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Tag: Abeokuta

  • Life back at Abeokuta Golf Club as original owners regain control

    Life back at Abeokuta Golf Club as original owners regain control

    It occupies about 75 hectares of land, hilly and undulated. Luscious greenery. It is tucked inside the serene forest of Oke-Mosan, free of noise from human activities and almost overlooking the new secretariat of the Ogun State government.

    Birds chirp endlessly on tree branches. At one end of it are patches water, glittering from the blazing sun and which someone familiar with the area identified as an artificial lake.

    Welcome to the Abeokuta Golf Club, the largely elite resort and sports ground. Life is back at the facility in its full swing as the original owners take control, after many years of being plagued by puzzling controversies.

    Notable Nigerians, military brass, including Senate President David Mark and General Domkat Bali (rtd), have played golf there. It has hosted also the late foremost nationalist Pa Peter Enahoro.

    It is the training ground for Nigeria’s number one professional golfer and the first Nigerian to play at the US Golf Open championship, Lasisi Lateef.

    When in January 1987, it opened its gate to the public for use as a resort of sort and light sporting activity, it was pride of place and article of common heritage, particularly for the residents of the state capital who cherish golfing.

    At its take-off, the club had the late Col. Agunbiade Lawal as first Captain. Mr Segun Oluwaseye served as the secretary to oversee its affairs.

    Its annual general meetings, at which new officers were elected, were observed unhindered after Col. Lawal, the late Ayo Obaseki and the late Chief Siji Koku had equally manned the saddle as captains between 1988 and 1990.

    But soon got mired in controversy over how to elect a successor when the tenure of Mr Segun Oluwaseye (Captain) and Dr. Boye Okuboye (Secretary) lapsed in 1991.

    The Nation gathered that since that time, things began to go awry with the club. It began when a Caretaker Committee, headed by the late Apagun Oluwole Olumide, allegedly overstayed its tenure of six months by over 18 months, coupled with moves made to change the name of the club to Abeokuta Golf International Limited(AGIL).

    The club has had to contend with controversies than harmony, since then resulting from the running of the facility which was largely a one-man affair under late Olumide, who was also believed to have invested his time and some resources into the club.

    The Nation gathered that at a time, the Certificate of Occupancy of the land hosting the club was equally mired in a controversy.

    The founding members alleged that the C of O was substantially altered five months after it was signed by Chief Segun Osoba on October 29, 1992, thus rendering it “invalid.”

    The late Apagun Olumide was even accused of tampering with the original concept of the club house, which resulted in legal battle at the time, and it was learnt that the late Olumide later began to manage the facility in the name of Golf Resort Plc.

    Expectedly, some of the founding members who were not happy with the situation elected to stay away with the attendant dwindling of membership strength and patronage of the facility.

    But in June 2011, Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, on his first working day barely 24 hours after being sworn into office, ordered caterpillar into the Abeokuta Golf Club, where it found an ‘unwanted structure’ – a storey building, within the premises and flattened the building  in less than an hour.

    The demolished building touched off another controversy between the then new administration of Amosun and Abeokuta Golf Resort where Olumide, who joined the Abeokuta Golf Club in 1991, was until his death, the chairman.

    The government had claimed it brought down the building because it was an “illegal structure” as it contravened an order served on the owners since October 24, 2010, during the era of Governor Gbenga Daniel.

    According to Amosun’s administration, the ‘illegal’ structure was not part of the Golf Course as it was 3,000 metres away from it.

    Besides, fearing that espionage activities could possibly be carried out from the controversial building against government’s interest by foes, it further reckoned that ”somebody can stay inside the structure and view the activities inside the secretariat. This ordinarily constitutes a security threat to government and we do not think there is anywhere in the world where government would tolerate a private building standing so close to its headquarters which normally houses the most important government documents.”

    But before his death, late Olumide said the building was pulled down out of “vendetta” and also a deliberate ploy by the government to spite him and other share holders of the company.

    According to him, the building was included in the parcel of land allocated to Abeokuta Golf International in 1992, with a Certificate of Occupancy No. 01825, dated January 1, 1992, and signed by Chief Segun Osoba, the then governor of the state.

    In Olumide’s reckoning, the administrative procedures leading to obtaining the Certificate of Occupancy began in 1991, by the then Navy Captain O. O. Joseph, who succeeded Chief Osoba’s administration, with a view to repositioning the project into a world class golf resort facility to be promoted and funded by the private sector.

    But while the controversy over the demolished building was yet to fizzle out, Olumide died one evening. His body was found inside an artificial lake within the Golf Club and at a time no other person was around. His remains were recovered the following day. Although an autopsy was carried out on his body to determine the cause of death, the result has not been made public to enable anxious residents of Abeokuta know what happened.

    However, the state government has since 2012, retrieved the property/club from the late Olumide and handed it over to the surviving founding members and others to manage in public trust.

    Today, the 27-year-old club faces a brighter future. Calm and orderliness prevail while monthly internal competitions are observed to enable members’ handicap to be exposed, tested and adjusted.

    One of the founding members, a business tycoon, Chief Akin Akande, told The Nation that after “much hitches”, which he said are not peculiar to Abeokuta Golf Club, the facility has returned to originals owners to manage.

    Akande said the last two competitions that took place there in 2012 and 2013, drew players from sister clubs – Ikoyi, Ikeja, Sagamu, Ewekoro, among others, who participated with trophies and other prizes carted away by winners.

    He said: “After much hitches, at the end of it all, the club is returned to the original owners. Golf is a game of the mind and those who love golf now come to this place. And we would continue to improve on what we have to make the facility attractive and enjoyable to golfers.”

    Also, the Vice-Chairman of the Club, Dr. Tayo Apampa, said things are looking up at the facility as well as the membership strength since the state government handed over the place back to them in 2012.

    Apampa, who is the proprietor of Korede Hospitals, Abeokuta, said aside the fact that a lot of improvements are going on at the club coupled with the series of golf tournaments that took place there recently, kind hearted individuals and corporate organisations have equally expressed interest in sponsoring worthwhile activities at the club.

    Apampa said: ”The horizon is bright, the government returned the club to the original owners in 2012 and instructed that the Board of Trustees (BoT) should be registered. That has been done. If you check the club’s notice board, you will see the laminated certificate of Board of Trustees and so, we now have a registered Board of Trustees.

    “The BoT have been working with the Working Committee to organise series of tournaments, a lot of greens have been constructed, and we have donors who sponsored the greens. Recently too, Otunba Olusola Adekanola, was invited to the club and the club house renamed after him.

    “He has committed himself to several improvements going on in the club, the enlargement of the greens, improvement of the club house and sponsoring of monthly competition.”

    The seasoned physician noted that what makes the Abeokuta Golf Club course stand out among others are the challenges it pose to players as evidence in the gradient and topography of its course.

    “One of the things people consider about golf course is the challenges it present. We have as members some people that are 82, 75, 70-year old respectively.

    “They all walk at the 18 Hole Course and when you do that you must be assured of your physical fitness. The gradients of the course are the challenges, but at Abeokuta Golf Course, the challenges are the topography.”

    According to him, no fewer than 90 persons are now members of the club, including 82-year old Justice Ademola Bakre (retd), who doubled as its chairman, while Pro-am (Professional-Amateur) competition are expected to be held at the facility later this year under the sponsorship of Otunba  Olusola Adekanola.

  • Ibadan-Abeokuta road: Highway or death trap?

    Ibadan-Abeokuta road: Highway or death trap?

    The Ibadan-Abeokuta highway remains one of the hot-spots on the list of the nation’s highways where scores of human lives were lost every year and these sad events have caught the attention of stakeholders, writes OSEHEYE OKWUOFU

    No fewer than 170 lives are lost to accidents every year on the ever busy Ibadan-Abeokuta highway, one of the oldest federal highways in the country.

    The list of the injured is also staggering with no fewer than 300 persons either with minor or serious injuries as a result of the carnage on the 78-kilometre road involving either vehicles or motorcycles.

    The latest of such accidents on this highway took place at Eleso area after Omi Adio on Saturday November 9, 2013, involving two commercial buses around 10.15pm.

    The residents of the area were drawn to the flames of fire that accompanied a head-on-collision of the two commercial buses at one of the many sharp bends on the highway.

    Despite the spirited effort to rescue the occupants of the ill-fated buses by good Samaritan, six of the passengers were roasted to death, while seven others sustained varying degrees of burns and injuries.

    In August 2013, 14 passengers were burnt beyond recognition on the same road at Aba Oke junction, while several others were severely injured.

    It was a ghastly motor accident involving a fully load commercial bus and a Toyota saloon car, at yet another sharp bend, a feature that characterised the single lane highway.

    The Unit Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) Apata Unit, Mr G. Matthew said it was a fact not to be ignored that the road has witnessed unprecedented number of mishaps due to a number of factors. Among the factors listed were recklessness on the part of drivers, overloading, excessive speeding and faulty engineering design of the highway. The FRSC Commander blamed sharp bends for the incessant carnage on the road.

    Apart from the identified structural problem in the design of the road, the FRSC boss said drivers should be held responsible for over 80 percent of the accidents because of their failure to heed safe driving regulations.

    To check the problem of accidents on the highway, Mathew recalled that the Corps embarked on road safety sensitisation campaign with a view to reducing the number of accident on the road last December ahead of the festive season.

    Recently, the federal government awarded the contract for the rehabilitation of the highway to alleviate the suffering of road users owing to the deplorable condition of the road.

    A top official of the construction company handling the rehabilitation, Mr F. Issam who is the General Manager of Kopek Construction Company however sees the structural design of the road in a different light.  To Mr. Issam, the engineering design and components of the highway have nothing to do with the occurrence of accidents.

    In his opinion, the only panacea to the problem of accident on the road is to dualise it, adding that its narrowness, being a one-lane high way is one of the contributing factors to the many accidents being witnessed on the road.

    “There is nothing wrong with the Ibadan-Abeokuta Expressway. It is a quality road with the present rehabilitation work that was carried out by us. You can go there and you will see it by yourself. The thickness of asphalt laid is the best you can find anywhere you go, the drainages and other components are of high quality and people attested to this.

    “You will observe that it is one lane, and that is what causes many accidents there. The best thing is to dualise the road and important features of a standard highway could be included such as median, good drains, walk ways, and other components. If it can be expanded into four lanes, I can tell you that the number of accidents will be reduced drastically,” Mr Issam said.

    The federal government had on several occasions put the dualisation of the road in its budget but the project never got off to a start.

    It was gathered that the design for its dualisation was contracted on several occasions to engineering firms, by the federal government, but the political will to award and successfully complete the project is lacking.  On many occasions, buildings were marked to pave way for the dualisation which many believe, could stop loss of lives on this road, yet people continued to die on grander scale.

    Residents of Ibadan especially, Odo-Ona, Apata , Bembo, Owode, Omi-Adio, Eleso, and Bakatari have been experiencing hardship daily while plying the road due to its  narrow nature.

    Traffic gridlock on the highway is a common sight, as residents struggle in hold-up for several hours.

    They want the federal government to commence the process of dualising the road without delay to preserve lives of citizens and ease the problem of traffic on the road.

    The Baale of Eleso, in Ido Local Government of Oyo state, Chief Adeola Isiaka appealed to the federal government to fast-track the process of ensuring that fund is made available for the dualisation of the road. He explained that many road users have either been killed or maimed as a result of accident because the road is very narrow.

    “The road is archaic, out-dated and no longer useful in the 21st century Nigeria. At the time it was designed and constructed, the population was not as many as it is today. Remember that the Ibadan-Abeokuta highway came far before the present Ibadan-Lagos Expressway, it is one of the oldest in the South west zone. So, I think it was high time the federal government expanded the road to four lanes if really the government values the lives of its citizens,” Chief Dele Adeoye, one of the residents of Apata, Ibadan said.

     

  • Amosun assures ex-servicemen of better welfare

    Amosun assures ex-servicemen of better welfare

    Ogun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun has assured ex-servicemen in the state of better welfare.

    He said their services to the nation will not be taken for granted.

    Amosun spoke yesterday in his office in Abeokuta, the state capital, while inaugurating the 2014 Armed Forces Day Emblem.

    He said the annual celebration was more than a remembrance, but a way of saying “thank you” to those who played significant roles in uniting Nigeria.

    The governor said appreciating the ex-servicemen should go beyond words, adding that many of them were killed or injured while serving the nation.

    He praised the state chapter of the Legion for taking care of the families of its deceased members, assuring that the government will continue to care for those alive as well as the families of the dead.

    Amosun said: “As a government, we will continue to take care of those who are still alive and will not relent in remembering the dead. We will assist ex-servicemen and will not take your services for granted.”

    Hailing the Armed Forces for various peacekeeping missions across Africa, the governor thanked serving officers for ensuring that Nigeria is “united and protected”.

    Amosun launched the emblem with N1 million and pledged to donate a brand new bus to the Legion before the 2014 Armed Forces Remembrance Day celebration.

    He urged corporate organisations and individuals to support the legion.

    Chairman, Nigeria Legion, Ogun State chapter, Tosin Sunday Oshunsi assured the government of the Legion’s support.

  • Amosun to inaugurate homeowners’ charter

    Amosun to inaugurate homeowners’ charter

    Ogun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun will next Monday inaugurate the Homeowners’ Charter in Abeokuta, the state capital.

    The Homeowners’ Charter is an intervention to ease the acquisition of building approvals from the state’s planning authority by landlords.

    Homeowners can obtain Certificates-of-Occupancy (C of O) within nine months and at discounted rates, if they apply within six weeks.

    In a statement, Commissioner for Urban and Physical Planning Gbenga Otenuga said the discounts are up to 75 per cent.

    He said the Homeowners’ Charter is one of the Amosun administration’s initiatives to engender urban renewal.

    For homeowners, who may not be able to pay the required fees within six weeks, the government is collaborating with selected banks to give them loans, which would be repaid within two years.

  • ‘Sango-Ojodu road on course’

    ‘Sango-Ojodu road on course’

    Barely a month after work began on the Sango-Ijoko-Agbado-Ojodu road, Ogun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun has expressed satisfaction with the progress made so far.

    Speaking during an inspection of the project, Amosun said: “We are on course. We are ahead of schedule on the 32km-road and by January, next year, everything would have started taking shape. With the way we are going, we will reach an appreciable level by December, next year.”

    He debunked media reports that all road projects embarked upon by his administration would be ready by next May, saying: “For example, this road, which started a month ago, is a three-year project. I know that by the time we spend 12 to 18 months, we should be done. We pray we have the wherewithal to continue to fund the project. We have made some payments and will continue to give them more as they work.”

    Amosun said majority of projects in major towns, including Abeokuta, Ota, Sagamu, Ijebu-Ode and Ayetoro, would be ready next year.

    He said: “All our flyovers would be completed by the time we celebrate the third anniversary of our administration.”

    Thanking the people for their co-operation, the governor said: “We have demolished some houses because there is no other way to do it. If we want good roads, we have to create the right of way for those roads. I am happy that a significant percentage of our people, whose houses were demolished, have collected their compensation.

    “We are concerned about building shopping malls for displaced shop owners and houses for affected house owners at heavily subsidised rates.”

  • Again, killer convoy

    Again, killer convoy

    •With all manner of people driving in convoys, criminals too may take advantage

    BUT for the sad fact that one of the victims of the accident, Mrs Victoria Adeoye, has been identified, the story in one of the national dailies that a reckless convoy caused fatal accident around the popular ‘U- turn’ bus stop, on the Lagos-Abeokuta expressway, about two weeks ago, would have remained a mere conjecture. While Mrs. Adeoye’s children and relations are left to mourn their dead, the particular killer-convoy that has visited them with pain has literally disappeared without trace, if the owners of Hamkad Hospital, allegedly visited by the convoy, are not being economical with the truth.

    According to the news report, a convoy of seven vehicles penultimate Wednesday drove recklessly into the expressway, allegedly after visiting a patient at Hamkad Hospital, and an on-coming truck, in an effort to avoid the pilot vehicle, rammed into pedestrians standing at the bus stop, causing the death of two persons. While the hospital denied the visit, the residents of the area were reported to have confirmed it. The dead are in the morgue. Now, with the hospital denying any visit by a convoy, the effort by the public to identify the particular public official being ferried in the convoy, remains a mirage, unless relevant state and federal authorities intervene.

    Of course, the public official whose journey caused the accident has not come forward to own up to the tragedy, probably hoping that since the number plates of the vehicles are covered, he or she may get away without identification. Sadly, the nation is still mourning the death of Professor Festus Iyayi, a victim of reckless driving by the convoy of the Kogi State Governor, and now another multiple deaths by yet another convoy.

    Is it not time for the federal and state authorities to return sanity to our roads; or are the officials of Nigerian state completely unperturbed by these deaths? If they are disturbed by them, then they must, with all sense of urgency, restrict the use of convoys to very few state officials. Even the few that use convoys must restrict them to a few vehicles.

    But the confusion over the identity of the officials in the convoy raises serious alarm on this abused culture of inconsequential Nigerians driving crazily along the highways in convoys. It is possible that criminals could also zoom past police check points in a convoy after committing a crime. Even more ominous is that terrorists can also drive by in convoys before and after perpetrating crimes, with the police acccording them the usual respect for convoys. We are worried that vehicles carrying officials have no number plates, and this culture has permeated, as all kinds of funny characters now drive on our highways without identification; usually in such a manner that the police will dare not stop them.

    This impunity must stop, if we want to lay any claim to civilisation. If need be, there should be a law limiting the few state officials that can ride in a convoy, with their insignia of office clearly exhibited as they enjoy the privilege. Again, the idle officials and private persons who join to make the convoys long must be discouraged, and indeed the convoys must observe speed limits. If such restrictions are already in place, then they should be enforced.

    After all constitutional immunity is not akin to immunity to cause accidents. In the present instance of the reckless convoy along Lagos-Abeokuta expressway that caused Mrs Adeoye’s death, it is important that the convoy be identified, if they will not own up themselves. The Lagos and Ogun state governments can be helpful in this regard.

  • Court adjourns Daniel’s trial to 2014

    Court adjourns Daniel’s trial to 2014

    An Abeokuta High Court on Thursday adjourned till Feb. 6, 2014, continuation of proceedings in a criminal case brought against former governor of Ogun, Chief Gbenga Daniel.
    The former governor was arraigned before the court by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for alleged fraudulent conversion of land and diversion of public funds.
    The trial judge, Justice Olarenwaju Mabekoje, said that the adjournment was to enable the Court of Appeal to deliver judgment in an appeal on its ruling delivered on Jan. 8.
    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Daniel filed the appeal at the Court of Appeal, Ibadan, challenging the dismissal of his plea to quash counts 1-13 of the 38 charges leveled against him by the EFCC in the subsisting suit.
    At the resumed hearing, counsel to Daniel, Mrs Titilola Akinlawon, informed the court that her client’s appeal had been argued at the Appeal Court and that judgment had been reserved.
    She pleaded for an adjournment to a date exceeding Jan.  28, 2014, “when the judgment would have been given in respect of the appeal.’’
    The case was consequently adjourned till Feb. 6, 2014 for continuation of trial.

  • Two arraigned for beating policeman

    Two men, Sulaiman Tella, 23, and Jelili Shoyoye, 20, were on Thursday arraigned at an Abeokuta Magistrate’s Court for beating a policeman.

    Police prosecutor, Insp. Sunday Eigbejiale, told the court that the act was carried out on Nov. 1 at about 2 p.m. at Saraki area of Abeokuta.

    Eigbejiale said that the accused brutally assaulted Insp. Alabi Oke, stationed in Lagos but was in Abeokuta to visit his family.

    According to him, the accused, who were on a motorcycle, rode at a high speed and Oke tried to caution them but they alighted from the motorcycle and started beating him.

    He said that the policeman was seriously injured, with one of his fingers bitten off, and was hospitalised.

    The prosecutor said that the offences of conspiracy and assault contravened the Criminal Code of Ogun, 2006.

    The accused persons pleaded not guilty to the charges and the Magistrate, Mr Martins Akinyemi, granted them bail for N80,000 with two sureties, each in like sum.

    Akinyemi adjourned the case to Jan. 30, 2014, for hearing. (NAN)

  • APC’s day in Abeokuta

    APC’s day in Abeokuta

    A huge crowd of party supporters witnessed the launch of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abeokuta, Ogun State. Assistant Editor AUGUSTINE AVWODE reports.

     

     

    Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, was in festive mood last Monday. It was the launching of the newly registered mega party, the All Progressives Congress (APC). Even for first time visitors, signs that an important event was taking place in the rock city abound. From the countless buses, which were flamboyantly decorated with large posters of the party to the unusually heavy traffic, necessitating and endless hooting of car horns, heading for the Ake Palace Ground, venue of the event.

    By 10 am, amidst shouts of APC —Change!!!, all adjourning streets to the venue were completely taken over by party loyalists. The venue itself was already filled. Security men had a hectic time controlling the crowd made up of men, women, youths, students, different groups of artisans in their uniforms, and in particular, market women who were so distinctly adorned in the colour of the party, were all there. Large and imposing posters, proclaiming “mission to rebuild continues” and signed by different groups and individuals, hang strategically all over the venue.

    There was so much music, which electrified the venue. Shouts of ‘change!!!’ accompanied with thousands of broom waving hands, filled the crowd with sheer excitement. On the stage, fuji maestro Alhaji Wasiu Ayinde led Adewale Ayuba and Sefiu Alao to dish out the type of politically slanted music that suited the mood of the moment, thrilling the mammoth crowd. Comedian, Fadeyi Oloro provided endless hilarious displays.

    Chieftains of the defunct three parties from the local government areas the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), which merged to form the APC, were visibly happy as they hugged one another in a show of unity and solidarity.

    Governor Ibikunle Amosun made what could be described as a triumphant entry into the venue at about 1.30 pm, riding in an open roof jeep, accompanied by his wife and other party chieftains. Wasiu Ayinde spiced up the moment with a peculiar note for the Governor, whose trade mark cap – ‘fila gogoro’ was the point of reference. It took security operatives more efforts to clear the way for him to get to the platform, as he waved his broom and acknowledged cheers from the throng of supporters. Once on the platform, party chieftains who had arrived before, took time to greet him amidst dancing and singing.

    They include the Deputy Governor Chief Segun Adesegun, Speaker of the Ogun State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Suraj Adekanbi, Senator Olabiyi Durojaiye, Senator Iyabo Anisulowo, the Iyalode of Egba, Chief Alaba Lawson, former Speaker, Hon Tunji Egbetokun, members of the state executive and some lawmakers from the state assembly, and of course the former three chairmen of the defunct parties Hon Sunday Sowunmi of the defunct ANPP, Alhaji Tajudeen Olaitan Bello of the defunct ACN and Hon Kunle Mudasiru of the defunct CPC. There was also the former Youths and Sports Commissioner, Fatai Sowemimo, among many others.

    As the session of greeting and waving ends, the National Anthem was played. It was followed immediately by the much loved Ogun State Anthem – Omo Ogun Ise Ya and opening prayers in both Christian and Islamic ways were offered to signify the commencement of the day’s business.

    One after another, representatives of the merging parties gave resounding goodwill messages . They spoke of the determination of the APC to reposition the country and give the people hope. They canvassed unity and togetherness amongst party loyalists and support for the administration of the Governor Amosun.

    While congratulating the party loyalists, Otunba Wasiu Olalekan of the defunct ANPP emphasised the fact that the three parties no longer exist but in their place, the APC has emerged in the state. He likened the new party to the Biblical Noah’s Ark, saying the APC was here to provide safety, security and succour for Nigerians.

    “Let me congratulate all of us for this good development. There is unity in strength and that is why we are here today under one platform instead of three different parties. Our former parties no longer exist. They are gone. There is no more ACN, there is no more ANPP and there is no more CPC. What we have today is APC.

    “We are lucky to be in the Ark of Noah. This party is the Noah’s Ark of our time. Tell others to come in because it has the capacity to provide safety, security, and succor for all Nigerians. The party is open to all. But let us be united. There is strength in unity. We are here to stay and give this country a new direction. Once more, let me congratulate you for being part of this history making process today in our state. God bless APC”, he said.

    Another chieftain of the APC, Hon Rasaq Muse described the registration of the APC as the beginning of change in the country. He declared that the APC is the party to beat in subsequent elections in the country and called on the supporters of the party to enforce the change they so much desire by voting the party at all levels.

    “The wind of change has begun. The registration of this party is the beginning of the change that the country so direly need. It is here, and it is the party to beat. Please, go out and enforce the change by voting APC. The party will continue to win in Ogun, the Southwest and the country as a whole. Tell others to join, and always support the administration of our able and performing governor, so that he can continue to deliver the dividends of democracy for all of us in Ogun State”.

    When it was time for Governor Amosun to address the gathering; the crowd went wild, singing his praises, chanting the slogan of the party, with the different groups trying frantically to out do one another. After several minutes, relative calm was restored for the governor to begin his address. Behind him stood, in solidarity, an array of party chieftains, supporters and dignitaries. With a big bunch of broom in his hand, the symbol of the APC, Governor Amosun led the people in shouting the slogan of the party.

    “APC”, to which the people responded with a thunderous “change.” This went on for several minutes before he settled down for his address. He announced to the cheering crowd the goodwill and felicitations from APC’s Interim National Chairman Chief Bisi Akande, national leaders of the party Gen Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) and Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and all other leaders of the party in the state.

    He told the mammoth crowd that APC is the new mega party in town. he emphasised its national spread across the country from North to South, East to West. He stressed that the party was formed to give the country good governance and that the APC is determined to change the fortune of Nigerians for better.

    Governor Amosun taunted those who had written off the merger plan as an impossible adventure by strange bedfellows. He declared that God loves Nigerians and that the registration of the APC was part of His answer to their prayers for a change.

    “APC is the party for Nigerians. It is all over the country. If you come to the Southwest, it is here, if you go to the Southsouth it is there; in the Southeast, you will find us there. If you go to the Northwest, Northcentral and the Northeast, we are there. We are right across the country. We are here to give Nigerians good government. The APC is everything that is good. It will provide security of lives and property, it will provide stable energy, it will provide employment for all of us. It will ensure qualitative education for all and ensure that good healthcare is available to all.

    “That is why we are saying that we must be united always. Don’t make the mistake, there is no longer ACN or ANPP or CPC, what we have now is APC. Our opponents and enemies are ashamed now. They said we won’t be able to agree on the name, we did, they said we won’t be able to agree on the logo, we did. They said we are not going to be able to come up with an interim executive, we did. Today the party is registered. We will always agree for the benefit of Nigeria and Nigerians.

    “APC is a wonderful party. It is the party for good governance and the party with the solutions to Nigeria’s problems. We will achieve this through unity of purpose as demonstrated by our great leaders, who sank their personal views for the larger interest of Nigeria and her people. We are here to stay and to serve Nigerians and make Nigeria the country of our dream”, he said.

    And with that, the curtain was drawn in Ogun State on the three former parties. In a symbolic gesture, which emphasized the end of the three parties, all their flags were wrapped with a bigger APC flag and taken away. And almost instantaneously, Governor Amosun led other top party chieftans of the APC to hoist the flag of the new party right there at the Ake Palace Ground, amidst fanfare and jubilation.

     

     

     

  • As Star Trek moves to Abeokuta

    As Star Trek moves to Abeokuta

    ANTICIPATION is on the rise as Rock City, Abeokuta plays host to some of Nigeria’s favourite artistes in the 8th leg of Star Music Trek, Today, Saturday 27. Award-winning international artiste, D’banj is joined by fast rising Yoruba rap star, Olamide as they both make their debut performances on The Trek having been missing from the 7 other legs of the concert held around the country.

    Olamide promised fans who have been patiently awaiting his appearance on ‘The Trek’ not just a thrilling time but lots of surprises in store for them as. Also, D’banj who has been enjoying an extremely rewarding year has urged fans to come all out to have fun at the venue;

    “I’m reaching out to all my fans everywhere, not just in Abeokuta, but in Lagos, Osun, Ekiti, Akure, Benin, Asaba, Warri and other cities, this is my open invitation to you to be my special guest. I’m looking forward to seeing you at the Abeokuta Sports Club this Saturday,” said Olamide.

    Sound Sultan who appeared last in the FESTAC edition of the show joins Dr. SID who made his debut in Lokoja to also perform for the second time in Abeokuta. The 9th leg of the concert will hold in Agege, Lagos State. The 10 week 10 city Trek will be wrapped up with a Grand Finale August 10 at the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos.