Osun Defender - October 4th 2014 - Edition by OsunDefender

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SATURDAY, OCTOBER 4, 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

VOL. 9. NO.119

Front Page Comment The War Called The Osun Elections-By Segun Tomori

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

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

imperial President though utterly clueless, but desperate to add Osun to his conquest in furtherance of his stillborn second term bid. So lo and behold, the die 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 Guber Election:

APC Gets Court Order To Query DSS, Army On Illegal Arrest - See Story On Page 2

Eid-El-Kabir: Osun Indigenes Hail Aregbesola’s Free Rail Services - Pg 3

Osun INEC Gives Notice For 2015 - Pg 2 Elections

•Commuters boarding the Omoluabi Free Train Ride offered by Governor Rauf Aregbesola for this year’s Eid-el-Kabir festival at Iddo Terminus, Lagos State, on Thursday

Osun Marks Independence Day With ‘Bring Back Our Girls’ - Pg 4 Rally

How Hooded Securitymen Invaded My Palace Before Osun Election - Akinrun

- See Story On Page 2

News

OSUN DEFENDER Saturday, October 4, 2014

Osun Gov Poll: APC Gets Court Order To Query DSS, Army On Illegal Arrest By ISMAEEL UTHMAN

HE All Progressives Congress (APC) has secured an order of a Federal High Court in Osogbo to serve the Nigerian Army and the Department of State Security (DSS) in Abuja an order in a suit filed against them on the unlawful arrest and detention of members of the party on the eve and day of the August 9, 2014 governorship election. The order was secured in and the DSS. It would be recalled that an ex-parte motion, brought to serve the originality the APC and 15 out of the process on the Nigeria Army hundreds of persons

arrested, detained and harassed during the gubernatorial election, had approached a Federal High Court in Osogbo for the enforcement of their fundamental human rights, describing their arrests and detention by the DSS officers, policemen and soldiers as illegal. Among other prayers, the plaintiffs sought for an order

of the court, compelling the respondents to pay them a sum of N100 million each as damages, and at the same time tender public apology to them. When the exparte motion, which was brought to serve the originating process outside the jurisdiction of the court, came up on Monday, in a preliminary proceeding presided over by

Justice Babs Kuewumi counsel to the APC, Mr Abiodun Olaide asked the court to allow for a service of the order to the Army outside the jurisdiction, which the court granted. Justice Kewugbemi granted the motion and ordered that the DSS and Nigerian Army be served in Abuja, which is outside the jurisdiction of the court. Speaking with OSUN DEFENDER after the court proceeding, Olaide said the applicants had approached

the court to seek justice for the unlawful arrest and detention of over 700 members of the party during the August 9, 2014 governorship election in the state. Olaide added with the order of the court on the ex parte motion, the coast was clear to query the unlawful arrest and detention of the APC members by the Police, DSS and soldiers. The substantive matter has been adjourned to October 22, 2014.

Osun Traditional Ruler Seeks Punishment For Impostors By SHINA ABUBAKAR

•EID-EL-KABIR FESTIVAL: People queuing up to cash money through ATM for Eid-el-Kabir at First Bank Plc, Photo: SEGUN ADEJUMO Station Road, Osogbo, last Wednesday.

How Hooded Securitymen Invaded My Palace Before Osun Election - Akinrun

royal advice has gone to the re-elected governor of the State of Osun, Governor Rauf Aregbesola, not to desist from doing what has been making him to find favour with God Almighty and the entire people of the state and beyond. The Akinrun of back of their minds. It could Ikirunland, Oba AbdulRauf be because of my closeness Olayiwola Adedeji, who to Ogbeni Aregbesola. gave this advice to the “I owe nobody any governor in a chat with apology for giving my OSUN DEFENDER in his support to Aregbesola palace few days ago, while because he has done what going over the events ‘Napoleon could not do in before, during and after the terms of development election, remarked that the across the State of Osun, governorship election was better still, in terms of like a war. giving good governance to The royal father, who said the people. I learnt that that he received various some of my subjects were reports that some of his arrested in Ikirun on the subjects were needlessly night preceding the arrested, disclosed that his election. My first reaction own palace was also not was that the people of spared from the needless Osun had spoken. There is harassments, as some a saying that ‘a coming hooded security men event always cast its own forcefully gained entry into shadow.’ So, the shadow his palace, shooting and omens were clear and sporadically for reasons judging by the love of the best known to them. people for him that he The monarch said he (Aregbesola) would win the slept with his one eye open election.” throughout the period, as he The Akinrun said: “With could not know why his Aregbesola’s victory in the privacy should be violated governorship election, it by the hooded security men was indicative of the fact on the night of August 9, that ‘we have left our Egypt 2014. and we are moving close to In his words: “That night our Canaan,’ according to of August 8 and 9, I slept the late Chief Bola Ige, with one of my eyes closed. former governor of the old The reason being that on Oyo State.” the night of August 7, 2014, The royal father, who some hooded gunmen enjoined his subjects to forcefully gained entry into continue to live together in my palace and started peace, as politics is now shooting sporadically. over said; “after all, we are “So, that was why I said I brothers and sisters. Those slept with one eye open, one who are related are bound eye closed. I wouldn’t to be together, politics or no know what would be at the politics, religion or no

religion. Like the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo said: “We should build our future with the brick of love, rather than the brick of hatred.” Reminiscing over the last governorship election in Osun, the royal father said, the election would be a memorable one in the anal of history of elections in the country, as the Osun governorship election was like no other election in the

history of this nation. “The whole thing was as if Osun was at war. I pray that such display would never occur again in the history of this nation. But we are happy that after all, in the end, all went well with the exception of a few ugly occurrences here and there. Notably, the needless arrest of some people in the dead of the night,” the monarch remarked.

RADITIONAL rulers in the State of Osun under the auspices of Osun Divisional Conference of Obas, have called on the state government to arrest and prosecute those impersonating as traditional rulers in the state. The monarchs frowned at criminals who specialised in the rate at which people exhuming dead bodies and wear beaded crowns and cart away parts of such walk around with bodies, saying such act is paraphernalia of a royal evil and must be father, thereby bringing discouraged. disrepute to the institution The monarchs called for of traditional rulers in the erecting of perimeter state. fencing across all public The conference in a cemeteries in the state as a communiqué issued after its way of creating barriers for conference, signed by its such criminals to be Chairman and Secretary, the identified easily. Orangun of Ila and the It also felicitated with Aragbiji of Iragbiji, Oba Muslims in the state as they Wahab Kayode and celebrate the Eid-el-Kabir Rasheed Olabomi festival, calling on the respectively said whoever is people to be cautious not an Oba and parades during the celebration to himself as such should be avoid unnecessary arrested and prosecuted. casualties during the festival According to the communiqué, nobody is due to reckless driving. The conference also above the law and no one should be treated as such, congratulated the governor hence, all the concerned of the state, Ogbeni Rauf authority should ensure Aregbesola, on his rethat anyone caught election victory, praying that desecrating the institution is God gives him the wisdom to bring more dividends of dealt with accordingly. It also called on the democracy to the teeming people of the state to be masses during his second wary and vigilant of some term in office.

Osun APC Tells Security AgenciesAccording To Investigate PDP’s Claims to the APC, dress thugs in PDP vests By AFOLABI MARIAM

PPREHENSIVE of a replay in Osun of the PDP- induced mayhem in Ekiti State when the election petition tribunal resumes sitting next week in Osogbo, the APC has alerted the state security agencies to brace up to nip in the bud any attempt whatsoever to cause a breach of the peace in the State of Osun. In a red-alert ungovernable. The APC had also communication with the alleged that the State security forces, the APC said that it had in the past Election Petition Tribunal weeks been aware and had was a prime target of the alerted the public of PDP’s PDP to put it violently plan to cause mayhem in under extreme pressure to an attempt to make the state decide in its favour.

these allegations had hardly been assimilated by the public when the PDP struck in Ekiti and drew blood as well as destroy property. The APC further alleged in its letter to the security services that Ekiti event was a dress-rehearsal of the PDP’s plan for Osun. It therefore, calls for swift and thorough investigation of PDP’s screaming allegations that the APC is planning to

Osun INEC Gives Notice For 2015 Elections

HE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the State of Osun has issued a notice for the 2015 general elections in the state. A statement issued by the It said the notice was state Chief Public Affairs Officer of the commission, pursuant to INEC’s Mrs Adenike Tadese, said timetable for 2015 general the commission has elections and in accordance commenced the display of with the provisions of the notice at the state office Section 30 (1) and (2) of the of the commission and 30 Electoral Act 2010. According to the local government council area offices, as well as the statement, the provision of the section states that Area Office, Modakeke.

notice of 2015 general elections should be published not later than 90 days before the day appointed for holding of an election. It restated that Presidential and the National Assembly elections would hold on February 14, 2015; while the State House of Assembly election would hold on February 28, 2015.

to disrupt proceedings at the election tribunal when it resumes. According to the APC, that is a disinformation tactics which the PDP is using to transfer blame of the crime it intends to commit on the APC. In the past, we had made allegations against the PDP plans of violence and scheming to rig the August 9 governorship election which turned out to be largely true. The ultimate confirmation of a significant component of those allegations was made by no less a personality than Prof. Attahiru Jega who told the world that “the Osun election was ALMOST rigged.” The APC therefore, called on the security services in Osun to nip any plan of violence in the bud in the interest of law and order, peace and security, as well as the protection of lives and property in the state.

News

OSUN DEFENDER Saturday, October 4, 2014

Eid-El-Kabir: Osun Indigenes Hail Aregbesola’s Free Rail Services •Says Governor Has Set Standard In Governance By KEHINDEAYANTUNJI

O ease transportation challenges during this year’s Eid-il-Kabir, the Government of the State of Osun on Thursday continued his free rail services during festive period. Each coach in the train As early as 6.00 am on Thursday, the Lagos, Iddo was designed for 100 Terminal of the Nigeria passengers. Most of the passengers, Railway Corporation was filled to brim with the who could not hide their joy speaking with anxious passengers waiting while to board the free train Newsmen in Lagos, lauded provided by the state the initiative of the governor and its sustainability since government. Thousands of 2010. A civil servant, Mr passengers who besieged the terminus could not wait Adelakun Ibraheemm an for the coordination of indigene of Ede, said at the Nigeria Railway Corporation beginning, many people (NRC) officials, as they were doubted the ability of the rushing inside the train as government in sustaining early as 7.00am. Some the free train service and passengers were said to commended Governor Rauf Aregbesola for the gestures. have slept at the terminal. He said: “Governor Rauf The 11-coach train finally departed Lagos exactly Aregbesola is really an 11.00am, while some unusual governor with his passengers were stranded at pro-masses policies. He the terminal. Contrary to the really understands the usual tradition of the train, plight of the masses. This it was practically impossible service alone is reuniting to pick passengers at Ijoko, many families during Ajegunle, Ikeja and Osodi, festivals. If not for the free as it was filled beyond train, I may not be able to travel with my family capacity.

because I will need at least N50,000 which I don’t have.” Also, Olaniran Abdulai from Offa, urged other neighbouring states in the South West and Kwara to emulate the gesture, saying the free train service provided by the Government of the State of Osun is alleviating the suffering of the common man. He said: “The reality is that there is poverty in the land and these are the areas where ordinary citizens could feel direct impact of government. For the past three years, I have been benefiting from the free train. Forever in my life, I will continue to remember Aregbesola.” “I am appealing to other South West governors and Kwara State to collaborate with the governor to expand the scheme. Lagos is the commercial hub of Nigeria and every household in Nigeria has family in Lagos. This is the clear understanding of the governor.

Also a business woman Alhaja Adekanola Sherifat, who used the train to carry her luggage, said Aregbesola has set standard in governance, which will be

difficult for anyone to surpass in Nigerian history with his pro-people programmes and policies. “Aregbesola is a generational blessing, after Awolowo and Bola Ige, we are just having a government of the people

and it has really set standard that power is responsibility. He is a reference point across the country in terms of good governance.” She said the free train has saved thousands from her business, which will lead to more profit.

Osun Marks Independence Day With ‘Bring Back Our Girls’ Rally By ABOSEDE AKINPELU

NLIKE the previous years’ celebrations of Nigeria’s independence, the 54th Independence Day was celebrated with a campaign, reminding Nigerians that the Chibok school girls are still in captivity and emphasising on the need to bring back the girls. The State of Osun organized can then have a reason to a ‘Bring Back Our Girls’ rally celebrate any form of to mark the 170 days since the independence. “Today’s campaign is to Chibok girls were abducted by the dreaded Boko Haram sect. remind the government and to In a chat with the campaign break the silence on the issue coordinator, Mrs. Nanre surrounding the missing Mayegun, there was nothing to Chibok girls and we chose today because Nigeria is be celebrated. “For the past 170 days that celebrating her 54 years of our girls had been kidnapped, independence and 170 of the we don’t know where they are, girls going missing.” The group revealed that what they are going through. As these girls are still in captivity, their grouse with the it indicates that Nigeria as a government was its inability to whole is in captivity and only take any positive action since when we are all free that we April 14, 2014, when the girls were abducted from their hostel by the dreaded Boko Haram sect. In another interview, Comrade Amitolu Shittu wondered how a father could be at peace knowing full well that his children are missing. He said as a parent, he knew what the family of the missing

girls are going through and that was what made him to associate with the campaign. The campaign group moved from Nelson Mandela Freedom Park to Orisunbare Market and to Government House, OkeFia, where they presented a letter of protest to the representative of the governor. Among those at the campaign were the representatives of the students of Osun State Polytechnic, Iree. In his view, one of the students concluded that the nation can only celebrate her independence when the crisis in the North, the return of the Chibok girls and other issues are settled. Honourable Semiu Adabanija, Minority Leader, Nigeria Youth Parliament, said although the President has been trying to solve the issue surrounding the Chibok girls, he said he was convinced that sooner than expected, the issue on the Chibok girls would be history. The ‘Bring Back Our Girls’ campaign was concluded with the planting of tree to mark the day.

Ebola: Osun Takes Workshop To Bush Meat Sellers By SHINA ABUBAKAR

•Rams for sale at Ring Road area, Osogbo for Eid-El-Kabir festival last Tuesday.

N an effort to curtail Ebola Disease Virus in the State of Osun, the Ebola Sensitisation Committee has extended the awareness workshop to bush meat sellers in the state. The committee recently themselves and how to process took the awareness programme their products. She said though the state is to Asejire and Konta Ijabe, which are border towns linking Ebola-free, but the state the state to Oyo and Kwara government is not relenting in states respectively, where the its effort to ensure that the virus did not find its way to the state. sellers are stationed. She told the women that The State Commissioner for Environment and Sanitation, government is not stopping them Professor Olubukola from their business, but is Oyawoye, disclosed that the committed to ensuring that it essence of the programme was protects its residents from the to enlighten the bush meat seller deadly scourge. Speaking at the programme, on best method to protect the Dr Tanimowo Abolarinwa charged the bush meat sellers to be wary of dead meat, as a means of preventing contaminated meat built, while correct materials from getting to the market. in terms of quality and He also told the sellers not to quantity should be used. process bush meat when they In his appraisal of State of are nursing injury on any part of Osun Governor Rauf their body. Aregbesola’s administration, One of the sellers at Asejire, Ojo said Aregbesola is a Mrs Mujidat Olalere, performer any day and the commended the state standard of his numerous road government for its proactiveness projects across the state is on the Ebola scourge. second to none in the country She said their market is on the while his new schools are low since the outbreak, urging world-class standard in government to sensitize the structure, adding that “the populace that the state animals structures of the schools are are Ebola-free. even far better than some feepaying private schools in the PUBLIC NOTICE advanced countries of the I, MRS KUDIRAT world”. SIJUWOLA OLADIMEJI, He then advised Aregbesola of Woleola Street, Woleola to maintain the pace he started Estate, Osogbo, make oath with, with a view to making and solemnly declare that Osun Dubai of Nigeria, after MISS AISHA OLAYINKA he might have successfully OLADIMEJI and MASTER finished his second term, HABEEBULLAH OLAYEMI OLADIMEJI telling the people of his are the next-of-kin to their constituency to believe in him late father, Mr Lukman (Ojo) who has brought a new Kayode Oladimeji. dawn to his people.

Why I Am Eyeing House Of Representatives - Ojo

N aspirant into the House of Representatitives in Oriade/Obokun Federal Constituency in the State of Osun, Architect Tunde Ojo, has stated that it is his desire to make life more meaningful to the people of his constituency that has been prompting him to represent them in the National Assembly. The aspirant, who disclosed to perform more if considered this to OSUN DEFENDER in for the political post he is Ilesa few days ago, said he aspiring for. would not relent in his efforts Ojo said he has empowered to make this world better than a good number of his people in he met it in a way that it would so many ways like collection be beneficial to his people of West African School whether out of or inside Certificate Examination forms politics. for some candidates; attraction Ojo said, having travelled of career talks to the youths in far and wide across the world his constituency; organization with access to good things of of football competitions; life in advanced nations, he provision of jobs for the made up his mind to canvass unemployed and repairs of for qualitative living for his transformers among other people, which is realizable things. through selfless leadership. He disclosed that he has a The aspirant, who has been four-cardinal programme to touching the lives of his people propel his political aspiration, through various empowerment among which is women programmes, said he would empowerment in the areas of have the additional wherewithal microfinance scheme;

handwork training; business support in terms of provision for widows and women generally. According to the architectturned-politician, another highlight of his programmes is youth empowerment by way of provision of jobs by recommending them to private organizations and provision of scholarship for the needy.

•OJO

Ojo said, if considered for the election, he would attract private investors to come and invest cottage industries in his constituency and that he would build and enviable party structure in his area, adding that “it would not be out of tune for our party in our federal constituency to have a permanent secretariat of its own. My profession as an architect will be an advantage in this regard. My profession would also enable me to sponsor some bills on building, especially now that building collapse is rampant in our country”. Commenting on the incessant cases of building collapse in the country, the architect enjoined the government at various levels to be up and doing, saying that the Ministry of Physical Planning should approve projects, while there should be a law to ensure that what is approved is what is

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News

OSUN DEFENDER Saturday, October 4, 2014

No Cause For Alarm Over Closure Of Refuse Dump Site - Commissioner By FRANCIS EZEDIUNO

S a result of the closure of major refuse dump sites serving Osogbo and other adjoining towns, residents of communities in the State of Osun, who were affected as a result of the action, have expressed fear over imminent outbreak of epidemic in the state. Another worrisome trend refuse, dotting major streets was the issue of private refuse and neighbourhoods, especially collectors licensed by the in the state capital, Osogbo. government to manage waste This medium authoritatively disposal, who had failed to gathered that the closure of the collect refuse from residents, dump site, located at Onibu Eja owing to closure of these dump area, on Osogbo-Iwo road, sites, a development, which which was being done for the had culminated in heaps of second time in a month, might

have been informed by the need to carry out some renovations and installation of some facilities, so as to expand its services. The State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Honourable Sunday Akere, said there was no cause for alarm, while assuring that the refuse dump site would be opened within a very short period of time. In his words: “I want to allay the fear of our people over the

outbreak of any epidemic. We are only trying to put some critical facilities in place at the refuse dump and it would be re-opened for use soonest.” Meanwhile, some private refuse collectors revealed that it was as a result of the closure of the refuse dump site that they had encountered difficulties in evacuating the wastes around the state capital. They maintained that notwithstanding, the unavailability of a place to dump the refuse, concerted

efforts were being made to explore another alternative pending the time a solution would have been proffered. They restated their commitments to always keep

Osogbo and other parts of the state clean, as part of their contributions in achieving the transformation that Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola has embarked on.

Eid-El-Kabir: TUNS Calls For Release Of Chibok Girls By KEHINDE AYANTUNJI

S Muslims all over the world celebrate this year’s Eid-ul-Kabir, The Asiwaju Muslumi of Yorubaland, Alhaji Kahmis Olatunde Badmus, has charged Nigerian Muslims not to lose sight of the lesson and the message in the festival, but imbibe the spirit of the celebration. A statement from Alhaji decision of willing to Badmus signed by his sacrifice his only son, Special Assistant on Media Ibrahim chose the love of and Publicity, Alhaji God over fatherhood, faith Dawood Ajetunmobi, said over emotion and that is obedience to Allah and why Allah compensated perseverance are the him with a ram.” “ It is not how big your essence of Eid-ul-Kabir ram for sacrifice is, but the celebration. fear of Allah in carrying out Recalling the genesis of the annual celebration, this age-long tradition that Alhaji Badmus said that the matters. I wish our Muslim festival emanated as a result brothers and sisters could of fear of God and faith in learn lessons from this.” Badmus also advised Islam as a true religion exhibited by Prophet members of the dreaded Boko Haram sect to use this Ibrahim. According to him, auspicious Eid-ul-Kabir Prophet Ibrahim’s vision in festival to release the which he was commanded Chibok girls, who have been by Allah to slaughter his in their custody for the past only son, Ismail and his four months, to their parents obedience to carry out the in the spirit of the festival, commandment before Allah as Allah released Ismail to replaced him with a ram, his parent, Prophet Ibrahim. Alhaji Badmus then which was later slaughtered instead of his son, brought prayed to Allah to let peace and tranquillity reign all about the celebration. He said: “By that singular over Nigeria.

CDRP Condemns Eid-El-Kabir: Muslims Groans As Ram Prices Soar Ekiti Judges’ Attack •Commuters rushing to their destinations in the spirit of preparation for Eid-El-Kabir in Osogbo as captured by our cameraman, GBENGA ADENIYI, last Thursday.

By SHINA ABUBAKAR

in a year, so there was no point giving excuses. He said though the federal and state governments need to start checking the activities of those selling rams, with a view to curbing their excessive pricing during festive periods. At the Sabo Market in Osogbo, the situation was the same, as a ram that was sold for N30,000 before, now

S the Eid-el-Kabir celebrations draw nearer, Muslim faithful are groaning as prices of rams in the market soar above what was obtainable in the market last year. unnecessary inflation of ram When OSUN DEFENDER prices. visited the markets on Another buyer at the Monday and Tuesday, market, Alhaji Waliyu potential buyers at the Sheriffdeen, disclosed that market lamented the high irrespective of the prices, he prices of rams, alluding the would still have to buy, as it new prices to the fast- is obligatory and only once approaching festival, schedule to begin this Saturday. Slaughtering of rams during the festival is a rite By KEHINDE AYANTUNJI for adult Muslims to commemorate with the HE State of Osun Council of the Nigeria Union of father of faith, Prophet Journalists, and the Association of Veteran Ibrahim, who God blessed Journalists in the state, on Friday paid last respect with a ram to worship him to the late foremost journalist and lawyer, Chief Goke instead of his son, Prophet Ajiboye. It was a celebration of life represented by his deputy, Ismaeel. Ayantunji, Since then, it has become with former editors and Kehinde general of described Chief Goke as a religious obligation for all directors media one of the pillars of Muslims to emulate this act electronics in Nigeria, who during the annual organizations, public office journalism gave direction to NUJ in 60s holders, legal luminaries celebration. others in attendance. and 70s. A customer at Powerline among He said late Ajiboye was The union, during a Ram Market, Mr Teslim ceremonial lying-in-state for a symbol of intellectualism, Olaiya, said the price of ram the remains of the late firmness, discipline and was becoming too Ajiboye at the NUJ Press among the few who placed exorbitant and the rite is Centre in Osogbo, the state honour, integrity above any compulsory, urging the capital, on Friday, eulogised other consideration. Chairman, Osun veteran sellers to be kind in their the life and time of the dealings with fellow deceased as a hardworking journalists, Prince Kayode Adedire, said the foot-prints Muslims during the period. and honest man. The corpse was received of late Ajiboye will continue According to him, the subsidised rams of the state by the NUJ leadership in the to be remembered for his government are not enough state and handed over to diligence and hardworking. Director General to cater for the teeming the veterans, who organized of Former OSBC, Prince Adedayo the lying-in-state. Muslim populace in the In his tribute, NUJ Oyedokun, who led the state, while calling for a Chairman in the state, congregation in the prayer drastic measure at checking Abiodun Olalere, session for the deceased,

costs between N50,000 and N60,000, while those that were selling for N40,000 before suddenly became N70,000. A buyer told OSUN DEFENDER that he was at the market for the second time in a week, saying the first time he came, he could not buy a ram and had to go back home to get more money, describing the situation as outrageous.

Osun NUJ, Veterans Honour Ajiboye

reminded the people to always fear God in whatever they are doing, adding that death is inevitable. Former Editor of Sketch Newspaper, Mr Wale Ojo, said late Ajiboye was a mentor, who built his career in journalism. Other dignitaries at the lying-in-state included Architect Goke Omigbodun, Justice Manshood Ajeigbe, Prince Poju Atobatele, Mr Shittu Alamu, Pastor Sanya Fadipe, Evangelist Demola Ojo among others Late Ajiboye was the author of Behind the Iron Curtain and Abiku. He was former Commissioner for Trade and Cooperatives in the old Oyo State and Chairman, Osogbo Local Government Council between 1974 and 1978. He was famous as a newspaper columnist in the Morning Post, Drum magazine and Daily Sketch, of which he was the pioneer Features Editor.

By BOLANLE BABALOLA

civil society, Committee for Democracy and Rights of the People (CDRP), has condemned the assault on Justice John Adeyeye of Ekiti State High Court by supporters of the governor-elect, Mr. Ayodele Fayose. CDRP said: “This will Justice Adeyeye was attacked by hoodlums believed prevent future occurrences and to be Fayose’s supporters, ultimately restore the citizen’s while presiding over an election confidence in the potency and tribunal handling the eligibility sacred identity of both the rule of law and interpreters of the of the governor-elect. In a statement jointly signed rule of law.” It would be recalled that the by the Acting National Coordinator of the group, Saka Chief Judge of Ekiti State, Waheed and Acting National Justice Daramola, has ordered Secretary, Wasiu Adebisi and all state courts to remain made available to journalists in closed until adequate and Osogbo, the group described effective security of judges, the act as primitive, abuse of magistrates, members of the power and flagrant disregard bar, and members of staff of the judiciary was assured and for constituted authorities. “If Mr. Ayodele Fayose put in place. The order for the closure of truly slapped Justice John Adeyeye inside the premises the courts followed the attack of the State High Court in Ado of a sitting judge, Justice John Ekiti, then, the last hope of the Adeyeye, by a mob, which besieged the High Court, venue common man is dashed. “This is because the only of the Governorship Election rope which the citizens hang Petition Tribunal, beat up the on for checking the excesses of judge and tore his suit into the mighty in the society has shreds. A statement signed by the been visibly confronted, violated, desecrated and Chief Registrar of the state, defeated. The action is Obafemi Fasanmi, last Friday randomly evil and in Ado Ekiti, the state capital, stated that the closure followed ignominious.” The group therefore called the increasing concern over the on the National Judicial Council spate of attacks by political (NJC), Nigeria Bar Association thugs and their persistent (NBA) and indeed the Federal presence at the premises of the Government of Nigeria to court in the past few days. According to the statement, openly condemn this action and the police officers on guard ensure that the perpetrators of looked unconcerned and the belligerent assault against disinterested as Judges, the court do not go scot-free Magistrates and other members with immediate action on the of staff had to run for their subject matter. lives.

OSUN DEFENDER Saturday, October 4, 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 grand-

finale 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 4, 2014

The Questions About Terrorist And Terrorism T

HE aim of this piece is to provide a treatise on terrorism and hope that through this, politicians and their advisers may come to an understanding of the magnitude of the problem facing Nigeria and start doing something concrete instead of the usual political mudslinging which they have been doing while many innocent Nigerian lives are been lost in their hundreds everyday through their inability to do something concrete. To treat religious terrorism as if it is an aspect of political agitation is a grave mistake and it is disheartening that politicians and their ‘expected knowledgeable’ political advisers seem to be ignorant of this fact. The world today is experiencing many terrorisms (narcotic, cyber, biological and internet), and so it is therefore important to be very clear about the differences between the various types, even if most Nigerian politicians and various advisers are not, having by thinking that it is politically correct to clamour for negotiations with the perpetrators of religious terrorism in Nigeria. This is basically because they have failed to understand that there are basic but fundamental differences between political and religious terrorisms. In their naivety, they have also failed to understand that while it is very rare for political demagogues to use religious means to perpetrate their political goals (PLO for instance), religious terrorists are not aversed to using political means to further their religious aims. Even those who should know, such as the security advisers, the military, Police and state’s secret services, have all dismally failed to understand the basic fact that terrorism is just one of the many means and strategies of insurgence available to both political and religious insurgents. The eventual choice of terrorism over other means or forms of insurgence such as revolution, coup d’etat, guerrilla war and even riots, is a deliberate one and it is preferred solely because of its psychological impact. Thus, there is need to conceptualise and understand each one of them for what they are and for the value they have for the struggle initiated by insurgents. Webster’s New Twentieth Century Dictionary has defined a coup d’etat as a sudden, forceful stroke in politics; especially, the sudden, forcible overthrow of a government. Another learned scholar has defined it as the infiltration of a small but critical segment of the state apparatus, which is then used to displace the government from its control of the remainder. As a form of violent insurgency, a coup is always planned to be swift although failed coups have sometimes developed into prolonged civil wars. But on the other hand, riot is a mob violence that feeds off the inchoate and unorganised mob mentality without a clear leader or some structural hierarchical system. Basically, it is a form of disorganised political protest engaged in by those who have become highly distrustful of existing political institutions. Riot as a form of violence may not fit the characterisation of an insurgency but nevertheless constitute a spasmodic eruption rather than a planned, organised, protracted campaign. Guerrilla war is a diffuse type of war, fought in relatively small formations against a stronger enemy. As a strategy of insurgency, guerrilla warfare avoids direct, decisive battles but rather opts for a protracted struggle consisting of many small skirmishes and clashes. It should be understood as an insurrectionary armed protest, implemented by means of selective violence. So a general characteristic of guerrilla warfare is that guerrillas compensate for their inferiority in manpower, weapons and arms by

•SHEKAU By TUNDE AGARA adopting a flexible style of warfare based on a hit-and-run tactics. The guiding principle is to always avoid and prevent government forces from employing their full might in any confrontation. Going by the Marxist conception of a revolution, it is a violent insurgence aimed at effecting social change by smashing the existing social structure, it is a rapid, fundamental, and violent domestic change in the dominant values and myths of a society, in its political institutions, social structure, leadership and government activities and policies. The leader of the USSR 1917 Socialist Revolution, V.I. Lenin, has acclaimed it as festivals of the oppressed and exploited. In summary, a revolution seeks to effect deep-seated and radical changes and transformations in socio-economic, cultural, and political institutions accompanied by class upheavals from below. It is in respect of the radical change and transformation that a revolution seeks to achieve that differentiates and sets it apart from social reform, failed rebellions, coups or even national independence movements. So, how is political terrorism different from religiously-motivated acts of terrorism like the Nigerian Boko Haram, Al Qaeda, and Al Shabab? These differences is what make negotiations with religious terrorists impossible. First is that while politically motivated violence attempts to find conclusions within the life times of the insurgents, religious violence outlives their participants. This is predicated on the belief that the rewards of those involved in this cause are trans-temporal and the time limit of their struggle is eternity. Second, the targets of religious terrorism are not chosen for their military values but rather they are chosen for the sole purpose of making an impact on

public consciousness both by its brutality and suddenness. The constant recourse to a ‘god’ to justify their action has the power of ‘satanising’ the enemies while making the perpetrators of religious terrorism ‘godly’. The effect of this is that religion has become politicised and politics has become religionised and what seem like worldly struggles have been lifted into the high proscenium of sacred battles. Third is that the targets of religious terrorism and violence also have the tendency to assume and acquire a similar religious mien, explanation and perspective. For instance, following the 9/ 11 attacks, the US public and its leaders became more religious and God-minded by adopting the song, “God bless America” as the country’s unofficial national anthem. The then US President, George Bush whipped up national sentiments when he invoked the image of America’s “righteous cause” to combat and bring to an end the “absolute evil” of its enemies. Fourth, is the ‘divine’ nature of religious terrorism, the notion that the battle is between ‘good’ and ‘bad’, ‘truth’ and ‘evil’, the expectation of heavenly rewards for the terrorists all rule out the possibility of a compromise or a peaceful negotiated truce. The fifth issue concerns the spiritual dimension of the war which makes it to go beyond the confines of human law and ideal of morality. Society’s law are subordinated and in extreme cases are deemed non-existence or inapplicable because of the recourse to a higher authority. In this case, there is no need to contend with society’s laws and limitations when one is obeying a higher authority. Sixth and finally, the end result of religious terrorism is that it impacts a sense of redemption and dignity on the perpetrators. It is at this level that religious terrorism acquires a personal willingness on the part of the perpetrators

who often times are men who feel alienated and marginalised from public life. Their efforts become conscious attempts at ennoblement and empowerment. Such efforts would have been poignant if they were not so destructive. What is Terrorism? Academics will agree with me that terminology is always a matter of agreement for the purpose of common understanding; therefore there is no point in searching for logic-based definitions of terms that belong to the realm of political or social science, especially when the term in question carries a negative emotional connotation. Therefore, a one sentence definition of terrorism and religion may not serve our purpose especially when the term ‘terrorism’ connotes a violent behaviour that is deplorable in the eyes of the user of the term, therefore its utility is in propaganda rather than in furthering understanding. Lenin had simply explained that the purpose of terrorism is to terrorise. The root word comes from Latin terrere, “to cause to tremble.” Terror therefore, becomes a symbolic act designed to influence political behaviour by extra-normal means, entailing the use or threat of violence. However, to aid our understanding of this phenomenon plaguing Nigeria and the rest of the world, it is better to historicise the origin of the concept. Although individual acts of terrorism can be traced to the ancient Greek and Roman republics, the official use of the term ‘terrorism’ emerged from within a political context and this is usually traced to the period of the French revolution and the Jacobin reign of Terror (1792-1794). Since then, the term has suffered from a consensus of agreement as to its actually meaning. A major reason for this has had to do with the varying contexts within which the term has commonly been used. Since its first usage in the period of the French revolution, its reference has become enlarged to include violent revolutionaries, who revolted against governments, violent activities of groups such as labour organisations, anarchists, nationalists demanding independence from foreign rule and the activities of violent left-wing groups. It was also used to include various types of war such as commando tactics and guerrilla warfare. Even in some situation, political repression has been deemed as a form of terrorism. In recent years, even the manifestation and violent activities of extreme religious beliefs has also been labelled terrorism. In recent times, the definition of the concept has acquired an ethno-character depending on whether one is considering the American, British, Israelis or even German definitions. Thus, the rather simple question; What is Terrorism?, may be answered in a number of ways; either by attempting to identify crucial components of terrorism which distinguish it from other forms of insurgencies such as guerrilla warfare, conventional wars, riots and so on or by delineating between the many types. All these dimensions to a ‘simple’ word merely add to the confusion inherent in understanding and conceptualizing it. Without wanting to sound too polemical, I shall attempt to show some of the most popular definitions. I think this is useful if only to facilitate our understanding of this term and how other people perceive and understand it. So within the academia, specific attempts to define it can be grouped into two; official and academic definitions. Official definitions of the term will include the U.S. Vice President’s 1986 task force definition of terrorism as the unlawful use

Continued on page 13

OSUN DEFENDER Saturday, October 4, 2014

FEATURE

The Questions About Terrorist And Terrorism Continued from page 6

or threat of violence against persons or property to further political or social objectives. It is generally intended to intimidate or coerce a government, individuals or groups to modify their behaviour or policies. A British legal definition has terrorism as the use of violence for political ends, and includes any use of violence for the purpose of putting the public or any section of the public in fear. The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) defines terrorism as the unlawful use of force or violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) states that terrorism is any activity that involves an act that is dangerous to human life or potentially destructive of critical infrastructure or key resources; and … must also appear to be intended (i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population, (ii) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or (iii) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination or kidnapping. The US Department of Defence defines terrorism as the calculated use of unlawful violence or threat of unlawful violence to inculcate fear; intended to coerce or to intimidate governments or societies in the pursuit of goals that are generally political, religious, or ideological objectives. Not surprisingly, these various definitions betray the priorities and interests of the different governmental bodies. For instance, given the specific mandate of the FBI, it is not surprising that its definition address the psychological aspect of terrorism, stressing on the intimidatory and coercive aspect of terrorism. The Department of Defence definition seems to be the more complete than the others because it focuses on threat as much as the actual act of violence and the targeting of the whole society as well as the government even though the definition did not distinguish between attacks on military combatant and non-combatant civilians. Three commonalities can be discerned from these definitions; (1) the use of violence, (2) political objectives; and (3) the intention of sowing fear in the target population. However, academic definitions are rather more complex, all-embracing and more diverse. Among some of the most interesting and illuminating ones are those given by Bruce Hoffman, a professor at Georgetown University and director of RAND Corporation’s Washington D.C. office, that terrorism is the deliberate creation and exploitation of fear through violence or the threat of violence in the pursuit of political change. Another scholar, Combs has defined it as a synthesis of war and theatre, a dramatisation of the most proscribed kind of violence – that which is perpetrated on innocent victims – played before an audience in the hope of creating a mood of fear, for political purposes. Nicholson, in an essay on terrorism has defined it as the deliberate killing of non-military personnel in order to pursue a claimed political goal through exertion of pressure on a society”. Shimko has defined terrorism as the indiscriminate use or threat of violence to advance social, political, economic, or religious objectives by creating a climate of fear. A rather interesting attempt is that by Rourke who instead of defining it merely highlight the features common to it thus; terrorism is (1) violence; (2) carried out by individuals, non-governmental organisations, or covert government agents or units; that (3)

specifically target civilians; (4) uses clandestine attack methods, such as car bombs and hijacked airliners; and (5) attempts to influence politics. The duo of Kegley and Wittkopf have defined it as criminal acts and threats against a targeted actor for the purpose of arousing fear in order to get the target to accept the terrorists’ demands. However, a close look at these various definitions should assist our understanding of what terrorism actually is. For example, deriving from the various definitions of terrorism, it should be clear that terrorism involves three basic components: the perpetrator(s), the victim(s) and the target(s) of the violence. Popular perception therefore is that the perpetrators are fanatics, disaffected groups or minorities who employed terrorism as a tool to oppose the rule and the oppression of an established and militarily superior power. The victims are seen as innocent people, who have no part or are directly involved in the struggle and the struggle or target is political. Terrorism is thus as act of violence deliberately perpetrated on innocent victims (third parties) in an effort to or with an intention to coerce or force the opposition or persons or government to act in a desired way. Victims are not chosen because of their involvement or guilt but because their death or injuries are determined to create not only fear but also to shock the sensibilities of normal people such that pressure can be made to bear on the opposition or in most cases on the government to concede to the demands or make some concessions to the terrorists. If this is the case, then it means that terrorist violence is merely a means to an end. Violence, mass deaths and injuries caused by terrorists’ attacks are basically geared towards achieving an end. Within a state system, like Nigeria the end can only be a political goal, although much academic controversy attends the admission of a political goal for religious terrorists’ attacks. Why is there Terrorism? It is interesting that both the academic and official treatment of terrorism have not differentiated the political form from the religious one. But the difference as pointed out earlier is so strong as to make the distinction important and not a mere academic exercise, especially when what we are facing now in Nigeria is religiously motivated terrorism. Religious terrorism differs greatly from secular terrorism basically because they are predicated on different value systems,

mode of justification and legitimacy for their actions rests on a different concept of morality, belief systems and world view. While for the secular terrorist, terrorism becomes a means to an end, for the religious terrorist, terrorism is an end in itself. Violence, therefore, becomes a sacred instrument or means to achieve a divine duty in response to a divine imperative. They are not guided by any man-imposed political or social imperatives, but see their acts as a sacramental duty with transcendental dimension expedients for the attainment of their goals. This explains in part why religious motivated acts of terrorism are more intense and claim more fatalities than the less relatively more discriminating violence perpetrated secular terrorists. Guided by a perception that sees themselves; that is, religious terrorists, not as ‘insiders’ or members of the system, but as ‘outsiders’ seeking to effect fundamental changes in the existing order along certain doctrinal lines, the religious terrorist has a high sense of responsibility coupled with a sense of alienation that enables him to distance himself from the victims of his atrocities and thus able to contemplate ever more destructive means of expressing his dastardly acts. This explains the rhetoric common in the vocabulary of such demagogues denigrating and dehumanising their victims in terms such as ‘infidels,’ ‘dogs,’ ‘children of satan,’ and many others. The deliberate use of such terms not only justify the acts of violence, since the victims are not seen or regarded as human beings, but also justifies and erodes away very form of constraints on violence and emboldens the perpetrators. The question; why is there terrorism, especially religious terrorism can only be answered within an explanation that inculcates the development or evolution of religious beliefs. Between 800 B.C.E. and 300 B.C.E., the world has witnessed four great systems of thoughts and religions which have, consequently, imparted on the history of world. The Chinese provided us with a combination of philosophy and religion emanating from three schools; Confucianism, Daosim and Legalism. The religious doctrine derived from each of these three was concerned with issues of how individuals can interact with each other while attempting to answer the question of how to lead an ethical life that would be in harmony with nature and the cosmos. The Indian religious doctrines

which emerged from Jains, Buddhism and Hinduism saw existence as an endless cycle of birth and rebirth (samsara or reincarnation). However, how one lives his life while here on earth may determine how he will return at rebirth. If one has been good while on earth, he may be reborn at a higher state, even as a god. If one had been bad or evil, he may be reborn at a lower state or even as an animal. This belief rests on the concept of Karma which says that every good or evil action has its effects. However, quiet different from the two above is the Hebrews or Israelites religious philosophy which rests on the existence of an all-powerful God, thereby making them the first people in history to base their identity as a nation on faith in a single God who made ethical demands and placed responsibilities on them as individuals and as a nation. Through the Christian and Muslim traditions, Hebrew monotheism had had profound influence on the history of the world. Finally, were the Greek philosophical traditions which emerged in the sixth century B.C.E. Much of what goes for Western philosophy and science today are derived from the Greek tradition of rational inquiry. Religion had always been used to justify violence, war and repression from antiquity and therefore, religious violence cannot really be said to be a modern phenomenon. As a matter of fact, as a scholar Rappoport has reported, until the 19th century, religion has provided the only justification for terrorism and it was not until 1980, as a result of the repercussions of the revolution in Iran the previous year that the first “modern” religious terrorist groups emerged. By 1992, the number of religious terrorist groups had increased and expanded to embrace major world religions as well as obscure religious sects and cults. Today, we know that religious violence centres on three sources; (1) the feeling, expressed as a religious obligation, by some religious group to purify the world for a new epoch. This is best refere to as religious eschatology, (2) the feeling that a religious group has been specifically chosen and so may destroy others in the cause of righteousness. This type of feeling leads to zero-tolerance of others who are not of the same religious belief and, (3) some people may become so consumed with a particular cause that they create surrogate religious belief to advance it. These three seem to characterise instances and To be continued places where religious violence has predominated.

PHOTOTALK

OSUN DEFENDER Saturday, October 4, 2014

2014 Legal Year At State High Court, Osogbo, State Of Osun, Last Tuesday. Photo: SEGUN ADEJUMO

•State of Osun Chief Judge, Justice (Mrs) Adepele Ojo (right) and others during the march past at State High Court, Osogbo, last Tuesday in commemoration of 2014 Legal year.

•A cross section of police officers on the march past at the event.

• •A cross section of lawyers at the event.

PHOTOTALK

OSUN DEFENDER Saturday, October 4, 2014

Declaring Open The Sales Of Ram For The 2014 Eid-El-Kabir Festival At The Oloba Cattle Ranch, Oloba, Iwo In The State Of Osun, Last Tuesday. Photo: GBENGAADENIYI.

•Secretary to the State Government of Osun, Alhaji Moshood Adeoti (2nd right); Director-General, Office of Economic Development and Partnership, Dr Charles Akinola (2nd left); Senior Special Assistant to State of Osun Governor on O’ REAP, Mr Komolafe Femi (2nd right); Project Consultant, Mr Ladi Olanrewaju (left); All Progressives Congress (APC) Chairman in Iwo Local Government Council Area, Alhaji Semiu Ayanfe (3rd left.) during the programme.

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•Rams at Oloba Cattle Ranch.

PHOTOTALK

OSUN DEFENDER Saturday, October 4, 2014

‘Bring Back Our Girls’ Campaigners At Nelson Mandela Freedom Park, Osogbo, To Mark 2014 Independence Celebration On Wednesday. Photo: SEGUN ADEJUMO

Continued on page 11

•The co-ordinator for ‘BRING BACK OUR GIRLS’ campaign, Manre Mayegun (in glasses), addressing pressmen during the protest held in Osogbo on Independence Day on Wednesday.

•Some of the participants during the protest march of the campaign.

•’BRING BACK OUR GIRLS protesters carrying placards with different messages’.

FEATURE

•JONATHAN

OSUN DEFENDER Saturday, October 4, 2014

•BUHARI

The Big Sell: Jonathan Versus Buhari ITH President Goodluck W Jonathan’s endorsement for a second term by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the 2015 presidential election in Nigeria is shaping up to be a marketing contest. It promises to be a time when creative framing of the contest will be decisive. And with barely five months to the February 14, 2015 presidential election, it is apt to do a comparative analysis of how sellable are the two front runners, in the race – incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan of the PDP and Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress ( APC). President Jonathan has two major advantages over any other opponent – name recognition and the power of incumbency which affords him the leverage to create dramatic events and make policy decisions which can advance his chances at the polls. If, for instance, he musters the courage to further reduce fuel price, induce accelerated trial and eventual jailing of fuel subsidy scammers, sack police commissioners in states where kidnapping has become thriving business, and get the army to take the fight to the Boko Haram insurgents, he can fairly blunt his perception as a fumbling, ‘clueless’ antipeople leader who gives no damn about the suffering of the masses. It can also begin to indicate that he has not been in consort with, or a patron saint of, the corrupt oligarchy. The poser is: Can he? Of course, no leader at the level of the Presidency will not have ‘achievements’ to celebrate. The task for Jonathan’s marketing agents – and we have a plethora of them with the rambunctious Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN) taking the cake – is itemizing those populist programmes and projects which have transformed the peoples’ lives. Statistics don’t sell with the masses; what are those Jonathan policy measures which touch lives of citizens, directly. What are the tangibles? However, one achievement President Jonathan can rightly boast of is being a democrat, allowing the people’s will to prevail in elections, by citing the governorship elections in Edo, Ondo, Anambra, Ekiti states and most recently Osun, the so-called militarisation of the process in the last two states notwithstanding. Also, there is, to some extent, the perception of President Jonathan as being tolerant of criticisms going by the stridency of some of his critics, which occasionally degenerate to name calling, with some columnists tagging him as ‘clueless’ and a serpent.

By BISI OLAWUNMI Our president says he is not a Pharaoh or a General and projects as your regular, unpretentious village boy. Let no one be deceived. It is becoming obvious that behind his manufactured humble mien lurk a strong willed streak and a cunning which neutralize opposition without being seen as a demolishing Leviathan, a bulldozer. You remember that General turned-farmer, who became a two-term president and brashly showed us he was a Power Hurricane? The Otueke village boy has quietly humbled him without a fuss. Just as he has neutralized those vociferous Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) grandstanders most of whom are yesterday’s men seeking relevance in today’s politics. The saturation campaign of Jonathan’s foot soldiers, nationwide, has had the effect of intimidating potential challengers in his party, the PDP, thus leading to his unanimous adoption as party presidential candidate. The continuing saturation awareness campaign strategy is also intended to numb the people to feel there is no effective, alternative choice in the opposition to his candidacy. Those not sold on Candidate Jonathan may choose not to vote, but then even a 30 percent voter turnout does not invalidate the election. It is a situation where voter apathy may work to Jonathan’s advantage. After all, is democracy not turning into a rule of the minority? Now to General Muhammadu Buhari. How do we place this General in terms of electoral permutation and marketing? Buhari, in terms of name recognition, personal integrity and consistency is the most sellable candidate for the APC. But a Buhari presidential bid suffers two major setbacks – that of limited time to project him as well as frame the campaign issues and an apparent funding limitation. The procrastination of his party, the APC, in projecting him as the putative candidate, has not helped matters, thus allowing all kinds of political opportunists to jostle for the party’s presidential ticket under a nebulous internal democracy mantra. It is turning out a chaotic terrain, especially with some party leaders and APC sympathetic columnists articulating weird presidential ticket permutations, including that of a Speaker Aminu Tambuwal, a PDP stalwart, as the party’s presidential candidate, if he defects. It does not get more desperate and befuddled! There is also an unexplainable lethargy in

APC awareness campaign nationwide. As noted by Tatalo Alamu in his Snooper column in The Nation of Sunday of August 31, “like an overweight sprinter, the APC has been slow to get off the starting block”. It is rather ludicrous seeing APC’s spokesmen whining that Jonathan’s foot soldiers shouldn’t be on the campaign trail. Who is stopping APC following suit? It would appear the Buhari strategists suffer the same lethargy, like the party, in getting a Buhari saturation awareness campaign off the block. It ignores two realities – that a presidential election is a marathon, not a 100 meters dash and that at presidential election level, the candidate, not the party, is the focal point. That is why it is now more of selling the candidate, his persona, his credibility. The main advantage and attraction of a Buhari candidacy, and putative Presidency, is his perception as an incorruptible person who can be trusted to confront the cancer of corruption that is ravaging the country, head on. It is the one issue which, properly articulated, and coupled with that of insecurity, can determine the presidential election outcome in Buhari’s favour. This is where framing the election issue becomes crucial. Two American presidential elections were determined, basically, on just one issue each – weak leadership in the Carter- Reagan 1980 election, and insecurity/crime in the Bush versus Dukakis election in 1988. I covered both election campaigns, live. The Chibok girls’ abduction by Boko Haram insurgents is a scene reminiscent of Iranian militants holding Americans hostage at the U.S Embassy in Teheran in 1979 for several months up to Election Day in November 1980 which projected President Jimmy Carter to the American people as a weak leader who cannot assert American power to free the hostages. Then Governor Ronald Reagan, who had vowed to confront the Iranians with the American might, whatever it takes, won the election in a landslide, Carter winning only in two of the 50 states – his native Georgia and Minnesota, the state of his running mate, Walter Mondale. In the 1988 electoral battle between Vice President George H.W. Bush (Republican) and the Governor of Massachusetts, Michael Dukakis (Democrat), the Bush campaign turned the table on front runner Dukakis by projecting him as soft on crime and liberal with criminals, exemplifying this with Dukakis’ granting of parole to a jailed rapist, Willie Horton, in Massachusetts only for the convict to go to Maryland state to commit

another rape. Although Dukakis engineered economic renewal of Massachusetts state, and promised similar economic miracle nationwide, the Bush campaign framed the election as a security/crime issue and vigorously projected a crime-ridden America under a Dukakis Presidency which persuaded the American people to vote for security, thus ending the presidential hopes of Dukakis. It was a classic example of campaign issue framing. Both candidates Jonathan and Buhari carry some baggage. Given Nigeria’s state of insecurity and rampant corruption, which are generally seen to have worsened under Jonathan’s watch, President Jonathan’s reelection becomes a hard sell to the Nigerian electorate, while the perception of Buhari, in some quarters, as a religious fanatic and northern irredentist are burdens he would need to discharge. Buhari also suffers the additional disadvantage of limited campaign penetration, which can, however, be mitigated if creative campaigning is applied in the time available. Ultimately, two factors will be decisive in the 2015 presidential election– voter turnout and perception management. In the 2011 presidential election, 38.2 million people voted as against 66.8 million registered voters, representing about 55 percent voter turnout. The party that can mobilise more of its supporters to cast their ballots will be at an advantage. On perception management, a projection of President Jonathan as a seemingly ‘harmless’ person who flows with the tide may attract a ‘let him be’ vote for a second term from an indulgent electorate while a vigorous marketing of Buhari as a selfless patriot, the liberator from the bondage of corruption and insecurity could persuade the voters to cast their ballots for the ascetic General. It is a potential cliff hanger. However, given the imponderables of politics, anything can happen, between now and the February 14, 2015 vote, to change the calculations. • Dr. Olawunmi teaches Mass Communication at Bowen University, Iwo, Osun State. •Culled from THE NATION

FEATURE

OSUN DEFENDER Saturday, October 4, 2014

By TUNDE AJAJA

RS. Bisola Ayeni, a businesswoman in her early 40s confidently left her house at Egbeda (Lagos) with an almost empty tank heading for Ikeja. The red light of the fuel indicator was blinking nonstop but Ayeni knew the quantity of fuel in her tank would take her to the next available filling station where she had hoped to fill up her tank. Indeed, as she got to the LagosAbeokuta Expressway, Ayeni drove into the filling station and told the attendant to fill her car with N5,000 worth of fuel while she rummaged her handbag to bring out the money as well as pick a call. That was her undoing. Ayeni would tell our correspondent that she didn’t bother to look at the pump while the sale was on because she didn’t envisage any foul act, besides she knew the level a N5,000 worth of fuel would rise to on her fuel gauge. Ayeni only managed a quick glance at the meter and when she saw that it was reading, she relaxed and enjoyed her discussion on the phone. She said, “When I finished, I looked at the pump and I saw N5,000 on the price column, I paid him and drove away. I expected the light indicating low fuel to go off and the indicator to rise, but it didn’t happen. “Even if the rise in the fuel indicator would be gradual, I expected a major shift. Lo and behold, the light never went off and the indicator never rose. “Oh my God, I was confused and very angry, so I turned back, while praying that the car wouldn’t run out of fuel. By the time I got to the petrol station, I was fuming.” Ayeni said she had almost slapped the attendant who attended to her having shouted on him when the station manager came out. “On hearing what happened, the manager gave the sales boy a resounding slap, apologised to me and ordered him to sell the fuel again, and I heard him saying the N5,000 would be deducted from his salary. We both stood by him while he sold the fuel, the gauge rose even before I left the station, which means he cheated me earlier. I still wouldn’t know how he did it,” she said. Ayeni’s experience is common among vehicle owners, who had at one time or the other thought they had bought fuel but later found out they either bought nothing or were short-changed in terms of the quantity. A cross section of vehicle owners who spoke to our correspondent alleged that they had noticed same at one time or the other but said that there was nothing they could do since they really could not establish any foul play. In case you once bought fuel from a filling station and it seemed like nothing was added to your fuel tank after you have left, or you felt what was sold to you wasn’t commensurate with what you paid for or expected, you may have been cheated under your close watch even with your eyes wide open. Saturday PUNCH had a revealing chat with fuel attendants of some popular filling stations in Lagos and they explained how they make quick but huge cash from unsuspecting customers. One of them who identified himself simply as Owolabi John, said there are many ways fuel attendants cheat customers who have come to buy fuel, which many people are not aware of. Devouring a massive plate of hot and spicy pepper soup and a bottle of chilled beer our correspondent bought for him, John readily exposed all the tricks on how they make money. By the way, John earns N10,000 as a fuel attendant. He wants to pursue a university education. There is no other help from anywhere else, as such John admitted leaving no stone unturned to

Dirty Tricks Petrol Stations, Attendants Use To Cheat Customers take advantage of gullible customers to make some money from what he described as “the customers’ carelessness.” “Ideally, when we resume, we take the reading on the meter on the fuel dispenser, which we call the opening meter, and when we close, we take the reading, which we also call the closing meter. Then, we multiply the difference in the readings by the cost per litre, which is the amount we deliver to the manager. If there is any surplus, it belongs to the attendant, and if there is loss, the attendant will look for money to make it up. If the shortage is a lot of money, the manager may allow that the money be deducted from the person’s salary if the person is not sacked,” he explained. However, that surplus money may not have been a miracle or manna from heaven; it could simply be a product of manipulation by the attendants. According to John, there are different types of fuel dispensers, such as Marathon, Sanki, Eagle Star, etc, and each machine has its peculiar way of being adjusted. “On the keyboard of some of them, where we enter the number of litres or amount, which is either in front or on the side, there is usually a button labelled ‘Recall, TIM/CAL’ or any other label, depending on the machine. The essence of the button is to enable the attendant to see the past sales. If you want to see your last ten sales, you just press Recall, then the number you want to see etc, depending on the number you want, and it shows you the amount. Beyond seeing our past sales, we use it to make money. “If I sell N2,000 worth of fuel to a customer, and the next customer also wants to buy N2,000. If I observe that the second customer Isn’t paying attention, I will sell some quantity, maybe N1,500 and press Stop or Cancel, depending on the machine press Recall, 1, then press Ok. With that, N2,000 will appear on the screen and that is what the customer will see on the meter, believing the sale is complete. This can be done in less than one second. That is one of the ways, and at the close of business I remove mine which is the excess of the actual litre

sales. “Imagine if I do that for about ten customers in a day, with varying gain from each case, which depends largely on the amount of fuel the customer is buying and how sensitive the person is. I could make up to N10, 000 in one day,” he explained. According to him, attendants could go to the extent of writing out some past sales on a paper where they can easily have a glance to know which number to recall when a customer is distracted or looks away, since many people prefer to buy based on price and not litre. “When customers come, we observe them and see if they are tired or we try to distract them, sometimes with the help of our colleagues by engaging them in a chat or doing things that could easily distract them. As soon as they look away, if the seller has made an appreciable sale, he/ she would have mastered or checked his paper to see the last time he sold that particular amount, as soon as it is possible, he will press it, and press OK. Before the customer looks back, the sale will appear complete,” John explained. John’s revelation explained one of the ways Ayeni might have been cheated. Another fuel attendant, who simply identified himself as Owode Kabir, told our correspondent that the use of Recall or TIM button is the easiest way to make quick money because the customers would think the machine was fast, so they wouldn’t always suspect anything, even though some come back to complain. However, Kabir stressed that not all attendants are involved in the act, but that many of them do it as long as there is opportunity and that in some cases, they settle the station manager at the close of work if they are able to make some money, which they do everyday anyway. But ‘Recall or TIM/CAL’ button is not the only way to make money from customers, Kabir would tell our correspondent. There is yet another way! Even though many people know that when the nozzle is hanged on the pump, the readings revert to zero, he said they (fuel attendants) have also found a way to manoeuvre it to make some money.

“What we do is to gently place the nozzle, such that it won’t click to rub off the old sales and revert to zero, so, we fake it, which means the dispenser is still running, so if anyone comes, we simply continue from where we stop and that is why sometimes it seems like we are rushing the customers. It is easier when the last sale is a small quantity. “Even though the use of the Recall or TIM/CAL’ button on some of these machines is the easiest method, faking the nozzle is another viable way to make money. “If the previous sale is about N200 maybe by a Keke NAPEP and Okada rider, or even commercial buses (danfo) drivers, because they are the ones who buy fuel in bits, we will gently place the nozzle, and naturally, when you see that we remove the nozzle from the hanger, that is, from the engine, you believe that it started from zero. However, it is not always the case,” he said. Kabir was quick to add that some station managers or managements know about their tricks but that once they are caught or reported by a customer, such person could be sacked. He added that attendants usually sell in all cases but such sales might not start from zero or could be recalled to a previous sale that had the same amount, which would be an incomplete sale for the customer. “Sometimes we could gain up to N1,000 from one sale, it depends on the quantity that the consumer wants, and those that are caught are usually the greedy ones,” he noted. He added that in filling stations where their dispensers do not have Recall or TIM/CAL only the last sale could be recalled, hence, once the last sale is not the same with the current sale, faking the hanging of the nozzle might be the only way to make money through such pump. Station owners and managers also dupe customers A female attendant with a major oil marketer company in Lagos Island, Seun Jegede, told our correspondent how station managers and filling station Continued on page 13

FEATURE

OSUN DEFENDER Saturday, October 4, 2014

Dirty Tricks Petrol Stations, Attendants Use To Cheat Customers Continued from page 12

owners also cheat their customers. She alleged that most filling stations alter their meters to under-dispense fuel at the detriment of customers, which is a known phenomenon among consumers. Even though this could be a product of greed and inadequate regulation, she said they also do that to make up for some loss they might have incurred during sales. “Based on experience, I can tell you that almost all filling stations, including the ones being run by government, adjust their meters and what they do is to settle the officials from the Department of Petroleum Resources if or when they come for inspection. “No attendant can alter the meter on his own, except the manager sanctions it because it involves the engineer changing the panel and doing some mechanical readjustment. That is why many filling stations that alter their meters have to bribe their way through because the engineers are not always there, except the manager recommends a trusted attendant to be trained so as to put the pumps back to normal if DPR comes. “The adjustment is easier with the marathon machine because it has a key in front of the meter. This allows for quick readjustment of the meter so as to scale through the due diligence check by the DPR, which could be once in six months,” Jegede explained. She added that the decision to alter the meter could either come from the owner of the station or the station manager in connivance with the engineer, adding that whoever orders the adjustment takes the money made from the unsold quantity. Station attendants also cheat their employers According to John, not only customers are open to this fraud, even the management that the attendants work for are not immune to their fraudulent acts, through what he called ‘no reading’. In this case only the price meter reads while the litre reading does not move. He said this could be a product of frequent repairs of the pump or any other mechanical fault, which could make it malfunction. “When there is ‘no reading’ on the litre menu, and the management is not aware, there is no way the management will know the actual number of litres that have been sold. “What we do in such cases is to sell on the basis of amount only and we sometimes negotiate with the customer for settlement because we can sell more to make money. I can even call someone from home to come and buy and keep for me, before the management finds out that the litre is not reading. “Even though the ‘no reading’ issue rarely happens, it becomes a free for all if it happens to the diesel or kerosene pump that usually has no attendant attached to it. With that, tracing who sells what quantity may be difficult, even though an attendant must be smart to avoid being penalised. “Another form of ‘no reading’ is when some attendants, especially those attached to diesel or kerosene that have lesser patronage compared to petrol, gently press the nozzle (just like a onetouch press) that may not read on the meter whereas some fuel will still come out. It can also happen when they finish selling and instead of hanging the nozzle, they place it inside the keg for the little quantity to drip into their kegs. It may appear little, but over a long time, the

gentle one-touch press and the leftovers become a large quantity. That is why you see some attendants having kegs beside them,” John explained. The attendants further explained that they make more money when there is epileptic power supply which force people to buy fuel in kegs. “When there is no power supply and people struggle or force your nozzle in their kegs, many of them don’t care about starting from zero, which is a plus for us,” he said. They however said station attendants find it difficult to cheat if the customer comes out of the vehicle to stay with them, adding that those who sit in their vehicles can easily be distracted or shortchanged. A Director in DPR, Mr. George Osahon, had strongly advised in a television programme recently that it was better for vehicle owners to buy specific amount of fuel rather than using number of litres as a yardstick. “When you go to a modern filling station and you ask for N5,000 worth of fuel, they simply punch a pad and when it’s complete it stops by itself, and it is better to stand by the seller or keep a close watch from your car if you choose to sit in the car. “The reason the same worth of fuel would vary in quantity at different filling stations is because some under-dispense. Nobody will ever over-dispense, people will either dispense normally or underdispense, so if you see such differential, it is very necessary for you to call the

attention of the DPR to it,” he had said. Osahon had also said people should stop using statements like ‘fill-up the tank’ not minding how much fuel was inside their tank or the quantity coming into it, saying there is a lot of wastage in that, which is not necessary. However, while some filling station attendants who spoke to our correspondent denied the fraud allegations, a few others admitted that some attendants do it and that it depends on the circumstance and the type of pump, as pointed out by John. A cross section of station managers who spoke to our correspondent also dissociated their filling stations from those who cheat their customers, adding that none of their staff would survive such an attempt. Mr. Adebola Durojaiye, who is a manager of a filling station in Ikeja, said, “People say all filling stations underdispense but that is not true. One good way to identify those who do it is that they don’t have good patronage because whether we like it or not, customers know the good and bad stations, so, the generalisation is wrong.” The Chairman of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Ejigbo Satellite, Mr. Ajayi Adebayo, said recently that any member of the association found indulging in sharp practices would have his/her office sealed off alongside other sanctions, while urging members to be transparent and objective in their business transactions.

In a telephone conversation with our correspondent, the Executive Secretary, Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria, Mr. Obafemi Olawore, said no member of the association could be involved in under-dispensing or fiddling with the pump, adding that anyone with proof of such malpractice against any MOMAN member should feel free to contact the association to complain. “I am not aware that any MOMAN member engages in under-dispensing. However, I cannot swear an oath or beat my chest and say there is no such thing by those that we contracted to run the stations, that is, the dealers. I am not saying they do it, but anyone with proof that it happens should contact us and we will take immediate action,” Olawore added. DPR Spokesperson, Ms. Dorothy Bassey, said the agency was doing its best to check the fraudulent practices by some filling stations through its random inspection, while describing the bribe allegations against DPR officials as untrue. “I am confirming to you that it is not true that officials of DPR collect bribe, what kind of money are they going to pay DPR staff? That is why we shut down stations once we have any indication that they carry out any malpractice. “It happens but not as rampant as people make it look because nobody is a fool or wants to be cheated. That is why we do a lot of public engagement for people to watch out. “We may not be 100 per cent, but certainly, we are working to ensure that everybody is happy. We have operation offices nationwide where people can go to complain,” Bassey said. Meanwhile, a report culled from dailyfinance.com says filling up the tank may be another way to lose money and fuel, because when the pump clicks off automatically, no additional fuel enters the tank. “Instead, fuel is likely being diverted through the pump’s vapour recovery system and back into the station’s tank, which means you are paying for gas that you are not getting. “More importantly, the car needs space in its tank for fuel vapours to expand. Overfilling can force gas into the car’s carbon filter, leading to poor performance, reduced mileage or costly repairs. So, the next time you want to buy fuel, don’t top off your tank, it’s good for your car and even better for your wallet,” the report said. Culled from SUNDAY PUNCH

OSUN DEFENDER Saturday, October 4, 2014

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Application Deadline 6th November, 2014. —————————————————————————————————— Latest Job Vacancies in a Montessori School located in Port Harcourt, Rivers Sate A Montessori School located in Port Harcourt area of Rivers Sate is seeking candidates for the following positions; Position: Montessori Directress Requirement: Minimum of 10 years of experience with B.Sc. or BA or B.Ed, degree Position: Head Teacher Primary Requirement: Minimum of 5 years of experience with B.Sc, or BA or B.Ed, degree Position: Head Teacher Nursery Requirement: Minimum of 5 years of experience in Montessori system of education and with B.Sc. or BA or B.Ed, degree. Position: Subject Teachers In the following fields: English (must be good at Diction, Grammar and communication Art), Mathematics, Science, French, Igbo, Yoruba, Music, Geography, History, Social Studies, Computer Science, Agricultural Science, Languages, Fine Art, Home Economics and Physical and Health Educations). Requirement: Minimum of 4 years of experience with B.Sc. or BA or B.Ed. degree or NCE with 7 years of experience in the Montessori System of education. Position: Teachers Assistant Requirement: Minimum of 3 years of experience with NCE holder Position: School Secretary/ Front Desk Officer Requirement: Minimum of 3 years of experience with B.Sc. or BA or B.Ed, degree or ND or HND holder. Position: School Bursar Requirement: Minimum requirement for this position is 3 years with either ND or HND B.Sc. or BA in Accounting, Finance, or Economics Position: School Bus Drivers Requirement: Candidates with a defensive driving Certificate, Bus Assistants, Well trained Security Personnel and Cleaners. Remuneration is very attractive. How to Apply: Interested candidate should forward their handwriting application, detail CV with a recent passport size photograph attached in MSDF to: degreenwoodcschool@gmail.com on or before 21st October 2014. Not later than 3 weeks from the date of the advertisement. —————————————————————————————————— Current Job Positions in an International Trading Company The following vacancies exist in a trading company with an International Brand: Position: Area Sales Manager (West Area) Requirements: Candidate must have knowledge in managing big distributors Candidates must have FCMG background and working with multinational brand is a plus Candidates must be systematic – highly disciplined and an expert in using Microsoft excel & power point Candidates must possess good record in business plan and sales management Candidates must have excellent accounting knowledge Candidates must have vast knowledge of open market strategy Candidates must possess good communication, writing and reporting skills Position: Area Sales Manager (Central Region) Requirements: Candidate must have knowledge in managing big distributors Candidates must have excellent accounting knowledge Candidates must have vast knowledge of open market strategy Candidates must possess good communication, writing and reporting skills Candidates must have FCMG background and working with multinational brand is a plus Candidates must be systematic – highly disciplined and an expert in using Microsoft excel & power point Candidates must possess good record in business plan and sales management Position: Area Sales Manager (North Region) Requirements: Candidate must have knowledge in managing big distributors Candidates must have FCMG background and working with multinational brand is a plus Candidates must be systematic – highly disciplined and an expert in using Microsoft excel & power point Candidates must possess good record in business plan and sales management Candidates must have excellent accounting knowledge Candidates must have vast knowledge of open market strategy Candidates must possess good communication, writing and reporting skills Position: Territory Sales Manager (North East Region) Requirements: Candidates must be excellent in managing Dealers Candidates must be excellent in managing Van Salesmen Candidates must possess Sales Force in open market Candidates must have FCMG background and working with multinational brand is a plus Candidates must be systematic – highly disciplined and an expert in using Microsoft excel & power point Candidates must possess good record in development and coverage Position: Territory Sales Manager (North West Region) Requirements: Candidates must be excellent in managing Dealers Candidates must be systematic – highly disciplined and an expert in using Microsoft excel & power point Candidates must possess good record in development and coverage Candidates must be excellent in managing Van Salesmen Candidates must possess Sales Force in open market Candidates must have FCMG background and working with multinational brand is a plus Position: Female Human Resources Manager Requirements: Recruitment with a good data Archive Knowledge in contracts and employee official papers Knowledge in appraisals and evaluation report Qualifications: Sc/HND in a related course with 5yrs minimum working experience. How to Apply: Note: Only candidates who meet the above criteria should forward their C.V to: fcmgjob@gmail.com Applications closes 14th October, 2014. ———————————————————————————————————————

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PHOTOTALK

OSUN DEFENDER Saturday, October 4, 2014

State Of Osun Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, Offered Free Train Ride For EidEl-Kabir Festival For Osun Indigenes From Lagos To Osun, Last Thursday.

•Indigenes and non-indigenes of Osun boarding the Omoluabi Free Train Ride offered by Governor Rauf Aregbesola for this year’s Eid-el-Kabir festival at Iddo Terminus, Lagos State, on Thursday.

•Another beneeficiaries of Omoluabi free train ride in Lagos.

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SATURDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2014

AUDACIOUS EXPLOIT

AST Wednesday, the country clocked 54 years as an independent nation from the British imperialist power. Nigeria, an amalgam of the Northern and Southern protectorates came into being under the leadership Lord Lugard in January, 1914. In the colonization strategy of the British, there were three categories of people who came along. The first set were the traders. They came under the auspices of the United African Company (UAC) as a result of the industrial revolution in England, which necessitated the demand for markets to sell their goods, as well as replenish their stock of raw materials. Africa and Asia provided a useful ground for such purpose. The second category were the missionaries. They came under the aegis of Church Missionary Society(CMS). Basically they were here for evangelization. They brought Christianity to us. Today, Nigeria is exporting back to Europe. Whether the doctrine of the Bible has reflected in our lives or not is another ball game entirely. The evangelists came with western education and the charges were affordable by the people. Today, our local missionaries or the faith-based schools have taken education beyond the ordinary Nigerian. Those who pay their tithes and contribute to the establishment of these schools cannot access them. The last set were the humanitarians, who came to abolish the slave trade. The imperialists were able to subdue and bought our forefathers during the slave trade era. These humanitarians sought to abolish this ignoble trade. By the time, these set of people finished with us, we were deeply entrenched in colonialism. Our nationalist leaders such as Samuel Heelas Herbert Macaulay, often referred to as the father of nationalism, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Sir Ahmadu Bello and others fought to liberate our country from the clutches of colonialism. Our approach to decolonisation was more of round-table conferences, where our leaders met with the colonial masters to ask for independence. Earlier this year, Nigeria celebrated a century years of amalgamation. Our nationalist leaders that agitated for independence envisioned a brighter and better life for the citizens, a hope for the black race and possibly to lead Africa in the field of emancipation. However, all these have become a mirage. Rather, it has been a case of vicissitude. Everything has gone down the drain. Hopes have been dashed and Nigerians have become disillusioned and seemingly despondent. Leaders have become less trustworthy, while militant agitation and insurgency have become the order of the day. The sixth oil producer in the world has for over two decades become importer

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

My Reflection Of Nigeria At 54 (1)

•JONATHAN

of petroleum products. The country has become an importer of food, even though the abundant land is rich in food production. Five decades in a life of a country may be too relatively small to do an effective assessment, but if this trend is not checked, we may go from bad to worse. Where did we go wrong? Where did we deviate from the noble cause of our founding fathers? Is it too late to retrace our steps? What fundamentally is wrong with us as a country? All these questions can be answered, if we have leaders who are well-focused and are determined to chart a purposeful course. With fewer resources then, we remember with nostalgia what the leaders like Awolowo, Azikiwe, Bello and others achieved. As a country, we have gone below the standard practice in any human endeavour, except in corruption. We have excelled in an area

that has caused us opprobrium in the international scene. Nigeria has become a laughing stock in the international community. Is it not an irony that 54 years after our political independence, no Nigerian university ranks among the top 10 in Africa? Should this not be a source of concern for everybody? Our tertiary education system has become notorious for incessant strikes, rather than the quality education it was known for in the 60s and 70s. The products of our university system were well sought after before now, because of the standard. These days, our university graduates with first class are made to write qualifying exams to enable them do post-graduate studies abroad. The results churned out yearly by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and the National Examination Council (NECO) as reflecting the performance of students in their terminal

exams gives room for serious concern. The 31% success rate as per credit in five subjects in English and Mathematics last year was very woeful. In spite of the establishment of the anti-corruption agencies, it is very glaring that our leaders only pay a lip service to the fight against graft. The recent case of the seizure of $9.3 million from two Nigerians and an Israeli in South Africa purportedly meant to procure arms is a very good example. The plane that ferried the illicit money belonged to a former Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) President, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor. A former governor of the oil-rich, Delta State, Mr James Onanefe Ibori is languishing in a British gaol for corruption. This was after he had been exculpated in a Nigerian court. A time-bomb waiting to go off anytime is the issue of youth unemployment. What serious steps are being taken to engage our restive youths? Without good governance, everything will remain in limbo. Our leaders are not ready to think out of the box but want to do same thing every time, but expect different result, which obviously is not possible. The supply of electricity has remained epileptic thereby affecting both domestic and industrial uses. Many companies have closed shops, while small-scale businesses depend on generators to provide electricity. It is close to a year now that the Power Holding Company of Nigerian (PHCN) was privatized, but has there been any remarkable difference in the supply of electricity? Target-dates set for improvement keep changing, such that whenever dates are given, citizens take them with a pinch of salt. Provision of pipe-borne water in the 21st century ordinarily ought to be a citizen’s right, but how many people have access to it? Health facilities have a lot of challenges such that many who cannot afford it prefer to make do with herbs and prayers. Health, the maxim goes, is wealth, so the government should do everything possible to make it accessible and affordable to many of Nigerians The road infrastructure in the country needs serious attention. Bad roads in the country is a major source of road accidents. Our highways, as well as rural roads, should be rehabilitated, while new ones should be constructed. Some Nigerians have put the blame of Nigeria’s slow pace of development at the doorsteps of the military, who ruled for a cumulative period of 29 years out of the 54 years. Whereas we agree to an extent that the military is culpable, can we continue to rue that aspect of our sad past. The civilian leadership owes more to the people because they ought to be responsible and responsive to the needs of the people. If Nigerians are able to fix the leadership conundrum, it is my view that Nigerians would be happy for it.

OSUN DEFENDER is published by Moremi Publishing House Limited, Promise Point Building, Opposite Guaranty Trust Bank GTB, Gbongan Road, Osogbo, State of Osun. All correspondence to the Managing Editor, KOLA OLABISI, Telephone: 08033927286 (kolaolabisi@yahoo.com); Editor, KAYODE AGBAJE, Telephone: 0803-388-0205, E-mail:

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