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Tag: Abiola Ajimobi

  • Oyo votes N3.7b for six model schools

    Oyo votes N3.7b for six model schools

    Oyo State Governor Abiola Ajimobi has approved N3.7 billion for the conversion of six secondary schools into model schools.

    Commissioner for Education Prof. Solomon Olaniyonu said this would create conducive environment for teaching and learning.

    The schools are Anglican Secondary School, Orita-mefa, Ibadan; Baptist High School, Saki; Ogbomoso High School, Ogbomoso; Oba Akinbiyi High School, Ibadan; Obaseeku High School, Eruwa and Abiodun Atiba Grammar School, Oyo.

    Each of the project, which will cost N622 million, includes the building of 24 classrooms, administrative blocks, science laboratories, Intro-tech workshops, computer rooms and libraries.

    The governor has also approved N143 million for the renovation of primary healthcare centres across the state.

    The contract includes the purchase of equipment and drugs in the centres.

    Olaniyonu said N30 million was earmarked for the purchase of ambulances for general hospitals.

  • How not to play politics

    How not to play politics

    In May 2013 when a US state under the control of the Republican Party was hit by deadly tornado, politics of division and exclusiveness was shoved aside by the stakeholders to bring succour to the people who had been bereaved, injured and rendered homeless. Democratic Party President Barack Obama who was far away from the scene promptly ordered massive federal support.

    A president who is often embroiled in a struggle with the Republicans over their disdain for expansive federal agencies, Obama nevertheless went to Oklahoma State under the Republican Governor Mary Fallin, who only the year before described the Obama administration as pursuing “failed policies”.

    She declared: “In Oklahoma, we could teach Washington a lesson or two about fiscal policy and the size and the proper role of government,” adding that the Democrats were having a record of “dysfunction and outrageous spending”.

    But that was all politics, unfit for realistic governance in the face of a situation that required the two politicians to govern and not to play politics at the expense of the welfare of the people. To be sure, they did eventually come together as two statesmen elected not to massage their egos but to submit themselves to service to the people.

    That I think was the point the ex-governor of Abia State Dr Orji Uzor Kalu was making the other day when he called on Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State in Ibadan. Noticing the monumental progress that Oyo State has witnessed under the administration of Ajimobi since his advent in 2011, Kalu warned the politicians in the area not to allow divisive politics to rubbish these great advances.

    He commended Governor Ajimobi’s administration for its developmental strides across the state adding, “I am convinced that you (Ajimobi) have done very well and I give a very high mark. I have been in Ibadan before and I can see the development that has taken place. We have seen a lot of change… If Governor Ajimobi wins (again) in future election, he should be supported.”

    It is clear that what the ex-governor of Abia is preaching has to do with doctrine of how not to play barren politics with governance. But for politics not to be barren and make nonsense of the mandate of the electorate, the interest of the society must be reckoned with. So, if there is a performing government in place as it is with the Ajimobi administration in Kalu’s well considered verdict, all of society in Oyo State should rally around the governor in support and loyalty, regardless of party affiliation.

    Right-thinking Nigerians would find it easy to align with Kalu’s position, since he pins it on the need to “ensure the enthronement of an egalitarian society and ensure development” as he put it when he spoke with Governor Ajimobi. In other words if the citizens of Oyo state truly want a progressive and stable environment the ball is in their court to cooperate with their governor and his administration. They should seek to constitutionally perpetuate a system that is fostering peace, progress and development and refuse to be swayed by ethnicity and divisive politics. Truly, Oyo State has seen breathless changes lately. This development is assuming a spirit that is taking the citizens where they ought to be rather than where the poverty and visionless path of the past was herding them. There is no partisanship in the delivery of the good things of life to the people. It would patently be unpatriotic for politicians to confuse the people about politicking and governance. The former is manipulative, blinding the masses with the idea of government as exclusive political machinery aloof from the people. But the latter is the collective administration of society that seeks the welfare of the people who put the representative government in power.

    We must draw the line and let the people know that real test for a public office holder lies in performance not in his ability to play politics. In Oyo State, the people are recognizing for the first time in more that decade that if you have a disciplined and a forward-looking administration, it can be trusted with the taxpayers money to initiate projects that benefit the larger society and not a few.

    Today the citizens of the state are wondering where the funds came from for the construction of new roads, the rehabilitation of long abandoned water works, the provision of brand new buses for free transportation of workers and student, the cleanup of Ibadan, the prompt payment of workers and retired civil servants’ entitlements etc. The money was always there; it was only waiting for a good husbandman with a disciplined profile.

    • Olaopa is a retired civil servant in Saki, Oyo State.

  • Ajimobi visits offices

    Ajimobi visits offices

    Oyo State Governor Abiola Ajimobi paid a surprise visit yesterday to some Ministries, Departments and Parastatals (MDAs).

    He said such visits would be carried out weekly to ensure punctuality and efficiency in the civil service.

    The governor said the monitoring, which caught many workers unawares, would take place between 7:30 and 8am weekly, adding: “Some civil servants came late and some came early. I have decided that on a weekly basis, I will pay surprise visits to ministries between 7:30 and 8am. When they see us coming regularly, they will adjust.”

    Expressing satisfaction with the improvement in the civil service, he said his administration would continue to provide a conducive environment for workers, adding that the secretariat would be renovated.

    The governor visited the Civil Service Commission, Ministries of Health, Trade and Investment, Establishment and Training, Industry, Applied Science and Technology and Agriculture.

    He also visited the Transport Pool, where he ordered the disposal of rickety and abandoned vehicles on the premises.

  • Ajimobi charges Oyo APC new exco on unity

    Ajimobi charges Oyo APC new exco on unity

    HUNDREDS of delegates of the Oyo state chapter of the All Progressive Congress (APC) on Saturday converged on the Lekan Salami Stadium, Adamasigba, Ibadan where they elected new officers to run the affairs of the party.

    The party congress, which was twice postponed, was witnessed by the state governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi; his deputy, Chief Moses Alake; the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Hon. Monsurat Sunmonu and party leaders across the 33 local Government areas .

    Among the officers who emerged as party executives are Chief Akin Oke (Chairman), Mr. Isiaka Adisa ( Deputy State Chairman) and Alhaji Mojeed Olaiya (Secretary).

    The congress was conducted through affirmation after an internal screening of the aspirants.

    Speaking at the end of the election, Ajimobi charged the newly elected state executive of the party to use the opportunity to ensure harmonisation and unity of all members of the party in the state.

    Ajimobi, who described the party congress as the most peaceful in the country, said, “The message is that in life, you must learn to give and take,” adding, “Therefore, what is required of us is to give these newly elected officers our full support to assist them in accomplishing the task ahead of them.”

    In his acceptance speech, the newly-elected state Chairman of APC, Chief Akin Oke, praised party members for their maturity and understanding over the seamless integration and fusion of all the political parties into APC in the state without any major rancor.

  • Help pay these pharmaceutical companies

    Help pay these pharmaceutical companies

    IN 2010, some pharmaceutical companies supplied drugs to the Oyo Stae Government. The agreement was that the payment for the drugs would be made immediately after the supply. But this did not happen.

    Though the drugs were supplied during the administration of Alao-Akala, I am appealing to the present governor of the state, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, to pay the companies in the interest of justice.

    Some of the representatives who handled the supply lost their jobs as a result of their inability to make the government pay.

    I know that Senator Ajimobi is a kind and listening governor. He has been helping people. And I believe he will help these pharmaceutical companies out by paying their money.

    Mr Abimbola,

    Oyo State.

  • How not to play politics

    How not to play politics

    In May 2013 when a US state under the control of the Republican Party was hit by deadly tornado, politics of division and exclusiveness was shoved aside by the stakeholders to bring succour to the people who had been bereaved, injured and rendered homeless. Democratic Party President Barack Obama who was far away from the scene promptly ordered massive federal support.

    A president who is often embroiled in a struggle with the Republicans over their disdain for expansive federal agencies, Obama nevertheless went to Oklahoma State under the Republican Governor Mary Fallin, who only the year before described the Obama administration as pursuing “failed policies”.

    She declared: “In Oklahoma, we could teach Washington a lesson or two about fiscal policy and the size and the proper role of government,” adding that the Democrats were having a record of “dysfunction and outrageous spending”.

    But that was all politics, unfit for realistic governance in the face of a situation that required the two politicians to govern and not to play politics at the expense of the welfare of the people. To be sure, they did eventually come together as two statesmen elected not to massage their egos but to submit themselves to service to the people.

    That I think was the point the ex-governor of Abia State Dr Orji Uzor Kalu was making the other day when he called on Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State in Ibadan. Noticing the monumental progress that Oyo State has witnessed under the administration of Ajimobi since his advent in 2011, Kalu warned the politicians in the area not to allow divisive politics to rubbish these great advances.

    He commended Governor Ajimobi’s administration for its developmental strides across the state adding, “I am convinced that you (Ajimobi) have done very well and I give a very high mark. I have been in Ibadan before and I can see the development that has taken place. We have seen a lot of change… If Governor Ajimobi wins (again) in future election, he should be supported.”

    It is clear that what the ex-governor of Abia is preaching has to do with doctrine of how not to play barren politics with governance. But for politics not to be barren and make nonsense of the mandate of the electorate, the interest of the society must be reckoned with. So, if there is a performing government in place as it is with the Ajimobi administration in Kalu’s well considered verdict, all of society in Oyo State should rally around the governor in support and loyalty, regardless of party affiliation.

    Right-thinking Nigerians would find it easy to align with Kalu’s position, since he pins it on the need to “ensure the enthronement of an egalitarian society and ensure development” as he put it when he spoke with Governor Ajimobi. In other words if the citizens of Oyo state truly want a progressive and stable environment the ball is in their court to cooperate with their governor and his administration. They should seek to constitutionally perpetuate a system that is fostering peace, progress and development and refuse to be swayed by ethnicity and divisive politics. Truly, Oyo State has seen breathless changes lately. This development is assuming a spirit that is taking the citizens where they ought to be rather than where the poverty and visionless path of the past was herding them. There is no partisanship in the delivery of the good things of life to the people. It would patently be unpatriotic for politicians to confuse the people about politicking and governance. The former is manipulative, blinding the masses with the idea of government as exclusive political machinery aloof from the people. But the latter is the collective administration of society that seeks the welfare of the people who put the representative government in power.

    We must draw the line and let the people know that real test for a public office holder lies in performance not in his ability to play politics. In Oyo State, the people are recognizing for the first time in more that decade that if you have a disciplined and a forward-looking administration, it can be trusted with the taxpayers money to initiate projects that benefit the larger society and not a few.

    Today the citizens of the state are wondering where the funds came from for the construction of new roads, the rehabilitation of long abandoned water works, the provision of brand new buses for free transportation of workers and student, the cleanup of Ibadan, the prompt payment of workers and retired civil servants’ entitlements etc. The money was always there; it was only waiting for a good husbandman with a disciplined profile.

    • Olaopa is a retired civil servant in Saki, Oyo State.

     

  • How not to play politics

    How not to play politics

    In May 2013 when a US state under the control of the Republican Party was hit by deadly tornado, politics of division and exclusiveness was shoved aside by the stakeholders to bring succour to the people who had been bereaved, injured and rendered homeless. Democratic Party President Barack Obama who was far away from the scene promptly ordered massive federal support.

    A president who is often embroiled in a struggle with the Republicans over their disdain for expansive federal agencies, Obama nevertheless went to Oklahoma State under the Republican Governor Mary Fallin, who only the year before described the Obama administration as pursuing “failed policies”.

    She declared: “In Oklahoma, we could teach Washington a lesson or two about fiscal policy and the size and the proper role of government,” adding that the Democrats were having a record of “dysfunction and outrageous spending”.

    But that was all politics, unfit for realistic governance in the face of a situation that required the two politicians to govern and not to play politics at the expense of the welfare of the people. To be sure, they did eventually come together as two statesmen elected not to massage their egos but to submit themselves to service to the people.

    That I think was the point the ex-governor of Abia State Dr Orji Uzor Kalu was making the other day when he called on Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State in Ibadan. Noticing the monumental progress that Oyo State has witnessed under the administration of Ajimobi since his advent in 2011, Kalu warned the politicians in the area not to allow divisive politics to rubbish these great advances.

    He commended Governor Ajimobi’s administration for its developmental strides across the state adding, “I am convinced that you (Ajimobi) have done very well and I give a very high mark. I have been in Ibadan before and I can see the development that has taken place. We have seen a lot of change… If Governor Ajimobi wins (again) in future election, he should be supported.”

    It is clear that what the ex-governor of Abia is preaching has to do with doctrine of how not to play barren politics with governance. But for politics not to be barren and make nonsense of the mandate of the electorate, the interest of the society must be reckoned with. So, if there is a performing government in place as it is with the Ajimobi administration in Kalu’s well considered verdict, all of society in Oyo State should rally around the governor in support and loyalty, regardless of party affiliation.

    Right-thinking Nigerians would find it easy to align with Kalu’s position, since he pins it on the need to “ensure the enthronement of an egalitarian society and ensure development” as he put it when he spoke with Governor Ajimobi. In other words if the citizens of Oyo state truly want a progressive and stable environment the ball is in their court to cooperate with their governor and his administration. They should seek to constitutionally perpetuate a system that is fostering peace, progress and development and refuse to be swayed by ethnicity and divisive politics. Truly, Oyo State has seen breathless changes lately. This development is assuming a spirit that is taking the citizens where they ought to be rather than where the poverty and visionless path of the past was herding them. There is no partisanship in the delivery of the good things of life to the people. It would patently be unpatriotic for politicians to confuse the people about politicking and governance. The former is manipulative, blinding the masses with the idea of government as exclusive political machinery aloof from the people. But the latter is the collective administration of society that seeks the welfare of the people who put the representative government in power.

    We must draw the line and let the people know that real test for a public office holder lies in performance not in his ability to play politics. In Oyo State, the people are recognizing for the first time in more that decade that if you have a disciplined and a forward-looking administration, it can be trusted with the taxpayers money to initiate projects that benefit the larger society and not a few.

    Today the citizens of the state are wondering where the funds came from for the construction of new roads, the rehabilitation of long abandoned water works, the provision of brand new buses for free transportation of workers and student, the cleanup of Ibadan, the prompt payment of workers and retired civil servants’ entitlements etc. The money was always there; it was only waiting for a good husbandman with a disciplined profile.

    • Olaopa is a retired civil servant in Saki, Oyo State.

     

  • CAC President urges ritualists to repent

    CAC President urges ritualists to repent

    The Christ Apostolic Church (CAC) has warned ritualists to stop the “horrendous act” or face God’s wrath.

    President of CAC Worldwide Pastor Abraham Akinosun was reacting to the discovery of the Soka “forest of horror” in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.

    He spoke yesterday at the celebration of the 130th anniversary of the Yoruba Bible, a programme organised by the Bible Society of Nigeria (BSN) to commemorate Nigeria’s centenary anniversary, at the CAC General Secretariat in Bashorun, Ibadan.

    Pastor Akinosun condemned kidnapping and ritual killing, saying: “Kidnappers have their patrons. Among them are evil clerics, politicians and businessmen. Everybody must repent. All patrons of evil priests, herbalists and witch doctors, evil cults and all forms of confraternities should repent. Let Christians rise up to deliver Nigeria from the forces of darkness through the power in the word of God. We need more Bibles to be printed and circulated in interior parts of Nigeria.”

    The cleric hailed Oyo State Governor Abiola Ajimobi on steps taken on the kidnappers’ den and urged the federal and state governments to do more to curb the menace.

    He said: “The government should stop encouraging pagan worship, cultism and occultism. The agents of the devil have nothing good to offer us. The Bible says the devil can do nothing else other than evil. Many of them are the devil’s foot soldiers. People in secret cults should be fished out and given the option to quit such evil cults.”

    Chairman, CAC Planning Committee, Pastor Johnson Olabisi said the church has been in partnership with BSN for years on the propagation of the gospel through printing the Bible in various languages and distributing it to people.

  • Why Olubadan has lived long, by Ajimobi

    Why Olubadan has lived long, by Ajimobi

    Oyo State Governor Abiola Ajimobi has attributed the 100 years of existence of the Olubadan, Oba Samuel Odulana, Odugade 1, to “his pure heart, which is devoid of hatred”.

    Ajimobi spoke yesterday during a service at St. Peter’s Cathedral in Aremo, Ibadan, to mark the monarch’s centenary birthday.

    He said Oba Odulana harboured no bitterness against anyone, urging Nigerians to learn from him.

    Ajimobi said: “Those who knew him, even pre-his ascendancy to the throne, speak eloquently about a man who typifies honour and nobility. He has an attachment to the place of humanity in the scheme of things. Perhaps in the fact that Kabiyesi constantly ventilates his heart from the consuming fire of bitterness towards his fellow man and his sworn avowal to always do good to everyone can be found the secret of his longevity. We all have one lesson or the other to learn from this purification of the heart from the cancer of hatred.”

    Describing Oba Odulana as a gentleman, he said the monarch typified the Yoruba classification of an honourable man.

    Ajimobi said: “In the Olubadan is a demonstration of the elusive concept of Omoluabi. The Omoluabi, for the purpose of clarification, is that man who carries nobility, human goodness and trust around him like a pouch. With Kabiyesi, you know where you stand.

    “In him, you find the discipline of a trained soldier, the consummate nobility of a gentleman and the astuteness of a man of honour. His politics transcends the type found on the streets today; it was the politics of a statesman. To a statesman like him, politics cannot be worth its salt until it transforms the lives of the collective citizenry and repositions society on the path of transformation.”

    The governor said the Olubadan was one of the first people to acknowledge his administration’s urban renewal initiative.

    He said: “As a fitting demonstration of his acknowledgement of our effort in this regard, Kabiyesi bestowed on me the traditional title of Atunluse of Ibadanland (the remodeler/beautifier of Ibadanland). This was at a time when our political opponents were throwing tantrums at us for taking away the dirt of Ibadan and regaining global respect.”

    Ajimobi explained that President Goodluck Jonathan would have been at the service, but for the bomb blast at Nyanya Motor Park in Abuja.

    The President was represented by six ministers -Labaran Maku (Information); Ms. Jumoke Akinjide (Minister of State for the FCT); Akinwumi Adesina (Agriculture); Omobola Johnson (Communication and Technology); Jelili Adesiyan (Police Affairs) and Musiliu Obanikoro (Minister of State for Defence).

     

  • SOS to Ajimobi on Iresa-Gambari-Tewure Road

    SOS to Ajimobi on Iresa-Gambari-Tewure Road

    SIR: The attention of the able governor of Oyo State, Senator Abiola Ajimobi is being drawn to the deplorable condition of the above mentioned road which transverses Surulere and Orire Local Government Areas. The road which started from Iresaadu, the headquarters of Surulere Local Government links two very important regional markets – Gambari and Tewure. It equally serves many communities as a means of transporting farm products to these markets. However, lack of maintenance has made the road nearly impassable at the moment, consequent upon which many farm products lie waste in the farms. The most deplorable section of the road is at Ajinapa village in Orire local government. Absence of drainage in that village contributed to the collapse of that section of the road. It is obvious that local governments in the area are incapable of fixing this road due to their lean purse as they made us to know. This makes the intervention of Oyo State government imperative. The on-going work on the expansion of Ikoyi road and Ikirun road sections of Ikirun-Igbeti highway in Ogbomoso township, embarked upon by the Oyo State government is highly commendable. No doubt, the project is money consuming. However, fixing the above mentioned road will make these local government feel the impact of the state government and grateful for it. Government is advised to give the road urgent attention it demands before the advent of rain which may cut of the villages from the outside world.

     

    • Adewuyi Adegbite

    Apake, Ogbomoso.