Category: South West

Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun yesterday said his administration paid N82billion as pensions and gratuities to state and local government retirees between June 2019 and June 2022.

The governor, who made this known during an interactive session with a cross section of workers at the June 12 Cultural Centre, Kuto, Abeokuta, said no payment was made for pension or gratuity  in 2011, adding that his administration had paid N41billion as pensions and gratuities to state and local government retirees in less than four years.

Abiodun said of the N18billion outstanding global deduction, his administration had paid N12billion, pledging that the balance of N6billion would be paid in the coming months.

The governor, who attributed the inability of his administration to pay the deductions and other entailments to increase in the wage bill of the state to N700million due to the implementation of the new minimum wage, said his administration had in the last three and a half years explored financial options, rather than imposing additional taxes on the people.

“As you all know, our state was the first to implement the N30,000 minimum wage and this increased our monthly wage bill by N700million. This additional wage bill has affected our plan, which was to settle outstanding commitment with our work force,” he said.

The governor announced that processes for the 2021and 2022 promotion exercise would begin very soon, pleading with the workers to be patient with his administration, as their welfare remained paramount.

His administration, the governor noted, had been fair in distributing projects to all parts of the state, disclosing that the ground breaking of the Sagamu-Papalanto road would be performed next week to further open up the state for more economic activities and gain the confidence of the organised private sector.

The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Senator Solomon Adeola, has said Ogun West Senatorial District would be better off with an experienced legislator like him than a newbie senator, who might spend years to understand the working of the parliament. 

Addressing a large crowd of people in continuation of his ward-to-ward campaign at Ado Odo axis of Ado Odo Ota Local Government, Adeola, the senatorial candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC) for Ogun West, said he would be going to the Red Chamber as a ranking senator with cognate legislative experience not only in the Senate as a two-term member, but also with progressive experience at the state legislature and House of Representatives.

“From the marginalisation of Ogun West and what I am seeing of the level of underdevelopment, we as a people need a ranking legislator to bring in proven wealth of experience in attracting development from the Federal Government. Clearly, none of my  competitors in the race possesses enough or even any legislative know how to do a good job in addressing the development challenges of Ogun West,” he said.

Adeola noted that even before his election as their senator, he had shown capacity to make a difference in the development landscape of Ogun West in the area of infrastructure, human resource development, assistance to several socio-cultural and religious groups, stressing that “these are just the opening stanza of my dream for Ogun West.”

“For the four wards in Ado Odo axis, I am donating four transformers with two to be delivered in about two weeks’ time, while others will arrive before May with N1million accompanying each for energisation. I equally intend to empower 1,000 market men and women in Ado Odo Ota Local Government with grants to support their trades, while 1,000 women and youths will be trained and empowered in skills before the February 25 election,” he said.

He appealed to all to vote for APC candidates, including Asiwaju Bola Tinubu as President, Prince Dapo Abiodun as second term Governor as well as Tunji Akinosi for House of Representatives and Musefiu Lamidi for State Assembly.

Jide Ojuko, a former two-time commissioner in the state from Ado Odo Ota Local Government said the next election in Ogun West is not about an Awori election, but an election for Senator Adeola to salvage the poor representation being experienced in the district, adding that Senator Adeola had the capacity and know how to represent Ogun West in the highest legislative body in Nigeria.

Prof. Adedayo Ladigbolu Abah, one of the daughters of respected Yoruba leader and revered Methodist cleric, Archbishop Emeritus Ayo Ladigbolu, has been named a beneficiary of the Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowship Programme (CADFP).

The fellowship will see Abah, a Professor of Journalism and Mass Communications and Head of Department of Journalism and Mass Communications at Washington and Lee University, Lexington, Virginia, US, embark on research work in Tanzania, starting from June.

According to a report published on Washington and Lee University website, Abah will work with the faculty at the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania to help establish a master’s degree programme in communications.

It said she would serve as a “disinterested” party, reviewing the courses and requirements, and lending guidance as necessary, while also collaborating on research projects with her Tanzanian colleagues.

“I am excited about the opportunity to learn about communication in Eastern Africa, work with graduate students and engage and interact with communication scholars from Tanzania,” said Abah, while reacting to the development.

“Together, we can contribute to building capacity at African universities and contributing to development goals,” she added.

Abah has been a member of the Washington and Lee faculty since 2002. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in English and Literary Studies at the University of Ado-Ekiti, a Master’s degree in Media Studies from Texas Christian University, and a Doctorate in Journalism and Mass Communications from the University of South Carolina.

The CADFP is a scholar fellowship programme for educational projects at African higher education institutions designed to facilitate research collaboration, graduate student teaching and mentoring, and curriculum co-development. The competitive programme is managed and administered by the Institute of International Education and funded by a grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

Five hundred and sixty-six African Diaspora Fellowships have been awarded since the CADFP was established in 2013.

Over 300 support groups supporting the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, have begun door-to-door campaigns for the party’s victory in Ekiti State.

The Coordinator, Presidential Campaign Council, Southwest Support Group, Ekiti chapter, Adedayo Ogunsola, disclosed this during the verification of support groups.

He said the door-to-door approach was initiated to canvass support for the APC standard-bearer and spread the gospel of Tinubu’s vast experience in governance, competence and leadership acumen in all the nooks and crannies of Ekiti State.

Ogunsola added that the body was formed to complement the efforts of the party with a mandate to solicit votes at the grassroots and sensitise voters on the need to obtain their permanent voter cards ahead of the general election.