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Tag: Bolaji Tunji

  • Ajimobi to Makinde: shun politics of bitterness

    Oyo State Governor Abiola Ajimobi has advised the incoming People’s Democratic Party (PDP) administration to focus on developmental issues instead of its renewed campaign of calumny against his person, family and administration.

    The governor, who spoke yesterday in a statement by his Special Adviser, Communication and Strategy, Mr. Bolaji Tunji, said the renewed campaign of calumny was aimed at rubbishing his eight-year selfless service.

    But, the governor-elect, Seyi Makinde, said it would be unnecessary and unhelpful to embark on a campaign of calumny against the out-going governor.

    Ajimobi said more than two weeks after the general elections have produced winners and losers, the opposition parties ought to start talking about their plans for the state and how to build on the foundation of development laid by his administration.

    The governor said he was appalled by the unprovoked media attacks by the opposition parties, especially sympathisers of the PDP and its governorship candidate, who were still practising politics of bitterness that Oyo State, under his tenure, has since left behind.

    The governor appealed to the traditional and online media practitioners to be circumspect in churning out unverified information being supplied to them by their unscrupulous sources, who were bent on spreading inflammatory rhetoric.

    He said the purveyors of falsehood have recruited some online medium to carry out some of their nefarious activities.

    Ajimobi said: “Now that elections have been won and lost, there should be an end to acrimonious and incendiary comments. Political discussion has moved from the pre-2011 era. Our focus is on politics of issues and development.

    “That is what we expect from them, not personal attacks and falsehood-laced statements indicating their unpreparedness for governance.

    REad also: Oyo govt, APC tackle group over vote of confidence in Ajimobi

    “I’m not unaware that during campaigns some politicians adopted the campaign of calumny as strategy believing it would give them undue advantage, but such does not last. What the electorate expects is to be educated on their blueprint for the development of the state.”

    However, the governor-elect, while replying Ajimobi, denied any campaign of calumny against the present administration, saying such would be unnecessary and unhelpful at this point in time.

    He said: “We deny campaign of calumny against Ajimobi. Such won’t be necessary and it is unhelpful.

    “Our major grouse is that awarding fresh contracts worth over N30 billion in one fell swoop and under mischievous circumstances will be a disservice to our state, if we do not cry out.

    “We do not need the outgoing governor to tell us to inform our people what we want to do for them because they already know during the course of the campaign.

    “What the people never knew was the extent to which the outgoing government will go to attempt to empty government coffers to leave frustrate the incoming administration.”

     

  • Ibadan building collapse: Ajimobi sympathises with victims, orders free treatment

    Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State has sympathized with victims of the building collapse in Ibadan, and ordered free treatment for the injured at government hospitals.

    Mr Bolaji Tunji, Special Adviser on Communication and Strategy to the Governor, said this in a statement made available to newsmen on Saturday in Ibadan.

    The three-storey building, which is still under construction, had collapsed on Friday evening at the Shogoye area of the city, leaving some persons injured.

    The governor directed that the victims should be moved to the state hospitals and should be given immediate and free medical attention.

    Ajimobi expressed sadness over the incident, which he described as avoidable.

    He expressed gratitude to God that no life was lost in the incident.

    Read Also: Oyo: Ajimobi congratulates Makinde

    “I’m greatly saddened by the collapse of the uncompleted building in which some people were initially trapped. This is very unfortunate and disheartening.

    “But, we must give glory to the Almighty that no life was lost in the incident.

    “I have directed the relevant agencies to ensure that all the victims are transferred to government hospitals and given immediate medical attention at no cost to them,” he said.

    The governor commended the rescue team for their prompt intervention which led to the evacuation of the victims without recording any fatality.

    He said that thorough investigation would be carried out by the government to determine the immediate and remote cause of the collapse.

    Ajimobi said that anybody found culpable from the investigation would be dealt with in accordance with the law.

    He said that his administration would continue to do everything possible to ensure the security and safety of the lives as well as property of the citizens.

    The governor admonished professionals in the construction industry to ensure that developers and building owners were compelled to adhere strictly to extant codes and town planning laws to avert future recurrence.

    NAN reports that a delegation of the state government led by the State Commissioner for Health, Dr Azeez Adeduntan, also visited a victim at the University College Hospital(UCH), Ibadan.

    Friday’s building collapse in Ibadan came barely 72 hours after a similar incident in Lagos, in which no fewer than 20 persons, including school children, died.

    The collapse of the Lagos building, housing a school and other businesses, also left many injured.

    NAN

  • Don’t politicise butchers’ relocation – Ajimobi

    Oyo State Governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi has cautioned the opposition politicians to desist from playing politics with issues that impart directly on the welfare of the people of the state.

    The governor stated this in a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Communication and Strategy, Mr. Bolaji Tunji in Ibadan, on Thursday against the backdrop of insinuations that the relocation of butchers from the state capital to the central abattoir was motivated by selfish interest.

    The governor said that some unnamed politicians had been spreading misleading information on the step taken by government to sanitize the operations of the butchers and ensure that high standard of hygiene was maintained in the abattoir.

    Part of the allegations against the governor was that the new abattoir was contracted to his cronies and that was why he insisted that all the butchers in the city should move to the facility.

    “However, we wish to place on record that the original concept of the abattoir was muted by the former Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala administration which also engaged the technical partner under a public-private partnership (PPP) arrangement.

    ‘’Also, when the present administration came on board, the governor ordered the review of the PPP agreement which led to a reduction in the stake held by the technical partner from 70 per cent to 50 per cent, while various stakeholders, who had hitherto been excluded, were accommodated.

    Read Also: We will arrest those who burned Bodija station, Ajimobi vows

    ‘’Under the new arrangement, the state government reduced its stake from 30 per cent to 10 per cent, conceding 36 per cent to the 11 local governments in Ibadan land and 4 per cent to the state butchers’ union.

    ‘’It is, therefore, unfair and mischievous for any responsible political leader to attempt to mislead members of the public through outright falsehood and deliberate distortion of facts by suggesting that the governor has personal interest in the project and its operations.

    ‘’As a government that is completely committed to the welfare of the people, Governor Ajimobi chose to put the interest of the people over personal and political considerations by insisting on relocating the butchers from the unhygienic environments in the city where they currently operate and which pose threat of epidemic to the citizenry.

    ‘’We seize this opportunity to encourage media organizations to carry out their own independent investigations on the current state of the abattoirs in Ibadan and also the new facility that government has provided,’’ the governor said.

    He added that wide ranging consultations had, in the last one year, been held with the leadership of the butchers’ union, including taking them on a tour of the Lagos State Central Abattoir at Oko-Oba, Agege, all in a bid to assure them of the benefits of the new arrangement and the sincerity of the state government.

  • Ajimobi appoints Bolaji Tunji as Special Adviser

    Ajimobi appoints Bolaji Tunji as Special Adviser

    Oyo State Governor Abiola Ajimobi has appointed an Executive Director with The Sun , Mr. Bolaji Tunji, as his Special Adviser on Communication and Strategy.

    He replaces  Mr. Yomi Layinka, who is now to oversee the Ibadan Media City Project.

    A statement by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Mr. Olalekan Alli, said Layinka would oversee the proposed transformation of the Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State (BCOS) into a massive and formidable media, entertainment and cultural hub for the Southwest.

    Prior his new appointment, Tunji was the Executive Director for Special Duties and a member of the board of The Sun, where he took a leave of absence to assume his new role.

    An alumnus of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) at Ile-Ife in Osun State, the new governor’s spokesman was the pioneer Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of The New Telegraph.

    He began his journalism career at The Guardian in March 1993, from where he joined Daily Independent as pioneer Deputy News Editor in 2001 and had a meteoric rise to the position of an Editor.

    Tunji also had a stint with the Daily Times before joining the defunct The Comet, and later The Nation.

    At The Nation, he was the pioneer Editor of the Saturday title before joining the repackaged National Mirror as pioneer Sunday Editor and later Editor of National Mirror, the flagship of the Global Media Mirror Limited titles.

    He left the National Mirror to assist in setting up The New Telegraph, where he served as the pioneer MD/EIC before he was appointed the Executive Director for Special Duties of The Sun.

    Tunji is married and is blessed with male and female children.

  • Ex-Sun Director named Special Adviser to Ajimobi

    Ex-Sun Director named Special Adviser to Ajimobi

    The Oyo state governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi has approved the appointment of a former Executive Director of Sun Newspaper, Mr. Bolaji Tunji, as Special Adviser, Communication and Strategy.

    His appointment was announced in a statement by the Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Olalekan Alli, who also named former Special Adviser, Communication and Strategy to Governor Ajomobi,  Mr. Yomi Layinka, as Special Adviser, Ibadan Media City Project.

    An alumnus of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, the new governor’s spokesman was the pioneer Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of the New Telegraph newspaper.

    He began his journalism career at the Guardian newspaper in March 1993, from where he joined the Daily Independent newspaper as pioneer deputy news editor in 2001 and had a meteoric rise to the position of an Editor.

    Tunji also had a stint with the Daily Times before joining the defunct Comet newspaper, which later metamorphosed into The Nation Newspaper.

    At the Nation, he was the pioneer editor of the Saturday title, before joining the repackaged National Mirror as pioneer Sunday Editor and later Editor of the National Mirror.

    By this appointment, he said Layinka is expected to oversee the proposed transformation of the Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State into a massive and formidable media, entertainment and cultural hub for South-West Nigeria.

    Layinka, a veteran broadcaster, is being saddled with a new responsibility of transforming the corporation into a hub that would include television and radio broadcasting production studios, theme parks/resorts, hospitality centre, a media academy and hosting venue for major live events in the sub-region.