Osun defender november 13th, 2014 edition

www.osundefender.org Thursday, november 13, 2014 General election season dawns inexorably upon us. It’s in the air everywhere: the flood of posters and billboards; the endless chatter of radio and television jingles.

The social media is as well abuzz with activities – every day we wake up to politicians and their campaign teams showing their faces on Twitter,

and minions and “voltrons” circle the waters frantically, looking for whom to devour on behalf of their principals.

Regarding those principals, there are two camps: Those who are doing it because they stand a chance of triumphing, and those doing it because it is the best way to position yourself for the crumbs that will drop

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People First

Front Page Comment

5TH

M O S T - V I S I T ED

NEWS-

VOL. 9. NO.136

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Several governors will be looking to become senators, and several senators, govElections will hold in ernors. Already about 28 states; only in eight seven ministers have of these will incumbents resigned, to aspire for be seeking re-election. the governorship in The other 20 are coming their various states. Not to the end of their terms all of them will suc-

Pushing Democracy Forward, One Step At A Time -By Tolu Ogunlesi after the dust has settled. This second group are the ones who know that the best way to get considered for a commissionership post in Nigeria is to make loud noises

about the governorship, get noticed, and then offer to drop your ambition in the spirit of sacrifice, and in exchange for some not-too-bad compensation. (You just have to love this country – nothing is ever what it seems!)

and will be seeking to anoint their successors, to the chagrin of other

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Osun Governorship Election Tribunal:

Omisore’s Lawyers’ Ploy To Ambush Aregbesola’s Team Fails - See Story On Page 2

Elections: Legitimate Way- Pg To3 Sustain Democracy - Aregbesola

3 -yr-old Girl Needs N1.6m Help For Heart Surgery - Pg 4

Aregbesola Swears In New - Pg 2 High Court Judges

•(L-R) The Ataoja of Osogbo, Oba Jimoh Olanipekun; State of Osun Deputy governor, Otunba (Mrs) Grace Titi Laoye-Tomori and State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Barrister Wale Afolabi during the swearing-in ceremony for Justice Ayotunde Oyebiyi and Justice Adekola Adegoke by Governor Rauf Aregbesola represented by his deputy in Osogbo last Monday.

Osun Tribunal: Verification Of Omisore Evidence Stalls Hearing

- See Story On Page 4

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Osun Defender Thursday, November 13,

Osun Governorship Election Tribunal: Omisore’s Lawyers’ Ploy To Ambush Aregbesola’s Team Fails By kazeem mohammed

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actics of the legal team of the Peoples aligned with the submission p r e - h e a r i n g r e p o r t , requested the tribunal to while the legal teams Democratic Party (PDP) and its governorship of Aregbesola’s counsel, CTC documents would stand down for a while, o f a l l p a r t i e s b e g a n candidate in the August 9, 2014 election in the saying, the provision of be tendered by consent with a view to harmonising the verification of the State of Osun, Senator Iyiola Omisore, to ambush Evidence Act should not through the bar, while with the respondents the documents, specifically every other document documents he intends to Forms EC8A, an exercise the legal team of Governor Rauf Aregbesola and be turned upside down. that lasted for the rest of I n h e r r u l i n g , t h e would be tendered through tender by consent.

All Progressives Congress (APC) failed on Monday, the day.

S u b s e q u e n t l y, t h e witnesses. as the latter resisted the tendering of non-certified tribunal chairman said, tribunal members retired After the ruling, Izinyon as directed in the panel’s documents by consent. into their chambers, Omisore and the PDP (petitioners) are challenging the reelection of Aregbesola and the APC (1st and 2nd respondents) over the governorship election in the State of Osun before Justice Elizabeth Ikpejime-led Election Petition Tribunal, while the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is joined as the 3rd respondent.

At the beginning of the hearing of the matter on Monday, the petitioners’ counsel, Dr Alex Izinyon (SAN), sought to tender non-certified duplicates of Form EC8A series along with Certified True Copies (CTCs).

The counsel was subsequently demoralised •(L-R) State of Osun Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Barrister Wale Afolabi; Chief Akin Olujimi (SAN) and Chief F.O. Fagboungbe w h e n A r e g b e s o l a ’s (SAN) during the 2014 Governorship Election Petition Tribunal between Governor Rauf Aregbesola and the defeated PDP governorship candidate co u n s el, C h ief A k in in the state, Senator Iyiola Omisore, at High Court, Osogbo, last Monday.

Photo: GBENGA ADENIYI. Olujinmi (SAN), objected to the tendering of the duplicates from the bar, saying it was against the provision of the Evidence Act. The counsel said, he had crowd of supporters drawn he believes that Nigerians for e critical review of our former Attorney-General and Commissioner for no issue with CTC being from the senatorial district, the elder statesmen, with ample system. A part-time senate Justice in the State of Osun, Chief Gbadegesin tendered from the bar, but former Attorney General, who wealth of experience, ought could actually be a way out.”

Adedeji, on Monday, attributed what he called P r o m i s i n g t h e We s t is also the Asiwaju of Iwoland to come at appointed times there is no provision in the Nigeria’s appalling growth rate to poor representation at said: “The current appalling to deliberate on the affairs of Senatorial District better Evidence Act that support the highest levels of decision-making. the country, based on their representation, Adedeji said tendering of non-certified Adedeji, who was also a for Justice, who spoke at state of our nation calls for duplicate documents from delegate to the last National the state secretariat of the very deep reflection because if diverse experiences and offer having been involved in the solutions, while the lower political, social and economic the bar.

Conference from the state, State of Osun chapter of the you have many countries that of the National development of his people were in similar circumstances He argued that such said when Nigeria gets it All Progressives Congress of growth such as Nigeria chamber Assembly should be a full- over the last two decades, he documents could only right on the issue of adequate (APC) shortly after picking some 30 or 40 years ago and time assignment. perfectly understands what be tendered through representation at the upper his form to contest for the you look at the phenomenal He also lamented what he his people want and poised to Osun West Senatorial District and lower chambers of the witnesses that would be growth those countries have called huge cost of governance them on the basis of in the witness box for National Assembly, the slot, said over the years, recorded, you wonder what in the country at the expense represent their preferences.

Nigerians had suffered from country would need to be cross-examination on the of the critical sectors of the “I have been a local structured along the lines poor representation, as a result exactly has stultified our documents. economy, which he said government council chairman. growth. of six regions or zones as of lack of commitment to “You don’t need to look requires adequate funding for I have been a National Counsel to the APC, federating units, each with its the good of the people and Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN), Constitution and developing inadequate knowledge of the too far from the quality of economic stability.

Commissioner on the Federal He said: “If a man, who and counsel to the INEC, at its own pace. dynamics of development and representation and lack of Character Commission and commitment of those who had should know such as the Ayotunde Ogunleye, also The former Commissioner growth.

I have served as the State

Poor Representation, Bane Of Nigeria’s Development – Osun Ex-Attorney• Picks Osun West Senatorial Form General

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Accompanied by a teeming

Aregbesola Swears In New HighthatCourt Judges since his assumption

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By sola jacobs

overnor of the State of Osun, Mr Rauf Aregbesola, has reiterated the determination of his administration to always promote cause of good justice in the state.

Aregbesola stated this without fear or favour. on Tuesday in the address Aregbesola observed delivered at the swearing- that absence of social in of two newly-appointed justice leads to conflict Judges of the State High and war, adding that Court; Justice Ayotunde justice is the centre of all Oyeyemi Oyebiyi and organisations of human Justice Adekola Lateef society and at the same Ad e goke, h eld at th e time, centre of the Yoruba Conference Hall of the State ethos.

Local Government Service He therefore, re-affirmed Commission, Osogbo. the determination of his The governor, who was administration to champion represented by his deputy, the course of good justice, Otunba (Mrs) Titilayo because he is a product of Laoye-Tomori, in the justice as delivered by the speech titled: ‘Justice is of courageous Judges of the the essence’ congratulated Court of Appeal that sat the two newly-appointed in Ibadan in his favour in judges, while charging 2010. them to administer justice Aregbesola disclosed

of his a dministr a tion, necessary machinery have been put in place to preserve and promote the course of justice, among which was the establishment of alternative centre for resolution of conflicts in the state.

Earlier in the response by one of the newly-appointed Judges, Justice Oyebiyi, he gave glory to God and appreciated the governor over their appointments, while he described the occasion as a memorable one in their lives.

He then promised not to fail and disappoint the state judiciary and the state while discharging their responsibilities.

represented us and made laws for this country.”

Adedeji revealed that while at the National Conference as a delegate from Osun, he did not hide his support for part-time senate, where

Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria and now the Emir of Kano, could confirm that no less than 25 per cent of our annual budget goes into maintaining the National Assembly alone, that calls

Attorney General and represented Osun at the National Conference.

All these put together have prepared me for the task and we would not be in this if not

Ayeni Foundation Holds 4th Graduation Ceremony The 4th graduation ceremony of Ayeni Foundation and Empowerment Scheme was held at the Civic Centre, Owa Obokun’s Palace Ilesa last weekend with Governor Rauf Aregbesola as the Father of the Day and ably supported by his wife, Sherifat, as the Mother of the Day. In his welcome address, Honourable Tunde Ayeni, the initiator of the foundation, gave thanks to God, who, he said, guided him towards embarking on the of the empowerment scheme, programmes as his contributions which the trainees have to the empowerment of youths undergone,” he said Except those who have and masses of the state.

“I embarked on these u n d e rg o n e t r a i n i n g i n laudable skills-acquisition computer-related courses, who programmes, so that those who will receive some packages cannot afford formal education in the near future, all other and training could take part for graduating students received their working tools at the their own economic benefit.

“Today’s ceremony marks ceremony.

The politician informed the end of another training period in the various aspects the gathering that all the

programmes are in tandem with the six-point integral action plan of the Governor Aregbesola administration, which he believed would make life more meaningful to all and sundry in the state, especially those in Ijeshaland.

The categories of participants given certificates of training and also empowered with the required tools included computer desktop publishing, computer engineering, tailoring, hair dressing, barbing, shoe making, interior decoration, soap and candle makings among others.

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

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Osun Defender Thursday, November

Osun Election Was An Unsuccessful Coup Plot By PDP, Presidency - APC Chieftain By ismaeel uthman

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nocks and commendation have continued to trail the last governorship election in the State of Osun, as participants in the electoral process and political analysts have not stopped reviewing the election three months after.

A chieftain of the All APC government.

Progressives Congress (APC), He maintained that the PDP Mr Adelani Baderinwa, on and the Presidency could not Tuesday, described Governor believe Aregbesola would be Rauf Aregbesola’s victory in returned to the Government the election as ‘well-deserved House in line with the wishes with God’s favour, but shocking of the people, saying that the and unfortunate for the Peoples election was almost rigged in Democratic Party (PDP) and favour of the PDP governorship the Presidency. candidate but for God’s and Baderinwa spoke while human interventions. picking his intention form of the Baderinwa then warned APC to contest the 2015 Federal against rigging the 2015 general House of Representatives election for Ifelodun/Boripe/ elections, stating that the Odo-Otin Federal Constituency Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission in the State of Osun.

The Senior Special Assistant (INEC), Professor Attahiru to Aregbesola on Media and Jega, confirmed the botched Strategy stated that the election attempts to rig the Osun election could be best described as an against the people’s will.

He said: “As a participant in unsuccessful coup plot by the PDP and Presidency, who had that election, I could describe deployed all their machineries it as an unsuccessful coup for the election to rig out the plot. The share number and

myriads of security personnel that superintended that election made it look like there was an attempt by PDP to snatch the government of Osun from APC at whatever cost.

“The utterances and dispositions of PDP operators at all levels portends attempt at snatching power. They must have been briefed by their Ogas at the top as to the fact that voting or no voting, PDP

candidate would be declared.

That was the sing-song of PDP members immediately President Jonathan left on Saturday preceding the election after the last moribund rally they had in Osogbo.

“It took God’s intervention for reasons to prevail and APC to make it eventually.

You will agree with me that it would have been beyond comprehension to say APC and Governor Rauf Aregbesola

lost that election in view of available indices. But PDP and the Federal Government were hell-bent on snatching the APC-led government of Osun.

“God intervened. A lot of reasonable and rational Nigerians intervened on the side of reason. You will recollect that by 7.00pm on August 9, 2014, all results from the polling units had been known. Also, by 9.00pm, collations in all the council

areas had been done. You can then imagine what happened between that time and 7.00am on August 10, 2014, when the winner was declared.”

Baderinwa, who stated that the PDP and its members had been rejected in the state since 2007, said the party would also lose all the elective offices in the 2015 general elections to the APC as they did in 2011.

Lawmaker Commends Rival Politician On Maturity

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By shina abubakar

he lawmaker representing Irepodun/Orolu State Constituency in the State House Assembly, Honourable Kamil Oyedele, has commended •Honourable Gbenga Ogunkanmi (middle), receiving State House of Assembly form from State of Osun All Progressives Honourable Bukola Oyewo vying for the seat in the Congress (APC) Secretary, Honourable Razak Salensile (right), while Alhaji Omoloye watches. forthcoming election over his maturity in politics.

Oyedele disclosed this at a declaration ceremony organised by Oyewo in IfonOrolu to signify his intention to ability to govern despite the By francis ezediuno contest for the legislative seat many distractions he faced in the constituency in the 2015 contest on August 9, there has of Professor Attahiru Jega as daily and wished him well as general elections. embers of the public have started to pour in been peace everywhere. Even its Chairman four years ago he is getting set to administer He described the maturity congratulatory messages, even as the inauguration in their camp, they have been and yet, they are contesting it. the state again for another term of the aspirant as exceptional, “People can be myopic of four years. of the governor of the State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf going about their businesses considering the fact that he Adesoji Aregbesola will come up on the November 26, 2014. with peace. atimes and this is really what “Don’t forget that this they are suffering from.” was billed to contest the seat in Some of them who spoke with OSUN DEFENDER, disclosed “Since the emergence of election they are contesting 2003 but was later dropped for that the second term tenure of They praised the governor another candidate, yet similar Governor Aregbesola is full Aregbesola as the winner of the have been adjudged by INEC for his forthrightness and his of hopes and promises for the as the best since the emergence fate befell him in 2007 and of the state. he did not nurse any grudge, people According to them, even neither did he leave the party. as a human being, Ogbeni The lawmaker further Aregbesola had been able to commended him for keeping impact positively on the lives his calm when he was denied of the people in the state. he Governor of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, on political greed set in, making y o u r s e l v e s o r g a n i s e d the ticket in 2011 and keeping “One must look at the Tuesday observed that elections are the most the centre to covet the units, that we must collectively faith with the party, saying situation around to judge if legitimate means of sustaining the social contract in the autonomy of the units reject appropriation of he has shown himself to be a Aregbesola has not worked which is a pillar of federalism, democracy by few individuals. committed party and statesman and the testimony is there for a democracy.

“We must thus defend the over the time. all to see.

T h e g o v e r n o r w a s the psyche of the people by comes under assault.

“The subsequent taking little gain of democracy we He therefore called on young “The truth is that Ogbeni quoted as stating this while perverting the democratic over of the units by the centre’s have made as Nigeria can only politicians to emulate the has done his best in the last delivering a lecture titled “ process. virtues of patience exhibited four years and I am sure in Federalism, Democracy and “What ordinarily should imperial control in brazen be great if it remains a federal

by Oyewo, disclosing that God the next four years, the best is the future of Nigeria” at the be political empowerment political banditry sounded the state.”

The Vice Chancellor of the bestows crown on whoever he what Osun will get on the basis 2014 convocation and 66th conducted in a transparent death knell of both republics. that he will use it to cap all his foundation day ceremony of manner became a warfare in I sincerely hope we are not University of Ibadan,Professor deems fit. the University of Ibadan at which the people are literally on that ruinous path again,” Isaac Adewole, commended Speaking at the gathering, works.” the governor for having and he stressed.

While commenting that one the University’s International held hostage.

Oyewo disclosed that his The governor charged demonstrating an unshakeable “We saw this play out decision to remain within way or the other, the soon-to-be Conference Centre in Ibadan.

He held that where political recently in Ekiti and Osun the students of the tertiary belief in the Nigerian nation. the folks of the progressive re-inaugurated governor may Prof Adewole noted have stepped on some people’s power does not derive from states’ governorship elections i n s t i t u t i o n t o c o n c e r n was borne-out of the fact that what Nigerians want themselves with the political toes, they maintained that the consent of the people, then in which terror apparatuses that it is the only party that development in the country so is a country that is safe for has the wherewithal to solve government does not please it is corruption of the term were unleashed on the people as to shape their own future. everybody. one section of the people at the ‘democracy’. in the most unconscionable the myriads of challenges expense of the other.

He said: “we thank He directed them to form Aregbesola noted that manner. confronting the nation. a n d commend you for formidable and informed “The good thing is that after the harrowing years of “The security instrument of He said the interest of the despite all his flaws, he was committees for defence of your demonstration of an military rule, the requirement the state designed to protect general public should be the again re-elected. That is a good democracy and democratic unshakeable belief in the priority of any politician; signal and I am sure that as a for the administration of the people was turned against institutions.

Nigeria nation hence, dumping a political God-fearing man that he is, he Nigeria was a political system them. Elections ought to be “We need a Nigeria where He continued: “You will not that guarantees popular a democratic festival during party over ticket denial will want to make amends and allow anyone to again subvert everybody will be safe. Those participation. which the incumbent political should not be the decision of it is the people who will enjoy who have a stake and believe The governor stressed that party is rewarded for good our current democracy. in the collectiveness of our a politician willing to serve Mr. Governor the more.” “ T h e r e f o r e , i t i s the transition to democratic performance and given a the people, particularly at this They faulted the losers in r u l e w a s n o t a s i m p l e renewed mandate or sanctioned incumbent on you to get peoples will not want the critical time in the country. the August 9, 2014 election replacement of military but for poor performance”. The corrigendum Oyewo then called on party as being partially-blinded a substantial restructuring governor told the gathering. members to go about the lobby because they failed to see the of the political system with Contrary to an earlier report by our medium, OSUN Aregbesola added that for the emergence of candidate larger picture of things that new institutions such as the democracy and federalism are DEFENDER, edition of November 11, 2014, that the immediateare yet to come in the state, with caution, saying the interest past governor of the State of Osun, Barrister Olagunsoye Oyinlola, legislature, independent inseparable Siamese twins, was at the All Progressives Congress (APC) State Secretariat, of the party should be a priority as only a progressive-minded judiciary and a free press. noting that it is unthinkable Osogbo, to purchase his form of Expression of Interest for his for all members and ensure administration could guarantee According to Aregbesola, to have federalism outside of senatorial ambition, we have since found the report to be false that the party candidate is peace and progress. “ regrettably, the peoples’ democracy. as the former governor was on a mere courtesy visit to the party “As an insider, I can reliably r e w a r d s f o r p o l i t i c a l victorious in the 2015 polls.

He also noted that the secretariat.

The event was attended by state that the major loser in the participation have been First and Second Republics We hereby apologise for whatever embarrassment the report Osun election actually planned party leaders, party faithful, as circumscribed by the dominant in Nigeria were aborted when might have caused the APC chieftain and his numerous supporters. well as numerous supporters for mayhem to happen, if he section of the political class. federalism as a system was The error is regretted.

- Editor won the election but God “These sets of political distabilised. of the aspirant in the state had did not permit it. functionaries have degraded The governor said, “when constituency.

Governorship Inauguration: Thumbs-up For Aregbesola

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Elections: Legitimate Way To Sustain Democracy - Aregbesola •Charges Students To Defend Nascent Democracy

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Osun Defender Thursday, November

Osun Tribunal: Verification Of Omisore Evidence Stalls Hearing

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he defeated Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in the State of Osun, Senator Iyiola Omisore, seems not to have been able to make any headway in prosecuting his petition against the reelection of Governor Rauf Aregbesola, as the verification of his evidence has stalled hearing for two consecutive days.

Omisore and the PDP are exhausted on the verification challenging the August 9, of the Certifief True Copies re-election of Aregbesola and (CTC) of form EC8A series his party, All Progressive that the petitioners intend to Congress (APC) before Justice tender as evidence.

Elizabeth-led Election Petition It would be recalled that Tribunal. the petitioner’s counsel, Dr Omisore and the PDP Alex Izinyon (SAN), had (petitioners) have 14 days on Monday applied that the to prosecute their petition tribunal should stand down, before Justice Elizabeth-led with a view to allowing him Election Petition Tribunal, out present the documents to of which two days have been respondents for verification

to tender them by consent.

At the resumed hearing of the petition at about 12noon on Tuesday, Izinyon informed the tribunal that the respondents have cooperated with him on the inspection of the materials.

He said inspite of the cooperation, form EC8As, which are polling unit results of only 15 local governments out of the 17 councils being challenged by the petitioners have been inspected, while form EC8B and form EC8C, which are result of election for wards and local governments are yet to be verified at all.

He requested that the court should stand down again till 4pm to conclude the inspection.

Counsel to Aregbesola, Chief Akin Olujinmi (SAN), confirmed the position of the petitioners, saying, “parties have cooperated in assisting the petitioners in sorting out their documents”.

He raised no objection to the application for the tribunal to stand down.

Counsel to the APC, Mr Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN) and the INEC counsel, Mr Ayotunde Ogunleye, also raised no objection to the

application.

The tribunal subsequently retired and the verification resumed, an exercise that was still on as at the time of filing this report.

When the panel resumed, the petitioners counsel tendered form EC8As for Ay e d a a d e , E d e - N o r t h , Boripe and Atakumosa Local Government areas and they

Diekola Vows To Remain In APC •Says His Ambition Not Do-or-Die

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•Barrister Adedeji Gbadegesin (right), receiving Senatorial form from State of Osun All Progressives Congress (APC) Chairman, Prince Gboyega Famodun (left) while Secretary to the State Government of Osun, Alhaji Moshood Adeoti, watches at APC Secretariat, Osogbo, last Monday.

Photo: GBENGA ADENIYI.

were admitted as exhibits.

The documents which are CTCs are the same as the ones announced by INEC in the wards and polling units being challenged by the PDP. Counsel to each of the respondents said they would reserve their objections against the documents till the final addresses.

By shina abubakar

chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the State of Osun and aspirant for the party’s ticket for Osogbo Federal Constituency in the National Assembly, Alhaji Fatai Oyedele Diekola, has reiterated his commitment to remain in the party whether he gets the ticket or not.

He stated this while receiving Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, is a his nomination form from blessed leader that is worth the the state Chairman of APC, support of all and sundry.

Prince Gboyega Famodun, at He said: “I have heard the party secretariat in Osogbo insinuations that I will dump on Tuesday.

APC if I am not given the ticket.

Addressing his teeming That is absurd, as I will stand by supporters that accompanied the party’s decision and I wish him to the party secretariat, to state that my ambition is not Diekola said party decision a do-or-die affair. Many parties is supreme and as a founding have been coming with money, member of the APC, he would but I am not a politician that not dump the party for anyone, could be bought with money. no matter the circumstances.

“I urge the leadership of He stressed the need for the party to always ensure party members to maintain that those in elective offices strict loyalty to the party, are held accountable in the irrespective of their ambition, interest of the members of the saying the governor of the state, party, who, strive day and night to ensure the party succeeds in all elections.

“My objective, either as a chieftain or elected official is to We have anticipated that the protect the interest of ordinary price of crude oil may reduce; members of the party and the notwithstanding, we will teeming populace and this I augment that from revenue, will always do effectively.”

Speaking earlier, the party from all the leakages. There are lots of leakages: hundreds chairman, Prince Gboyega of thousands of barrels of oil F a m o d u n , c o m m e n d e d are being stolen everyday, Diekola for his maturity and contracts are being inflated, commitment to the party at all urging others to emulate and there is brazen theft of times, his dedication to the cause he our money and resources. We believes in. are very confident about the He said, the aspirant had resources of Nigeria.” served the party well and deserves to aspire for whatever position he so desires, urging him to continue to be loyal to the party.

Diekola was accompanied to obtain his form by the State Foundations, Rotary Clubs Commissioner for Information and some other notable and Strategy, Mr Sunday foreign partners, adding: Akere, party chieftains in “I have contacted some Osogbo and Olorunda Local of them and they have all Government Council areas, signified their readiness to including Alhaji Wale Lasisi, assist me if I scale through Quadry Owonikoko, Kelani the elections.”

Orisawale, Kehinde Olamolu, Onigbogi disclosed that Idowu Korede and several he has been progressive- hundreds of his supporters.

It Is criminal For 75 Per Cent Of Nigerians To Live On $1 Per By ismaeel uthman Day - Financial Expert

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But in their wisdom, they have financial expert and member of the All Progressives rebased the economy and they Congress (APC), Mr Ademola Adeyinka, has stated are happy about it. that it is a criminal act on the Federal Government “That does not put away for 75 per cent of Nigerians to be living on a dollar per day, the challenges of Nigerian according to the United Nations report. economy. Ours is an endowed country but unfortunately, Adeyinka attributed the of show-off.

“But if you are showing off a lot of our resources are ravaging poverty level in Nigeria to mismanagement of a big house with a leaking roof being wasted, stolen, and the country’s recourses, greed in which some rooms don’t mismanaged. Our common and corruption by one per cent have doors and windows, no wealth is being appropriated of the Nigerian population, security, yet you tell the world by few people, but we will who are in control of the you have a lot of money, that still remain strong because is not the wisest thing to do. I know one of the cardinal nation’s resources.

The APC chieftain, who is eyeing the APC ticket for Ayedaade/Irewole/Isokan s the nomination of candidates for all the elective Federal Constituency for the positions under the platform of All Progressives 2015 House of Representatives Congress (APC) starts in full swing, an Iwo-born election, stated this in an i n t e r v i e w w i t h O SU N legal practitioner, Barrister Quadry Adewale Bashiru, DEFENDER in Osogbo, on has joined the race to represent Iwo State Constituency in the State of Osun House of Assembly in the fastTuesday.

He said: “And it is also approaching general elections in 2015. criminal that, with the kind of While speaking with office in few days time, he resources will have in Nigeria, O SU N DE F E N DER needs individuals who can 75 per cent of Nigerians are b e f o r e s u b m i t t i n g h i s work in tandem with his living on one dollar per day. form on Wednesday, he good dream for the state That means only 75 per cent said his decision to vie for and ensure that they become of our people can earn N165 Iwo Constituency seat at practical reality,” Quadry in a day. That is criminal. the state parliament was stressed.

This is Nigerian economy borne out of his love for his In a related development, that can make everyone of us community to give it a better another Ijesa-born lawyer, prosperous. But in a situation, representation.

Barrister Femi Onigbogi, where less than one per cent A c c o r d i n g t o h i m , has also made his intention is controlling 99 per cent of the incumbent Governor known to his Ward 3 Igbogi the resources of this nation, Rauf Aregbesola of the Constituency to contest is sinful.” state needs a very vibrant for a seat in the State of Adeyinka also decried what legislature to help him in Osun House of Assembly he called debasing of Nigeria the task of taking the state whenever the stage is set for economy by the Federal to an enviable height among the primaries of the party.

He stated that, although Government, describing it as its peers across the country. a mere show-off.

H e o p i n e d t h a t a s he had no intention of “The Minister of Finance, Aregbesola begins his j o i n i n g p o l i t i c s a s a Professor Ngozi Okonjo- second term in office, he successful lawyer, but had Iweala and the government of needs individuals who to rescind his decision based President Goodluck Jonathan can work almost at the on his belief as a lawyer of chose to rebase the economy same pace with his lofty international repute, that and I am not a fan of rebasing programmes and policies he would be more useful the economy. When you that will further put the state to his community than leaving the responsibility rebase an economy, what you on a higher pedestal.

“As Governor Aregbesola for mediocres.” are telling the world is that On what he intends to this how big I am. It is a sign begins his second term in

programmes of my party, APC, is to put corruption under check.

“If we are able to achieve 50 per cent reduction in corruption, Nigerian will be very-very rich. Our resources will be buoyant and in fact, we will not even feel the impact of lower crude oil price. I believe strongly in my party that we can reduce corruption to more than 50 per cent.

“We have nothing to fear.

Quadry, Onigbogi Join Osun Assembly

A

do for his constituents if eventually he gets elected, he said, he would build a standard 200-capacity library for all the students in the community where they can read, borrow books and do research.

He stated further that he would equip the library, using his personal relationship with Bill Gates

minded before joining the

3-yr-old Girl Needs N1.6m Help For Heart Surgery treatment.

P

arents of a threeyear-old girl, Adeoye Oluwatoyin, have cried for financial help to treat their daughter, who is suffering from Tetralogy of Fallot, a major congenital heart disease.

To treat the disease, Oluwatoyin has been booked down to undergo the definitive open heart suggery at Biket Medical Centre, Osogbo, State of Osun, at a cost of N1.6 million.

Tests have confirmed that the disease has been affecting the growth and development of the young

girl and it can only be treated through the surgical

On this basis, the parents of the young Oluwatoyin appealed to public-spirited Nigerians or non-Nigerians to help financially, as no amount is small to safe the young girl from her ordeal.

Any financial assistance could be offered through this bank account: Account Name: ADEOYE OLUWATOYIN; Acct Number: 4131142407; Bank: Mainstreet Bank Plc. For further enquiries, contact Mr OLA ADEYE F A , on •Adeoye Oluwatoyin 0 8 0 3 3 1 3 5 3 6 4 o r

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Osun Defender Thursday, November 13, 2014

By ismaeel uthman

Pushing Democracy Forward, One Step At A Time -By Tolu Ogunlesi Continued from pg1 prospects of compensation when – or if – the Peoples Democratic Party retains control of the Federal Government. Some of them might return as ministers, others, ambassadors.

All of the politicking – amplified by news headlines and newspaper columns and the internet – makes you ask yourself, in quieter moments, to what end? Are we doing politics for the sake of politics, solely for the bitter battles and the control of the mechanisms of patronage, or is all of this happening for a larger purpose: to better the lives of millions of ordinary Nigerians.

Looking back at 15 years of democracy, is this where we should be? Should our generators still be this loud in their nightly crying? Should our First Lady or the governors still be rushing abroad for medical treatment?

Travelling around the country it is easy to be disappointed by how little distance we have covered, in terms of development, in 15 years.

There are culprits at every level.

In the case of the Federal Government, its continuing neglect of important inter-state roads is tragic. (I’ll leave the electricity discussion for another day).

In the states, a good number of governors are, to say it the Nigerian way, “trying.” Standards of performance for the 2007/2011 set of governors appears to be somewhat higher than what we saw with their predecessors. But even then, we still have many governors for whom almost nothing good can be said. In Benue State, Governor Gabriel Suswam is confidently

heading to the Senate on a rather dismal record: public primary schools in the state only recently reopened after eight months of strike, while there is a three-month backlog of civil servants’ salaries. But he seems assured his Senate seat is already waiting for him. There are others like him, confident even in their similarly mediocre performance.

The local governments are the worst. If they were scrapped today, the only difference would be in the relief to be enjoyed from citizens thankfully rid of their thug-enforced revenue collections (radio and TV licences, car towing fees etc).

Unfortunately, there is almost no partisan competition at local government level anywhere in the country. The party in power in the state automatically assumes control of the local government structure; opposition parties stand almost no chance of making a dent. Armed with their SIECs, our governors become mini-tyrants when it comes to local government matters, concerned only about political control, not service to the people.

One of the next milestones of our slow democratic journey should be the enthronement of real democracy at the local government level.

Sometimes, these things seem like wishful thinking, but I’m convinced that change is possible in our politics. It might be annoyingly slow, but things change. Already, we are getting used to the idea of having relatively free and fair elections, aided by the presence of technology in the form of mobile phones and social media.

Electoral victories are also no longer being taken for granted. I remember 1999, when the Alliance for Democracy, riding on the back of the Awolowo mystique, swept the South-West. The joke back then was that if the AD had fielded a goat or monkey, it would still have won. It seems

like we have come a long way since those days.

Now, the electorate are becoming more sophisticated and discriminating, it would seem, and are more likely to give, in their decision-making, as much weight to individual candidates as to political party symbols.

While there are still some states that are virtual one-party states, like Enugu and Ebonyi (where I spent the weekend), which are firmly in the grip of the PDP – in these states, the PDP governorship primaries will be the real election; the polling in February 2015 will be no more than a formality – elsewhere things are changing.

Take the example of Rivers State, which, until last year was one of the biggest pieces of the PDP’s landslide-dispensing electoral juggernaut. Months ago, while on a visit to Port Harcourt, I was told by one resident that “the All Progressives Congress had no chance in the state. Rivers has always been a PDP State, bla bla”. It was easy to believe back then. But recent events seem to be casting a strong doubt on that anti-APC confidence, and now no one is sure anymore. The turnout at the recent Governor Chibuike Amaechi mega rally was for me a big surprise. Amaechi of course took advantage of this to taunt the President, saying: “The President says we exist only on posters and billboards. So, we brought a large billboard for him. If the President is not watching (the rally), they will give him security report.”

Scenarios like the one in Rivers are a welcome development for me because I believe that electoral uncertainty should be one of the cornerstones of any democracy. There’s no point to democracy if one side is always guaranteed a win, regardless of its levels of performance, or of the quality of the credentials of its candidates. And for too long, sadly, that is how Nigerian politics has been. The PDP has

Call For The Erection Of Awolowo’s Statue

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y choice of your medium for airing these opinions of mine is hinged on your progressive stance, evidenced in your view on issues of societal significance.

I trust that whatever view I communicate shall be accorded a space in your highly reputable and widely-read newspaper.

Permit me a little time and space to comment briefly on your auspicious role played in making frantic efforts at correcting the numerous and multifarious ills, odds and malaise plaguing our existence and collectivity.

I urge you to forge ahead in your role aimed at bettering the lots of the society and its residents; most especially, making a better place for the upcoming generation. The patriots are solidly behind you and by the grace of God, your untiring efforts shall fruitionize in transforming the society into the enviable status of a free, just and egalitarian society of the dreams of our forebears. I wish greater grace to your elbows.

The efforts of the incumbent administration at improving the status, quality and pedigree of infrastructure of the State of Osun in its entirety since its assumption of office have caught my attention. Most especially in this regard, the infrastructural rebirth ongoing

within the metropolis of Osogbo, the state capital under the aegis of the State of Osun Urban Renewal Project is worthy of commendation. The project has come under serious appraisal by well-meaning indigenes and residents as well as visitors and passers-by who spared no means to drum support and accolades for the development which have been adjudged unprecedented in the annals of the state.

Prior to the creation of the State of Osun in 1991, much

effort had been made to change the outlook and rating of Osogbo among its equals in Nigeria and yonder. Unfortunately, much of these efforts and attempts were either too spurious or superficial, hence, they lacked the necessary will-power to get them through, As a matter of fact, none of the efforts made so far had been as proactive and resolute as those made by the incumbent administration.

Following the demise in 1987 of our political giant, father and legend, Chief Jeremiah Oyeniyi

Obafemi Awolowo, the stretch of main road entering the city from Ikirun axis at Stadium / Omo West end, through the Onisekere / Ayetoro Junction to somewhere at Boorepo / Igbonna area was named as Obafemi Awolowo Way as mark of honour to immortalize the name and legacy of the social avatar.

Thank God that in spite of various bouts of socio-political storms and billows which the state has witnessed within the

space of its almost twentythree years of existence, nothing has occurred to alter this arrangement. As far as our state capital is concerned, the sage lives on. The naming of that stretch of our major road was so effected in those days of our existence as part of the old Oyo State by the military administration of the time. This was against the backdrop that military regimes were notorious for their anti-democratic postures! As a people, we shall forever remain grateful for that

right step taken in the right direction.

Deserving of greater measures of gratitude is the recent development being witnessed on that entire expanse of road which is currently undergoing total reconstruction towards its Ikirun / Ila-Odo / Erin-Ile / Kwara State Boundary and the Old Garage / City Centre of the metropolis.

The reconstruction initiative, among other things include widening of the road, its dualization, the building of elaborate street divide, defining of set-backs as statutorily appropriate and provision of street lights. Other measures include provision of welldefined drainage channels, construction of junction links and traffic-friendly U-turn points, clear markings for the road and proper and adequate provisions for pedestrians on the road.

•Lanre Siyanbola, Oja Timi Area, Ede, State of Osun.

taken for granted its ability to win the Presidency, as the APC has its ability to win Lagos State.

Regular upsets would be more than welcome.

While I continue to stick to my arguments that the APC and PDP are in the strict sense not (yet) real political parties, and are to a large extent easily interchangeable on account of an absence of true ideological foundations, it is still important to realise that they – whatever you might want to call them – are the building blocks of our democracy.

If one of them was to vanish, we would be stuck with a one-party state, and no democracy. Give me two imperfect parties over a perfect monopolising one any day.

The fear of the loss of power is the beginning of political sensibleness, I believe. If a party realises that it can always be dumped by voters then it is more likely to seek to put its best foot forward. And in those conditions, a war for talent between our political camps – like the ones we see in the European football leagues – is likelier.

That, as far as I see it, can only be a good thing for our burgeoning democracy. Going along with that argument, I think the most exciting electoral scenario of 2015 would be the APC losing Lagos, and the PDP losing Aso Rock.

Wishful thinking – or solid possibility?e

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6

for the records

Osun Defender Thursday, November

Osun Election: A Pathway To Nigeria’s Democratic Being an address delivered by Barrister Muiz Banire, Guest Speaker at The Victory Colloquium

for Governor Rauf Aregbesola, organized by Gazelle News on Sunday at Eko Hotel, Lagos.

Contiuned from Saturday, November 8, 2014 edition

Lesson No. 3: Party Monitoring of Government Policies The party must develop mechanisms for monitoring how our public officers are performing in office. Anti-people policies may not immediately lead to the impeachment of our political office holders but definitely can mobilise public opinion and the wary electorate against us during elections.

When we implement policies that detract from the social welfare of the people, we are sending no message other than one of incompetence and mediocrity. It is the social welfare programmes of Ogbeni that made us the winner of the election. This is what made the emergency generousity of PDP in Osun during the electioneering campaign to be ineffective and fruitless. Had the people been too hungry to comprehend our political statements, definitely things would have gone the other way. The need for continuous balancing of developments visa-vis immediate human desires cannot be under-estimated. A Chinese proverb says: give food to a hungry man and you have shown him God. On no account must the government allow the people to sleep hungry otherwise there would be mass disillusionment of unquantifiable proportion.

This is what Aregbesola has been trying to prevent through his food security programme.

Lesson No. 4: Deficiency in Politics of Stomach Infrastructure Quite a number of our leaders in APC condemned Ogbeni that he was only tarring roads but failed to tar their stomachs. Some civil servants formed themselves into bulwark of opposition due to the policies of Aregbesola which blocked the loopholes in public finance by which State money that would have been used for public development found its ways into private pockets and thereby producing emergency millionaires among civil servants. Such civil servants would rather canvass for politics of stomach infrastructure by which State allocation and IGR would be shared among government officials and chieftains in the civil service. The money saved from these efforts by Ogbeni Aregbesola has boosted the internally generated revenue of the State from which 1. 13th month salaries were regularly paid at the end of every year to civil servants, 2. free and qualitative education is being guaranteed to the children of the civil servants and the poor,

•All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain, Alhaji Kawu Baraje (middle); Governor, State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola (2nd left); his wife, Sherifat (right) and the Speaker, House of Representatives, Right Hon. Aminu Tambuwal, at the colloquium for Aregbesola, at Eko Hotel, Lagos State, on Sunday.

and 3. increments in salaries of civil servants are being implemented.

I sent out some of my lieutenants to listen to public conversations in public buses, markets and other places of public patronage weeks preceding the election. The reports indicated that the general populace who were well aware of the chicanery and selfish campaigns of these retrogressive elements within the civil service, was resisting the unfortunate agitation to vote mediocrity and backwardness.

Lesson No. 5: Leaders must Carry Followers Along No policy is a success if not bought into by the masses for whom probably it was formulated.

This is one fundamental lesson derived from the Osun election.

Aregbesola, through all fora, media and events explained his policies to the people.

He did not engage in sheer banalities without beneficial interaction with the people. His “Gbangba Dekun” television programme, where he explained his programmes and policies to the people, has commanded the largest audiences in recent history of public interaction by any government. It is through such fora that the people were effectively informed about the efforts of the government aside from being witnesses to physical infrastructural developments which they can personally relate with and take cognisance of.

I understand that drivers of public transport buses otherwise

known as korope in Osun were in the practice of stopping and ejecting any person known to be a civil servant who mouthed anti-government policies in their vehicles. They further reject fares that such passengers ought to pay while they quickly exposed such passengers to other people as one of the enemies of government in the civil service. The drivers, market women, artisans, okada riders who were usually mobilised by agents of darkness to thwart the efforts of the government were fully carried along with government programmes and policies and many of them today analysed governmental activities like graduates of political science.

All thanks to Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola.

Lesson No. 6: No Fortress is Stronger than the People A most important lesson to all is that no fortress is stronger for a leader than the protection afforded by his people. According to Niccolo Machiavelli in most important treatise of all time, The Prince: “For this reason the best possible fortress is – not to be hated by the people, because, although you may hold the fortresses, yet they will not save you if the people hate you, for there will never be wanting foreigners to assist a people who have taken arms against you.” See The Prince, page 125.

Due to the love people have for Aregbesola, the forces of occupation drawn by the Federal Government all over the

Federation could not rig him out.

On the other hand, the hatred the general masses have for the candidate of the PDP made him a whipping boy in the election and no army, no matter how large or sophisticated in weaponry was able to obtain for him what the people would not give him.

This point, when well imbibed, enables the leader to be able to mobilise his people to rise up in his defence when attacked by foreign enemies.

Nigeria as a nation has a lot to learn from the Osun 2014 governorship election. It was easier for the PDP to rig the previous elections because the principles above have never really been put to use. In many cases, when we present popular candidates we did not back them up with the wherewithal that would enable the electorate to monitor the elections in order to prevent rigging. General Muhammadu Buhari was a popular candidate at lease to a larger percentage of the Nigerian populace in 2011, his party did not have the wherewithal to monitor the election so as to prevent being rigged out which enabled Goodluck Jonathan to clinch victory with less popularity.

Structure is equally important for mobilisation and monitoring.

Lesson No. 7: Never Rule Your People by Factions A very important lesson which men of ancient days have taught us but which we often jettison is Continued on page 7

Osun Defender Thursday, November 13, 2014

for the records

Osun Election: A Pathway To Nigeria’s Democratic

•(R-L) First Lady State of Osun, Alhaja Sherifat Aregbesola; Governor Rauf Aregbesola; former Governor, State of Osun, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola and Speaker, House of Representatives, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal and other dignitaries during theVictory Colloquium for Aregbesola, at Eko Hotel, Lagos State, on Sunday.

Continued from page 6 said:

“Our forefathers, and those who were reckoned wise, were accustomed to say that it was necessary to hold Pistoia by factions and Pisa by fortresses; and with this idea they fostered quarrels in some of their tributary towns so as to keep possession of them the more easily.

This may have been well enough in those times…. but I do not believe that it can be accepted as a precept for today, because I do not believe factions can ever be of use, rather it is certain that when the enemy comes upon you in divided cities you are quickly lost, because the weakest party will always assist the outside forces and the other will not be able to resist.”

This is the present scenario we are confronted with in which certain interest groups for selfish reasons have been demobilising our collective and united constituency by religious sentiments. They suddenly, for personal aggrandisement started promoting the call for a Christian governor as if all Christians in Lagos held a meeting where they said they wanted to be governor. Same perilous invitation is equally being touted at the National level. For God’s sake, Lagosians/Nigerians are only interested in good and qualitative governance and no one cares whether you are a Christian or a muslim. This is how our leaders cause division among the people for no just cause only to secure the party’s ticket for an anointed candidate.

The same way they promoted the ludicrous idea of zoning and unilaterally zoned the ticket of our party. Who on earth formulated this ungodly sentiments which are now setting the Ikorodu people against the Epe people and the Badagry people against the rest of us? At the National level, it is the North against

the south, the South-West against the South-East or South-South. This is how they started the boko haram thing as a military tool of certain politicians in the north and now it has become a monster consuming us. Now muslims in Lagos State have been saying that since the two governors that have ruled in Lagos since 1999 claimed to be muslims but with Christian wives who were deacons, we must ensure that the next Christian governorship candidate of APC must have an hadjia as his wife. What a ridiculous thing we have reduced politics to! Religion or zoning is now beginning to assume the threshold upon which we now determine leadership rather than competence. The admonition of the Governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Raji Fashola becomes quite apposite here as the question is whether a Christian governor would construct roads that only Christians could ply or Muslim governor would build schools meant for only Muslim pupils.

The next governorship candidate of our party in Lagos State must be someone who has the capacity to lead and promote our general wellbeing.

He must be a product of popular democratic process as required by the provisions of the Constitution of our party and the Electoral Act, 2010 (as amended) and not someone imposed by subterfuges of one or few party leaders. When the latter is the case, we bear the brunt if the new governor dances not to the tune of the people but rather than that of the impostors and when he refuses to dance like a puppet, we are inundated with silly campaigns of disloyalty.

In Osun, Ogbeni Aregbesola promoted the right of all to religion and conscience. His unifying politics has rather united the people to the extent that the divisive politics of religious bigotry promoted by the enemies of progress and PDP leaders in Osun could not secure victory for

them. While they charged Aregbesola with funny allegations of being an Islamic fanatic, they at the same time claimed he was an idolater for allowing traditional religionists to practise their religion. Definitely the two allegations cannot be correct as you are either one or the other.

Unfortunately for them, Aregbesola is neither of the two. His developmental policies are meant to benefit all without any form of discrimination. This has promoted the consciousness of the masses beyond the mundane subterfuge of religious or township prejudices. The outcome was the huge sense of unity displayed by the electorate before, during and after the election in which victory assured was finally delivered to the man of the people.

Too much for this self-acclaimed country that has failed to transit beyond the status of a mere “geographical expression”!

Conclusions It is possible to prevent rigging the on-coming general elections if we apply most of the principles outlined above. In places where we are in government as a party, it behoves us to have ensured the implementation of beneficial policies before the election.

The same way it behoves any leader in power on the platform of any party to have implemented popular policies to endear his party to the people.

Where we are not yet in government, it is our duty to ensure that our candidates parade the best credentials in terms of ability to govern with better programmes and policies.

It is also the case that our nation can only move forward where we are able to ensure the implementation of the lessons above. Before anyone would criticise Ogbeni, he must visit the State of Osun just like anyone who would criticise Chief Awolowo ought to read his books. I once

7

alluded to Nigeria as a classic case in drama studies. We have witnessed cases of violence in State and Federal parliaments on several occasions in which the minority has suspended the majority, impeached the Speaker or the Governor as the case may be.

The case of Oyo under Ladoja/AlaoAkala/Adedibu still leaves a sour taste in the mouth. As if it was an ancient story that had lost effect on the people, the minority in the Ogun State House of Assembly once claimed to have suspended the majority and impeached the Speaker to the consternation of all.

A situation where the Commissioner of Police takes orders from the Federal Government and would rather take sides with persons opposed to the Governor is quite derogatory of the image of the police. The President maintained a complacent posture all through the situation but gave active support to those who would rather let anarchy loose in order to seize governance by way of state of emergency. Why is history repeating itself?

Corruption, which Ogbeni Aregbesola is battling to minimise in Osun and by which he has been able to achieve much, has taken the centrestage of our politico-economic life as a nation and one wonders if Nigeria is not truly a huge joke or national tragi-comedy which exudes laughter in its gargantuan failure of purposes.

It is actually a comedy of errors. In some corners of the country, criminals who ought to be languishing in jail are the ones running the affairs of State and are even running for governorship positions. At times, declarations by the Finance Minister, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, could be quite rudely intriguing that one wonders if anyone is actually running the economy. At times, it seems the leaders are just there to loot the resources at all levels while the populace watches as if in a theatre of lavish entertainment.

The philosophy of Ogbeni transcends mere counterfeit. The application of the seven lessons above would change the destiny of this country. How I wish the likes of Aregbesola could be opportune to steer the affairs of this country, as I know, as the poet would say, there is still hope.

Thanks.

Muiz Adeyemi Banire (Ph.D)

Concluded

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phototalk

Osun Defender Thursday, November

2014 Governorship Election Petition Tribunal Between State Of Osun Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola And The Defeated PDP Governorship Candidate In The State, Senator Iyiola Omisore, At High Court, Osogbo, Last Monday.

Photo: GBENGA ADENIYI.

•Barrister Femi Faturoti (middle); Barrister Ajibola Bashir (right) and other lawyers.

•Some of the PDP lawyers at the court.

•A cross section of lawyers in the court.

Osun Defender Thursday, November 13,

phototalk

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Swearing-In Ceremony For Justice Ayotunde Oyebiyi and Justice Adekola Adegoke

By Governor Rauf Aregbesola Represented By His Deputy, Otunba (Mrs) Grace Titi Laoye-Tomori, In Osogbo Last Monday.

•(L-R) President, Osun Customary Court of Appeal, Justice Gloria Oladoke; Deputy Governor, State of Osun, Otunba (Mrs) Grace Titi Laoye-Tomori and State of Osun Chief Judge, Justice Adepele Ojo.

•Justice Adekola Adegoke taking the oath of office.

•Dignitaries at the event.

•Justice Ayotunde Oyebiyi taking the oath of office.

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phototalk

Osun Defender Thursday, November

Faces At The Evening Of Praise And Thanksgiving At Nelson Mandela Freedom Park, Osogbo, State Of Osun, Last Saturday.

•The governor, State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola (2nd right), the deputy governor, State of Osun, Otunba (Mrs) Titi Laoye-Tomori (left), organizer of the programme, Professor Yemi Oshinbajo (right) and another dignitaries during an evening of praise and thanksgiving at Nelson Mandela Freedom Park, Osogbo, last Saturday.

Association Of Beggars And Disabled In Osun Celebrated With Fanfare The Reelection Of The State Of Osun Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, Last Friday.

•(L-R) The deputy governor, State of Osun, Otunba (Mrs) Titi Laoye-Tomori; Governor Rauf Aregbesola; Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Arewa Matters, Imam Bashir Mohammed and a British Broadcasting Corporation reporter, Mallam Kabiru Yayo, during a party organised by Osun Disabled and Beggars’ Association to celebrate Aregbesola’s re-election in Osogbo, State of Osun, on Friday.

•A cross section of Osun beggars and disabled men on the occasion.

feature

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Osun Defender Thursday, November

Journey Through

•Nigeria Attempting To Enter Europe Through Desert Recounts Horrible Or-

F

or some time now, there has been a geometric rise in the cases of Nigerians, who found their ways illegally to Europe through the desert, as victims of human trafficking and sex slavery. This has persisted in spite efforts to stamp it out by several organizations. Trafficking in human persons is evil committed against humanity but because it seems to have been tolerated for so long a time in our system, the operators are having a field day, smiling to the banks while the youths continue to perish. They have led so many innocent Nigerians to their untimely death, either in the desert or where they were sold as sex slaves in case of women.

Indeed, people who tried to cross over to the Europe from the North African country of Libya, have told different incredible, chilling and heartbreaking stories in the past.

Those who recount such experiences are among the very few who survived the deadly ordeals they encountered in the desert.

Many Nigerians have reportedly perished in the desert, in a bid to find a greener pasture. Almost all of them, the dead and the survivors, were deceived into believing that they would fly to Tripoli in Libya from Kano or Niger, from where they would cross over to Spain, a land presumably flowing with milk and honey. But, the story had always been that when they get to Niger, they are abandoned to their fate by their guides, who always disappear into thin air.

Though nature therapists recommend an antidote to malaria and typhoid, they never recommended that one should drink another’s urine. Even if men decide to drink the urine of their fellow men for whatever reason, what about that of the opposite sex, female? It sounds incredible, but that is what you find when you embark on the deadly journey. Even after drinking the urine from women to survive the unfriendly temperature, many still perish on the way.

Despite the fact that only a handful of the thousands who embark on this suicidal journey come back alive to tell their stories, the misinformation and the desperation for economic empowerment, which Europe deceptively represent, have continued to lure more Nigerian youths and their counterparts from other African countries to continuously fall into the trap by a cartel said to be involved in the dastardly act.

According to reports, over 2,000 Nigerian youths who embark on the journey every month go through horrible and harrowing experiences. Many face near death situations; many die after being stranded in the desert; others die in the hands of roughnecks as well as wild animals on the desert, while women are raped with reckless abandon. The women who survive the desert vagaries to Tripoli are forced into prostitution. Many who make it to Europe work in exploitative conditions; others take to menial jobs under very despicable and dehumanizing conditions in order to survive.

In 2010, Osita Osemene from Ubulukwu, in Aniocha South Local Government Area of Delta State, narrated how he was deceived into embarking on the suicidal journey and how the urine from his female counterparts saved him in the desert. He also narrated how many of them died during the journey.

One would have thought that Osemene’s exposition of his ugly odyssey should serve as a deterrent for intending adventurers, but that has not happened because the proponents of this deadly trade have upped their ante. As the campaign against illegal migration is getting more serious, those who feed fat from the trade are also perfecting masterstroke strategies that would pull the desired wool over the eyes of numerous impressionable and unsuspecting Nigerian youths.

Today, 33-year-old Victor Davies from Arnayi in Kwale Local Government Area of Delta State, a 2008 Business Administration graduate from the Institute of Management

•osita

By Sunday Ani and Technology (IMT), Enugu, has joined the league of few Nigerians who had journeyed through the desert but still live to tell the story.

A successful entertainer and football manager before the journey, Davies had desired to get the world football governing body’s (FIFA) license, to scout for talented footballers and send them to Europe to play as professional footballers. It has been his age-long dream, which had remained unrealistic for quite some time. So, when the opportunity of travelling to Spain presented itself, he grabbed it without proper scrutiny.

At last, he fell into the hands of human traffickers. He was deceived into believing that he would fly to Libya from Niger and then cross over to Spain. He accepted the dummy with boundless jubilation, hoping that his dream of getting the FIFA license would soon become a reality. He never knew that he was going to embark on a journey of no return.

However, he went through all the harrowing experiences in the desert and still survived. He actually found his way to Libya but not- through the air, He trekked for six weeks along the desert from Niger to Libya but he could not cross over to Spain.

Of more than 300 of them that set off for the journey from Zindane in Niger, only about 100 of them made it to Libya He, alongside his survived colleagues, were willing to continue the journey through the sea to Europe but they were stranded The contact person in Libya who would have taken them to the seaport, after collecting $100 from each of them, planned to hand them over to the Libyan soldiers but for one of them who understands Arabic language.

They were alerted of the looming danger and they went into hiding.

Afraid of being apprehended by the Libyan soldiers, they had no alternative but to plan how to return to Nigeria about 70 of them eventually set out to return to Nigeria through the same desert with all the inherent risks. About 10 of them finally made it to Nigeria-on August 20, 2014.

How it all began.

Narrating how it all began, the Delta-born

Davies, who is full of thanks to God for sparing his life said: “The whole process started in late 2013, precisely in December.

A friend informed me that there was a ‘runs’ or ‘stowaway.’ He told me from the beginning that the destination was Spain or Italy but we would first get to Libya from where we would enter into either of the two European countries through the sea, depending on one’s choice. He told me that everything was going to cost me 150,000.

He never told me that we were going to walk through the desert in order to get to Tripoli.

He only told me that when we get to Niger, which was to be our stopover, our travelling documents would be processed for onward journey to Libya by air.

“He never told me of the dangers. And what motivated me was that I was into football management. I had some footballers I was managing here in Nigeria before I embarked on the journey. 1 have been looking for how to get FIFA license; so when the opportunity came, I was excited because I felt that going to Spain would offer me the opportunity to get the license on a platter of gold. That was the motivating factor. I didn’t intend going to stay permanently in Spain; my intention was to get there; get the FIFA license, make some money after working for like four or five years and come back to meet my players in Nigeria.”

Dreams, they say, are masters of reality but in Davies’ case, it was on the contrary.

His dreams never materialized. He paid the N150,000 to his friend; who took him to Kano from where they travelled to Niger, where papers would tentatively be processed.

He said; when ‘ne realised that they were not travelling by air but by road, it was already late because his friend-had already disappeared and abandoned him to a stranger, who then became their new leader. The new leader told them that it would only take few days before they would get to Tripoli in Libya. He was also asked to pay N80,000 as transport fare from Niger to Tripoli. Elated that his Europe dream would soon come to reality, he paid and they took off. But, when they got to Zindane, a town before the desert, they were asked to disembark from the truck: Thereafter, it was

announced them that the remaining journey would be by trekking. He described the journey from Zindane to Tripoli as hellish and harrowing.

Meanwhile, when it was evident that they were no longer travelling by air from Niger but by road, they were also advised to get some food items and enough water that would sustain them while the journey lasted. Nobody ever told them that they were going to journey through the desert. But in order not to face hunger crisis, he complied with the advice.

“I bought over to loaves of bread and 10 bottles of groundnut. 1 also had with me two five litre-gallons of water before we took off from Niger. But we never knew we were going to go on foot. I provided’ all those because they told-us that the journey would last for, like one month on that truck; so I felt that what l-had bought would be enough for the one month journey. They didn’t tell us that we would not see water on the way.

They just told us to get some water,” he said.

Desert experiences Narrating what he saw as they journeyed through the desert from Zindane, he said: “As we journeyed on foot through the desert, starting from Zindane, what we saw were terrible. We saw dead bodies littered all over the place as we moved. Animals, such as vultures and other carnivores were freely feasting on some of the dead bodies. Other corpses were decaying but the odour from them was not much because the intensity of sun was so high that bacteria hardly survived on the bodies. The temperature was devastatingly and the rate of dehydration was unimaginable. There were bones scattered everywhere. We had to manage the little water we had.”

The journey in the desert, which they started in late January, according to him, stretched throughout March and April.

Davies, who likened their movement in the desert to one of the Nigeria’s television reality show, Ultimate Search, said they stopped at any point where they became too tired or wherever night befell them.

“Remember that in the midst of our ugly predicament, which included tiredness as a result of lack of enough water, we were still bear in our load. In my own case, 1 bore my travelling bag containing the loaves of bread and bottles of groundnut, plus the gallons of water, as I wade through the desert,” he said.

Like Osita Osemene’s experience, Davies and his group ran out of water and a lot of them died of exhaustion. He said he managed to survive because he used his own supply rationally.

“I rationed my water and that was why I didn’t run r .It of stock. Sometimes, a bottle cork-full of water was enough to quench your thirst or so it seemed because there was no hope of getting water anywhere if you run out stock. Many of us died in the desert because of water. They became so dehydrated that they had no single energy left in them. All they needed was just a single drop of water into their throat to recover but it was a jungle, and like the saying goes, there is no brother in the jungle. A brother would see his brother die because of water and he wouldn’t bother to give him a drop from his own because he wanted to safeguard his own life. The saying that self-preservation is the first law of nature clearly played out there. There was no sympathy. Some died out of health problem and once a person dies, others moved on. The body would be left just like that,” he stated.

Continued on page 14

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Osun Defender Thursday, November

Round-Table

Nigeria Needs APC To Reduce Corruption - Adeyinka Mr Ademola Adeyinka is a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) aspiring to represent Ayedaade/Irewole/Isokan Federal Constituency at the Federal House of Representatives in 2015. He held a chat with OSUN DEFENDER team in a roundtable discussion, where he spoke extensively on national and state issues, his ambition and manifestoes. Excerpts:

OSDF: The readers would like to know a little about your background.

ADEYINKA: My name is Ademola Adeyinka, but I am popularly known as Adaba. I think Adaba has come to stay in Osun and in Nigerian politics. I was born at Oluyoro Specialist Hospital, Ibadan.

I had a bit of my primary education at Children Home School in Molete, Ibadan and later Yaba Methodist School in Lagos. My secondary education was at the Lagos Baptist Academy at Obanikoro, Lagos. I am a product of public primary school and university. I am a graduate of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, where I studied Politics, Philosophy and Economics, combined honours. I also have a MBA from the same university.

I operate in the private sector of the financial business of Nigeria. I am from the Asalu family in Orile-Owu in Ayedaade Local Government Council Area of the State of Osun. I am business owner and a financial consultant. I am very passionate about Nigeria and I see myself as a gardener with a mission to water the seed of greatness in people and in communities. I like anything I touch to be extremely different from what they used to be before I got in. I like the opportunity to serve in any capacity that I have been called upon to do. I am a teacher in the sense that I like coaching people; I like mentoring and I like to play the role of a role model. So when people see this, they can synchronize what you say with what you do. That in a nutshell is me and I can also tell you that I am a new face in politics. I know the challenges ahead and that is why some of us are stepping into politics. The challenges are very enormous, no doubt about that.

Nigeria of 1999 is not Nigeria of 2015.

We have a whole lot of challenges and you need people who are creative thinkers to be able to navigate the big ship that you call Nigeria.

OSDF: How did you find yourself in politics and would you explain the Adaba Project?

ADEYINKA: If you look at what I studied; Politics, Philosophy and Economics; I think that is a very solid foundation for leadership position anywhere in the world. There is no way you will study that kind of programme, that you would not have semblance of interest in politics. I participated in student unionism while in school.

I represented my class at the Student Representatives Council in the university.

I enjoy throwing up leaders, who I think

can deliver what the people desire. My journey into politics started at the student union level. Coming into the politics of the state and the nation, we had been observing from a sideline for very long time and our expectation was that as many people as possible should take up the initiative of going into politics, but unfortunately, it has not been as expected.

As we observe in our own state, Osun; we have a bright light, a bright star emerged in the person of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola.

Some of us were encouraged with the good works that Aregbesola is doing and we were also impressed by his passion and leadership style. We were encouraged by his simplicity and doggedness. We were encouraged by the fact that here is a principled man, who has taken leadership position so simple. We were observing him, and when the process for the election for his second term started, we felt that it would be an abdication of responsibility just to leave him alone. He needed support and we could not take anything for granted. It would have been a very great disaster if we lose somebody like that just to a first term in office. So we set up a structure through which we support Ogbeni to go and achieve his ambition of second term in order for him to continue his good job in the State of Osun. That was how we started and we did everything we could to support his ambition.

The Adaba Project is a project I had conceived as a way of empowering the youths in the federal constituency of Irewole, Ayedaade and Isokan. We set it up to empower the people. We don’t believe in giving fish to the people. We believe in teaching them how to fish, and when you teach them how to fish, you can be assured that they will not come back to you and they are not likely to go hungry again. That was the concept of Adaba Project, and the Adaba was also used as a way of grassroots mobilization for the second term of Governor Aregbesola.

We did our best, and some people felt Aregbesola through us. We were determined to make sure that Aregbesola got the second term, even though the result of the election was far from our expectations. Some of the permutations, consultations and opinion polls we did were giving us 70-75 per cent vote for Ogbeni, but eventually it did not happen like that because of some reasons some of us know or may not know. The Adaba Project was purely for youths and women empowerment. It saddens my heart when I see multitude of our youths not doing

•ADEYINKA anything and there is a lot we can do around here. We really need to bring the people together to support the task.

OSDF: What are the innovations that you intend to introduce into the task of legislation and governance to the benefit of the people?

ADEYINKA: I have always believed, and political theorists are also in agreement with me that the legislative arm of government is the engine room of democracy, not the executive, nor the judiciary. How good a democracy is, to a large extent, depends on the legislative arm of government. I chose to go into the legislature, to be a member of the House of Representatives. There are lots of innovations that will be coming with it; there are lots of skills that will be going into the legislative functions. One of the skills required of a lawmaker is your ability to influence. There will be different camp within the parliament and you need the ability to influence the people; to convince them to see things from your point of view. That is not the skill that is readily available for everybody. I will be going into the House, very convinced and assured that I can turn PDP members to APC and I can make PDP members at the parliament to support bills that are being sponsored by the APC parliamentarians.

The ability to influence is the strong character I will be taking to the House.

Apart from that, I have done a very good analysis of the situation in Nigerian and I am already working on about five bills which I intend to sponsor in the House.

One of the Bills is going to be focusing on education, because I believe so much that the situation we find ourselves now has to do with the quality of education that we have in our country. Unlike before, many people are not being encouraged to become teachers. It is the last resort for most people, just like Okada riding is the last resort for the youths. I am working on a scheme that will make teaching very attractive; that will attract the best brains in our industries and country at large into the teaching profession. That is where you can start the foundation and building of Nigeria from. Also, I am also considering in making civic education a compulsory subject that will be taught in all the tiers of education, right from the primary school, to the secondary and to the tertiary institutions. Civics must be taught in our schools. People must know how politics

and government affect them. That is the only time people can now see the danger in collecting N1,000 to cast their vote. We must start from there; people cannot give what they do not know or have. A lot of people don’t even know how government affects them; a lot of people don’t even know that the local government is closer to them than the state or federal. We need to change the curriculum and introduce view things that will make our people more knowledgeable. I have bills that I am working on education and to bring back the lost glory of teaching as a profession.

That is a starting point. You can see what our schools look like. You can see the level of commitment and innovation our Ogbeni is bringing to education. If we can have the types of modern schools in Osun all over the country, then we have started the journey to reclaim Nigeria.

OSDF: You said the Adaba Project was to empower the youths and women. What are your plans for the women when you get to the National Assembly?

ADEYINKA: The problem of women in Nigeria today or the issues that women face are not just peculiar to women.

Anything that affects the women affects everybody. The women have special needs and need special care. I know what the women are going through because I have visited a number of hamlets within our federal constituency and I know the challenges that women face. Challenges of abuse, health care, maternal mortality are what we need to address. I am also aware of how far these women have to travel to get basic medical care, especially when they are pregnant. We will not just fold our arms; even without getting into political office, there are lots of initiatives we have embarked on to ameliorate the sufferings of the women. When we now have the political power, obviously, we will be able to do more for these women.

I hold women in a very high esteem. Most of them are very good as teachers

Continued on page 13

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roundtable

Osun Defender Thursday, November

Nigeria Needs APC To Reduce Corruption - Adeyinka Continued from page 12

and that is why I am focusing on bringing back the lost glory of teaching because it will pay the women in the long run. When you empower a woman, you empower the whole nation. We will pay particular attention to women, and I must say that Aregbesola is an inspiration, when it comes to women affairs. The way Aregbesola handles the women is an inspiration for some of our programmes. We will have to elevate the women because when women are wellgrounded and prepared, the numerous vices in our society can reduce considerably. I am in touch with them; I have good relationship with them. You will see the women in my federal constituency in a different light by the time we have what we are aspiring to have. I have the international network that I can deploy to bring good life to the women folk. But then we will not neglect the youths.

The youths are equally important, but the women hold a special place in my heart.

OSDF: Why did you prefer to contest under the APC to other political parties and what are the chances of the APC in 2015, considering the defection of some members of the party to PDP in Ogun State?

ADEYINKA: I could never have contested under any other party except the APC. If you know the dove called Adaba in Yoruba language, you will know it is a progressive bird. And being a progressive person, it means birds of a feather flock together. It would be a misnomer for me to be found in the camp of the PDP, whether now or in the future. I am a core progressive and I believe in the ideal so much. I am a very fanatical follower of Chief Obafemi Awolowo. I read about him intensely and we also have leaders that have been core-progressives like Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Rauf Aregbesola, Chief Bisi Akande and others.

If you see the kind of people in the APC, you will know that it is the party that meant well for the country. We are not the kind of people that will eat all and forget the masses.

We are the kind of people that will provide for the needs of the masses, and that is why I am contesting under the APC. On the cross carpeting issue, it is rather unfortunate. We cannot ignore it because our politics and democracy are still evolving.

About eight years ago, I predicted that crosscarpeting are things we are likely to see in the first 30 to 35 years of our democracy non-stop. After that, we can now start having parties based on ideology. That ideology will also happen only if we lay solid foundation for our children in education and we are teaching civics for us to know the difference between the right and the left and also people will know where they belong. If you go to the US, right from secondary school, children choose whether they are going to be democrats or republicans. If you grow up with that culture, habit and orientation, it is not likely for you to become one and be seeking to cross-carpet. You would have been well-grounded in what the two parties stand for. We can forgive the politicians that are cross-carpeting in Nigeria, even though, it is not acceptable, but it is understandable.

The Constitution also guarantees freedom of association and if that is the case, you cannot force anybody to be where they do not want to be; you can only appeal to their conscience. The party should also look out to the people who have that conscience because if a party has sponsored you as a candidate and they spent money on you to win an election, it will quite unfortunate for you to abandon the party for another. It only shows how strong some people are based on principle. We can argue and disagree, that is politics. But if things are not going your way, that is not the reason for you to crosscarpet. It may not go your way now, it may go your way tomorrow. Life is a continuum.

For you to now say you want to be jumping ship, I think it is a very serious sign of inconsistency and instability. It is a sign of someone who does not have a focused mind, someone who does not believe in any form of ideology.

OSDF: Are you saying you would not leave the APC, even if you were not given the House of Representatives ticket for the

•Mr Adebayo Adeyinka (right) in a discussion with newsmen last Thursday during the OSUN DEFENDER Roundtable Chat for All Progressives Congress (APC) aspirants in the State of Osun to espouse their programmes for the electorate.

2015 elections?

ADEYINKA: I would not cross-carpet on the account of that. It is not a do-or-die affair. Whoever the party thinks can fly the banner of the party has my maximum support. I will still be a very loyal member of the APC and a strong apostle of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola.

OSDF: Don’t you consider the fact that some politicians may join another party with the belief that such party is able and ready to give us the Nigeria of our dreams?

ADEYINKA: I said earlier that crosscarpeting in the manner we see it will continue for 30 or 35 years into our democracy. It is expected because we are just building it, but we can avoid it if we do things right. Interest is a major factor that makes people to want to cross-carpet. If you look at the case of the Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives, it is a different case. The Speaker was not made a Speaker by the PDP, his former party. The PDP did not want him to become Speaker in the first place. It was the opposition that made him the Speaker. There is no way a group or party would make you a Speaker and you will be disloyal to that party. Honourable Tambuwal has just found himself in the party he rightly belonged. We are very happy to have him and we promise him our support.

OSDF: As a fresh politician coming to contest in the State of Osun, are you not wary of the home based/home grown politicians?

ADEYINKA: The fact that somebody lives here 24/7 does not mean that person has interest in the community than somebody who visit regularly or occasionally. I don’t subscribe to the issue of home-grown. The fact that you are home-grown or home based does not make you to be a better person that those coming in. You may have been observing from afar, and when you observe from afar, that will give you dispassionate view, unbiased view of what the needs of the people are. What the home-grown thinks are the needs of the people might not be real needs of the people. They may be treating symptoms rather than the real problem itself. So, I don’t subscribe to somebody using the trumped card of home-grown as an advantage. It only shows that person is not strongly-footed enough, that means the person has nothing to offer and that means the person is not sure of himself. Otherwise, you can compete with anybody. If Nigeria were to compete with home-grown players alone, you can imagine how they will be

spanking us easily. In politics, you need to cross-fertilize idea.

OSDF: There political tension in Nigeria ahead the 2015 general elections, what do you think will be the consequences and prospects of the 2015 elections, considering the fact that a region is threatening to secede from Nigeria?

ADEYINKA: The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria does not allow any region or ethnic group to stand up and say you want to walk away from the entity called Nigeria. That will be called secession and it has very grave consequences. I don’t think a region will be that daft to want to go away from Nigeria. It is just a permutation people are coming up with. People may feel aggrieved and very unhappy that they lost power; the system will find a way of addressing those issues in the most matured way. The most important thing is to let everyone know that you are not going to lose anything by virtue of your not holding power. The fact that you a president from a particular region does not mean your region will be more developed than other regions.

The choice of Nigerians in 2015 is the best for Nigeria. If APC wins, it is surely going to make some people unhappy but I don’t expect it will make them to want to secede.

We will manage ourselves very well; we have been doing that for the past 100 years.

OSDF: How do you want to assess the Nigerian economy from the holistic point of view as an economists and financial expert?

ADEYINKA: The Minister of Finance, Professor Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and the government of President Goodluck Jonathan chose to rebase the economy and I am not a fan of rebasing the economy. When you rebase an economy, what you are telling the world is that this how big I am. It is a sign of show-off. But if you are showing off a big house with a leaking roof in which some rooms don’t have doors and windows, no security, yet you tell the world you have a lot of money, that is not the wisest thing to do. But in their wisdom, they have rebased the economy and they are happy about it. But that does not put away the challenges of Nigerian economy. Ours is an endowed country but unfortunately, a lot of our resources are being wasted, stolen, and mismanaged. Our common wealth is being appropriated by few people, but we will still remain strong because I know one of the cardinal programmes of my party, APC, is to put corruption under check. If we are able to achieve 50 per cent reduction in corruption, Nigerian will be very-very

rich. Our resources will be buoyant and in fact, we will not even feel the impact of lower crude oil price. I believe strongly in my party that we can reduce corruption to more than 50 per cent. We have nothing to fear. We have anticipated that the price of crude oil may reduce; notwithstanding, we will augment that from revenue, from all the leakages. There are lots of leakages: hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil are being stolen every day, contracts are being inflated, and there is brazen theft of our money and resources. We are very confident about the resources of Nigeria. And it is also criminal that, with the kind of resources will have in Nigeria, 75 per cent of Nigerians are living on one dollar per day. That means only 75 per cent of our people can earn N165 in a day. That is criminal. This is Nigerian economy that can make everyone of us prosperous. But in a situation where less than one per cent is controlling 99 per cent of the resources of this nation is sinful.

OSDF: The APC lost Isokan Local Government Council Area of the state during the last governorship election in spite of the presence of government, the popularity of Aregbesola and the Adaba Project. How impactful is the Adaba Project in that area?

ADEYINKA: We lost Isokan and we know why. We did not lose Isokan because we did not try or because the people there did not love Aregbesola and not because the APC has lost focus in that area. We lost Isokan because of the same poverty level we are talking about. People were financially induced, which was very unfortunate. That inducement was heavy and the fact that we were able to record the kind of results we had there shows what kind of goodwill Ogbeni has in that constituency. The APC leaders tried, they did very well. We tried but we met very big machinery in the financial resources that the PDP brought into the area.

Coming to the general elections, it very unlikely that such concentration will happen because election will be happening all over the country and at the same time. It will be very difficult for anyone to concentrate in an area. The inducement will not happen again in 2015. We are very optimistic and with the work the APC leaders and the Adaba project are doing, PDP will not come close to 50 per cent of what they got in the last governorship election.

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feature

Osun Defender Thursday, November

Journey Through

Continued from page 11

Encounters with desert rebels Unlike other people, who encountered such deadly carnivores as lion and other beasts, they never encountered such, but ran into about five different rebel groups. Each group, according to him, would rob maim rape and kill those they could lay hands on.

The rebels would rape the ladies right in their presence, but they could not do anything because the rebels were armed to the teeth.

On their experiences with the rebels he said: “We didn’t encounter any dangerous wild animal like lion as some people encountered but we were attacked severally by rebels. We met about five different groups of rebels at five different points. The first rebel group we encountered was shortly before we got to Duruku. When we ran into them we didn’t understand their language.

They just stopped us and robbed us. If they didn’t get anything on you, they would either shoot you on the leg or shoot you to death out rightly. If you have money to settle them you won’t have any problem with them. You dare not argue or struggle with them when they want to search you otherwise they would kill you. They take money, bread, groundnut, biscuit or any edible thing they could find on you. And for the women they would have sex with them right before us and there was nothing we could do. It was rape, but a modified form of rape because you dare not show a sign of objection, otherwise they would just kill you at once.

“So, they would just order the women to take off their clothes and they would mount them and start having sex with them just like that while we watched helplessly. Even if the lady or woman is your sister, you just keep quiet and watch them defile and debase her.

There were so many of them. The first rebel group we met held us hostage for six days and m all those six days; they slept with the women among us countless times. In the morning, afternoon and night, the women were at their beck and call. They killed some people in our presence to show us what they were capable of doing. It was the height of bestiality.

“The second group detained us for three days. The third group took us hostage for three days and the forth group, two days but the last group didn’t detain us for too long.

It was not up to 24 hours. And they all had common traits - they raped, killed, maimed and stole from us.”

According to Davies, the rebels were all Nigeriens. He said as soon as they left the Niger territory, they escaped the rebel obstacles but that did not signal the end of their agony? Their pains were far from ending, as they had the Libyan soldiers to contend with.

Encounters with Libyan soldiers He revealed: “When we met the Libyan soldiers, one of us who understands and speaks Arabic told them that we were refugees. On that score, they took us to Zurnazu Camp in Benghazi and dumped us there but somehow, we escaped. As we were escaping, we didn’t know anywhere; we just escaped. But we were lucky that some of us could speak the Arabic language, so anytime we run into the security agents, they spoke the language to them and we would be free.

Even at that, we never came out during the day; we were always moving during the night. From Zumazu Camp, it took us about two weeks before we got to Tripoli, which was our destination. It is about 300 kilometers. The person we were supposed to meet in Tripoli was named Mustapha. He was the contact person in Iripoli, who would take us to the seaport in Zuara, where we would finally take off to the Europe.”

Encounter with Mustapha in Tripoli Their contact person, Mustapha would have given them away to the Libyan soldiers after collecting $100 from each of them but for one of them, Adamu, who understands the Arabic language. Adamu was quick to hear Mustapha’s evil plan against them and he alerted the rest, who immediately escaped to safety.

He said: “Mustapha collected $100 from each of us, as his own part of the bargain and he has going to hand us over to the Libyan soldiers instead of taking us to the seaport

•davies as agreed but for one of us who understands Arabic ‘. When Mustapha was making calls to the Libyan soldiers to give them information that he was bringing us to them, one of us, Adamu, from the northern part of Nigeria, who understands the language signaled to us to step back. He just gave us a sign that all was not well and that we should slow down our steps in preparation to run for our lives. We immediately decoded his sign and stepped backward, while Mustapha was still engrossed in his mischievous call to betray us. We all disappeared at once. It was later we discovered that Mustapha was an agent.”

Stranded in Tripoli After they escaped from Mustapha’s machination, they were stranded because they could not proceed to the support.

Besides, they were already wanted by the soldiers and therefore, were hiding from the security agents. This made it difficult for them to continue with the journey.

He stated: “After the incident, we became stranded. Mustapha was supposed to take us to the seaport after paying the $100, where we would enter a ship to Europe but unfortunately, he wanted to hand us over to the security agents after collecting our money. We started looking for a way back to the Zumazu camp, from where we escaped.

It was another horrible journey because just around that tune, It was reported that a Nigerian prisoner there escaped from the prison and injured a soldier in the process and the authorities were clamping down on Nigerians generally. Once they got a Nigerian, they passed instant judgment. They would kill you, give you to crocodiles or hurl you into prison after they must have brutally dealt with you.”

Attempt to enter Tunisia Determined to get to Europe at all costs, they explored the possibility of going into Tunisia, so that they could cross over from

there. However, this last move was not possible because they had no money on them, having given Mustapha their ‘last card.’ “We even attempted to go to Tunisia because one of us said he knew the route to Tunisia.

We wanted to take that last chance, so that maybe, from there we could find our way to Europe, but survival became so hellish. We didn’t have any money again,” he said.

Decision to return home On why they decided to return home he said: “We decided to come back when it’ became clear to us that we were all exhausted financially and soldiers were hunting us.

We also made up our mind to come back, considering the way and manner Nigerians were being killed in Libya. We saw many of our brothers killed there. So, we didn’t have any other alternative but to come back to our fatherland, Nigeria.”

Homeward journey The journey back home was as rough and tough as the journey to Libya. It was through the same desert, but this time, they were aware of what they would meet on the way.

Speaking about their journey back home, Davies said: We were lucky to have met a Nigerian who had lived in Libya for more than five years. He was the one that showed us the way back home. We came back through the desert trekking again after restocking ourselves. Some people were involved m robbery to survive and come back but I was so scared that I never thought of that because, one, I didn’t understand their language. So, what if I was caught, it would be a .double tragedy. So, I didn’t involve myself in such act but those who did, helped to sustain me. After stealing, they still used the stolen money to buy what we all ate.

“We were about 70 that set out to come back, but only 10 of us actually survived and came back to Nigeria. I came back on August 20, 2014. It took us about three months to come back because we were seriously

‘I trekked for six weeks, saw corpses, skulls, bones littered everywhere’

exhausted. We still encountered the rebels on our way back but because we had known what they wanted, we just gave them money and they allowed us to pass. There were 70 of us, 15 girls and 55 men. Some died out of starvation, others had health problem. 1 remembers one of the ladies, Vivian, who died out of exhaustion. She said she was tired. I encouraged her to be strong, but she insisted that she would rest. She slept and never woke up again. We set out to come back in May, but we got to Kano in August.”

When he landed in Kano, one of them took him to their family house in Kano, where he spent about two weeks before travelling to Benin. He said when he got to Benin; he could not find the person who introduced him to the journey. He said the person’s phone number had remained switched off ever since that time.

“One of us, Illya, took us to his home in Kano. He is from Niger but his mother is from Kano. He took me to their house in Kano where I spent two weeks before travelling to Benin to search for the man that deceived me into all these hardship. But, when I got to Benin, I couldn’t find the man; not even his phone number was connecting.

He was nowhere to be found,” he said.

Message to Nigerians Davies, who said he was happy because he was alive after all the ordeals is warning intending adventurers to retrace their steps because embarking on the journey, which is akin to committing suicide.

“I saw many people die during the adventure, but I survived initially, I said I would just tell intending Nigerians all the dangers involved and let them decide if they could withstand them. But now, reminiscing on what happened during my journey, I have changed my stand. Now, I won’t allow anybody to go through that experience. The chances of getting to Libya, not to talk of getting to the final destination in Spain is not up to one per cent. So, it is not worth it.

The probability that you will lose your life is almost 99 per cent; the chance of survival is Just about one percent, so the game is not worth the candle,” he advised.

Osemene speaks The founder of Patriotic Citizens Initiative, Osita Osemene, whose experience in the desert forced him to set up a campaign outfit against Illegal migration, said he was impressed that eventually Davies was able to come back alive: He called on the government to show interest in reintegrating returnees into the society. He stated that anyway who had gone through the desert road is more dangerous than a wounded lion and warned that they should not be abandoned just like that.

“They should be reintegrated into the society because emotionally, they have been traumatized,” he suggested.

Speaking on what his organisation is doing, he said: “Inasmuch as we campaign against illegal migration, we also organise a reintegration programme where we try to bring them back into the system, so that they are focused and established. We know the damage the journey had caused them, especially the females among them.

“I found out that Nigerians; including the government don’t believe that Nigerians still embark on this kind of deadly journey any more. So, government should give a listening ear to this menace. Organisation campaigning against the scourge should be encouraged. The more we campaign against it, the m.ore the beneficiaries’ campaign in favour of it. Those who benefit from it are also fighting back. We are saying that the route is dangerous and we don’t want Nigerians to continue to follow that route.”

Culled from DAILY SUN

Osun Defender Thursday, November 13, 2014

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State Of Osun Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, Delivered A Lecture At University Of Ibadan Convocation/66th Founder’s Day Ceremony In Ibadan, Oyo State, Last Tuesday.

•(L-R) Guest Speaker/Governor, State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola (middle); Vice-Chancellor, University of Ibadan, Prof. Isaac Adewole (right) and Registrar, Mr. Olujinmi Olukoyer (left) during the 2014 Convocation Lecture/66th Founder’s Day ceremony, at University of Ibadan, on Tuesday

•(L-R) Governor Aregbesola; Vice Chancellor, University of Ibadan, Prof. Adewole and Secretary to the State Government of Osun, Alhaji Moshood Adeoti, during the 2014 Convocation Lecture/66th Founder’s Day Ceremony, at the University of Ibadan on Tuesday.

•(L-R) Deputy Governor Oyo State, Chief Moses Alake Adeyemo; Aregbesola; Prof. Adewole and Deputy Vice Chancellor, Administration, University of Ibadan, Prof.

Emilolorun Ayelari, during the 2014 Convocation Lecture/66th Founder’s Day Ceremony, at the University of Ibadan on Tuesday.

www.osundefender.org

T HE

6TH

M O S T - V I S I T ED

NEWS-

THURsday, november 13, 2014 A

By ade olugbotemi

ll eyes are set on

the fate-deciding February 2015 general elections, which are going to factorize the momentum of politics and politicking in the mean time, and eventually the survival or otherwise of the entity called the Federal Republic of Nigeria. This is not new after all, as all players of the game, who go by the nomenclature ‘politicians’ have ceaselessly exhibited their intrigues and manipulative tendencies, that most of the time pitch ordinary watchers of events in utter bewilderment and debilitating perplexity. Most politicians may be seen to be keeping their cool, but the mechanism of palpitation that many of them are contending with is better imagined than the pangs of the contenders.

It is very good that we have been reminding ourselves that it is fifteen years already that one uncertainty was foisted on innocent Nigerians.

That improper and blind heralding of democratic norms and ethos without a compass that would have made navigation into the future very determinate has today plunged us into hopelessness that may take ages for our efforts to assuage. No wonder, we have so many people who bother less about the political journey that has led us nowhere, but today has made us more confused than ever; and we cannot blame them. That journey that began in 1999 was never prepared for; and it is now that we are coming to terms with the need to reassess the exigencies that brought about that journey, because chance favours only the prepared mind.

We have suddenly found ourselves in a strange world, where nobody is ready to take responsibility for personal faults and failures, and bulk passing has generally become a stock in trade. We are good at pointing accusing fingers, when others are seen to have faltered, but at the point of taking blames for personal misdemeanour, unwarranted rationalization is allowed to hold sway. The whole world now have a common perception of Nigeria as a country that is peopled by some peculiar individuals, who are ready to trade-off integrity, but will only assess situations irrationally on the basis of what they stand to rake as gains; as against the global best practice of giving credence to rationality, honesty and probity.

So far, successive leaders have been far from proffering recipe that would have brought relative relief to the distressed majority, who feel concerned about our state and deepnecked in thought over what we have done to merit such fate as betide.

Unfortunately, international laws have constrained concerned individuals from foreign lands that they cannot interfere in our internal matters without the eyebrows of human rights crusaders and freedom fighters being raised; even when it is not so logical

Beginning With The End In

•jonathan

to do so. Non-existent home grown solutions have become evidently inevitable, but experience has shown that those who felt obliged and acted in apparent response to compelling demands have not left encouraging remarks behind.

It is becoming a misadventure to explore the electronic media because of the junks in the name of advertorials that some faceless individuals promote on daily basis. They often paint blooming pictures of a country that has developed the needed infrastructure, with our President, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, as that change agent that has ensured the repositioning of welfare indices even greater in scope than what obtain in the almighty United States of America. One of the bodies involved in the fallacious publications is the Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN), which is directly financed with the taxpayers’ money.

According to this body, Nigeria under President Goodluck Jonathan is the best place anybody can wish to be in the universe. However, pundits have come to the conclusion that if the present condition is the ultimate that can avail under a President vaunting himself as the best Nigeria can have,

then, Nigeria is already a doomed state.

It is all lies, lies, and lies from the seat of power in Abuja. To them, all Nigerians, except the power brokers in the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) seem to have lost touch with the reality of what real development indices should be. They seem to know the definition of change and development apart from the conceptual understanding that is globally acclaimed. Only PDP and their supporters understand what people should admit as good living standard.

They seem to have aggregated Nigerians to mean only those party members who perpetually draw funds from government vault; that is why they can tell the whole world that Nigerians have never had it as so good as it is at the moment. Nigerians are paying more for electricity, goods and other services. Lives are no longer secured in any part of the country because those who legitimately make wealth are not allowed to enjoy it, and to derive maximum utility there from by the have-nots, who are in the majority; these are apart from joblessness engendered hopelessness that has become the lot of school leavers.

It is noteworthy that a segment of the Nigerian nation; precisely, the people of the State of Osun have shown that if we don’t slack at planning, we will succeed in whatever we set out to do at the point of execution.

August 9, 2014 governorship election has become an event we cannot forget so quickly.

The voting populace in the state really demonstrated unusual resilience and determination that neutralized the desperation and rigging antics of major opposition, and the intention to overrun Osun as they did to Ekiti State shortly before then. Unless there is another exhibition of naked power through the tribunal (which I believe the same people will be prepared to resist), it is now certain that Osun people will have it their own way for another four years.

Irrespective of the ongoing propaganda all over electronic and print media that appear to have reduced Nigerians to a people devoid of ability to objectively decipher, Nigerians must resolve to exert their larger influence on a few individuals that have succinctly constituted themselves to destiny moulders without whom Nigeria will not be able to survive. Peoples’ collective will must reflect in what the umpire (Independent National Electoral Commission) give as the aggregate of voters’ intentions in February 2015 elections. It happened in the State of Osun, it can happen also in the whole country if only Nigerians can put their hearts and actions together to ensure that minority rule has no abode in this country anymore.

It is a known fact that an unpopular government will never seek to fulfil the demands of popular mandate, while it will be pretty difficult for a minority government not to fly the kite originating from under the tutelage of her crony-members. It is only a government conscious of her enabling popular mandate that will seek to pursue policies and programmes meant to satisfy the yearnings of the entire populace. Again, we have this fact truly showcased within the length and breadth of our own State of the virtuous. This is the fallout of what the governor saw as response to legitimate expectations from the majority of people who reposed confidence in him to hold their popular mandate in lien. That mandate has again been generously entrusted; it is certain that Ogbeni Aregbesola cannot consider it anomalous if people demand for more democratic dividends after inauguration for second term come November 27. We have to decide on what we want for our future now before we finally make up our minds for the choices to make during February 2015 elections; most especially on who to occupy the seat of number one citizen after May 29, next year.

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.