Osun Defender - September 2nd, 2014 Edition by OsunDefender

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The victory of the All Progressives Congress, APC in last Saturday’s gubernatorial election in Osun State reinforces the opposition against a seemingly rampaging political train of President Goodluck Jonathan

It was a welcome relief to the national leader of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Those who saw him yesterday morning asthe result of the Osun State governorship

Front Page Comment

Osun and 2015: The game changer poll was declared said they saw a man greatly relieved but reinforced for the battle ahead.Besides being an elixir to the opposition that was badly

traumatized by defeat in Ekiti a month ago, the Osunvictory acts as a spring for

VOL. 9. NO.105

the opposition towards the 2015 presidential prize that was being considered a foregone booty of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. The message yesterday was that 2015 is still

N50

within play. Despite earlier claims by the APC that the presidency was determined to rig the election in favour of the PDP’s Senator Iyiola Omisore, the outcome of the election showed the limit to which President Goodluck Jonathan would go in forcing his will on the electorate. Continue on pg4

How Presidency, PDP Monetised Osun Election With N16bn - See Story On Page 2

•Kashamu Gives N5m Parting Gift To Hotel Staff Pupils Take To Vocational - Pg 3 Skills As FG Extends Holiday

Osogbo Residents Decry Arbitrary - Pg 9 Electricity Bill, Call FG’s - Pg 2 Intervention Court Remands Woman Who Bathed Bankerlover With Acid •The governor, State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola (arrowed), acknowledging cheers from his supporters after the Jumat service at Afonta Mosque, Osogbo, State of Osun, last Friday.

- Pg 3

L AUTECH Remains A Bond Between Osun, Oyo - Aregbesola

- See Story On Page 2

News

OSUN DEFENDER Tuesday, September 2, 2014

How Presidency, PDP Monetised Osun Election With N16bn •Kashamu Gives N5m Parting Gift To Hotel Staff By KAZEEM MOHAMMED

T has eventually been established that the Presidency spent a total of N16 billion to prosecute the August 9, 2014 governorship election in the State of Osun to secure victory for the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) candidate, Senator Iyiola Omisore, by all means. The money was used to thugs, and pay fake security induce voters, mobilized operatives that were hired to

rig the election in Omisore’s favour. An authoritative source from the Presidency revealed that the money did not include the N6 billion initially sent to mobilize PDP supporters from within and outside the state for the

electioneering campaign of the PDP, with a view to creating the impression that the PDP candidate was popular. It was gathered that the N16 billion was brought into the state in batches, as the last batch, which was

•A cross section of APC members in Unit 2, Ward 8 Olorunda Local Government Council Area of State of Osun, in Osogbo during the celebration victory of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, by the APC members recently.

N8.5 billion was brought into the state on August 7, exactly two days before the election, with the target of using the money to induce voters and pay the hired fake security operatives that would be used to win the poll at all cost. It was gathered that some of the PDP leaders, who were given the money to prosecute the election in their various local government council areas and wards played a smart one on the party leadership, as they pocketed largest percentage of the money, banking on the assurance of their leaders that the PDP would use federal power to rig the election. According to a reliable source, a party leader, who was given N12.3 million for Ifedayo Local Government Council Area to share among all the wards and polling units to induce voters outsmarted his party leadership in the state, as he allegedly pocketed N6.3 million and declared N6 million for other leaders. The situation was not different in other local government council areas, especially in Ifeland, where Omisore hails from, as party leaders used the

Omisore Files Petition, Asks Court To WENTY Nullify Election In 17 LGs days after the governorship election in the

LAUTECH Remains A Bond Between Osun, T Oyo - Aregbesola

HE governor of the State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, has stated that the existence of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso, remains a veritable source of bonding that has been sustaining unity between the people and governments of Oyo and Osun. The governor observed that The governor said his administration will continue to LAUTECH will remain a do its best in ensuring that the symbol of unity between Oyo bond between the two states and Osun. He said the bond of unity transforms to technological advancement through the and togetherness of the people of the state dated back more university. The governor stated this last than a thousand years before Wednesday while receiving the Osun was excised from Oyo. He said the artificial university’s Governing Council, Management and separation of state creation is staff, who paid him a not and can never provide any congratulatory visit at the basis for hostility or disquiet Government House, Osogbo, between the two states. “How could anybody the state capital. Harping on the significance promote hostility between of the visit on a day that the Osun and Oyo? Our creation of Osun clocked 23 relationship before the artificial years, Governor Aregbesola separation lasted more than a said it was ironic that some thousand years at least. “Where then is the basis for people make efforts to create hostility? LAUTECH remains disunity, where there is none. The Governing Council, a symbol of unity between our states. We must fund it for headed by the former Vice two the growth, development and Chancellor of Obafemi prosperity of the two states. Awolowo University, “I doubt if any of the two Professor Wale Omole, in states could independently company of other top fund the university if left to do management staff and council it alone, given the scarce members, was in Osun to resources available to the congratulate the governor, who states. recently emerged winner of the “We must realise that August 9, 2014 governorship finance is very important in the election in the state. administration of a university. Aregbesola told the “Thus, there is no university heads that there alternative to the management could never have been a better of the university by the joint time for the university owners, if reason prevails,” management to visit Osun, as Aregbesola said. the visit coincided with the The governor therefore, 23rd anniversary of the called on the Professor creation of Osun from the old Afolabi-led committee set up Oyo State. to harmonise the

By KEHINDEAYANTUNJI administration and management of the institution to expedite action and submit its report. The Vice Chancellor of LAUTECH, Professor Adeniyi Gbadegesin, while congratulating the governor on his victory at the poll, acknowledged the commitment and contribution of the state under Aregbesola in the past four years.

Gbadegesin said the effort of the Aregbesola-led government to turn around the state has impacted positively on all strata including LAUTECH. “We acknowledge your efforts and that of your government in the jointlyowned university. “We have more confidence in you that the university will enjoy your support for the next four years,” Gbadegesin said.

State of Osun, the defeated candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Iyiola Omisore, has finally filed his petition to challenge the victory of the candidate of theAll Progressives Congress (APC) and incumbent governor of the state, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola. Omisore, who arrived the optimism that he would win High Court premises along the case at the court. Ilobu road, Oke-fia in The PDP governorship Osogbo at 4.00pm, candidate is praying the submitted his petition to the court to declare him winner Secretary of the tribunal, or otherwise cancel the Mr. Adamu Mohammed election in 17 local Aliyu. government council areas of Speaking shortly after the state and order a re-run the submission of the in the council areas. petition, Omisore expressed He said the election in the claimed council areas was rigged by the APC, urging the court to declare him winner in the affected areas. Also, the state Chairman of the party, Alhaji Ganiyu Olaoluwa, said that the corresponding increase in tribunal will return the electricity supply to his mandate to Omisore saying: area. Lekan Ogunksola of “Aregbesola came through Ayedun Estate, Heritage the tribunal and he shall Area, Osogbo also leave through the tribunal.” Members of the PDP and complained of similar problems, stating that he their party agents in the last paid N2,600 last month and governorship election had he was charged N3,800 for arrived the court at 9.00am, the month of August, in waiting for their which his household governorship candidate. consumed lesser electricity, Omisore however, compared to last month. In his own comment, Mrs enjoined the party members Rukaya Lawal of Odi-Olowo and supporters to be patient said: “We continue to settle saying: “judgment would be bills without power supply done in our favour.” and they continue to In the election, the APC increase the tariff. The bill candidate, Ogbeni Rauf they brought this month is outrageous. I suspect that Aregbesola polled 387,257 the IEDC is just charging us votes to defeat Senator arbitrarily. The electricity Iyiola Omisore of the PDP, company workers hardly who polled 285,925 votes. read metres.” Omisore, it would be OSUN DEFENDER recalled, won only 8 out of gathered that electricity the 30 local government tariff has been increased to council areas in the state. N16:44k per unit.

Osogbo Residents Decry Arbitrary Electricity Bill, Call FG’s Intervention By ISMAEEL UTHMAN

ESIDENTS of Osogbo, the capital of the State of Osun, have decried what they described as arbitrary and outrageous electricity bills given to them by the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IEDC) for the month of August. The residents in an residents said they do not interview with OSUN enjoy electricity to warrant DEFENDER on Sunday in such bill that multiplied the some parts of Osogbo, one given to them last complained bitterly on the month. One of the IEDC August electricity charges by the IEDC, saying that the customers, Mr Taofeek charges do not Babawale, a resident of commensurate their Baruwa Estate, said that his bill for August increased by electricity consumption. IEDC is one of the almost 70 per cent of the r e c e n t l y - p r i v a t i s e d previous month’s charges, electricity distribution even when his electricity companies, which supplies consumption was lower electricity to Osun and Oyo when compared to that of the previous month. States. According to Babawale, Calling on the Federal Government and other he paid N1,800 for July; but appropriate authorities to he was billed N3,300 for the month, intervene in the “arbitrary just-concluded electricity bill”, the saying IEDC increased charges without

opportunity of the election to enrich themselves. A PDP leader in Ife-South was reportedly heard, saying: “If not for the force and the intimidation tactics that we used in Ifeland, our performance in the zone would have been the worst, despite the fact that Otunba hails from the area.” Meanwhile, a source further revealed that one of the custodians of the money, a hotel staff, who was moving bags containing the money from one hotel room to another got away with over N80 million without any of the PDP leaders noticing it. The same source said that a prominent PDP leader in the South-West, Prince Buruji Kashamu, gave out N5 million parting gift to the staff of the hotel, where some of the party leaders were lodged in Osogbo. According to the source, the tonnage of the money was too heavy for his vehicle that he had to shed the weight by giving the money to the hotel staff, making it look like his parting gift for their services during his party’s stay in the hotel.

News

OSUN DEFENDER Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Pupils Take To Vocational Skills As FG Extends Holiday S By SOLA JACOBS

OME parents in the State of Osun have enrolled their wards in vocational skills centres across the state, as the Federal Government extended resumption dates of pupils in primary and secondary schools due to Ebola threat. OSUN DEFENDER’s investigation revealed that the pupils have since the announcement on the holiday extension enrolled for vocation skills in hairdressing, beadmaking, fashion and textile making, carpentry, vulcanising and auto-mobile engineering works. A visit to some of the centres by the medium revealed that both boys and girls took to

artisanship, due to extension of their schools’ resumption date. Some of the interviewees said it was necessary for them to take to vocational skills because of the downward trend of education nationwide and that skill acquisition would help them out of the current unemployment crisis bedevilling the country whenever they finish schooling. One Miss Shakirat Lasisi, a

Junior Secondary School pupils in a Middle School in Osogbo, who was one of the trainees enrolled at a Shalom Beauty Centre in the state capital, said she pleaded with her parents to enrol her at the centre because learning the art of making hair would not only add to her knowledge, but as well provide means of living for her in the nearest future. Another respondent at the centre, Olamide Babalola, said as a male, he was learning the skill so as to become an event planner in the nearest future, as hair dressing is an aspect of event management. At Fidu Saloon, along Ede

Road in Ile-Ife, a unisex salon owner, who is a graduate of Obafemi Awolowo University, explained that it is not only pupils of secondary schools that enrol for vocational skill acquisition, but university graduates and under-graduates as well, since entrepreneurial skill is the way out of unemployment. He added that most of his enrolees are students of higher institutions, who spend three to six months intensive training. At a mechanic workshop at Igbalaye Area of Osogbo, the owner, Mr Tirimisiyu Yusuf, said he has twenty apprentices, while some are full-time

apprentices, some only attend workshop during weekends and during long vacation. He averred that vocational training is needed more in time like this, when there is dearth of artisans in the country with everyone clamouring for nonexistent white-collar jobs. Yusuf urged parents to enrol their wards for vocational skills, so as keep them away from crimes and unemployment, adding that some undergraduates are becoming commercial motorcycle operators because they are not marketable for employment, neither did they acquire any skill which could make them gainfully employed or be employers of labour.

Some parents, who spoke with the medium on the holiday extension over Ebola threat, carpeted the Federal Government for the holiday extension, saying that it was not in the interest of the pupils and parents, while querying whether the government has built quarantine centres in schools across the nation or kit the students nationwide against Ebola. According to a social critic, Kehinde Akinseyindemi, the Federal Government should have liaised with the states’ Ministries of Health and Education to fashion out workable modalities to curb the spread of the deadly virus in schools across the nation.

Ataoja Royal Families Hail Aregbesola’s Developmental Projects By FRANCIS EZEDIUNO

•Osun PDP Legal Adviser, Barrister John Abidoye (with mic) and his wives, during their defection from the PDP to All Photo: GBENGA ADENIYI. Progressives Congress (APC) in Osogbo recently.

OR his developmental projects since the inception of his administration on 27th November, 2010, the state governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, has been commended for his developmental projects. Giving the commendations Oyedijo after the general meeting recently in Osogbo, the Ataoja of the ruling houses at Gbaemu’s Royal Families, comprising the compound, all the royal families four ruling houses in Osogbo, the in Osogbo assured the governor state capital, described the of their unalloyed loyalty and governor’s victory in the just- support for his administration. concluded August 9, 2014 The royal families also lauded gubernatorial election in the state Governor Aregbesola’s as a manifestation of the administration for the various acceptability of the current developmental projects in the administration. State of Osun, especially the In a communiqué issued and state capital that had been given signed by Alhaji Nasiru Oyeniyi a facelift. The royal families, which included Matanmi, Sogbo, Olahanmi and Olajomo, in a congratulatory message to the governor on the electoral victory, of our forefathers,” he said. Mrs. Olaleke Fakeye, the also lauded the deputy governor, Regional Trade Marketer for Otunba (Mrs.) Grace Titi LaoyeMTN, South-West, said there Tomori, and other indigenes of was no regret despite the re- Osogbo in the government of striction of visitors to this Governor Aregbesola for being good ambassadors of the ancient year’s Osun Osogbo festival. According to town. They commended Ogbeni Fakeye,:”MTN never regretted collaborating with the organisers Rauf Aregbesola for his effort in and the government of the State transforming the state and of Osun in hosting the annual expressed optimism that he festival because it not only would take Osun to greater helped to reach our subscrib- heights. ers, but also created a rallying point to celebrate the people’s heritage. “We did every programme that we organised for the children and people of the State of Osun and gave out a special gift to the winner of the football competition that we organised. By ISMAEEL UTHMAN “We witnessed a larger 24-year-old woman, crowd in our MTN stage. I Omowumi Ajide, has think it was quite successful,” been ordered to be Fakeye said. remanded in prison custody She added that they had been by an Osogbo Magistrate’s partnering with State Govern- Court for allegedly bathing ment of Osun for over eight her lover with adulterated years and there was not much acid in Osogbo. difference in their sales this year, Ajide allegedly poured when compared with 2013. adulterated acid on the face of her lover, Awoyemi Abiodun, who works with a first generation bank along Gbongan/Ibadan Road, Osogbo Branch. The ugly incident occurred the association, as well as the prayers of the church for the when Abiodun allegedly told Ajide success of the newly-elected that he was no longer interested relationship. executives, who are saddled with in the The charge sheet made leading the association in the available to OSUN DEFENDER State of Osun in the next two on Thursday stated that the years. accused person committed the The climax of the thanksgiving offence on August 4, 2014 at service was the dedication of the about 9:15pm at Adetoro Estate, members of the executives led Osogbo. Police prosecutor, Inspector by their chairperson, Mrs Toyin Adeoye; Vice Chairperson, Fagboyinbo Abiodun maintained Tunrayo Ayegbayo; Secretary, that the offence committed was Funmi Adekoya and Financial contrary to and punishable under Sections 96 and 355 of the Secretary Bisola Ariwodola. Present at the thanksgiving Criminal Code, Cap 34, Vol. 11, service were the State Laws of Osun, 2003. plea of the accused was Commissioner for Information not The taken due to the capital and Strategy, Mr Sunday Akere, nature of the offence. the Chairman of Nigeria Union Magistrate Olusola ordered of Journalists in the state, Mr that the accused be remanded in Abiodun Olalere, Mrs Sola Ilesa prison custody, just as he Jacobs National Auditor of adjourned the case till October NAWOJ, Mrs Bukola 3, 2014 for mention. Ajide and Abiodun, according Aderibigbe, Sola Egbodofo and to information, have been many others. courting for about four years.

Despite Ebola Scare, Osun Osogbo 2014 Records Success By FRANCIS EZEDIUNO

HE 2014 Osun Osogbo Festival may have come and gone but the festival will not only linger in the minds of tourists and stakeholders as a successful exercise, but also as one surrounded with controversy, no thanks to the Ebola Virus scare. The scare of the dreaded and visitors from within NigeEbola virus notwithstanding, ria. Many believed that the inthe 2014 Osun Osogbo Festigenuity of the age-long festival val was a resounding success. Tourists and stakeholders, of the people had become a who spoke at the festival, were point of reference and nothing full of praises to the organisers could disrupt it because of the for organising a hitch-free festi- norms, value and heritage it val and to the people of Osogbo holds to their existence, while others said the degree of camfor being good hosts. Few weeks to the festival, paign mechanism at mobilising there were uncertainties on rather than discouraging people, whether the festival was going put together by the organisers to hold or not, as there were sto- paid-off at the end. Notwithstanding, the festiries in the media alerting the public on the State Government val started on a good note with of Osun’s stand on Ebola con- the votary maid setting out the trol, which discouraged non- procession to the Ojubo Osun residents and foreigners and (Osun shrine) at the grove. In earnest, the procession tourists from attending the fesprogressed with a good outing tival. However, the success of the and attracted spectacle and adfestival had confirmed the con- miration from devotees, tournection and intensity of the tourists and visitors, who thronged ism sector to the people and how the grove in their numbers. Mrs. Nike Okundaye, the quickly it could recover in the founder of Nike Art Gallery, midst of crisis. Though the festival wit- said that this year’s festival was nessed slimmer patronage with memorable, as there was no the absence of the Odua record of casualties throughout Peoples Congress (OPC) the celebration. She however commended among others, but the domestic patronage had shown that it was the security operatives at this the people’s festival with the year’s edition for not only besignificant number of cultural ing around, but also giving maxienthusiasts that converged on mum security to visitors. According to her: “The the grove for the annual rites to crowd was not much and the the Osun goddess. Even with the Ebola scare, security agencies did a good the festival also recorded a mar- job.” Speaking on tourist patronginal influx of foreign tourists and Osun devotees from Brazil age, Okundaye said: “My prod-

Change Of Name I, formerly known and addressed as JIMOH TAOFEEK, now wish to be known and addressed as MR AYINDE TAOFEEK. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

Change Of Name I, formerly known and addressed as ILORI MATTEW IPOOLA, now wish to be known and addressed as ILORI OLANIBI MATTEW IPOOLA. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

ucts were patronised by few people, but the patronage was not like the previous year. We hope next year’s edition in 2015 will be much better than this year, as we pray for better things ahead.” Mr. Paulo Oliveira, the Director of Studies, Centro de Orunmila in Brazil, called for stronger cultural ties between Nigeria and Brazil. Oliveira, who led a Brazilian delegation to the Osun Osogbo festival, despite the Ebola scare, said that Brazil has similar culture with Nigeria, adding that their traditional ways of worship are not different from the Yoruba traditions. “We remove our cap before greeting our traditional rulers, we as well prostrate to greet our traditional rulers just like the way Yoruba people do. “We eat, dance and worship the same way Yoruba people do and most of us are traditional worshippers,” Oliveira said. The director said that the origin of some of the Brazilians was from Oduduwa, the forefa-

ther of Yoruba land in Ile-Ife, State of Osun. His words: “I believe that majority of Brazilians are not foreigners, but Nigerians. You can trace our origin to be from Ile-Ife. “Brazilians believe that we are Yoruba and not foreigners by history, since our forefathers were enslaved to the foreign country, where they eventually married white men and gave birth to us.” Oliveira said that in some parts of Brazil, they still worship Sango, Obatala, Sonpona, Oya, Ogun and Irunmole. “These are the things they left behind for us to worship, and would continue to be a generation thing because it was what our forbearers identified with and transferred to us. “We share the same blood, traditions, norms and culture, so Nigerians and Brazilians are brothers and sisters. “That is the more reason why we do attend the Osun Osogbo festival in order to embrace our cultural heritage and traditions

Strive For Excellence - Cleric Urged Journalists By SOLA JACOBS

OURNALISTS have been urged to strive for excellence in their chosen profession for their betterment, as well as to uphold the honour and development of the country. The Pastor-in-charge of the country. He also urged them to be Redeemed Christian Church, Liberation Parish, Alekuwodo in steadfast in prayer and holiness, Osogbo, State of Osun capital, as well as promote righteous gave this charge at the living. Speaking at the thanksgiving thanksgiving service of the newly-elected executives of the ceremony, the newly-elected Nigeria Association of Women state chairperson of NAWOJ, Journalists, Osun State Mrs Toyin Adeoye, charged women in the noble profession (NAWOJ) recently. In his sermon, Pastor Peter to be mindful of their primary Olaleye urged journalists to fear roles, as mothers and dutiful God in discharging their duties wives to their respective and should not be a willing tool husbands. Mrs Adeoye said though in the hands of politicians. Pastor Olaleye admonished journalism as a profession is them to do things and write about tasking but women should not issues that will promote and neglect their primary duties at develop the nation, rather than the expense of their profession. She also solicited for the issues that will further divide the cooperation of the members of

Court Remands Woman Who Bathed Bankerlover With Acid

OSUN DEFENDER Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Osun and 2015: The game changer Continued from pg1

Overwhelming presence The overwhelming presence of security men in the state in the days ahead of the poll did not impede the electorate from exercising their will on who governs them. That indeed, is a reassuring sign for many Nigerians and the international community that the 2015 election could be a free and fair election. Indeed, ahead of the polls last weekend, the APC and its flag bearer, Aregbesola, had in the face of the strong presence of security men around the state betrayed clear signs of unease. The APC’s national spokesman, Alhaji Lai Mohammed in statements painted the impression of the determination of the presidency to rig the election in a clear determination to reshape the political configuration of the Southwest ahead of the decisive 2015 election. Such panic caused the opposition party to summon all its elected office holders and political appointees from across the country to show presence in Osun State from last Tuesday as a way of boosting the morale of its supporters in that state. The PDP’s candidate was also lifted by the presence of strong detachment of the security forces whose presence helped to suppress whatever advantages the incumbency factor would have given to Aregbesola. Omisore also had his friends from the Senate including Senators Enyininnya Abaribe,

Ehigie Uzamere and some others to lift his heart. But the most decisive factors were the voters on ground who at the end of voting on Saturday showed their preference for the incumbent. The outcome was, however, not a rout as the Aregbesola camp had predicted it would be without rigging. That underscored the agitation among some PDP loyalists who had sought for an alternative candidate. Omisore, a former deputy governor of Osun State had before this election been on the winning side of all the gubernatorial elections conducted in Osun State. He was deputy governor to Chief Bisi Akande, strongly supported the immediate past governor, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola in 2003 and 2007, but, however, came short in delivering himself into an office he had in the past helped others to enter. Though a very lively man with sound education, the factors against Omisore were mostly fanned by perceptions about him arising from his trial for the murder of Chief Bola Ige, a former attorney general of the federation. Omisore who was acquitted of complicity in that murder, however, did little to clear that perception. Besides, his political foes helped to fan the negative perception about him. Oyinlola, the immediate past governor of the state who himself had a grudge against the PDP rubbed in the Ige wound on the people when he questioned why President Jonathan had surrounded himself with all those who were questioned over the murder of Ige. “The candidate of the PDP was arrested for killing Ige. He was arrested and detained. “The national secretary of the [PDP], Professor Wale Oladipo, was also detained in connection with the killing. The Minister of Police Affairs, Jelili Adesiyan, was also detained.

“The chairman of the party in this state, Ayobami Olaoluwa, was also arrested. So, why is everyone who was in detention given appointment or put in a position of authority? We need to ask the government,” Oyinlola said. Great minus Linking anyone or party with the death of Ige was a great minus especially given the adoration that Ige continues to draw from most parts of the state. The election was also an opportunity for political enemies in the Southwest to hit at him. Tinubu had by every indication mounted the platform of political leadership of the Southwest with the dominance of his party in five of the six Southwest states. After the loss of Ekiti, his political empire was trimmed to four states and the prospect of losing Osun, had in the last weeks of the campaign become an exciting lure for Tinubu bashers in the region. Internal dissent It was especially so, given that Aregbesola was generally considered the closest of the APC governors to Tinubu. The internal dissent to Tinubu in the Southwest was especially fanned by vestiges of Afenifere, the socio-political organization through which Tinubu, himself emerged as governor of Lagos State in 1999. But the former governor’s alleged role in splintering Afenifere after his emergence as governor helped to create animosity that today irks many Yoruba leaders. Even though many Afenifere leaders did not come out openly to antagonise Tinubu and Aregbesola ahead of the election, some of them were enthusiastically waiting to celebrate the downfall of the APC in Osun. Celebrating the downfall APC leaders who learnt from their laxity in Ekiti were well prepared for Osun and went out of the way to woo known and unknown enemies. PDP on the other hand did not help its candidate with

With Goons, Guns, Dogs, Omisore Is Still Crying Wolf!

I T H Kashumu in-charge of the money bag, and scaramuccia 90,000 security Chris Ubah heading operatives in his the department of war-room, heavy braggadocio, it is a arms and consternation that ammunitions that shellacked PDP can snuff life out of candidate, Iyiola any opposition in a jiffy, hundreds of dogs trained to maul and maim dissenting voices, mean militants comingling from fara n d - n e a r , Omisore, still has the overzealous party larynx to cry wolf foot-soldiers with about the charms and voodoo g u b e r n a t o r i a l from Chad, Musiliu election he lost to Obanikoro leading Rauf Aregbesola on the Army, Jelili August 9, 2014. Adesiyan directing I can’t believe it! the Police, Buruji Omisore was the

Goliath, Rauf was the David. When biblical David whipped the behind of Goliath, the latter and his men went to sleep. But in the case of our PDP Goliath, no, he does not want

torpedo. At the end of it all, the prayer Omisore seeks from the tribunal may reveal that he might have not even scored up to the number of votes he was given credit for. Is he jittery about this? You bet he is, but this litigation may be a nudge from above towards 2015. Omisore and his campaign that had the goons, the guns and dogs just want to cry wolf, where there is none. That’s the moral of the story; and it sounds immoral to me.

to sleep. He wants to stay wide awake as an election tribunal combs through the documents of a valid election sheetby-sheet looking for • FOLA OJO, loopholes for Osogbo, State of subversion and Osun.

the clear animosity towards rebels in the party. The treatment of Oyinlola and another former governor of the state, Senator Isiaka Adeleke subsequently proved to be one of the major problems for the PDP on Election Day. Though Oyinlola did not muster enough votes to win his booth, Adeleke’s grip on Ede, one of the largest towns in the state helped to firmly deliver the town to the APC. After being lured into the PDP gubernatorial contest, the former governor was allegedly forced out by what he claimed to be impediments put on his way. That was the beginning of his defection to the APC, a move the PDP would now regret not to have stopped. One APC source revealed that Adeleke was the candidate the party feared most could trouble Aregbesola. But even after he withdrew, the PDP hierarchy in the state failed to soothe him giving him room to defect. Tinubu, the APC national leader and the many presidential aspirants in the party would be very gleeful with the outcome of the polls. Yesterday, a source said Tinubu was himself very bouncy as he saw the result as a vindication against the aspiration of his internal foes in the Southwest. For the presidential aspirants, the outcome of the election gives hope that their permutations of forging a Southwest and Northern alliance against the PDP remains feasible. For President Jonathan, the permutation may have been that whatever loss of support he may have suffered in the North would be gained in the Southwest. Now, it is back to basics. By Emmanuel Aziken, Political Editor

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Saheed Afolabi Mary Akintola – Lukman Oseni

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

Anniversary OSUN DEFENDER Tuesday, September 2, 2014

The State Of Osun At 23

Beginning Of New Beginnings II As the State of Osun moves on in her quest and desire for greater heights, NIYI OLASINDE concludes this commemorative edition with a note of prediction that the skies are just the starting limit to the greatness of the state in all spheres of life.

â&#x20AC;˘Laro-Timehin Middle School, Isale-Osun, Osogbo, recently built under the administration of Governor Rauf Aregbesola.

OSUN DEFENDER Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Beginning Of New Beginnings II

•AREGBESOLA

•Continued from Tuesday, August 26, 2014. HE Executive arm of Government is headed by Mr. Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola, and assisted by his deputy, Otunba Grace Titilayo Laoye-Tomori; The Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Alhaji Moshood Olalekan Adeoti; the Chief of Staff, Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola; the Head of Service, Mr. Yinka Owoeye; and fourteen (14) cabinet commissioners. Recently, on Saturday, August 9, 2014 to be precise, the people of the State of Osun returned Ogbeni Aregbesola as governor for the second term with massive votes in a Gubernatorial Election which climaxed a season of hot contest. On November 27 this year, the administration of Ogbeni Aregbesola shall be re-inaugurated for the second term. It is a widely acknowledged fact that the monumental achievements recorded by that administration in all spheres have served as impetus for the people to poll massively for the Government Unusual to continue with the tide of progress for another four-year term in office. According to Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola during the election campaign heralding the Governorship Election, the duty and process of electing a governor is a oneday exercise which has a far-reaching effect that can determine the course of events of our lives and our progress as a people for more than mere four years; but for as far as twenty of more years! The achievements of the administration in all spheres in the first four-year period have proven this fact beyond reasonable doubts. The State of Osun House of Assembly consists of 26 honourable members. The Speaker is Rt. Honourable Najeem Folasayo Salaam, while the Deputy Speaker is Honourable (Barrister) Adegboye Akintunde. The leader of the House is Honourable Timothy Owoeye. The judiciary is headed by Justice Oyebola Adepele Ojo. The Chief Judge is assisted by 18 other High Court Judges in the dispensation of justice. The Customary Court of Appeal is headed by Justice Gloria E. Oladoke (Mrs.) and consisted of other judges. As pointed out earlier, three Senatorial Districts exist in the state. They are Osun I which consist of Ede and Iwo zones. Osun II consists of Osogbo and Ikirun zones while Ife/Ijesa has as constituencies the Ife and Ilesa zones. With each district having 2 zones, the state is divided into 6 zones in all. The state is made up of thirty local government areas and the Ife East Area Council. The local governments and their headquarters are:

•LAOYE-TOMORI

Atakumosa-East Atakumosa-West Ayedaade Ayedire Boluwaduro Boripe Ede-North Ede-South Egbedore Ejigbo Ife-Central Ife-East Ife-North Ife-South Ifedayo Ifelodun Ila Ilesa-East Ilesa-West Irepodun Irewole Isokan Iwo Obokun Odo-Otin Ola-Oluwa Olorunda Oriade Orolu Osogbo Ife-East Area Office -

Iperindo Osu Gbongan Ile-Ogbo Otan-Ayegbaju Iragbiji Oja Timi Ede Awo Ejigbo Ile-Ife Oke Ogbo Ipetumodu Ifetedo Oke-Ila Ikirun Ila-Orangun Iyemogun Omi Aladiye Ilobu Ikire Apomu Iwo Ibokun Okuku Bode Osi Igbonna Ijebu-Ijesa Ifon-Osun Osogbo (Oke Baale) Modakeke

Osogbo is the state capital. It is a city that is rich in arts and crafts. It is about six hours drive, (approximately 428 kilometres) from Abuja, the Federal Capital and 232 kilometres from Lagos, Nigeria’s most prominent port city and commercial/industrial nerve centre. Ibadan, the most populous city in West Africa (largest in Black Africa) is about 88 kilometres from Osogbo. Federal Government agencies in the state capital include the Nigeria Machine Tools, Osogbo Steel Rolling Company (currently undergoing privatization and commercialization under the aegis of Dangote Group of Companies), and the Industrial Development Centre. Others are the Federal Department of Solid Minerals, the Liaison Office of the Raw Materials Research and Development Centre (RMRDC), National Directorate of Employment (NDE), National Examinations Council (NECO) and the West African Examinations Council (WAEC).

The state capital also houses a national grid of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN). With the ongoing trend of road revolution in the state, the State of Osun is on the path of enjoying splendid road network within itself and with other parts of the country, and it is also being rapidly improved for railway network for easy transportation/conveyance of cargo and commuters. The aerodrome at Ido Osun at the outskirts of the state capital has begun to receive urgent and priority attention from the government of the day as it is being radically transformed and upgraded into an international airport for flying all manners and kinds of aircraft as well as their repairs. The ultimate aim of government’s efforts and activities in the airport project are those of its expansion, upgrading and transformation into the status of an up-to-date functional international airport. In the area of commerce and industry, the Railway Terminus at the Old Garage Area in the heart of Osogbo is being transformed to meet the high demands of cargo loading and off-loading as well as high capacity warehousing facilities. In addition to this effort, a state-of-the-art market is being currently situated at the Old Government Secretariat premises at Baruwa Area, before Ogo Oluwa, in order to provide another avenue for economies of scale associated with bulk purchase of consumer goods as an alternative to having to place individual direct patronage in Lagos or Ibadan. This innovative Market is named Ayegbaju Internal Market. The first phase of the Ayegbaju International Market has already been commissioned for use and allotment of shops and stalls equitably done. Already, trading activities have commenced at the market. Also ongoing is the work on the International Market at Dagbolu, another outskirt of Osogbo, the state capital, along Ikirun Road. The State Government operated its businesses from an ultra-modern secretariat complex in the state capital. The legislative and judicial arms of government are interdependent and work harmoniously with the executive arm to move the state forward. Local government administration in the state, as in other states of the federation, is operated under a twotier system made up of the executive and the legislative arms. Developmental activities in the local government areas complete the efforts of the State Government of Osun in making the state truly investment-friendly. The Government the state of Osun would welcome Continued on page 7

OSUN DEFENDER Tuesday, September 2, 2014

MAGAZINE

Beginning Of New Beginnings II

•The Ataoja of Osogbo, Oba Jimoh Oyetunji Olanipekun (middle) and his wives during the 2014 Osun-Osogbo festival. Continued from page 6

foreign visitors wishing to come over on a guided visit of Osun State to see firsthand, the rich heritage of our people. Organizers of tours and travels will be encouraged to collaborate with the Government the state of Osun to bring in foreigners wishing to visit for the purpose of tracing their roots or understanding the cultural heritage of the blacks, particularly the Yorubas. There is an ancient culture situated in the heart of a modern city. Let the Creative Art and Designer, Nike Davies Okundaye, take you into a world that moves easily between talking drums and the internet. Whether you are a specialist in the arts or merely interested in finding new forms of art, the Nike Centre offers you more than this opportunity. For over two decades, she has attended workshops in both the United States and Europe where she gave lectures on traditional Nigerian textiles. No doubt she is known today for her colourful batik and paintings that appeals to modernity. Nike is definitely a master in the art of weaving and dyeing. She was brought up amidst the traditional weaving and dyeing practiced in her native village of Ogidi in Western Nigeria. Her cultural revival in the art and craft has launched her fame beyond the borders of the country. Surely, you can now visit the world of the Yoruba, to explore a culture that has flourished in western Nigeria for more than 1000 years. Explore the arts and crafts of the centre which includes; adire, batik, indigo, beadwork, painting, carving, embroidery, metal work, weaving and drumming. All of these could be seen and purchased online. You can visit her centres located in Lagos, Osogbo, Ogidi, and Abuja, Nigeria. One more thing, the Nike Centre for arts and culture gives you an opportunity to see Nigerian art in new forms and style. This is also a place where you can spend your days and time visiting museums, galleries, and traditional markets, or studying the techniques used by the Yoruba craftsmen and artists. Chief Jimoh Buraimoh was born in 1943 in Osogbo. From the 1960s, he has emerged as another shining light of the Osogbo School of Art. His creative instincts span the world of dramatic art, but mostly famous with his drawings, oil painting, textile and bead painting. Primarily, his themes are drawn from the Yoruba traditional mythology and social life. They also mingle with Western style and motifs which gives his works much international awareness. In his autobiography, The Heritage, Buraimoh gives an account of his life, illumining his three decades of involvement in visual arts. Chief Buraimoh’s works had been widely exhibited in solo and group presentations in some of the world’s finest galleries. In 2002, his works featured in the Visions 0of Yoruba at the October gallery in London; in 2003 Contemporary Art for the Continent at Diggs

Gallery, Winston Salem State University, North Carolina; and 202, the World Moves We Follow Celebrating African Arts at Mc Clung Museum in Knoxville, Tennessee. Some of his sole exhibitions were held at Goethe Institute, Lagos, Nigeria (1970, 1967 1968), Commonwealth Institute, London, England 1979, Southern University, New Orleans, Louisiana USA, 1998, and the National Museum, Lagos, Nigeria, 1993. The imaginative and evocative ability of his work could be seen on display at Smithsonian Museum of Arts in Washington D.C. among others in Europe. His works are also recognized and celebrated in the continent His works are on display at the Second World Festival (FESTAC) in Lagos in 1977. Earlier, he represented Nigeria n artist at the First All African Trade Fair in Nairobi, Kenya in 1972, and in 1983, he became the first Nigerian to be awarded membership of the contemporary Worlds Association of Mosaic Artists (Asociationi Internazionale Mosaicisti Contemporanei), based in Ravenna, Italy. The Ife Museum was established in recognition of the ancient town in Yoruba mythology. Ile Ife, according to the Yoruba tradition of origin is the first city created by Olodumare (God) before the land spread to other places in the world. Today, there are evidences of this ancient tradition in different parts of the city. There is an Ifa (oracle) Temple in the Oketase neighbouhood that represents the Vatican of all Ifa worshippers worldwide. There are also important relics and state-of-the art and craft works found in Ife, Some of these ancient works of arts and religious observance are now being managed by National Museums and Monuments. Some of the most wonderful collections of the museum include the Opa Oranmiyan (Staff of Oramiyan). The staff is a massive stone monolith standing on the burial site of Oranmiyan, the grandson of Oduduwa, the said founder of both the Benin and Oyo empires. The staff stands roughly sixteen feet in height. It is located inside the Oranmiyan shrine in Moopa in the Arubiidi and of the town. Another wonderful collection of the museum is the n Groove. Also called Ori Olokun, this masterpiece was unearthed in 1910 by the German ethnologist Leo Frobenius, in Irebami, Ife. Ori Olokun in the Ife tradition is the goddess of the sea, a giver of children and the healer of abdominal diseases. More than this, the Ori Olokun site is particularly important as a testimony to the only spot where the knowledge of iron smelting and bead making went on simultaneously. This important piece is carved in bronze which depicts the artistic excellence of the Yorubas. This has made the head to be adopted as the logo of the Second All-Africa Games in 1973. Also, the head is the insignia of the Nigerian Institute of Architects. Ita Yemoo in the Moore (Mor reh) environ is one of the archaeological sites in Ife. In his 1953 excavation,

Frank Willet unearthed five terra cotta and bronze artifacts. Among these are the bronze figures of the King and Queen (probably the Ooni and his wife) and the twin figure. SO far, what could be clearly deciphered is that the states we have in Nigeria today are all products of military regimes. This fact, according to some unrepentant critics of military government, is probably the only good side of military incursion into governance in Nigeria. Many of these critics even see state creation as an achievement that is not too impressive or remarkable for the various military governments. According to them, if civilian administrations in Nigeria had been left with no military interruption, Nigeria would have witnessed far-greater development in all spheres of life, including state and local government creation. The experience with Lagos State where the controversial issue of local government creation of early 2000s had left the resultant effect that the state today has above fifty local/grassroots administration in place, and which has influenced in no small measure, smooth, effective and d3evelopment-oriented administration of the state is a clear proof establishing that line of argument. In 2011, in the State of Osun, a committee was constituted by the administration of Ogbeni Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola to look into the viability and actual creation of new local administrations in the state. After long considerations to public requests, petitions and memoranda, the committee submitted the reports of its findings and recommendations to the State Government. The committee, headed by Professor Mojeed Alabi, former Speaker of the state’s House of Assembly in the days of the Alliance for Democracy (AD)-led administration of Chief Bisi Akande, is widely believed to have done well its bits in consummating memoranda from all quarters and forwarding such in an unbiased and objective manners, the recommendations forthwith. As we approach the final quarter of year 2014; with the Governorship Elections having been held and concluded; and as we look forward to holding local government polls anytime from now; it is anticipated that the Rauf Aregbesola would have come out with the assent of the incumbent State of Osun House of Assembly (OSHA), a process which shall enact into law (Act) the bills for their creation. Already, what lies on ground prior to the creation of these councils indicate a high rate of development in all ramifications, unprecedented in the annals of governance in the state. Apart from bringing governance closer and nearer to the people, the creations would attract greater development and fast-track the urbanization of the grassroots. Thus, the State of Osun shall be on the pathway to accelerated progress and monumental Continued from page 10

OSUN DEFENDER Tuesday, September 2, 2014

PHOTOTALK

Residents Of Osogbo, State Of Osun, Hailing Governor Rauf Aregbesola Shortly After Jumat Service At Afonta Mosque, Osogbo, Last Friday.

â&#x20AC;˘The governor, State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, acknowledging cheers from his admirers shortly after Jumat service at Afonta Central Mosque, Osogbo, last Friday.

â&#x20AC;˘Governor Aregbesola (right), Sheikh Karim Banni (left) and Sheikh Wahab Banni Afonta (at the back) during the Jumat service.

PHOTOTALK

OSUN DEFENDER Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Ayegbaju Market In Osogbo Built Under The Administration Of Governor Rauf Aregbesola.

•Open Stalls building at Ayegbaju Market, Osogbo.

•An aerial view of Ayegbaju Market, Osogbo.

MAGAZINE

OSUN DEFENDER Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Beginning Of New Beginnings II Continued from page 7

growth attendant to any such creations worth its salt. The fact that we know too well is that state creation exercises so far witnessed in Nigeria are advantageous in many ways. If they had not proven beneficial on the overall or in some specific states, geo-political zones or areas in actuality; they are supposed, in the making, to be beneficial. It behooves us to turn attention to areas of benefit (anticipated or real) accruable from the creation of additional local government area councils or states. What are the intended benefits which such creations are anticipated to bring about? First and foremost, state creations are meant to bring government and governance closer to the people at the grassroots. Government and governance are constructs which are often viewed by rural dwellers and people of the distant interior as abstract. By virtue of state creation, government at the second tier is made closer to the people, thus making the people more responsible for deciding matters that directly touch their lives. State creation is also an important tool for administrative convenience and easy planning from the centre. In other words, far-reaching decisions that touch the lives of all citizens are better planned and executed to make greater impact when states are so created to be closer to the people, even in the remotest areas. State creation helps in resource allocation and budget appropriation; more than it could be made more equitably allocated to segments of the country today. With state creation, comes creation of more local government council areas. The third tier of government further signifies the processes, modalities and practicability of equitable resource allocation. In effect, resources are more widely, evenly and equitably spread with proliferation of states and local government council areas than when such were over-centralized in urban places. In a plural and multi-ethnic society like ours in Nigeria, state creation is a tool for cultural identity, definition of traditional structures, strengthening of agelong nationalities and bonds of belief patterns – all of which are a tool for enhancing peace, unity, tranquility and harmonious co-existence. In a federating multi-ethnic and multi-lingual country like Nigeria, cultural homogeneity, similarity in history, traditions and belief patterns; which are one of prime considerations in state creation foster peace and development. In terms of democratic governance, state creation enhances smooth democratic and electoral processes. With 774 local government councils in Nigeria, which

are located in thirty-six states and the Federal Capital Territory; wards, state constituencies and senatorial districts are easily classified. Aside this, geo-political zones, which are six in number are easy to classify for zoning, resource allocation and other matters that border on federal character. The objectivity and fairness with which these principles are operated are topics of discussion under a separate edition. But ideally, these smooth workings are expectations that state creation should be able to fulfill. Creation of states facilitates accelerated socioeconomic development. Rural urbanization takes place, attendant to creation of states. As states move closer to rural areas, the amenities they bring touch on the lives of the dwellers of rural areas more meaningfully. This has effect on diverse areas of convenience – electricity, pipe-borne water, motorable roads, health care facilities, educational institutions, agriculture, environment and sanitation, culture and tourism, commerce and industry, etcetera. State creation brings areas not known or located hitherto into limelight. These points, apart from fulfilling the task and whole essence of governance; also leave the people actualized and gratified. In addition, state creation is a veritable tool in job creation and productive engagement of workforce. With the emergence of states, offices and establishments multiply. The areas that had hitherto been abandoned and forlorn become crowd-pullers as new brighter opportunities are attracted to them due largely to the presence of a new government at that level. That new cluster and constellation of government presence and establishments of prominence, engendered by state and local government creation give fillip to and impetus for progress, growth and development to areas that are beneficiaries from such creations. Today, Nigerians express great admixtures of surprise and disappointment at the failure of successive civilian administrations at the centre to create lasting and permanent states and local government areas in apt response to the genuine and necessary agitation and yearnings of the people of various geo-political zones, ethnic and sub-ethnic groups in the country. To the Ibos of the South-East geo-political zone of Nigeria, their zone is currently being undermined and shortchanged in the Project Nigeria. This is due to the fact that the zone has the least number of states i.e. five, in the comity of zones in the country. The zones, with the names of the zones they comprise are listed below: NORTH EAST 1. Adamawa 2. Bauchi

•A cross section of Osun worshippers on their way to Osun Osogbo Groove.

3. 4. 5. 6.

Borno Gombe Taraba Yobe

SOUTH WEST 1. Ekiti 2. Kagos 3. Ogun 4. Ondo 5. Osun 6. Oyo 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

NORTH CENTRAL Benue Kogi Kwara Niger Nasarawa Plateau

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

SOUTH SOUTH Akwa-Ibom Bayelsa Cross River Delta Edo Rivers

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

NORTH WEST Jigawa Kano Kaduna Katsina Kebbi Sokoto Zamfara

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

SOUTH EAST Abia Anambra Ebonyi Enugu Imo

In view of the foregoing revelations, the Ibos of the South East geo-political Zone are in constant agitation to first be brought to the same number of states with other contemporary zones, before fresh creations, which are advisably done equitably are made. To the Ibolo, Ekiti and Igbomina sub-ethnic groups of the Yoruba in the present-day Kwara State in the North-Central geo-political zone; agitations for a new state are loud and rife. This cross section of sub-ethnic Continued on page 11

MAGAZINE

OSUN DEFENDER Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Beginning Of New Beginnings II

•ADELEKE

•AKANDE

•OYINLOLA

Continued from page 10

compact nature of our settlement pattern, in comparison with some other states, suggests that we deserve more states here. Therefore, what Nigeria requires today surpasses mere division into geopolitical zones on the basis of equal number of states. It would be more beneficial if parameters like population, its growth and expansion, economic viability of existing structures; and the likes, rather than landed area (land mass) are accorded consideration in state creation. For now and in the nearest future, Nigerians earnestly await the emergence of new states and local government councils that shall be the creation of our present democratic structure. This shall go a long way in poising a litmus test for our democracy. More valid and reliable are these forms of test than any change in currency or other cosmetic monetary/financial or fiduciary policy embarked on by the government. It is candidly observed that many of these currency policies, especially the recently introduced one, which destroys lower units of our currency and introduces yet higher ones are intended (deliberately or not) to nail the coffin for the masses (who subsist in the majority) and their survival and welfare. As has been done on several series of OSUN DEFENDER Magazine, the best modality for conducting a valid and objective assessment of the Rauf Aregbesola administration is by making echoes of the election campaign promises of Ogbeni Aregbesola. The campaign promises, which formed a pact which the “SYMBOL” made with the people; and on the bases of which be nominated to be held accountable at any point in time during his tenure of stewardship as governor of the state are summed up in a Six-Point Integral Action Plan. They are here adumbrated for the purpose of reminder:

access to financial positions of the state; · Ensuring that the state funds are used for development purposes; · Accessing grants and development funds from multilateral agencies; · The overall goal is to reduce dependence on federal allocation. BANISH UNEMPLOYMENT Work and Wealth · Immediate employment for 20,000 people, while reserving 5,000 places for those who were retrenched and are still willing to work; · The policy of no job loss, more jobs, through; · Creation of job-friendly economic environment; and · Establishment of labour exchange centres to facilitate employment of graduates. Civil Service Reforms through: · Creation of a more conducive work environment-stimulating and development-oriented · Promotion of culture of excellence in the civil service, bonuses, incentives, internal and external training, regular promotions, increase and prompt payment of salaries, allowances and leave bonuses · Regular review of salaries · Establishment of new education districts for better school administration and creation of New Tutor General (Permanent Secretary Cadre) from the ranks of school teachers · Institution of Home Ownership scheme for civil servants and encouragement of backyard food production business ventures · With the vision of making the State of Osun a tourist’s cradle focused on wealth creation through: · Development of Yoruba Museum and World Heritage Centre at Ile-Ife · Encourage programmes that nurture and promote arts and talents · Enhance the image of Traditional Rulers and institutions · Mobilize Traditional Rulers to showcase the state’s tourism potential to Yoruba in the Diaspora (e.g. Brazil, Cuba, and West Indies) · Rehabilitation of Roads to, and in, and towns and villages in the State of Osun · Establish community-based road maintenance units to ensure timely repair and reduce overall maintenance cost while also providing employment. · Build access roads to evacuate agricultural produce · Partner with the private sector on road development and provision of infrastructure. · Development of transportation. · Produce a transport master-plan for the state.

groups, which comprise almost ten out of the existing sixteen local government council areas in the state earnestly yearn for cultural identity, tribal contiguity, freedom from allegedly being ultracized and ethnical conformity with their counterparts, kith and kin in the South-West geo-political zone. As if in mirror response to the agitations of the segment of Kwarans expressed above, the Yoruba suethnic groups in the present-day Kogi State are also earnestly yearning for a new state which would deliver them from the present creation which is considered a yoke too burdensome to bear for them. This group, the Kabas and the Bunus of the old Kaba Province; part of which has been carved out with the presentday Ekiti State; is agitated over their lumping together with other tribes and being “unequal yoked” with those with whom they are quite heterogeneous. Others are the Yagbas, Mopa/Amuro people and the entire area that is known as Okuns. These sub-ethnic groups intend to be liberated the same way liberation came the way of Otun Ekiti and environs in the present-day Ekiti State under Bourdillon in the pre-Independence era. Similarly, some other parts of Kwara State intend and seriously yearn to be carved away with their kith and kin in other states of the federation. This includes the Nupe people who intend to go with their kin in the present-day Niger State; and the Fulanis who intend to belong to one or the other of the Northern states considered to be their origin. Back home in the State of Osun, the present structure which remains legacy of the 1991 State creation exercise is not near-perfection; neither is it precluding possibilities of further creations. Even if the agitation is not in vogue, it could be easily foreseen by discerning minds that the Igbominas of Ila/Ifedayo axis would one day be carved out with their brethren spread over Irepodun and Ifelodun local governments of Kwara State (a wide expanse indeed) to become a state bound by the same dialect, culture and belief pattern. It is also not a closed case the possibilities that the Ifes and Ijesas (with the inclusion of Iresi, Otan Ayegbaju and Igbajo) would one day wake u to burying their differences and start up fresh agitations for a state of their own. The effort of OSUN DEFENDER Magazine through this write-up should not in any way be linked with divisive tendencies. The State of Osun as it is today embodies/encapsulates a bunch of happy subethnic nationalities. In spite of this, the population congestion and population density per square kilometre distance suggest that one or more new states in the nearest future would not be too irrelevant. The

SIX-POINT INTEGRAL ACTION PLAN OF THE GOVERNMENT OF THE STATE OF OSUN BANISH POVERTY The people of the State of Osun are noted for their natural affinity for commerce. Hence, the State Government is committed to revitalize commerce and restore wealth back to the land: ·Revival of the customary commercial activities in Osogbo, the state capital, and other towns with focus on wealth creation for the teeming populace. ·The finance and economic programmes of the government will encompass: ·Increase in Internally-Generated Revenue (IGR); ·Running of a transparent and accountable government; · Reducing leakage through real time on-line

Contiuned on page 12

OSUN DEFENDER Tuesday, September 2, 2014

MAGAZINE

Beginning Of New Beginnings II Continued from page 11

· Minimize road traffic accidents on all roads. · Create motorized division of the Osun Troopers to patrol roads to prevent accidents on the highways · Organize rescue and recovery operations. BANISH HUNGER · Government will banish hunger in the State of Osun and enhance massive increase in food production and agriculture by: · Assisting every farmer to sell his products in exploiting profitable markets · Support for farmers to attach increase in food production, better storage and delivery · Maximization of benefits of resultant massive increase in food production through improved; · Access roads and general transportation to even the most remote areas of the state · Processing of agricultural produce · To encourage production of cash crops which can enhance farmers’ income and provide: · Basis for an effective agro industrial society in the State of Osun · To facilitate price support schemes for farmers · To target and capture minimum of 10 percent of the multibillion naira per-day for market of neighbouring states · To develop and promote micro, small and medium enterprises that will exploit available raw materials. RESTORE HEALTHY LIVING Healthcare Delivery · Provision of effective healthcare for all with special attention to the needs of children, women and the elderly · Provision of free, efficient accident and emergence ambulance service · Provision of primary health clinics within 10 kilometre radius in every town in the State of Osun · Provision of functional general hospitals within 20 kilometre radius of human settlement · Improved working conditions and welfare package of health personnel · Encouragement of nurturing of alternative medical therapy · Environmental development · Encouraging all houses in the State of Osun to have modern and affordable toilet facilities through a special scheme. · Provide private sector driven waste management and beautification schemes to rid our

•A recently commisssioned road in Ilesa.

communities of filth. · Water for all in the state. Government is committed to provision of potable water to all parts of the State of Osun. · Reactivation and speedily completion of all abandoned water schemes. · Affordable housing scheme by helping indigenes of the state to realize their dreams of ownership or rehabilitation of falling structures through deliberate programmes that improve their incomeearning capacity. · Enhanced research and development on the use of local materials to force down building costs · Electricity for all through private sector participation in the generation and distribution of energy · Improved security of lives and property · Special programme for the police · Neighbourhood security outfits · Provision of special allowances to all security agents deployed to the State of Osun and enhancing their operational facilities for efficiency. Fire Services · Building the capacity to the State Fire Services for promoting response to emergencies at all times. ENHANCEMENT OF COMMUNAL PEACE AND PROGRESS · Restoration of partnership between government and people through the formation of sages’ council/peer group · Non-partisan community-based sages’ councils comprising well-educated, experienced and widely trained elderly folks capable of providing guidance and moral and ethical development I our society. YOUTH COUNCIL · Non-partisan community-based youth council comprising young people who constitute the majority of our population but are often sidelined in the formulation of socio-economic policies · Government encourages interaction between these councils. Sports · Promotion of sports and enabling environment of infrastructure. Judicial Sector Reforms · Ensuring speedy access by all individuals in Osun State by reforming the court system and procedural rules, introducing alternative dispute resolution (ADR) mechanisms and citizen mediation

centres. · Improved welfare package of judicial officers and upgrading courts with modern IT and communication facilities. Communication · Restructuring of Government Media to ensure that professionals are motivated and continuously trained for competency and service to the people. Consumer Protection · Ensuring that consumers get the best goods and services at the best prices. Support consumer watch agencies and also cooperate with others tp protect citizens from unfair business practices PROMOTE FUNCTIONAL EUCATION · Establishment of a viable education sector that will eradicate the frustration of youths caused by education that does not lead to employment. · Focus on education that will make one useful to himself and society. · Improved incentives to teachers and collaboration with the NUT to restore the dignity of the teaching profession. · Restructured administration of school management and the creation of Tutor-General (Permanent Secretary cadre) from among teachers. · Improved educational infrastructure including teaching aids and libraries which are in a deplorable state. · Cooperation with the parents and teachers to improve discipline and morality. · Introduction of non-partisan community-based governing boards for all schools. · Reduction in the number of students per classroom. · Establishment of institutions that impart lifelong skills for all (Life Academy). · Higher Educational Institutions and Universities. · To resolve to ensure that Osun State University operates on a sound footing and becomes a first-class institution with linkages to renown universities in the developed world. For all we know, the administration of Ogbeni Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola in the State of Osun has come to bring splendid blessings the way of all and sundry in the state; indigenes and residents alike; and in practically all sectors of life. We hope that as the remaining parts of the tenure(s) of the administration in office unfold, more of quintessential, monumental and ground-breaking achievements would be recorded to the ultimate advantage and overall benefit of all. Long live the State of Osun! Concluded.

FEATURE

OSUN DEFENDER Tuesday, September 2, 2014

•Another cross section of Governor Aregbesola’s supporters at Ife-Odan in Ejigbo Local Government Council Area of State of Osun.

Osun 2014 And Aregbesola’s Victory that all men and women of I believe peace should commend the present administration in Osun for the farreaching development programmes it has initiated for the benefits of our people. It is our duty to see to it, that these positive programmes of development succeed and the momentum maintained. Our people should commit themselves to this noble cause. What others could not do during their tenure, Aregbesola has done in three and half (3½) years of coming into office, very prudently and transparently. No wonder, he coasted home to victory in the August 9, 2014 governorship election for a second term. Indeed, anything is possible if we have faith, the will and joyful hearts. I know we all have the will to play our parts in this campaign for accelerated development in the State of Osun. I know we have faith in the present regime and we have the hearts to face the challenges ahead. Our people are urged to support this administration’s laudable programmes of economic reconstruction, social justice, unity and religious tolerance, that will guarantee our present happiness and future prosperity. Test of faith can only be ascertained by God Almighty, in whose hands is the sovereignty of heaven and earth. The cause of Aregbesola’s regime is the cause of the common people and the lessprivileged members of our society; the villagers, the labourers, the farmers and those millions of unemployed. It is a cause that compels our serious attention and commitment. What is therefore left for us as a people of the State of Osun, is to make a pledge from now on that we will bury all our differences and come out fully to consolidate on the achievements of Ogbeni Aregbesola. Let the politicians pledge that they will not misuse the trust and responsibility that are thrusted upon them by our people. Let them pledge that they will speak for those who have no voice and to remember those who are forgotten. Let them pledge that they will love us as themselves and that looting

By IBRAHIM LAWAL

positions in his second term in office.

The challenges for the electorate is to give voices and votes to people of integrity and for those fundamental democratic principles of human freedom, free economic enterprises, self respect and accountability.

The school merger programme by the government should be vigorously pursued, possibly with modifications. The structures being put in place are of world standard and a legacy that will outlive Aregbesola. I am impressed, that the various sites demolished are now been beautified with walkways. Definitely, we need to embrace modernity in all aspects of our life, though no changes come about without temporary pains. Only change is permanent.

Indeed, Aregbesola’s us new hope. New employment and self thousands of our graduates skilled and O’YES.

regime has offered hope of gainful respect for those school-leavers; unskilled through

Aregbesola’s government has been listening not only to the clamorous voices of the priviledged few and the opportunists at the corridor of power, but also the hardly audible voices of the proverbial silent majority.

New hope of economic recovery, through the dedicated pursuit of individualistic and collective approach to agrarian revolution and small-scale industrialization in the state through O’REAP. New hope of good quality of life for the rural populace through the faithful execution of populist-oriented programmes, like the DAGBOLU scheme, through O’HUB.

The governor has declared that his administration does not presume to have a monopoly of knowledge. He has brought ‘dissenters’ into policy discussions, rather than freeze them out. He has invited constructive criticism because he believes the critics have a right to be heard. We should realise that the lamps of enlightenment are lit by the spark of controversy and that their flame can be snuffed out by the blanket of consensus.

of public treasuries will not be their major preoccupations. Let them remember Hisabaccountability before God Almighty, on the day that all would be assembled before Him.

Socially, we must build bridges of understanding and economically, we must narrow the wide gap between the rich and the poor, if we want peace and stability in this country. Indeed, we stand at a great turning point, when the State of Osun and indeed Nigeria are looking for a new direction, through a second term for Aregbesola and an APC federally-controlled government. A time like this calls for leadership like Aregbesola that can set a firm focus and positive vision for the future and rally the people of Osun behind it. We thank God that at this point in time in Osun, we have such a leader in the person of Ogbeni Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola. Let me commend all his good efforts towards ensuring progress in the state since he took charge. However, the governor himself must continue to reinforce the attributes of good leadership with which he is already identified and make more use of home-grown people to man key

In this regard, we must concede, that out experience in this state between 2003 to 2010 was not particularly edifying. We saw hatred and sorrow on our faces waiting for love and happiness. We saw families divided against themselves, waiting to be brought together again. To find answers to all these unwholesome acts, we must look within ourselves. Let us forget the past and come together to build this state for nobody else can do it for us because it belongs to all of us. We must close all sullen pages and open a new chapter. Let us give unalloyed support to Ogbeni Aregbesola, so that those who were left out in the cold in those years of inaction, could be accommodated for positive contributions. Let us know that we cannot learn from one another until we stop

shouting at one another; until we speak quietly enough so that our words can be heard as well as our voices. Let us remember that if we succeed, generations to come will say of us now living, that we mastered our moment. That we helped to make Osun safe and prosperous to live in. This is our summon to greatness. Let us pray that strength and courage abundant be given to us; that the good that lies in each of our hearts may day-by-day be magnified. That we may come to see more clearly not what divides us, but that which unites us. That the true spirit of this time – its joy, its hopes and above all its binding faith may live among us. Osun must always be many steps ahead of others. We must build a virile state and improve the standard of living of our people, because the worth of a nation is the worth of the men and women in it. We must not lose hope, for in ashes there can still be spark. For as the passage in one of the Shakespeares’ works put it “there is a tide in the affairs of men which taken in time leads to good fortune.” We must not allow this golden opportunity to slip by. We thank God that August 9, 2014 governorship election was devoid of violence and acrimony in whatever forms. We should know that our leaders can only govern over the living. All political parties in Osun should come together and join hands with Aregbesola’s administration. For there is no victor, no vanquished. The victory is larger than Aregbesola’s, it belongs to the people of the State of Osun, irrespective of political parties. Aregbesola is working, Osun is progressing. For Aregbesola and the people of Osun, it is a goal scored in a grand style, after an epic and protracted play against concerted forces of fate.

•Lawal writes from Osun State.

FEATURE

OSUN DEFENDER Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Jega’s Statements Alone Not Enough manipulate him, in line with the selfish dictum that ‘he who pays the piper dictates the tune’. That is why any directive from the electoral body is treated as having no operational influence on their persons. Any good intention in issuing operational guidelines is therefore regarded as not binding on them, but on those that are not in power.

tell ourselves the W E must blank truth now, having seen the extent the sitting President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria went in order to dislodge the re-elected governor of the State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan did not feign pretence about his desire to conquer Osun by force for the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), as he mobilized over sixty percent of Nigeria’s security personnel to Osun, so as to frighten people to submission; forgetting momentarily that a more daunting challenge of Boko Haram insurgency needed to be curtailed. It is good however that Osun people also showed the stuff they are made of; defying all threats and trooped out en-masse to reelect the man they can entrust with their future.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has drummed it loud and clear that it is not yet time to campaign towards 2015. This instruction seems not to hold water before the ruling PDP, which has subtly been rallying support for President Goodluck Jonathan’s second term bid. I am not sure any formal campaign could have been more elaborate as evidenced in the zonal rallies being organized by the faceless Transformation Agenda of Nigeria (TAN). No other political party would have tried that without PDP raising eyebrow. Such rallies would have attracted serious reaction from Mr President himself. He would have either instigated the judiciary to sanction the notable figures, or ordered the arrest of all masterminds.

The super umpire, Professor Attahiru Jega, did not hide his displeasure about the Osun election that was unprecedentedly, extremely militarized. At least, his comment after the election showed that he was never a party to the heavy presence of security agents in the State of Osun prior to, during, and after the multi-fated election. Speakers after speakers have condemned what many termed ‘a drift to the medieval age’; in which archaic things with their brutish characteristics held sway. Foreign observers were stunned to see a single state so bombarded with armed soldiers and other security agents as if in war situation. Incidentally, the immediate-past Inspector General of Police, shortly before the election, came to Osun and declared to the whole world unequivocally that the situation in Osun was peaceful and most congenial for the then fastapproaching gubernatorial election. No wonder, the leader of the United Nations observers urged the winner of the election to challenge the act in court. We must give Kudos to Jega for his impartiality in the conduct of the election. It is on record that he averted the imminent eruption of crisis that would have possibly consumed the state, and by extension the whole entity called Nigeria. The Minister of Police Affairs, Jelili Adesiyan boasted before the election that it is either the PDP takes over the state or the state is set on fire, and be made ungovernable for the sitting governor. Today, the threat has turned out to be wall gecko’s premonition, now resonating in their intuitive imagination. It is just something normal for a principal umpire like Attahiru Jega

•JEGA By ADE OLUGBOTEMI

moment he is a loyalist of the people at the helm of affairs, he is to attempt to douse tension by free to do and undo. telling the whole world that snipers will not be allowed in future This is where our problem lies; elections, especially with their and that is why we may never be intimidating presence in the able to progress than we are doing recently-concluded Osun election now, except we deliberately still fresh in our minds; and with disown the recalcitrant leaders, another eye on the fast- who feel they are free to do approaching February 2015 anything at the expense of all general elections. While one needs others. They believe they are wise not doubt the sincerity of Professor but their ignorance is making us to Jega in making such statement, we take a step forward and five must be wary of withdrawing to our backward. Ironically, they know comfort zone, thinking that all how to create buffers for shall be well. We are more than themselves, so that they are not ever convinced that the greatest seriously affected by the pains enemies of this country are the law their inactions are causing the flouters in the ruling-Peoples masses; while those creating Democratic Party. stability for the survival of our country through personal sacrifice We are operating in a society of are always at the receiving end. normlessness, or what sociologists will refer to as Anomy. We have The Constitution guarantees the codified standards but our so- sanctity of the provision that called leaders disregard the set ensures the independence and standards as derelicts. They are autonomy of the electoral body, but regarded as unenforceable though those elected to be custodians of we love to sound it loud and clear electoral law flagrantly disregard that our Constitution ranks the entrenched provision. They amongst the best in the whole often treat the umpire body as tool world. Our leaders see themselves to be manipulated because they as being above the law. One is have the mentality that since it lies considered to have flouted the rules within their power to appoint the if he does not belong in. The umpire, they must be able to

The fact that INEC has not been able to stop the pro-Jonathan campaign is an indication that PDP will remain a sacred cow as long as she remains in power. With what happened in the recentlyconcluded election in Osun, there is no guarantee that Jega will have free hand to operate; irrespective of his desire to be impartial towards all contestants. Other political Parties and all Nigerians who hold the survival of Nigeria in high premium must brace up to resist PDP’s excesses to that Nigerians may have the opportunity of rising up to beat their chests that they have what they bargained for during the general Election that is very much around the corner. I know Professor Attahiru Jega as a man of integrity. This is the right time for him to weigh all the options before him and critically examine whether it will still be possible to maintain his rectitude after 2015 general elections. Rather than allow PDP to dent his image, it will be more honourable for him to resign so that the whole world can see PDP as a group of despots, who have absolute predilection to remain in power irrespective of whether they enjoy the goodwill of the electorate or not. Flouting rules must be meted with severe penalty from the umpire; and any disregard for constitutional order must face absolute repudiation. Nigeria’s failure will amount to the failure of all.

PHOTOTALK

OSUN DEFENDER Tuesday, September 2, 2014

State Of Osun Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, Attended The 29th FOMWAN National Conference, Held At Osogbo City Stadium Last Friday.

•(L-R) Chairman of the occasion, Prof. Dawud Naobi; National Amirah, Federation of Muslim Women’s Association of Nigeria (FOMWAN), Hajia Aminat Omoti; the governor, State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola and his wife, Sherifat, at the FOMWAN 29th National Conference, held at Osogbo City Stadium last Friday.

OPINION

Demons In This Democracy: A Reflection On Osun Election

ACH time I get into discussing Nigeria with my non-Nigerian friends, who have studied up on Nigeria as a country, the ones who know the history, tenacity and intellectual strength that Nigerians carry in their DNA, those who see sprawling natural resources littering almost every nook and cranny of the nation but wasted and frittered away in ignominy and dire depravity, those who believe that even their successes are contingent upon the success of Nigeria as a nation, they are all curious to know why a nation so blessed is yet so bizarre in actions. Non-Nigerians are not the only ones frustrated and asking questions, Nigerians are also. The same stories of neglect, depreciation in human value, blatant human rights violations, and in-your-face hijack of what is a man’s precious possession continue with no end in sight. I have not been part of an electoral process in Nigeria since 1983, a few years before I relocated to the US. The last Osun State election was my most recent experience, and it was bizarre. What I saw and heard during the election doubled up my disgust and disdain for our system still struggling to work pro bono publico. Nigeria has not grown, and may never, if the manure that will enhance growth becomes incrementally menacing and venomous. It was both shocking and appalling that political party men and women in a pathetic prowl around polling stations doled out money to voters to vote certain ways. Bowls and bags of rice were distributed to voters, so they could elect brigands to be captain over the people. Unfortunately many I engaged in discussions over this discussed the issue as a comedy package. What is abnormal in sane societies is normal in my country. I deliberately rode on commercial vehicles for a whole day eavesdropping as the people recalled their experiences on election day. Some rejected the baits thrown at them by party foot-soldiers, while many

By FOLA OJO others who had no choice responded to the lure because there is too much pain in the land. Some families had probably not eaten in days and they just wanted to eat their last supper and die. Before, during, and after the election, the attack-dog of violence was let off its leach to torment and bruise many people in an unfathomably reckless fashion. Errand-boys of lawlessness in masks and with ammunitions from unverifiable destinations put the citizens in a choke-hold and a hostage situation. They were the lieges, and the people became the helpless vavasour. The littering of major cities and villages by masked-men and marksmen wielding and brandishing guns and gleefully shooting into the air was perceived by many as a carefully designed bugaboo to cow down voters and skew the election in a particular direction. Those guys, who became night marauders couldn’t have been the same ones Nigerians remunerate monthly to protect them. Some powerful people in government hid under that cover to perpetrate those acts in this democracy filled with demons. Men in black on the eve of the election besieged many homes. About 800 members of the opposition political party were reportedly arrested and detained with no explanations. Up till the time of this report, hundreds of them are still reportedly kept behind bars still awaiting freedom from the hands of our ‘security operatives’. And this is a democracy? The Osun election has loudly and limpidly shown us all that Nigeria is not only on a slippery slope into an era of brutish bullishness and reprehensible impudence, an audacious spate of fascism has obviously crept into the crevices of our fabrics as mobocracy and thugocracy are contending with democracy as we approach 2015. Where is the freedom guaranteed under a democracy? Where is commonsense, and where is decency in government? That Osun militarization

charade is an inficio, infeci, infectum on a budding democratic lifestyle that Nigerians are striving to cherish. What happened before, during and after the election in Osun is apparently an imprimatur from political marksmen and snipers that are using the power and might of the Federal Government as cover to oppress and suppress. Let the truth be told that evil men and women in masks and black uniforms have an enlightened and determined Nigerians to contend with, and the people are waiting and prepared to defend their votes and voices. The pertinacity of the people cannot be submerged or subsumed in a veiled attempt to render them mute. Our behaviours have caused us to lose respect in the eyes of the rest of the world. When some white man somewhere in the western world call us animals-in-humanclothing because of our actions, we get angry and furious and demand to be respected. Have we proved them wrong? Big Agbada and flowing Babariga don’t provoke respect. Big talk, haughty swagger, big jeep, big castles, and big oil don’t provoke respect. Respect is a jewel and a precious stone more precious than silver and costlier than gold. At one time in Nigeria’s history, we earned respect and many nations bowed before us. At another time, we auctioned it so cheap on the back of greed, graft, gluttony, dehumanization, and deliberate pauperization of the people are leaders were elected to serve. Ours is a nation, where leaders have no respect for the people they lead, where human lives are not deemed precious, and where blatant banditry has become the order of the day. A nation where government resources become personal assets, and cronyism is an open cankerworm, cannot be respected. A nation where opposing voices are silenced in cold-blooded massacres, where community leaders are kidnapped for ransoms and young girls are handed out in marriage to Alzheimer-stricken

oldies-with-no-goodies cannot be respected. Ballot-box snatching, ballotpapers-switching-abracadabra country makes a good line in Saturday night comedy in the US. A nation with astounding mindboggling wealth and yet with an undeserved astounding, mind-boggling heap of ravaging poverty cannot be respected. Some of these fellas, who have become area-boys at all levels of government studied in the US; and many of those who lead us today studied abroad. They apparently got the education but remain uneducated; they went through schools, but the schools didn’t go through them. They have helped ordain demons in our democracy. If you live in Anambra, Sokoto, Rivers, Kwara, Oyo, and anywhere in Nigeria and do not rise up to condemn these acts of arbitrary arrest and dehumanization of powerless Nigerians by powerful ones that we saw in Osun, it will soon come to a city near you. When it does, there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. In a democracy, a man has the liberty and freedom to elect whosoever he desires even if the candidate is deaf-and-dumb and a nincompoop. That’s his choice, that’s democracy. In a democracy, goons with guns don’t just take over my house and life and tell me how to jump and how high. In a democracy, you just don’t take over power because you are connected to a military depot and police precincts or you have access to money and men who can do your bidding for a paltry. In a democracy, you lay your case before the people, why you want to be who you want to be, and the people make the final call based on the conviction in their soul. Will Nigeria’s many troubles ever end? That is our hope. But we’ve got some mess in our hands; and it’s a huge mess!

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TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2014 By GOKE BUTIKA

O NE

Yoruba famous proverb that says, “if a thief is not caught immediately, he may turn around to arrest his victim”’ seems to have concisely captured the drama of absurd being played out in the State of Osun after the just-concluded governorship election. Quite interesting, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the election, Mr. Iyiola Omisore, who was doubly sure that he would send the incumbent governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, back to Lagos State, where he once served as Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, in the August 9, 2014 governorship election; premising his conviction on an innuendo that Aregbesola had no root in Ijesa land, adding that the governor’s claim that he is of Ijesa stock was false and that the Ijesas would puncture the claim for him through the election, is now praying the election tribunal to declare him the winner of the election where he came second or have the election cancelled for a rerun poll.

source. Another interesting dimension to the drama was that, it was very easy to recognize how voters voted, for the APC supporters folded their ballot papers in line with Aregbesola’s instruction, while the PDP supporters folded as instructed too. So, that made the counting and sorting easy for the presiding officers.

Osun 2014 Governorship Mandate: Genuine Or Stolen?

At dawn of the following day, President Goodluck Jonathan had congratulated Aregbesola and expressed his desire to work with him, followed by the Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade, Musiliu Obanikoro, Femi FaniKayode and hundreds of others who stormed the state for Omisore. But to the PDP candidate, losing the election was a nightmare, quite unthinkable and ego deflating. Thence, the outcome of the election must be challenged at the election petition tribunal.

It would be recalled that two weeks to the election, Omisore appeared on Channels Television on the platform of a programme tagged: POLITICAL UPDATE anchored by Seun Okinbaloye and assured his audience that Aregbesola would be defeated in all polling units including his (Aregbesola’s) own, asserting that his party had done its homework very well and that he would be waiting for the governor to congratulate him after his victory at the poll.

Of course, Omisore reserves the right to approach tribunal after election, if he feels any injustice was done during the process, but his moral ground appears steep, for questions would be asked: who was meant to benefit from 73,000 security operatives deployed to lay siege to the state by the federal power controlled by his party? Whose mission was the likes of the Minister of State for Defence, Obanikoro and the Minister of Police Affairs, Jelili Adesiyan, Asari Dokubo, Tompolo, Chris Uba and armed masked men, genuine and counterfeit came to champion? Were the PDP polling agents not at the polling booths? Which party lost over 700 supporters and leaders to wanton arrest and humiliation the night before the election? Who pays the bill of INEC? Who pays the NYSC members who served as presiding officers and clerks? These questions and many others are begging for answers.

However, before he went for the interview, Omisore, while addressing his supporters in Ifewara situated in Atakunmosa-East Local Government Council Area said that he was sure that he had already won, because according to him, all the chieftains of the APC, particularly a member of the House of Assembly representing the constituency, Mr. Babatunde Komolafe, would be arrested and have their houses sacked. Whereas it was a chest beating some months before the election by the PDP candidate that he would not accept any election conducted by the then Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Ambassador Rufus Akeju, for Omisore alleged that he had a familiar relationship with the national leader of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and that soldiers must be deployed to provide him “level play ground”. As a matter of fact, he drew attention of those who cared a hoot to what obtained in Ekiti State as touching the militarization of the state, insisted that such scenario would be doubled up in Osun. As expected, close to 73,000 security operatives from different formations were deployed in Osun against the 36,000 operatives deployed in Ekiti State a week before the election and almost half of the men wore mask, particularly men from Department of the State Security (DSS); they were menacingly parading the streets in the state capital and other cities and towns with a show of force, while some were wasting bullets into the air. Instructively, chieftains and supporters of the PDP were happy and jubilating that their faithful partners had arrived; while the APC loyalists responded with broom-wielding peaceful resistance and chatting of party’s slogan. The election was keenly contested, the opposition parties threw up different jokers, they whipped up different sentiments against Aregbesola’s government. Both pretenders and contenders chose the bandwagon approach; they started with unsubstantiated debt profile of the state, moved against education policy and other spheres of influence, particularly the delayed payment of salaries caused by the epileptic allocation sharing by the Federal Government, it was used sufficiently against the government to the extent that the demographic data of the

At the dusk, the internet facilities through social media platform had obtained and pasted results of the 3,012 polling units across the state, that obviously rattled the PDP camp, which responded with a weak fist that those results on the web were false, but when the returning officers and electoral officers across the 30 local government council areas began to submit their results, they were the same with what everyone already had.

•AREGBESOLA election reflected the damage done to the psyche of some civil servants, who vowed to punish the governor for the salary delay, no matter the adjustment.

as it welled up anger of the electorate, who defied the siege as people, women in majority, poured to the polling booths in legions for accreditation and voting proper.

As if the election was programmed to favour the runner-up, the REC, Akeju, was redeployed, and the man who conducted Ekiti election was brought in alongside two others to come and oversee the election and on the eve of the election, the security operatives in mask began to deliver on orders from Aso Rock men on ground. As the Minister of State for Defence, Musiliu Obanikoro, was dishing out order to the Army, the Minister of Police Affairs, Jelili Adesiyan, was allegedly issuing directive on the police.

Reports from the field indicated how money and rice were deployed at the polling booths by the agents of the PDP with impunity, while APC agents, who were found with money, as much as five thousand naira were whisked away. For instance, some amateur video clips had shown how the PDP agents were giving promissory notes, when the money brought to Isokan Local Government Council Area was exhausted!

As boasted earlier by Omisore, men of DSS went full blast at the unholy hour of the election day, as they arrested over 700 APC members and leaders across the 30 local government council areas; some homes of selected chieftains of the APC were turned to battlefields, for sporadic shootings raged on for hours. All in a bid to scare the daylight out of the people, with a view to creating apathy, so that alleged already thumb-printed ballot papers in favour of the PDP would be used generously for those who chose not to come out to vote. Unfortunately, the antics of militarization, brutalization and the ultimate siege visited on the state turned counterproductive for the PDP,

Interestingly, subtle violence and intimidation were employed in some villages of Ife-South Local Government Council Area, as voters were threatened to either vote for Omisore or lose their farm lands, while there was no election in some densely populated villages like Omi Funfun, Mefoworade, Garage Olode, kere and some other villages, because the sentiment of “our son must not be humiliated at home” was sold to those who attempted to raise a finger of protest. In a related development, Obanikoro, Chris Uba and Adesiyan were moving round in a convoy during the election, while some Niger Delta warlords like Asari Dokubo, Tompolo and others were in Ile-Ife, allegedly hatching a plot to supplant the process, according to a credible

To belabour the obvious, the PDP candidate was programmed to be the prime beneficiary of the instrument of intimidation unleashed on Osun, it was just that the people of the state defied the siege by hugely turning out to vote for their choice and the deployment of technological devices made it practically impossible for open manipulation. So, the content of the 815-page petition of Omisore to be prosecuted by seven senior advocates promises to be dramatic. Interestingly, the winner had also sought tribunal order to inspect the ballot papers of the 23 local government council areas for forensic analysis, first of its kind in the history of Nigeria election tribunal, expressing his readiness to probe the figure appropriated to the runner-up. Indeed, it promises to be a legal battle royale. It would be recalled that Aregbesola brought the ‘stolen mandate’ slogan into the political lexicon in 2007, when he dragged the PDP and the then Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola to the tribunal after the governorship election, where he fought for three and a half years before he was declared as the winner of lawful votes and returned the governor in 2010. Now, Omisore has bought political coinage, as he claims that his mandate was stolen, compelling him to approach the election tribunal. The poser is: Is there any mandate for the runner-up, whose leaders had congratulated the winner? The election petition tribunal will determine the answer?

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

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