Osun Defender October 11th 2014, Edition by OsunDefender

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SATURDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2014 Weeks before the August 9th gubernatorial elections which was won by the pragmatic Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola of the APC, it was obvious we were up against forces other than the people of Osun state which naturally should be the determinant of

how the elections will swing. The All progressives Congress (APC) still smarting from its shocking defeat in the previous Ekiti elections had literarily sworn it will lose Osun over its dead body. The murderous villain fielded by the Peoples Democratic

VOL. 9. NO.122

President Front Page Comment imperial though utterly clueless, desperate to add The War Called The Osun but Osun to his conquest in furtherance of his stillsecond term bid. So Elections-By Segun Tomori born lo and behold, the die Party (PDP), outrightly unpopular with barely a few dozens of people trailing him at campaigns however worethe confidence of a Governor-In-waiting. He they

didn’t care a hoot about the people’s wish, all that matters was the full compliment of the paraphernalia of State activated by an

was cast!I have not been emotionally attached to any elections in Nigeria as I was with the Osun elections,

N50

maybe June 12, 1993 Presidential elections presumed to have being won by my President, M.K.O Abiola could be an exception. It wasn’t because I had affinity with anyone in Ogbeni’s government or because I enjoyed any form of patronage but because Continue on pg5

Osun PDP Plans Fresh Mayhem •To Warrant Declaration Of State Of Emergency - See Story On Page 2

Osun NUT Shuts Public Schools - Pg4 Aregbesola Ready To Commission Community-based Projects Across - Pg 3 Osun

•Pupils and parents of Olive Branches School in Osogbo, State of Osun, being screened for Ebola virus by a health worker during the school’s resumption for the new academic session last Wednesday. Photo: GBENGA ADENIYI.

Osun Police Parade Suspect, - Pg 2 Recover 3 Stolen Cars

Osun Tribunal: PDP Is Spreading False Hope - Adebisi

- See Story On Page 4

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OSUN DEFENDER Saturday, October 11, 2014

Osun PDP Plans Fresh Mayhem •To Warrant Declaration Of State Of Emergency

HOULD its petition at the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal fails, the State of Osun chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has concluded plans to unleash unprecedented mayhem that may warrant the declaration of a state of emergency by President Goodluck Jonathan. According to insider put to good use all their sources within the party connections and influence hierarchy in the state, at a to see to the fruition of their recent meeting held at the plan. residence of a party At the meeting, one of chieftain in Osogbo, the the chieftains was quoted state capital, it was resolved to have expressed his that if the party is to have hatred for the incumbent any appreciable showing at governor of the state, the 2015 general elections, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, the All Progressives to the extent of even Congress (APC) currently at suggesting his total the helms of affairs in the elimination by spiritual state must be dislodged at means. whatever cost. He was said to have The source further promised to get across to stressed that the PDP his spiritual consultant in chieftains at the meeting faraway Gambia, who in his further reached an accord calculation, should be able on the need for each and to cast a spell on the everyone at the meeting to governor to terminate his

life. A new twist was however, introduced into the whole argument when he was asked on why he did not suggest that to the party ahead of the August 9, 2014 governorship election held in the state. The party chieftain was said to have stuttered in his response, but eventually came up to say he never knew the party could end up being the petitioner, as they had earlier been assured that the election would be a mere formality, as the power that be in Abuja and the presidency had put a plan in place to announce the result in favour of the party candidate, Senator Iyiola Omisore, irrespective of the people’s wish. Other options considered at the meeting were

compromising the members of the tribunal to give ruling in favour of Omisore and possibly going for the broke by opting for total breakdown of law and order to make the state ungovernable for the governor and the APC. The latter option was said to have gained the support of virtually all in attendance at the meeting with suggestions coming from all directions on how best to have the plan executed without any excuse for failure. Roles were thereafter shared out to various individuals, with the sole aim of giving teeth to the plan. The source further revealed that a particular notorious chieftain of the party was assigned the role of rail-roading the

•Hon. Lawrence Babatunde Ayeni (with mic) presenting, Serena Mini-buses keys to Vigilance Group in Ilesa, State of Osun, while being accompanied by the Area Commander of Ayeso, Police Command, Mr. Peter Etiobhi, recently. Photo. SHOLA ADERINTO.

By OUR REPORTER presidency into the plan, create the impression that with the aim of providing the state was at war. Some of the security necessary logistics for the operatives brought into the plan to succeed. during the The said chieftain was state gubernatorial election have said to have promised on the grave of his mother to have also been pencilled down for in the plans, as they Governor Aregbesola roles would be saddled with the removed, while boasting of responsibility of arresting all his past exploits in getting APC leaders once the things done with the help of mayhem starts by labelling his cronies at the them the perpetrators of the presidency. crisis. A prominent notorious It was in their calculation political thug was also that once the mayhem starts considered for the role of with the backing of the having his men positioned presidency, the president in strategic cities, towns and would have no option but villages across the state to to declare a state of with an foment trouble emergency simultaneously with the use administrator deployed to of explosive devices to replace the governor.

DPO Counsels Residents By MURTALA AGBOOLA

HE Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of Ataoja Police Division, Osogbo, Mr Legun Guadem, has counseled landlords and residents in the area to ensure that their premises are firmly secured, especially whenever they are not at home and at night. Guadem gave the suspects, who could turn admonition at the monthly round to harm people meeting of the Police responsible for their Community Relations arrests. Committee (PCRC) held Alhaji (Chief) Ogundare, the Viceat his office recently. In his report of crime in chairman of the PCRC, the area, the police chief commended the efforts of stressed the fact that the the DPO for his prompt area is calm and the response to distress calls crime level very low but whenever he is told. Members were told admonished members to be conscious of that through the efforts of the PCRC, the front of perpetrators of evil. He did not refrain from Ladsol Pure Water, Ogo which soliciting the assistance of Oluwa, PCRC members to co- motorcyclists use as Uhas been operate with him to turn, ensure a crime-free permanently blocked to prevent incessant society. accidents, which occur in The DPO also called for the support of the the area. In a response to a shopjudiciary to assist in not owner, who was attacked granting bail to robbery very late recently, the police chief advised shopkeepers to close early to prevent hoodlums generality of the people of laying siege on them. The PCRC members the state. He added that the state were later enjoined to government would make their payments, continue to encourage while ensuring that they people to be hygienic, attend meetings regularly with a view to tackling and punctually too. Ebola and such other

Osun Procures Materials To Tackle Ebola In Schools By KAZEEM MOHAMMED

S part of measures to tackle Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in schools, Government of the State of Osun has procured all necessary materials to be distributed to all public schools across the state. Among the materials sanitizers to enable pupils procured were Infrared and their teachers wash thermometer, hand- their hands before taken washing bowls, soaps and their meals and after hand sanitisers among visiting toilets. The deputy governor others. Inspecting the materials pointed out that the state at the Osun State government has fully Universal Education Board taken proactive steps to (SUBEB) warehouse in nip in the bud, the spread Osogbo, the deputy of the disease, as schools’ governor, Otunba (Mrs) food vendors, teachers Titi Laoye-Tomori, who and other stakeholders in doubles as the State education sector had been Commissioner for sensitised on how to Education, assured parents prevent Ebola. She also advised the and pupils that the state government is fully students to maintain prepared in tackling the proper hygiene and study hard in order to get good spread of the disease. in their Maintaining that Osun is grades Ebola-free, she said examinations. Mrs Laoye-Tomori said schools in the state would be provided with washing the materials would soon bowls, soaps and hand be distributed to schools

She also paid an unscheduled visit to Ataoja High school, Osogbo and some private schools, to inspect the level of preparedness of the schools to prevent the spread of Ebola Virus

Disease among the pupils. The SUBEB Chairman, Prince Felix Awofisayo, said the measure being put in place by the government has again demonstrated the commitment of the state government to the welfare of the pupils and

diseases.

Osun Police Parade Suspect, Recover 3 Stolen Cars By ISMAEEL UTHMAN

HE State of Osun Police Command has recovered three stolen cars from a 28-yearold man, Johnson Michael, through the operation of the Swift Action Squad (SARS). received Briefing journalists at the 2014, Police Headquarters, Oke- information from Uyo Headquarters, fia, Osogbo, on Thursday, Police the state Commissioner of Akwa Ibom State that the Police, Abubakar Marafa, car with registration through the command’s number KTS 15 AA was Public Relations Officer, snatched and driven Mrs. Folashade Odoro, towards Osun. The police who said that suspect was arrested on October 4, commissioner stressed that adequate policing and 2014 at Igbona. According to Marafa, water-tight security put in the police on September 30, place, made it impossible

for the hoodlums to enter the state and headed to Kwara State to take refuge. However, on October 4, 2014, according to Mafara, the car was moved to Osun, where it was recovered by the police through intelligence gathering at Mr. BIGGS area, Igbona, Osogbo. Johnson Michael was arrested together with a 23-year-old lady, Iyanu Ajilore. Confessing to the crime, Michael denied Iyanu’s involvement in the deal, saying that she was only

picked along the road. The police said further that efforts are ongoing for possible arrest of his cohorts as investigations continue. A wine-colured Nissan Serena with Lagos registration number; CQ 652 LRS and a greencoloured Peugeot 406 with Abuja registration number; ABJ 873 AU were also recovered from the suspect. Other items recovered from him were six laptop computers, nine telephone handsets, two Sony cameras, 10 car keys and jewelleries.

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OSUN DEFENDER Saturday, October 11, 2014

Why We Jointly Built Schools, Provide Water - Ife/Ijesa Senator, Reps By ISMAEEL UTHMAN

HE lawmakers representing Ife/Ijesa Senatorial District and constituencies in the State of Osun have stated that the rationale behind their joint decision to build model schools and make provision for water supply in the areas was basically to assist Governor Rauf Aregbesola in promoting functional education and grassroots development. According to the dam located at Umar lawmakers, they decided Olanrewaju Street, Ipetuto jointly build the modern Ijesa, building of Hope schools in the senatorial Elementary School, Ilesa, district, having known that building of Community education is the first Middle School, Ita-Osa, priority of Aregbesola’s Ile-Ife, renovation of administration and that Atakumosa Middle School, they could not leave the Osu, renovation of Ansarudevelopment of the state to deen Elementary School, be the task of the governor Ogbo Agbara Ile-Ife, among others. alone. Omorare put the cost of Senator Babjide Omoworare, who led other the Ipetu-Ijesa Water Dam federal lawmakers in the to N750 million, with a Osun East Senatorial capacity to supply water to District stated this while Oriade, Atakumosa-East, inspecting the projects Atakumosa-West and Local being executed by the Ife/ Ilesa-West Ijesa lawmakers at the Government Council National Assembly in their Areas. He disclosed that the constituencies on water project was funded Wednesday. The projects included with the N550 million 2012 the construction of a water constituency project funds

of the lawmakers, adding that they had to source for another N200 million, thus making N750 million, being the total cost for the completion of the project. The water project included running of pipes and provision of reservoirs to some of the communities in the benefiting council areas. Omoworare disclosed that the lawmakers were to spend a total of N4 billion on water provision for the Osun East Senatorial District, including the counterpart funding from the Federal Government. The senator urged the Federal Government to put its N2.4billion counterpart fund for the water project in the 2015 fiscal year budget. Speaking at the inspection of the Hope Elementary School, Ilesa, Honourable Ajibola Famurewa, representing Ijesa-South Federal Constituency at the Federal House of Representatives, stated

that the school was constructed in line with the quality of the state government’s model schools. Famurewa stated that the Ife/Ijesa lawmakers had consulted Governor Aregbesola before embarking on the construction of the schools, saying that the National Assembly members were trying to share Governor Aregbesola’s burden of building state-of-the-art schools for the development of public education in the state. According to Famurewa, the cost of building the Hope Middle School, which was under construction at the inspection time, was N168 million, including the furnishing of the classrooms and offices. The Hope Middle School has 31 classrooms, laboratories, offices and toilets, among other necessary facilities. Famurewa stated that the lawmakers were

building two new schools and renovating two others in the senatorial district to meet up with the modern standard, for the 2013 constituency project. He stressed that the Ife/ Ijesa lawmakers at the National Assembly would also build new schools and renovate some others in the 2014 fiscal year. The lawmaker representing Oriade/ Obokun Federal Constituency in the Federal House of Representatives, Honourable Nathaniel Agunbiade, stated that the funds for the constituency projects were not released to the lawmakers, saying that they only chose the type of project they wanted. Agunbiade maintained that the projects were executed after discussion with Governor Aregbesola and consultation with the people of their constituencies on the type of project they want in their various areas. He explained that there would not be enough funds should they embark on different and individual projects in their constituencies, hence their

resolve to put their constituency funds together and use it execute tangible projects that will benefit their people. Speaking at the inspection of the Community Middle School, Ita-Osa, Ile-Ife, Honourable Rotimi Makinde representing Ife Federal Constituency at the National Assembly, said: “We could have diverted these funds to personal use, but we could not do that because we want the development of our state. “The Omoluabi caucus at the National Assembly has leaders; we have vision and we are committed to the development of our state. We cannot leave the burden of developing this state to our governor alone. We know he has prioritised education and that is why we are building and renovating schools, with a view to assisting him in our various constituencies and senatorial district at large. “All the projects we have done so far are those of 2012 and 2013 constituency projects. Our 2014 constituency project fund would also be expended on education. We would then move to the health sector very soon.”

Aregbesola Ready To Commission Communitybased Projects Across Osun

LL is now set for the commissioning of a health centre and community hall projects by the State of Osun governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, at Eleru and Igbonla/Idiya in Ola-Oluwa Local Government Council Area, under the second phase of Replication of UNICEF Community Development Initiative Programme in collaboration with the state government.

•Zone 5 road in Osogbo rehabilitated under the administration of Governor Rauf Aregbesola, as captured by our cameramn, GBENGA ADENIYI, last Thursday.

The commissioning of the projects put in place through the State Ministry of Water Resources, Rural Development and Community Affairs was held last Thursday. According to a statement signed by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry,

Osun Poultry Farmers Net N260m Profit farmers raised the birds in their facilities before OULTRY farmers in the State of Osun have selling them to Tuns made about N260 million profit investing in Farms. Badmus said the birds within the last one year. poultry farmers, who Speaking with reporters scheme was a tripartite participated in the project scheme, had repaid over recently in Osogbo, the partnership Chairman, Tuns Farms between the State of N170 million out of the Limited, Alhaji Olatunde Osun Government, Tuns N300 million loans Badmus, said farmers Farms Nigeria Limited offered to them by the the Poultry state government. recorded the feat through and the Osun Broiler Association of Nigeria. In his words: “No Badmus further stated agricultural project in the Outgrower Production Scheme set up by the that the state government country can match the Governor Rauf invested N300 million in Osun Broiler Outgrower A r e g b e s o l a the project to provide Production Scheme. feeds for day-old chicks administration. “The farmers that The Tuns Farms boss (DOC) and that Tuns participated have made said no agricultural Farms supplied the profits of over N260 project in the country had participating poultry million. ever had such a record of farmers in the scheme. “Individual farmers in According to him, the the scheme made profit in success. He noted that the participating poultry the range of N15 million. By FRANCIS EZEDIUNO

The state government has not lost anything. The government even gained because the farmers are paying N1 million every month, which is going into the state coffers through Internally Generated Revenue.” Badmus, who said the scheme had boosted the production of broiler meat in the state, noted that the state was the second largest producer of broiler meat in the country. He said the chicken produced in the State of Osun went to organisations such as Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC), oil industries, Shoprite among others. He also added that Tuns

Farms invested N8 billion in its poultry plant in Osogbo for broiler meat production. “Our plant here and that of Zartech Limited in Ibadan are the only two poultry plants internationally certified fit to sell to KFC, which is number one restaurant in the whole world. “We also supply chicken to Shoprite outlets all over Nigeria and the oil industries. “We are buying back from the farmers because we had guaranteed the state government that we would secure standby market for the farmer,” he said.

Engineer Adelere Oriolowo, the commissioning of the various projects, which had been done in 61 communities across the state, would be completed on the 23rd of October, this year. The Special Adviser to the Governor on Water Resources, Rural Development and Community Affairs, Mr. Adekunle Ige is expected to lead the governor to all the project sites for the commissioning. The statement therefore enjoined members of the State Executive Council, Members of the Osun Rural Board, Permanent Secretaries and Directors, Community Development Council and all other political functionaries to attend the ceremony. Oriolowo also appealed to the Executive Secretaries, Heads of Local Government Administration in the 30 local government councils and Ife-East Area Office, traditional rulers in the project communities, religious leaders, youths, artisans, market men and women and other relevant stakeholders to witness the occasion.

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OSUN DEFENDER Saturday, October 11, 2014

Aregbesola Doesn’t Earn Salary - Akere By SHINA ABUBAKAR

HE Commissioner for Information and Strategy in the State of Osun, Mr Sunday Akere, has reiterated the commitment of Governor Rauf Aregbesola, as he has never earned any salary since his assumption of office in the last 47 months as the Chief Executive of the state. He disclosed this while Association of Nigeria speaking with the (PMAN), who paid him a executive members of the courtesy visit in his office. He said Governor state branch of Performing Musicians Aregbesola is committed

to serving the people and turn the state into an Eldorado the founding fathers wanted it to be at conception. Akere disclosed that Ogbeni Aregbesola sacrificed his personal comfort to serving his state without considering the largesse he could have enjoyed as Commissioner for Works in Lagos State, hence, he

decided to direct his commitment to improving the lots of the people of the state. Speaking further, he said Mr Governor has been using his personal vehicles as official cars since he assumed office, describing his gesture as a sacrifice to be emulated by all. He said the governor is

more committed to ensuring that his administration provides an enabling environment for all and sundry to thrive in the state, hence, his commitment to providing adequate security in all the nooks and crannies of the state. According to him, the government of the state is aware of the contribution

•(L-R) Member, Osun House of Assembly representing Iwo State Constituency, Honourable Ezekiel Adedibu; Secretary to the Government of Osun, Alhaji Moshood Adeoti; Chairman, All Progressives Congress (APC), Iwo Local Government, Alhaji Semiu Ayofe and Director, Bureau of Communications and Strategy, Office of the Governor, Mr. Semiu Okanlawon, during the thanksgiving and victory party over Governor Rauf Aregbesola’s electoral victory in Iwo, State of Osun, recently.

Osun Tribunal: PDP Is Spreading False Hope - Adebisi By KEHINDE AYANTUNJI

chieftain of All Progressives Congress (APC) from Ede South Local Government Council Area of the State of Osun, Mr Nureen Adebisi, said on Tuesday that the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has no good case at the ongoing Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Osogbo, the state capital. He noted that Governor strong in the state. He said: “ If not God, Rauf Aregbesola’s the PDP-led Federal victory was the victory plan, executed by God, Government used all federal considering what the available electorate went through machineries to illegally before, during and after unseat Aregbesola and the election, saying PDP ensure that people’s wish has no evidence to support does not count but with determination of our party their claim of rigging. PDP candidate, members and resilience Senator Iyiola Omisore, is of the people, the election currently challenging the would have gone re-election of Governor otherwise.” “But we are proud to Rauf Aregbesola, during say that rigging was the August 9, 2014 prevented, as a result of gubernatorial election in political consciousness of the state. Adebisi, while speaking our people; the election with OSUN was free and fair, contrary DEFENDER in Ede, said to the expectations of the PDP members are just PDP, who already had spreading false hope “to rigging plans, which was continue deceiving their resisted by the people”. He described as party members and financiers in Abuja by laughable, the false creating an impression pretence and the decision that their party is still of PDP to challenge the

election in court, despite the transparency of the election, as acknowledge by local and international observers. He added: “No one is contesting the right of PDP to challenge the election, but they knew that they lost woefully and very soon, their false

hope would be soon dashed.” According to him, the success of Governor Aregbesola at the poll was a result of hardwork and commitment to the welfare of the people. He noted that in all the 30 local government council areas, PDP

agents signed the result sheets and acknowledged that it was the wish of the people, saying PDP are just being mischievous. Adebisi therefore urged the Election Petition Tribunal to be just and ensure that justice prevail at the end of its sittings on the matter.

of different groups to the economy of the state and what government can do collectively for all the groups is provide an enabling environment for each one and its members to thrive in their daily legal activities. “Governor Aregbesola is committed to sustaining peaceful co-existence among the teeming populace in the state and would stop at nothing to ensure that our people sleep with their two eyes closed,” he said. He disclosed that the current administration in the state is aware of the support of the various groups in the state during the August 9, 2014 governorship election and would not disregard anyone, particularly as the complaints and recommendation of each group are well-noted for appropriate action. He pledged to give more support to the group, as they are honouring him as their Grand Patron and State Ambassador, saying it was a call to serve the people more. Earlier in the group’s address, its Governor General in the state, Comrade Ayelola Ponle, told the commissioner that the group was also honouring the governor of the state, Ogbeni Aregbesola with the award of Pillar of Music in the state for his giant strides during his first term in office. According to him, the governor has inspired many groups and individuals, including PMAN, which according to him, was reformed in line with the governor’s programme for the state.

Osun NUT Shuts Public Schools By KAZEEM MOHAMMED

OLLOWING the directives of the National Executive of the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT), the State of Osun chapter of the union on Wednesday shut public schools and sent pupils back home. The state government had fixed October 8 for the re-opening of the schools after the holidays, coupled with the postponement of the holiday to provide the Ebola Preventive and Detective Equipment to schools, as well as Eidil-Kabir break. It was gathered that teachers and students were sent back home and

asked to resume on Monday, October 13, 2014 in line with the national headquarters of NUT. The state executive of the union were sighted moving round the schools and carrying out the order of the union. Finding showed that while public schools were shut, private schools across the state

opened for the commencement of a new term, with the usage of infrared thermometers to check both parents and pupils as they filed into the schools. Meanwhile, normal activities have resumed at the state and local government council secretariats after Monday and Tuesday Eid-il-Kabir break, as most civil servants have resumed at their various duty posts. A visit round Osogbo also showed that private offices, shopping malls and commercial banks have opened for their

daily activities. Normal traffic hold-up was experienced in some areas such as Olaiya to Abere, Okefia, Old Garage roads, as the hustle and bustle for work returns. However, attendance at some offices was lower than expected, as some workers were yet to return from their various holiday destinations. A director in one of the ministries, who pleaded anonymity, commended the workers for reporting at their duty posts immediately after the holidays.

OSUN DEFENDER Saturday, October 11, 2014

The War Called The Osun Elections-By Segun Tomori Continued frompg1 I just couldn’t imagine my home State go back to the disastrous “years of the locust”. I had participated actively n the campaigns, interacted with the people, felt their pulse and the story was the same – Osun has never had it so good, the people vowed to defend their votes by all means possible! From that moment I had made up my mind to give my all and put myself at harm’s way if need be to ensure we form a bulwark of resistance against the machinery of State to be deployed to thwart the people’s wish. When I was about to proceed on my journey to Osogbo, the Osun State Capital on Monday preceding the elections I prepared for the worst. Few associates privy to my trip advised strongly that I removed any APC sourvenir from my luggage,any ID card that can associate me with the party amongst other security tips. They were right to be apprehensive, soldiers, officials of the Department of State Security(DSS) including the hooded ones,lorry loads of mobile policemen had since being deployed across the nook and cranny of Osun State. Bearing in mind the desperation of their paymasters, we knew they could stop and search vehicles and abduct anything synonymous with APC, so I took all the precautions. I took off on the journey which in itself was dramatic. As we got close to Oshogbo, a discussion ensued in the bus and I found out I was not alone in the Save-Osun initiative. Most of the passengers shared the same sentiments with me and were also natives of the State. They spoke emotionally and fiercely about their determination to ensure Aregbesola’s victory. Speaker after speaker reeled out programmes and interventions of the Governor that has brought smiles to the faces of the people. They concluded he was the best thing to happen to the State since its creation. The menacing apparatus of State then suffocating the enviroment will not deter them, they thundered! “Ko si ohun ti soja o se, a ma duro gboin gboin lati dibo Aregbe” they said in yoruba dialect meaning “there is nothing Soldiers can do, we will stand firmly to vote for Aregbe”. I thought to myself, we are about to witness mass resistance unequally in our national history if anything go against the people’s will. Hopefully, the soldiers we met on the various check-points didn’t stop and search, they just peeped through the bus windows and passed us on. I heaved a sigh of relief when I arrived Osogbo safely late in the evening. I have attended rallies, mega-rallies , name

it, but what I saw on Tuesday at the grandfinale of the campaign was frightening. A stadium whose capacity can’t be more than 60,000 almost caved in due to pressure from an unprecedented mammoth crowd. Every space on the covered stands were over-filled, the main bowl of the Stadium was virtually unpassable. My associates and I had to hold ourselves to navigate our way through the crowd, it took us about an hour from the entrance of the stadium to find somewhere to perch! Yet thousands more extend to adjoining roads outside the stadium. It was the APC mega-rally and to say it was awesomely mega is an understatement! We even heard that the Lord of Aso-rock caught an instant migraine seeing the magnitude of the rally! The effect of that was seen in the sealing off of the freedom park that was supposed to host workers rally the next day by “hooded soldiers” They got the now familiar, albeit emergency “orders from above” to forcefully if need be halt the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and its affiliates endorsement rally for the Ogbeni. Co-incidentally, Wednesday, 6th August was my birthday but I was in no mood for celebrations of any kind. I told my wellwishers, family and friends that you don’t clink glasses in a battle-front! Interestingly, one of my compatriots who was also a major ‘battle-axe” and good friend’s birthday was 8th August so I told him we’ll do a birthday plus victory party on the 10th, a day after the elections,when we triumph at the polls. We know we had the people behind us, we never gave defeat a thought! By Thursday, preparations had reached feverish pitch, the towns, hamlets and villages was now massively flowing with uniformed men of all hues and shades. Some DSS operatives came to the restaurant we were having dinner, Thursday evening, apparently on surveillance mission. We got the message and we left in a jiffy! On our way to our location, we noticed a car trailing us, so we had to take a decoy to a bar. As we turned to the bar, the car also turned in another direction. Their mission still remains a mystery. Thank God for little mercies! When we arrived our abode, we swung into action to put finishing touches to our masterplan which was to run a co-ordinated and effective live broadcast of the elections on social and online media in collaboration with the APC situation room which was to start from Friday evening till the announcement of the results on Sunday. This was necessary because leaking the plans of our devious opponents was key to frustrate their rigging machinery; announcing results online as we get it directly from our agents was also crucial to frustrate any manipulation at the collation level. By Friday afternoon, I had to tactically

separate from my friends who then proceeded to a high security location. The curfew was going to start around 5-6pm. By 4pm, I arrived at my own secure location and quickly moved to set up. I surveyed the enviroment to assess the possible threat level. I saw that it was negligible so I settled down for the task ahead. By Friday evening we got intelligence report that notorius election rigger, Chris Uba was in town with a unit of 50 soldiers attached to him. We sent that out and made sure it went viral. Later that night, information about the arrest of our leaders ranging from APC Publicity Secretary, lai Mohammed, the Attorney-general Of Osun State, barr. Wale Afolabi, Tinubu’s Special Adviser on media, Mr Sunday are, Commissioner for Agric among others were swiftly publicised with dispatch. The farreaching effect of the noise we made contributed in no small measure to the release of most of those picked up by Saturday morning. We discovered by Saturday morning that fake soldiers and policemen had surfaced in many locations. Their logo was a red ankara tied to their left hand. Quickly we activated our instant alert to our people,through all means possible. That again thwarted efforts to manipulate the elections from the beginning. The elections started peacefully however in most locations with accreditation going on smoothly. The only snag was the continued harassment of APC leaders across the State. The case of the 1st Civilian Governor of Osun State, Alhaji Isiaka Adeleke was quite instructive. After failing to assasinate him over-night due to resistance by his security aides, he was trailed from the polling unit to his mother’s residence where he went after accreditation. He escaped the siege by the whisker after he was discreetly notified. He couldn’t come back to exercise his franchise. The results started trickling in by afternoon and the PDP demolition squad sensing their rejection quickly switched to a plan B to disrupt the collation process. We instantly alerted the public about their norturnal meeting and evil plot. What really helped the APC apart from the determination of the people was our access to classified information. We were always a step ahead of them and that frustrated the election riggers. I got an anonymous call from a patroitic police officer around 8pm who claimed he was at a location at modakeke and that results being collated was about to be altered. You could detect the fear in his voice as he asked me to ensure his cover. He was an igbo officer deployed from other states, he wasn’t familiar with the terrain but what was gratifying that there could still be few men of integrity in the corruption-ridden Nigeria Police Force. In order to confirm the authenticity of his Statement, I asked the Apapa Local Government Chairman who was with me to speak to him. He sounded credible, he concluded. So I made some calls to

the authorities and sent text message to our men to act immediately. Before 11pm, we already had all the results and we had won, though unofficially. What sealed the deal for us and put paid to any manipulation the PDP had in stock was the unexpected congratulation of Aregbesola as the winner of the election around 9.40pm by the Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuade. Omisore according to our sources had already informed Aso-rock that there was fighting in his home-town of Ile-Ife because according to him, the results we were circulating were fake and he was actually leading in the “original” results. The Ooni swiftly debunked that, not only congratulated the Governorelect, but also stated that nobody was fighting in Ife! That took the sail out of the wind of Omisore and his treacherous gang. If we thought the threats have been subdued, we were in for a shocker! The returning officer whose task it is to announce the final result was under pressure to collect a whooping N1b and announce Omisore winner! They were ready to damn the consequences and ask us to go to court. So we had to practically go on our knees! I salute the indefatigable people of Osun State, they were resolute, they stood like a rock, stayed on the streets all through and formed a human shield around the collation centre. Then the returning officer came in around 1.35pm. The results of all the local governments were announced before 5am. Then we now witnessed dilly-dallying of the highest order. It got to a point around 7am, anxious journalists and people started singing asking for the results. Lo and Behold, at about 7.10am, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola was finally pronounced the winner! There was instant jubilation across the nook and cranny of Oshogbo. Never in the history of elections have I seen such spontaneous excitement pervade the landscape because of results announcement. Within the twinkle of an eye, the whole town went agog with people clutching their brooms- symbol of the Governor’s party, congratulating themselves, okada riders driving menacingly in such euphoric ecstasy and finally we could say hurray! We won! We didn’t win an election, we won a WAR with a stone like the biblical david. Goliath came to battle with the best arsenal at his disposal but we came with the will of a determined people that vowed that never again shall they go the road of perdition they once trodded. Who says the voice of the people is not the voice of God? Because ultimately the hand of the Almighty saved the day and gave us victory. Osun ti dara ooooooo. Segun Tomori

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

FEATURE

OSUN DEFENDER Saturday, October 11, 2014

The Questions About Terrorist And Terrorism Continued from Saturday October 4, 2014 edition O understand the justificatory basis of the Boko Haram terrorist group in Nigeria, one must first understand that Islam, traditionally, is in one sense a religion, a system of belief and worship; and in another sense, the civilisation that grew up and flourished under the aegis of that religion. Thus, the term ‘Islam’ denotes more than fourteen centuries of history, a billion and a third people, and a religious and cultural tradition of enormous diversity. Islam actually became prominent and represented the leading civilisation in the world during the interlude between the decline of the ancient civilisation of Greece and Rome and the rise of modern western civilisation of Europe. Historically, the rise of European civilisation eclipsed the prominence of Islam hence the tendency among Muslim to see western civilisation and all of its trappings as evil and America as its bastion. This tendency had always been reflected in many of the pronouncements made by Osama bin Laden, especially in his videotape of October 7, 2001 where he alluded to the “humiliation and disgrace” that Islam has suffered for “more than eighty years.” Like every nation or religion, the Muslim peoples are aware of their history, they are shaped by it and their awareness dates back to the advent of Islam. Islam, as far back as the time of Muhammad, developed a strong interface between it and the state with Muhammad assuming the headship of both, thereby uniting them under one inseparable authority. Islam therefore offers religious truth and political power that are indissolubly associated: the first sanctified the second, the second sustained the first. While the idea of a nation based on religion belief or theocracy may seem anachronistic, it is not so to Islam and its adherents. As a matter of fact, Islam does not accept any separation between religion and state because governments’ claim to legitimacy and authority to rule are derived from the Muslims’ Quran and the peoples’ submission to the religious dogmas makes them equally subservient to the rulers in authority over them. This is basically the linkage between religion and terrorism in Islamic world. Throughout the Muslim world there is widespread bitterness not only against America but against believers of other religions especially Christianity. This bitterness has bred an atmosphere that is highly conducive to extremism. The present crisis of religious terrorism must be understood within the rubric of the process of modernisation. It is a historical fact that Islam had once been a religion of success. Within the first hundred years after the death of Prophet Muhammad in 632 AD, the Muslims had conquered and had control over a territory that extended from the Himalayas to the Pyrenees. By the 15th century, Islam had become the greatest world power, not dissimilar to the US today. However, the expansionist programme of the Western powers which coincided with the great Western transformation started a competition with Islam everywhere they went, from the Middle East, to India, Persia, Southeast Asia, China and Japan. In the 16th century, when Europe was in the early stages of its transformation into world power, the Ottoman Empire which ruled Turkey, virtually the whole of the Middle East and North Africa was probably the most powerful state in the world, perhaps more powerful than any single state in Europe. With the reformation of the military, economic and political structures of the European powers, the Islamic nations T

•SHEKAU By TUNDE AGARA were not able to withstand their incursion into territories once controlled by Islam. In 1798 Napoleon defeated the reigning Muslim Mamelukes of Egypt, a stronghold of Islam in Northern Africa. Other Muslim strongholds soon fell to the military supremacy of the Western nations such that between 1830 and 1915, the European powers have effectively ousted Muslim occupation but not the Islamic religion and imposed Western rule in occupied Algeria, Aden, Tunisia, Sudan, Libya and Morocco. Like all Western colonies, these states were exploited as sources for raw materials which fed European industries. Perhaps the most tragic was Egypt which was saddled with the responsibility of providing the funding, materials, labour and 200 square miles of its territory for the building of the Suez Canal. The profits and shares of this project were held and appropriated exclusively by Europeans. This cost outlay of this project eventually bankrupted Egypt and this gave Britain an excuse to set up a military occupation there in 1882. While the evil effects of colonialism were not exclusive to the Muslim nations alone, the nations of the Middle East had always have autocratic rulers which had not provided them with the conditions to fully develop a democracy and modernise along the lines of their closest neighbours in Europe. Thus, in the Muslim nations, modernity did not bring freedom and independence rather; it came in a context of political subjection. The baton of power shifted after World War II with the relegation of Britain and France to secondary powers and the emergence of America as the leader of the Western world. Just like the nations of Africa, Asia and Latin America, although the Islamic

countries were no longer colonies but were nominally independent, America still controlled their destinies. During the Cold War, for instance, the United States sought allies in the region by supporting unsavoury governments and unpopular leaders, largely to protect its oil interests. Many Muslims resented America for its support of unpopular rulers such as President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, the Saudi royal family and the State of Israel. In their frustration, many have abandoned Westernisation and adopted religious fundamentalism as an acceptable alternative. Fundamentalism therefore represents their rejection of western secularism and modernism. Every fundamentalist movement and this is not peculiar to Islam alone, is convinced that the modern, secular society is anti the true faith and religious values. Fundamentalists therefore tend to downplay the compassionate teachings of their faith and overemphasise the more belligerent passages in their article of faith. However, fundamentalism in every religion tends to be localised initially; that is, their fiery passion is usually turned against co-believers whom they viewed as not being pious enough or as having watered down the religious values. Initial confrontation is therefore intra-religion. This explains some of the actions of Boko Haram against other Muslims, a glaring example being the burning of mosques, and the killing of Muslims like the assassination of the Emir of Gwoza. It is only at a later stage that fundamentalists export their religious fervency and confronts foreign enemies that are seen as behind the evil and non-acceptance of the faith by their people. The change in the nature and character of these recent religious crises, violence and terrorism from the earlier holy wars fought by Mohammed and later by his generals can

only be accounted for as responses to contemporary theme in the world’s political and social life: globalisation. Modern day religious acts of terrorism, whether local or international, in a sense, are statements of resentment against modernity and globalisation. The clerics and leaders resent the western-style modernity that secular globalisation is imposing on them. At the local level, believers in other faiths and religious values are seen as the impostors while at the international level, western nations and in particular America, are seen as the main culprits. The US role in creating a ‘new world order’ of globalisation and forcing it on other nations especially the Third World has created a sinister image of the United States. In certain respect, this distrust of globalisation is justified for the great imbalance and distortions which it has engendered in the political, social, cultural and economic lives of the nations. A major factor in the justification calculus is the role played by the religious clerics or Imams (teachers) whose sanctioning or blessing of terrorism is of critical importance, at least, to the Shi’a and Sunni Muslim perpetrators. Ayatollah Khomeini’s fatwa (a legal ruling or order issued by mufti; a qualified jurist at the request of religious court) on Salman Rushdie in 1989 and the fatwa by Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman obtained by the Sunni bombers who bombed the New York City’s World Trade Centre in 1993 are pointers to this fact. The implication of the role played by these Muslim clerics is to spiritualise violence thereby giving religious violence a remarkable power. Thus, in Nigeria, it should not be any wonder why most cases of religious terrorism happened spontaneously after the Fridays’ Jumat prayers when the Muslims would have been incited by the clerics in the mosques. Closely linked to this is the role played by the madrassa (an Arabic term meaning ‘school’). The Nigerian experience has shown that majority of the street urchins used for perpetrating religious violence in parts of Northern Nigeria are madrassa-educated. Madrassa, therefore, offers an avenue for propagating the ideology of religious exclusiveness, hatred and irrationality apart from providing sources of breeding, training and preparing future terrorists. In the July 2004 report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (the 9-11 Commission), madrassas were described as “incubators of violent extremism.” The Secretary of Defence, David Rumsfeld, in October 2003, has been reported as wondering if “we are capturing, killing or deterring and dissuading more terrorists every day than madrassas and the radical clerics are recruiting, training and deploying against us?” Going by the experience in Nigeria, madrassas are veritable sources and instruments for training people to be suicide killers and violent extremists, a kind of hate factories. The process of rote learning of the entire Quran with its fiery admonition to kill the “people of the Book” can only breed hatred and solidify obedience to authority of the Imams whose claim to legitimacy is derived from the same Qur’an. Thus, in any claim to combat terrorism, the relevance and the socio-political role played the madrassas cannot be ignored, at least, to the extent that they constitute a domestic problem. Only by recognising the roles of madrassas in producing terrorists capable of carrying out major attacks can Nigeria and the world shape more effective policies and strategies to ensure national and global security.

Continued on page 10

OSUN DEFENDER Saturday, October 11, 2014

FEATURE

The Questions About Terrorist And Terrorism Continued from page 6 Deriving from the above, a plethora of reasons can be deduced for why Islam inspired and motivated terrorist groups like Boko Haram has emerged. In summary therefore, we could deduced that the eclipse of Islam as a world power coupled with the displacement of Islam by western civilisation was not a happy occurrence for the Muslims. This was compounded by the presence of the infidel nation, America, in most of the Muslim nations especially in Saudi Arabia where most of the holy relics of the religion are located. In addition to this is the feeling that American presence and influence had resulted in the eroding of Muslim fundamentalism and adherence to the tenets of Islam. More important is the fact that America’s presence and military capability has been used to shore up autocratic regimes such as the Saudi government whose claim to Islam are in doubt because of their acceptance of western beliefs and way of life are seen as unacceptable. However, in Nigeria, other factors have added to these ones. Prominent is the Qur’an injunction to kill non-believers if they refuse to be converted and the urge to continue the jihad even in this modern day. The psychological belief of superiority, Islam being the superior religion, made all other religions inferior and their practitioners included. The Al Qaeda has not only emerged as the leading religious terrorist organisation in recent times, but also its ideology and modus operandi have had effects on other organisations such as the Boko Haram. Who are the Terrorists? A major misconception is to think of terrorists as the down-trodden of the earth, the disenfranchised and marginalised, illiterate and uneducated people in the society. This misconception is as a result of the fact that terrorism has been more frequently associated with violence committed by the politically disenfranchised and marginalised people in the society seeking for political accommodation in their society. Even at time, the examples of revolutionaries such as Walter Rodney (a University lecturer), Che Guevara, Frantz Fanon (a medical doctor) have shown that political revolutionaries are well educated citizens. The findings from a research conducted by two scholars, Bergen and Pandey into the background of the 79 terrorists responsible for five of the worst antiwestern terrorist attacks in recent times – the World Trade Centre bombing in 1993, the African embassy bombings in 1998, the 9/11 attack, the Bali nightclub bombings in 2002 and the London bombings on July 7, 2005 revealed that more than half of the group had university education, two with doctoral degrees and two working for their doctoral degrees. Of the sample, 48% were western educated and 58% had science and technical degrees. According to them, engineering was the most popular subject studied by terrorists in their sample. They concluded from their findings that there is a strong correlation between technical education and terrorism, thereby suggesting that perpetrating large-scale [terrorist] attacks requires not only a college [university] education but also a facility with technology. As it relates to leaders and perpetrators of religious terrorism, a similar trend in terms of their social and educational backgrounds can be discerned. Of course, it is a popular knowledge that Osama bin Laden was an American trained engineer from a very wealthy Saudi family. His deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri is a surgeon from a distinguished Egyptian family. Ali

Mohammed, Al Qaeda’s long time military trainer, was a former Egyptian army major with a degree in psychology who started work on his doctoral degree in Islamic history before moving to America in the mid-1980s. Others are equally well educated and held white-collar jobs before joining Al Qaeda. Nigeria’s own export and claim to international terrorism, 23 years old Umar AbdulMutallab, is from a wealthy family, educated and well travelled. According to Sanni Shehu the former leader of Boko Haram, Abubakar Lawan, left for further studies at the University of Medina thereby paving the way for Mallam Muhammad Yusuf who was described as being brilliant and a civil servant with Yobe State government. As Sanni Shehu had stated, Boko Haram under the leadership of Yusuf, was able to attract membership from the families of the high and mighty in Borno State. In fact, at a point, one of the sons of the former Secretary to the State government in one of the state of the north east region was a member of this group. Many other members of prominent families from Borno and Yobe states reportedly join or later became sympathetic to his cause and supported it financially. Certainly, those who bombed the Christian place of worship in Bayero University in Kano are not street urchins; those arrested by the police have been found to be students of the same university. The arrested alleged leader of the Boko Haram group in Kogi state is said to be a lecturer in the state's owned university. All these are facts that negate the argument made popular by political advisers and the mass media that religious terrorists are recruited from the madrassa and hence they are street urchins without education. This either merely shows their naivety and ignorance of the Arabic educational system or a grand attempt at obfuscating the truth. The form which madrassas take may vary from country to country. For instance, they can be a day or boarding school, a school with a general curriculum, or a purely religious school attached to a mosque. In Nigeria, it is deemed appropriate for these students to be taught and later released to the street to beg for food both for themselves and their masters. The act of begging in itself is geared towards a purpose, to enable the Muslim adherents an opportunity to fulfil one of the tenets of their religion, which is alms giving. Whatever form it takes, a certain type of

education is offered such as the exclusive and rote learning of the Qur'an and by their standard, the students enrolled in these madrassas are intelligent, educated and cannot be called illiterate except by western standard. The fact that madrassas serve as avenue for recruitment, a source of steady supply, inculcation of hate and irrationality to the students cannot be denied. Several questions have always been asked concerning the mind set of terrorists. For instance, what kind of person becomes a terrorist? What kind of people will wantonly desire and rejoice in the destruction and killing of other people? Are they religious fanatics or ideologues? Is there even any way to tell who would likely become a terrorist? This last question concerns the attempt by psychologists and sociologists to identify the traits most commonly related to willingness to either join or become a terrorist. It is believed that if these traits can be identified, it then becomes possible to predict, identify and hence prevent the emergence of terrorist groups. A psychologist, Hacker, has offered three categories of persons who commit terrorism and these are "crazies, criminals and crusaders." According to him, the 'crazies' are emotionally disturbed individuals who are driven to commit terrorism by reasons of their own that often do not make sense to anybody else. The 'criminals' perform terrorist acts for more easily understood reasons: personal gains. These transgressed the law of the society being in full control of their faculties and senses and both their motives and goals for doing so can be clearly understood by everybody even though it is deplorable to us. The 'crusaders' commit terrorist acts because they seek not personal gain, but prestige and power for a collective cause. Like the 'crazies' their reasons for doing this are often unclear both to themselves and others, their ultimate goals are even frequently less understandable. They commit these acts because they believe that they are serving a higher cause. The basic difference in the mindsets of these three types is very clear. For instance, the criminal does what he does with anticipation that he will live to enjoy the reward of his illegality whereas, the crusader will be more willing to blow himself up along with his targets or victims because their service carries the assurance of a greater reward in the

hereafter. The crusader is always a well trained professional, disciplined, obedient and committed to the cause. They are not ready to negotiate any resolution because such action is viewed as a betrayal of the cause and there is little the negotiator can offer because the crusader does not desire any personal gain or safe passage out of the situation. Their belief in the cause and justification of their action makes death not a penalty but a path to glory and a greater reward than can be offered here on earth by either the negotiator or government. The search for a terrorist personality or mindset that would act as a common denominator is legitimate but may prove futile. However, this has not dissuaded profilers from embarking on this journey. One of such forensic profilers O'Balance has offered one of such profiles of a successful terrorist. He identified certain characteristics such as (1) Dedication which implies being a 'fedayeen', a man willing and ready to sacrifice everything for the cause. Dedication also implies absolute obedience to the leader of the group. (2) Personal bravery which includes the possibility of death, injury, imprisonment or even tortured. (3) Devoid of human emotions of pity or remorse. This is necessary because most of the victims of terrorist attacks are made up of innocent victims; men, women and children, who are not in any way related to the cause but who he must be prepared to kill without hesitation in pursuit of the cause. (4) Fairly high standard of intelligence. As have been noted, many recruits into the terrorist group have above average western education. This is necessary because they are expected to collect, collate and assess information, devise and put into effect complex plans and evade police, security forces and other hostile forces. (5) Fairly high degree of sophistication. This is particularly essential because terrorists are expected to mingle with the most sophisticated crowd without standing out. (6) Reasonably well educated and possess a fair share of general knowledge. So, looking for terrorists among the down trodden and the illiterate is pathetic. At best, they may offer support and safe haven for the terrorists but policy makers should look for their terrorists among the educated masses; students and lecturers alike, the wealthy who financed them and intelligentsia sympathisers. To be continued

PHOTOTALK

OSUN DEFENDER Saturday, October 11, 2014

Public Schools In The State Of Osun Resumed For The New Academic Session Last Wednesday Before Nigerian Union Of Teachers (NUT) Executives Ordered Them To Photo: GBENGA ADENIYI. Go Back Home.

•Some of the public school public of Ataoja School of Science coming down from Omoluabi Scholar bus.

•A cross section of Salvation Army Middle School, Osogbo pupils.

• •A cross section of Osogbo Grammar School pupils.

PHOTOTALK

OSUN DEFENDER Saturday, October 11, 2014

Private Schools In The State Of Osun Resumed For The New Academic Session Last Wednesday. Photo: GBENGA ADENIYI.

•A cross section of Muslim Nursery and Primary Schools at Ataoja Estate, Osogbo.

•A pupil of Olive Branches School washing his hand because of Ebola virus.

•A pupil and teacher of Muslim Nursery and Primary School performing the Ebola virus prevention.

FEATURE

•AREGBESOLA

OSUN DEFENDER Saturday, October 11, 2014

•OMISORE

Osun Election Tribunal: No Backdoor Victory “EVEN now there were many good men who aspired to nothing beyond a seat in Congress, a gubernatorial or a presidential chair, such belong to the family of the lion, or the tribe of the eagle. Such honours were not enough for men of ambition and talents. These routine offices would not satisfy an Alexander, a Ceasar, or a Napoleon, from whom the greates danger to popular government must be expected..” These statements were made by Abraham Lincoln, one of the Presidents and a man that ended slavery in America, while discussing his ambition with the people. In the next few days, legal fireworks at the Osun Election Tribunal would begin and it is expected that both the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) would give account of the governorship election held on August 9, 2014. So far, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has made available all necessary electoral materials to the parties in dispute over the result of the election. However, the PDP, in a bid to win by crook or hook, has been feeding the public with tissues of lies about the ballot papers and other related materials, with the sole intention to biase the minds of the general public against the victory of APC candidate and governor-elect, Ogbeni Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola. The first kite from the opposition was the fasle press statement ditched out on the suspension of two electoral officers by the INEC; while it was true that the two officers were suspended, the PDP blackmail against the APC was the alleged conspiracy between the officers and the victorious party. The desperate PDP was indeed the guilty party over the voting materials that were impounded at Ibokun, headquarters of Obokun Local

By YOMI OBADITAN

Government Council Area of the state, on the eve of the election, when members of the public raised alarm over the diversion of electoral materials by INEC staff. The people themselves raised an alarm before security men arrested and impounded both the vehicle and the suspects. Almost all the newspapers reported the urgly incidence. Only for the PDP to turn around after the election, accusing the APC for the offence, which it committed. Just few days ago, the desperate PDP was at its faslehood game again, calling wolves, where there is none, over the inspection and photocopying of electoral materials used for the said election. The parties at the tribunal were earlier granted an order to inspect the materials as a pre- trial procedure; a legitimate exercise. Apart from the initial exchange of blows by some of the agents of the parties at the INEC office over the said materials; as the PDP alledgedly declined the video recording of the proceedings, peace eventually prevailed after the eletoral umpire had stepped in. Napoleon, the Emperor of France was notoriously noted for being ambitiously power hungry, but the kind of power that he sought was not for the benefit of the people, but simply for self-aggrandizement. Napoleon eventually ruined himself over power without genuine responsibility. The PDP and its flagbearer are desperately seeking for power, but the fact remains that the people have spoken and they have spoken well. They have given their mandate to the incumbent governor, because of his superlative performance in his first four years of administration. For almost eight years that PDP was in the saddle of governance in the State of Osun,there was little or nothing to

refer to as achievement. But on the other hand, the same cannot be said of the current regime, as the state has been turned around in almost every facet, and works are still in progress despite the limited resources available for the government. The Federal government under President Goodluck Jonathan has not been encouraging enough. Instead of giving a helping hands by allocating more funds for the state, the state allocation has now been reduced from N4.6 billion monthly to N2.5 billion as at August, when we went for the election. The opposition in the state takes delight in the reduction in the monthly allocation by boasting to the public that they were the ones behind the reduction, a statement of lies, as the reduction in the monthly allocation is more of a general malady due to the flimsy excuse that the crude oil theft activities were negatively affecting the revenue acruing to the Federal Government. This lame excuse is untenable as the Federal Government has been paying ex-militia leaders millions of dollars for oil pipeline safety, despite the presence of Nigerian security outfits at the same oil fields. The claim by Iyiola Omisore and his party that they discovered fake ballot papers and unmarked materials among the APC used ballot papers was another white lie. While their first accusation that electoral officers were suspended for conspiring with the APC was debunked by the electoral umpire, the PDP failed to apologise to the nation that it had misinformed the public till date. This second lies has also blown up in the face of the losers, who want to secure victory through the back door, yet they are claiming that their mandate was stolen. Stolen mandate! By who? The people of Osun have rejected the impostors, who had earlier relied on the Federal Government and its coercive forces to rob the state of good governance. The

people stood against over 100,000 security personnel, masked men and snifing dogs all over. The people voted with gun pointing at their backs, further resisting, when a Major General in the Nigerian Army was in the state to ensure victory for the PDP and its candidate at all cost. The people stood their ground against money for votes. Some collected and voted for the incumbent, others collected and ran away from the state and those who kept their own shares within the PDP are currently at logger heads, as the centre could no longer hold for the desperate party. In an ideal state, the Police should have by now been busy prosecuting those that were involved in buying voters’ cards and other related electoral offences, in accordance with the Electoral Act. But the men and women, who are being paid from our taxes, pretended as if nothing happened. That explained why we remain infantile as a nation after 54 years of independence. That is why a man who knew that not until ten years after his impeachment, he could not re-contest, would ignore the provision of the law, only to turn thugs to descrate the temple of justice. The PDP must conduct itself in a modest way as the Tribunal resumes hearing of its petition in the name of peace and progress. The parties before the Tribunal must allow the law to take its course. We must not transfer the hooliganism that Fayose and his electoral thugs displayed in Ado Ekiti to Osun. Just as we said before the election in Osun that Osun is different from Ekiti, we must keep it in our minds as the Tribunal continue its duties.

FEATURE

OSUN DEFENDER Saturday, October 11, 2014

God’s Rules Are Not Arbitrary BITTERNESS is an attitude of anger and resentment over what appears to be a justified grievance. The bitter person often is intent on getting revenge but instead he/she may eventually get ulcer, a hypercritical attitude, and rejection from others who don’t enjoy being around bitter people. Most often, the person who suffers most from bitterness is the one who clings to this attitude and looks for opportunities to get even, that is why the Holy Bible warns against letting bitterness take root because this can “cause trouble and defile many!” (Heb 12:15) In this contemporary world, it is to bitter when life appears to be unjust. For instance, when a relative dies of Ebola, a friend dies of cancer, a young person is killed in a senseless manner by a triggerhappy police officer, a child is born handicapped, a community is attacked by Boko-Haram sect, when one’s father is knocked down by a hit-and-run driver while jogging or when one’s teenage daughters are kidnapped for more than 170 days, it is common to wonder why? “Why did this happen?” “Why do bad things happen to good people?” Why do some bad people seem to get away with their sinful actions, without getting caught or stopped” For donkey years, men have struggled with questions like these and their answers, at best are incomplete. Even in the Holy Bible, David in Psalm73 wondered if God had forgotten his people and let them almost slip away, while arrogant non-believers appeared to have prosperity, health, callous attitude to selfcentered pride and freedom from the burdens that most of us face. In time there will be fair and perfect justice, but in the meantime, we suffer and we ask one another why. However, we must know that we suffer in part because we belong to a fallen human race and as long as we live in a fallen world, we will suffer from its fallen condition. There are also times when pain comes because of our own actions. Sometimes it is easy to be careless, irresponsible or negligent in caring for one another and later experience the consequences. Even when we don’t feel personally

“Labbaika Allahumma Labbaik” (Here I am at your service, O Allah! Here I am at your service),

N the occasion of this year’s hajj O pilgrimage, the Muslim Public Affairs Centre congratulates the pilgrims, who travelled to Makkah and Madina this year to perform the ceremonies of the Hajj. Hajj consists of several rites, which are meant to symbolize the essential concepts of the Islamic faith, and to commemorate the trials and triumph of Prophet Abraham and his family. The Qur’an describes Prophet Abraham (AS) as follows: “Surely Abraham was an example, obedient to Allah, by nature upright, and he was not of the polytheists. He was grateful for Our bounties. We chose him and guided him unto a right path. We gave him good in this world, and in the next he will most surely be among the righteous.” (Surah AnNahl:120-121) The performance of Hajj is a significant milestone in every Muslim’s life and those whom Allah has favoured to perform Hajj and ‘Umrah should be thankful to Allah (glorified and exalted be He) Who has chosen them from among His servants to perform these acts of worship. Also, they should continue to implore

•JONATHAN By JOHN TOSIN AJIBOYE responsible, suffering apparently comes to help us grow and mature. For instance, history has shown that most developed nations of today have passed through trying times before they become a force to be reckon with in the committee of nations having overcome their challenges. In the same vein, problems refine (our) faith, and produce perseverance and character. Suffering enables us to understand and care effectively for others. People in their suffering sometimes conclude that “God must be punishing me” but such a conclusion is at best based on shaky theological evidence. There’s a story of a man who buys a car and receives the owner’s guide that tells about the car’s care. The manual warns

him against driving when a red light goes on, telling the engine is low on oil. Three months later, the red light comes on. But he is in a hurry, muttering to himself that he would not be restricted by rules imposed by the manufacturer. He would do it his way. Eventually, the car broke down because the overheated pistons became fused into cylinder block. Now the questions are; is this the manufacturer’s judgment on the owner of the car? Or is it a result the owner brought on himself by neglecting simple instruction given by the manufacturer? In regard to this short story, God’s rules are not arbitrary rules made to restrict us. They are designed to make our lives healthier and our environment happier, loving and peaceful. (That is why most of the countries’ constitutions can be traced to the Bible). When the laws are

broken, people are harmed, including some innocent people. When a sin is confessed, the sinner is forgiven but often the result of that sin (the hurt lives, the maimed bodies, the destroyed properties, the broken marriages, the pin in innocent victims etc.) may continue to affect the sin’s victims. From the human perspective, this is not fair, and we cannot know for certain why people suffer. We do know however, that bitterness and an attitude of revenge don’t make things better. We also know that God is compassionate, all wise, all knowing, absolutely just and ever present. Therefore, it is not struggle with why questions but the ultimate answer, however, is not likely to be found in intellectual debate. It comes from a willingness of all of us (questionnaire and prospective answer’s giver) to acknowledge the certain truth that the sovereign, compassionate God of the universe is aware of our problems and He is in control. He knows why, and He will intervene at the appropriate time because it is Him that makes everything beautiful. As Nigeria marks her 54th Independence anniversary, Nigerians must eschew bitterness and imbibe a forgiven spirit and turn away from our evil ways. Boko Haram members must all lay down their arms, release and bring back our girls and give peace a chance. Nigeria Armed Forces must pardon the soldiers that are guilty of mutiny and at the same time, equipped the gallant soldiers in the battle field well so as to boost their morale. Politicians on their part, must play the political game according to the rules and election must not be turned to a do-or-die affair, most especially as we are preparing for 2015 general elections. The religious leaders must not cease to be praying for the peace of our country. They must also strive not to lose their savour and radiance knowing that they are like salt and light in the community. May God bless Nigeria Happy 54th Independence Anniversary •Ajiboye, a seminarian, wrote in from Ikorodu, Lagos.

Hajj: The Call Of Abraham By DISU KAMOR

Almighty Allah to accept their good deeds and acts of worship. That is very important, for it reflects their belief that being so favoured by Allah to accomplish the task of travelling to the Sacred Land to perform Hajj and ‘Umrah is a favour that deserves gratitude. Hajj, as the Prophet (SAW) said in the hadith, purifies sins and makes a person who performs it with all sincerity like a newborn and thus closer to Allah. During the Hajj, Muslims strive toward the ideal of equality and unity among all people regardless of class, ethnicity, tribalism or financial status. On the occasion of the day of Arafat in 632CE, prophet Muhammad (SAW) declared in his final sermon that; “All mankind is from Adam and Eve, an Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab nor a non-Arab has any superiority over an Arab; also a white has no superiority over black nor a black has any superiority over white except by piety and good action.” It is therefore important for the pilgrims to try their best to preserve

this pure state as best as they can. They, as well as all Muslims, can preserve this state by being consistent in dhikr, for dhikr helps us to come closer to the Lord and repels Shaytan. Remaining steadfast in performing salah and other religious duties. Reading and pondering the Qur’an on a daily basis. Carrying the message of Islam by inviting people to it and showing a good example in all our deeds as Allah says in the Qur’an “It is not their meat nor their blood that reaches Allah; it is your piety that reaches Him.” (Surah Al-Hajj: 37). Keeping company with righteous Muslims and praying to Allah to make our hearts steadfast in obeying Him alone in the manner of the Prophet (). We can all remember the hadith that explains the sign of an accepted Hajj—a Hajj mabroor—that a person after Hajj becomes more caring about the hereafter and less interested in the pleasures of this life. We therefore urge the pilgrims, after they return from the Sacred Land, to keep their minds and souls attached to Allah in the open and in secret, remembering Him constantly because

Almighty Allah says,*”And when ye have completed your devotions, then remember Allah as ye remember your fathers or with a more lively remembrance…”* (Surah Al-Baqarah: 200) The ‘Eid The ‘Eid observance after the rites of Hajj commemorates the willingness of the prophet Abraham (AS) to bow to the will of Almighty Allah and sacrifice his son. It is a reflection of the greatness and depth of Abraham’s obedience to God. As we follow on the footsteps of the Prophets, MPAC rejoices with all Muslims across the world at the celebration of this years’ Eid and enjoins the spirit of sacrifice in our conducts and in the practice of our faith. A willingness to make sacrifices in our lives in order to stay on the Straight Path. Thanks and ma’a salaam. •Disu is the Executive Chairman, Muslim Public Affairs Centre, MPAC, Nigeria.

OSUN DEFENDER Saturday, October 11, 2014

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FEATURE

OSUN DEFENDER Saturday, October 11, 2014

Aregbesola's 'Street Credibility' On Sallah Day M

USLIMS the world over have celebrated Eidul-Adha (or Ileya) with various activities wrapped in it. Top on the activities was the slaughtering and sharing of the sacrificial ram, according to the injunctions of God. And of course, this aspect of the celebration must not be done until after the Eid prayer has been performed; and the Grand Imam, who leads such prayer have said the Khutbah or special sermon, which is also a vital aspect of the special prayer. Something significant here is the fact that the Ileya festival, as the biggest festive period for Muslims, is usually set aside for various activities involving relations from various places around the world. That was why the Oke-Baale, Osogbo Eid prayer ground was filled with lots of people; including a large number of them, who traveled home from outside the state for the annual celebration, thus making it the most crowded annually by Muslim faithful. As the governor of the state, Governor Rauf Aregbesola, an Ilesa indigine, was among the very large mammoth congregation of Muslim faithful, who lined up behind the Acting Chief Imam of Osogbo to observe the Eid prayer, his wife and •The governor, State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola (2nd right); the Ataoja of Osogbo, Oba Jimoh Olanipekun (right); Aree Musulumi of Yorubaland, Chief Tunde Badmus (2nd left) and Senator Bayo Salami. children also made it at the venue. After the two rounds of prayers and the sermon by the Imam, Governor Aregbesola addressed the people, urging them to imbibe the lessons of the sacrifice of Prophet Ibrahim, who exhibited commitment to the worship of his Lord and obedience to His commandments. He explained that the reward of such virtues manifested the world over in the fact that Prophet Ibrahim is celebrated across all faiths. After addressing them, one would ordinarily expect the people to be eager to return home to commence the next aspects of the festival, particularly the slaughtering and sharing of rams. Rather, the people started to push and shove along the exit of the Eid ground, as governor stepped down from the rostrum, where he had addressed them. Everybody wanted to get a close glimpse of Aregbesola. It was the best public appearance of the governor, where he got this close to the people eight weeks after they gave him their mandate the second time. So, every appeal and cordon of security operatives around the governor could not deter the people from greeting the Ogbeni, who also expressed high enthusiasm •The governor, State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola acknowledging cheers from crowd on his arrival at Osogbo Central Eid towards them. Right up the length of about ground last Saturday. five kilometer stretch from Oke Baale to ItaAregbesola, who had come close then. It the regulars’, I was all out to record such Olookan, Osogbo, the people swam upon By ADEBAYO MABAYOJE was striking when a middle-aged woman, striking sceneries. the convoy of the governor. The vehicles The leader of the kids, Lekan, suggested moved within human step or stride. So from governor. It was spontaneous and by the name Sharafatu of Ogidi Compound, to his peers; a popular children genre of the house-to-house, street-to-streets (along the memorable. Each street tried to outdo the Osogbo, told me that she organised a feast campaign jingle of Aregbesola during the way) people trooped out as Mr Governor, other in expressions of love for and that Sunday evening after Aregbesola was last governorship election in the state. The who stood out from the open-roof of his acceptance of the Ogbeni. They lined up declared winner. She told me why: “Haa ! I boy moved the song and his folks chorused drums and played them by the roadsides, cooked for my friends and customers in Ede. “…e di’bo fun Aregbesola gomina vehicle, acknowledged cheers from them. Most noticeable among these happy as Aregbesola asked his motorcade to stop, We were very happy. “Adejare and his boss Ooosun”- interpreted as ‘vote for people were the old ones, women and while he joined the joyous people and in Ife are jesters… let them come out like Aregbesola as Osun governor’. I was children. The natural enthusiasms on their danced to the rhythm together with them. It this and pull such crowd. This is our own amused. Clearly, the election had been faces were token of popular acceptance and was the same story with other groups; man. A people cannot be fooled twice. Who concluded about eight weeks ago with love. It was a reaffirmation of the fact that Alhaja, Ulama, market women , automobile would have come out like this, if we didn’t Aregbesola victorious. The kids’ they gave Aregbesola their mandate the workers, Okada riders small bus (korope) vote for Him? We will continue to hail this expressions were mere insignia of fulfilment. second time. The scenery captured in bus drivers all… They all arranged man because of what he is doing for Osun It is memorable that the Ileya outing was Osogbo clearly belies PDP’s recent hoopla themselves along the roads; each member peole. He does what he promises”, she said the first largest crowd that Aregbesola that they have discovered from the of the groups expressing himself in his own gleefully. She explained to me that she is attended after the one that followed his based in Ede, where she trades in inspection being carried out at the INEC way. election victory of August 9, 2014. It is also Some of them I chatted with stationeries at the Federal Polytechnic. office that Osogbo did not vote for Ogbeni An indigene of Osogbo, Sharafat was note worthy that the way the people enthusiastically told me: “It is the best way Aregbesola. bred in Ede town; hence she is acquainted thronged on Aregbesola’s motorcade A critical look at the Photospeaks to let this man know that he is our Godreiterated the position of Osun electorate, attached with this piece shows sceneries of sent. He is our own prophet”. He gave his with a lot of happenings around the town. their unrelenting choice for Aregbesola and “I played in my pants in Ede as a small girl. happy people, who are vividly fulfilled and name as Taiwo Oloyan of Ori-eru at Okehis party. This is further manifested as proud of the efforts they pushed up shortly Baale, Osogbo. Another one, a woman in I know Adejare very well. Let somebody another group rushed into the slow-moving show us pictures of people hailing him like before the election, as they sang across the her late fifties, whom I have been watching motorcade of the governor and handed streets of Osun, “t’aregbe l’awa o se. Ee ba jumping and hailing, awaiting Aregbesola, this after the election with such huge crowd. over a pile of brooms to Ogbeni. No sooner He is a Muslim, who must also attend Ileya ko soja, ki e k’aja wole”; interpreted as who was just meters away, told me that she than the brooms were shared among the ‘Aregbesola is our choice despite your was “…happy and fulfilled. “We voted for prayer. Show us his picture coming from Eid crowd on the streets than the symbolism ground… “What you see today is just an intimidating soldiers and dogs’. These Raufu… take a look at this finger (pointing spread from Oke-baale through Oja-oba, people were not rented crowd as Omisore forth her right-hand thumb). He is my example of how Osun voted for this good then to the Station Road. People went into man. So let anybody say whatever he likes,” and his villians would lie. Neither were they governor again. We shamed the thieves with their houses to fetch brooms and waved politicians. They were just ordinary but this thumb. We thank God,” she said. I was the woman said. It was more striking, when them at their governor as he moved along going to ask her to tell me her family house some kids numbering about ten, were their streets. These sceneries were captured valiant Osun people in Osogbo. They were cladded in their newly-sewn name, as I did with others but she only gave captured planning their own way of in Osogbo, the Osun capital. But the dresses; a mark of celebration of the Ileya her name; Adetoun Aremu. Then, “look; expression of ‘street credibility’ and governor’s hometown is Ilesa. So one could festival. Governor Aregbesola was stopped please don’t disturb this moment. Ogbeni acceptance for Ogbeni. For me; my primary imagine how the ‘show’ would have been at intervals as the people performed various is here…” she said, shoving herself along interest was to capture thrills and frills of played by the Ijesa people to express their actions to express their happiness with their my posture to catch a glimpse of the moment. So, while others were ‘doing love for their own.”

FEATURE

OSUN DEFENDER Saturday, October 11, 2014

Nigeria Can Only Be Great If Christian Leaders Tell And Live For The Truth D

EAR Reverend (Dr) Emmanuel Dziggau, I read statements credited to you in the media that TEKAN, Tarayar Ekklisiyoyin Kristi a Nijeriya— the Fellowship of Churches of Christ in Nigeria, a federation of 13 denominations, which forms one of the blocs in CAN, the Christian Association of Nigeria; has condemned the series of attacks on the CAN president, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor over leasing out his personal private jet originally meant for spreading the gospel, for a criminal cash-for-arms trip to South Africa. That the “attacks” are unfounded, undeserving, based on half-truths, hearsay, and conjecture. The facts, according to you (or TEKAN) as far as his involvement goes, seem to be clear: he has interests in the jet but not in the company which operates and hired it to a third party. That he’s so far removed from the incident, he surely can’t have anything to do with it. You then insult those who may be suggesting that perhaps since the air crew are his, they may be part of the conspiracy; and then advise those “calling for the head of Oritsejafor” to allow investigations into the case concluded before “crucifying” him. With due respect reverend sir, you missed it on so many fronts, and I deem it my patriotic duty to get the issues straight. First the misinformation and spin. When a personal private jet is used commercially, it’s illegal; it’s called moonlighting. What ought to have been done was to first convert it from a personal private jet to a private charter jet and obtain a licence to operate it commercially, which was never done. Oritsejafor can’t claim ignorance of this, therefore his complicity. You may wish to recall that on Tuesday 16 September, Sunday Oibe as the director of national issues, on behalf of CAN; Emmanuel Ohaeri of Eagle Air; and Bayo Adewoye of Word of Life Bible Church; all admitted that he owns the jet and also owns “residual interest” in Eagle Air, the company that operates the jet commercially on his behalf. Oritsejafor himself later admitted same. In simple English, he created a company, Eagle Air for moonlighting purposes. Reverend sir, how did you come about your version which says he doesn’t have interests in Eagle Air? Further to that, Eagle Air leased the jet to Green Coast Produce Limited, the third party, who in turn claim to have hired it to a fourth party, one John Ishyaku, for the South African trip. So far all the parties claim no wrongdoing. The facts are there in the open that on that moneylaundering/gun-running trip, 3 passengers were caught on board, an Israeli, Eyal Meska and 2 Nigerians. 1 of the Nigerians happens to be Felix Idiga, the chairman, managing director/chief executive officer of Jafac Group. This Felix Idiga’s a wellknown business associate of Oritsejafor’s, they both sit on the board of Swat Nigeria. Incidently, he also sits on the board of Eagle Air with Oritsejafor, thesame Eagle Air that leased out the jet for the criminal activities. Eagle Air which Oritsejafor owns leased it’s jet to a company, which hired in out, but on board was an Oritsejafor business associate/ board member in Eagle Air the leaser. Please, stop lying to Nigerians; from the prima facie, it’s very obvious Oritsejafor has his hands deep in the illegal cash-for-arms deal. Even if the Nigerian state’s involved in criminal gun-running, cash-smuggling and money-laundering against her own laws as it claimed awareness and owned the evil; is Oritsejafor’s the only private

•ORITSEJAFOR By TUNDE AJAJA

jet in Nigeria to be used? In light of the above, the proper thing would’ve have been for Oritsejafor to resign from his position, seeing that it is an abomination for a cleric, and even worse a president of CAN to be in the remotest connected to or even mentioned in relation to such grievous offences. If he doesn’t have any honour or decency, CAN ought to have asked him to quietly step aside pending a thorough and transparent investigation. If found guiltless, he’d then have resumed his offices. I find CAN’s hasty and flawed defence of him repugnant. It is improper and unethical. I find even more loathsome and distasteful the insulting and uncouth language deployed by the said Sunday Oibe on CAN’s behalf, in the shameful cover up, as much as I find the politicisation and triviliasing of such a grave matter. I also see your joining issues with a certain individual who is being blamed for lending his voice on this issue out, carrying out a civic duty as a mere diversion and distraction by CAN. Character defamation and ad hominem only prove an intellectual deficit and admission guilt; and CAN ought to be too big to engage in exchanges with individuals. Besides, if you still claim to be Christians, I thought the bible says conversations should be full of grace, seasoned with salt so as to know how to answer everyone? You may wish to recall reverend sir, that on Tuesday 5th of January, you had insulted a fellow minister, openly calling him a “confused man” among others, for decrying the obvious that the present CAN leadership is an extension, an appendage of the present government. Your ministerial ethics should’ve precluded you from committing such an abomination. Not quite 2 years after your insolence, we have CAN stating unashamedly in that unfortunate press release earlier referred to, that news

of the dirty arms deal’s “sponsored by some members of the opposition political party because of Oritsejafor’s support for President Goodluck Jonathan”! Why then did you insult a fellow minister for stating the obvious earlier? What’s CAN’s business with party politics? Should CAN or a CAN president be partisan? This present generation of CAN leaders is becoming an embarrassment, and is doing everything to soil the CAN we once knew. This present generation of Christian leaders (if you’re still Christians) must go back to your roots and live by the teachings of Christ and the ways of those gone before you. You may wish to recall reverend sir, that when this very same notorious Bombadier Challenger 600 with US registration number N808HG involved in smuggling and gun running was first gotten in 2012, it drew an outcry from the public, not leaving out other Christian leaders, including a bishop, none of whom was spared the usual insolence. In an interview published on 25 November 2012, Oritsejafor admitted regarding the jet that “...I can’t buy a jet. I can’t afford it. I don’t have that kind of money.” But further insisted that he was not ashamed to own one, [even though having admitted he can’t legitimately afford one]. Deeming it a necessity, not a luxury, especially for one deeply involved in the work of God to own planes. It’s being unable to maintain this white elephant that led to its illegal moonlighting and instead of being a vessel for the work of the gospel of peace, became a vessel for gun-running and cash-smuggling, and lies with insolence to cover up. But I’ve seen the bible warn repeatedly to beware of covetousness, because of its dangers. The objectives of CAN and vision of its founding fathers include uniting all

Christians; promoting understanding, peace and unity amongst various peoples; acting as the watchperson of the spiritual and moral welfare of the nation; and so on. You yourself know how far away from these noble objectives you have strayed. For instance, A major (and founding) bloc of the CAN has had to excuse itself from CAN at the national level, instead of considering their reasons and taking conciliatory steps toward promoting unity; that has been ignored and covered up with insults. Also, just last week, the archbishop of Abuja and primate of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), Most Reverend Nicholas Okoh, who’s presently CAN national vice president conferred on President Jonathan what he christened a Primatial Award of Excellence in Christian Stewardship; at a time the president had just lied that his government has reduced poverty by 50%. An award at a time the president had said “some of the cases people call corruption are just people stealing”. I see no precedent for this award of sycophancy. I can’t see anywhere when the prophets bestowed an award on kings, nor Jesus, nor the apostles conferring same on politicians. This is not what Christian leaders of previous generations were known for, nor the CAN officials we knew especially 1988-2010. Curiously, this devious “primatial award” is the first of its kind ever in the history of the Anglican Church worldwide. These aren’t the precedents to set. Where’re the true men of God who’ll tell the truth that all liars have will have their part in hell? Are there still men of God or CAN officials who’ll relay across that God’s wrath’s on thieves and those who endorse them? As the spiritual and moral watchperson, CAN and Christian leaders (indeed, as well as Muslim and other religious leaders) should’ve been noted for ensuring the immediate rescue by our government, of the 219 innocent schoolgirls of Government Secondary School, Chibok abducted 6 months ago in a few days, whilst trying to get an education; failure of which there will be an impending doom—their blood crying for vengeance will be on our heads; the entire nation’ll be under a curse, because they’re alive and can be rescued, but we seem not to care, meaning we have as it were, sacrificed them alive! CAN should be noted for speaking up against the elevation a civil servant who has been indicted of corruption and declared unfit to hold public office by an official government White Paper, to the exalted office of head of the civil service; a chief medical director of a state teaching hospital earlier sacked for stealing N36 million, yet was made minister of health. Also the president being openly seen with an individual repeatedly linked with terrorists, and so forth. That such actions are entrenching corruption, emboldening wrongdoers and killing the soul of the nation. You conclude your audacious admonishment by asking those who have issues with a clergyman and CAN president being connected with a cashsmuggling and gun-running deal to allow investigations into the case concluded first. You lie by implying that there’s an investigation into the matter, whereas you know too well there’s none, either by the present pro-corruption government in which you have allies or by CAN as presently composed; which’s a crying shame! But Nigeria’ll not always be this way. Thank you very much.

PHOTOTALK

OSUN DEFENDER Saturday, October 11, 2014

State Of Osun Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, At Igbajo Polytechnic Maiden Education Summit, Last Thursday.

•(L-R) Kano State Attorney General/Commissioner for Justice, Barrister Malik Umar; Deputy Governor, State of Osun, Otunba (Mrs) Titi Laoye-Tomori; Governor Rauf Aregbesola and Vice-Chairman, Board of Trustees (BOT), Igbajo Polytechnic, Chief Moses Aboaba, during the Polytechnic’s 1st Education Summit at the School Premises, Igbajo, State of Osun, last Thursday.

Congratulations The People’s Governor of the State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, has been re-elected to carry on for another term of four years. Ogbeni Aregbesola recorded a resounding success in the justconcluded election. The election shows that the Governor is well embraced by all the people of the State of the Virtuous. In view of this, your popular grassroots tabloid, OSUN DEFENDER newspaper, is doing a supplement to congratulate the People’s Governor. Individuals, corporate bodies, institutions and well-wishers can avail themselves with the pocket-friendly advert rate of OSUN DEFENDER newspaper.

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SATURDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2014

AUDACIOUS EXPLOIT

HIS is the concluding part of my reflection of Nigeria at 54. Last week, I looked at some areas and posited that we could have done better. Yes, I agree that in every human endavour, there is always the need for improvement. However, in our case, we have gone too far, too low. At independence in 1960, we represented hope and opportunity for the black race. The population of Nigeria with the natural resources are good indices of a country that could dominate world affairs. By every standard, the Nigerian market is a potentially good place for any serious businessman or investor to shudder to turn down. But for insecurity, poor infrastructure and corruption, there is no reason, why Nigeria should not be the ultimate destiny for investors. There is no reason for example why we cannot dominate the West African economy in terms of flooding markets with manufactured goods from Nigeria. Until recently, the textile industry used to be a major source of employment. Today most textile industries are out of business. All attempts by the Federal Government and the banks to resuscitate them are yet to succeed. Smuggling has unfortunately come to the rescue. We can get some of our restive youths off the streets, if the textile industry is back on track. It is no longer news that graduates of our tertiary institutions in the 70s had jobs awaiting them on graduation. People were productively engaged and they played major and significant roles in their families, as well as in the economy. Today, because of lack of job opportunities, many school leavers have resorted to the succour religion provides. Young, able and virile people have turned religion into a place they can get help, if there are no jobs to engage them. Militancy and religious extremism or better still, insurgency are the byproducts of our mishandling of the economy. If the young people who ought to be working to increase the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) cannot get jobs to do, then the devil is ready to provide them with jobs. The domino effect of this is that today, Nigerians are more religious but less Godly. Iniquity has not abated in spite of the proliferation of churches and religious centres. Fake spiritualists have invaded places of worship and have been duping unsuspected members of the public. Lack of job opportunities have turned some misguided youths into enemies of the state. The quality of life of the average Nigerian has been on the decline. This is so because life without good roads, functional hospitals and an

with MURTALA AGBOOLA TEL: 0806-119-7897 E-mail: murtalamuag@yahoo.com

My Reflection Of Nigeria At 54 (11)

•JONATHAN

uninterrupted supply of electricity cannot be said to be meaningful. There is need to seriously improve the quality of living in Nigeria. Set-targets are made specially by the Federal Government without serious effort to ensure they are met. The Year 2000 was seen as a magic year, where every good thing was to be attained. Health for all, improvement in the quality of life and many other catchphrases dominated the news then. Fourteen years after, can we sincerely say we achieved any of the targets we set for ourselves? The new slogan is 20:20:20, where Nigeria is expected to be one of the advanced countries. Whether this target will be achieved or not in the next six years is very doubtful. In the field of sports, Nigeria has fared better. Nigeria Football Federation has placed the country on a high pedestal. In the age-group

competition, especially the under-17 World Cup, Nigeria has won it four times. The Under–23 age category also won the Atlanta Olympic football shield (gold) by defeating Brazil in 1996. The Super Eagles has won the African Nations Cup thrice (1980, 1994 and 2013). Our ladies too have exhibited class football at the world level. In athletics, Nigeria has produced the likes of Mary Onyiali, Chioma Ajunwa and of recent Blessing Okagbare Nigeria produced three world boxing champion in Dick Ihetu Tiger, Hogan Kid Bassey and Samuel Peters. If there is anything that unites Nigerians, it is football. Whatever our differences as a people is submerged under patriotism for the country whenever Nigeria is playing against another country. If and only if we can exhibit our love for the country as we do in the field of football, the country would definitely be better for it.

Nigeria has partaken in many peacekeeping operations and had excelled. Both the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) and our military have distinguished themselves creditably outside the country. The country has sustained the civilian rule (fourth republic) for fifteen continuous years. This is a positive indication that the country can sustain democracy, which would be a great achievement. However, we need to emphasize the fact that it is not yet Uhuru because of the misuse of power by some political gladiators and the prohibitive cost of governance. Public office holders should endeavour to operate within their constitutional limit by not exceeding their powers. Misuse of power used to be one of the reasons given by the military for putsch. Another area of serious concern is the cost of governance. Many public commentators have criticized the excessive monetization of public office. This has given room for aspirants doing anything and everything to secure power. Unfortunately, this has come at the provision of social amenities to the people. The argument is that whereas people in public positions are not up to five per cent of the total population, they corner over fifty percent of the resources. This has led some commentators to suggest that the cost of governance should be scaled down by making legislature part-time and reduce the number of people that constitute the executive councils. It is interesting to note that it is not all negative stories about Nigeria. Recently the United States (US) Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) acknowledged the efforts of Nigeria in curbing the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) crisis. The Sun newspaper reported that the CDC had dispatched its experts to Nigeria to study how the country sprang the magic of containing the outbreak that had defined cure in some other counties. The Director of the CDC, Dr Thomas Frieden, at a media interaction with the New York Times described Nigeria’s handing of the pandemic as the “anti-dote” the international community had been looking for. According to him, Nigeria had proven that after all, the case is not as hopeless as anticipated. He attributed Nigeria’s secret to brave and decisive action of the Nigeria medical fraternity in setting up response team; comprising specialist doctors and community health workers and isolation wards in every state. The Lagos and Rivers states administration deserve commendation. In conclusion,s it is my humble opinion that if we can handle every issue the way we tackled EVD, Nigeria would be up there.

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