The Nation Newspaper

Category: Southwest

  • Osun Poll: We “ll resist rigging

    The Akure Chapter of Ijesa Youth Development Association (IYDA) has urged the people of Osun State to vote massively for the continuation of Governor Rauf Aregbesola’s administration for another four years  to sustain the ongoing rapid development in the State.

    Besides, the group has also criticised the violence allegedly being perpetrated by thugs suspected to be working for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ahead of the August 9, 2014 governorship election.

    A statement issued by IYDA’s Coordinator, Olusayo Ogunleye and Publicity Secretary, Boluwaji Faseyi in Akure, the Ondo State capital particularly condemned the recent alleged burning of an official white Toyota Hilux jeep belonging to the Special Adviser (SA) to Governor Aregbesola on Agriculture, Mr Festus Agunbiade where it was parked in Esa-Oke, Obokun local government.

    Agunbiade was in his home town to mobilise the electorate in Esa-Oke Ward seven for next month’s governorship election.

    IYDA urged security operatives  to monitor the activities of PDP leaders in the area who they alleged are planning to rig the election through violence.

    The group noted that Ijesas should not mortgage their future by collecting token to give support to those who have no plan for the people rather than to rule by force.

    The statement reads further: “We know those behind the killing of late Bola Ige, who are now dancing on his grave seeking for votes.

    “We are appealing to the good people of ijesaland comprising six local government areas to shine their eyes and reject them totally at the polls to sustain the massive transformation going on in the state.

    IYDA said the All Progressives Congress’s (APC) administration in Osun state has touched all sectors of the economy in its developmental strides particularly in areas of the economy, good roads network, education and employment opportunities among others, in spite of the dwindling federal allocation.

    The group maintained that they would resist any act of violence in the area, stressing that Ijesas are known to be progressives and would continue to maintain the status quo.

  • Death trap as federal road in Ondo

    Death trap as federal road in Ondo

    One of the federal roads in Ondo State linking the Southwest to Abuja, the federal capital, is more of a death trap than a good passage for motorists. DAMISI OJO reports.

    Travelling to Abuja from Lagos through Ondo State is now more of a danger to motorists as the Ipele – Idoani – Isua – Kabba – Abuja highway, one of the two major link roads to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), from the southwest is in a terrible shape.

    The road, one of the federal roads in the state begging for attention is not only in a deplorable state but is also littered with trailers and other heavy duty trucks trapped on the bad portions of the highway, thereby adding to the danger faced by other motorists who manage to navigate the potholes and other failed portions of the road.

    Any traveler particularly between Idoani in Ose local government and  Isua, Akoko Southeast local government area of Ondo State would witness how chains of trailers are trapped for days and weeks on this road.

    Unfortunately, these heavy duty trucks prefer this road because it is devoid of steeply hills, dangerous slopes and sharp bends.

    This is unlike the deadly Akungba – Oka route with dangerous points, specifically Oke – Oka hill, Okia-Oka deadly slope and the deadly sharp bends at the end of the slope, where hundreds of people had met their untimely death.

    A visit to the area by “The Nation” revealed that most heavy duty trucks ascending the Oka hill usually roll back as a result of their inability to climb the hill causing serious accident resulting in damage to life and properties.

    Likewise, trailers, descending the Oka-Okia long slope with a sharp bend at the end  usually lose control due to brake failure killing dozens of other road users.

    Records at Oka and Iwaro police stations confirm thousands of lives that had been lost on that road.

    The deplorable condition of the Ipele route which is presently cut-off and out of use at Ifira – Sosan – Isua Akoko has forced trucks to divert to the dangerous Akungba – Oka route, causing serious havoc to cars and buses.

    A road user and public analyst, Mr Olasehinde Idowu blamed the federal and Ondo state governments for abandoning this important road which is a gate way from the southwest to the  East and Abuja, the seat of the federal government.

    According to him, both Ondo State and Federal governments should note that the cost of abandoning Ipele – Kabba – Abuja Road project is the precious lives and properties that are being lost on Akungba -Oka route on a daily basis.

    He lamented that the refusal of the Federal Government to repair the road in the last 20 years  has portrayed the insensitivity of the government to the pains of the people.

    Idowu noted that some trailers also divert through Idoani – Idogun – Ipesi – Ifira to Isua to avoid the bad spots on Ipele road thereby causing serious damage to this trunk B road belonging to Ondo State government.

    One of the political office holders in Ose local government who spoke in confidence said the number of lives that had been lost to road accident on Oka – Okia hill and slope outnumber those lost to the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDs) that we spend billions of naira to control.

    He queried the rationale behind the failure of both federal and state government to repair the Ipele Road to prevent further killings on the popular Akungba – Oka route, stressing that Ipele route is more suitable for heavy trucks.

    Officials of the Federal Ministry of works and Federal Roads Maintenance Agency(FERMA) said the road is not on the priority list, but added that efforts were on to ensure that federal government pays attention to it as a good alternative to Akungba-Oka Akoko-Isua-Abuja route.

    A top government official at the State Ministry of Works who also spoke in confidence said the road in question belongs to the federal government.

    He however said the dwindling state allocation has not assisted in focusing on such gigantic project, noting that this would have been worthwhile especially for the mere fact that it is the citizenry of Ondo State that are making use of the road mostly.

  • Nine-year after; family still in search of missing member

    These are not the best of times for the Ejiofor family of Owerri,  Imo State in South-eastern Nigeria,

    The past nine years have brought neither sadness nor joy to the family members following the sudden disappearance of one of them, Emeka Charles Ejiofor.

    Their shining star Emeka, an Engineer and employee of an oil company, was declared missing in 2005 and had remained out of sight ever since.

    Even though they have assurances from spiritualists and ‘prayer warriors’ that Emeka is still alive and would return home, nine years of waiting in vain for this ‘revelation’ to come to pass has done little to lift their spirit.

    Speaking to “The Nation” in Ondo town, on behalf of the distressed family, Emeka’s sibling, Nnamdi lamented their inability to locate the whereabouts of his 49 year old brother.

    He was said to be hale and hearty before the unfortunate incident happened.

    According to him, the information obtained by the family revealed that Emeka left his house located at Ekeremo community, Bayelsa state, for his place of work on the fateful day, when he ran into a riot which broke out in the community.

    He said as a result of the pandemonium his brother (Emeka) reportedly ran away from the spot to another place for the purpose of seeking refuge.

    Nnamdi, however hinted that the family was told of how some people suspected to be assassins ran towards his brother apparently in a bid to kill him, but he was able to escape from the hands of the killers.

    Though Emeka was said to have been saved from his attackers, but his whereabouts later became an issue, because he could not be found since then and all efforts made by family members to contact him have proved futile.

    Nnamdi amid tears said:”Our brother, Emeka was said to be hale and hearty and had gone to his place of work, when he ran into a riotous crowd on the fateful day.

    “He was said to have managed to escape from the scene when he noticed that some of the rioters, were coming towards his direction with the intention to hurt him.

    “Although, he was said to have escaped from his attackers, Emeka was yet to return home since year 2005 when the incident occurred, all efforts made to unravel the circumstances leading to his disappearance, had proved abortive.

    None of his colleagues in his last place of work and members of the family has been able to establish any link with him.

    “We have lodged complaints with the police, visited many hospital morgues and sought spiritual assistance in several places of worship, yet we still could not get favourable result” he stated.

    Nnamdi explained that, although family members have received several assurances and spiritual revelations, stressing that he (Emeka) was not dead and would return home one day,

    The failure of the revelation to come to fruition since 2005 has been a source of worry to the entire family, children and wife of the missing man leaving them in a state of despair.

    While appealing to well meaning individuals, security agencies, religious organisations to come the aid of the Ejiofors in their search for their son, Nnamdi said anyone who has useful information that could lead to the whereabout of the missing Emeka could contact him on telephone no 08146525611

  • Why hotels and hospitality business thrives in Ekiti

    Why hotels and hospitality business thrives in Ekiti

    Hotels and hospitality business in Ekiti has continued to grow, despite known challenges writes SULEIMAN SALAWUDEEN

    The number of hotels and relaxation centres in Ado-Ekiti, the capital of Ekiti State, has continued to grow, despite and amidst the challenge of poor electricity supply and low patronage.

    From Ado to Ikere, Ilawe, Efon-Alaaye, Aramoko, Okemesi, Omuo and other towns, hotels have kept attracting increasing number of proprietors who have tried to outdo one another in the trade, not only in the quality of their services but even in the sheer architectural surprises they spring in the edifices.

    In Ado, the number, according to Mr. Ogunsola James, Acting General Manager, Ekiti State Tourism Board, has increased from a modest  40 in 2011 to nearly 100 this year, a situation which he, like many others, has been attributed to observable improvements in social and infrastructural facilities in the capital.

    Street by street, road by road, the hotels, most of which are close enough to the main roads and fences of which are low enough to permit both a generous view and cursory ocular standards assessments, announce their presence often in attractive colours, especially at night when their patrons come in droves for services ranging from relaxation to recreation and accommodation.

    At such periods, music comes copiously as much to the lot of the patrons as to passers bye, while long lines of vehicles along the road evidence that mortals in the recesses have gathered to unwind and shorten the night.

    One of such new arrivals in the hospitality terrain in the state is Prosperous Royal Hotels and Resorts, a classy 45-room edifice of exquisite services located at the extreme end of Adebayo road on Iworoko road area of the capital.

    Commissioned in March 2014, Prosperous, occupying nearly 12,000 square metres, according to the General Manager, Tope Akinlaja, boasts unusual, if clinical, detachment from the familiar hurly burley of communal Ekiti, a parking lot vast enough to contain a minimum of two hundred modest size vehicles at a time, aside routine expectations/demands of customers.

    Why such a quality in a relatively new setting?

    The GM noted: “Hotel business is basically a service business. Excelling will not therefore fall like manna from heaven. This explains our dogged focus on a uniqueness of taste, class and proven quality”, adding that “Ado has been developing and will continue to develop”.

    “Unarguably”, he spoke further, “facilities put us on a special scale and that is why it is both a hotel and a resort. Inside here is a shopping mall, outside relaxation garden and an enclosure relaxation setting for those who prefer secrecy, a gym, an underground club house, three large event centres, two large halls, spacious enough to contain 500 seated guests each, and an open space for events”.

    Other facilities, according to him, included a cyber cafe, pastry shop, boutique and salon; the pool bar, garden bar; barbeque with fish; Asun (sliced and smoked meat); Nkwobi and Isiewu, saying “others may have some of our services but not anything close in quality to what we have”

    A visitor could also notice two ATM machines which kept dispensing cash. On this, Akinlaja clarified the intention was to insulate the customers against urgencies which would render them scouting distances for banks with the facility. “Such a situation does not assure customers’ safety.

    Noting that currently, the hotel has about a hundred and thirty permanent staff, Akinlaja clarified that immediate plans included the construction of an additional hundred and fifty rooms and while an artificial lake within the hotel complex would be constructed at a later date.

    He said all these at completion would redound to a standard which would be difficult to match anywhere in the Southwest, adding “One can only imagine the implications of this on the business/economic life of the state.

    “The vision of the chairman, Chief Biodun Isinkaye, is to elevate the community of his birth through giving back to the people in terms of employment. When the 150 rooms are completed in few months time, services will improve while more people will be employed. Even while the expansion is just being envisaged, some of the services we render here are the best in the entire southwest”.

    Does Prosperous have exclusive preserve on quality?

    Although standards do vary depending on vision and resources of owners, quality services are offered in many other hotels in Ado as in other parts of the state.

    From Fountain Hotel (Ado), to Delight, Pathfinder, Midas, D’Bliss Tit, Hilmat, Queen’s Court all in the capital, quality services are being accessed by needy and sufficient customers in varying degrees.

    According to findings, customers most times determine what services would be offered and those that would not. Trends are being studied to ensure a concentration on common areas of needs of patrons and ensure avoidance of redundancy and needless dissipation of scarce resources.

    And standards are being regulated

    Given the general picture of hotels and hospitality businesses across the state, it could be guessed standards are being watched and needfully kept in check.

    Confirming this, the GM, State Tourism Board said meetings are held with hoteliers and other participants in the industry once a week, a situation which he maintained allowed for effective checks and early disbursement of regulations whenever necessary.

    Ogunsola noted that unlike in earlier times when the Board was under the direct control of Nigeria Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC), hotels are now under the control of the Board which undertake grading, classification and registration processes.

    He maintained that while none of the nearly 400 hotels in the state has fallen short of standards, many have complained of low patronage and dwindling fortunes.

    Why fortunes are dwindling

    But the rich do also cry. Despite the façade of booming hotels trade in the state, there are ebbs and slurs, fuelling fears that if effective measures were not instituted, many of the hotels might go under sooner than later.

    One factor is an ever rising overhead cost arising mainly from near entire dependence on diesel-powered electricity generating sets.

    Confirming this, the GM, Hilmat Hotels, Obadare Bamidele, said public supply of power does not exceed one hour a day on the average while it rarely comes at night, a situation he said had forced hoteliers to depend on diesel-propelled generating sets with its unavoidable toll on overheads.

    According to Obadare, “the dependence on diesel is killing the industry little by little. When the cost of diesel consumption in a month is factored into the business, what is left becomes too negligible to be considered worthwhile. Uninterrupted supply of power is what customers want and that is what we give them although at a very high cost. We prefer it otherwise”.

    Is the state government mediating to parley supports of necessary institutions? According to the GM, meetings had been held with the Benin Electricity Distribution Company which had not yielded considerable outcomes.

    Said he:”The government is aware of very low electricity supply to Ado Ekiti generally. This is not a happy development given the plans to encourage industrialisation. But the state government lacks the power and facility to undertake needed improvement which explains why the committee set up for the purpose has been trying to appeal to the company. The in-coming administration will have to take over from whatever has been achieved in this regard.”

    Obadare also spoke about the relatively rural outlook of the state which he said informed the attitude of visitors to seek where to sleep during their occasional visits rather than book accommodations in hotels.

    His words: “The state is just developing. If a hundred people enter Ekiti today, they prefer to seek out long known friends where they stay quite often. When they come to the hotel, they only come to drink.”

    He added that although government patronage is available, redemption of owed sums were always being done in arrears which limits the value of the payments when considered against ever spiraling inflation.

    Another speaker who preferred anonymity disclosed that hotels are also suffering multiple taxation, noting “the situation in which you subject hotels to multiple taxes is most discouraging and disabling”.

    He said: “Go and find out, hotels pay for registration through Tourism Board, they pay tenement rate through the local governments while the State Revenue Board collect some payments as well.”

    Confirming this, Obadare maintained that an appeal had been forwarded to the state government which has given immediate 40 per cent reduction on all payments. “But we still demand for more reductions”, he said.

  • ‘Merger of Ondo oil communities justifiable’

    Controversies over a suspected planned merger of communities in the oil producing Ilaje local government area of Ondo state have continued to linger on.

    The youths of the area have consequently charged the state government and security agencies to guard against breakdown of law and order in the communities.

    Apart from this, the people have also urged the state government not to succumb to the alleged threats and blackmail of some people in the area over the merger processes, saying the move should be pursued to a logical conclusion.

    The Chairman,Mahin-Aheri-Etikan (Ilaje) Youth Congress,Nelson Ololajulo and the Secretary, Babalola Solomon, condemned the recent protest embarked upon by some section of Ugbo Youths.

    According to them, the protests and the comments by some Ugbo youths over the merger plan was regrettable and uncalled for as what Chevron Nigeria Limited had demanded for was for administrative convenience of the area.

    The Ilaje youths however noted that the sponsors of the protests were people that had fraudulently benefited from exploration activities in the area to the detriment of the larger society.

    The group argued that those behind the protest were a local cabal that wanted to prevent accountability for the funds that had been remitted by the oil company for the development of the oil producing areas of the state.

    They said, “Conscious of our place and position as a people accounting for the larger population and territory of Ilaje without whose territory there is no access to Ugbo land and whose land is used for reclamation and sand filing for the infrastructural development of the whole of Ugbo kingdom.

    “We shall in the interest of Ilaje common kindred spirit, treat the empty sound and fury of threats as the usual tale. In the interest of security and peaceful co-existence of all our people and smooth business operations in Ilaje land, we only wish to enjoin all our leaders across Ilaje land,

    the Ondo state government, security agencies to warn those behind these

    careless utterances and behaviours to desist.”

    The group said as oil producing people, they are keenly watching Chevron, the Ondo State Government and its agencies in their treatment of all parties and strongly advised them against succumbing to the empty threats and blackmail by any group of Ilaje, adding that they should be fair to all.

    In specific terms, the youths insisted that all payments due to Ilaje from the offshore operations be paid into an escrow account, while all forms of empowerment benefits and contracts be evenly distributed across the entire coastline of Ilaje adding that the merger process be concluded without further delay.

  • Succor for residents as Lagos unveils cardiac and renal centre

    Succor for residents as Lagos unveils cardiac and renal centre

    The opening of a cardiac and renal centre by the Lagos State government may signal the end of overseas treatment for Nigerians suffering from heart attack and similar health challenges. MIRIAM EKENE-OKORO reports.

    Not a few lives have been lost in Nigeria due to unavailability of modern health facilities and competent personnel to treat certain complicated diseases. While a few who could afford it travel overseas to seek medical attention for such health challenges as heart and kidney related diseases, thousands of others, helpless, are left to agonise over their conditions either praying for miracle healing or waiting patiently for death.

    One of such was Ms Bisi Oladele (not real name) a school teacher in one of the private school in Lagos State. Highly loved by the students and school management because of her hard work and commitment that had seen many students graduate from the school in good grades, her dreams of pursuing a career in teaching was cut short by a disease that was difficult to treat in our clime.

    As she battled with the problem later diagnosed as cardiac arrest, she had the hope that she could live longer to realise her dream if only she has access to treatment, but this was not to be as she eventually lost the battle for lack of access to funds to seek treatment outside the shores of the country.

    All that experiences by many Nigerians, observers say would be a thing of the past with the unveiling of a Cardiac and Renal Centre at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital Annex in the Gbagada axis of the state.

    The facility which was designed to handle heart and kidney related disease also offers out-patient services, diagnostic services, ultrasound, CT scan, Echocardiography, Stress Electrocardiography, laboratory services, fluoroscopy, ocular investigation for complications from hypertension, diabetes and renal conditions, haemo -dialysis for acute and chronic kidney diseases with 24 dialysis machine, admission for all cardiac conditions that requires hospital stay, critical care in intensive care unit (ICU) and high dependency wards, cardiac catherization, non invasive cardiology, open heart surgery, renal surgery, nursing and diabetic services, rehabilitation services and corporate wellness program.

    The contract to build the health facility was awarded in 2008 to Messrs Deaux project Limited, and it was completed with the capacity for  67-bed centre that sits on 2,317 square metres or24,792 square feet of land.

    The design provides access to all floors by two bed lifts and a wide ramp which allows two trolleys to pass simultaneously. Fire/service stairways are provided at the side of the elevator and at the back of the building.

    To manage the project, the Lagos State Government signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Renescor Health Limited Liability Partnership to run and manage the facility under a 5-year Operation and Management (O&M) concession renewable for another five year term subject to satisfactory performance and mutual agreement of the parties wherein the proponent will provide all of the healthcare services and total facilities management required for the value-engineering Renal and Cardiac Centre.

    At the signing of the agreement, Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris, noted that the government considered it appropriate and timely to have a befitting cardiac and renal centre due to the increasing number of patients presenting with end stage renal failure.

    Idris who explained that cardiac and renal disease constituted a growing health burden globally, said there is what is called a triple jeopardy in the health sector, especially in Lagos and Nigeria which require efforts of stakeholders in State health system to address.

    According to him, “We have what we call double jeopardy but now it is triple jeopardy in the sense that we do not only have problems with communicable diseases, we are now having problems with non-communicable diseases, and the third one has to do with mental health. But this project is trying to address the major aspect of the non-communicable disease burden.

    “Not only that, we also do know that these two-disease burden jointly cause serious complications in people who have these problems; and once you have these problems, you have them for live if they are not properly treated”, Idris explained.

    He said government had over the years earmarked, as part of its free health policy, quite a huge chunk of its budget to sponsor people abroad on various medical problem that could not be treated in the country where the needed expertise and facilities were not available, saying that it was the copulation of these factors that prompted the government to build the cardiac and renal centre.

    “A copulation of these factors prompted the need for us to build facilities locally, find a way of staffing them locally to provide the needed services to treat people of these ailments, reduce the number of money we are spending to sponsor people abroad, and more importantly to build local capacity,” he added.

    Idris also opined that setting up of the facility would help bring back home Nigerian medical specialists as a way of ‘brain gain’ to defeat the ‘brain drain’ phenomenon, lamenting that over the years, quite a number of indigenous medical personnel had left the country for greener pastures due to lack of infrastructure and facilities they could exhibit their skills with.

    “We have over 2,000 specialists in the United States, similar number in Europe and Canada. And this is one way of brain gain instead of brain drain because if you establish a facility with the right equipment and infrastructure, we can use that to attract the specialists abroad back home where they can exhibit their expertise and at the same time build local capacity here. That was the basic underlining reason why we decided to embark on this project.”

    He noted that the need to get a suitably qualified competent consortium that has the needed requirement to run the facility prompted the state to opt for a Public-Private Partnership, PPP, agreement through the office of Public-Private Partnership, adding that this aim resulted in the appointment of Renescor Health Limited Liability Partnership to run and manage the facility.

    Commissioner for Finance, Mr. Ayo Gbeleyi said that the reason for opting for qualified competent consortium of medical professionals to manage the facility through a PPP initiative was due to dearth of appropriate competent staff in this environment and the highly specialized nature of the equipment and services to be rendered within the facility.

    He said that the PPP office was quite convinced of the capabilities of the private managers, as they were expected to provide quality services in line with international best practices, promote medical tourism, provide training field to develop the capacity of state’s own health personnel and facilitate a gradual paradigm shift on dependence on foreigners with the skilled empowerment of local professionals.

    The Managing Director of Renescor Health Limited Liability Partnership, Dr. Ladi Awosika commended the government for building the state-of-the-art facility which he described as first of its kind in Sub-Saharan Africa taking out South Africa and Angola.

    He added that the Cardiac and Renal Centre has been built to very good specification as attested to by the specialists that had signed up with the company, saying that the centre has facility for telemedicine which would make every procedure going on in this facility to be reviewed by colleagues anywhere in the world, thereby ensuring that training and cutting edge facility therapy would be available at the facility.

    Awosika explained that Messrs Renescour comprise mainly of Nigerians specialists who had been in the Diaspora and could not get any space to work in Nigeria, noting that when they saw what was on ground, they pledged to contribute their quota through the facility.

    “As at today, we have about 200 Nigerian specialists who have signed on to be a part of this. Some of them have decided that it will not even be for money, rather they will take one or two week vacation to be at this centre to impact their knowledge and skills to the people of Lagos in particular and Nigeria in general,” he said.

    Awosika noted that more facilities of the magnitude of the cardiac and renal centre is required in the State to be able to satisfy the demand of its more than 21 million residents and promote medical tourism in Lagos, pledging that his company would not let the State down.

  • Nobody can defeat Ajimobi, APC in 2015

    Nobody can defeat Ajimobi, APC in 2015

    The run up to the gubernatorial election in Oyo State in 2015 promises to be interesting as the major political parties gear up for the polls. The man to beat is the incumbent governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi. But a chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Caretaker Chairman of Ibadan North East Local Government, Mr Ladi Oluokun, says no matter the efforts of the opposition, the governor will get a second term. He spoke with TAYO JOHNSON in Ibadan.

    When did you come to political limelight in the state? 

    I joined active partisan politics in 1998 and I was a strong party member of the defunct Alliance for Democracy (AD).Mark you, I have never cross-carpeted into any other party since I opted for partisan politics. I am a consistent individual who detest political prostitution.  I joined partisan politics because I have been exposed to how it is being played in the western world. Politics is to serve the people and this is my aspiration which is to bring smiles to the faces of people who are suffering in the society. This prompted me to team up with the progressive elements who are passionate about changing the society for the better..

    What is your focus in relation to development as Ibadan North East Local Government boss?

    Let me first appreciate God the author and finisher of our faith. I also sincerely appreciate Governor Abiola Ajimobi and the people of Ibadan North East Local Government for giving me this wonderful opportunity to serve them. I hereby reiterate my pledge that I will not let the governor and my people down  Looking back after over a month now in  office, I would say that my people have been exceptionally wonderful in terms of support from them.  They have cooperated with us in achieving all we have done.  The journey has been so tough, rough and challenging. I give glory to God because of the cooperation and motivation as well as encouragement of the people of the council.

    There is a proverb that says uneasy lies the head that wears a crown. What are the challenges of occupying this position?

    In governance, the major challenge is fund.  What we are getting from the federal government is far below what should be coming to us.  We only rely on internally generated revenue and Governor Ajimobi has been great in that aspect because he doesn’t touch our money but he is always concerned about the development of the council. He has given us an example of prudent management of our resources and we prioritize all our activities We must, however, serve despite the little resources coming to us.  We need to alleviate the sufferings of the people. We are following the good example of our governor.

    How would you describe your working relationship with Governor Ajimobi?

    It has been very cordial, exciting and challenging. When you are serving under a hard working Governor who knows his onions, you have to be on the alert. This is a governor who is passionate about changing the face of the state which he met as one of the dirtiest states in the country. You can now imagine how Ibadan the state capital has become one of the neatest cities in Africa. First, working with Senator Abiola Ajimobi for the development of Oyo State has been wonderful. I see the governor as somebody who puts God first in whatever he does.  He also has the love of the people at heart.

    Many developmental projects are going on in most parts of Oyo State. Ibadan North East Local Government is not an exception.ý He has put in place the establishment of Ajumose football viewing centres to reduce youth restiveness. In this local government council, the distribution of eight transformers to eight communities has become a reality; namely, Oranyan, Oje, Odejayi, Idi-Ape, Aderibigbe, Sunmade, Eru-Omu and Surulere, while three police stations that got generating sets are, Agodi, Agugu and Testing ground in Iwo-road.ý Also we have ongoing bridge construction at Ile-kunkun, Onipasan area among others, all within my two months in office.

    The crisis in Oyo APC has taken a new turn with the defection of some of its key members to opposition parties, is this not going to affect APC in 2015?

    Your question is indeed a funny one to those of us in the party. Some of the defectors have no electoral value. I am not saying all of them. They cannot win anything even in their wards .Some of those defectors have been made to see reasons that they would be regarded as prostitutes if they insisted on leaving the progressive party but we are still trying to persuade them on why they should remain with a winning team despite their weaknesses. But let me tell you, APC is not at all rattled with the movement of some of those members to the Accord Party or PDP, though it is clear that the few members who decamped from APC are the aggrieved. The process of bringing them back to the APC is on course and I can assure you that they will return to the party. History offers us a great lesson. When you look at the history of Oyo politics, there has never been a time that a new party won election. Even Governor Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State, who won election on the platform of LP utilised a lot of human resources from the Peoples Democratic Party. Even in families we do quarrel among our small members but later we will solve it amicably. Let me assure you that they will come back to where they truly belong.APC remains a party that would strengthen their weaknesses. What is important is tolerance of one another. The sacrifice which we are paying now will be highly rewarded later. So, my strong appeal to them is to come back home in the interest of their people in the state.

    Former Governor Alao-Akala has recently joined the governorship race on the platform of PDP with other aspirants in the opposition party who have all boasted that they will win the governorship election in 2015. Is this not a threat to Governor Ajimobi’s re-election bid?

    There is nobody that can defeat Governor Ajimobi in the next governorship election in the state. His achievements are unprecedented and unmatched by previous governments in the state. The first noticeable achievement of the incumbent government was restoration of peace to the state. He has brought an end to the era of brigandage and violence .Peace has been restored not only to the hitherto crisis-ridden transport union (NURTW) in the state but he has been sustaining the peace. The entire state is now peaceful bringing an end to the culture of violence. You can see the anti crime outfit called ‘’Operation Burst’’ which is being used to check mate the activities of criminals in the state .You would recall how many lives were lost because of avoidable scramble for power between factions of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW). The governor ensured that government did not get itself involved in the affairs of the motor union.

    Apart from this, roads have been widened and infrastructure generally given facelift. This was in the area of environmental beautification. The state has never had it so good. Ibadan the state capital has been completely changed and this is a credit to the foresight of this government.

    As to the legislative arm of the government, you can see the harmonious relationship among the members. The executive and legislative arms have since his assumption of office, been collaborating with each other thus paving the way for all round development in the state. There is no unnecessary interference bythe executive with the legislature and the leadership of the House under the Speaker, Alhaja Monsurat Sunmonu, has been doing wonderfully well and deserves to be commended for achieving what men could not achieve. The achievements of Governor Ajimobi, honestly speaking qualified him for a second term with less campaigns .Frankly speaking,ý and without being sentimental, Neither Ladoja nor Alao-Akala should be allowed to return as governor of Oyo State because they would bastardise all the good things that this selfless and patriotic governor has put in place to sustain the Pace setting status of the state. Do you know how many speakers Oyo State had during Ladoja and Alao-Akala’s administrations? It was bickering and confusion all through with nothing concrete achieved in terms of law making and oversight functions of the House. Now, the difference is clear

    Are you not aware of the popularity of Accord party in the state?

    Ladoja’s Accord party is only popular in a tiny part of Ibadan and little is heard about it in other parts of the state. So, he is no threat to Ajimobi neither is Alao Akala who has not even been picked by PDP as its gubernatorial candidate.

    What is the future of APC in Oyo and Nigeria as a whole, bearing in mind that you just lost Ekiti State to PDP?

    Our future is bright and we are not going to give up but will keep progressing. What happened in Ekiti State was the militarization of the masses and a day light robbery of people’s mandate. Such will not repeat itself in Osun State. In Oyo State, APC is standing aright and no opposition party can shake our stand. The citizens of the state are very wise and they can see the wind of transformation blowing in all sectors in the state and they will not allow any party to come and destroy it. APC has come to rescue Nigeria from the abyss she had been flung into by the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Believe you me, rescuing Nigeria was a mission that must be accomplished and the surest way of achieving this was through a merger of the opposition parties to beat PDP at the 2015 polls. We shall not be intimidated by PDP’s plan in 2015 but we shall continue to achieve our mission and vision by delivering the dividends of democracy to the people, not just on the pages of newspaper but by seeing it happening in concrete terms.

  • The girl-child needs education’

    To mark the annual International Day of the African Child, the Basic Education Africa (BE Africa), in partnership with other concerned non-governmental bodies, has sought urgent attention to the fate of the girl-child in the country. It was at a seminar tagged: “Basic Education for All – A Focus on Girl-child Education.”

    It was held at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), Victoria Island, Lagos to raise awareness on the plight of children in Africa, and on the need for continued improvement in their education.

    Seasoned speakers at the event, who were drawn by the BEAfrica founder and chairman, Ms. Abimbola Okoya, included: Director, Oando Foundation, Ms. Tokunbo Durosaro; founder, Slum2School Project, Mr. Otto Orondaam and Ms. Daphne Akatugba, The Future Project Nigeria. Mrs Olusola Adeola moderated the question and answer session.

    The theme of the seminar was hinged on the fragile fate of girls’ education in Nigeria as being recently threatened by the recent kidnapping of over 200 girls in Chibok, Borno State by Boko Haram.

    Ms. Durosaro who spoke on “Promoting a Holistic and Sustainable Approach to Enabling Access to Quality Basic Education,” said about 10.5 million children were out of school in Nigeria, adding that in Northern Nigeria states about two-thirds of primary age children are out of school.

    Durosaro who said 17.21 per cent of children that are out of schools in the world are Nigerians, added that one in every six out-of-school children is a Nigerian.

    She said the barrier to quality education in Nigeria is inadequate budgetary allocation, saying that what the government is putting into education was against the international board recommendation monitoring education in Africa.

    Durosaro also said that when people’s standard of living is poor, they would never have time to think of school, adding that they would rather think of scouting for daily survival. She said the way forward is to increase the private sector participation in the education sector.

    Orondaam, who spoke on “Basic Education for All: Making it a Reality for the disadvantaged child in Nigeria,” emphasized that cities are more developed than communities because educational focus is more on urban areas than rural.

    “Slum still exists in some communities because they have not seen a good reason why a child should go to school. All these happen due to poverty and lack of faith in Nigeria,” he said.

    Ms. Akatugba, who spoke on “Education and the Future Generation: Advocating for Equality in Access to Quality Basic Education in Nigeria” said despite the country’s progress in education since 1999 in Millennium Development Goal (MDG), over seven million school-age children still do not go to school, while at least 17 per cent of those who attend schools do not complete primary school education.

    Akatugba said that in some states, poor parental view on formal education for the girl child is still high. She said it is worsened by early marriage for girls in some areas and a situation where their boys and girls engagement in income-generating activities to supplement household income in the South Eastern and North- Eastern parts of the country.

    She advocated the expansion of partnerships and with the civil society and ministries to stop the gender disparity.

    The Baale of Omole Land, Chief Taiwo Bakare, said every community should know its role in the education of girls in its environment. He urged traditional rulers to lay good examples by sending their daughters to schools.

    He added: “Schools in the community should also encourage these girls to learn by providing suitable and conducive environment for learning.”

  • Happy days here again for Osun women

    Happy days here again for Osun women

    Thousands of women stormed the Nelson Mandela Freedom Park, Osogbo, Osun State Thursday last week when Governor Rauf Aregbesola launched a special empowerment scheme for women who are heads of their households. ADETUTU AUDU reports that a cheque of N375m was given out to the jubilant women.

    The jubilant crowd mostly of women that converged on the Nelson Mandela Freedom Park, Osogbo, capital of Osun State Thursday last week was an appreciative one. And the women had every cause to be as they showed their appreciation through singing, dancing and prayers for the Governor of Osun State, Ogbeni Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola. Their joy and appreciation were not out of place. That day the Aregbesola administration was giving out N375 million in aid of women who head their respective households in the state.

    Apart from giving the women stipend monthly, they will also be trained in vocations common to their area after which at the end of the 12th month, they will each be given a seed money to start small scale business.

    The only condition attached to the beneficiary households was that they should make use of government infrastructure – meaning pregnant women in such households should make use of government health facilities while their children attend government schools.

    Also, at the event, new ultra-modern hand-held ultrasound diagnostic scanners (touch screen) and mirror-3d (colour) Doppler ultrasound diagnostic scanners were launched.

    Speaking at the event, Governor Aregbesola restated the commitment of his administration to making life better for the generality of the people of the state. “With all sense of modesty, I want to say that there is no household in Osun State that our administration has not touched positively,” he said.

    According the governor, the programme being launched was the pilot programme assuring that it will spread to other local government areas in the state.

    “You have not seen anything yet. We want to ensure that poverty is reduced to the barest minimum in this state. That is why our programme is anchored on the development of our people,” he assured.

    Speaking on the scanners, the governor stated that they were procured to ensure reduction in maternal mortality and reduce incidence of stroke among the populace.

    “The first scanner will scan pregnant women and detect the position of the unborn baby for any necessary medical action if there is need, while the second scanner detects early stroke symptoms in people for early medication,” Aregbesola explained.

    The governor was emphatic on the fact that: “pregnant women and others that will make use of these facilities will not pay any money – it is free”.

    The programme climaxed with the handing over of a  N375 million cheque to the heads of the benefitting households and the commissioning of the ultra-modern, ultrasound scanners.

    The Senior Special Assistant to Governor Aregbesola on Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Honourable Abdullah Adeyanju Binuyo, under whose office the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) programme was executed, described it as a win, win situation for the people.

    “From whichever way you look at it, the people are the winners. They are not only the direct beneficiaries but also all the positive multiplier effects of the programme come back as plus for the people,” the SSA said.

    He explained further: “we give out N5,000 monthly to the head of each benefitting household who is a woman. That is the cash aspect. Residents of the benefitting households must make use of government facilities that is the condition. The transfer aspect is that the money given out will be spent in the state; that is ploughing back the money into the state economy thereby contributing to its development. At the end of the 12th month, each head of the benefitting household will get N100,000 to start a small scale businesses of their own. Remember that the pregnant women are treated free at government hospitals while the children enjoy not only free education but they also get free school uniform and are fed free. So the people are the ultimate winners of this programme”.

    Explaining further, the state Commissioner for Women and Children Affairs, Mrs. Mofolake Adegboyega, stated that the benefitting households were not picked at random. “They were selected through a thorough research by the consultant we employed to do so and the woman is a Professor from the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile Ife. It took her six months of crisscrossing the nooks and crannies of this state to arrive at the list of beneficiaries,” she explained.

    According to her, the pilot scheme involved five local government areas in the state with 100 from each local government. A total of 2,250 households will benefit from this programme,” she said.

     

  • James’ volley against Uruguay voted best goal of the W/Cup

    The Golden Boot recipient at Brazil 2014 has picked up another accolade, this time for his sublime effort in his country’s last-16 win over the Celeste

    James Rodriguez’s first strike in Colombia’s 2-0 World Cup win over Uruguay has been voted goal of the tournament, ahead of Robin van Persie’s headed equaliser for Netherlands in their 5-1 win over Spain.

    The Monaco star – who is expected to complete his €88 million move to Real Madrid this week – controlled a looped header from Juan Cuadrado with his chest before turning and volleying home via the underside of the crossbar from 20 yards out to give Jose Pekerman’s men the lead after 28 minutes of play.

    James doubled his tally with a tap-in from close range after the break to help Colombia to a quarter-final meeting with Brazil, which they would eventually lose 2-1.

    The 23-year-old was one of the undisputed stars of the tournament and netted six goals in five games to scoop up the Golden Boot award ahead of Germany forward Thomas Muller.

    James becomes the third successive South American winner of the goal of the World Cup award, which is organised by Fifa’s official website, with Argentina’s Maxi Rodriguez having triumphed in 2006 and Diego Forlan collecting the trophy four years later.