The Nation Newspaper

Category: Southwest

  • Oyo inaugurates website

    The Oyo State government has inaugurated a website that opens seamless interaction with the public.

    The website was launched by the Ministry of Industry, Applied Science and Technology (MIAST) at the Secretariat in Ibadan, the state capital.

    Commissioner for Industry, Applied Science and Technology (MIAST) Dapo Lam-Adesina said the website would breach the communication gap between the ministry and the public.

    He said in today’s world, information is power, adding: “When we look around us, we see that science and technology grow in geometrical ratio every second in the other parts of the world. We, in this part of the globe, grow in arithmetic ratio.

    Explaining the importance of the website, the commissioner said: “It is an avenue where questions about the ministry and other topics relating to the industrialisation and development of science and technology in the state will be attended to and I am glad that you and I are present here this day to witness such a milestone in the history of information technology as far as this ministry is concerned, the formal launch, the official unveiling of the MIAST website…

    “Through this website, the maiden edition of a monthly one-hour social media interactive session with my humble self and other top officials of the ministry tagged “Platform MIAST Oyo,” will be introduced to the public.”

    The interactive session will hold between 8 and 9 am on the last Wednesday of every month, with the maiden edition coming up on February 26.

    The consulting designer of the website, Mr Yemi Fadipe, explained that the website, which is accessible on www.oyostate.miast.gov.ng, has its core design in pho/Ajax, JQuery, JavaScript, HTML, CSS, while the database is MySQL.

    According to him, the website has an unlimited bandwidth with unlimited sub-domain. Its accessibility is about five gigabyte while the administration has front and back end with the platform on Linux/Unix.

  • Woman, 56, dies at Ekiti market

    A 56-year-old trader, Mrs. Bosede Ajayi, slumped and died on Monday at Oja Bisi market, in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State.

    It was learnt that she fell after quarrelling with another trader, Mrs. Aminat Raheem, over space.

    It was learnt that the women argued for over an hour.

    An eyewitness said: “Some traders intervened and settled the quarrel. They had started displaying their wares before the woman slumped.”

    Police spokesman Victor Olu-Babayemi said: “It is a case of homicide which resulted after an altercation between two women.”

    He said Mrs. Raheem (40) had been arrested and detained at the Okesa Police Station.

    Olu-Babayemi said preliminary investigations confirmed that the dispute was resolved and that Mrs. Ajayi was displaying her wares when she slumped.

    He said: “We gathered that she was rushed to the Comprehensive Health Centre in Okeyinmi, where she died. Her body was deposited at the mortuary of the Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital (EKSUTH). Investigations are ongoing on the cause of death.”

  • The quest to salvage Oko-Oba Abattoir

    The quest to salvage Oko-Oba Abattoir

    Recent reports alleging that sick animals are slaughtered daily at the Oko-Oba Abattoir in Agege, Lagos, have raised questions about the state of affairs at the facility, but stakeholders in the meat industry have rebuffed such allegations. OZIEGBE OKOEKI reports

    With no fewer than 1,000 cows slaughtered daily and transported to various markets across Lagos, the abattoir at Oko-Oba in Agege, an outskirts of Lagos, is a key player in the meat supply chain in Lagos State. Millions of households and businesses rely on it to meet their needs for beef.

    Established over 35 years ago, the abattoir managed by Harmony Abbatoir Management Services is arguably the largest in the state as it continues to attract thousands of meat merchants from across the country on a daily basis.

    But in recent times, the facility has come under public scrutiny over its poor state with residents of the surrounding estates complaining bitterly about the stench emanating from the abattoir which can be felt as far as about 50 metres away. This has become too much them to bear coupled with its attending health hazards. They have also been vocal in calling for the government to either relocate the abattoir or find a lasting solution to curtail the environmental hazard posed by the presence of the facility in their area.

    More worrisome, however, is the recent allegation that about 200 sick cows are slaughtered daily in the abattoir. The reports had alleged that sick animals were being brought into the state and slaughtered for human consumption, an allegation vehemently denied by the management.

    And in a move to further sanitise the abattoir and make it conform to best practices, the state government last year took stakeholders in the meat chain including butchers to Kenya and Botswana to understudy how the industry is run in those countries with a view of replicating same in the state.

    When The Nation visited the facility last week, some of the stakeholders, who were part of the entourage to Kenya and Botswana dismissed the allegation of slaughtering of unhealthy animals.

    The Chairman, Lagos State Butchers, Abattoir Branch, Alhaji Barki Yusuf told The Nation that there has been huge improvement in the operation of the abattoir since their return from the trip.

    He said, “I can speak authoritatively on behalf of the butchers. The preparations that we are urged to adhere to, we have put them in place, our uniforms, boots, helmet and hand gloves and everything are now being installed now.”

    But, Yusuf fumed at the reports suggesting that butchers in the abattoir deliberately slaughter sick cows on a daily basis. Explaining the situation, he admitted that most of the animals brought into the state from the northern part of the country, spend about seven days on the road making some of them unfit for slaughtering on arrival.

    He, however, said such animals if found unhealthy, are taken to the veterinary doctors in the abattoir for observation and treatment over a period of time before they can be taken to the slaughter slab.

    “It’s a big lie, you can see for yourself that the cows we slaughter here are healthy cows and you can also see the one that is stressed. If you don’t know the difference between stressed animals and sick animals, that’s when one can make such conclusion from afar. We don’t know where such information that we slaughter sick animals here came about, but we always ensure that the animals are healthy before we slaughter them.”

    Yusuf, however, raised concern over the state of the abattoir calling on management to rise to the challenge and put the necessary structures in place to ensure the slaughter slab is kept clean at all times.

    Corroborating Yusuf’s position, another official, Alhaji Taofik Olaleye, said the trip to Kenya exposed them to the standard required for abattoirs stressing that they would not be party to cutting corners,

    He said, “That (slaughtering sick animals) is not true, we see this as politically motivated because this abattoir does not condone killing of sick cows. Since we returned from Kenya, all the stakeholders here, all the equipment and uniforms we were asked to introduce are ready and we are waiting for the management of the Abattoir to begin enforcement,” Olaleye said.

    On his part, General Secretary, Butchers Stakeholders, Abattoir complex, Aminu Tanko Sadiq, who gave more insight into the process of slaughtering animals described the allegation as unfortunate distinguishing between stressed and sick animals.

    “You can’t blame the journalist who wrote such a thing, he’s a journalist, he does not have any idea of veterinary issues, he doesn’t know animals; the cattle industry is not in his line of business, but however, we do have animals that are stressed, by virtue of the fact that they travel very long distance over a number of days before they come to Lagos market.

    “Unfortunately, by the time they arrive, they are already stressed, there is traction in the blood, they cannot even stand. But we have veterinary doctors in the market that direct that such animals be kept for like a week, till they are certified fit and can stand on their own and walk. They are then taken to the slab for slaughtering purposes,” he said.

    Sadiq, however, said that concerns about the environmental and unhygienic state of the abattoir are real and called on the government and the management to tackle the concerns immediately.

    “By virtue of the Nairobi Declaration, it was jointly agreed by the butchers, stakeholders, management of the abattoir and the Ministry of Agriculture, that the slab should be upgraded to semi-mechanised status. The work started for some time and suddenly it stopped for reasons unknown to us. For now the work has stopped. If we want a way forward, it is better for the management to put that place in shape as directed by the Ministry, so that we move away from slaughtering on the ground to the hoisting semi-mechanised system

    ”Our hope is for the government to always uphold its policies, when policies come, there should be follow-up. When there is no follow up, it gives room for lapses like in the case of the semi-mechanised areas, it is better that government supervises, so that it would be in order. Aside that, there was also an agreement in the Nairobi Declaration that there would be constant enlightenment from the government to the butchers, it has not commenced, but we are hopeful, we are putting a lot of things in place, government too is preparing to turn the abattoir around and maybe they are waiting so that all can take off at the same time. But enlightenment is very important in the meat industry that is one of the things we have been yearning for, if there is enlightenment about wrongdoings, people will change.”

    Meanwhile, the state government through the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, says it is not relenting in its effort at ensuring that only wholesome meat is sold to its citizenry, a situation which made the Ministry to recently clamp down on illegal abattoirs and slaughter slabs operating in the state in order to avert incidents of diseased and infected animals.

    Commissioner for Agriculture and Cooperatives, Prince Gbolahan Lawal, who recently held a meeting with stakeholders of the Oko-Oba Abattoir disclosed that animals slaughtered at illegal abattoirs are not hygienic and not in compliance with the relevant laws governing meat slaughtering in the state.

    He said intervention measures have already commenced by government saying that for a start,   the entire abattoir would be fenced to control unauthorised access to the facility.

    He added, “The slaughter slab would also be fenced with modern wire mesh and only authorised persons and butchers that are fully clothed and protected would be allowed as an interim measure while the mechanise production line at Oko-Oba abattoir undergoes relevant rehabilitation.

    “The transformation of the abattoir from its traditional operations to modern standard operation is a process that must be taken gradually.  We have started the reform and we are not relenting in our efforts.”

    Lawal added that meat transportation in the state has undergone various stages of development in the last seven years, from the use of carts to the use of tricycle. He said from the initial use of tricycle and air cool meat van, the state has adopted the use of Refrigerated Meat Van to transport meat within the metropolis.

    According to him, 200 refrigerated Meat Vans have been provided to replace the air cool vans for healthy distribution of meat , adding that the Ministry placed an advert sometime last year in the media, with intention of licensing private companies to convert a number of the existing slaughtering slab to mechanize ones.

    Lawal said, “We are very much concerned about the implication of consuming unwholesome meat.  We cannot toy with the lives of over 20 million Lagosians and that is why as part of our pro-active measures, the Ministry recently led the stakeholders within the meat supply chain on a study tour of Kenya and Botswana Meat Commissions with the primary purpose of understudying the two countries and tap from their wealth of experience in animal husbandry, meat production, supply chain from farm to fork, food safety and control.”

    He noted that his Ministry had developed a road-map policy document called the Strategic Programme for Accelerated Agricultural Growth (SPAAG), which relates all the key agric sub-sectors with the singular objective of improving agricultural output and productivity. Adding that “to sustain the momentum of progress, we have expanded the scope for private sector participation in all our projects, especially in the meat supply chain and across the entire agriculture value chain-pre-production; processing, packaging, storage, distribution, supported with modern technology”.

  • Three things Southwest governors must do, by Oodu’a GMD

    Three things Southwest governors must do, by Oodu’a GMD

    Oodu’a Investments Limited, the business arm of five Southwest states, has been a story of successes and failures over the years, but, according to its Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Mr Adebayo Jimoh, the conglomerate is well on course to transforming the social and economic landscape of Yorubaland. Jimoh, who is retiring next month after nine years in the saddle, spoke with BISI OLADELE

    Nine years as the GMD/CEO of Oodu’a Investments Limited. How has it been?

    It has been a very interesting, challenging period and more importantly, it has been a period of getting to know the needs, aspirations and demands of the Yoruba nation and focusing on fulfilling some of the needs and aspirations of the Yoruba people. I thank God that within the nine years, I have done a bit and I am much fulfilled.

    You said it has been interesting and challenging. How interesting?

    It has been interesting in the sense that one taught one knew all but Odu’a Investment Company is another school entirely where you have to learn a lot about the people’s culture, the way the Yoruba want their assets to be utilised and their desires and their urge and passion for empowerment and progress. The Yoruba as a people are very assertive. So, for everything you do, they are questioning you and you may not have the answers. That’s why I said that Odu’a is a school that teaches you how to satisfy the needs and the aspirations of the Yoruba people. You will be learning all over again no matter what you think you know. So for me, it was a worthy experience and very, very interesting one as a student.

    You also said it has been challenging, how challenging?

    Well, challenging in the sense that when you get to a place, you need resources to work with and the resources come in the form of human capital, that is, the human index: the people, the financial resources, the funding and the intellectual resources, that is, getting to understand the strategy that you need to use for whatever you want to do. In terms of the resources of people, we’ve had to really identify among our staff, our skill gaps because I saw that we have human resources ready to contribute their quota but the challenge is that they have some training needs which I saw as skill gaps that we require to fill up. Based on that, we have to organise a program deliberately to improve on the skills and the capacity of the staff so as to be able to meet with the challenges.

    In terms of the financial resources, it is never enough because of the type of decadence that most of our assets and properties were when I came into this company. It was an eyesore and rather than complaining, what we have to do is to utilise those resources through some financial engineering to now identify what I call “our priorities” and how these priorities could be met using the resources. And of course, the financial opportunities are out there from the financial institutions but you have to prepare a sound, bankable document, good proposal that will be acceptable to the financiers, partners to enable them join hands with you to bring those decadent assets back to functioning because we have to put our assets to optimal use. They were in a state of decadence because they were not meeting up with the expectation of the users and as such we have properties but they were not sweating. And to make these properties sweat we have to add value to them. So we had to look for resources to do that.

    Then, the third aspects which I see as the intellectual capacity that is identifying how to do it. What we did was to organise a retreat. Immediately I came into Oodu’a nine years ago, we organised a business retreat to redefine our mission and vision, get our core values well spelt out and change the mindset of the people who will contr-ibute  to achieving the set goals and objectives because no matter  the resources you’ve had, if you don’t have the people and you do not have what I call “the road map” as to how to navigate the road you will get lost and if you don’t get lost you might even take a longer time because the longer you wait on issues the more expensive it will become. So we had to set all that. That was what I called “the preparatory stage.” It took about three years to get all these things in place. Then we fired on when we got settled for what I called “the foundation.”

    How did your employers respond to spending three years to prepare the foundation for a structure to be built? How patient were they?

    Actually, that was a period of storm and stress in the history of this company. Communication is so important.  We kept on informing our stakeholders, especially the committee of governors at every stage we were. So, they knew that there was a need for us to clear the ugly table and have a clean slate as it were, to commence our activities. Mind you, at that period, it was not as if we folded our arms. We were putting up our business plans together, seeking the necessary approvals, making plans with partners, seeking the buying-in of our various partners and along this period of time, embarking on intellectual development and getting the right people who believed in the vision. So, it was a gamut of activities going on simultaneously. It was at that period we recapitalised Wema Bank in 2008. It was at that period we paid a N10 billion debt that we met that O’net owed WEMA Bank. And we had a challenge: either pay the debt and keep Wema Bank standing or do everything to make it impossible to pay the debt and WEMA Bank crashes, O’net crashes and Oodu’a is in trouble. But we chose the former by making sure that we paid the debt.

    Coming from the private sector to a quasi public-private company like Oodu’a Investment, what were your expectations when you were applying for the job?

    My expectations when I was applying for the job was that Oodu’a was an institution that had some governance processes with set rewards and punishments, with set objectives and processes of achieving those objectives; a company that was very institutional in its approach to even business dealings. Some of my expectations were met when I came in. There were a few we had to work on and I can tell you easily that the first time I got into Oodu’a, at least that first week when I saw the way the company was run, I told myself that I have really come to work and I said to myself that I was up to the task

    How will you describe your first day at work?

    My first day was a wow experience. Is this the place?

    Was that of disappointment or what?

    Yes, it was a bit of surprise. I expected to see a well organised company but I didn’t see that. I was a bit disappointed. And that in itself was a big challenge for me and that was what I said led to our looking at the whole gamut again to see how we could make the place attractive to partners, people willing to work with us, banks that will come in, and have a decent environment and all that.

    So, some of your expectations were met, some were not met?

    Yes, some were not met.

    Can you share with us a few of them?

    In terms of the financial resources of the company, I was surprised that the company at that time was not able to meet up with some of its financial obligations like salaries, paying statutory bills and all that. Corporate responsibilities were not being met. And for me, that wasn’t the best for any institution worth its salt. Those were the aspects of the disappointments. But the good aspect of that was that there were people who were willing to be led, there were people who were expecting change. They were only waiting for a leader that will take them through. There were people that were expecting to get out of the rubbles. I can remember the first meeting when I introduced what I called the “Speaker Forum.” I told them in the forum there is immunity. Say your mind. Most of the ideas that we now translated into great works that a lot of people are commending today came from the same people that were in Oodu’a before I came here. And this one thing I keep on saying about the Yoruba: we are always an emerging group. We are ready to move and we are very painstaking; a group of people that with a trigger, will move mountains.

    On the day of the commissioning of the Heritage and Cocoa Mall, the business arm of the AREWA sent delegates. What sort of relationship exists between Odu’a and such organisations?

    Actually, I think the good news is that Oodu’a is now seen as the standard, the best international standard for any development finance institution; the original body that anybody will want to strive to meet up with. And if you notice that even on the international scene, on the African scene, we were last year rated by African Development Bank review of prudential standard and guidelines as one of the 10 best managed regional institutions in Africa. Oodu’a got the prize.

    Talking about the regional bodies in Nigeria, there are probably only two now, the New Nigerian Development Company owned by the Arewa people and Oodu’a Investments Limited. And I can tell you that they have even been coming here for us to train them, to expose them to some of our practices, to tell them how we do things. So, they were very happy to come and witness the commissioning of the mall. They saw it as something they should also learn to do. And even at the NIPC – Nigeria Investment Promotion Council, they’ve given Oodu’a a seat there. We have a desk at NIPC in Abuja and we are working in harmony with the NIPC. So, the perception has changed. There was a previous perception of ‘don’t touch.” Now, there is a perception of “this is the model.” Oodu’a is the model that any regional body should look for and that’s why Arewa people sent their delegates to come here.

    What other major breakthroughs can you remember?

    Well, the major breakthrough I will say we have done which if we don’t see the result now, we’ll start seeing the result in the next five years, is our youth empowerment scheme. And this youth empowerment scheme is a deliberate project which the likes of Chief Obafemi Awolowo started in the 60s that gave birth to buildings like Cocoa House and a lot of projects and industrial estates. The southwest is an agrarian region where if we focus on our agricultural development we would develop a lot of agro-allied processing companies, not to talk of the revenue from export. But the last statistics that I have access to shows that the average age of our farmers in the hinterlands and the rural communities is between 65 and 70. The remaining youths are all on Okada (commercial motorcyclist) or doing other activities that do not add value to our natural resources, which normally for any nation to develop, the first thing you have to utilise is your natural resources.

    We identified the need to establish farmers’ academy, skill acquisition centers in conjunction with some states. Those that came up to embrace the project were happy. Those states that didn’t embrace the projects are now running round to see how we can support them. The Ede Farmers’ Academy in Osun State in conjunction with Osun has trained more 1,000 youths in the art of modern agriculture. And I will tell you that when we went for the last graduation that was attended by the governor – Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, he was pleased to hear the graduands say that they now have their own farms in their rural areas and they brought their harvest. Some of them now plant and develop improved seedlings and they sell these seedlings. We have trained farmers that sell vegetables and from sales of vegetables and groceries they are now making money.

    The farmers’ academy in Awe has trained over 800 farmers within the last three years. The question is what would have happened to those youths without this training? And there is a lot of support coming from the Bank of Agriculture because they form themselves into cooperatives and also the FADAMA group. And some of the states are also giving them some quick intervention funds through some agricultural inputs. So, we are already investing into our society and environment through this capacity building. They are taught not just farming, they are even taught basic marketing; they are taught book-keeping, they are taught how to negotiate, they know entries. You’ve got to see their passion for agriculture and what we are saying is that we are preparing southwestern Nigeria for this.

    One of the greatest moments, the best time that I enjoyed myself was when some of our graduates from Ede Farmers’ Academy harvested water melon and cucumber from their farms as well as onions and there was a toast of that at the Government House in Osogbo during the Ramaddan. So, we no longer depend on the northern farmers to eat onions, water melons and cucumber. There are farms now in Oyo State where people plant pepper and tomatoes and most of them are graduates that were trained by us. We are also encouraging skill training. Okada riding is not for the Yoruba man. It is an abomination. We are supposed to acquire skills that we can hand over to our children and that is one area I think we’ve made impact.

    On the intellectual level, we have also introduced a programme called “Nurturing the Future Leaders” through a scholarship scheme that Oodu’a initiated four years ago. Today, we have given about 800 Yoruba indigent but brilliant students studying in federal universities scholarship. I can tell you that some of these boys and girls have come out with first class degrees. We have beautiful attestations, letters thanking us because most of them wouldn’t have been able to complete their education without the intervention of Oodu’a. So, that is why I’m saying that some of these things we are doing, the effect might not be immediate. In another five to 10 years, this scheme will now have a story to tell but for Oodu’a CSR we wouldn’t have been what we are.

    Is there any other major breakthrough you can remember?

    The others include the real estate development. A lot of our properties were not generating revenues. What we did was to deliberately put up a program we called PRP- (Property Redeployment Project) and we started from Lagos – the Oodu’a building in Ikoyi. We demolished what was on it and redeveloped beautiful apartments and we were getting more rentals. We came to Ibadan and we did the Orange Court, a beautiful estate from just one property, a dilapidated property. We were able to put up 12 apartments. When we finished that, we went to Almond to develop Almond court in Ibadan too. It’s a beautiful residential area. We did the Odu’a Shopping complex in Idi-Ape area. We just finished a project in Jericho which we have taken on. It is also some real estate development of our old estate. We are doing the Mango Court in conjunction with a partner. There is Kings Court and the crowning jewel is the Cocoa and Heritage mall at the old Sketch premises that was abandoned for about 15 years and even Cocoa House that was also abandoned for 18 year were redeveloped to. They have all now come back to life. And the good news is that for all these there is an effect of job creations. A lot of people now have jobs. The mall has created over 2,000 jobs and we are crowning it again with a mall that will be opened in Lagos which we are doing in partnership with a developer in Apapa. The mall is called Apapa Mall. It will come up in July this year by the grace of God. We’ll open that mall and Shoprite and all these people here have already signed to that.

    There are a couple of other things we’ve done. In Ekiti State, we are reviving a moribund brick factory and that will be commissioned by the end of February. It’s in partnership with Ekiti State government. In Osogbo, to make commercial activities easy and to lessen the pace of getting the government urban renewal project on, we are developing what we call “Aje International Market.” In the first phase, we are building 600 shops. The shops are all ready and they will soon be commissioned.

    You mentioned the development of the premises of the former Sketch newspapers. What is happening to Sketch? Some people are saying Sketch has been sold to Mr Jimoh Ibrahim. What exactly is the situation with the newspaper?

    That’s not true. Sketch has never been sold and it will never be sold. If anybody is saying it has been sold to Jimoh Ibrahim. That is not correct because Oodu’a will never sell any of its assets. We’ll rather partner. What we’ve done now is that we have identified a crop of professionals in journalism who came together. We have signed an MoU with them. At least last week, their partners came from the UK to visit the new site where Sketch is going to be located to take measur-ement  for the machines  that will be brought to commence the publication of Sketch. And I want to believe that before the end of this year, Sketch will form one of the staples on the vendor’s desk. It’s a partnership program between Odu’a and a crop of professional journalists. I don’t want to mention their names. It is going to be located at the OPPC (Oodua Printing and Publishing) premises in Eleyele.

    What will you regard as major challenges that if you had the opportunity to spend another nine years, you would want to confront head on?

    Well, the major challenges that I will say that I faced during the course of my tenure as the GMD were the initial misunderstanding between Management and Board; not all the boards. I had the privilege, I don’t know if there would be any GMD that will have that privilege again, of working with six chairmen and several governors. And, in that course of situation you have various opinions. But our ability to relate meaningfully with all of them made us scale through. But there were some few thorns. You know some situations where some directors did not really understand what corporate governance is. And for those ones we told them that they either work with us or they leave us. And we are able to courageously maintain our stand. But by and large when such directors that came in the course of my tenure found out that what they were looking at was not necessarily part of normal corporate activities, they handed off. So, it’s been some ups and down but our relationship and communication were able to fill the gap.

    Any other challenge?

    Well, the other challenges include the normal challenge of lack of adequate resources, especially funding whereby we have to bend backward and forward to ensure that we achieve whatever we needed to achieve with very tough conditions attached. And I would have wished that the (owner) states at least for once revisited the level of share capital of Odu’a and try to put in more money and target such money towards upgrading the standards of our hotels to international standards. We have tried, we’ve done everything possible to get investors who will come and work with us. But for these hotels to become international standard we need tons and tons of money. So, I’m still appealing to the stakeholders to put in money and target the money specifically for hotel development and they will have very good returns.

    In the course of your duty you’ve had to work with people, organisations and communities across Yoruba land. As you are leaving Oodu’a, what do you consider as the most important thing you have learnt from that?

    What I have learnt working with our people is that you should never make a promise you cannot fulfill to the Yoruba because they never forget. And for me, I always weigh and understand the size of my cloth before I take any measurement. And I think it has been a very strong guiding principle in navigating the nine years. I have never deceived any man and I will call a spade a spade. The Yoruba man appreciates that in the long run. Initially, it could be painful but at the end of it they smile.

    Having seen the resources, the people, the interest etc, what would you be taking home as a new experience that can form the content of your advice to maybe investors, governments, entrepreneur and other key sectors of the society?

    I would say this in a simple way that having spend nine years and having gone through every nook and cranny, including the last mile in the southwestern Nigeria I see tremendous investment opportunities in the region, begging for resources and I want to appeal to our leaders to look more into investments that touch more on the lives of the people. And I can say that I have seen the current crop of our governors in the states trying as much as possible to take on infrastructural development because the infrastructural needs are always the stepping stones for attracting investments. And those investment opportunities that are begging to be addressed, if these infrastructure are not there, development will be impossible. So, I link the two together as kind of a value chain that has to be really addressed.

    With your experience on this seat, if it were possible for you to be made the Governor of Southwest with executive powers, what would be your three top priorities?

    The first one will be agriculture. The second one will be building up of infrastructure and of course, the third will be capacity building; developing the intellect of our people for industrialisation.

    Lagos is not among the owner states of Oodu’a. Why?

    Well, you see I want to probably step back a bit. I think that is now being addressed with the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN). Through this regional integration, Lagos is already part of the southwest. So, it will not be right to say Lagos is not part of southwest. Geographically it is and with the DAWN commission, they have now commenced that. And I want to see a situation whereby Oodu’a and Ibile Holdings, which is owned by the Lagos State government, begin to work together. I mean if the Arewa people, the new Nigerian Development Company is in a kind of linkage with Oodua, what stops Ibile Holdings from doing so? So the platform has been formed with the regional integration project and we stand to gain by ensuring that we walk through this for socio-economic development. And by the time the socio-economic emancipation is well attained, it will touch on our political life easily without anybody forcing it.

    How will you describe the future of Oodua that you are leaving behind?

    The future of Oodu’a is very bright and I can say this with all sense of responsibility because a strong foundation has been laid. The perception of Oodu’a has changed and improved. The people are well prepared to face the challenges and nobody can come and lead Oodu’a and take it back to the dark days. The person will not survive a week. People have changed. People are happy. People want to see Oodu’a grow more and the future is very bright. But Oodu’a should continue to seize the opportunities, especially in this immediate environment, for there are several opportunities that we can work with.

    There is an emergence of mega businesses in Nigeria today, symbolised by Dangote and the like. They are kind of businesses bigger than Oodu’a. Don’t you see them posing as a threat to regional business organisations like Oodu’a?

    Well, it’s even wrong for us to think we are regional businesses. I keep saying it. We must grow beyond being a regional business. We must be able to engage on businesses that will expand beyond the scope of our region. And I say to you the opportunities are there because we’ve laid the foundation. And that’s what Oodu’a should do. Oodu’a should now utilize the resources that are available. What are the resources that Dangote is using? Ibese in Ogun State. But he has huge funds. He has a lot of international capital flowing in. He has a lot of high level technology and he’s a committed man that sees business purely as business. And Oodu’a must see business purely as business devoid of political inclinations. When we were trying to put this Cocoa/Heritage Mall in Ibadan, can you imagine somebody questioning why we were putting it in Ibadan? Why not in my state? Whereas for any economic sense in the whole of the Southwest apart from Lagos, it makes sense to have a mall in Ibadan rather than in another town even if the town is a member of Oodu’a. So our thinking should be out of emotions. That is when we will also be able to do this mega business. Approvals should come without saying “me too.” Approval should be based on merit. We have gone through this type of challenges. When you want to do a project they will say why don’t you do it here? As if it is something we have to be scattering all over the place and not focusing but for courage and determination, some of these things would not have been possible. So Oodu’a should move from this regional thinking and emotional decisions to global thinking and the foundation has already been laid.

    Oodu’a has invested in insurance, in banking, oil and gas, roofing, travel and tourism and all of that. Why not sports, entertainment and other areas?

    Well, those are what I would say fall within CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility). That’s the way I see it and I know that sport is a big business. I mean, if for instance we have a club like Manchester United or Chelsea Football Club owned by Oodu’a, then every shareholder should be smiling to the bank. Isn’t it? But in our environment we need to be supporting sports, however I want to believe that by the time our premier league improves, nothing stops Odu’a from investing in a very strong team and being a big owner that would also turn it into real business. But as it is now, the Glo-premier league is still struggling. And again the government rules, interventions, am talking about Nigerian Football Federation, make it unattractive for any private institution to go into sport.

    In other parts of the world, particularly the developed world, in spite of the phenomenal growth of mobile phones, landlines are still in good use. What led to the fall of O’net? Why is O’net not doing well?

    It’s got some historical antecedents which I don’t want to bore you with. The initial technology that was bought in 2003 was a wrong technology, the CDMA. But we’ve gone beyond that. And in going forward, what we identified is that Odu’a Investment Limited, as it is incorporated now, will not have the capacity to run a telecommunication company. All we needed to do was to get a strong partner that has the technical and financial resources and management to take the company up. We tried; we advertised, we did all sorts of things; at the end we got Concave Limited. It is not as if Concave has done marvelously well but from the rot of the place they’ve been able to at least bring back that company to a level of acceptance. And they have now identified the niche which is the broad band internet services and data capturing through what they called the “Small Enterprise Development Scheme for their own telecoms playing low on voice line, on the voice business and only focusing on the data and broad band technology. However, on your question on land line, that is the future of  O’net, I know that Concave Communications is addressing the issue of landlines.

    What will you consider as your strength that helps you to succeed in leading people and other resources?

    I was well prepared for this job and I think I came with the experience of having worked with various types of people cutting the across the whole country from my previous experience in John Holt Plc and of course my training as an industrial psychologist.

    If you are to advise upcoming leaders, what would you tell them?

    I will say to my successor, the incoming GMD that he must be prepared always and he must be ahead of his peers and even the team intellectually, emotionally and spiritually. And he must also learn the act of humility and contentment. But one other thing is he’s going to be prayerful so as not to step on the toes that are terrible. He will step on toes but make sure when you step on those toes you are able to say ‘sorry’ and you get on with your work.

    How hot or cold is the seat of Odu’a GMD/CEO?

    Well it’s a very hot seat but you can make it very comfortable by ensuring that you do what the people of the Yoruba nation expect from you. The Yoruba will not take any nonsense from anybody.

    As a top executive it is normal that if you could actually increase the number of hours in a day you will do it. With the demand of this job, what’s your family life like?

    Thank God my kids are grown up. They’ve all left school and I thank God for that. My wife understands the fact that I need to do more extra work and most times even when I’m asleep and the phone rings and I know that it’s a phone that is business related, I wake up to pick it up. She doesn’t like it but I tell her it could be an emergency. So it is taking a toll on me as a family man, especially having time for my extended family that I love to always see because of my parents,  but I try as much as possible to leave Sunday – one day in a week – to myself and then I don’t attend to any other thing except my exercises. I go to play golf in the morning, eat with my family, visit my parents and my elderly friends because most of my friends are elderly

    After Oodu’a what next?

    I’m going home.

    Are you fulfilled in life?

    Very fulfilled.

     

  • Neighbourhood markets end Oyo traders’ grief

    Neighbourhood markets end Oyo traders’ grief

    The traders at the expansive Neighbourhood Market Scout Camp, Challenge, Ibadan and other splinter markets in Oyo State, indeed, have cause to give testimony on how their grief turned into joy.  OSEHEYE OKWUOFU, who visited some of the markets, reports

    Road side traders in the Challenge area of Ibadan sent packing not too long ago by the Oyo State government had cause to smile recently when the newly constructed, expansive Scout Camp Neigbhourhood Market was commissioned and handed over to them.

    Their faces beamed with smiles, and there was joy and excitement in the air. Every trader exhumed happiness as they arranged their wares in the open stalls painted in the newly adopted official yellow and brown colours of Oyo State.

    The clean and beautiful environment of the newly built market and their former shops mostly erected on top of gutters and under unsanitary conditions have no basis for comparison.

    They have never had it so good. Initially, it was pains and sorrow for the traders who suffered the loss of shops to government officials who demolished shops under high tension cables and too close to the main roads.

    Many in the heat of the demolition exercise said a lot of negative and uncomplimentary things about Governor Abiola Ajimobi and the government of All Progressives Congress (APC). But, today it is praises galore for the governor and his party.

    The chairman, Scout Camp Neighbourhood Market, Mr. Tewogbade likened the condition of the traders to a baby who had some health challenges and the father decided to allow the baby undergo surgery to correct the defect.

    “Surgery is painful but the baby and the father had to endure the pains because they are confident that after the surgery the baby will enjoy a good health.

    “Today, we have forgotten those pains and now we are very happy. You can see our look, radiant faces and robust body. The governor meant well for the state. Can you ever imagine that the city of Ibadan can be as beautiful as it is today? We have every cause to be happy and thank the governor for his concern for our plight,” the market chairman said.

    The decision of the governor to clean up Ibadan, though hard for the government to take, drew a lot of criticisms from some of the people, especially those in the opposition.

    Among the critics, was a former governor of the state and national leader of the Accord Party, Rashidi Ladoja. Ladoja, who sympathised with the traders who lost their shops to the demolition exercise described the neighbourhood markets constructed for the displaced traders in Ibadan as “medicine after death.”

    He said: “When Uncle Bola Ige did his own, they built Gbagi. You don’t take people for granted. The people must be granted the means of livelihood. You have a right to define the situation. Don’t forget that this is not the only place where illegality started. America is now talking about legalising illegal immigrants. They are not saying illegal immigrant should be thrown into the sea.

    “The countries you want to copy are not doing that. In America, London, the government takes care of them. They give them unemployment benefits so that they won’t go hungry. A good government must realise the fact that they (the citizens) have right to livelihood. You can condone them until you build another place for them. Ajimobi’s shops are medicine after death months after destruction.”

    When the traders were relocated from the streets to take possession of the newly built neighbourhood market, they were of the opinion that the cost of the stalls would be out of their reach and that it was not meant for the poor. But, they were proved wrong. The state government gave out the stalls to the displaced traders free without paying a dime.

    The traders also got N20million interest free loan as a form of empowerment to cushion the pains of the demolition.

    Many were excited as they watched Governor Ajimobi present  cheques and certificates to  joyous traders at a colourful ceremony held within the Scout Camp Neighbourhood market.

    He told the traders that the distribution of cheques was in fulfillment of his promise to assist traders in the state in improving their trade and raising their standard of living.

    Ajimobi further promised them that the gesture would be replicated in other markets across the state to ensure better life for the traders, stating that it was the dividends of obedience for the traders who decided to assist his government’s urban renewal programme by removing their wares from the streets.

    “Our thinking is that people like us who do not have any one in government will not get stall here. But, it was a surprise to some of us when our governor personally visited and announced that all of us affected in the beautification of Ibadan city should get a stall free without paying a kobo.

    “Then, I said to myself, this has gone beyond politics. Before, the stalls will be for the highest bidder and for politicians’ friends and family. So, we are so happy that our governor is so magnanimous. He did not only stop there, he gave us N20million interest free loan.

    “As you are seeing the market, every one of us got N10,000 each to support our trade. This will be the first time a governor will be doing this to us, we are so happy and we will continue to pray for his success in life,” a trader at the Scout Camp market, Mrs Oluwanike Omotoso said.

    Apparently taking a cue from the state government, some local government chairmen have also embarked on the construction of similar neigbhourhood markets to take traders off the streets as part of the Ajimobi administration’s urban renewal programme. Some of these markets have been completed, while construction work is progressing in others when visited by The Nation.

    It was learnt that all the local government chairmen in the state have been directed to provide such markets for traders in their areas affected by the programme of the government.

    At Gbekuba in Ibadan Southwest local government and Bode-Igbo in Ido local government areas, beautiful neighbour markets constructed by the two councils have sprung up in support of governor’s effort to provide a conducive environment for traders in the city.

    The residents of these areas are excited and in high spirit to have the markets. Not only will these markets serve the needs of the displaced traders in the area but also provide social amenities such as borehole water, and access roads for the communities.

    Chairman of Ido local government, Professor Olowofela showered praises on Governor Ajimobi for the decision to establish the markets for the benefit of the people.

    According to him, the market would bring succour to street traders and hawkers who were unable to rent shops. As a result, he said “many of our people will see the different between a good government that cares for the people and a bad one.”

    His counterpart in Ibadan Southwest local government, Alhaji Taoreed, who spoke at the fund raising ceremony for the building of a befitting palace for the Olubadan of Ibadanland, at the Adamasingba Stadium, described the neighbo-urhood markets as the tonic needed by traders moved from the streets.

    “This is one of the lofty programmes of the present administration of Governor Abiola Ajimobi and I want to say that what we have done is just a tip of the iceberg. There are more dividends coming the way of the people,” he said.

     

  • Ile-Abiye: An Ekiti ‘baby factory’ in pains

    Ile-Abiye: An Ekiti ‘baby factory’ in pains

    It used to be the hospital of choice for expectant women in Ado-Ekiti and environs for several decades, until 1979 because of its first-class services. Ile-Abiye in the Ekiti State capital is now a shadow of its glorious past, SULAIMAN SALAWUDEEN reports

    It goes popularly by the name Ile-Abiye, meaning house of safe delivery. Some, for lack of knowledge of the appropriate tonal sound of the Yoruba tag, do call it Ile-Abiye, meaning The Land of Safe Delivery.

    The hospital, established in the early 1930s and located close to the main road as one moves towards Ilawe-Ekiti at the Onigari GRA area of Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, used to attract patronage from across towns and communities in the then old Ondo State.

    According to the Hospital Secretary, Rev. Canon Joseph Ogunmilade, it used to be regarded as a first rate missionary hospital established by the Church Missionary Society (CMS) which later became the Anglican Church. But things went low somehow when in 1979, the then Ondo State government took it over alongside other missionary establishments.

    A cross section of elderly residents revealed that the hospital was a notable port of call for many needy individuals, especially expectant mothers, scores of whom safely put to bed there and many of whom now in their 90s and hundreds do recall with fond memories the quality of care they received in their child birth periods.

    One of such mothers of the time is today the 90-year-old, Alhaja Raliatu Ogunrinde, who, in an encounter with The Nation, reminisced glowingly about an establishment reputed to have ranked among the best in healthcare services in the country at the time.

    Alhaja Raliatu said: “We used to receive so much care that time that you would want to have another baby in a short period. There were many Oyinbo (Expatriate) doctors and nurses at the time and they would be everywhere to support us whenever we came to deliver.

    “Then, there was one Dr. Gem, who did not want to see any woman in labour for too long and there were so many nurses then. All of them would be going back and forth, carrying this and that to ensure things went well. The place was always filled with people. I had the first baby, then the second and then the third. I think I had my first five children at the hospital,” Alhaja Raliatu said.

    Also, 80-year-old, Mrs. Abigael Ibitoye reminisced about the hospital. She said was indescribable in the quality and promptness of services. According to her, although, there were always so many patients, each rushing for attention, everyone was being given the needed attention.

    Mrs. Ibitoye said: “I remember I had my first two babies.  The place used to be fine. So many babies were born in that place at that time. Some women who came to deliver at the hospital had been told elsewhere they would have to be operated upon. It was a great hospital.”

    Among the babies delivered in those bygone days are today notable bankers, scholars, medical doctors, teachers, successful business men and women, industrialists and politicians who have made their marks and registered their presence both in the country and outside.

    These include Chief Dele Falegan, a retired banker in his early 80s, Senator Babafemi Ojudu, currently representing Ekiti Central Senatorial District, former Senator Bode Ola and Prof. Femi Elegbeleye.

    A few others are Chief Bola Alegbeleye, also a retired banker, Dr. Funso Anisulowo, an Ibadan-based private medical practitioner, Hon. Taye Fasuba, former Chairman, Ado-Ekiti Local Government and Mrs. Amudat Adeleke, a teacher.

    Mrs. Adeleke, born about fifty years ago, recalled that she used to love following her mother to the hospital as a child then.

    She said: “I always loved following mama there anytime because the place was always filled with people. I was born there but I was not always sick. However, each time our mother was taking my brother there I always followed them. The nurses and doctors used to move very fast all the time. They were always serious,” she said.

    The situation lately

    But, today the fortunes of once boisterous Ile-Abiye has ebbed. While it still is a hospital, the patronage has dwindled seriously. There are a few individuals, mostly expectant mothers who are still patronising the hospital. Tales about the establishment are now often preceded with adjectives reflective of lost glories. First time visitors to the hospital may be left struggling to match the name and the environment which looked more like a deserted habitation than a hospital.

    Movements of human beings which are noticed at the place now and again are associated more with other activities within the environment than the hospital. The place now boasts of just one official vehicle, a Volvo Station Wagon 740, which serves essentially as the ambulance.

    Most of the buildings though painted looked more like relics of ages gone by; the doors looking as old as the hospital while most of the windows carry only the burglar proofs without the louvre blades.

    How did it happen?

    In his explanation, Canon Ogun-milade said the hospital suffered a setback when it was taken over by the Michael Adekunle Ajasin administration of the old Ondo State in 1979.

    Ogunmilade maintained that the authorities then also took over a number of missionary hospitals including Maria Assumpta and even some schools, adding “by the time Ile-Abiye was restored back to its founder, The Anglican Communion, in 1985, it had lost its glory as virtually all the facilities and the infrastructure had gone into disarray and the buildings had become dilapidated.

    “By then, the once vibrant hospital had fallen apart, it had become a ramshackle death center. The same situation also applies to Maria Assumpta which has also till date remained a ghost of its former self,” Ogunmilade said.

    He stated that other programmes which were of great benefits to the people and which were also being run by the hospital at the time, including a health outreach programme and school of nursing were not just discontinued by the then Ondo State government but had been totally phased out by the time it was restored.

    In his own opinion, the hospital Chief Medical Director (CMD), Dr. Pius Ovie, attributed the dwindling fortunes to other factors including the developments which followed the creation of Ekiti as a distinct state in 1996.”

    According to him, quality hospitals which are accessible and affordable for the people started to develop all over the state and government has since been ensuring improvements in the health sector, adding “what they had at the time were few compared with the number we have today in terms of quality hospitals,” he said.

    Ovie lamented that some of the few people who come for treatment are also not always ready or happy to pay for the services, however cheap such may be, noting “some people are so funny as to imagine this as a missionary establishment and that all services are rendered free.

    Emphasising the unpopularity of the hospital, Dr. Ovie said: “You often hear them saying “I am going to Ile-Abiye” or “Wait for me at Ile-Abiye”, but they refer to the place as an area not as a hospital. Some of them don’t even know today that Ile-Abiye means a hospital,” Ovie said.

    According to him, while Ile-Abiye used to deliver a minimum of thirty babies even in one day, the entire number of deliveries in the hospital even in a year lately is just about that figure.

    Ovie added that poverty among the people has remained a factor in the entire consideration, noting: “many of those who come here today say our charges are too much when our charges are not as high as half the charges of some other private hospitals around.

    “At times, from the looks you know those who can pay and those who cannot. Some would come with a big jeep and would claim not to have as little as N7,000. Though we charge, but our charges have always been moderate and modest,” Dr. Ovie said.

    Efforts at reversals

    Findings, however, revealed that efforts are on to reverse the situation for the better.

    While the CMD himself admitted that funding remains a major challenge to bring the hospital up to required standards, genuine commitments are being pledged by notable individuals some of whom have donated considerable amounts to undertake change.

    One of such, Chief Falegan, told The Nation that he has personally renovated the Children Ward, while a committee set up for the purpose by those who were born at the place had equally pooled resources to ensure upgrading.

    Other individuals including Senator Ojudu, Former Senator Bode Ola, and Dr. Anisulowo are all part of a committee spearheading the pooling of efforts to ensure that, according to Chief Falegan, the change that will be instituted will be genuine, total and lasting.

    Chief Falegan said, “Ile-Abiye is today a sad story. It started as a missionary hospital in 1930, but unfortunately it was taken over by a civilian administration. We have started making efforts to bring the place back on its feet.

    “Senator Ojudu, former rector, Prof Ajaja and some of those who had trained (born) there when things were going on well have promised to support the renovation. We have set up a Trust Fund and got N2,000,000 out of which we released N800,000 recently. Personally, I have done the children and the outpatients’ department,” he said.

    Corroborating Falegan, Ojudu, told The Nation that he had been supportive of the latest moves about changing the condition of the hospital.

    He said: “I was born in that hospital in 1961 and all my siblings as well. The place used to be very beautiful, well cultivated grasses, cultivated lawns and nNurseries for flowers.

    “When I was contacted for the project, I gave my widow’s might and I shall continue to be part of the processes to ensuring needed change at the hospital.

    The CMD has also added that efforts are in place to harness supports of the state government which he noted remained crucial and critical, adding that since the creation of the state, no government had supported the hospital.

  • Ijebu-Ode set for Obirin Ojowu

    Ijebu-Ode set for Obirin Ojowu

    Sons and daughters of Ijebuland, both at home and in the Diaspora will converge on Ijebu-Ode on March 5 to celebrate the 2014 Obirin Ojowu festival.

    To Ijebus, the annual festival is very significant as it offers women looking for fruits of the womb, business men, women and traders who are experiencing setbacks in their businesses and trades an opportunity to come back home and ask the deity, Obirin Ojowu for their heart desires. It is said that the deity usually grant such desires.

    Obirin Ojowu was brought into Ijebu-Ode by Ogborangannida (Obanta), the grandchild of Olu-Iwa from a town called Idoko. After his sojourn in Ijebu-Ode and Ogboro-gannida wanted to leave the town, the deity opted to make Ijebu-Ode her final abode.

    The festival is one of the cultural and traditional activities that is observed during the first week of every third month of the year and  before the coming of the Agemo to Ijebu-Ode from 16 towns scattered all over Ijebuland.

    Preparatory to the celebration of Obinrin Ojowu, the chief priest of the deity known as Olowa-Iberu, High Chief Rasak Oshimodi, had since December last year commenced the traditional three months ”Isera” or total abstinence from women which would end after the celebration.

    During this period, no woman must touch him, wash his clothes, prepare his food nor must he sit in a place just vacated by a woman.

    The programme of the festival showed that the Olowa-Iberu, in line with tradition, would visit ‘Ipebi’ tomorrow, Thursday, to inform the Awujale of Ijebuand, Alaiyeluwa, Oba Sikiru Adetona, that it is ten days to the commencement of the celebration of Obirin Ojowu.

    And exactly ten days after, on the night of February 23, he would beat the ‘dagba drum’ to the hearing of the people of the town to signify that celebrations of the deity would commence in nine days.

    The next day, the chief priest would move from his Odo-Esa residence to Isoku to make precipitation to the god while the crowd would be mocking him, singing and accusing him of stealing dogs.

    Seven days to the celebration, the Olowa-Iberu and other adherents would perform the ‘Iwesu’ during the night of which they would bath the deity.

    At about 4am of the next day, the youth would go round the town and kill any dog that came their way and those whose owners failed to tie palm fronds round their neck.

    By 8am, they would come back to Odo-Esa and drop all the dogs that were killed at the foot of the Iroko tree where they will be left till sunset to allow their blood to drain completely. One of the dogs would later be hung on the Iroko tree with the palm fronds. The Iroko tree will also adorn a white cloth tied round it and a perimeter set to keep the crowd at bay.

    The tradition of killing dogs and the youth whipping each other with canes, as part of the celebration of Obirin Ojowu, was sequel to the instructions given by Erelu Otufoluke during the burial of her daughter, Owu. Owu had died during child birth and angry at the manner of her death and how the news was kept from her by her servants while she was dancing for the then Awujale, Erelu  was said to have instructed that  whoever her servants  came across while going to bury Owu must be beaten and caned.

    On their way back from the burial, the first living thing her servants met was her husband’s dog. They killed the dog and dragged it home. They also beat all the people they met on the road as instructed by Erelu. Since then, it has become the tradition for the youth to whip each other during te festival. It was said that the Iroko tree on which the dog is hung was initially the walking stick of Ogborogannida and that he stuck it to the ground when he was leaving the house of Erelu Otufoluke in those days and it later grew to become a giant Iroko tree.

    The night of Monday, March 3, 2014 is when the chief priest and other adherents would perform the traditional night walk, ‘irinde oru’. They would carry the deity, ‘Obirin Ojowu’  and visit all the shrines in Ijebu-Ode to perform sacrifices and sprinkle specially prepared traditional medicine,  ‘ero’, all over the town for peace and prosperity to reign in the land. This would continue till around 11am of the next day when they would return to base at Idi-Iroko, Odo-Esa.

    Same day, at about 3pm, they would go out again to perform ‘woro’ for the Awujale of Ijebuland and the Olisa of Ijebu-Ode. This entails picking ‘woro’ leaves’ (leaves of peace) from the river and taking them to Awujale and the Olisa at Itoro.  By tradition, Awujale would first take his pick of the leaves and thereafter the Olisa would pick his. Both of them would pray for peace to reign in the town. All those present would thereafter pick theirs and go back home with them.

    Two days to the final celebration of Obirin Ojowu, the chief priest will clean up all traditional tools of Ijebuland in his house and offer sacrifices to the deity and this would continue till Saturday, March 5, 2014, the grand finale for the celebration of Obirin Ojowu.

    As early as 8am on that day, youths of the town would start arriving Idi-Iroko at Odo-Esa, drinking and making merriments, with music playing all over the area, while a lot of them would be whipping each other with canes in line with the tradition.

    Later in the afternoon, at about 2pm, the Olowa-Iberu would send message to the Olisa of Ijebu-Ode that he was coming on a visit to his palace. On delivery of the message, he would take off from Idi-Iroko with Obirin Ojowu, and head towards the palace of the Olisa with a large crowd behind him and from there to  “Olowa-Ako” shrine, another deity who is said to be the husband to Obirin Ojowu. On conclusion of the visit and after making necessary sacrifice, they would move to Itoro where the chief priest will meet with the Awujale.

    At Itoro, Olowa-Iberu and Awujale would visit “Oju Amu”, the shrine of Leguru  who was also known as “Enisemu” and make necessary sacrifices and precipitations in line with the tradition. Leguru was a very powerful native doctor believed to have used his charms and magic to drive away water from Ijebu-Ode and in the course of which he sacrificed his life. Since then, it has become the tradition of the people of the town to make sacrifices at his shrine during the festival of Obirin Ojowu. Both the Awujale and Olowa will dance to the traditional drums after which they would retire to their different homes.

    The festival would be rounded up with an all night party by the adherents of the deity and other youths at Idi-Iroko, Odo-Esa.

  • Controversy trails Daniel’s N9bn power equipment

    Controversy trails Daniel’s N9bn power equipment

    In the twilight of his administration in 2011, the then Governor of Ogun State, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, commissioned a 7.2 megawatts energy plant, to boost electricity supply to the state secretariat at Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta and thus ensured that government business was not stalled by the epileptic power supply from the patently inefficient Power Holding Company of Nigeria(PHCN).

    It was part of the first leg of the administration’s Independent Power Project (IPP) aimed at powering the proposed new Abeokuta Business District being conceived by Daniel at the time and to also help  power the state’s water supply equipment.

    But before leaving office, Daniel could not actualise the power project in full as over 30 pieces of the crated equipment were still waiting to be installed at some designated locations in the state when the administration wound up.

    Also, no fewer than 17 indigenes of the state were trained in China on the engineering, technical servicing and management of the equipment upon installation at Oke-Mosan by the contractor – an expatriate firm.

    Like the proverbial palm kernel shell on a domestic stone which continued to elicit questions from whoever sees it because he that cracked the kernel failed to rid the stone of the discomforting shells, Daniel’s power equipment which he purchased while in office is spewing up controversy between him and his successor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, barely three years after leaving the government house in Abeokuta.

    Recently, Amosun’s Finance Commissioner, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, gave insight into why the N9billion power equipment procured by Daniel’s administration are still lying idle at the car park of the state secretariat.

    Adeosun said aside the fact that the equipment were discovered to be obsolete, the cost of installing them coupled with the maintenance, would suffice to provide a better and modern power plant to drive socico-economic activities in the state.

    The commissioner spoke in reaction to a question on why the state government was desirous of procuring a new Gas Turbine engines whereas the existing power equipment bought by the previous administration remained unutilised.

    According to her, the government had even told the contractor of the equipment to source for buyers so that money realised from the sale could be used to buy modern power equipment such as the one in use at the Dangote Cement factory, Ibese, Ogun State.

    Adeosun spoke in Abeokuta, the state capital, at the 2014 budget breakdown put in place by the Commissioner for Budget and Planning, Mrs Wande Muoyo.

    She challenged whoever that has confidence in the competence of the said obsolete power equipment to assist the government in getting buyers for it.

    Adeosun said: “when we came into office, we met the power equipment on ground. N9billion has already been spent on that equipment, they were asking for additional N5billion. In addition, they wanted N3billion to install it. When you want to spend that kind of money, you have to do cost benefit analysis, which we did.

    “We called in some power experts, they looked at the equipment and they said these equipment are about 20-years-old. To install it with N3billion, with that money you can buy brand new equipment which is going to be far more efficient than that average equipment.

    “They said if you have that kind of money, we do not advise you to implement these equipment. I’m sure you’ve gone past that power plant and seen the plumes of black smoke coming from the power plant. Go to Dangote’s plant at Ibese, look at the tiny, efficient, quiet power plant and that’s modern technology.

    “So, that’s why we took that decision and what we are trying to do is and we’ve told the contractor, look for somebody who can buy this and let us use the money to buy something modern. It is not new equipment; it is used equipment that was sold to us. We’ve already paid N9billion. If you have any buyer, maybe you can help us to advertise.”

    But Daniel who could not allow the matter to go quietly, fired back, saying the equipment were not obsolete as it came from credible manufacturers.

    Speaking through his media assistant, Mr Ayo Giwa, Daniel said labelling the equipment as obsolete by Amosun-led government is one its latest antics to discredit his achievements, believing they could wiped out.

    Daniel said: “it is totally unfounded and criminal to say that the power equipment were obsolete. They were purchased from reputable manufacturers, renowned for best practices in the sector.

    “As we speak, some of the equipment are generating and had been generating power at the Governor’s office complex including the state secretariat and the House of Assembly for an onward period of about three years (24/7 non-stop) and in some communities in the outskirts of Abeokuta, precisely where Day Waterman College was located along Siun-Sagamu Road.

    “So also is the fact that some of the equipment have been generating power at the Legislators’ and Commissioners’ quarters as well as the Presidential Lodge without any hitch for the past three years. It has also been used to generate power for street lightings within the city and it has proven to be in perfect order. It is just another way of hood winking the general public and painting the immediate past administration in bad light. If really they are outdated, good reasoning should inform them to return them to the manufacturers and get new ones and that is if they are in any way obsolete which is not true.

    “Since the employment of the equipment to generate power, it has never failed and this could be attested to by the general public especially those living or working in the areas mentioned. Saying they wanted to sell it out leaves much to be desired; it is sheer waste of state resources and another attempt to undo part of the legacies of Otunba Gbenga Daniel which has been the habitual practice of the present administration.”

     

  • Dry taps to run again in Oyo

    Dry taps to run again in Oyo

    Public water taps across towns and cities in Oyo State that have gone dry for about 17 years are gradually returning to life, according to the Ge-neral Manager, Oyo State Water Corporation, Mr. Gabriel Olusoji. He spoke to journalists in Ibadan about what the state government is doing to bring potable water to every home. BISI OLADELE was there.

    Water supply in Oyo State has been poor in recent years but that appears to be changing now, how did you do it?

    I must say that we need to give kudos to Governor Abiola Ajimobi for all that he has done. I have spent close to 26 years in the corporation and I can speak on the activities of the corporation. For the past two years we have never had it so good, not because I am the General Manager but because of the physical achievement we have recorded.

    Before I became the General Manager, before this present administration started, we were not operating at any significant level. I went through the records in the last 10 years, especially from year 2003 to 2012 it will amaze you that the percentage of our performance was as low as one per cent. That was our total capacity. For example, when you look at the production capacity in the corporation, it was 2,120 cubic meters of water per day and when you look at the actual production capacity it could produce 240,120 cubic meters per day.

    So, what are the problems?

    The problems are not far-fetched and they are very simple. The first problem we had at that time was that many of the water plants were aged and already depreciated. It is like a vehicle that is being used without servicing as at when due. Most of the facilities, especially electro-mechanical component like pumps of various sizes needs to be maintained or replaced. So if this is not done it will lead to problem.

    What other challenges is the corporation facing?

    The second one is the issue of electricity and that is also very important. Very many people do not know how we treat water. Some people think that we boil water but it is not true. The issue is that we use electricity from the national grid because it is cheaper. We use generator sometimes but it is not economically advisable. We have many generating plants but the cost of diesel (fuel) is high and  judging from the people’s poor response to paying the little we ask them to pay, diesel will cost us more and we just have to rely on public electricity supply directly, that is on the side of production. When you come over to the distribution side, we are talking about pipelines and what we have now is inadequate length of pipelines all over the state. We have a growing population daily in this state and people are moving into new areas daily. So, we are having challenges in this area coupled with aged pipelines. All over Ibadan now we are recording a lot of pipe bursts and we call it water loss. So, a great percentage of the water we are producing now is being lost. These are the various problems we are facing. The other problems are either managerial or inadequate workforce, but that is not the big issue. The big issue is production problem.

    By the time His Excellency came on board, he gave us a charge that he had promised to give people adequate water supply during his electioneering campaign. So, he asked us to go and do a blueprint on how to achieve this as he wanted potable water supplied to every area in the state. We went back to him and gave him our proposals and he has approved 25 capital projects for the corporation all over the state. Some of them are on-going, some completed. I just returned from Ayete community. They have a water plant which was built since 1988 and was re-awarded in 2005 and since that time the scheme has not been completed. The first project Governor Ajimobi approved was that of Ayete. Even when we were having problems with some of the contractors, he personally headed a meeting with them and he resolved that matter, and it will be commissioned soon.

    We have water treatment plants all over the state and the problem is very general to all of them. The projects cover all the state from Kishi water supply scheme to Saki, Igbeti, Ogbomoso, Ago-Amodu, Igboho, Iseyin, Eruwa, Ibadan and Oyo. So, in all these places we have one project or the other going on and by the time they are completed it will be another story for water distribution in the state.

    We started with Asejire and the problem there is the depreciated facilities and for 17 years that place has not been performing very well. We started with the upgrading of the water facilities and provision of water laboratory equipment to monitor the quality of the water. When you don’t know the quality of water, there is nothing to treat. The first port of call in water treatment is laboratory analysis. You have to monitor the quality of water that you are giving to the people. But then there was no reliable laboratory equipment there but he (Governor Ajimobi) provided them.

    What is the situation at Asejire now?

    At Asejire we should have 10 low and high lift pumps but at the time this administration came on board we had just only one that was working and we were not comfortable with that because if anything happens to it that will be the end of operations. So, at the end of the day, since the administration came on board, we were able to restore the pumps. Out of 10, we now have eight rehabilitated pumps and that is sufficient for us to perform very well.

    But we will still have more to do. We have done a lot when it comes to distribution, two things were done. One, we had pipes and repair materials purchased for us by the government. The implication of that is that if there is any pipe burst anywhere in the state we will not be running up and down to repair it. More will soon be bought, but at the same time these pipes are going to be used to expand pipelines to other new areas without water. The pipeline extension contract has been awarded and it will be done all over Ibadan, Oyo, Saki and Ogbomoso because all these cities are expanding and the people need water.

    What I can just say is that water is a capital intensive venture. It takes a lot of money for the government to provide water for the people. When you look at the salary of workers, we are not less than 700 and we still work day and night. You will find out that the chemicals needed for water treatment must be bought in the right content because if you don’t, the chemicals will be over-dosed. It is not about giving people water but we must give them water that will not give them problem. We are spending up to N7 million averagely on a monthly basis on electricity and that is different from operational expenses which are so high. Water supply is a very capital-intensive project and we are just thinking that we need to help whoever that is in government to be able to carry the burden for water production. Where water is not available, development will be far because it will be hard to live in such areas, but when there is water many people will migrate to that area, market will spring up and it will enhance the economic activities of the people. So, it is a social service that the government must provide by all means but the resources available to the government is never inelastic, it has limit, so it is not only water. We have other sectors. That is why the people in the state must understand that they need to pay for the water they use. For example, in a low densely populated area, like Bodija, Oluyole, they pay N2,000 per flat, per month, no matter the quantity of water they consume. But in a high density area they pay only N1,000 per flat, per month and in such places you can have 10 people living in a room and it doesn’t matter the volume of water they consume they just have to pay N1,000. But, it is saddening that many people are still not paying. We think we need to educate people more. It is not that the government is asking them to pay something special; it is just a responsibility from them because if the water is not running they are the people that will bear the consequence.

    We want to plead with the people of Oyo State to kindly reconsider and ensure that they pay their water bill regularly. The idea of disconnecting water from people owing is not the best because we labour at the water works to give people water. So, if we now go ahead to cut off the water pipes we are still not achieving our aims. Our people need this water. If it is light our people can buy, generator or candle but water is not easy. That is why we are not interested in disconnecting. We just want to plead with them to pay, no matter how much they are paying, let them be paying small amounts gradually.

    In what other area do you think water users can contribute to the success of your corporation?

    Another area where we also need the support of our people is in what we call illegal connection, that is, when people tap water from the corporation without following due process. Several people are doing that. They will just call the road-side plumber and they will connect without any authorisation. We want to plead with them to discontinue such act. It is not good for the system and state. We want them to desist from it. We have had people that produce pure (satchet) water, sometimes they bypass the connection meter and they will be using water but the meter will not read. Although, we have the power to prosecute but what will be our gain? It is better for us to plead with them to consider the government and to consider our society.

    How have you been able to solve the problem of power?

    We have formed a very good relationship with the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company. We have met with them and we have reached a particular agreement that they will ensure that we have light but the issue is that it has not been so. Then, we decided to proffer the solution by constructing a 33KVA dedicated power line. The normal light that we use comes from 11KVA. So it is from 33KVA that the light is shed to 11KVA. The electricity flows regularly with 33KVA and we have constructed that for Asejire and that is why we are having light regularly. We have also rehabilitated and reactivated the dedicated power lines to Ogbo-moso. The performance of that scheme was less than one per cent for the past 30 years and it is because of the light. Work has started. People thought that the water corporation is already dead but now it is coming up again. We are also constructing a power station in Saki and the contractor just reported that he has erected almost 80 electricity poles. Before the end of February, it will be completed. That means the people of Saki will have adequate water supply soon. We are also proposing another one for Eruwa which will be done soon and we have back up transformers.

  • Fed Govt abandoned buildings as havens for criminals in Lagos

    Fed Govt abandoned buildings as havens for criminals in Lagos

    The relocation of the seat of the Federal Government from Lagos to Abuja in 1991 left scores of properties abandoned in the mega city. Assistant Editor SINA FADARE reports that more than 20 years after, these buildings have become havens for criminals

    Passing through the end of Broad Street, No 147 Marina, Lagos is a gigantic building that easily attracts attention of passersby. The five-storey building on the left, while going to Marina from the UBA Headquarters axis, has been abandoned by the Federal Government for about 11 years.

    The Nation gathered that the building which housed the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing for many years until it relocated to Abuja in 1991 was allegedly confiscated from the father of the late Nkemba of Nnewi, Chief Odumegwu Ojukwu by the Federal Government. When the ministry moved to the new federal capital, the building was handed over to the National Dental Council of Nigeria for use and council did occupy it for many years until it too, relocated to Abuja.

    With the departure of the Dental Council, the building became vacant but one of the comptrollers in the Ministry of Works, it was learnt, decided to put the building to personal use by handing it over to one of his wives simply identified as Mama Aanu to manage. Husband and wife were allegedly assisted by a Director in the Ministry to perfect the conversion of the building into a residential quarter as the place was demarcated into rooms with Mama Aanu as the Landlady.

    A tenant,  Mrs. Munirat Abdulrasak, who lived in the building  for five years before they were eventually booted out on December 15, 2013 by a Presidential Task Force from Abuja, confessed to The Nation that though they (the tenants) knew that Mama Aanu was not the real owner of the property, but she was very powerful and influential. She explained that there were about fifty rooms in the building and each tenant was paying N3,500 per month. The building, which was being referred to in the place as ‘barrack,’ also has two big warehouses that were let out to some traders.

    It was gathered that the last rent paid by the tenants of the warehouses created the crisis that led to the ejection of all the illegal tenants. It was alleged that Mama Aanu collected N2.5 million yearly as rent from each tenant. However, trouble started when touts known as Area Boys who were around the place approached her for their own share of the rent but she refused. Some of them who were political thugs to prominent Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members in the area was said to have complained to their principal and a petition was sent to Abuja about the property. This eventually led to the forceful ejection of all the illegal tenants, including Mama Aanu.

    Investigations revealed that such abandoned buildings that costs billions of naira of public fund are scattered all over Lagos and have either been taken over by rodents, reptiles and similar animals or occupied by miscreants and other criminals. One of such buildings that has become an eyesore and a major source of worry to residents of the area is the old Federal Secretariat in Ikoyi. The secretariat built by the federal military government of General Yakubu Gowon in 1975 and which housed the bulk of government bureaucracies until the movement to Abuja in 1991 has been left unoccupied ever since, leaving the imposing structures to gradually deteriorate. In year 2006, the Federal Government through the then Minister of Housing, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, the present governor of Ondo State, moved to bring life back to the secretariat when it attempted to concession the twin-towers out to a private firm, Resort International Limited (RIL) for N7.2 billion.

    The Nation learnt that the new owners wanted to convert the structure to apartments suitable for residential usage, a step which the Lagos State government rebuffed with an argument that the place was not originally designed as a residential area. These irreconcilable differences dragged all the stakeholders, the Federal Government, Lagos State government and RIL to Lagos High Court. The matter is still going on.

    Against this backdrop, the imposing building is now abandoned and turned to the den of the area boys.

    When The Nation visited the place recently, the level of decay on the building was obvious. But, that was not the only problem. Now, operators of commercial tricycles or Keke Marwa have also turned  the building into their park. Speaking to The Nation, a petrol attendant who did not want his name to be mentioned said that all sorts of dubious businesses like selling of hard drugs, such as India hemp and other illicit drugs are conducted in the place, under the covers of darkness. Speaking in the same vein, Alhaji Muraina Adeyanju, a resident in the area said that on many occasions, the police have raided the place. “It is a den of robbers. They are always here to do their meetings; you will hear the sound of vehicles going in and out of the building at odd hours. The truth of the matter is that we have never known peace since this place has been abandoned.” He explained that at the Community Development Association (CDA) level, “we have tried our best to complain to the police, but the situation is the same. These hoodlums converge here at the dawn of night, we are helpless.”

    However, speaking on what could have informed the legal tussle over the imposing property, a Chartered Quantity Surveyor, Mr. Sola Babatunde opined that, at the time of the concession, it was grossly undervalued, a situation which the Lagos State government was not comfortable with. Babatunde also alleged that there was a political colouration to the entire bidding process, adding that the property was given to those who were close to the citadel of power in Abuja, then at a below the market rate. “If that building is going to be valued as of today, putting into cognizance the choice area of the title, it cannot be less that N15 billion.”

    Another monumental waste is the National Provident Fund (NPF) territorial office building, located in Ojo Local Government area of Lagos State. It was nearing completion when the Federal Government relocated to Abuja. Since then, all works on the building have stopped. The Nation investigation revealed that the building project was recommended to be awarded to CEDAC Nigeria, a firm of building contractors in 1983 for the sum of N41.6 million, which was considered as undervalued by building experts. However, when the construction reached its final level of twenty-storey, an order reportedly came ‘from the above’ that work should be suspended, as the original interest was that the project should be built in the Federal Capital Territory. This singular order ended a lofty dream of an edifice, thereby forcing the building to swell the number of abandoned projects.

    Regretting  what the government inaction has caused the people of the area, one  of the executive members of the Landlord Association  who spoke  to The Nation  on condition of anonymity said that majority of their children have been recruited into the world of crime, with the building as their training ground. “On several occasions, the police have traced stolen goods to this place and a lot of the children were arrested as accomplices. The situation was so pathetic; the government should either complete the project or sell it to those who will convert it to productive venture. We are daily living in fear.”

    Another building that gulped millions of naira of the tax payers’ money, but was equally abandoned, was the NITEL Central Store, located at Wemco road, Ogba area of Lagos state.

    Investigations revealed that during the good old days of NITEL, the building served all the Southwest territory of the behemoth as the central store. When The Nation visited the area, the premises was under lock with a big key. Today, the entrance of the building has been converted to another Keke Marwa Park. The flower that was planted in the premises has turned into a thick bush that harbours snakes and rodents. Regretting, how one of the nation’s properties is in ruin and government could not do anything about it; a middle-aged man who resides in Oluwole community, opposite the building, Mr Olabisi Ipoola said, he is always sad anytime he passes through the front of the building. He explained that before the place was under lock, it had served as a den of criminals and their hideout during the night. “Most of the stolen goods were hidden in the compound of that building until the vigilante within the community took the case to Ogba police station. That was why you see that the place has been padlocked.”

    Ipoola expressed fear that danger might not be over yet because since the tricycle operators are using the entrance of the premises as their parking space, all sort of clandestine meetings are held there almost on a daily basis by hoodlums who are usually loitering around the place at night. “Most of the time, innocent people have lost their cars and other valuables to these night marauders, virtually every week. It is a sad tale to narrate and it seems the police are helpless,” he said.

    Sharing her own ugly experience with The Nation, a beer and “pepper soup joint” operator in the community who simply identified herself as Madam Shade, said it is no longer news that the abandoned NITEL building is a hideout for criminals, who are terrorising the community. “Twice, l was a victim. My shop was raided and all the money l made for those days were carted away, it was a painful experience,” she lamented. Other properties that have become a source of concern to Nigerians due to their abandonment are Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN), building on Marina Street, Defence building, which got burnt and plans to fully rehabilitate it has fallen apart, the former National Assembly Complex at Tafawa Balewa Square, 37-storey NECOM House on Marina Street, Glass House located at Okesuna Street, which also once housed the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing; the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Complex in Ikoyi as well as the former Supreme Court building – all in Lagos Island.

    Lamenting about the implication of gross wastage in the midst of scarcity, the former President of Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV), Mr. Bode Adediji said, “Nigeria has been living in a culture of endemic waste, whether in terms of property or other resources. We have not been prudent in the way we manage assets and resources. The dynamics of properties, in terms of their acquisition, development, utilisation and management are beyond the comprehension and husbandry of the present cadre of civil servants.” According to him, government should set up a consortium of building and environment professionals to investigate the remaining assets belonging to the Federal Government and to ascertain current structural state and degree of their utilisation, the potentials inherent in these properties, their let ability or outright disposal.

    Speaking in the same vein, the chairman, Lagos branch of NIESV, Mr Steven Jagun, explained that though the cost value of these properties cannot be ascertained, it will run into billions of naira and a source of fund generation to the Federal Government, instead of total abandonment. Jagun, who regretted the poor maintenance culture of properties of government in general in the country, argued that, “if the Federal Government could no longer maintain the properties in question, there are a lot of other valuable use they can be turned into, which at the end of the day will generate fund for the government and at the same time provide social services like big mall, international conference centres and amusement park.”

    He pointed out that the Federal Government needs to do something fast because property depreciates if it is abandoned for years, adding that it is a veritable venture to provide employment opportunity for teeming Nigerian youths who are roaming the streets in search of employment.

    When The Nation went to the Federal Ministry of Lands and Housing in Lagos, the Comptroller Mr. Olayinka Onaeko, said the ministry was equally worried that those properties were abandoned for many years, adding that, “It is not good for buildings to be abandoned and we have told the government about this as  professionals.” Onaeko explained that gradually some of the properties are being disposed off and in some cases where illegal occupants were there “we are ejecting them, a case study is the property at 147 Broad street and the old NITEL building at Marina.” The Comptroller said there is a Presidential Implementation Committee set up by the government to dispose all these properties, adding that the committee is  working round the clock to do its job, the exceptions are  those that there are  litigations on them, like the old Federal Secretariat.