www.osundefender.org TUESDAY, OCTOBER 7, 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
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
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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
VOL. 9. NO.120 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,
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maybe June 12, 1993 Presidential elections presumed to have being won by my President, M.K.O Abiola could be an exception. It wasn’t because I had affinity with anyone in Ogbeni’s government or because I enjoyed any form of patronage but because Continue on pg5
Osun PDP In Disarray As 100 Members Defect To APC - See Story On Page 2
Significance Of Sallah, Basis For - Pg 3 Good Governance – Aregbesola
Group Calls For Inclusive Legislation
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•The governor, State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola (on top of a vehicle), acknowledging cheers from the crowd during the 2014 Eid-El-Kabir Festival at Oke-Baale Praying Ground, Osogbo, State of Osun, last Saturday. Photo: GBENGA ADENIYI.
Osun Speaker Urges Muslims To Raise Voice Against - Pg 2 Insurgency
Group Plants Tree For Chibok Girls, Demands Their Release
- See Story On Page 3
OSUN DEFENDER Tuesday, October 7, 2014
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Osun PDP In Disarray As 100 Members Defect To APC By FRANCIS EZEDIUNO
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N spite of the ongoing cases on the governorship election in the State of Osun, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state has suffered another setback, as no fewer than 100 of its members decamped to the ruling-All Progressives Congress (APC) last Thursday in Ifon-Osun, headquarters of Orolu Local Government Council Area of the state. While receiving the advisers, youths and host decampees, who included of others to the party at the former executive local party secretariat, Ile-Ooye, government council off Ogbomoso road in Ifonchairman, councillors, Osun, the APC chieftains,
led by Alhaji Kilani Orisawale, made it known that the decampees meant well for the party and indications showed that they are ready to work tirelessly for the party’s victory in 2015 general elections. The APC Chairman in the council area, Alhaji Ganiyu Ibrahim, who received the decampees, promised them a level playing ground for
all members, adding that in the progressive camp, there is neither old nor new member, as all members are one. Addressing the crowd, the representative of Irepodun/Orolu Constituency at the state parliament, Honourable Kamil Oyedele, who introduced the decampees to the party, advised them to be very loyal to the party
and be ready to work assiduously to ensure that the APC emerges victorious in the forthcoming general elections in 2015 and even beyond. He opined that there would be no any form of marginalization of any member, as they are all the same in the progressive camp. While speaking on behalf of the decampees, the former Executive Chairman, Orolu Local Government Council, Honourable Adeyemo Razak (Bovas), declared that they were impressed by the u n p r e c e d e n t e d d e v e l o p m e n t a l achievements of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola-led administration in all nooks and crannies of the state
which motivated them to cross over to the APC. Bovas also said that there is a need to savage the country from deceitful present administration of Goodluck Jonathan come 2015. According to him: “We are now in an egalitarian party; the party of lawabiding citizens; the only progressive party and forever, we have left the useless party of cheats, criminals and law-breakers”, he said. Therefore, the party’s flag was presented to the decampees by the state Deputy Treasurer of APC, Honourable Adekunle Benson, who also advised others in the opposition party to come and join the progressive train before it is too late.
Lawmaker Charges Nigerians On Patriotism By SHINA ABUBAKAR
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member of the State of Osun House of Assembly, representing Olorunda State Constituency, Honourable Waseeu Adebayo, has charged the teeming populace of the state to be patriotic in their daily activities. He stated this while front, with a view to raising speaking with OSUN responsible leaders for the DEFENDER in his country, saying leadership constituency office on the does not emanate from nation’s 54th independence vacuum, but a product of followership. anniversary. Speaking on governance The lawmaker lamented •Muslim children praying at praying ground, Technical College area, Osogbo, during the 2014 Eid-El-Kabir festival. the decadence in the value in the state, Adebayo system among the populace disclosed that he has an Photo: GBENGA ADENIYI. across the country, saying unflinching faith in the every family should be held leadership of Governor Rauf Aregbesola to steer the ship responsible for the trend. the present According to him, of administration to the path of everyone is talking of public make use of its readily services to socio-economic office holders, while the glory. By SOLA JACOBS activities, stressing that the available Post Mail Boxes He stated that the front, which is the HE need for frantic effort to reinvigorate reading (PMB) and mail boxes, while celebration among others, home basic unit of the society, governor’s take-off point is culture among Nigerian students to enhance at the same time urging will witness advocacy tour continue to turn-out youths the right way to kick-start language skill and competence has been stressed. defaulters to pay their dues to public places to make lacking in moral values, revolutionizing the system, A communication expert services among others to and desist from abandoning case for postal system. arguing that Nigerians which according to him, was and Postal Manager, Mr keep abreast of global their mails. The communication generally should focus on in comatose before his emergence as governor. Lawrence Tunwase, stated trends. Speaking on forthcoming expert concluded by calling rebuilding the societal “The way Mr Governor this in an interactive session He posited that NIPOST World Post Day, he said the on government parastatals value. started his administration is He condemned the with OSUN DEFENDER. was working on initiating annual event was aimed at to make use of postal right way to give the He explained that though home services, while sensitizing the populace on services in delivery of their situation, where families the a sense of abandon their duty of people ICT had brought several appealing to the people to the relevance of postal services to the people. responsibility, the doctrine taking care of the home improvements in our daily of Omoluabi introduced by activities, the innovation the governor is long has however, taken toll on overdue, not only in the state the writing culture of but the country as a whole. students, which according “I believe what our people country’s numerous need to do is to collaborate to him, is the result of poor challenges. the present examination performance, as Sheikh Omotokese called on with administration in the state to well as low patronage of the politicians, especially Ejigbo, Sheikh Sulaiman By KAZEEM MOHAMMED ensure that its visions to postal services by the Omotokese, while delivering those holding executive younger generation. HE Speaker, State of Osun House of Assembly, the Eid-el-Kabir sermon, urged positions, to help in ensuring drive the state to the promised land becomes a Honourable Najeem Salaam, has stressed the need Nigerians to live in peace and the security of the country. Tunwase solicited the reality,” he added. for Islamic leaders and Muslim faithful to raise their harmony to overcome the support of educational The legislator maintained voice against insurgency in Nigeria until the name of Islam agencies and relevant that the House and its is separated from terrorism. stakeholders to encourage leadership recently passed writing culture and use of He made the call on peace for the stability and a vote of confidence on the By FRANCIS EZEDIUNO post office, adding that Saturday shortly after the two- progress of the nation. leadership of the governor rakat prayers to mark the Eidparents must also play their According to him, peace and leading Human Rights group in Nigeria, the Committee because of its conviction for Democracy and Rights of the People (CDRP), has that he would deliver on his role in monitoring the el-Kabir celebration at the stability will enable the urged all the people of Nigeria to be alive to their civic electoral promises. country to attain its goal of educational exploits of their Ejigbo praying ground. Salaam admonished Muslim sustained socio-economic responsibilities by taking part in the legislative processes. children to prepare them for On the relationship faithful to use the celebration development in all spheres of The Acting National Co- civil society organizations with between the legislators and the future. to re-establish pillars of love ordinator of the group, all the relevant legislative the executive, he said it is He restated the and tolerance among their human endeavours. Also speaking, the senator Comrade Saka Waheed, made advocacy strategies for prompt cordial, explaining that the commitment of NIPOST to neighbours for which Islam is representing Osun West this call at a two-day workshop of bills in the Houses essence of the different arms continue to organise writing known and shun all acts of Senatorial District, Mudashir on legislative advocacy passage of Assembly. competition to re- awaken violence. “A situation, whereby the is to ensure that the people Hussein, urged Nigerians to use strategies organized by the writing culture and language The Speaker enjoined the occasion of the celebration, group in conjunction with legislators are left alone to who they represent benefit prowess of Nigerian Muslim faithful to emphasise irrespective of their ethnic and Human Rights Agenda Network unilaterally draft, formulate, from various government deliberate and pass bills, is alien policies. the importance of religious religious differences, to (HRAN). students. “Our relationship as Comrade Saka, who also to international best practices tolerance, noting that religious embrace peace and tolerate one Speaking on the activities doubled as the resource person and cannot guarantee an lawmakers with the of NIPOST, Tunwase tolerance remained a vital another. for the workshop, urged all the inclusive democracy.” executive arms is guided by ingredient for peace and Senator Hussein noted that participating civil society described the patronage as The group promised to offer law, not by any other thing development to thrive during it is only under the atmosphere satisfactory, especially and after the Eid-el-Kabir. organizations to engage the technical assistance to any of peace that Nigeria can legislators in their respective N o n - G o v e r n m e n t a l and since our government is organisations, pointing out a product of the rule of law, While describing the prosper and have economic environments. Organization in the area of bill- we assure everyone that we that it had diversified from celebration as a day of prosperity. According to him, the drafting, especially when it is mere mail movement to thanksgiving, Salaam urged Earlier, the Chief Imam of purpose of the training was to related to democracy and would not do anything cargo, financial and agency Nigerians to toe the line of contrary,” Adebayo added. acquaint all the participating protection of human rights.
‘Reinvigorate Reading Culture’
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Osun Speaker Urges Muslims To Raise Voice Against Insurgency
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Group Calls For Inclusive Legislation
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OSUN DEFENDER Tuesday, October 7, 2014
Significance Of Sallah, Basis For Good Governance – Aregbesola By KEHINDEAYANTUNJI
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HE fear of God and the readiness to sacrifice all in order to keep promises, which are the hallmarks of the annual symbolic celebration of the Eid-il-Kabir are the very basis of good governance. This was the admonition Mr. Semiu Okanlawon. Continuing the by Governor Rauf celebration on Saturday, Aregbesola of the State of Osun in a statement on his Okanlawon said two behalf by the Director, things stand very clearly Bureau of Communication in the decision of Prophet and Strategy in his office, Ibrahim to sacrifice his
son. According to him, he did so to fulfil a promise to God should he be blessed by God. The second is that, there was nothing too much or too dear to Ibrahim for him to lose in order to fulfil a pledge. “If we look at it very critically, these two are the virtues lacking in modern day life that create the
present topsy-turvy atmosphere that pervades everywhere. “If those in government demonstrate enough fear of God; resolve to fulfil promises kept and ready to give up anything, no matter how dear and costly in order to fulfil a promise, most of the problems of bad governance, injustice and insensitivity to the plight of
•Oke-Agboja road in Ijebu-Ijesa, State of Osun, rehabilitated under the administration of Governor Rauf Aregbesola, as captured by our cameraman, GBENGA ADENIYI, recently.
the common man would vanish,”the governor stated. Most politicians, the statement added, would go to any length to make promises to hoodwink the electorate in order to seek their votes, they promise heaven on earth, knowing full well that their promises are empty. “This is why for us in Osun as a government, we are conscious of the fact that our electoral promises are not only before men, from who seek electoral support, but before God who created and watches over all that we do here on earth. “Each time we talk about Aregbesola’s pact with the people of Osun, we are not only talking about those promises made to voters for them to vote for us; we are talking about our promises before God that we owe the duty to fulfil. “Programmes of this government, such as the highly-impactful employment schemes such as OYES, OYESTECH, Agric Academy, functional educational programmes, such as digitalization (Tablet of Knowledge), O’MEAL, O’SCHOOL, poverty alleviating programmes, such as the micro-credit schemes, farmers cooperatives
Group Plants Tree For Chibok Girls, Demands Their Release By FRANCIS EZEDIUNO
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Federal Government on the abducted school girls. “These girls have been in captivity since Monday, April 14th, 2014 and Jonathan’s administration has been very silent about how to get them back to their parents. “Instead, Jonathan’s wife
N Osogbo-based Civil Society Organization, Climate and Environmental Development Initiatives (CEDI), has organized a mass procession to demand for the release of abducted Chibock school girls, who were abducted more than five months ago. The procession, which condemnation for the was tagged: “Break the continued silence of the Silence” moved round all the major roads and government institutions in Osogbo before finally rounding off the rally at the By KAZEEM MOHAMMED Nigerian National Petroleum HE Elerin of Erin-Osun, Oba Yusuf Omoloye, Corporation (NNPC) Mega and the President of Erin Progressive Union Station along Iwo road to (EPU), Alhaji Hassan Alao, have urged people, plant a legacy tree for the irrespective of their religious differences, to imbibe abducted girls. President of Climate and culture of tolerance and peace, in line with the E n v i r o n m e n t a l principle of Eid-il-Kabir. Development Initiatives, They spoke at Erin- development closer to us. Comrade Amitolu Shittu, Osun Praying Ground We must also fear God,” while performing the shortly after observing the he said. planting of the trees, called Alhaji Alao also urged the on the Federal Government Eid-il-Kabir two-rakat to intensify more efforts in prayer on Saturday, saying people to reflect on their its approach and methods that tolerance is the pasts and find a way of towards the immediate fulcrum of peace. making amendment where release of the innocent girls According to the necessary. from the den of their captors. monarch, there is the need According to him, “Our presence on this for believers of all religions Nigerians must also be spot today is for one to do everything possible prayerful to tackle the purpose; to register our displeasure over the in terms of making insurgency that has held continuous unusual silence sacrifice necessary for the country by the jugular of the Federal Government peace to thrive, saying it within the past few years. on the whereabouts of the is only under a peaceful The EPU President said abducted Chibock girls atmosphere that the fight against since the last 170 days and development can be insurgency could not be collectively re-echo our achieved. fought alone by the voice to demand for their “We must all love government, but it requires immediate location and ourselves, love our town, the efforts of everyone to unconditional release from our environment and be tackle the challenges. the den of Boko Haram.” Calling on the indigenes Members of the group, tolerant, as these are the roles we need to play to of the ancient town to who spoke with OSUN to its DEFENDER, were full of assist government to bring contribute
came on air and shed her crocodiles tears and added ‘there is God o’ cliche to Nigeria’s alreadyexhaustive lexicons. “After the tears, what has her husband done? All he did was to introduce ‘stomach infrastructure in Ekiti and introduction of the
Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria. “Some of the Chibok parents are dead, according to information we are getting. This is very bad for a nation that other African countries look upon as ‘the big sister’.”
Elerin, EPU President Call For Tolerance, Peace
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development, he said this is with a view to making it a reference point among other communities. Earlier, the Chief Imam of Erin Osun, Alhaji AbdulFatai Bolajoko, in his sermon, emphasised the need for Muslims to fear
God and learn how to leave good legacies. Noting that Islam is a religion of peace, he stated that the religion forbids destruction and any act that can truncate the peace of the state and country at large.
schemes, Agba Osun monthly welfare package; O’REAP, infrastructure programmes, such as urban and rural roads construction, urban renewal projects and many others, are the products of promises fulfilled. “The constant reminder of these promises and the need to fulfil them form the basis of the several live-changing policies and programmes of our government.” Okanlawon added that nothing should be too much to give up by politicians in order to bring about good governance. The statement said despite the very meagre resources that accrue to the state, the government has sacrificed everything to ensure that life gets better for the people. “There would have been a reason for failure to bring about peopleoriented policies because of the poor state of finance, but having made those promises to better the lots of our people, we have stretched ourselves very thin by sacrificing everything to keep those promises. “This should be the way out to all politicians regardless of their political affiliations to transform our country,” the statement added. It added that it was no surprise that Governor Aregbesola was returned in the August 9, 2014 election, noting that the electorate saw in his less than four years a politician, who would give up everything to fulfil promises made and move steps further on things he never promised. Urging Muslims to demonstrate these virtues in all their dealings with fellow human beings, the statement quoted the governor as saying that with their behaviours in government and political engagements, Muslims possess the capacity to change the world to a better place to live in.
Man, 32, Bags 6 Months’ Jail By BOLANLE BABALOLA
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32-year-old man, Kabiru Azeez, has been sentenced to six months jail term or an option of fine by an Osogbo Chief Magistrate’s Court for stealing. According to the of Osun charge sheet, the accused Azeez however, stole one black Nokia 39 pleaded guilty to the onehandset, valued at N9,000, count charge slammed belonging to one Saheed perfered against him Aleshinloye . which contravened It stated that the Section 390 (9) of the accused committed the Criminal Law 34, vol 11 crime on September 22, laws of Osun of Nigeria 2014, at about 8.00am 2003 around Jacob carwash Counsel to the accused, along Ring Road in Mrs Nnena Ugwu, Osogbo, the state capital prayed the court to
temper justice with mercy. The Police Prosecutor, Isiaka Ajadi, informed the court that the person, who bought the stolen property from the accused person, rendered the effort of the Police in vain, as he could not be found, because Azeez sold the handset to a new person he met by the roadside The presiding magistrate, Mohamed Lasisi, in his judgement, thereby sentenced the accused to six months’ imprisonment or a fine of N15,000.
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OSUN DEFENDER Tuesday, October 7, 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 well-wishers, 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 master-plan 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.
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 far-reaching 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 Governor-elect, but also stated that nobody was fighting in Ife! That took the sail out of the wind of Omisore and his treacherous gang.
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
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high schools and the construction of model schools across the nine federal constituencies in the state. No part of the State of Osun has not benefitted from this. Even, the towns of the candidates in the rival political parties could boast of this modern
school edifice. For the information of the reader, model schools construction and building is the rave of the moment now in the education sector and if Osun embraces it, there is no offence in it. So, in that wise, every opponent of this policy
should just go and rest because if Osun doesn’t toe this line, it would be a great disservice to the people of the state by the government in power but thank God Aregbesola was wise in doing this. So all dissenting mouths should keep shut.
What else do you want to hear? It’s all been said and with Ogbeni Aregbesola still in the saddle for another fouryear term, it would be done. It behoves on all peace and progressive-minded Osun people to allow for transformation and
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
Osun And Education Initiative S the first four years of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola slowly winds to a conclusion and with the security of his second term ticket at the August 9 poll, there is need to praise the schools’ transformation agenda of Ogbeni Aregbesola’s administration. The weapon through which Aregbesola was able to successfully and effectively achieve this was through the Osun School Transformation Committee (O’School) under the Chairmanship of Otunba Lai Oyeduntan. It was a massive project which was so dear to his heart and he has achieved 95 per cent success on it with the introduction of same uniform across all the different levels of classes from the elementary, middle and
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 th e highest order. It got to a point
change. Chief Obafemi Awolowo of blessed memory did it and he introduced a free education policy into the whole of Western Nigeria and funny enough, it was the same people who benefitted from that policy that finally rubbished education and made it the exclusive preserve of the rich, powerful and mighty. Thank God, an unknown person with a vision and mission in the mould of Aregbesola came into the scene and proved that it could be done again; education could be free and available for everybody across the board. He has done his own bit and played his part, the rest is left for us. •SIKIRU OLAWALE, Osogbo, State of Osun.
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OSUN DEFENDER is published by Moremi Publishing House Limited, Promise Point Building, Opposite Guarantee Trust Bank GTB, Gbongan Road, Osogbo, State of Osun. All correspondence to the above mail address. ISSN: 0794-8050 Telephone: 0803-392-7286, 08033880205 Website: www.osundefender.com/index.php e-mail: osundefender@yahoo.com
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Renaissance OSUN DEFENDER Tuesday, October 7, 2014
The State Of Osun Schools’ Reclassification:
Schooling Made Easier, More Comprehensive In the State of Osun, South West Geopolitical Zone of Nigeria, the general overhaul of the various sectors of life in recent rimes calls for commendation. The Education sub-sector of the Social Services Sector, as a starting point, deserves our attention. Here, the entrenchment of the Omoluabi philosophy is currently being accorded its rightful anchorage and foothold. This glad trend of events has been on the trail of other intervention efforts earlier instituted by the Rauf Aregbesola administration. Glaring as these efforts are, cynics, detractors and unrepentant critics are still in the business of running the administration down; in clear preference for the old odd situation! In this series of exposition, NIYI OLASINDE chronicles the so far, so good of the journey into good governance; typified as "Government Unusual".
•Ejigbo High School in the State of Osun under the administration of Governor Rauf Aregbesola.
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OSUN DEFENDER Tuesday, October 7, 2014
Schooling Made Easier, More Comprehensive
•An aerial view of Baptist Elementary Central School, Ilare, Ile-Ife, State of Osun, commissioned by Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola sometime ago.
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SIDE the free, functional and qualitative education programme of the incumbent administration in the State of Osun under the leadership of Ogbeni Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola; there are numerous other mutually reconstructive, integrative programmes, policies and packages that are not only in tandem with, but also complementary to the orientation and philosophy of Omoluabi which has formed the core value and bent of the overall exertions of the administration. In all its programmes and policies as well as the execution of all projects, the administration has so far been guided by fairness, justice, equity and fair-play; giving unto all strata and groups across the state as much as is reasonably required, in relation to what is desired within rational limits and within the affordable reach of available means. This is done with profound magnanimity; even in the face of dwindling monthly revenue allocation from the Federation Accounts. Today, honest analysts and unbiased observers would agree with OSUN DEFENDER Magazine that this administration has no equal among the ones that had come in earlier years in terms of contribution to the life of the state and the well-being of its residents in all ramifications. The immediate past administration, taken as case study only extorted from and sapped the economy of the state beyond the marrow, such that by the time the knell was sounded for its inglorious exit, the state had almost been dragged into an absolute state of insolvency. The case and fate of the state was as terrible as that! It is therefore shameful, disappointing and pitiful to hear insinuations peddled here and there; time and again by members of the leading opposition in the state: the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) attempting to denigrate the giant strides of the Rauf Aregbesola administration and the tangible, visible and allencompassing achievements which are so glaring that they cannot be controverted. In pragmatic terms, the State of Osun has in the past three-and-a-half years shed off its old image. The state has acquired new name, new status, and new destiny – all to the extent that her fortunes have changed for the better! This development came as fulfillment to the predictions we made at the beginning of the launch of the new underlying philosophy in year 2011. During that time under reference, OSUN DEFENDER Magazine postulated that the state’s acquisition of new name, sobriquet, logo / coat of arms, flag, anthem and all the rest transcended mere name-calling and or other superficial underpinnings. We predicted at that early stage that the names and other symbolic
representations would speedily begin to speak aloud for the state; such that it would sooner than later be transformed into the envy of all other states around, both in Nigeria and yonder. We are glad today. We can stand tall and beat our chest that Osun is well on course to reaching the Canaan of her dreams. The promise to the effect of transforming the state into conforming to the old ethos, values and orientation of our forebears was first rolled out in the policy statement of the candidate for the Action Congress (AC) of the time. In his blueprint on his proposed programmes and policies, titled “My Pact With the People of Osun State”, Engineer Rauf Aregbesola made it categorically clear that he would effect overall transformation in the entire spheres of life of the state. To detractors and critics of all sorts, those promises appeared too good to be made true. Even upon the delivery of nearly all of these promises, these detractors still find it a hard pill to swallow – coming to terms with the astounding realities on ground within the short span of time the administration has spent in office. As early as February 2011, the rebranding process for the state had been in full swing. With this rebranding, the state shed its old name “Osun State” for “the State of Osun”. The state also took new anthem, coat of arms, colours and flag. Above all, the sobriquet of the state, which had hitherto been “the State of the Living Spring”, changed to “the State of the Virtuous”, translated in Yoruba to mean “Ipinle Omoluabi”. It is the whole range of issues, connotation and impact of this concept of Omoluabi that we shall take this series to unravel. We now start with running the background of events as they were met on ground by the incumbent administration upon its assumption of office. The State of Osun that we know today has a long and eventful antecedent. Its recent experience, exploits and achievements have been the most impressive and significant since its coming into being – even since its existence in the various forms it had been known prior to its statehood. It is the whole truth when it is asserted that the state has never had it as good as it is faring these days. Since its creation on Thursday, August 27 1991, the State of Osun, amply located in the South West geopolitical zone of the Federal Republic of Nigeria has had its own fair share of the good, the bad and the ugly. Up till November 2010, the state had been witnessing stunted growth owing to the misfortune of bad, purposeless leadership. It is true that a new state has to undergo some years of planned developmental phases, yet in the case of the infant
State of Osun, it was hardly offered the opportunity of making a headstart with meaningful phases of development. Safe for the period of time between May 1999 and May 2003 when the state came under the progressive governance of the Alliance for Democracy (AD), under the able leadership of Chief Bisi Akande, it had been having a wobbling movement that could not be rightly termed a forward march. The time of creation of the state was the military era of General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, with Colonel Leo Segun Ajiborisa (rtd.) as the first Military Administrator. The democratization process started by the Babangida administration saw to the emergence of Alhaji Isiaka Adetunji Adeleke in the saddle of leadership in the state. But that administration could scarcely afford the state the desired pace of progress it desired or deserved. The military interregnum between 1993 and 1999 brought it under the rulership of several military administrators – Colonel Anthony Udofia; Colonel Anthony Obi; and Colonel Theophilus Bamigboye took their turns to govern the state before the return to civil rule of 1999. As at the start of the return to civil rule in 1999, the state appeared to be battling vigorously with existence and survival. If anything, it had not been offered the best kind of governance required and requisite for its surge to its place of prominence among the comity of states. The emergence of the Alliance for Democracy (AD)-led administration of Chief Bisi Akande in 1999 came as a soothing relief; and the administration did make a proper start in the direction of making the state a model of excellence. But the administration did not last! The seizure of the South West by the conservative People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2003 polls in the name of aligning the zone with the government at the centre appeared and did eventually prove to have nailed the coffin for the young state. With the coming on board of Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola as the state’s helmsman, the stage was set for another round of retrogression. As it eventually proved, virtually all sectors of life in the state went through the valley of the shadow of death and extinction. Before now, OSUN DEFENDER Magazine had never been mute to conveying the true picture of situations as they unfold. It had been part and parcel of our creed, since the tome of the struggle for the reclamation of the stolen collective mandate of our people to always bring to focus the multiple damages with which the state was inflicted and afflicted under that inglorious administration – the administration of Continued on page 11
OSUN DEFENDER Tuesday, October 7, 2014
PHOTOTALK
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2014 Eid-El-Kabir Festival At Oke-Baale And Ansar-U-Deen Praying Grounds In Photo: GBENGA ADENIYI. Osogbo, State Of Osun, Last Saturday.
•The governor, State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola (2nd right); the Ataoja of Osogbo, Oba Jimoh Olanipekun (right); Aree Musulumi of Yorubaland, Chief Tunde Badmus (2nd left) and Senator Bayo Salami.
•Imam Sheik Musa Animasahun (with mic) delivering a sermon; with him are Islamic clerics.
•Wife of the State of Osun Governor, Mrs Sherifat Aregbesola (middle); Alhaja Ayo Omidiran (right) and Alhaja Silifat Diekola.
OSUN DEFENDER Tuesday, October 7, 2014
PHOTOTALK
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2014 Eid-El-Kabir Festival At Oke-Baale And Ansar-U-Deen Praying Grounds In Photo: GBENGA ADENIYI. Osogbo, State Of Osun, Last Saturday.
•A popular Yoruba actor, Alhaji Kareem Adepoju (popularly know as Baba Wande) (left) and other Islamic faithful at the praying ground.
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• •A cross section of Islamic faithful during the prayer.
•Some of the Islamic faithful hailing Governor Aregbesola on the occasion.
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OSUN DEFENDER Tuesday, October 7, 2014
2014 Eid-El-Kabir Festival At Oke-Baale Praying Ground In Osogbo, State Of Osun, Last Saturday. Photo: GBENGAADENIYI.
•A cross section of Governor Rauf Aregbesola’s supporters welcoming him to Oke Baale Prayer Ground.
2014 Eid-El-Kabir Festival At Islarul-Deen, Alekunwodo, Osogbo, State Of Osun, Last Saturday. Photo: GBENGA ADENIYI.
•A cross section Islamic faithful at Islarul-Deen Praying Ground, Alekunwodo, Osogbo.
•A cross section of women muslim, at Islarul-Deen, Alekunwodo, Osogbo.
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PHOTOTALK
OSUN DEFENDER Tuesday, October 7, 2014
2014 Eid-El-Kabir Festival At Oke-Baale And Ansar-U-Deen Praying Grounds In Osogbo, State Of Osun, Last Saturday. Photo: GBENGAADENIYI.
•The governor, State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola acknowledging cheers from crowd on his arrival at Osogbo Central Eid ground on Saturday
•Another cross section of Aregbesola’s supporters.
OSUN DEFENDER Tuesday, October 7, 2014
MAGAZINE
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Schooling Made Easier, More Comprehensive
•AREGBESOLA Continued from page 12
Brigadier-General Olagunsoye Oyinlola. The damages are beyond what could be reduced to writing or what series of editions of our Magazine editions could accurately approximate. What we can do; and that we have resolved to do; given the limitations imposed by the space at our disposal is to conduct a broad overview of the numerous damages inflicted on our state, its sectors of life, its infrastructure, its people and their entire living conditions; in terms of their extent and intensity. As we have always emphasized, the extent and gravity of the dastardly damages are of so large a magnitude that ordinarily, they could have required an upward of half-decade to remedy. But thank goodness! God has been so merciful and benevolent to us that He provided a way out of our numerous challenges. Fortune has smiled on us; such that today, like a piece raw precious jewel which has passed through the test of fire, we are emerging purer, more beautiful and more dignified. Thank God for giving us the privilege of progressive governance provided through the auspices of the All Progressive Congress (APC)-led administration of Ogbeni Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola. Today, we can proudly stand tall and beat our chest to sing praises and adoration to God Almighty, as we have clearly never had it so good. Since the focus of this series of editions is on the Education sub-sector of the Social Services Sector of our state’s economy; we shall concentrate greater focus to issues and events bordering on the education industry, most especially, as they touch on the public (government-owned) institutions at all levels, vis-à-vis the Schools’ Reclassification cum the Omoluabi concept. Expectedly, the reforms and reclassification which we take these editions to celebrate affect the public schools most directly. The effects they have on the private counterparts as partners-in-progress are spill-over. We shall begin to point these specific effects out in the fullness of time. But before we proceed, we intend to refer our readers to the specific portions of the pact which the Governor made with his people, the virtuous people of the State of the Virtuous, way back 2005. These promises rolled out were contained in the Six-Point Integral Action Plan of Mr. Governor. Relevant portions of the plan which have direct bearing on education are here recapped: “My mission and ambition are to restore to the people, a state of peace, opportunity, for progress and room for the pursuit of prosperity in our time
•LAOYE-TOMORI
under a people friendly government. I give you Six-Point Integral Action plan, to the intent that they constitute my actions of faith concerning which I want to be held accountable at any time during my stewardship. SIX POINT INTEGRAL ACTION PLAN · Banish Poverty · Banish Hunger · Banish Unemployment (Create Work/ Wealth) · Restore Healthy Living · Promote Functional Education · Enhance Communal Peace and Progress” Further in the line of drawing specific reference, we have the following: CIVIL SERVICE REFORMS “There is the need for a civil service reform that will not lead to any loss of jobs as I Rauf Aregbesola do not believe in laying people off in the name of reforms. Our reform will make the work environment more conductive, stimulating and development oriented. Bonuses, incentives and regular awards shall be instituted to promote a culture of excellence in the civil service along with the prompt payment of salaries, allowances, leave bonuses and year end performance bonuses. Promotions and comprehensive salary reviews and increases shall be regular. Internal and external training, work exchange programmes and overseas training shall be actively reinstituted for comprehensive human development in the civil service. New Tutor General/Permanent Secretary Cadre shall be created for Teachers in new education districts for better school administration. We shall institute Home Ownership Scheme for public servants and also support and encourage their backyard food production business ventures. We shall do a comprehensive review of civil service names and conventions as part of our efforts to create a people- friendly civil service. Appropriate nomenclature will enhance accountability and promote public access to the services of the ministry. A citizen with a complaint of blockage of drainage will find a Ministry of
Roads and Drainages easier to identify with than Ministry of Works, a Ministry of Human Resources and Development will more appropriately communicate its services than a Ministry of Establishment.” WE now swing to the Education sub-heading of the Pact, which we quote as follows PROMOTE FUNCTIONAL EDUCATION Vision: Eradicate the frustration of youths caused by education that does not lead to employment. “To achieve this, the government of AC under Rauf Aregbesola shall: · Provide free education at all levels in Osun State. Focus on functional education. Education that makes one useful to himself and society. · Improve incentives to teachers and work with the NUT to restore the dignity of the teaching profession. · Restructure administration of school management and create Tutors-General (Permanent Secretary Cadre) from among Head Teachers in three Educational Districts which we will establish.\ · Fix all collapsed educational infrastructures in all the schools. · Support with modern teaching aids and well-stocked libraries. · Ensure cooperation with parents and teachers to improve discipline and morality. · Introduce non-partisan community-based governing boards for all schools. · Reduce number of students per classroom immediately. · Introduce home development plans for teachers who wish to build houses in their home towns, through access to special mortgage packages. · Promote mass adult literacy and numeracy programmes. · Promote and support Special programmes that give special attention to education of girls and women. · Establish institutions that impart life-long skills for all, in and out of formal schooling. ON HIGHER EDUCATION AND UNIVERSITY · I am committed to ensuring that an Osun Contiuned on page 12
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Schooling Made Easier, More Comprehensive Continued from page 11
State University takes off on a sound footing and becomes a first-class institution with linkages to renowned universities in the developed world. · I will make every tertiary institution in Osun State an independent degree-awarding one. · Encourage use of services of retired, but not tired dons and administrators, from reputable institutions.” The promises contained in this pact were made in swift and timely response to a situation which was in every way far from good and positive. The spate of decay, rot, abandonment, devastation and neglect which characterized the dark era under reference is indescribably huge. So huge that if we devote time to its description, space will rob us more interesting task of documenting the numerous achievements of the government of the day: the Government Unusual of Ogbeni Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola. However, we shall not fail in our duty to succinctly paint the picture of what things looked like exactly at the time of change in baton of leadership on Saturday, November 27, 2010.
W
E challenge our numerous readers to cast their minds back to the old glorious era when education was the pride of the South-West geopolitical zone of the federation called Nigeria. It is the genuine and well-directed activities and concerted efforts of our forebears, our illustrious ancestors that earned us the topmost ranking of the most educationally advanced region of the country. Then, at that time, parents committed fortunes of their hard-earned resources to get the best quality education for their wards. And the quality was greatly assured; in all its ramifications. The teachers, textbooks, notebooks, instructional materials and reaching aids and infrastructure – all were present in adequate quantity and quality. As we found it, so we fondly remember it! The teacher-training programmes of those days were simply superb. Though the syllabuses and curricula of those olden times later came under serious criticisms as being alien in nature, bookish and cumbersome in their contents and colonial (imperialist) in their thrust, aims and goals; they are today proven as not only adequate but also complete in producing the total man, well educated and morally well-shaped. The teaching-learning environment was conducive and well-enabling for aiding effective learning. In the classrooms, the teacher-pupil ratio was properly planned. The out-of-class environment was friendly,
well-kempt and beautiful. The person of the teacher and that of the pupil was given priority in terms of decency in dressing, appearance, neatness and personal hygiene. It was indeed a glorious era. The essence of tracing this background shall soon come to fore when we begin to underscore the devastation we witnessed in the years of decay. During the Oyinlola years, it was claimed that the kind of education provided was free, qualitative and functional. But what operated in actuality and its product negated and falsified this claim. Education was claimed to be free; yet parents were made to pay exorbitantly for it through their noses! It was claimed to be qualitative; yet what was being paid exorbitantly for was substandard and offered disservice to its products, their parents and the entire society. At the end of the day, none of the parties went scot-free. A case of adding salt to injury! Our school environment became grossly unkempt and untidy. We were never tired of exposing these odd situations at all levels of education in the state. Students and pupils were made to take farm implements to school almost on sessionby-session basis; while actually no meaningful farming or clearing activities took place in schools. Anyone who is in doubt of the true situation of public schools’ infrastructure is advised to approach the offices of the State of Osun Schools’ Infrastructure Development Committee (O’ SCHOOLS); as it was the committee that collated the statistics of haphazard structures in public schools as part of its very first set of assignments upon inauguration. But we shall do our own bit of duty in reminding readers of the true state of infrastructure inherited from the ousted administration in the state. The condition of infrastructure in schools was horrible, distasteful and terrible. Most school buildings, legacies of the earlier better eras were dilapidated due to a combination of old age and poor maintenance culture. What became of the annual running grants of the time could not be far-fetched. It was a downward extension of the depth of corruption, subterfuge and profligacy perpetrated at the peak of leadership in the state. We also remember that the schools that were initially outcome of community or missionary (Christian and Muslim) efforts had been taken over by government right from the 1970s; say precisely, September, 1975.. This development, which was initially well-intentioned, became a misfortune due to the fact that governance became profane, desecrated and ridiculed. The justconcluded series of OSUN DEFENDER Magazine edition featured many picture slots of dilapidated
•A side view of the recently-commissioned Salvation Army Middle School, Alekuwodo, Osogbo.
structures which were then ugly features of our schools. Most of the school structures which the Oyinlola administration bragged to have provided, and which execution and official commissioning gulped huge amount of money; with official commissioning done with fanfare, pomp and pageantry, turned out to be death traps. No sooner were they completed than they started giving the most dangerous signs of imminent collapse. Remember the haphazardly executed structure on the campus of the Osun State College of Education, Ilesa. The project was expected to be a lecture theatre, designed and constructed to house several tens of students at a go. What a mass killer those trap would have proven in the hands of the ritualistic, sit-tight power-hungry elements that held sway of those days! It took the perpetual vigilance of our eagle-eyed reporters and the ever-resilient and irrepressible nature of Great Nigerian Students to effect timely identification of impending doom; and that forestalled the doom; saving the lives of our teeming promising youths (the greater tomorrows) thereby. The main intent of the sacked People’s Democratic Party (PDP) power hijackers in the state was to get their members, admirers, supporters, boot-lickers and cronies inordinately enriched. That fact could be the most reasonable and rationally justifiable reason why a government that prided itself as Ore Ara Ilu (PeopleFriendly Government) should defy all procedures and tenet of due process in the award of most of its contracts. That was why a carpenter’s job was being awarded to a plumber! In most cases, the lion’s share of the contract sum would have gone into the coffers of party stalwarts and other functionaries of the administration as settlement sums as kickbacks and percentages. The ensuing effect was that the remaining sum could not meaningfully fund the project through its various stages of execution without tampering adversely with the project quality. The situation with school furniture was pathetic, horrible and saddening. Furniture for both teachers and students were in sorry state; and in most cases, they were simply not just there! What business do teachers and pupils have to conduct in a school where seats are missing? As a result, parents were made to bear with utmost discomfort the burden of providing chairs, desks and lockers for their wards; if je must benefit from the strange, erratic brand of free, qualitative and functional education of that time. In addition to this extra burden, various forms of unaccountable fees were indiscriminately introduced Continued on page 13
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OSUN DEFENDER Tuesday, October 7, 2014
Schooling Made Easier, More Comprehensive
•Building of AUD Middle School, Araromi, Iwo, State of Osun, under the administration of Governor Rauf Aregbesola. Continued from page 12
at will either centrally by the government or internally by the respective school administrators. This was why at the very inception of the incumbent administration; one of its very first steps was to stop the imposition of all forms of levy on students in the state. We also wish to recall that school fees regime at both secondary and tertiary levels in the state as of then was exorbitant to the extent that education wa far-becoming unaffordable for the poor and the average. Even the rich was compelled to create preference for private schools, due to simple cost analysis couples with other factors hinging on quality decline and such others aforementioned. The issue of quality of instruction cannot be jettisoned simply with the wave of the hand by any serious-minded government. But that was simply what the Oyinlola administration did. By the time he was through with his mission of plundering, practically all public schools in the state had become understaffed. Without the intention to cast aspersion on anyone, it is placed on record that the quality of teachers selected into public primary and secondary schools in those days through the various recruitment and selection exercises could not be guaranteed; and the consistently poor results of instruction on yearly basis, coupled with the abysmally low indices of performances of the candidates of the state’s origin in public examinations were clear indications to it that something was terribly wrong with quality of instruction. In most cases, teaching was seen not as a vital social service infrastructure under the ousted administration. It was considered as the dumping ground for all categories of scholarship-bankrupt and academic liabilities; so far they could avow their loyalty to the ruling party or pay the price for the job slot or both. In a nutshell, the recruitment selection exercises of that era were marred with gross misconduct and irregularities. They were fraught with scams of malpractices. No doubt, all classes of lower academic qualifications could be found on the teaching roll of every public school at all levels. All manners of unacceptable standard of managing quality education were the order of the day. It was not the concern of that administration to prepare the society’s youth adequately for bracing up competently with the increasing challenges of the everdynamic contemporary world. We have once clarified that the degree of difference between Oyinlola and Aregbesola; their mission in governance, their motives, drive, mindset and attitude to genuine people-oriented service cannot match, since the latter possesses doses of these attributes in larger magnitude than the former. We also have reflected
that in the opinion of the former, education should be made the exclusive preserve of the rich, the high and the mighty. Oyinlola made this declaration loud and clear during one episode of his monthly audienceparticipation propaganda programme, entitled Gbagede Oro. In his response to a particular question bordering on the high school fees regime introduced by his administration, Oyinlola pronounced that whoever demands quality education for his ward must be prepared to spend exorbitantly. He corroborated this stand with a popular Yoruba proverb that runs: “Obe t’o dun; owo l’o pa a”, meaning, sumptuous stew requires lavish spending. To Aregbesola, education should be genuinely free for all without any blinkers, discrimination or deprivation; such that its free nature must not tamper adversely with its functionality and its quality. To Oyinlola, public schools, of which he was all along a beneficiary should be killed outright; or rather should have their doors shut forever for all he cares! This adamant position came out during another in the long list of episodes of the programme referred to above. In his response to whether teachers wage demand should not be met to forestall an impending industrial action and its attendant problems; Oyinlola shrugged in defiance and blatantly told then teachers to proceed on strike, so far they did not forget to lock up doors of the schools and get the door keys submitted to appropriate quarters and offices! In his own vein, Aregbesola views education at the public schools as a cherished legacy that must be jealously preserved and profoundly enriched. To this man of action, his position as the incumbent helmsman of the state places upon his shoulders the onerous responsibility of being proprietor to all public schools in the state. While wishing proprietors of privatelyowned institutions well, he made it boldly clear that he would not hold back any means at his disposal and that of the state to rekindle the dwindling fortunes of public schools in the state, so that together with their private counterparts they shall function and cooperate to revive and revamp the lost glory of the education sector in the State of Osun in particular, and Nigeria as a whole. So it is a whole lot of difference, hinged on attitude and disposition; coupled with the aforementioned components of mission in governance, motives, drive, mindset and attitude!
environment. In the past, Osun was a victim of a grossly degraded environment; with incidents of pollution and indiscriminate refuse disposal being very rampant. This ugly situation by extension, took its tolls on our public schools. We cast our minds back to the ugly sights of the past, the perennial flooding and erosion that threatened the residents of the state with extinction and the undulating terrains which our roads had been turned into. We remember in particular the flood of July7, 2010; which inflicted serious damages of incalculable value on people in Osogbo and other parts of the state; and in which many lives and inestimable property perished. We remember similar incidents which occurred in earlier years during the time of the immediate past administration. We remember those terrible stenches occasioned by huge refuse heaps which dotted our streets; even within the metropolis of Osogbo, the state capital. We remember the pollution that continuously characterized the adjoining communities to the State Hospital, Asubiaro; where mortuary pollution nearly made the people prone to attendant dangers of epidemics. We remember how carcasses of animals and even corpses of lunatics simply littered the streets and were watched to complete processes of decomposition there without proper disposal or burial, thereby threatening the health and good living of the people. The list is long indeed!
Our next point of duty is giving priority consideration to the environment in which teaching-learning activities took place. The environment is here considered in terms of its suitability, befitting status,, sanitation and hygiene. This vital sub-sector is of high essence if lasting health and well-being are desirable anywhere. This is because a healthy mind resides in a healthy body, which is in turn domiciled in a clean, healthy
Today, the Aregbesola administration has made all these ugly sights and smells a banished outcast that no one dare harbor in our midst. Right from the inception of his administration, Aregbesola took the bull by the horns when he declared a 90-day emergency on environmental sanitation. He took the decisive step of introducing bi-monthly and weekly
Specifically in reference to the decay in the public education sub-sector, we remind readers of how our schools were turned into refuse-dumping grounds and public toilets. It is only recently that the administration of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola is turning things around positively for our public schools and for the prospects of their pupils and students. The nefarious activities of hemp smokers, hoodlums and criminally inclined miscreants who used our public school buildings as hideouts thrived under the close watch and supervision of that ousted administration. As a matter of fact, the Government of the State of Osun of today still has the big task of combating hooliganism and gangsterism among students. In today’s State of Osun, there are confirmed incidences of pockets of violence and mayhem, obviously orchestrated by the captors of yesteryears – the brood of “do or die politicians” in the drowning People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
Continued on page 15
OSUN DEFENDER Tuesday, October 7, 2014
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FOREIGN NEWS
Kurds Battle Islamist Militants Closing In On Syrian Town K URDISH forces battled overnight with Islamists trying to seize a hill overlooking a Syrian border town with Turkey as U.S.-led coalition warplanes carried out raids on the militants, a Kurdish official and a monitoring group said on Sunday.
A translator with the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) inside Kobani said Islamic State forces were hitting it with tank and mortar fire as they tried to seize Mistanour hill, a landmark whose capture would give them easy access to the town. Kurdish forces had managed to stop Islamic State capturing the hill, Parwer Mohammed Ali told Reuters. “Overnight there were new airstrikes. They struck three or four times in the vicinity Mistanour hill,” he added. Islamic State, a radical offshoot of al Qaeda, launched a new offensive to capture Kobani, a Kurdish town, two weeks ago as they try consolidate their hold on a stretch of territory across northern Syria and Iraq. U.S-led air raids on Islamic State in Syria have done little to blunt its advance on Kobani, also known as Ayn al-Arab, and the violence has driven about some 180,000 Kurds into Turkey. Turkey has shown no sign it will intervene to directly confront Islamic State on its borders. It sees the Kurdish armed groups defending Kobani as foes. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the three-year-old Syrian war, said Islamic State has managed to capture the southern side of Mistanour hill, the furthest away from the town. At least 11 Kurdish fighters and 16 Islamic State insurgents were killed in the overnight clashes, it said. Ocalan Iso, deputy commander of the Kurdish forces defending Kobani, said the clashes had focused on the hill, which lies to the south east. Islamic State forces are now within a kilometer of Kobani, he said by telephone. SPILLOVER BUT NO REACTION Some violence has already spilled over the border. Early on Sunday a mortar round landed around 500 meters (550 yards) inside Turkish territory close to an army base at Mursitpinar. Explosions were audible across the border from Kobani, where shells continued to land inside, a Reuters correspondent said. On Saturday a Turkish special forces officer was wounded after being hit by shrapnel from a stray shell apparently fired by Islamic State fighters, according to media and local sources. Two Turkish armored vehicles were stationed at
the Yumurtalik border crossing 5 km (three miles) west of Kobani on Sunday with their guns trained on Syria, but there was no sign of significant troop movements.
Tanks which earlier in the week had been deployed along the border had returned to their base. Further west in Syria, government warplanes bombed towns in the countryside north of Aleppo, which the Syrian military is seeking to recapture from a mix of insurgent groups.
Last week the Syrian army made a new advance on Aleppo, seizing three villages north of the city and threatening rebel supply lines in a potentially major reversal. President Bashar alAssad’s army has intensified an offensive in the heavily-populated western areas of Syria as
U.S.-led warplanes concentrate on areas in the north and east - Islamic State areas which Damascus sees as less important. Clashes took place between the Syrian army and Islamic State insurgents around Kowaires military airbase in Aleppo, the Observatory said. Syrian warplanes on Saturday
carried out raids around the airport. In the industrial city of Sheikh Najjar, northeast of Aleppo, Islamist groups including Nusra Front also fought with government forces backed by progovernment militias and fighters from Shi’ite Lebanese group Hezbollah, the Observatory said.
Secret Service In Disarray, Fuelling Questions Over Obama’s Safety W HEN
Secret Service officer Timothy McCarthy took a bullet to protect Ronald Reagan in a 1981 assassination attempt and agent Jerry Parr shoved the president into a limousine, their quick reflexes projected a Hollywood-style image of invincibility around the agency. Fast-forward to today: the 149-year-old Secret Service is struggling to emerge from a succession of scandals that have tarnished that iconic reputation, forced the abrupt resignation of its director and raised questions about its ability to fulfill its most critical duty: protecting President Barack Obama and his family. Sources inside and outside the administration say many problems such as low morale, a leadership crisis and a culture of covering up mistakes can be traced back 11 years to when the Secret Service was pulled out of the Treasury Department and absorbed into the sprawling new Department of Homeland Security, where it had to compete for turf and money.
the scene of the shooting after John Hinckley Jr. opened fire outside a Washington hotel 33 years ago. “What’s happening now is sad. I don’t know why the ball got dropped.” “MORE POLITICIZED” The damage has been piling up, costing Secret Service director Julia Pierson her job on Wednesday. First came a Sept. 19 incident in which an Iraq war veteran with a knife scaled the White House fence and got deep inside the executive mansion. That was followed by the disclosure that an armed private security contractor with a criminal record rode on an
elevator with Obama in Atlanta on Sept. 16, along with new details of a 2011 incident in which shots were fired at the White House.
Pierson, appointed in 2013 to clean up the agency after an embarrassing prostitution scandal in Colombia the year before, defended her agency in congressional testimony, acknowledging “mistakes were made” but failing to quell the firestorm. Some see the troubles rooted in the 2003 decision by President George W. Bush to shift the agency into the newly formed Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as part of a centralizing of the “war on terrorism” after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. The move ended the quasiindependence the Secret Service enjoyed at Treasury, where it was established in 1865 to suppress currency counterfeiting. At the DHS, it faced competition from other security agencies for funds and staffing.
“It became more politicized and more compliant ... often bowing to pressure from political staff at the White House or congressional staff during campaigns,” said Ron Kessler, a national security consultant and author of the newly published book “The First Family Detail.”
banking and telecommunications infrastructure.
“HOUSE-CLEANING IS NEEDED”
Some former agents blame the Secret Service’s troubles on a culture of rule-bending they say became entrenched years ago.
Some question if the Secret Service has spread itself too thin to adequately perform its dual roles of financial investigator and presidential protector, especially as online crime surges and threats to the presidency grow increasingly complex in an era of global terrorism. The Secret Service first began the work of presidential protection in 1901 after the assassination of President William McKinley. It has steadily expanded since. In recent years, its mandate has mushroomed to include investigations of cyber theft, credit-card fraud and computerbased attacks on financial,
Even as the agency’s workload has mushroomed, its manpower levels stagnated and its funding increases have failed to keep pace with growth in overall federal spending in the past decade, a Reuters examination of Secret Service budget data shows.
•OBAMA
Massachusetts doctor and missionary who was successfully treated for Ebola he contracted in Africa is back in the hospital with what appears to be a respiratory infection, but doctors don’t suspect a recurrence of the virus.
A
Sacra will remain in isolation until doctors have confirmation from tests by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that he is not infected with the virus, the
Other concerns include accusations the agency has favored men in promotions and condoned racism, a point reinforced in a class-action lawsuit filed in 2000 by African-American agents who accuse the Secret Service of a pattern of failing to address allegations of racial discrimination over many years.
Asked whether Obama still felt safe, White House spokesman Eric Schultz said on Thursday: “Absolutely”.
Doctor Successfully Treated For Ebola Hospitalized UMass Memorial Medical Center said in a statement that Dr. Richard Sacra was hospitalized Saturday for observation and is in stable condition. He has a cough and conjunctivitis, commonly known as pinkeye, hospital officials said.
“If only the director goes, very little changes,” said Dan Emmett, a former senior officer in the Secret Service’s Presidential Protective Division and author of the book “Within Arm’s Length.” “A house-cleaning is needed at the top.”
The Secret Service’s defenders point to half a century without an American president assassinated and say criticism of the agency has brewed for years, including in 1981 when it was forced to strengthen security measures after allowing a gunman to get so close to the president unscreened.
There is also growing pressure to consider whether the Secret Service’s divided mission, which includes investigating financial fraud and cybercrime, is diverting resources and attention from providing security for the president, his family and other top officials. “We’ve seen what many think was a high point for the Secret Service,” said Carolyn Parr, who co-authored a memoir with her husband, Jerry Parr, the agent who raced a wounded Reagan away from
“Are the two missions of the Service compatible and how should they be prioritized?” the Congressional Research Service asked in a report on the agency released in mid-June.
hospital said. Doctors expect to know with certainty by late Monday. “We are isolating Dr. Sacra to be cautious pending final confirmation of his illness,” said Dr. Robert Finberg, who is heading Sacra’s medical team. “We think it is highly unlikely that he has Ebola. We suspect he has an upper respiratory tract infection.” Sacra, of Holden, returned to Massachusetts on Sept. 25
after weeks of treatment at an Omaha, Nebraska, hospital.
precaution guidelines.
He spent much of the last two decades in Liberia, working with a missionary group. He also works at Family Health Center of Worcester.
Johnson said Dr. Phil Smith of the Nebraska Medical Center, where Sacra was treated, told SIM that Sacra’s recent viral illness lowered his immune system but his current symptoms aren’t those of someone suffering from Ebola.
Bruce Johnson, president of the SIM USA missionary group, said in a news release that Sacra first visited a Bostonarea hospital emergency room Saturday morning because of a persistent cough and low-grade fever and concern that he might be developing pneumonia. Johnson said Sacra was transferred to UMass Memorial for observation as a
under
CDC
“Dr. Sacra did the right thing by going to the hospital,” Smith said in a statement released by SIM. “He’s been through a lot over the last month, and he wanted to be sure his respiratory illness didn’t worsen. Being a doctor himself, he knows the importance of preventative care.”
A tight budget complicates its mission. Pierson testified on Tuesday that the Secret Service had been stretched and was operating with around 550 fewer employees than its “optimal level.” Despite an expansion in its work, its fulltime workforce of 6,572 is just 66 higher than in fiscal 2005, according to DHS documents. http://link.reuters.com/ fuw92w And while its fiscal 2014 annual budget of $1.585 billion is up 35 percent from a decade ago, that lags federal spending, which is up 48 percent since 2005. The agency’s budget has also failed to keep pace with the DHS’ overall budget, which is up 54 percent in the same period, DHS budget data show. “What many of us have taken for granted is that the president is always going to be well protected,” Mark Meadows, a Republican on the House Oversight Committee, told Reuters.
MAGAZINE
OSUN DEFENDER Tuesday, October 7, 2014
15
Schooling Made Easier, More Comprehensive Contiuned from page 13
environmental sanitation exercises as the case may be to execute rapid transformation of our towns and cities into decent places of abode for healthy individuals, and to sustain the culture of cleanliness, which, according to sages, is next to Godliness. Today, sanitation and safe health practices have so much become internalized in the lives of our people that clean environment has become their creed. What this implies is that people now troop out en masse to observe sanitation willingly without being coerced or instigated. People now abide by simple laws of decent refuse disposal, a feat hitherto considered unrealizable by pessimists! By extension, this innovation has worked wonders in our schools. At the appropriate segment of this write up, specific references shall be drawn to the impact of the sanitation / hygiene drive of the incumbent administration on our public schools system. For now, let us dwell a little on the events, activities and developments which served as antecedents to the ongoing redesigning, reorganization and reclassification exercise; which we roll out this series to laud and celebrate.
recent efforts of the incumbent T HE administration in the State of Osun at bringing back the long-lost pride and glory in the Education sub-sector, especially in the public domain now attracts our attention. The efforts of the administration, which kick-started with the introduction of free, functional and qualitative education upon the ascension of the administration barely three years ago, had metamorphosed into the introduction of free school uniforms to pupils and students at all levels up to Senior Secondary three, free school feeding programme for pupils up to Primary Four in the elementary rung of the school ladder under the State of Osun Schools Free Feeding and Health Programme (O’ Meals) and had culminated into capital intensive programmes such as the State of Osun Schools Infrastructure Development Programme (O’ SCHOOLS) and the introduction of the broad-based jet-age instructional support package, the Tablet of Knowledge, known in our tongue as Opon Imo. This is not to talk of other programmes like the Osun Schools Calisthenics and the drastic increase in the subvention and grants to our schools. Also in addition are the massive recruitment and selection / placement of qualified, competent and experienced teachers into the system. All the foregoing are undoubtedly laudable pluses for any administration anywhere, especially in the face of the present spate of rot and decay witnessed in the subsector in this part of the globe. The most recent of all is the ongoing schools reclassification programme. For its relentless auspicious and invaluable efforts, the Government Unusual of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola has
become the envy of other states, especially the adjoining ones from which battalions of students cross daily to reap the benefits of good, sound academic and moral instruction. In spite of all these innovative intervention efforts which have so far impacted positive turnaround in the terrain of public education in the state, there still subsists a reasonably large cross section of people and residents, who are yet to see, recognize or appreciate the good works of the administration in the afore-mentioned regards. Most unjustly and ingratuitiously criticized of all these laudable programmes is the reclassification programme, which classifies our schools into Elementary, Middle and High schools. Concerning this policy, my personal take is that even in the highest heavens, the first law is order. The classification of schools as such is even in order with the reclassification earlier carried out by the Federal Government under the auspices of the Federal Ministry of Education, the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) and other stakeholders. Under the Federal Government reclassification, modifications were done to the 6-3-3-4 system of education which was introduced in 1987/88 academic session throughout the federation. The earlier modalities comprised for each child, six years of primary education (between the ages 6 and 11); three years of junior secondary education (ages 11 to 14); three years of senior secondary education (ages 14 to 17); and four years of tertiary education. In the schema presented above, the double three in between covers the whole range of the student’s secondary school career spanning six good years in all. In the reclassification of the government at the centre, introduced in 2001/2002; and which hardly ever went beyond the demonstration stage, the six years of primary/ elementary education and the first three years of secondary education, called the junior secondary school years in the 6-3-3-4 system were joined together to form an expansive period of nine-year basic education; while the remaining three years of secondary education – the senior secondary years stand apart. As it proved, the Universal Basic Education (UBE) programme presented a farce at the end of the day. The stage at which the incumbent administration met the public institutions of education in the state was such that barely was up to 5 per cent of our secondary school leavers matriculable into any institution of higher learning. The performances of candidates of the state at public examinations; be it those of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), the National Examinations Council (NECO) and the Joint Admission and Matriculations Board (JAMB) recorded below 2 per cent of credit passes in five subjects, with the inclusion of English and Mathematics. The situation was so terrible and abysmal that the state’s ranking among the comity
•One of the classrooms at AUD Middle School, Araromi, Iwo, State of Osun .
of states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) numbering thirty seven in all was that of a laggard. The state took the backward position in the thirties! Now that the Government Unusual of Ogbeni Aregbesola has in its wisdom resolved to fin lasting panacea to all lingering issues which had hitherto plagued the sub-sector, it would not only be wise and appropriate; but also complementary and supportive to give it free hand to approach the hydra-headed albatross confronting the industry head-on. In the new classification, the naming of education stages as Elementary, Middle and High schools is not entirely new. What could be new are the positive approaches and strategies; and these are necessarily so. In the new classification, the first six years of early education of the child, called the Elementary stage, comprises children of ages spanning between 6 and 11 years. The Middle School entertains products of the Elementary schools for about three years, till they reach ages about 14 years; after which they proceed to the High school. At the highest, an average student is ready, armed with brilliant academic performances evidenced by good results to proceed to his choicest tertiary institution at the age of seventeen in the maximum. The new classification, apart from removing the misfortune of bad results after the whole career of about twelve years; also seeks to make parents more alive and amenable to their God-assigned role by deemphasizing pre-primary education. In our days, pre-primary education was a complete rarity. Yet students who started solid primary education at the age of six or thereabouts coped effectively with the challenges of their sudden transition from home to school. Another issue which bothers the minds of genuine stakeholders is whether many of the agitators against the new classification, the teachers inclusive really have their wards in the various public schools on which these vital far-reaching decisions are being taken. To me, anyone who is not a stakeholder to the extent of having a ward in the public institutions should not even contribute to; not to talk of kick against any reforms fashioned out for them. I proudly add that in our days, teachers took pride and glory in having all of their children pass through their same sphere of influence i.e. the schools where they taught. The trend today is shameful indeed! Teachers who make the loudest noise of dissent against every reform in the sector hardly have any of their children in the public schools. I am sure that if all had been well with the system, they would have had no reservation in making their children pass through the system. To be continued.
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I
T is good that every government in power is not oblivious of the existence of opposition that is able to sensitize the people about the action and inaction of those they have elected as Custodians of their franchise. This is desirable in the face of common denials that people suffer as a result of failed promises from our political leaders. Government in power will know that there are watchdogs that will criticize them if they are not doing it right. However, such criticisms must be constructive enough to convince people that opposition parties are really out to defend the interests of the common man. We have seen many regimes that took off well with people’s welfare paramount to them at inception. They reeled out plans that people considered as essential to their wellbeing, only to let people down afterwards because no sooner have they started their execution that those project that emanated from them were abandoned. So peopleoriented projects and programmes may emanate from a government peopled by those given to visionary leadership, but experience has shown that complacency may set in if checks from those in opposition are lacking, except of course by those political leaders that are properly and thoroughly bred. Such criticism came the way of Ogbeni Aregbesola’s government of late, when the main opposition, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), gave her a hard knock against the backdrop of poor results emanating from last May\June Senior School Certificate examination. They alleged that the government of the day is not doing enough to change the fortune of education that has been dealt deadly blow through the neglect of the past. The party that just lost to Governor Aregbesola in an election that gave him a second berth failed to counsel the governor on the better way they are handling a similar matter in which the Federal Government is possibly making headway. We need to point out something important that may be overlooked by the critics before making such generalization. Those who are directly affected should be able to see where things went wrong before the mother was blamed for skewed head of the child. Those who see things with utmost objectivity will then be able to judge on whose doorway the blame should alight. There must be a way forward at the end of the day as to know whether it is ringworm that should gain more attention that leprosy or the other way round; because we have gotten to a critical point, where we have to eschew all forms of hypocrisy that has assumed epidemic dimension.
By ADE OLUGBOTEMI
Decay In Education: Beyond An Individual’s Ingenuity “Ogbeni Aregbesola has made remarkable impression at his micro level of the State of Osun; he has equipped schools with modern buildings, recruited teachers following mass exodus of old hands in the teaching profession, invested in the training and retraining of teachers, spending a lot on school meals to encourage the young ones to stay in school and for their healthy living, jacked up the grants payable to schools on students’ teaching aids and materials, embarked on mass recruitment to prove that all hope is not lost for school leavers, and done so much more. It is the duty of parents, teachers, and other stakeholders to encourage the Students to remain focussed; so that the much needed excellence can be recorded in this all important sector.” It may be very wrong to treat the case of Osun in isolation because the state is an integral part of the ‘Whole’ called Nigeria. Like the proverbial Oya worshippers therefore, what has befallen one of them calls for serious concern amongst all devotees. Anyone that feels that the problem of educational decadence is peculiar to the State of Osun will only be failing in the onerous duty of having to identify the cause requisite to effectively addressing the ailment. Following the knowledge of an ailment therefore, the physicist will be able to assess, which of the possible solutions will best be applicable to reduce the headache of endless permutation and experimentation. We all know that the Federal Government’s employment generation is a mere paperwork today. It is the duty of the Federal Government to create job opportunities and enabling environment for experts and specialists to operate. This can only be made possible if necessary basic facilities are put in place; which are lacking in entirety because the Federal Government is
paying lip service to them. The whole world is aware that the transformation agenda of Nigerian Federal Government is in place, but ordinary Nigerians are not feeling any impact of transformation; because there is no positive impact on their lives. Gone are the days when fresh graduates would bother less about gainful employment because of numerous opportunities that competed for their considerations. The only way this can be possible now is to choose a course of study in the tertiary institution and also look inward on what may likely create a buffer against hunger in the event that the toiling involved in the pursuit of a degree and higher degree fails to yield its desired benefit of good job that will enable one to make ends meet. It is now a matter of making do with what one can get in the absence of what is desirable. It is now permanently stuck to the psyche of an average student that, added with the task of excelling in one’s studies is the need to learn a craft that
will provide immediate solution to meeting the basic needs of survival; peradventure the golden fleece of job opportunity fails to come handy. So, instead for an engineering student to face the arduous task of becoming an excellent engineer, he is inundated with what alternative means of survival can be fashioned if the opportunity to practice as an fngineer fails to avail itself eventually. Rather than become a liability and a parasite, it is better to take one’s fate in one’s hand. For someone that desires to be a trader, the basic requirement is to know how to communicate effectively with potential customers; and this in itself only requires that one is proficient in the understanding and speaking of the basic language(s) of communication of the environment of operation. This doesn’t require a university degree at all. Probably a secondary education would do; but the orientation today is so skewed that parents even encourage their wards in the secondary and tertiary institutions to make multifaceted struggle their watchword. This doesn’t give room for total concentration anymore, as a lot of time is wasted on extra engagements other than the basic pursuit of education excellence. Ogbeni Aregbesola has made remarkable impression at his micro level of the State of Osun; he has equipped schools with modern buildings, recruited teachers following mass exodus of old hands in the teaching profession, invested in the training and retraining of teachers, spending a lot on school meals to encourage the young ones to stay in school and for their healthy living, jacked up the grants payable to schools on students’ teaching aids and materials, embarked on mass recruitment to prove that all hope is not lost for school leavers, and done so much more. It is the duty of parents, teachers, and other stakeholders to encourage the Students to remain focussed; so that the much needed excellence can be recorded in this all important sector. It is the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that controls the macro structure of Nigeria, it also lies within their power to fix it where any disjoint is noticed. They should create an enabling environment where it will be possible for school leavers to get jobs or be selfreliant. This is the only way students will concentrate on their studies to get desirable results. Teachers will be happy they are not labouring in vain, and the performing governor will also feel encouraged to do more, not only for education but also in every area, where he has been impacting on human lives.
OSUN DEFENDER is published by Moremi Publishing House Limited, Promise Point Building, Opposite Guaranty Trust Bank GTB, Gbongan Road, Osogbo, State of Osun. All correspondence to the Managing Editor, KOLA OLABISI, Telephone: 08033927286 (kolaolabisi@yahoo.com); Editor, KAYODE AGBAJE, Telephone: 0803-388-0205, E-mail:
osundefender@yahoo.com, kayodeagbaje@yahoo.com. ISSN: 0794-8050.Website: www.osundefender.org.