleasure that I saw over the television, heard over the radio and read in the newspapers of the commissioning of the new RLG and Adulawo Technology City, which is situated along the AkureIlesa Road, Ilesa, State of Osun.

I gathered that this complex, which was launched on Thursday 30th of January, 2014 is a joint venture between R L G Telecommunications and the State of Osun Government.

I cannot but say how happy and proud that I have been since getting wind of this useful piece of information.

Let me start like this, the location of this complex in the state must have been for various reasons.

First, the peace being

enjoyed in the state is unparalleled, compared with anywhere in the country and unlike other parts of the South-West, pockets of violence have been eradicated.

Secondly, epileptic power supply is a nonissue in the state and almost every town, village

and hamlet is connected to the national grid and electricity supply situation is very stable and this is very attractive for industries both heavy and light.

Third factor; the administration of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola has provided through its many initiatives a level playing

field for businesses to thrive. In short, the government is businessfriendly, that is why businesses from other parts of the country are rushing to Osun to establish.

Added to the opportunities the state government created,

helms of affairs in the state, is interested in the citing of industries in Osun, he has pulled all the necessary plugs to ensure that such an industry, which would benefit the people, would be located in the state.

The advantages that the state would benefit would be many, which would include 5000 mobile phones and 2500 laptop computers, provision of jobs for the youths, utilization of abundant resources; both natural and human, transformation of Osun from an agricultural economy to being one driven by ICT and eventually, the state becoming a computer hub on the West African Coast.

there is a stable and ready market for products that would be manufactured and the transport facilities are good.

The government has also embarked upon the rehabilitation of township roads and revamping of the railways.

• J U M O K E Finally, for the fact that OJOBARO, Isokun, the governor, who is at the Ilesa, State of Osun.

where non exists. For seven and half years, the PDP-led government total grants to 1378 primary schools in the state was a paltry of N125.1 million. But under 3 years, the APC-led government quadruples the same school grants, raising it to N426.7 million annually. The PDP-led government grants for secondary schools for seven and half years was a miserable N656.6 million while the APC administration, for barely 3 years, has given N897.9 million to the schools, a quantum leap by any account.The state has committed N14.4 billion on new school buildings, while recurrent annual expenditure consumes N21 billion on elementary schools, and N13.46 billion secondary schools. This amounts to per capital spending of N84,000 per elementary school pupil, and N30,000 per secondary school pupil. The total capital expenditure on schools in the last three years, outside the building of new schools, is N31.31 billion. Under the APC administration, WAEC fees have also shot up from N38 million to N400 million per annum. The administration also has spent to date a total of N1. 2 billion on the production of the pace-setting e-learning tablet, Opon Imo. Besides building new schools, Ogbeni Aregbesola’s administration is renovating and upgrading some of the existing ones.

On this alone, the sate has spent N1.6 billion.

CONTINUE ON PAGE 1.

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INTERVIEW

OSUN DEFENDER Thursday, Febraury 27, 2014

PDP Infiltrated Religious Groups To Cause Crisis In Osun – Commissioner The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Osun State has been fingered by the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led administration in the current crisis rocking the education sector of the state. The state’s Commissioner for Regional Integration and Special Duties, Barrister Ajibola Bashir, at a media parley organised at the instance of the National Legal Adviser of the APC, Dr. Muiz Banire, in Lagos over the weekend, alleged that preliminary investigations revealed how the opposition orchestrated the crisis in an attempt to discredit the Governor Rauf Aregbesola-led administration ahead of the next general elections in the state, among other issues.

BOLU-OLU ESHO was there.

What is the situation in the education sector of your state?

When Governor Rauf Aregbesola assumed office in the state, he observed that there was lopsidedness in the arrangement of things in our public primary and secondary schools. In some schools, there were more than enough teachers with a few students and pupils; while there were not enough teachers in some other schools where there were high concentration of pupils and students.

In a bid to improve on the standard and quality of education in the state, after we had brainstormed on the situation, the governor concluded that schools with a few number of pupils and students should be merged with those having high concentration of students. Teachers were also transferred along with them to resolve the problem of inadequate number of teachers.

The decision was apt in the sense that as at the time we took over the running of the state, the financial strength of the state was extremely weak. So, we could not recruit more teachers. The allocation being received from the federation account was insufficient. It became necessary we make do with what we have to achieve the greatest possible result.

We observed that there was no way students churned out from those schools would be able to favourably compete with their counterparts in other states. So, a change in the way the schools were being run became compulsory. This informed the merging of Saint Anthony Catholic School and the Methodist School with Baptists High School in Iwo. But the original owners of the schools declared that they would not allow hijab in their schools. It is a fact that all missionary schools had been taken over by government as far back as 1975 and a lot of development had taken place in these schools.

About 92 students were coming to school in different religious wears.

Initially, when there was no quarrel, only 25 out them were wearing the hijab, but when they were infiltrated by the opposition, the figure jumped to 261.

Then the original owners of the schools insisted that they were not going to allow that.

What is the hijab crisis in Osun schools all about?

On the day the rowdy session took place in the schools, the teachers decided to take the attendance in order to know those in what attire. In the process, photographs of some of them were taken.

What we found out ultimately was that the matter goes beyond the realm of religion into that of politics. We found a situation where, for instance, we have Mariam Mohammed wearing a Celestial Church cap, and a Christian wearing hijab.

We later went to various parents to ask how it happened. It was discovered that the parents were compromised.

You can go into the records to check whether Governor Aregbesola has made any declarative pronouncement on the use of hijab in public schools.

He has not made any categorical statement about this issue, but the opposition, looking for cheap popularity, burrowed into the unsuspecting leadership of various religious groups, including traditional religious groups, and incited them to disrupt the academic programme of our children in the state.

The ongoing investigations had already revealed that the opposition compromised some of the students involved in the controversy surrounding the wearing of hijab in public schools for political gains. Some of the students who participated in the recent rowdy assembly session wore choir uniforms, masquerade clothes, hijabs, and church caps. The investigations and the roll-call made by the school authorities revealed that most of the students didn’t actually belong to the religions of which paraphernalia they wore.

It is disheartening that PDP could be so desperate to the point of almost setting the state on fire, capitalising on that minor issue which the state government had not even made any categorical pronouncement in order to score cheap popularity.

In Osun State, as a people, we have been living in peace and harmony irrespective of our religious backgrounds.

For you to know how cordial and loving we are, nobody has ever raised an eyebrow about appointments made by the governor in line of religion. For instance, out of the 32 members of the governor’s cabinet, 24 are Christians. In the state House of Assembly, among the 26 lawmakers, only 10 are Muslims. We love one another in Osun State; we don’t just tolerate one another. It’s a close-knit relationship that we exhibit here. The PDP cannot say that we didn’t perform; that’s why it is fuelling religious issues in order to discredit our administration.

PDP alleged that the state debt profile is over N630 billion. What’s the actual debt figure?

The allegation by the opposition is spurious and unfounded. If you ask them to substantiate this, they won’t be able.

As I said earlier, they are desperate to discredit the Governor Aregbesola’s administration.

They came up with this concocted figure because they are ignorant of the financial law of the country that guides loans accessed by government. As a government, you cannot access a loan that is more than 50 per cent of your carrying capacity. This is a standing order.

•BASHIR

So, what we borrowed through bond last year was only N30 billion in two phases and this we have been paying back to the bank since 2013. The confusion in the PDP has to do with where we are getting money to finance the various gigantic projects we are doing in various sectors.

The Turkish construction company that was awarded infrastructural projects in the state got the contracts on the basis of financial deferment.

The state only signed guarantee that it would pay the company each month it got its allocation from the federation account till the money spent on the construction by the company gets exhausted. But the opposition led by Senator Iyiola Omisore is ignorant of this sophisticated approach to good governance and they have to peddle falsehood to confuse the people.

What is the situation with the Opon Imo (computer tablets) scheme?

This is one of the giant strides taken by Governor Aregbesola towards jumpstarting the economy of our state. So far, 23,100 Opon Imo (computer tablets) which were produced through a partnership between the state and a Chinese firm have been distributed to our students. Fifty thousand pieces are already on ground.

We would have completed the distribution but it’s being delayed due to some modifications that we want the manufacturers to input. We want all the devices personalised for every student in such a way that will prevent theft and wrong use of the product.

To produce extra 100,000 pieces of the device, the state government has to enter into partnership with the Chinese firm producing the device to transfer the technology to Nigeria by establishing a factory at our Technology Village in Ilesha where other products such as telephone handsets and laptop computers, among others will be produced and repaired.

We are not just folding our arms to allow the expatriates to do the production and after sales services alone; over 5,000 citizens of our state have been trained by

the foreign firm in the manufacture of telecommunication devices and some of them have been sent to Ghana for further skill acquisition.

We are assuring Nigerians that this step taken by Governor Aregbesola has not only fulfilled the dream of having technology transfer, but that it would also provide durable and affordable telephone handsets.

The technology village would soon begin to churn out handsets that would be tropicalised to meet the sophisticated yearnings of Nigerians for hi-tech devices.

We are doing this to aid technological transfer because it won’t be economically reasonable to import that magnitude of devices from abroad. So, why not have the manufacturing company here? As we speak now, the company is already on ground, manufacturing. The installation of the software for the products is being done in Ilesha.

The company will solve the problem of telephone handsets rip-off on Nigerians because it would be able to meet the demands of Nigerian telephone consumers and the products would be cheaper.

When the administration of Governor Aregbesola berthed in Osun State, the first thing we had to brainstorm on was how to jump-start the non-existent economy of the state because the allocation that accrued to it from the federation account was not even enough to pay salaries of workers.

At a point, one of our leaders suggested that we should establish a factory that would be producing slippers so that we can generate funds to implement all the things we had promised the people.

We thank God that today, our state is moving on and we are not relenting on our oars.

Culled from Daily Newswatch

OSUN DEFENDER Thursday, Febraury 27, 2014

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8

PHOTOTALK

OSUN DEFENDER Thursday, Febraury 27, 2014

More Pix On Wife Of The State Of Osun Governor, Mrs Sherifat Aregbesola’s Oganisation, Sheri Care Foundation (SCARF), Which Distributed Milk Of Knowledge To Pupils In Public Elementary Schools In The State, At Nelson Mandela Freedom Park, Osogbo, State Of Osun, Recently.

•State of Osun Commissioners; Information and Strategy, Honourable Sunday Akere; Environment, Professor Olubukola Oyawoye; Women and Children Affairs, Mrs Adetoun Adegboyega and Special Adviser on Women Affairs, Miss Eso-Williams.

•A cross section of pupils at the event.

•Some of the pupils displaying milk given to them at the event.

OSUN DEFENDER Thursday, Febraury 27, 2014

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FOR THE RECORDS

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OSUN DEFENDER Thursday, Febraury 27, 2014

Address Delivered By The Governor Of The State Of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, As Recipient Of The 2013 Man-Of-The-Year Award, Organised By The Independent Newspaper Limited, Held At Eko Hotel And Suites Convention Centre, Lagos, On Friday February 21, 2014

Encouraged To Do More I

T is a great honour to be the subject of today’s memorable gathering. I wish most sincerely to thank the Editorial Board and Management of Independent Newspapers Limited (INL) for freely finding me worthy of your Man-of-the-Year 2013 Award.

I commend you for standing with a vast majority of people who continue to express profound appreciation of the uncommon good governance through which I and my dependable team are re-engineering the socio-economic soul of the State of Osun, to the enthusiastic admiration of a vast majority of our people.

In instituting this award and remaining consistent with it, the Editorial Board of the INL demonstrates its commitment to promoting excellence and the virtues of hard work, dedication and achievement, particularly among political office holders.

Thus, in celebrating our ground-breaking feats in the different sectors of public life in Osun, you prove your utmost concern with the progress and development of our people. This affirms the sense in the view of eminent social thinker, Voltaire, that, ‘By appreciation, we make excellence in others our own property’.

For me, this award is a notable gesture that will deepen my resolve and commitment to guarantee freedom and make life more abundant and meaningful to the ordinary people as a political leader. It will motivate me to be more devoted to the progress and development of humankind. It is in view of this that I accept the award wholly and whole-heartedly.

The award I am being honoured with today is in recognition of the verifiably unprecedented feats that we have achieved in the areas of human welfare promotion, education, job creation, and physical infrastructure development. It is only those, like you at INL, who were well familiar with the near total absence of governance in Osun prior to our coming to office that can properly appreciate the considerable changes that my administration has effected in all the sectors.

We took the reins of power when the state was suffering from the cancerous pains of huge and badly negotiated debts. It was a time when tensions arising from youth unemployment and political infractions reigned like mighty waves on turbulent oceans. All there was to governance then was mere form with insignificantly little substance.

But when we assumed office, we had clear understanding of what we would do about the substantial decay and ineffectiveness that had weakened the pillars of the state’s education sector. We knew that only firmly sustained and coordinated assaults on poverty, hunger, unemployment, and decrepit road infrastructure could restore the dignity of our people.

Thus, armed adequately with our viable blueprint – the Six-point Integral Action Plan, which aims at banishing hunger, poverty and unemployment, providing functional education, restoring healthy living and communal harmony – we frontally engaged the problems we inherited with a depth of empathy, a breath of ingenuity, and a keen sense of responsibility.

Thus, the malady of arrested development that made Osun unliveable in the past has received the cure of effective people-oriented policies and the therapy of uncommon responsible democratic governance.

Specifically, we have reformed and reorganised our public schools into Elementary, Middle, and High Schools for easy administration. The pupils in each of the schools now get the attention which squares aptly with their educational needs. For instance, those in the Elementary School (Grades one to four) are given free protein-rich meals every school day in order to fortify their mental redoubts.

This programme covers 300,000 pupils and gulps N3.6 billion for its yearly sustenance. We have as a result of this programme recorded unusual increase in the enrolment figures of pupils. I’m sure it is no longer news to this distinguished gathering that Osun now has the highest primary school enrolment figures in the country.

•AREGBESOLA The introduction of the computer tablet (Opon-Imo) to public school education in Osun is another marker of the innovation that our administration spearheaded. Indisputably, this is a world-beater in innovative e-learning. This ground-breaking innovation enables us to reduce the huge sum that goes into the purchase of textbooks.

Preloaded with different tutorial notes, past questions, and textbooks on 17 subjects that students register for in the West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examinations (WASSCE), the National Examination Council (NECO), and the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), the device puts a permanent end to the worries of parents, teachers and students with regard to the unavailability of requisite learning materials. Our administration has so far committed N1.2 billion into this project.

Several thousands of units of this device have already been distributed to teachers and students in our public secondary schools; our target is for all the 150,000 students in the high schools to each have one unit of the device.

I am happy to inform this gathering that today in Ilesa, there is now a factory that will see to the production of Opon-Imo, as well as mobile phones, plasma television and computers. This, in addition, will also create more jobs for the wellbeing of the youths of the state.

New modern, standard school buildings are also springing up in different local governments within the state. While some have been completed and are already in use, many more are at advanced stages of completion. Through the School Infrastructure Development Programme, we are changing the physical infrastructure of learning.

Thus far we have expended the sum of N14.8 billion on the construction of school buildings under the O’School programme. The total capital expenditure we have disbursed thus far on schools in the last three years is N31.31 billion. This underlines the importance we place on the education of our youths. The recurrent expenditure on education translates to

an average expenditure of N84,000 and N30,000 on each elementary and secondary pupils and students respectively.

The change of school uniforms and the free distribution of 750,000 pieces of new uniforms are vivid demonstration of how important the physical appearance of our students is to us.

The education sector in Osun has and is still benefitting from massive funding and provision of essential facilities for the attainment of greater value. Education remains the bedrock of the functional development being enjoyed in the state. Through it, we are innovatively shaping the future of the citizens.

Under our watch, road infrastructure development in the state is being recorded on an unprecedented scale. Through uncommon financial engineering, we are rehabilitating and constructing roads across the cities and towns in the state. These roads are not selected whimsically. They are the ones, including federal roads, that impact most on the economic and social life of the people. If we magnify the fact of our meagre federal allocation and income, we will never venture near the massive road projects we have on our hands. Our prudence and creativity in the disbursement of resources do it for us.

I dare say, with all sense of modesty, that the State Government of Osun does not depend alone on federal allocation to fulfil its statutory responsibilities. With sound innovations and plugging of leaking ends, we have been able to increase our Internally Generated Revenue from the N300 million we inherited to N1.6 billion monthly.

In job creation, our record is noteworthy.

Through the Osun Youth Empowerment Scheme (O’YES), we have drastically scaled down the high incidence of youth unemployment. This has reduced social tensions in the state. We are creating the right socio-economic environment to enable our active adults earn their sustenance.

And through the Osun Rural Enterprise and Agricultural Programme (O’REAP), we are translating agriculture from subsistence level to

commercial scale. Farmers in Osun now have what it takes to do serious agricultural business.

We have opened up the rural areas and new roads are being constructed for easy transportation of farm produce to the urban markets. We have thus, through agriculture, been able to create wealth and provide jobs for our people.

So real and impactful are the delivery of our policies and programmes that there is no citizen in the state that does not feel the direct impact of our responsible governance in one way or the other. The reason is simply that the citizens are genuinely the focus of all our developmental efforts.

For us, the development of human capacity and their wellbeing is the main responsibility of government. All development efforts must necessarily add value to the life of the majority of the people. That is what our policies on welfare support for the critically vulnerable elderly citizens, health, education, security, agriculture, tourism, job creation, and infrastructural development have done to the greater majority of our people.

In more concrete and realistic ways, our administration has demonstrated that government exists to protect life, liberty and pursuit of happiness; to provide an environment for commerce to thrive, for the young and economically deprived to be educated, for the sick who cannot afford sound healthcare to be taken care of, for the provision of security for all, and for the enforcement of the rule of law and maintenance of law and order.

Let me assure all that the good works we are doing in Osun will not stop. We are determined to give our best for the happiness of our people.

It is noteworthy that INL considers us worthy of this award because we ‘offered an alternative perspective to governance’. This, to us, is the highest attraction of this award. It was Albert Einstein that described insanity as doing the same thing, the same way, all the time, and expecting a different result. Many of the problems of development besetting us as a people arose because too many people in leadership positions, regrettably, cannot think outside the box. Yet, doing things differently will surely exact a price. This price, for us, has been huge and enormous, but not unaffordable, if we consider the end result. The first is that we have been misunderstood (sometimes deliberately) and unfairly maligned. Many surely dwelled on non-issues and falsehood and mischievously projected them as the marquis achievements of our administration. Sometimes our people marvel at these insidious reports, wondering if they were concocted from another planet, since they are strange and contrary to the good governance and revolution going on around them.

Some of our critics went to the diabolical extent of inciting religious partisans against each other and against the government. They do not care a hoot that they are instigating religious crisis which conflagration and consequences are unimaginable.

Nevertheless, this award has put a lie to their evil machinations. I am glad that the path we are threading and the efforts we are making are not unnoticed by this perceptive media organisation. With this, you are also offering a fresh perspective to governance evaluation and appreciation in the country. It is a demonstration of your objectivity, intellectualism and unparallel public service that have also won you the newspaper of the year award in the past. I have no doubt that you can only keep going up.

Let me, once again, thank INL (for the honour and basis of the award), my amazing team that made our achievements possible, the good people of Osun who through their enthusiastic support inspire and encourage us, our friends all over the nation, particularly Lagos, and every person of goodwill that have unshaken faith in us and supported us through thick and thin.

I thank you all for your kind attention

11

INTERVIEW

OSUN DEFENDER Thursday, Febraury 27, 2014

No Serious Opposition In Osun - Adeyeni What actually prompted OSDF: you to join politics?

ADEYENI: Politics is an issue of teaching and service to humanity.

Meeting people, relating with them, counseling them are all part of politics. What actually made to join politics is for service to humanity.

There is little you can do with your personal resources, and if you really want to serve the people, you have to join politics, because joining politics will give opportunity to be able to do more.

OSDF: Since you became a member of this Assembly for about three years now, how has the business of lawmaking been?

ADEYENI: Sincerely, I must tell you, it is a great task. The impression many people have about the House is that you just go there and sit and at the end of the day, you get money, but that impression is wrong. Apart from legislative matters, there are so many other issues you must attend to.

There are issues you will have to attend to at your constituency levels, while there are ones you have to attend to at the state level. To be able to maneuver, one must be diligent, committed and hardworking. So, it is a great task.

However, God has been helping us in getting things done, because no previous Assembly has the record we now have when you talk of performance, ranging from the number of bills passed, oversight functions and putting the executive on its toes.

OSDF: As somebody who ran a private school before coming to this Assembly and also has a professional background, how have you been able to use your background and experience to assist this House?

ADEYENI: The experience I got in my teaching profession has assisted me a lot. A teacher must be someone that is calm, intelligent and must be a listener, because he is dealing with human beings. Lobbying your colleagues, interacting and sharing knowledge have been part of the things that have assisted me a lot to get things done.

OSDF: Since you joined this Assembly, which of the activities of this House interest you the most, that you will never forget?

ADEYENI: There are so many activities and bills that would ordinarily interest both the general public and even the lawmakers in the House. However, what I found interesting is the bills we have passed to strengthen our education system, especially the decentralisation of our education office. Originally, what was in operation was to have only one central place for educational purposes. Now that it has been decentralised to education offices in Osun Central, East and West, I think it is a good one. There was a bottleneck in the system before, as someone will be in Osogbo and be passing instructions to all the local governments and this has resorted to poor monitoring in the system, but the new system has removed the bottleneck and it has strengthen monitoring mechanism of the system.

OSDF: The administration of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, what is your assessment of it?

ADEYENI: Aregbesola is an unusual man, running an unusual government for the betterment of the people. I am not seeing him just as a politician, but as a messiah of the

Honourable Busola Olusegun Adeyeni, represents Ife-East Constituency in the State of Osun House of Assembly.

An educationist, Adeyeni, in this interview with our reporter, KAZEEM MOHAMMED, spoke on the criticism by the opposition and the developmental strides of Governor Rauf Aregbesola’s administration.

Excerpts:-

•ADEYENI

masses, who has the love of the people and ready to do all things to serve the people. His is a government that has created a level playing ground for every citizen, whether educated or not, irrespective of your religion, tribe of physical ability. He is a man that is running the affairs of the people with the fear of God. He thinks about the people before thinking about himself.

There are so many programmes and politics that Aregbesola has successfully carried out for the betterment of the people. Look at the massive ongoing and completed road construction in the state. These roads are roads that are being constructed to international standard and these roads have gradually been developing the economy. Talking about healthcare delivery, he has done so well and the sector, which was not given serious attention has now become the toast of all under Aregbesola. Also, the reformation in the education system is marvelous that even the international community is trying to learn from the approach of

Aregbesola to the system.

Talking about agriculture, the farmers who have lost hope in government are now happy with Aregbesola. Due to the commitment and attention of this government on agriculture, farmers can now come out and boast of being a farmer.

Youths are now being encouraged to engage in agriculture and this is a plus for the present government.

You talk of job creation for youths, cultural development, security, and others, Aregbesola is there. In Nigeria today, Aregbesola is a force to be reckoned with interms of human, economic and cultural development.

OSDF: Are you saying that the opposition politicians, who are saying that this government has not done anything reasonable are wrong?

ADEYENI: That is their understanding of language of politics, because those who cannot see, do hear that Aregbesola is performing and those who cannot hear, see that

this government is doing well.

Because they also want to be in government, they believe that they should first destroy a performing government in the course of looking for what to say to curry favour, having lost their credibility. They are saying this government has not done anything, had anybody ever heard anything like Opon Imo anywhere in the world before Aregbesola came?

There is no serious opposition party in Osun as at today, because the socalled opposition was here and they failed the people. There is no area they want to talk of that Aregbesola has not touched. If they truly have something to offer, they should come up with unusual ideas that the present government does not have. We have heard the PDP governorship aspirant criticising the present government for the sake of it, yet, none of them has ever come up with programmes they want to use to transform the state.

OSDF: One of the aspirants, Senator Iyiola Omisore is from your constituency, are you saying he also doesn’t have anything reasonable to offer?

ADEYENI: If he has anything reasonable to offer, let him come out and mention it like Aregbesola did during his own time. Let him tell us and allow the people to decide on who is the best between him and Aregbesola. Politics with sentiment is gone. We want people who can deliver like Aregbesola is doing, even more.

OSDF: Do you think what is on ground is enough to give Aregbesola a second term in office?

ADEYENI: Even if Aregbesola doesn’t campaign, the work done is campaigning for him, but he has to campaign because it is part of electioneering process to come out and tell the people what you still have for them.

OSDF: 2015 is approaching and do you think APC can take over the government at the centre?

ADEYENI: What is happening within the last two years is the hand of God. I think this is the time God wants to free Nigerians from slavery.

We have been suffering for no just cause and I believe this is the time God wants to free us. So, APC, by God’s grace, will take over. I believe that APC is the agent for that freedom and this is evident in the justconcluded APC membership registration. Everywhere in this country, there are demands for change and that is why people are pitching their tent with APC. OSDF: Your message to the people of your constituency and Osun in general?

ADEYENI: I just have to urge the people to be calm, focused and vigilant. Though, God is perfecting His work, but we also need to be vigilant for our own sake. Election is approaching and I believe it would be free and fair, but people should not allow anything that would stop the ongoing development in the state.

12

FEATURE

OSUN DEFENDER Thursday, Febraury 27, 2014

The Suspension Of Sanusi Lamido Sanusi HE former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi is not my favourite person and I have differences with him on many issues. I must however commend his immense courage for speaking out and exposing the monuemental corruption in the government that he once served and that has now decided that they no longer require his services. Two weeks ago, he claimed that 20 billion US dollars had gone missing from the coffers of the NNPC. Today, he has been suspended and relieved of his duties for exposing the rot and speaking the truth. I have little doubt that the next thing that will happen is that he will be subjected to a formal probe and the EFCC will be called in to investigate his tenure of office. They will throw everything that they have got at him, including the kitchen sink, simply because he refused to play ball with them and cover up their penchant for monuemental corruption and graft. Some of us have been there before and we know what it is like. If you speak truth to power and you take on the system, be rest assured that the system will fight back and they will attempt to destroy you and all that is yours. Yet, none of that matters, because the only thing that is relevant is the fact that history and posterity will be kind to Sanusi on this matter based on the choices that he has made.

He spoke out when others chose to remain silent and to compromise. Unlike others, he refused to sell his soul to the devil and to sell his heritage and birthright for a mess of pottage. Despite the significant differences that I have with this man in terms of our different outlooks to how and what Nigeria ought to be as a nation, I salute him and commend him for his efforts. I also make bold to say that with his noble stand, he has assured himself of a great place in the next dispensation and he will play a key role in the future of this country one way or the other. May God guide and protect him in all his endeavours and may he continue to speak out with courage and strength and not allow himself to be intimidated or silenced. Long is the road of righteousness and truth and it is often tarred with the spikes of persecution, misrepresentation and falsehood. Yet, at the end of the day, it is the only road that is worth taking and it is the only one that leads to lasting honour and glory. May that honour and glory find Sanusi Lamido Sanusi and may God reward him for putting the interests and welfare of the Nigerian people before that of the woeful and rotten administration that he once served. This government has once again shown that it has no shame and that it is utterly bereft of any semblence of decency or morality. A man blows the whistle and exposes the fact that $20 billion has been stolen and instead of commending him and promoting him, he is accused of wrongdoing, criminalised, villified and suspended. It is only in Nigeria that this sort of thing can happen.

It has happened to me and many others before and now it is happening to Sanusi.

I commend his courage and his ability to stand up and speak the truth to power. No matter what the government accuses him of now and no matter what trumped-up charges or baseless allegations they may come up with against him in order to justify their actions, the Nigerian people will always be grateful to him and indebted to him for exposing the rot and filth that constitutes the very foundation of the government that he once served. The level of impugnity and disdain that the Jonathan administration has for the people and for probity and accountability is second to none. The message that they are sending is clear; no whistleblower is safe in this country and in this government. Their intention is to destroy all those that have the courage to stand up to them and to intimidate us all into silence but they will fail woefully. The more people they seek to destroy for no just cause and the more innocent men and women that they persecute for telling the truth and for exposing their monuemental corruption and incompetence, the more

T

•SANUSI

By FEMI FANI-KAYODE they shall be resisted by people. What they have done to Sanusi is disgraceful and they ought to bury their heads in shame. Pertinent and appropiate are Sanusi’s own words when, after he was informed about his unceremonious suspension, he responded all the way from Niger Republic by saying: ‘’you can suspend an individual, but you can’t suspend the truth.’’ He immediately boarded the plane and headed for Nigeria, knowing full well that the security agencies were waiting for him. The plan was to arrest him on arrival in Abuja, but he cleverly diverted his chartered flight to Lagos, where close friends of his, including the former Minister of FCT, Mallam Nasir El Rufai, a true and loyal friend and brother if ever I knew one, were waiting for him. He managed to avoid arrest, but on arrival at Murtala Mohammed International Airport in Lagos, the authorities stopped him briefly and took his passport from him. By that single act, they have served him notice of their sinister intentions. In the coming days, weeks, months and even possibly years, they will seek to humiliate him, to denigrate him, to malign him and to destroy his entire future. That is their intention, but I firmly believe that it is not the intention of God and consequently they will fail. Providing he continues to stand firm and strong and remains undaunted, such an evil plan cannot work and will not work simply because, as the Holy Bible says; ‘’the counsel of the ungodly shall not stand’’.

It also says ‘’to subvert a righteous man in his course is not allowed’’ and that ‘’many are the afflictions of the righteous but the Lord will deliver him of them all.’’ No matter how long it takes and no matter what they put him through, Sanusi’s innocence will speak for him before God and before the Nigerian people. It is from the fiery furnace of persecution, misrepresentation and

victimisation that true heroes are born.

There is a spirit that emboldens and that stirs the passion and the soul of true warriors, once they are sufficiently provoked. That spirit is known as the spirit of truth and it cannot be intimidated or denied. I must confess that it is very clear to me that Sanusi has that spirit and is possessed by that virtue. I say this because he was intelligent enough to know that with his utterances and his explosive disclosures about the graft in the NNPC and at the Ministry of Finance, he was stepping on very powerful toes, treading on very dangerous grounds and swimming in very troubled waters.

Yet, despite the obvious dangers, he continued and he was quite unmindful and unperturbed about what the direct consequences of his actions may be in terms of his personal safety, the security of his tenure of office or his career as a public servant. He was prepared to stand by and speak the truth, no matter what and he was prepared to pay any price ,no matter whose ox was gored. That is the stuff of which heroes are made and I salute his courage. How I wish that more of our people were made of such stern stuff. If President Jonathan was really interested in fighting the war against corruption, he would stop using his security agencies from tormenting and harassing innocent people. If he wanted to suspend some of his key officials and if he really wanted truth and justice to prevail, he would not have targetted an innocent whistleblower, who had constituted himself into a thorn in his flesh, but instead, he would have suspended his Group MD of NNPC, his Minister of Petroleum and his Minister of Finance, pending the investigation into the missing $20 billion. Until he does that and as long as he continues to treat the Nigerian people with contempt and impugnity, no right-thinking person will take him or his administration seriously. Sadly, not many of the Jonathonians are familiar with the works

of William Shakespeare, simply because Shakespeare is not too popular in the creeks. Yet, the few amongst them that are up to the task would do well to consider the words of Julius Caeser, when he said: “It is the custom of the immortal gods to grant temporary prosperity and a fairly long period of impunity to those whom they plan to punish for their crimes, so that they may feel it all the more keenly as a result of the change in their fortunes,” Those amongst the President’s supporters that truly love him and that have his interest at heart would do well to explain to him the import of these deeply profound words and wise counsel from Shakespeare’s ‘’Julius Caesar’’. In doing so, they may save him and his entire court of royal jesters from a whole load of misery that undoubtedly awaits them in the future. As for Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, it is very clear to me that the sky is the limit for him. Whether he likes it or not, his journey into the turbulent world of partisan politics has just began and I suspect strongly that he has an appointment with destiny.

Permit me to end this contribution with the following observation. In the last few days, much has been made about the fact that I have criticised Sanusi quite often in the past and that I have openly disagreed with some of his actions as Governor of Central Bank. It has also been said that on another occassion, I raised some fundamental questions about what I described as his ‘’flawed and indefensible’’ position on the oil subsidy debate in 2012, his controversial views on Boko Haram, his position on revenue allocation vis a vis north and south and his harsh and historically inaccurate assertions about the Yoruba people a number of years ago. It is true that I opposed him on those matters and that I took those positions on those issues and I stand by each and every one of them. I do not see any big deal in that. Yet many appear to be rather surprised that I would now be one of those that are defending the very same Sanusi that I have opposed in the past. Those that have expressed such surprise and that see this as some kind of glaring contradiction simply do not understand me. And neither do they appreciate the complexities of national debate and the importance of being completely detached and objective, when it comes to any form of intellectual or public discourse.

The truth is that I do not take positions against individuals, but rather on specific issues. Hence, I may be your friend and defender one day and your greatest critic and detractor the very next, depending on what your position is on any specific matter. That is the essence of public discourse and intellectual debate. That is it’s nature. We must not be motivated or moved by personal considerations or by our love or hate for any individual, but rather by principle, morality, logic, facts and figures, justice and the rights and wrongs of the specific issues of the day.

No one is all good and no-one is all bad.

And neither is anyone, including yours truly, always right. The fact that I have disagreed with Sanusi over the last 20 years on a number of matters including his assesment of the Yoruba people, his views about the cause of the scourge called Boko Haram, the oil subsidy issue and the ‘’National Question’’ does not mean that I ought to support the fact that he is being treated in the most deplorable way by President Goodluck Jonathan.

Though, he and I disagree vehemently on many things, it does not mean that we are enemies for life and neither does it mean that I should relish in it and remain silent when he is being treated unjustly and when he is being persecuted, humiliated and rubbished by the Federal Government. This is all the more so, when he has courageously exposed the rot in the Jonathan administration. He may have got it wrong on other matters, but on this issue, I make bold to say that Sanusi got it right and he did the proper thing. He deserves my support, just as he deserves the support of all right-thinking people, and he can be rest assured that he has it.

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OSUN DEFENDER Thursday, Febraury 27, 2014

FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA OSUN RURAL ACCESS & MOBILITY PROJECT (RAMP II) ID NO: OS/RAMP/W/NCB/14 National Competitive Bidding (NCB)

Invitation to Tender (Specific Procurement Notice) This Specific Procurement Notice (SPN) follows the publication of the General Procurement Notice GPN for this Project, which appeared in the UN Development Business Issue No: No. 608 August 16th2007 and reissued on 17th Dec.2013, which appeared on Daily Trust & The Nation Newspapers.

2. The Federal Government of Nigeria, through the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, has received financing from the International Development Association (IDA) and French Development Agency (AFD) (hereafter called the Financing) and on-lent the Financing to four participating states (Adamawa, Enugu, Niger, and Osun) towards the cost of rehabilitation of prioritized rural roads in these states under the Second Rural Access and Mobility Project (RAMP-2). It is intended that part of the proceeds of this Financing will be applied to eligible payments under the contracts for the Construction/Rehabilitation of prioritized rural roads in Osun State (hereafter called the Borrower)’’ 3. The Osun State Project Implementation Unit (SPIU), of the Rural Access and Mobility Project (RAMP) on behalf of Osun State Government invites sealed bids from prospective bidders for the construction/ rehabilitation works in the following lots:The Works generally include: site clearance; minor earthworks ;provision of sub-base; provision of lateritic base course; limited quantities of Double Bituminous Surface Treatment (DBST); trapezoidal side drains; lined side drains; single and multiple concrete pipe culvert extensions and new culverts; reinforced concrete box culverts; road signs and other road furniture.

4. Complete set of bidding documents for any of the lots may be purchased at the Office address below upon payment of a non-refundable fee of Fifteen thousand Naira (N15,000.) for one Lot only, and any additional lot will include a fee of Ten Thousand Naira (N10,000.) only.

State Coordinator Rural Access & Mobility Project (RAMP) Osun State Project Implementation Unit, Ministry of Water Resources, Rural Development and Community Affairs, Nigeria Tel: +234 803- 356-5979, +234 803-387-3763 E- Mail: osunramp12@yahoo.com Interested bidders may obtain further information and inspect the bidding documents at the same address. The instructions to bidders and general conditions of contract contained in the bidding documents comply with the FGN Standard Bidding Documents SBD for the procurement of Works.

5. Bids shall be valid for a period of 120 days after Bid Opening and must be accompanied by security for each lot as follows: LOT 1 LOT 2 LOT 3 LOT 4

= N17,000,000.00 = N16,000,000.00 = N15,000,000.00 = N21,000,000.00

Bids shall be delivered at the OSUN RAMP 2 State Project Implementation Unit at the office address above by 12noon local time on or before 14th April, 2014.

Bids will be opened at the same address at 12 noon local time on the same date and in the presence of bidders representatives who choose to attend.

Please note that electronic bid submission will not be accepted.

A pre-bid conference will be held at the office address above on 27th March, 2014, which is two weeks before bid opening by 12noon to allow potential bidders to seek clarifications on the bidding documents.

14

IN RETROSPECT

A Memorable Quote From A PDP Aspirant In The State Of Osun

“Recently, Chief Bola Ige came on radio here (Osogbo the state capital), to insult me and my family. THAT IS THE LAST TIME HE WOULD INSULT ME. He was beaten yesterday. The people of Ile-Ife beat him up and he was crying like a baby, as they removed his cap and glasses. If it had been at a political gathering, he will be dead by now..... In fact, what the people wanted to do was more than removing his glasses and cap....”

-IYIOLA OMISORE. •Culled from Vanguard Newspaper.

OSUN DEFENDER Thursday, February 27, 2014

15

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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2014 Politics in the State of Osun is attaining a feverish point as the state’s governorship election slated for August 9 approaches. The developing state of affairs calls for cautious interrogation as facts and realities are trampled upon to levitate fictions and fallacies – albeit disingenuously – as the ultimate truth.

However, the redeeming grace for the polity, the people of the state and Governor Rauf Aregbesola himself has been his purposeful approach to people friendly governance, his stern commitment to the avowed six-point integral action programme to rescue the state from imminent collapse and the impeccable way with which he has piloted the affairs of the state to the admiration of majority of the electorate.

Regrettably, those who had hoped otherwise and fervently worked towards scuttling the Governor’s wellthought policy thrust of revitalising the state’s economy from being a redundant civil servant’s state to a self-sufficient and revenue-generating state have other antics in their sleeves. They have perfected the art of calling white black and black white and expected Osun electorate to swallow their falsehood intact, without thoroughly interrogating the issues of educational development, infrastructural revamp, human welfare schemes and the other imponderables of governance.

In their tactics, Ogbeni’s traducers are either accusing him repeatedly without facts to back up their claims of his government being tilted towards Islamisation of the state or he is being alleged to secede the state from the other part of the country. Both claims fall flat on their faces. It shows how dumbed and unremitting critics of the governor can be. How can any detractor delude himself with the allegation of Islamisation of a state with less than 4 million population with roughly equal numbers of the three dominant religion fervently professing their faiths? How feasible is it for an inland state without a standing army seceding from the other larger whole when the entire Eastern Nigeria failed in its bid between 1967 and 1970 for the same purpose?

compilations by the Osun Ministry of Education. Also, the reforms have earned a partnership with UNESCO to build a regional teacher training institute in the state, and a fresh programme in the area of adult education.

Aregbesola And His Traducers: Facts, Fictions and Fallacies - By Erasmus Ikhide Now, the PDP sees Aregbesola as a potent threat to their dreams to wreck almost everything in the South-West and Nigeria, altogether. The thinking is that if Osun state is the only South-West state that President Goodluck Jonathan lost in 2011 presidential election, Aregbesola must this time around be reined in to distort history.

So, the plot of alleged secession and religious manipulation, even when these are founded on baseless grounds, provoke an insurrection and employ tactics to levy security takeover of Osun State. This stems from a primitive and raw concept of power, as the PDP has found so attractive, employing these past thirteen years in power. The feeling is writ large in the diarrheic power laboratory of the PDP that once the recalcitrant Aregbesola is taken out of the way, it would be easy to take on other more restrained ACN governors in the South-West and other part of the country.

The Osun electorate are not deceived by the PDP’s gimmicks of taking the state back to its better forgotten hot spot. Religion is ringing even resonantly as the ultimate decider of an all important August 9 governorship election at the expense of basic development Unfortunately, the State Security Ser- strides of Governor Aregbesola in the vice, SSS, that raked up such frivolous last three years in office. Even at that, and partisan reports to ingratiate itself there is no Christian Governor across to the power-besotting PDP with the the federation that promoted or supinfantile allegation knew where the sky ported the Christian faith more faithwas darkened. The North East has re- fully than Ogbeni. mained a tottering bedlam before and They have suddenly forgotten that after the infamous Osun State Security Reports of secession or Islamisation, Governor Aregbesola, whom they where Boko Haram drains innocent called an Islamic fundamentalist, donated millions of naira to Baptist people’s blood daily without respite.

Conference during its 2013 convention in the State of Osun; gave N10 million to Osun CAN and provided N35 million for the burial rites of late Prophet Abraham Obadare, the former General Overseer of WOSEM. It’s unlikely that the Baptist Convention would realise that the money was taken from the taxes of the hardworking people of the state.

Without mincing words, all recruitments and appointments made so far

by Ogbeni were made strictly on merit without consideration for any primordial sentiments. From the 40,000 youth who are beneficiaries of the OYES, 250,000 beneficiaries of O’MEALS, 3100 food vendors, 10,507 newly recruited teachers, 3 tutor-generals/ permanent secretaries, 36 permanent secretaries, board members and chairmen, 48 executive council members. Although interestingly, there are more Christians in the various elite groups mentioned above one therefore wonders where or what basis is the hogwash of Islamisation coming from?

Could it be a case of misdirected aggression or reversed bigotry?

The gains of education reform in the state public schools which the detractors choose to misunderstand and falsify are glaring.The reforms have had tremendous impacts on the Osun educational competitiveness. To start with, Osun, from a 34th placing among Nigeria’s 36 states in 2010, moved to 18th position in 2011 and 8th position in 2012, in performance rankings in the West African School Certificate Examinations (WASCE). Pupils from the state have also chalked up improved performances in internal, national and international examinations, according to

The school feeding scheme, branded O’Meal and currently being implemented in the Elementary School, has been applauded globally. A few weeks ago, Ogbeni addressed the British joint Parliament on the success of the school feeding scheme, which is founded on the principle of good nutrition as incentive for learning readiness. As we speak, over 254,000 school children enjoy highly nutritious daily lunch under a scheme that has been lauded home and abroad.

This scheme has also greatly boosted enrolment in elementary schools by not less than 25 per cent.

But an added economic advantage is the boon to farmers and women as the scheme greatly aids poultry, food crops and animal husbandry, by working with farmers and women caterers.

O’Meal is conceived as backward integration for a renewed Osun agricultural programme, to partly serve as ready market for farmers’ produce and boost their income. The school feeding initiative greatly impressed the British Parliament and the UNESCO representatives who are at the forefront of driving the cause of returning the over 10.8 million Nigerian children back to school as the sole solution to curbing and alleviating excruciating poverty in the nearest future worldwide.

Under the Osun Schools Reclassification Programme, there are ongoing plans to build 100 elementary schools, 50 middle schools and 26 high model schools. But the building is not haphazard. Since many of the old schools are aged and dilapidated and the state does not have the funding to replace each and every of the run-down school buildings, the reclassification policy is structured on maximising resources.

This means in the new school models, communities would have to share school facilities in consolidated schools, against the old practice of each community insisting on its own schools, even if the pupil population is sparse and there are hardly enough teachers to go round. This therefore explains the merger of schools which some critics may have clearly misunderstood, and in most cases dubbed Islamisation. The motive is not to inconvenience communities or missions. It is rather to maximise Osun education resources, in such a way, as Jeremy Bentham said, “to ensure the greatest happiness of the greatest number”.

CONTINUE ON PAGE 5

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 Managing Editor, KOLA OLABISI, Telephone: 08033927286 (kolaolabisi@yahoo.com); Editor, KAYODE AGBAJE, Telephone: 0803-388-0205, E-mail: osundefender@yahoo.com, kayodeagbaje@yahoo.com. ISSN: 0794-8050.Website: www.osundefender.org.