Osun Defender - May 25th, 2014 Edition by OsunDefender

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SUNDAY, MAY 25, 2014 Today provides another opportunity for the amiable and doughty governor of the state of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Adesoji Aregbesolato thank his creator for sparing his life to be able to witness another date of his birth. But not only for the grace of

VOL. 9. NO.062

Front Page Comment

Ogbeni At 57 being alive should he be thankful to God, for having lived a life of impact thus far also provides a cause for him and his numerous admirers to glorify

the name of the Lord today. A journey of fifty seven years on the shore of earth is not a joke and especially as the journey is defined

by giant achievements not only personal but humanitarian. And it is for this reason that we are happy to identity with this visionary leader who has impacted positively on the lives of so many Continue on pg5

N50

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

IGE

Osun 2014 Governorship Election:

Adeyeye Leads Aregbesolaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 20-man Campaign Team - See Story On Page 2

â&#x20AC;˘All Progressive Congress (APC) National Chairman, Chief Bisi Akande (4th left), presenting the party flag to Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi (2nd right). With them are, wife of Ekiti State Governor, Erelu Bisi Fayemi (right); the Deputy Governor of Ekiti State, Professor Modupe Adelabu (3rd left); former EFCC boss, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu (2nd left); former Head of State, General Muhamodu Buhari (rtd) (at the back of Fayemi); Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu (at the back of Fayemi) and other APC chieftains during the official presentation of APC flag to Dr Fayemi to endorse him for second term in office, at Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, last Wednesday. Photo: GBENGA ADENIYI.

Osun Assembly To Approve LG Creation Bill After Recess

- See Story On Page 2

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OSUN DEFENDER Sunday, May 25, 2014

Osun 2014 Governorship Election: Adeyeye Leads Aregbesola’s 20-man Campaign Team By KAZEEM MOHAMMED

Chieftaincy Affairs, Barrister Kolapo Alimi. The state lawmaker members in the committee include Bamisayemi Oladoyin representing Ife-South State Constituency; Timothy Owoeye, representing IlesaEast State Constituency; Ajibola

HE State of Osun chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has constituted a 20-man state campaign committee to coordinate the re-election of the current governor in the state, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, in the fast-approaching August 9, 2014 governorship election. The Chairman of the Local Government and committee is the senator representing Osun Central Senatorial District, Professor Sola Adeyeye. In a statement signed by the Director, Information and Strategy of the Osun chapter By KEHINDEAYANTUNJI of the APC, Barrister Kunle Oyatomi, the committee has ORMER military Head of State, General Muhammad Buhari, All Progressives Congress (APC) Interim Professor John Adebunmi National Chairman, Chief Bisi Akande, National Ayoade, who was a former Deputy Director, Centre for Leader, Senator Bola Tinubu, and other APC governors Democratic Studies (CDS) as stormed Oluyemi Kayode Stadium in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State capital to rally support for the second term bid of Governor its Secretary. Tagged Rauf Aregbesola Kayode Fayemi last Wednesday. The formal presentation well as subsequent elections State Campaign Committee 2014, members of the of flag to the party flag- in the country. He argued that in order to committee include, Speaker of bearer in the June 21 credible and the State of Osun House of governorship election in conduct the state brought together transparent elections, the Assembly, Honourable Najeem Salam; Secretary to the State APC national leaders, all electronic voter’s card reader 16 APC state governors must be brought into use. Government, Alhaji Moshood the with a common goal of The Osun governor Adeoti; Chief of Staff to the ensuring that the APC charged party members to Governor, Alhaji Gboyega candidate is voted back ensure that they wait and Oyetola; Senator Bayo Salami into office. monitor the results of the and Dr. Peter Babalola. Speaking at the event, election after they might The committee also Governor of the State of have cast their votes. comprises three state Osun, Ogbeni Rauf “I implore you to wait commissioners and five Aregbesola, urged the behind after casting your members of the state Independent National votes and ensure they are Electoral Commission counted before you go parliament. The commissioners are, (INEC) to ensure it does all home, so that your efforts of Finance and Economic within its capacity to use voting back your credible Planning, Dr. Wale the electronic Voter’s Card leader will not be destroyed. “I am very confident that Bolorunduro; Information and Reader in the gubernatorial Strategy, Sunday Akere and elections in the State of Dr Kayode Fayemi will be Osun and Ekiti states, as

Akinloye representing OlaOluwa State Constituency; Femi Kujenbola and Alagbada Isiaka. Others in the committee are Honourable Biyi Odunlade, Comrade Poju Odusola, Obawale Adebisi, Alhaji Sule Alao and Mr. Bosun

Oyintiloye The committee has been given the task of coordinating and giving effect to the governorship campaign exercise across the state. It would be recalled that the state chapter of the ruling party had earlier inaugurated

Governor Aregbesola’s reelection campaign committees across the nine federal constituencies in the state. The various committees have since their inauguration also set up sub-committees saddled with various responsibilities.

Osun, Ekiti Elections: Aregbesola Insists On VCR •Buhari, Akande, Tinubu, 16 APC Governors Storm Ekiti

returned back to office with your votes, as all the i n f r a s t r u c t u r a l developments are there for all to see,” Aregbesola said. Also speaking on behalf of other 15 APC governors in the country, Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State said Nigerian leaders need to swing into action on the current security situation of the nation and stop mourning. He stressed that the 16 APC governors are solidly behind Fayemi and have endorsed him in addition to the trust the party have shown in him at the national level. “Nigeria is not supposed to be mourning. We are not supposed to be in crisis. This is not the kind of nation we all dreamt of. We must use our voting power to bring about that positive change we crave for.” “When the wicked is in power, the people mourn and cry. You must use your

votes to kick out the wicked people in power in Nigeria.” He described Governor Fayemi as a progressive thinker and a model, who always does his things to achieve positive results. Edo State governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomole, charged the people of Ekiti State to use the coming election in the state to show gratitude to Fayemi for the u n p r e c e d e n t e d development he has brought to the state by voting him back into office. “We have found in Fayemi a man that can be trusted with the future of Ekiti State and the APC is the only party that can guarantee the progress of our great country.” Oshiomole stated. General Muhamadu Buhari (rtd) and former Ekiti State governor, Engineer Segun Oni, both described Fayemi as the right man to steer the ship of Ekiti State in the right direction, noting that this is the time to make a positive change in the state. Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu described the APC as the cure to many of the problems confronting Nigeria and Ekiti, saying Fayemi is the doctor, who can heal Ekiti State. “If you want to reject poverty, you must vote Fayemi. If you want to reject backwardness, you must vote the APC.” He charged the people to take the bull by the horn through the coming elections in the state and

ensure that the state does not fall into the hands of those that will take them back into poverty and chaos. Governor Kayode Fayemi said he appreciated the people for their turnout, adding that he would not in any way betray the trust they have in him and promised more developmental projects. “This large turnout has shown that you, the people of Ekiti, are appreciative of good governance. We are ready and willing to leave Ekiti better than the way we met it. “We are ready to provide a purposeful and servantbased leadership administration, which will be ready to listen to what the people want and act accordingly. “My commitment to serve the people of Ekiti remains very strong and I will not relent in my efforts to make the state greater because I am a vessel of good leadership in Ekiti,” Fayemi maintained. Earlier in his speech, the Interim Ekiti State APC Chairman, Chief Jide Awe, charged party members to start mobilisation, as the election is just a month ahead. He noted that the giant stride of the party in the state is a testimony that Ekiti is on the right track. Highlight of the event was presentation of the party’s flag to Governor Fayemi by Chief Akande, while other APC governors presented their certificate of endorsement to him.

Osun Assembly To Approve LG Creation Bill After Recess By KAZEEM MOHAMMED •The governor, State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola (with mic), addressing sympathisers and members of the APC during the official presentation of All Progressives Congress (APC) flag to Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi, Photo: GBENGA ADENIYI. to endorse him for second term in office, in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, last Wednesday.

Oyawoye Hails Aregbesola Over Environmental Sanitation By FRANCIS EZEDIUNO

HE Commissioner for Environment and Sanitation in the State of Osun, Professor Olubukola Oyawoye, has disclosed that Governor Rauf Aregbesola’s environmental sanitation drive had drastically reduced the number of patients going to the hospitals for medical care. Reeling out the statistics, Journalists (NUJ). She recalled the the commissioner explained that less than 200,000 challenge posed to the people now have recorded state by flood at the cases of malaria in the state, inception of the current contrary to the alarming administration in the state, 750,000 and 500,000 wherein some kids, cows recorded in 2011 and 2012 were drowned and other valuable materials respectively. She made the disclosure destroyed, but noted that in a paper titled: “Clean and the menace was tackled Sustainable Environment, frontally. According to her, “flood Panacea for Outbreak of Epidemic: ‘The State of created a huge challenge Osun Experience,’ delivered for the government of at the monthly guest lecture Aregbesola at inception, at the Correspondents’ but as a result of Chapel of Oyo State Council cleanliness advocacy of of Nigeria Union of governor Aregbesola, flood

became a thing of the past and cholera has disappeared, with war against indiscriminate dumping of waste sustaining our success story.” Oyawoye, who attributed the beautification of the state to doggedness and determination on the part of the governor, blamed the past administration for the huge dirt that dotted many parts of the state, culminating in the outbreak of cholera then, adding that the sorry state of things, when Aregbesola took over, was due to the lukewarm attitude of the past administration. She recalled that there were incidences of flooding, which resulted in loss of lives, indiscriminate dumping of refuse along water courses and roads, resulting into dirty

environment and consequently outbreak of epidemic; indiscriminate felling of trees within and outside forest reserves without replacement. “Governor Aregbesola declared a three-month emergency on sanitation, which, though it inconvenienced people initially, the end result was encouraging. “In a day, we removed 36 lorry loads of waste from a public dump site and we later dredged hundreds of waterways to avoid flooding and spread of epidemic diseases. “240 boreholes were sunk at the cost of $2.5 million, public toilets were constructed across the state; we converted wastes to biogas, as well as planting ‘Igi-Iye’ to facilitate clean and healthy environment for our people to live in,” she explained.

HE State of Osun House of Assembly has said that it would give speedy approval to the Local Government Creation Bill after it reconvened from its three-week recess. At its sitting on Tuesday, are expected to consider as the state parliament soon as we reconvene is the adjourned till June 16 to bill for the State of Osun proceed on a recess. Education District Offices The Deputy Speaker, in the three senatorial Honourable Akintunde districts and Teachers Adegboye, who presided Establishment and Pension over the sitting, said that the Office,” he added. Assembly is awaiting the Noting that the report of the referendum of lawmakers are entitled to a the local government six-week recess to rest, creation exercise from the Adegboye revealed that State Independent Electoral throughout the 2013, they Commission (OSSIEC). did not go on any recess. He stressed that the The Deputy Speaker report is expected to be however stressed that the presented to the House recess would give them the before the end of the recess, opportunity to fraternise “so that the House would with their constituents and approve the bill before strategise for state August 9 governorship governorship election billed election.” for August 9. “You will recall that we “During this recess, we have promised to approve will have opportunity to sit the local government with our constituents, creation bill before the enlighten them the more on election and after the recess, what the present it will be part of the work that administration has done we will do by giving it and the need to ensure the speedy approval. re-election of the governor,” “Also, part of the bill we he added.

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OSUN DEFENDER Sunday, May 25, 2014

National Assembly Fingered In Non-use Of VCR In Osun, Ekiti Elections By ISMAEEL UTHMAN

RESH facts have emerged as to the reason why the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) suddenly made a U-Turn on the use of the Voters’s Card Reader for the fast-approaching Osun and Ekiti governorship elections. An impeccable source at the INEC National Headquarters has confided in OSUN DEFENDER that leadership of the National Assembly, particularly the Senate, was responsible for the INEC’s decision not to use the VCR for the governorship elections in the two states any longer. According to the source, the National Assembly leaders directed the INEC not to use the VCR for the elections a day after the electoral body had announced that it would

first use the VCR for the Ekiti and Osun gubernatorial elections. The source said: “All the blames on the INEC’s decision on the VCR should be directed to the National Assembly. It pays INEC to use the VCR, but in the wisdom of the leaders of the National Assembly, they directed INEC not to do it. “The national officials of INEC are currently working to convince the National Assembly on the importance of the use of the VCR for the Osun and Ekiti

elections. We know we will have limited electoral malpractices, if we use the VCR and that will add to INEC’s credibility.” However, OSUN DEFENDER also learnt from another source that the directive came from a strong PDP caucus of the National Assembly, whose members are working to secure victory for the party’s governorship candidates in the Osun and Ekiti elections. It was gathered that the said National Assembly leaders have polarized the INEC commissioners at the headquarters to achieve the non-use of the VCR for the two elections with the aim of manipulating and rigging the elections in favour of the PDP candidates.

The INEC decision on the non-use of the VCR has been steering controversies in the State of Osun with the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the civil society groups in the state calling on the electoral body to rescind its decision and ensuring that it uses the VCR for the election. Recently, the state chapter of the Inter-party Advisory Council (IPAC) joined the voices condemning the INEC’s decision on the VCR for Osun election, describing the commission’s stand as ‘policy summersault, suspicious and hypocritical.’ The APC Director of Publicity, Research and Strategy, Mr Kunle Oyatomi said : “We see the decision

•(L-R) All Progressive Congress (APC) National leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu; Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi and APC interim National Chairman, Chief Bisi Akande at Ekiti State Government House during the official presentation of All Progressive Congress (APC) flag to Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi, to endorse him for second term in office, in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, last Wednesday.

not to use the card reader machine as a grievous overestimation of its capacity. Since the card reader is to checkmate election malpractices, we see no reason why INEC that introduced the system would make a U-turn and decided not to use it in the critical elections preceding the general elections. “If we are to analyze the INEC’s decision, it will simply directly or indirectly aid rigging and election manipulations in the Osun and Ekiti governorship elections. Already, information has it that some people are planning to compromise the voters’ registers, clone voters’ cards and make multiple voting possible. “Conveniently and convincingly, the use of the card reader will stop the evil plan of those people. It is in the primary interest of INEC to deploy the card readers to the two states.” In its reaction to the INEC’s decision, the state Chairman of the IPAC, Prince Adesoji Masilo, on Thursday in Osogbo, said: “We were shocked to read in the papers, statements credited to the spokeperson of the commission, Mr. Kayode Idowu, that Voter’s Card Reader would not be used for Osun and Ekiti elections. “We are using this medium to communicate to the National leadership of INEC, the outright disapproval of the political parties in the state of the Commission’s stance not to use e-card readers for the August 9, 2014 governorship elections. “In the first instance, what will be the essence of the recently-distributed Permanent Voters’ Cards

Photo: GBENGA ADENIYI.

Osun Assembly Worries Over Bombings, Kidnapping By KAZEEM MOHAMMED

HE State of Osun House of Assembly has expressed its worry over the spate of bombings and abduction across some states of the federation. It said that the situation agencies. is frightening and must be He added that for the fact nibbed in the bud quickly that the states have always with all it requires. been assisting the police In a statement signed by with logistics for crime the Press Secretary to the prevention before this time, Speaker, Mr. Goke Butika, it was proper for the Federal the Deputy Speaker, Government to reconsider Honourable Akintunde its stand on the state police. Adegboye, who examined Adegboye said: “If the the consequences of the rag-tag terrorists called recent bombings in Kano Boko Haram and Niger Delta and Plateau states, said the militants can sap the country’s sovereignty is energies of the nation’s being seriously challenged. security agencies, it means He called on the Federal Government to think quickly that a better-organized on the state police for each criminal gang can vitiate the states of the federation to sovereignty of the country. “This is possible, start bearing responsibility of unitary for the security of lives and because command structure for our property. Adegboye further security agencies in a federal stressed that the challenges system of government and facing the security agencies, not until our security as a result of multiple architecture is overhauled, bombings, terrorism, the nation stands to be held the jugular kidnapping, oil bunkering, by armed robbery and other occasionally,” he said. The state parliament then vices, seemed to have overwhelmed the security admonished the people of

the state to put up the third eye on some politicians, who were on a mission to truncate the current peace and tranquillity currently prevailed in the state for political reason.

It noted that only a secured environment, collectively guaranteed, could attract investment and development. The parliament further asserted that most of the

crisis that have derailed the peaceful atmosphere in the affected states began with dirty politicking of political players, only to be helpless when the crisis developed the lives of their own.

Osun To Spend N734m On Hand Pump Boreholes

HE State Government of Osun has revealed that it had awarded contract for the construction of 564 handpump boreholes in its rural communities at a cost of N734 million. Olaposi Adiatu, the than 139 hand-pumps and Programme Manager of the motorised borehole projects States Rural Water and last year. Environmental Sanitation “We have awarded the Agency (RUWESA), stated contracts for the construction that the project was a of 564 boreholes in the rural collaboration between the state communities and these are to government and the African be completed in the next three Development Bank (AfDB). months. He added that contractors, These 564 boreholes’ who would handle the projects are in addition to no projects, had signed an less than 139, which were agreement to complete them in inaugurated by the state three months. government in the rural The RUWESA boss noted communities in 2013. that the provision of the It was done by the state boreholes was part of state government in collaboration government’s efforts to make with the Africa Development potable water available to Bank,” he said. people in the rural Adiatu said RUWESA was communities. also constructing 52 modern Adiatu stressed that the latrines in 36 public schools in agency had completed more

the rural areas, to enhance environmental sanitation there. He said that the agency had also embarked on sensitisation programmes in the rural communities. “We have been sensitising the people at the rural communities on the need to have latrines, where they can defecate, rather than doing it in the open, to prevent outbreak of cholera. Our agency is like a health institution, but ours is preventive and that is why we are telling people in the rural communities to always keep their environment clean,” he said. Adiatu added that the African Development Bank had committed N2 billion for water and sanitation projects, manpower development and provision of office equipment in the state.

(PVC), if card readers will not be used, considering the technological composition of the card? How does INEC intend to authenticate such personal information of a voter, especially the finger prints as contained in the chip of the PVC recently distributed in Osun and Ekiti states? “The refusal of INEC to use the card reader will mean that the only means of checking the authenticity of a carrier of any voter’s card is by mere examination of the card, which was similar the usage of the previous Temporary Voters’ Cards (TVC) with attendant possibility of manipulation that can engender multiple voting and voters’ impersonation. “There are fears been expressed in some quarters that some unscrupulous politicians are already perfecting strategies to clone the PVC and we believe that it is by deployment of e-card readers that this illicit acts can be frustrated.” Masilo stressed further: “We also believe that using e-card reader in Osun will be a veritable basis to test its usage for the 2015 general elections. It is our considered view in Osun IPAC that the best approach to the forthcoming election in our dear state is the deployment of card readers to complement the effort made so far. “It will bring about a situation, where genuine voters will vote and the outcome of that election will represent the yearnings and aspirations of the people of Osun.” The Chairman, Osun Civil Societies Coalition (OCSC), Comrade Abiodun Agboola said: “The whole world has come to the conclusion that heavy and appropriate deployment of technology cannot be divorced from conduct of credible elections devoid of rigging or manipulation. “This is the main fact that compels us to lend our voice to the increasing demand for INEC to test-run the deployment of VCR in the country with the forthcoming governorship elections in Ekiti and Osun states respectively, for we cannot toy with the future of the country, knowing full well the import of rigging of the forthcoming elections. “We owe no political party allegiance, but the good people of Nigeria, and it is our duty to speak up on any matter that will make the people triumph. One of those matters is the issue of card readers for Ekiti and Osun states’ forthcoming governorship elections. And our position is that the card readers must be deployed, if truly INEC intends to conduct free, fair and credible elections in the two states”.

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OSUN DEFENDER Sunday, May 25, 2014

Aregbesola Commissions N47m e-Library For College Of Health Technology, Ilesa By FRANCIS EZEDIUNO

S part of the plans of the governor of the State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, to boost qualitative health-care training in the state, a N47 million stateof-the-art e-Library has been commissioned at the Osun State College of Health Technology, Ilesa. The commissioning, which Governor Aregbesola, who was was held on Tuesday 20th, represented by the State 2014, was the first of its kind Commissioner for Health, Dr. in the history of the institution, (Mrs.) Temitope Ilori, stated as the students, who were very that the reason for providing enthusiastic about the such libraries in the state health completion of the ultra-modern institutions was for the library trooped out en masse, restoration of healthy living, jubilating and dancing to which was part of the cardinal musical lyrics, to show their points of his administration. appreciation to the governor’s Ilori said, since the inception gesture. of the present administration In his keynote address, in the state, it has embarked

upon free treatment of the people, irrespective of their state of origin. The health commissioner added that apart from free treatment, free distribution of drugs and medical consumables to the people in the state were also a top priority of the government. She further explained that the state government decided upon this, as a result of surveys carried out on health facilities, which revealed that most of the hospitals needed more manpower, upgrading and provision of adequate health equipment for optimum service delivery, adding that

these would soon be commissioned for the use of the people of the state. Ilori noted that, with the library in place, it was hoped that the standard of training in the school would bring about competitive learning, as the students would make best use of the facilities, which would improve the quality of training in their health institution and translate to availability of quality health workers in the state. The commissioner, who said the library was being equipped with books, computers, internet accessibility among others, enjoined the students

to make judicious use of the facilities, so as to complement the efforts of the state government aimed at revamping health education in the state. Ilori assured the students across the state that the government would continue to provide conducive leaning environment for the students in all health schools owned by the state government, in a bid to improve health services in the state and to improve their academic activities. In his welcome address, the Director Health Planning, Research and Strategy, Ministry of Health, Dr. Basiru Akintola, corroborated with the state governor. Akintola, while commending Governor Aregbesola and the Commissioner for Health, said the State Ministry of Health, through Health System Development Project II, had contributed immensely to support the good effort of the present administration in the area of provision of health care services to the people of the state. Akintola said the prototype of the newly-constructed library complex was also replicated at the School of Nursing and Midwifery,

Osogbo and a block of male hostel had also been commissioned. He stressed that medical equipment were supplied to selected hospitals, while dental and laboratory equipment were supplied to all the state hospitals. Advising the students on the need for them to make judicious use of the facilities, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Health Matters, Dr. Rafiu Usamotu said it was important for them to take their studies very seriously, so as to be able to compete with their colleagues across the country. Usamotu charged the students to always display the ethos of Omoluabi wherever they found themselves, saying this was what Aregbesola and the state are known for. Some of the students, who spoke with OSUN DEFENDER, expressed their profound gratitude to the governor and the Commissioner for Health for facilitating the construction of the ultra-modern library, saying it would help them to boost their academic pursuit. The students thereafter, promised to continue to give support for the government of Aregbesola at all times.

AUD Teachers, Pupils Grateful To Aregbesola •The Honourable Commissioner for Health, State of Osun, Dr. (Mrs.) Temitope Ilori, cutting the tape to commission the ultra-modern e-Library at the State College of Health Technology, Ilesa, State of Osun recently.

Igbajo Celebrates Oroke Ancient Festival By SHINA ABUBAKAR

Forest. According to the Looye, Orita Ipiun is the junction, where the first Owa counselled his wards before disappearing into the forest. He said the two clans decided to always meet to symbolise unity and set their differences apart to ensure the development of the community. Before settling down the Agangan Box at the Esile Forest, the procession stopped at the compound of Aworogun

of Igbajo, who prayed for the town, after which he was given bean cake from the box and he returned the gesture with a gift too. One of the youths of the community, who spoke with OSUN DEFENDER, Sunday Ajirebi, disclosed that the youths were always eager for the festival, which according to him brings everyone together in the spirit of unity of the community.

HE town of Igbajo was in joyous mood as youths and concerned princes and princesses thronged streets in the ancient town in celebrating the annual Oroke festival in commemoration of the founder of the town recently. Traditional chiefs, Princes ensure unity in the town. Meanwhile, the procession and Princesses were the focus of the ancient festival, which of the princes and princesses was meant to pay homage to from Owa Oke to meet their the ancestral monarch of the counterparts from Owa-Isale at the Orita-Ipiun, was to rejoice town. The symbol of the festival with each other and move was a male teenager, who bore towards the ancestral Esile on his head the agangan box, which contained palm oil and bean cake being carried through the town and distributing same aimed at ensuring that the By KEHINDE AYANTUNJI to the elderly, who could not coming election in the state is join the energetic youths at the pro-democracy organisation, Democracy Vanguard, acceptable to all and sundry. take-off point. Olowu said: “Democracy is has taken One-Man, One-Vote to the major markets According to the Baba in the State of Osun ahead of the August 9, about the popular participation Looye Akeran of town, High governorship election in the state. of the people and the market Chief Adewumi Ebo, the at Atakunmosa Market, said men and women are also The group, during the week, princes and Princesses were the their vote is important for the important to the success of celebrants of the festival, which stormed the popular, Oluode sustainability of the current electoral process and that is Market in Osogbo, Timi was meant to celebrate their and good why we are here to educate you Market, Ede and Atakunmosa democracy ancestral father. governance and encouraged on your voting rights.” Market in Ilesa with the He said the path the agangan “Violence and intimidation them not to encourage anyone box passed through was the campaign for transparent free for of rigging. before, during and after election and fair election in the state. traditional path the first ruler He stressed that market is against the law and you must The organization of the town walked before he sensitization and one-man-one- not encourage it. Tell your bombarded the markets with was last seen at the Igbo Esile, vote advocacy are among the wives, your husbands, your where traditional rite were posters, leaflets and stickers programmes of the organization wards not to become bearing various inscriptions: conducted to climax the “My Vote Must Count; “All festival. The high chief disclosed that Fingers Are Equal On The Day the bean cake symbolised unity Of Election;” “Say No To among the people of the Rigging” Say No To Violence” I-Root Foundation will host a workshop/ community, saying the cake was among others. seminar tagged IROBI 2014 on May 30, 2014 In Ilesa, members of the produced as a result of at GMT multipurpose Hall, Ring Road, collaboration of different group were moving from one Osogbo, State of Osun by 10am and to unveil an place to another with the quarters in the community; hence it was given out megaphone, sensitizing the advocacy movie titled IROBI, produced to educate market traders on how to women on how to prevent the causes of maternal indiscriminately. He added that everyone who protect their voters’ cards and death. According to a purpose of the event is also ate the cake did so in order to election procedures. State Coordinator of the to advocate for the statement from the show his love for the community and readiness to group, Olowu Emanuel, while director of the foundation, reduction in maternal addressing the market women mortality rate most

By BOLANLE BABALOLA EACHERS and pupils of Ansar-U-Deen Government Elementary School, Isale-Osun, Osogbo recently commissioned by Governor Rauf Aregbesola, have lauded the efforts of the state government to improve education sector in the state. Some of the teachers of the old structure of the the school who spoke in school to collapse on us unison with OSUN before he replaced it with a DEFENDER in Osogbo last modern structure capable of Friday said the new competing favourably with structure of their school has anyone in the advanced become a source of pride to nations of the world. them and the pupils. “Could you believe that The teachers who those of us teachers in the pledged anonymity for school have become a official reason said they source of envy to our were full of gratitude over colleagues who are yet to the new status of their enjoy what we are enjoying? school which was made “The school building and possible by the workaholic its environment are a beauty governor of the state. to behold. This is even more In their words: “We thank beautiful than some God because Ogbeni banking halls”, they said. Aregbesola did not allow They also explained that the pupils who were exposed to new fixtures in the buildings have increased in number in instruments to rig election. geometrical progression Election rigging is sabotage to compared to what was the development,” Democracy case before the fortune of Vanguard coordinator said. the school was improved. Speaking, a market leader in The teachers said they Atakunmosa Market would forever remain commended the organization grateful to the and urged them to sustain the administration of Ogbeni campaign, saying the people at Aregbesola for being the the grassroots also desire free first governor to change the and fair election. status of the teachers in the He noted that the major state. challenge of the people in the “It is worthy of note to market is voters’ education, also explain that the pupils which according to her the are also not less happy and organization can provide appreciative of the positive through regular market visits. change in the education sector in the state. “The pupils now come to school early and manifest sign of happiness and especially among women fulfillment while in school. of childbearing age in the “The new schools’ structure has made primary State of Osun. Guest Speakers slated education a leveler as pupils for the occasion are; Dr. in public primary schools (Mrs) Temitope Ilori, the not only enjoy what their state Commissioner for counterparts in private are exposed to but Health; Chief Ifayemi schools are better positioned than Elebuibon; Hon Kola Akanji those in the private and Mrs Ajibola. schools,” they hinted.

Group Hits Markets With One-Man, One-Vote Campaign

Foundation To Hold Foundation

D Taiwo

Aderemi,

the

OSUN DEFENDER Sunday, May 25, 2014

Ogbeni At 57 Continued from pg1

measures. people and added value to humanity in no small For Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola service is what matters. His life is purely defined by service to humanity. Thus for those who are familiar with his life history his stellar performance as the Governor of the state of Osun is no surprise. For he has always excelled in whatever position of responsibility he found himself. Not for him to regard any assignment as being small or unimportant and so he always put in his best and handles every assignment with absolute commitment. When it comes to work Ogbeni Aregbesola does not look back. For him what is worth doing at all is what doing well. He is such a hardworking man so much so that the word ‘workaholic’ has always been used to describe him. Of course he must be a workaholic to have always worked for twenty to twenty one hours daily. It's this nature of his that made a journalist to once asked him during an interactive session with the public whether

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he (Ogbeni) even sleeps at all. Whenever Ogbeni Aregbesola finds himself handling a particular assignment his mind is focused on result. So as a result-oriented leader he loathes to hear from anyone to whom he might have given assignment to come back and give him excuse that he couldn't achieve result. Thus for him there is no excuse for failure. No wonder he has achieved so much during just a period of four years that he has attained the position of leadership in his home state even in spite of the monetary challenges he has been facing. It is important to mention it that Ogbeni Aregbesola had for long prepared himself for leadership role. So it doesn't seem to be by accident the position he finds himself now. Even as young and as smallish in stature as he was he emerged the President of the Black Nationalist Movement in his days at the Polytechnic Ibadan due to his agility and vocal attribute. It was that platform he and his colleagues used in fighting against perceived bad government policies then.

As a Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure in Lagos state during Asiwaju Bola Tinubu's administration Ogbeni Aregbesola was an excellent performer. For that he won many awards as the best Commissioner in Lagos state then in recognition of his hard work. And since he became the chief helmsman of his state four years ago the story has not been different. He has carried on with the same spirit and determination. The reason why awards have also been pouring in for him both from near and afar. As the Governor of the state of Osun Ogbeni Aregbesola has proved that he is equal to the task. Within four years he has turned the state around. The level of development the state has witnessed under him is quite unprecedented. His style of governance which is quite unusual has been recommended to other states of the federation especially his educational policy. As this dynamo turns 57 today we at Osun Defender are proud to identify with him as we wish him many more years of meritorious service to humanity. It also pleases us to wish him victory in the coming governorship election in the state. Happy birthday to a focused, visionary and virtuous leader!is

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OSUN DEFENDER is published by Moremi Publishing House Limited, Promise Point Building, Opposite Guarantee Trust Bank GTB, Gbongan Road, Osogbo, State of Osun. All correspondence to the above mail address. ISSN: 0794-8050 Telephone: 0803-392-7286, 08033880205 Website: www.osundefender.com/index.php e-mail: osundefender@yahoo.com

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OSUN DEFENDER Sunday, May 25, 2014

Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola At 57: A Sterling Example In Leadership B

EST selling American author and motivational speaker, Scott Berkun, once wrote of leadership: “I think leadership comes from integrity” – that you do what you ask others to do. It is very apposite here to emphasize the fact that integrity is a very rare virtue among Nigerian leaders. I think there are non-obvious ways to lead. Just by providing a good example as a parent, a friend, a neighbour makes it possible for other people to see better ways to do things. Leadership does not need to be a dramatic, fist in the air and trumpets blaring activity. Walking the talk is a major attribute of good leadership, that is translating promises into concrete results. Performance is the key. The essence of leadership is all about performance, that is, constructive engagement of human energy, skills and natural resources not only for quality leaving of citizenry in contemporary society but equally for preservation of values and natural resources that would make life worth living for generations unborn. Leaders are celebrated not for the quantum of their earthly material possessions they acquired (legitimately or illegitimately) but for impactful and mostly sacrificial decisions, policy thrusts and actions that added value to the collective fortune of their followers. Hugo Chavez of Venezuela became venerated in death by the majority of Venezuelans not necessarily because of his publicized hatred of American imperialism, neither is it because of his avowed socialistic ideological persuasion. Hugo Chavez became a hero for the principal reason that he utilized Venezuela’s oil wealth for the benefit of majority of Venezuelans. This is an instructive lesson for Nigerian leaders, especially, those of PDP stock. The question on the lips of many is: Why is quality leadership a virtue that is not much in abundant supply amongst members of the self- acclaimed largest party in Africa, PDP? Many will agree with this writer that what PDP lacks, that is quality leadership, APC possess it in abundance as attested to by its sterling performance in both the states and councils it has have the opportunity of controlling. I have argued in my several writeups in major dailies in the last eight years that leadership matters in the life of a nation. A visionless leadership ruins a nation while a visionary one builds it. It was Chief Awolowo’s leadership that gave the South-West a head start. And because we have not been blessed with that kind of leadership at the centre since the beginning of this republic, we are where we are today. History has never been kind to leaders who chose to use political power for personal aggrandizement rather than service to the people. Indeed, past leaders (Obafemi Awolowo, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Ahm uadu Bello and Nnamdi Azikwe) continue to be celebrated because they were leaders who govern with the fear of God and posterity in mind. A philosopher once opined that every fool can make history, but it takes the genius to write it. The role of Man in history is a regular controversy among historians and other social scientist. The investigation into the relative relevance

•AREGBESOLA By LANRE AMINU

of Man and circumstances in shaping the development of society has divided the ranks of philosophers. Today, perspectives, which celebrates Man as a helpless being, driven from pillar to posts by spiritual forces are in retreat. More men and women agree with the dialectics of the Yoruba cosmogony that conceives Man as an active participant in the determination of his fate and celebrate courage, honesty and perseverance as values critical to the liberation of the individual from the spiritual and material underdevelopment. The values listed above are the secrets of Aregbesola’s success in the business of governance. He (Ogbeni Aregbesola) seemed determined to make history. One thousand, two hundred and twenty days of Aregbesola administration is like the arrival of a new dawn. The achievements recorded are sufficient signposts to measuring the capacity of the incumbent helmsman in the state of Osun to bring Osun out of the woods and take it to the promise land. We will soon mark the fifteenth anniversary of unbroken civil democracy. Most Nigerians, except beneficiaries of PDP’s

rein and their praise mongers, found very little cause for celebration. Our economy is comatose as 70 percent of our citizens live below breadline. Today, my beloved country, Nigeria is at the bottom rung of all indices of human development, no thanks to visionless, sleaze-infested and insensitive leadership at the centre. Mounting frustration of Nigeria youths is a serious cause for concern. This explains why two youths, Aruku Afe and Kazeem Adekeye committed suicide o sometimes ago. Many others have taken to crime and anti-social behavior like kidnapping, prostitution, armed robbery and suicide bombing. No doubt, youths are at the burning end of the stick of our leaders iniquities. Our democracy is fetid as the people’s sovereignty has been raped and the votes of the electorate have hardly counted in the past fifteen years. The horizon is bleak and gloomy; even in the perception of incurable optimists. It is increasingly become certain that if we do not destroy Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, a natural refuge of soulless politicians, scoundrels and congenital liars, it will destroy us all. I have never met anybody (except its members) that believes that PDP is good for Nigeria. This is the sole reason why positive thinkers always

seek out the silver lining in our horizon and amplify it in order to keep hope alive among a disgruntled, disenchanted and disillusioned populace. Any where will find a speck of light, a glimmer of hope, we highlight so that our humanity may clutch onto the fact that in the darkest of times, there remains possibilities of progress, of change, that if it happened in some African countries like Ghana, Niger Republic and in civilized democracies the world over where opposition candidates defeated the incumbent, then, it is possible yet in our nation that fulfillment of the dream of democracy may yet come. That is the essence of this tribute, which aims not only to celebrate Aregbesola’s leadership qualities, but also to document for posterity his invaluable contributions to Nigeria’s democracy and good governance. He has sufficiently demonstrated that things can be done rightly to make our democracy yield positive values for our people instead of the raging poverty, unemployment and physical and spiritual decadence that envelope our country today. I am not interested here in recounting some of the many positive actions Aregbesola has taken because evidence of his land mark and verifiable achievements which are on ground abounds everywhere, including on the internet as well as from the streets where the results of the actions are manifest. It is to be found in the investment in job creation, education, transportation infrastructure like good roads, human capital development and skills acquisition, commercial agriculture, health care delivery, environment and so on. It is on record that Aregbesola’s administration school feeding programme and the adoption of tablet knowledge (Opon Imo) for learning in our secondary schools instead of text books has attracted international attention. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, Osun under Aregbesola’s watch is one of the states that have the lowest rate of poverty and unemployment in Nigeria today, despite the meager resources at his disposal. In view of the above, many will agree with this writer that Aregbesola has become a model for good governance in Nigeria today. Any modicum of hope that Nigerians might have in the present democratic dispensation is attributable to the colorful leadership credential of the likes of Aregbesola, a visionary leader that represents the generation of our time. He has rubbished the myth that prophets are seldom ever honoured in their own homes. Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola is one of the new leaders that are truly leaving the ideals of the late sage, Chief Awolowo, that Yoruba will follow without looking back. For his travails and triumphs, his rise and rise to a spectacular National Political Phenomenon and his loaded achievements in the last three and a half years, we should salute a great man, leader of leaders, a man of courage and vision. We say congratulations on his 57th birthday anniversary. •Aminu is the National Coordinator, Oodua Youth for Good Governance.

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OSUN DEFENDER Sunday, May 25, 2014

Rauf: The Responsibility In Power

HOSE who have encountered the City of Gold: Dubai and the Dream of Capitalism, authored by that former Associated Press’ Correspondent in the Persian Gulf, Jim Krane, would easily reconnect with the story of how that hitherto isolated village grew to today’s centre of commerce and tourism, that is the destination for all from across the globe. Really, the aborigines of present day Dubai, were dismayed to learn that no part of the world knew about their existence (despite their glorified exploits in fishery and other aquatic activities) until the architect of that modern heaven, Sheikh Rashid Makhtoun, decided to change that course through purposeful leadership; challenging his power with the responsibility to change the history of his people. No doubt, the Dubai’s story today stands tall among those who have demonstrated in practical terms the fact that in power really lie some heavy responsibilities. Rauf Aregbesola, 57 today, sits atop the affairs of Osun, the almost four million strong populated area in the South-West of Nigeria. With an epic and tortuous journey to power, what manifests majorly in more than three years of being in the saddle are the responsibilities that accompany his position of power. Arriving as a leader in a state that not many seeking peace and pleasure would want to live, there is a grandiose display of the realization that the power pails into insignificance if it does not translate into a tool for changing history from an unenviable past to a new world of possibilities. The very grim scenario Aregbesola met in Osun is worth remembering! It was story of a people boxed to an unfortunate corner of misery, hopelessness, want, violence, injustice occasioned by lack of functional education, jobs, dangerous environment, uncoordinated plans of actions and total failure of leadership. They had equally but painfully resigned to fate given the dearth of choices away from the misery. Any leader who fails to confront these multiple under-development evils with coordinated plans of actions must realize ab initio that he has written his name indelibly in the hall of infamy. Thus, what would be tools to confront these maladies with were no more than some six cardinal objectives that on their own appeared comprehensive enough to have taken care of the various dimensions the Osun challenge presented. The ingenious manner with which the Aregbesola administration’s banishment of poverty, hunger, unemployment, restoring healthy living, functional education and

•AREGBESOLA By SEMIU OKANLAWON

communal peace and progress have been pursued has produced only one result: transformation. With doggedness, Osun is fast transforming to what Lisa Jones describes as “a model of progressive urban development” in her article, “The improbable story of how Bogota, Colombia, became somewhere you might actually want to live.” Giving one of the reasons for awarding Aregbesola the Daily Independent’s Man of the Year 2013 honour, the national daily’s Editor, Rotimi Durojaiye, had cited the drift back to Osun as one strong illustrative point that the state where those who lived there were without choices is where dwellers of metropolitan Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt and others now want to return. After three years of exploits, not a few are coming to terms with the potency of the Osun experiments under Aregbesola. There is a fascinating way in which the media, the voices of the people, appear to be amplifying what Daily Independent called “Symbol of Alternative Perspectives” and The Nation newspaper just last week simply dubbed “The Osun Example”. It was what PUNCH’s erudite columnist, Prof Niyi Akinnaso, referred to as “Unravelling the Nigerian Paradox”.

Osun initiative in youth empowerment just as The World Bank has compellingly suggested? The scheme that takes 20,000 idle but able-bodied youths out of the job market every two years definitely has the magic to ward off youth restiveness, insurgency and other crimes. What is in it for Nigeria to restructure its agricultural policies in a way that causes positive ripples in jobs creation, food sufficiency and other value chains? Is there anything in it for Nigeria if it dedicates its resources to massive infrastructure upgrades in nationwide roads networks, energy generation and distribution and provision of adequate security to investments to thrive? Are these not the requirements for igniting an industrialization revolution that will engage more hands than the current army of idle hands? Is Nigeria not fertilizing the pull from which insurgency draws its Army of mindless attackers by failing to adopt a method that will erode that pull? Perhaps, Nigeria’s main problems stem from that acute ignorance of the responsibilities that lie in power before those in leadership positions take it. The many decades of failed leadership in Nigeria buttresses Gary Hamel’s argument in The Purpose of Power where he claimed, and rightly so, that “Power has long been regarded as morally corrosive, and we often suspect the intentions of those who seek it.” I am more than convinced that many of those who passed through Osun as leaders in its 23 years of creation must be asking themselves whether it is the same Osun they governed that Aregbesola is currently handling. Compelled by the responsibilities he believes lie in the power he holds, Aregbesola has demonstrated that his eyes can be open where others are blind and that he can hear where others are deaf and dumb. That, to me, seems to be the layman meaning of The Nation Newspaper of last Tuesday when it succinctly said that the state has shown that “there is ability in disability”. And the lesson here! Power is empty and of no use when it is stripped of its responsibilities. Every genuine leader must subscribe to that Martin Luther King’s position that “I am not interested in power for power’s sake, but I’m interested in power that is moral, that is right and that is good.” This appears to be what Aregbesola, 57 today, has sworn to and for this, salute to his motto where he proudly and daily declares: Power is Responsibility!

Of course, the isolated case that “The Osun Example” has become in the face of national development tragedy appears to be the reason for clamour that Nigeria needs to look into that tiny fraction of its geographical spread to see how an application on a national scale could help provide answers to some of the nagging national questions. In another article, I once made reference to Waller Newell’s The Soul of a Leader: Character, Conviction and Ten Lessons in Political Greatness. “What, the author asked in his book, “are we looking for in a leader?” Given the Nigerian experience, what we must be looking for in a Nigerian leader is salvation through the deployment of those creative strategies that have practically solved some puzzles such as unemployment and its concomitant offspring, promotion of justice and fairness, commitment to the welfare of the people through people-centre, people-focused policies. Jettisoning political sentiments, the Peoples Democratic Party-led Senate had recommended in very clear terms to Nigeria the latest education policies of Osun as pragmatic solutions to the current national education policies that •Okanlawon is the Director, produce more illiterates than Bureau of Communications and educated minds. Strategy, Office of the Governor, What, for instance, is in it for Osogbo, State of Osun. Nigeria as a whole adopting the

OSUN DEFENDER Sunday, May 25, 2014

OVERNOR Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola is 57 years today. Aregbesola has introduced many innovations into governance, while he has simplified the bureaucracy surrounding the office of the governor. On assumption of office close to four years ago, he rechristened Osun from the State of Living Spring to the State of Virtue. Baba Kabiru, as he is fondly called, introduces the state anthem and the symbol. Aregbesola is the first governor in the State of Osun to go without the usual siren blaring ahead of him. Not only that, he obeys traffic regulation whenever he gets to traffic light junction, Aregbesola has transformed from being a symbol of Oranmiyan during his electioneering campaign to a symbol of good governance. It is not for fun that he continues to win laurels from all segments of the society. Before his assumption of office, Osogbo, the state capital, had the trappings of a local government headquarters. Today, Osogbo is seriously opened up by way of infrastructural renewal. The Old Garage-Kwara State Boundary road and Alekuwodo Street have been made dual-carriage ways with streetlights to light the whole place at night. The Nelson Mandela Freedom Park is part of his innovation. Until the advent of the Aregbesola’s administration, there was no public place, where citizens could converge for public outings. Now social clubs, individuals, political parties, religious groups and government can organize public functions at the Mandela Park. Schools’ reclassifications have brought about good and modern school complexes in the State of Osun. Pupils now learn in an atmosphere conducive to learning. They were given a pair of uniform each at the government expense. School furniture were also provided for students. The urban renewal project is not limited to the state capital. Most towns are beneficiaries of the state government gesture. The tertiary sector of education is not left out. The tuition fee paid by students in public tertiary institutions was reduced drastically to enable brilliant but indigent students to access it. The value of bursary received by students was increased to enable students have a feeling of having a taste of government largesse. Students offering professional courses like Law and Medicine in the universities also benefited

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Rauf Aregbesola: A Clarion Call For More

•AREGBESOLA

from government’s benevolence since they pay higher fees for their professional training. Without education, there is no way we can progress or catch up with the developed society. The government of Rauf Aregbesola is concerned by the legion of unemployed graduates. Series of programmes have been lined up for people to benefit from. Training in critical areas of the economy is enabling the youths to be productive and lessdependent on the government. It is because this government, popularly called the Rauf Revolution appreciated this fact that it encouraged the youths to be self-sufficient. The hidden gold in the tourism sector is being tapped by this government. Waterfalls and other tourists’ sites are being given facelift to attract tourists, which will generate income for the state. During festivities, especially Christmas, Easter and Idil-Kabir, citizens of the state and neighbouring states are ferried to and from Lagos by train

at government expense. The revolution in the State of Osun has permeated every sphere of life and the impact has been felt throughout the country and beyond. The state parliament complex was given a facelift, which makes one wonders if people before him ever thought of doing that. Today, the State House of Assembly compares with the best in the land. Until recently, when the federal allocation reduced by forty percent, civil servants were getting their salaries by the 25th of the month. There is the presence of government activity in virtually every area. This has been made possible because the architect of it, Aregbesola had a vision and a mission in government and he was passionate about it. While others fight to hold public offices for the sake of it, he really planned of what to do to impact on the lives of his people. It would have been pretty

difficult to engage 20,000 youths in the Osun Youth Empowerment Scheme (OYES) in less than 100 days in office, if he had not really planned well. However, all these goodies could not have been made possible without the co-operation of the people. The reclassification of buildings attracted a lot of furore from the public, especially the uninformed and the mischievous, because the opposition party leaders wanted to capitalize on it to cause disaffection among the people. The opposition party officials fail to realize the fact that most people affected had either taken compensation from previous governments or were aware that the eventuality would ultimately happen. In the spirit of embracing that which is good, the society today is the better for it. The governor, in the spirit of a liberal and objective leadership, opened up access to anything meant by the state to both party members and the opposition party members. It is on record that relatives of opposition party members were the greatest beneficiaries of the OYES. For the All Progressives Congress, (APC) then Action Congress of Nigerian (ACN), party members that were at the receiving end of the unpopular policies of the immediate-past government, the expectation was that the governor would give them preference. But Mr Aregbesola thought otherwise. Some party members also felt that rather than spend more money on infrastructure, the party members should rather be taken care of. Today, however, the governor remains not only a pride of the party, but a super achiever. His achievements are unprecedented. As we celebrate his 57 th birthday today, we cannot but wish him God’s blessings and many years in service; to the state and his fatherland. Part of his landmark achievement in Nigeria is that he is the only Nigerian to have been engaged in a protracted gubernatorial legal tussle that lasted 42 months. It takes a man with an extra gut and determination to be able withstand the stress and the financial commitment involved. The only way to reward this enigma of a man is to entrust him with another four years. He is ready to work and he has the vision and passion to carry on. People of the State of Osun should not derail a train that is at the top of speed. Seven Gbosas to the revolutionary of our time!

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OSUN DEFENDER Sunday, May 25, 2014

Aregbesola At 57: Passion Mixed With Action E

VIDENCE and testimonies have established that since his early years, Rauf Aregbesola, now the governor of the State of Osun, has demonstrated passion for the development of the Yoruba race and Africa in general and he has been working towards it. No wonder he has been engaging in politicking since his school days, especially at The Polytechnic, Ibadan, when he was elected a leader of Students Representative Council (SRC). Since, and even before then, he has been engaging in activism in one way or the other to fight for the rights of the people. The activism he engages in and his passion for development propelled him to see the need to join partisan politics to be able to partake in the efforts for the development of the black race anywhere in the world. His appointment as the Commissioner for Work and Transport in Lagos State by the former governor, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, between 1999 and 2007 further gave him the opportunity to exhibit his knowledge and wisdom for the betterment of the society. He contested for the governorship seat of the State of Osun in the April 14, 2007 governorship election, but was rigged out and his opponent, who was the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Olagunsoye Oyinlola, was declared winner of the poll. It took him three and half years to retrieve his stolen mandate and since the retrieval of the mandate in November 26, 2010, he has been placing the state on the path of progress that the state has never witnessed. At a gathering recently, Aregbesola stated that after being part of putting Lagos State on a progressive path that is irreversible for any government, he chose to contest for the number one seat in Osun, which is the heartland of the Yoruba race. The development that Osun has witnessed since the assumption of office of the Ijesa-born politician has made Osun to become a reference point among the comity of states in the country, as his administration has recorded many firsts in all its programmes. Do you want to talk of the engagement of 20,000 youths under Osun Youths Empowerment Scheme (OYES) within the first 100 days of the administration? After two years, another batch of 20,000 youths

•AREGBESOLA By KAZEEM MOHAMMED were engaged under the scheme, making it 40,000. The way and manner in which the scheme was implemented was so marvelous that no government in Nigeria and even in Africa has been able to march it. One may begin to ask why the issues of the OYES is being over-flogged, but the truth is that it can never be over-flogged. This is evident, as even the World Bank in conjunction with the Federal Government has come around to learn how the programme was implemented. Aregbesola did not stop at that, as his administration ensured that more youths were employed into the civil service; some were encouraged to enter into farming business, while some have been employed into new companies - Omoluabi Garment

Factory and the $50 million RLG Technology City called RLG/Adulawo Technology City in Ilesa and others - that have just been attracted into the state. Apart from that, the feat that Aregbesola has recorded in the area of education cannot be over-emphasised. Worthy of note in all the programmes is the initiative of OponImo, the computer tablet of knowledge that has received accolade from within and outside the country. The tablet, which has been acknowledged to be the first of its kind in the entire Africa has won several awards including the World Summit Awards (WSA) organised among 190 UN-member states and runs within the United Nations (UN) framework of the World Summit on the Information Society. The Opon Imo initiative triumphed over 421 other innovations for the 2013

Awards vetted by the grand jury of global eminent experts. What an innovation! If this is not enough to convince the mischief makers about the transformation efforts of Ogbeni as popularly called, the review and re-organisation of the Osun Feeding Programme, popularly tagged O’MEAL is another initiative that has attracted interests from far and wide. The O’MEAL programme is not about feeding pupils, with nutritious meals for that matter at the elementary schools alone, its trickle down effects on the economy of the state has made it acceptable to the people. Apart from the fact that the caterers that are preparing the meal for the kids are local women that are empowered through the scheme, the chicken, cat fish, beef, fruits and others stuffs that are being used to prepare the meal are supplied by local farmers. The implementation of the scheme and its impact on the economy, in my own view, might be reason why the United Kingdom Parliament invited Aregbesola to come and explain and teach them how to implement similar programmes. Also, the introduction of new uniform in the public school and its free distribution to students was another initiative to behold. Do you want to talk of the monthly stipend of N10,000 to the elderly citizens under Agba Osun initiative; the transformation in the health system of the state; the strengthening of security and so many others. The fact remains that no government in Osun has been able to achieve what Aregbesola has achieved within 42 months of his administration. No wonder the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Honourable Najeem Salaam, described Aregbesola as a God-sent and a man of integrity and honour. Salaam said at a gathering recently that the coming of Aregbesola has changed the face of governance in the state, as his vision, passion mixed with action has started placing Osun on a progressive path that is irreversible. Canvassing for the second term bid of Aregbesola, the Ejigbo-born politician was optimistic that after eight years of Aregbesola’s administration, Osun would have gone far above other states of the federation.

OPINION

INEC: Planning For Bedlam? A

LL those who care for the success of Nigeria’s democracy and its key component, the electoral process, have strongly kicked against the decision of the election umpire, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) not to deploy the fraud-resistant Voter’s Card Reader (VCR) technology in the Ekiti and Osun polls in 2014. INEC Chairman Professor Attahiru Jega says however that the body is not discarding the use of VCR altogether but rather reserving it for 2015. In the strongest defence of his position yet, Jega told a ranking United States government official from the State Department that despite the clamour from well-meaning Nigerians, including the governors of Ekiti and Osun State, INEC is not ready to adopt the card reader system in 2014. He declared: “It will not be wise to use a pilot scheme in an election (Ekiti and Osun in June and August respectively) that will be keenly contested,” pinning his hopes on the broader general ballot in 2015 for the test-run of the new technology. But by popular claim here in Nigeria and beyond our shores, the voter card reader machine represents a great election invention that is capable of aborting any scheme meant to thwart the will of the

By KUNLE OYATOMI

electorate. It is ages ahead of the old (manual in relative terms) permanent voter cards (PVC) with which Jega has developed and immoral love affair. Used alone, the PVC has brought nothing but ignominy to our democracy and electoral system. It is responsible for a thriving but illicit enterprise called ballot banditry. It allows votes not to count because results are concocted according to the whims and caprices of the electoral umpire and their sponsors. The net outcome is that the real choice of the people is relegated and supplanted. That was what was at play in Ekiti and Osun in the 2007 election until the law courts stepped in 2010 to usher in the real winners of the poll. With usurpers in power for years in Ekiti and Osun as a result of the compromised ballot and apparatus applied, the suffering of the people of the two states was calamitous. They were years of locusts. Everything fell in to ruins. As they were not those voted in to power, the predecessors of the current governors in Ekiti and Osun had no clue as to what to do to push their people forward. It was a bitter and painful backward march in the two states.

The effect? Those who came after them upon the intervention of the judiciary have had more than the task of Hercules. They have had more to do than cleaning the Augean Stables. They met a run-down environment that looked as pillaged, violated and emasculated as a scene emerging from an atomic bomb attack. Ask Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, the governor of the State of Osun. He has experienced sleepless nights along with its team in government, attempting to put in order the misdeeds of the past. In the face of dwindling recourses, his government is sacrificing comfort, time, leisure and personal resources, so as to maintain their honour and to fulfil solemn electoral promises. They are denying themselves all the basic perquisites of office, in order to make a difference. All these because sometime in the past, an election was held that brought in those who did not win the polls because of an inbuilt compromise in the system. It is not what we should allow to be repeated if we can help it. To be sure we can help it with the aid of the card reader technology. It is the latest scientific method of the ballot. It has been observed that if handled with diligence and focus, the card reader can turn in the actual

wishes of the electorate. It faithfully records the imprint of the voter and forestalls the danger and ill effects of double registration and multiple voting. Let us note that these are the areas where vote fraud is hatched. Let INEC introduce the VCR in Ekiti and Osun in 2014 to demonstrate its status as an umpire of integrity fired by patriotic instincts. The result will then be analyzed and finetuned for application on the wider canvas of the 2015 general election. INEC’s argument that the poll in the two states has too much at stake to allow for test running the new VCR technology is myopic and disingenuous. Every election, local, state or national, bears the burden of influencing the polity for good or for bad. Otherwise, we would not have had the local Western Nigeria election of 1964-1965 triggering a stormy crisis that snowballed into a national inferno and ultimately a civil war. So the question is: why would INEC plan for a bedlam with the potential to cost trouble again, when it can make use of a system to save us from bad governance arising from marred polls? •Barrister Oyatomi is the Director of Publicity and Communications of All Progressives Congress (APC), State of Osun

Feature

OSUN DEFENDER Sunday, May 25, 2014

Appraising Osun O-Meals Programme W

HEN the history of the Fourth Republic in Nigeria is finally written, one man, a public administrator of uncanny acumen, will tower highly on the pages of that account. He will be so specially recognised not on account of his volubility or seeming Spartan lifestyle. Reasonably, Governor Rauf Aregbesola will attract a huge focus in that chronicle because of his sterling performance and consistent delivery of good governance in Osun State, a once economically drab, socially sick, and politically explosive landlocked State. While not neglecting the evident changes taking place in other sectors of the state since the Aregbesola Administration began in 2010, I must confess that I have been more dispassionately concerned with what happens in the education sector of the State. From the reforms, the innovative initiatives, to the hefty sum being sunk in the public education system of Osun, there can be no doubt that the interest of the Aregbesola government in the advancement of education as a vital element of enduring human and physical development is not superficial. Specifically, the vastly improved Home-Grown School Feeding Programme which is famously regarded as Osun Elementary School Feeding and Health Programme (O-MEALS) is one of the areas in the education sector of the state that the incandescent light of good governance has been determinedly beamed. The success of this programme brings to mind the indisputable fact that the sector-wide development being witnessed in Osun is a product of the robust resourcefulness, rugged will, uncommon prudence, and practicable vision of the Aregbesola Administration. OMEALS has been sustained for two years. It is a stirring testimony to the inspiring ability of the Administration to provide invaluably enduring programme. This free school-feeding programme covers some 500,000 pupils enrolled in Grades One to Four of all government-owned Elementary Schools in Osun. It is firmly founded on the objectives of alleviating hunger and malnutrition among school children; addressing specific micronutrient deficiencies in school-age children for better school performance; motivating parents to enrol their children in school and have them attend regularly; and stimulating job creation, local goods production and boost local farmers’ incomes. From what I gathered, on every school day, these pupils are fed with highly nutritious meals made up of yam with fish stew and orange; rice and beans with chicken; beans porridge and bread with whole egg and banana; and cocoyam porridge with vegetable soup and beef, with a slice of pawpaw. This initiative, as reports indicate, has seen to the gainful empowerment of over 3000 women who serve as food vendors in all the schools across Osun. The disbursement of about N3 billion annually by the State Government to sustain the programme is itself a marker of the power of vision and what only a

•Pupils taking free lunch in an Osun public school. By LANRE OLADEJI

responsible government like the one in Osun can do. The O-MEALS programme is a resoundingly well-restructured idea. And this is no frivolous claim. This assertion can be logically substantiated by looking at the quality of international supports and acclaims the programme has engendered, its implications on the education of children in the State, and the economic spinoffs. All of these prove that the programme is not a misbegotten idea. With respect to genetic predisposition to intelligence, good nutrition plays an immeasurable role in cognitive development of children. Studies have shown that nutrient deficiency in children often affects the development of their brain, the engine room of the human body. Children who are deficient in nutrients and are poorly fed will not only be sickly and look terrifyingly gaunt; they will equally have weaker brain power coupled with a demeaning lack of confidence. In class, they will do everything but give meaningful attention to learning. They will listen to teachers desultorily. Rather than remember the salient thrusts of their lessons, they have the rumbling worms in their stomachs to remind them of the pang of hunger. This is the hell from which the Aregbesola Government has rescued the school children in Osun. With the nutritious meals, provision of modern learning facilities, conducive learning atmosphere, and qualified teachers, there can be no doubt that sound and round education is the lot of these children. The children now look healthier, more robust, and more confident. Their brains are being energised for effective performance on a daily basis. It now matters little, if any

at all, that these children attend public schools. The government in Osun understands that nutrients are quite critical for optimal brain development, hence its unwavering commitment to the freefeeding initiative and uncompromising provision of functional education. Those who steer the ship of governance in Osun understand that it is with wellfed, well-groomed, well-bred, and welleducated minds that society attains great heights in development. As a full package, the O-MEALS programme has positive impact on the economy and agricultural sector of Osun. Cocoyam farming (aptly tagged ‘Cocoyam Rebirth Farming’) has taken a new dimension and many hands are already being gainfully engaged in that area. Cocoyam, especially the pink species, is said to have higher nutritional value than yam. Its inclusion in the menu of the school meal is a sensible decision. Similarly, poultry, livestock and catfish farming now thrives in the state, improving the quality of life of farmers and reinflating the domestic economy of Osun. It can be safely concluded that the quest of Osun for economic development benefits richly from the active involvement of its people. They not only benefit from government’s programmes, they also play important roles in their execution. That is evidence that people-oriented government is what subsists in Osun in the last three years. It is equally noteworthy that the restructured O-MEALS initiative under the watch of Aregbesola has attracted international attention. The international acclaims and backing from organisations like the Partnership for Child Development (PCD) UK, the World Bank, and the World Food Programme are strong proofs that out

there in Osun is a responsive and responsible government. Given that the Osun State Government has by action shown it is responsible, serious and prudent in the management of resources, it will be good judgement on the part of these international organisations to further support and help to expand the coverage of the programme to include both Middle and High School students. This will make for a complete programme. This is a programme that will do all of Nigerian children good – not only those in Osun. It is, therefore, a welcome development that the Federal Government has finally got the good sense to copy this programme and make it an essential part of the Universal Basic Education programme. It is even more encouraging that roundtable discussions are being organised on how to get the programme going in all the States of the federation. I think it is a progressive thing for the Federal Government to copy useful programmes that will positively impact the lives of Nigerians from State Governments not necessarily formed by PDP. The whole of Nigeria needs the kind of revolution that has reshaped for good the public education system in Osun. Let those in charge rouse themselves to action, demonstrating the right will, translating vision into reality, and providing good governance through prudence and creativity – all of which are the hallmarks of the Aregbesola Administration. They should know, as Confucius enlightens, that ‘[n]o nation goes bankrupt educating its people’. Every naira spent to make the HomeGrown School Feeding programme work would be worth it. •Oladeji wrote in from Ede, State of Osun.

OSUN DEFENDER Sunday, May 25, 2014

News

Phototalk

OSUN DEFENDER Sunday, May 25, 2014

Official Presentation Of All Progressives Congress (APC) Flag To Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi, To Endorse Him For Second Term In Office, In Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti Photo: GBENGA ADENIYI. State, Last Wednesday.

•(L-R) Deputy Governor of Ekiti State, Professor Modupe Adelabu; APC Interim National Chairman, Chief Bisi Akande; Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi; his wife, Erelu Bisi Fayemi; APC National leader, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu and former Head of State, General Muhammadu Buhari at the event.

•Deputy Governor, State of Osun, Otunba (Mrs) Grace Titi Laoye-Tomori (left); the governor, State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola (2nd right); Kwara State Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed (right) and another APC chieftain (middle) during the programme.

•(L-R) Former Governor of Kwara State, Bukola Saraki; former Governor of Ogun State, Chief Olusegun Osoba and former Governor of Ekiti State, Enginner Segun Oni on the occasion.

OSUN DEFENDER Sunday, May 25, 2014

Phototalk

•General Muhammad Buhari (1st left); former Governor of Gombe State, Senator Danjuma Goje (2nd right); former EFCC boss, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu (1st right) and another APC top notcher.

•(L-R) Dr Kayode Fayemi in a discussion with his counterpart from Imo State, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, during the programme.

Phototalk

OSUN DEFENDER Sunday, May 25, 2014

Official Presentation Of All Progressives Congress (APC) Flag To Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi, To Endorse Him For Second Term In Office, In Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, Last Wednesday. Photo: GBENGA ADENIYI.

•Ecstatic crowd at the event.

•Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State (right) and former Governor of Ekiti State, Engineer Segun Oni at the programme.

OSUN DEFENDER Sunday, May 25, 2014

Phototalk

•Another cross section of Governor Fayemi’s supporters and admirers at the event.

•Mallam Ribadu (2nd right); Ex-Governor Goje (2nd left) and other dignitaries welcoming Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola (SAN) (right) to the event.

Phototalk

OSUN DEFENDER Sunday, May 25, 2014

Opening Ceremony Of A Three-day Technical Meeting On Feeding And Health Programme (O’Meal) Held At Centre For Black Culture And International Understanding, Abere, State Of Osun, Last Wednesday.

•(L-R) Special Adviser, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr ( Mrs) Omo Ohiokpehai; Executive Director, Partnership for Child Development Imperial College, London, United Kingdom, Dr (Mrs) Lesley Drake; Lead Specialist for Health, Nutrition and Population in Africa, Dr Don Bundy; Deputy Director, Ministry of Agric and Food Security, State of Osun, Mrs Ajibike Fagbemi and others, at the opening of a three-day Technical Meeting on Osun Elementary School Feeding and Health Programme (O-Meals), held at Centre for Black Culture and International Understanding, Abere, State of Osun, last Wednesday.

•A cross section of pupils of AUD Government Elementary School, Isale-Osun, Osogbo, eating breakfast, during the opening of the three-day Technical Meeting on Osun Elementary School Feeding and Health Programme (O-Meals), held at Centre for Black Culture and International Understanding, Abere, State of Osun, last Wednesday.

OSUN DEFENDER Sunday, May 25, 2014

Phototalk

Opening Ceremony Of A Three-day Technical Meeting On Feeding And Health Programme (O’Meal) Held At Centre For Black Culture And International Understanding, Abere, State Of Osun, Last Wednesday.

•(L-R) Lead Specialist for Health, Nutrition and Population in Africa, Dr Don Bundy; Executive Director, Partnership for Child Development Imperial College London, UK, Dr (Mrs) Lesley Drake and Special Adviser to Osun Governor on O’Meal, Mrs Funmi Adeyi, having a chart with the pupils of AUD Government Elementary School, Isale-Osun, Osogbo, during the programme.

•Dr Bundy (In glasses); Dr (Mrs) Drake (5th left); Mrs Adeyi (left) in a group photograph with O-Meal food vendors, during the opening of the three-day Technical Meeting on Osun Elementary School Feeding and Health Programme (O-Meals), held at Centre for Black Culture and International Understanding, Abere, State of Osun last Wednesday.

Phototalk

OSUN DEFENDER Sunday, May 25, 2014

State Of Osun Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, Addressed World Bank Representatives On School Feeding And Health Programme (O’Meals), Held At Centre For Black Culture And International Understanding, Abere, Osogbo, State Of Osun, Last Thursday.

•(R-L) Deputy Director, Nutrition Division, Federal Ministry of Health, Dr. Chris Isokpunwu, representing Minister of Health; representative of Kano State Governor, Alhaji Tajudeen Gambo; Executive Director, Partnership for Child Development, Imperial College, London, Uk, Dr (Mrs) Lesley Drake; Governor, State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola; World Bank representative, Prof Don Bondy and Deputy Governor, State of Osun, Otunba (Mrs) Grace Titi Laoye-Tomori and Deputy Executive Secretary, Universal Basic Education Commission, Yakubu Gambo, at the opening of A three-day Technical Meeting on Osun Elementary School Feeding and Health Programme (O-Meals), held at Centre for Black Culture and International Understanding, Abere, State of Osun, last Thursday.

•Governor Aregbesola,declaring open the three-day Technical Meeting on Osun Elementary School Feeding and Health Programme (O-Meals), held at Centre for Black Culture and International Understanding, Abere, State of Osun, last Thursday.

OSUN DEFENDER Sunday, May 25, 2014

Interview

OSUN DEFENDER Sunday, May 25, 2014

Our Hope And Prayer Is That Osun Election Will Be Peaceful – Bolorunduro Governor Rauf Aregbesola’s second term re-election campaign committees in all the nine Federal Constituencies of Osun State was recently inaugurated by the state chapter of All Progressive Congress (APC).The State Commissioner for Finance, Budget and Economic Planning, Dr. Wale Bolorunduro, a renowned technocrat is made the chairman of the committee for Ijesa North Federal Constituency consisting of Obokun and Oriade Local Governments. In this interview with MICHAEL OLANREWAJU, Bolorunduro discloses plans by his committee to ensure total victory for incumbent Governor Aregbesola in the scheduled August 9 governorship election despite the presence of big names in the opposition political parties in the area.

S the chairman of Governor Aregbesola’s campaign Organization for Ijesa North Federal Constituency, what are your plans for the campaign? My plans is to run the most effective campaign such that for the first time, Governor Aregbesola will deliver the highest vote ever recorded in the history of the constituency in terms of number of voters and the vote casted for him and also in term of interest that his re-election will generate. It is going to be a rare privilege to rally round our people and to get them out, get out the voters and the votes for Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola. By my training, am a strategist and a planner, I feel a little bit paranoid in the sense that, the goal that I and my committee set for the re-election of Governor Aregbesola how are we going to deliver it? That is what made me paranoid and you know when you are paranoid you will put in all your best and give yourself to spiritual, you will also need to use the best tools, mobilize all your resources for the project What message are you dishing out to the citizenry? The message is simple, ‘Aregbesola Leekan si’ that is, Aregbesola ‘one more time’ and the message will be dishing out to our people that we have never had it so good like this, telling them not to sit down at home but rather go out and vote, don’t just vote, make sure your vote count and ensure that the count is preserved and announced. We are going to rally our people as we all know that Ijesa people are very tenacious, so we are going to unleash the power of Ijesas that is in term of aggressively demonstrating their love for Ogbeni Aregbesola and that they’ve never had it so good. I know that they believe in giving back and they will definitely give back. The people are very conscious about re-election of governor Aregbesola, we are getting quick feedback from our people and they are very cooperating, they know that this is give back time as Aregbesola has done much for them and that, this time around they need to compensate him with their vote. They know that it is the time to put all energy into it and start campaigning door to door, street to street, Ijesa people will vote for the first time the way they’ve never ever voted before, they will vote come rain come sunshine and ensure that their vote count. On the issue of violence, people are afraid that violence might trail the election. What are you doing concerning it? What we are telling our people is that, the security personnel are there to protect them, whatever things that may happen they will all be protected and safeguarded by the security personnel that will be deployed for the purpose of that election. What we are telling our people is to come out en-mass and vote, they should not be intimidated by anybody. We hope there would not be

any violence and strongly believed too that the security agents will take charge and ensure that there is peace and violent free election. Having said that, I think as a Yoruba people, looking at Osun actually be at the centre of the South West, we are at the peak of that historical facts that the Yoruba people are sophisticated and they know how to defend themselves, the Yoruba people believed that nobody has monopoly of violence, they know how to defend their vote, if you look at the history, it happened in 1965 when election were rigged and marred with violence, people then rose and defend their vote and the First Republic fell. In 1983 also, elections were rigged in South West, Ondo and old Oyo, the Second Republic fell also not because elections were rigged in other places but in South West. Our hope and prayer is that, the election will be peaceful, it will be violent free and if its violent free, the President of the country will come out as a responsible leader and show courage to ensure that the vote of the people count. We are only enjoining Mr President to ensure that the vote of the people of Osun and Ekiti states count. What words do you wants to pass to the opposition? My message for the opposition is to play the game according to the rule. They should know that they don’t have monopoly of violence, they should not subvert the wish of the people which the only way to express themselves is to vote democratically and to be able to do that, they must come out with their manifestoes and up till now, we have not seeing the manifestoes of the major opposition. We expect them to come out and let us have robust arguments not to be poisoning the air that they will reverse everything. Osun is on the move towards socio- economic development and it cannot be reversed never will it be reversed. You are a corporate person but now digging deep into politics. What have you seen to be the driven force and difference that has happened in the two worlds? In the world of corporate, politics are played but somehow politics in the corporate world are at a stage lifted you above life and also lifted you above being shameless not because you cannot come down. The irony of life is that, human beings has the opportunity to live above life and things that are not profitable to development either by virtue of events or determine and actualization. So, in the corporate world, you are elevated above pedestal things but you can actually come down, so in essence, what I mean is that nobody has monopoly of violence, the progressives which APC represented will not be a folks but neither be eating up by the folks. In corporate, that element of preservation and defending your right exists. In the political domain in administrative politics, there is always a similarities and that is you are providing service to humanity just as in corporate

•BOLORUNDURO world too by growing your business and allowing the business to employ more people but in term of politics, whether in the corporate, they are the same, the only difference is that the corporate people live by the rule, they are somehow elevated beyond the pedestal things. We are all political animals which will always look for opportunity to provide service and to defend it. Which of the Aregbesola’s programmes do you admire best and why? I admired his socio- developmental programmes like the infrastructures putting in place. Am an admirer of physical infrastructure person, I believed so much in physical infrastructure development why? Because it is the only way as a federating unit in the federal system whereby you can as a leader attach yourself and stimulate growth, when you build road, airport, schools, you automatically created job and it will drastically reduce unemployment which will jacke up peoples standard of living and moving people out of poverty. As an applied economist, that is the best programm and you know coming from a corporate background, people think you are a monetary, and am not but a fiscal policy man who believed in the federating system where you do not have currency sovereignty as a state. The only instrument you have is fiscal instrument and you must drive it like crazy, you must create linkages between your fiscal, expenditure and economy growth and between real growth and development. For me I love the socio service. The most critical thing above all is physical infrastructural development. As a technocrat, how are you coping with the job assigned to you considering the PDP bigwigs in your federal constituency? I will not want to discuss our strategies and make it known but we have being going out, door to door, street to street and asking our people a simple question, who have not benefited from Aregbesola’s government? There is no house hold that has not benefitted directly or indirectly from

Aregbesola’s government. So we go out with that message and challenging our people to come out en-mass and vote. Talking of bigwigs of PDP in my federal constituency, yes we are not scared of them, the question we are asking our people is that, despite the claim of the opposition of being closed with the people when they are in government and now claiming of being closed with the federal government, what do they do for them? If they have not done anything for them in the past, people should come out and vote against them, cast their vote for Aregbesola who is performing wonders. How are you going to sustain the intrigues of politics as a technocrat? You must first realise that government and corporate policies are different, in corporate policy, many people play by the rule but in governance, it is not so, so your role is to call the attention of the umpire and the security operatives to ensure that opposition play by the rule, that is going to be very key. What are your plans to dislodge the moneybag politician? We have being sensitizing our people not to sell their vote, selling their vote amount to selling their future. Osun people are sensible, they have tested these people before and know what they were up to, the infrastructural development putting in place in Osun as of today has seriously transformed the state, people can not fall into their hands again, we have learnt our lessons. Our people and to get them out get out the voters and the votes for Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola. By my training, am a strategist and a planner, I feel a little bit paranoid in the sense that, the goal that I and my committee set for the re-election of Governor Aregbesola how are we going to deliver it? That is what made me paranoid and you know when you are paranoid you will put in all your best and give yourself to spiritual, you will also need to use the best tools, mobilize all your resources to ensure that you deliver all your set goals. •Culled from DAILY NEWSWATCH

OSUN DEFENDER Sunday, May 25, 2014

Job Vacancies In Nigeria Osun State Jobs at Tilad Nigeria Limited Tilad Nigeria Limited - A newly established Automobile Company based in Ede, Osun State requires the services of: Job Position: Purchase & Logistics Officer Job Description: Coordinate of supply department activities. Maintain a list of approved materials and parts suppliers. Receive purchase requests and prepare purchase order for items requested. Coordinates clearing of 510 parts at the ports and arrange transportation to the factory Carry out other duties that may be assigned to him by the General Manager. Planning the delivery of production parts to assembly line in accordance with the schedule of production. Receive all incoming production parts and materials keep stock until required for use. Carry out periodic inventory and ensure that a minimum stock of materials is maintained. Identify staff annual training and submit proposal. Job Requirements: Qualification: BSc/HND in Transport and Logistic Management, Mechanical or Electrical Electronics Engineering Competence: 3 years experience in store keeping. Job Position: Commercial Sales Officer Job Description Be in charge of sales at designated sales region. Organize sales campaign. Evolve sales strategy. Improve market share of production and spare parts. Carry out sales forecast and develop dealers for volume sales. Job Requirements: Qualification: B.Sc/HND in Social Sciences Competence: Proficiency in the use of Microsoft Office Suite Aggressive and bold Good knowledge in automobile sales strategy Modern selling skills. Good communication skills How to Apply Interested candidates should send their application and CV to: tiladauto@gmail.com ——————————————————————————————————————— Job Positions for Marketing Officers at Apex Consults Apex Consults is recruiting to fill the position below: Job Title: Marketing Officer Job Description Preparing, planning and project managing the publication of all publicity material to maximise brand promotion. Creating marketing campaigns and working with the company’s external PR agency to see them executed. Supporting the marketing manager in day to day marketing activities. Plan, develop and deliver campaigns as agreed within timescales. Requirements of the role Previous experience in a similar marketing role. Ideally a degree in marketing although not essential. Strong and confident communicator. Excellent copywriting skills and experience. Creating and developing new innovative ways to communicate the company message to their existing customers. Contributing to the annual sales and marketing plan. Planning and project managing marketing events and evaluating their success. Evaluating the effectiveness of all marketing activity. Developing and implementing an internal marketing program. Requirements Applicant must have minimum of OND, HND or BSC Interested applicants should forward their name, phone number and email address Strictly Lagos residents. How to Apply Interested and qualified candidates should forward their CV’s to: career.apexconsults@gmail.com ——————————————————————————————————————— Jobs for Marketers in Lagos at Emprex Associates Emprex Associates a fast growing company based in Lagos is looking to recruit a proactive, dedicated and highly motivated individual to kick start the marketing department of her firm. Job title: Marketers Responsibilities Identify and develop new markets and business opportunities in the region in order to create strong awareness of the company products. Maintain client relationship Achieve the designated individual sales target. Meeting customers and closing sales. Maintaining sales details/registers/quotes. Achieve the set revenue, yields and volume targets. Maintain and develop relationships with new and existing clients Aggressive marketing of company products Meet aggressive sales targets. Requirements A bachelors degree or equivalent. Minimum of two years working experience in the marketing field. Positive mental attitude and Self motivated. Abililty to work with minimum supervision. Ability to maintain a professional appearance and providing a positive company image to the public. Willingness to work a flexible schedule. Ability to develop and deliver presentations. Ability to work well as part of a team. Creativity and problem-solving skills. Ability to identify business opportunities and viable prospects. Good communication skills. Strong analytical skills. High level of confidence. Good interpersonal skills. Agile, intelligent, proactive, self-motivating. Benefit Monthly bonus Commission on every sales made Travelling Allowance Method of Application Interested applicants should forward detailed CV to: emprexassociates@gmail.com Note: All candidates should quote the position applied for as the subject of the mails. ——————————————————————————————————————— Office Assistants Job Vacancies at Pat Irvinis Nigeria Limited Pat Irvinis Nigeria Limited requires the services of qualified candidates to fill the position below: Job Title: Office Assistants Responsibilities Screening of all incoming calls, enquiries and requests, and handling as appropriate. Ensuring all routine correspondence is treated accordingly. Preparing and tracking business expenditure, sales reports e.t.c. Ensuring timely payments to vendors and suppliers of services. Scheduling business appointments for line managers and ensuring that they are well prepared and punctual for meetings. Producing documents, briefing papers, reports and presentations. Requirements Fluency in spoken and written English Ability to work under pressure and to tight deadlines Ability to work with little supervision and must be self motivated Good communication skills Good organizational and time management skills Proficiency in the knowledge and use of Microsoft Office packages Honesty, reliability and attention to detail Academic Qualifications: OND/Part Time student in a higher institution of learning (Arts or Social Sciences). Age: Between 20-28 years. Experience: 1-2 years working experience. How to Apply Interested applicants should forward their CV to: cvdatacentre@gmail.com Note: Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. ———————————————————————————————————————

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OSUN DEFENDER Sunday, May 25, 2014

Feature

OSUN DEFENDER Sunday, May 25, 2014

Taxation As A Veritable Source Of IGR N

IGERIA has for a very long time been operating a mono-cultural economy. Her major source of foreign earning and revenue for many years has been oil. Oil revenue accounts for over 80 per cent of government’s incomes. Petroleum Profit Tax (PPT) constitutes a major part of government taxes. Experts predict that in the next 15 to 20 years, the oil wells may dry up and there is need to source for other means of running the government. Countries all over the world are run mainly through taxation and laws governing taxation are held sacrosanct and religiously too. All the developed and emerging economies like the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, China, among others use tax to develop. Seeing the importance of using tax revenue to grow, Nigeria is currently developing mechanism necessary to improve the tax revenue system in the country . One of the problems is that Nigeria has not been able to document its tax payers, thereby making it difficult to have a database of those who are supposed to pay tax. As a result of this, millions of naira are lost to nonremittance of taxation. For now, it is mostly salary earners that pay tax. Big companies and businesses do not pay much because there are many tax holidays they enjoy. There is need to ensure that tax continues to play its major role in providing sustainable revenue for government. Fluctuations in crude oil earnings can affect public expenditure adversely and taxes have become a veritable avenue, the proverbial egg that lays the golden eggs, and its importance cannot be overemphasized. For instance, the Minister of National Planning, Dr Shamsudeen Usman, once said that Nigerians would need about $3 million to build the public infrastructure in the next 30 years and that more than half of the amount would be financed from the nations coffers. It is expected that the bulk of that fund will come from tax revenue. To achieve this, the federal government is hoping to toe the line of the Lagos State Government, which has leverage on its burstling population to finance its major public infrastructure through its tax collections. Lagos is one of the few financially independent states in the country Internally generated revenue from the seven tax types in Lagos has moved from a monthly average of about #600 million in 1999 to approximately N17.5 billion in 2012 thereby making Lagos State less dependent on proceeds from the federation account. The problem that the government has in this area of revenue

•JONATHAN By PROF. A.S ASAJU

generation is that there are still far low many tax-dodgers. And they come from the top echelons of the society. This class is the most critical of the efforts of government; yet it is the least willing to discharge its own obligations to society. The question is not whether they can afford to pay their taxes or not- the truth is that they prefer to use what is due to the government for other purposes. Tax-dogging or tax evasion is not only unlawful, it is immoral and unfair. There is the need for a new drive to bring into the net all those who have so far avoided paying tax or paying the correct tax. In this connection, the long arms of the law cannot be stopped even by the death of the tax-evader. Where it is discovered that a citizen did not fulfill his tax obligation before his death , a claim will be made on his estate and such a claim will be given priority over those that may be made by other creditors. Section 48(i) of the personal Income Tax Law provided that “ where an individual dies, the amount of (a) tax in respect of income of his arising before the death and (b) any tax for which, but for his death, he would have been answerable in respect of other incomes so arising, shall be payable by the person administering the deceased’s estate out of the assets of the estate.

government, between the state and its citizenry and residents. The real focus should be on deepening and widening the entire revenue base; the focus should be more on the quantum of collection and how to grow that quantum and allocate it, than on merely who collects it as such narrow focus sub-optimises what can be collected, and how monies are utilized. Indeed it accentuates the challenges of multiple taxation which is not only unconstitutional, but exarcebates the problem of the tax payer and electorate who get increasingly frustrated at the numerous amount of taxes borneformal and informal, for which a clear solution needs to be articulated and implemented by all of the state governments on behalf of both state and local governments as provide for in the constitution There is the need for a tax policy in the country. Hitherto, even through tax policies have existed in various documents, these have not been coordinated and harmonized into a documented tax policy that clearly articulates how to use taxation to drive development not just at the national but at the sub-national level. The state governments need to enact clear laws on the taxes and rates chargeable by the local governments to reduce the incidence of multiple taxation. Multiple taxation is a major barrier to effective collection of legal taxes. It is injurious to the economy. This is because it increases the cost of doing business in the country, discourages local trade and investment and also gives a negative perception of the Nigerian business environment. With government spending rising, it is important for revenue administrators to devise ingenious means of improving tax collection. One sure way of doing so is automation of the tax collection process. Recently, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) announced ongoing efforts to automate tax collection by 2014 with the Integrated Tax Administration System (ITAS). The primary goal of this project is to re-engineer the tax administration service delivery, eliminate gaps and redundancies in the current administrative assessment process by leveraging technology in line with global best practices ultimately leading to simpler taxpayer compliance. The objective is to transform the tax administrative systems and optimize its contribution to national development.

With respect to Pay As You Earn (PAYE), the defaulters are largely companies who deduct income tax from their employees’s salaries but fails to pass the deductions to the tax authorities as required by law. Internal effort on revenue and expenditure is the main prop on which any administration stands. It is the centre-piece of financial management. The key to the success of any administration in all fields of endeavour is the prudence of financial management. If there is no money, it will be difficult to execute programmes. Excellence comes out of sacrifice. We all want our state to be one of the best cities in the world to live in. It can be. But we must make our own contribution towards making this dream come true by paying our taxes. It is our civic responsibility. It is the law. Fore each state in Nigeria and the Federal Capital Territory, building a viable state in this context means exactly what is required at the national level and more; a burning desire to build a viable state in the shortest possible time; developing those sustainable development parameters within each state to focus on having sustainable sources of revenue that would drive sustainable development; an unrelenting focus to achieve revenue and developmental targets so as to achieve the set goals, collaborative arrangements within •Prof Asaju wrote in from the and amongst the state and local Federal University of Technology governments, between states, (FUTA), Akure, Ondo State. between the state and federal

OSUN DEFENDER Sunday, May 25, 2014

A memorable quote from Senator Isiaka Adeleke on the PDP candidate in the State of Osun, Senator Iyiola Omisore, Minister of Police Affairs, Alhaji Jelili Adesiyan and another PDP chieftain in the state, Sogo Agboola. Omisore, Police Minister Beat Me Up - Adeleke “On entering the hall, I saw Omisore, Adesiyan, Sogo Agboola sitting together. I went to Adesiyan to complain that police officers and DSS operatives were holding party men outside. But, instead of listening to me, he jumped over a table before him and hit me with a blow on the chest. Sogo Agboola also attacked me. Before I knew what was happening, Omisore hit me with a blow from the back. About seven guns corked were pointed at me,” Adeleke asserted. •Culled from Nigerian Tribune, Thursday April 3, 2014

•OMISORE

•ADELEKE

•ADESIYAN

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SUNDAY, MAY 25, 2014

N the evil spiritual realm, it is learnt that if a witch intends to deal with someone, she will table her offence(s) before her contemporaries and senior colleagues. It is almost a common occurrence for a spouse who has found a substitute for her or his partner e-mail: kolaolabisi@yahoo.com :08033927286 to fabricate all manner of lies to justify his or her exit from the most complex of all social institutions called marriage. What the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the State of Osun is doing in preparation for the August 9 governorship election is mere laying of foundation for the justification of rigging the election. Yes. The same method worked in 2003 when Chief Olabode George was a common sight in the then State of the Living Spring. I am eminently qualified to speak on the conduct of the election because I was fully on ground and my verdict on the elections was that they were brazenly rigged. Those who were close to the illegal governorate of the period were fond of relaying the usual response of the man at the helm of affairs in the state then, to any of the elected or appointed members of his cabinet who might had developed a swollen head, that they should remember how they illegally got to power. It is highly disturbing that it was the unchallenged rigged election of the 2003 that had illegally enthroned false political leaders not only in Osun but across the South-West geo-political zone. If a student who has been sleeping when his colleagues are burning the candle at both ends is boasting that he would top his class, there is need to watch him during the examination. A reader is a leader; if you don’t read, you are not expected to pass your •ADESIYAN: Controversial Police Affairs Minister examination. Coupled with his superlative performance in all sectors election could not sit on the seat for a Nigeria beyond 2015. A stitch in time in the state, it will not be an day until the wish of the people saves nine. Must we sacrifice the corporate existence of a nation for the understatement to observe that the prevailed. Whoever is toying with how to rig the political greed of a party or individual? governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun, forthcoming governorship election in The answer is no. It is the beginning of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, has been Osun is an enemy of this nation because a schism that one can know; the preparing for a ten-kilometre race when when the resultant effects of the rigging festering end cannot be predicted. The he has only 100 metres to run with eventually become manifested, it may handlers of shameless politicians who reference to the governorship election spread across the nation as we are are thinking that their political ambition currently witnessing with the hydra- is more than peaceful co-existence of of August 9, 2014. While his main political opponent in headed Boko Haram activities which this country should tutor their subjects the state is going around on how to rig had its offshoot from the North-Eastern on how not to rock the boat of unity the election, Aregbesola is busy fulfilling part of the country. Boko Haram and peace. The recent indictment of President his six-point integral action plan. It is onslaught has now graduated from a instructive to note that there is nothing national problem to an international one, Goodluck Jonathan’s Minister of Police he promised in his pact with the people and the same has succeeded in labeling Affairs, Mr Jelili Adesiyan, by the Osun of the state that he has not this country a terrorist nation. Any office of the Public Complaints accomplished. The bonuses of his attempt to rig the Osun governorship Commission over the attack of the first achievements in government could even election is tantamount to deliberately civilian governor of the state, Alhaji be said to be more than what he promised toying with the continual corporate Isiaka Adeleke, is an indication that Adesiyan is a misfit for the office he is during the election. When some existence of this country. Whoever is thinking of hitting his holding. A president who has a genuine renowned cheats are boasting that their candidate would win the forthcoming opponent below the belt in the election desire to bring sanity into the already governorship election in Osun, I always may be said to be working to the answer rotten political turf across the nation will remember the Old Ondo State episode in actualizing the forecast of an not wait for a second to start preparing when the late Chief Akin Omoboriowo American lawmaker who once said he his exit from his already stigmatized who enjoyed the federal might to rig an doubted the corporate existence of cabinet. How was Adesiyan smuggled

Omo Osun With

Kola Olabisi

Matters Arising On Adesiyan’s Appointment As Police Minister

into the Jonathan cabinet? It is on record that Adesiyan would be the first appointed minister by any President without the approval of all the senators from his home state, Osun. But because he was penciled down for an ignoble role in the PDP’s plan to rig elections in the SouthWest, his ministerial candidature was approved with a Presidential fiat. So, Adesiyan could not be said to be the nation’s minister but Jonathan’s minister. He is President Jonathan’s agent with a mission to cause confusion in Osun in particular, and the South-West in general. As an agent of Jonathan, the President should be held responsible for the established attack of Senator Adeleke by Adesiyan. Adesiyan should know that he would neither be the first nor the last minister from Osun. He is writing his history, like other people, everyday. For him not to be consigned into the dustbin of history, he should allow his conscience, if he has any, to guide his day-to-day activities while he is in his illegal office as minister of police affairs. The cat has been let out of the bag by the public complaints commission which disclosed that like other ministers, Adesiyan even as a minister of police affairs is not entitled to more than four police officers. The meaning of this information is that anytime Adesiyan is accompanied by more than four police officers, the excess are either performing illegal operation or are fake police officers. Adesiyan should think of how he will be an added advantage to the already plumeling image of his principal rather than be his albatross. Adesiyan should be guided by his unpalatable experience in the hands of the Nigeria Police in Port-Hacourt when he illegally covered the number plate of his official car during his visit to the Rivers State capital as Osun Commissioner for Education during the administration of former Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola. I will also not discuss here how the same character had a raw deal in the hands of security operatives when he ran foul of the law of the land at Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos. In all these incidents, it was the then Osun Police Command that came to his rescue. Taking the totality of the nefarious activities of the controversial minister of police affairs into consideration since he was appointed, it would not be out of tune to conclude that he was merely shedding crocodile tears on the floor of the Senate when he was confronted with questions on the murder of former number one law officer of the federation, the late Chief Bola Ige, who was killed in his Ibadan, Oyo State residence in a questionable manner.

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.