The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Ede

  • Fuel scarcity: Osun residents decry hike in transport fare

    Fuel scarcity: Osun residents decry hike in transport fare

    Residents of Osogbo, the Osun State capital and its environs have decried the hike in the price of intra transport fare in the state due to scarcity of the Premium Motor Spirit ( PMS ), also known as petrol .

    Some of the residents said on Tuesday in Osogbo said the hike in the transport fare was affecting their daily income.

    Mrs Yetunde Aderogba, a civil servant said due to the hike in the transport fare, she now spent more on transportation to work on a daily basis.

    Aderogba said that the `Korope’ (mini buses) and Okada riders have increased the transport fare by 30 to 40 per cent, adding that the increase was due to the fuel scarcity and hike price where fuel is available.

    Read also: Motorists, Commuters groan as fuel scarcity bites harder in Delta

    “Before now I use to pay N50 from my house to secretariat but now, I pay between N80 and N90.

    Similarly, Nike Adeyobo, a student of Federal Polytechnic, Ede, said she now pays more to transport herself from her house in Osogbo to the campus.

    Adeyobo said that she paid N150 as transport fare to school compared to the previous fare of N100.

    “This is unbearable because I now pay more on transportation; Government needs to do something urgent to address the situation.”

    Also, Mr Taiwo Samuel, an Okada rider, said until the pump price was reverted, the hire in transport fare will continue.

    Some of the Petrol Independent Marketers who spoke under the condition of anonymity said that selling fuel at N145 per litre was not profitable for them.

    “Until government does the needful, the price will remain like that. Selling at N145 now will result in a big loss to us because we are also lifting the fuel at a higher price”, they said.

    NAN visit to some of the filing stations revealed that majority of the filling station were selling at N180 per litre.

    Only few filling stations such as Bovas, Total and NNPC and few others were selling at the official price, with a very long queue.

    NAN

  • Free health programme for Osun communities

    Health is wealth is a popular maxim. With this age-long expression at the back of their minds, the management of Springtime Development Foundation Ede, Osun State, in collaboration with Grace for Impact, from Georgia, United States of America has embarked on free health care outreach programme for citizens of Ede North Local Government Area and Ede South –East Local Council Development Area, Sekona.

    The event which held on November 13 and 14, 2017, was aimed at availing the people state-of-the-art mobile medical facilities and drugs to take care of their various ailments.

    Springtime Development Foundation is a not-for-profit non-governmental organisation (NGO), which has, over the years, extended its philanthropic gestures in various ways to the needs of Nigerians from all walks of life. During this year’s health care outreach, the people were happy as the beneficiaries were excited to no end.

    The people of Ede began trooping to the palace of Timi of Ede land, Oba Munirudeen Adesola Lawal. As early as 7:00 a.m. on Monday, November 13, the palace of the monarch had been filled to capacity.

    Would-be-patients eagerly waited to be attended to. The same applied to the Palace of Olu of Sekona, Oba Abdul-Waheed Adebowale in Ede South-East LCDA. They came from neighbouring villages to participate in the robust health care outreach.

    As expected, they were not disappointed. The team of Springtime Development Foundation, led by the Vice-Chairman, Mr. Banji Adesiyi and the  Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Pastor  Samuel Oyalabu and Grace for Impact outfit led by Pastor Dapo Oriola gave a good account of themselves. They smiled at the patients, a gesture that indicated that they were there to make the people happy. They approached the business of the day with absolute professional touch, the effect of which was salutary on the beneficiaries.

    The entire workforce of Springtime Development Foundation, whose efforts were complemented by some Ad-hoc staff from the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), gave a very good account of themselves.

    They worked tirelessly to meet the needs of the patients. This year’s edition of the programme cut across general health care services; cervical cancer screening, optical ailment rectification and supply of free eye glasses and drugs, dental service and minor surgeries.

    That Monday, 125 and 250 patients were attended to at Sekona and Ede Centres respectively, while on the second day, 150 patients and 200 patients were respectively attended to at Sekona and Ede centers, bringing the total to 725 beneficiaries of the free health care service.

    The beneficiaries passionately regarded the event as Godsend, to avail them of excellent medical care with standard drugs. They were full of praises for the organisers, who deemed it fit to bring the programme to the people at the grassroots, particularly the low-income earners, who had lost hope of such standard treatment extended to them.

    They praised the kindness of the Chairman of Springtime Development Foundation, Dr. Deji Adeleke and prayed God to grant him long life.

    Speaking at the opening ceremony on November 13, the Vice-Chairman, Springtime Development Foundation, Mr. Banji Adesuyi, assured the people that the exercise will continue to expand in leaps and bounds so as to accommodate more beneficiaries.

    He promised that the gesture would be extended to other local government areas in Osun State in due time without consideration for tribe, creed, religion or sex.

    Springtime Development Foundation, Mr. Adesuyi recalled, has been championing the cause of the less-privileged over the years with total commitment and without attracting public attention to itself. He noted that when good health is lost, everything, including wealth, is lost. He therefore appealed to the beneficiaries to make judicious use of the drugs given to them.

    The leader of the team from USA, Pastor Dapo Oriola, said they felt proud to be associated with Springtime Development Foundation in its great effort to make life worth living for Nigerians who could not afford the high cost of quality health facilities, through provision of free Medicare to them.

    The Grace For Impact Organisation, Dr. Dapo Oriola said, is an assemblage of thorough-bred medical professionals from the USA, who, on their own free volition, chose to come down to Nigeria at their own expense to collaborate with the Springtime  Development Foundation and help out in the provision of good health care delivery to the people.

    The Chief Executive Officer of the Springtime Development Foundation, Pastor Samuel Olu Oyalabu emphasised that the foundation will always put the plight of the less-privileged people in the society at its front burners, so as to fulfill the vision and mission of the Founder and Chairman, Dr. Adedeji Adeleke, who he described as a silent philanthropist of no mean order.

    Recall that the Springtime Development Foundation, in June this year, gave out 700 mattresses and 700 pillows to each of Ilesa and Ile-Ife prisons to ameliorate the effect of the health hazards which results from the inmates sleeping on bare floor.

    Apart from the free health care programme, plans are on to donate skill acquisition materials such as barbing equipment, sewing machines and other entrepreneurial materials for the inmates of both Ilesa and Ile-Ife prisons, to make them self-reliant after serving out their various prisons terms.

    Both the Timi of Edeland, Oba Lawal and the Olu of Sekona Oba Waheed Adebowale, praised the organisations for deeming it fit to provide their citizens with free health care services, which they said will go a long way to make them enjoy good health. They prayed for the continued success and growth of the two organisations.

    • Olumide Lawal, lives in Ede, Osun State.

     

  • How Adeleke Varsity actualised my dream, by physically challenged graduate

    A 23-year-old physically challenged graduate of Political Science of Adeleke University Ede, Osun State, Miss Sherifat Odemo, has been offered automatic employment by the university.

    The employment was announced by the institution’s Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Council Dr Adedeji Adeleke during the Pro – Chancellor’s dinner which formed part of events lined up for the just concluded third convocation.

    In addition to the employment, Adeleke said arrangement had been made for Odemo to do the mandatory National Youth Service Corps at the university.

    Dr Adeleke made these pronouncements while reacting to an earlier gratitude by Sherifat to the courtesy shown her by management of the university despite being physically challenged.

    As an undergraduate, Sherifat thanked the university for providing her a motorised chair to aid her movement, scholarships, and arranging a special classroom for her lectures.

    Recounting her story, Sherifat who came out with a second class (Upper Division) degree, said she made Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko, (AAUA) Ondo State, as her choice institution when she wrote UTME. Unfortunately she could not meet AAUA’s cut-off mark; and while contemplating her next move, her mother received an SMS from Adeleke University offering her daughter admission. That message seemed to create fresh worry as the Odemos wondered where to raise the money for Sherifat’s tuition.

    In the end, Sherifat said she grudgingly accepted the offer following her parents’ consent. Miraculously, management of Adeleke University considered her condition, including her struggling parents, and therefore awarded her scholarships.

    She was also grateful to the management for relocating her to the university’s temporary site, where the buildings were mainly bungalows, making movement for her a lot easier. She recounted her harrowing experience once at the permanent site, where she strained to crawl upstairs clutching her laptop either for lectures or class work.

    At a point, Sherifat remembered how the motorised chair acquired for her by Dr Adeleke, stopped working; but within days the university’s vice – chancellor Prof Ekundayo Alao, made arrangement for a new one.

    Going down memory lane, Sherifat recounted how she started out as a low performer in primary school.

    “I was not bright when I was in primary school, but I was not discouraged. Challenges were many but I continued to work harder until I got into secondary school where my performance started to improve, and this never stopped until I got admission into university and came out with Second Class Upper Division.” she said.

    Sherifat said she chose to be educated despite her condition so as to become an asset and stand tall among her contemporaries.

    She advised others in her shoes not to see their situation as a ‘death sentence’; but a challenge to succeed.

    To her contemporaries generally, Sherifat said education is a must regardless of the situations.

  • Fed Poly, Ede denies discriminating against Osun indigenes

    The management of Federal Polytechnic, Ede, Osun, has denied  allegations that the institution discriminates against indigenes of the state in  employment and admission of students.

    Dr Arthur Aja, the Deputy Rector (Academics) of the polytechnic, made the statement in respect of a petition against the school before the State House of Assembly Committee on Education in Osogbo.

    Aja said contrary to claims in the petition, 65 per cent of staff of the polytechnic were from Osun.

    He said the Federal Character Commission queried the institution for not reflecting Federal Character Principle in its employment.

    “We were even lambasted by the Federal Character Commission for not reflecting the Federal Character Principle in the employment,  that is, we have more staff from the state than other states,” he added.

    Aja said it would be unfair for anyone to say that the majority of the staff in the institution were non-indigenes of Osun.

    Responding to issues on the admission of students, Dr Caroline Adewusi, the Deputy Rector (Administration), said the institution usually followed the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board admission guidelines.

    Adewusi said there was no time a qualified indigene of the state applied for admission to the polytechnic and was rejected.

     

    Mr Abiodun Awolola, the Deputy Chairman of the Committee, said the management of the institution was  summoned based on a petition written against it on employment and admission.

    Awolola said the explanation given by the management was clear but asked the school to avail the assembly with its staff nominal role. (NAN)

  • Osogbo is Osun capital, not Ede

    SIR: On August 11, a news story in The Punch newspaper was titled ‘Don’t pit us against Osogbo people, Ede warns Aregbesola’. It contained a press conference held at the palace of Timi of Ede where an indigent group alleged that Ede’s land was being annexed to Osogbo. The group, Federation Council of Ede Descendants Union, through its leader, Chief Moshood Adeleke, alleged that Governor Rauf Aregbesola directed the General Manager of the Osun State Capital Development Authority to rename all government establishments, settlements and communities within the capital territory as belonging to Osogbo.

    To begin with, there is no way any government establishment can be said to belong to Osogbo. If it belongs to government, then, it cannot belong to Osogbo. It is one thing for someone to make a claim, it is another matter for a respected newspaper to slam it on its pages. Happily, other newspapers, including The Nation, did not report it from this adversarial and malicious angle.

    This editorial gaffe notwithstanding, there has been dispute over boundary between Osogbo and Ede, dating back to the precolonial era. When Osun was created in 1991, this rivalry was renewed when Osogbo became the capital.

    The dispute was accentuated when the then governor, now Senator Isiaka Adeleke, who is from Ede, built the state secretariat and the office of the governor in Abeere. This small community is one of the disputed land with Osogbo but which has acquired Ede identity. This gesture gave the people of Ede the false notion that since the seat of government is on Ede land, therefore, Ede is the de facto capital of Osun and should be referred to as being in Ede. They want the seat of government to be referred to as being in Ede and not Osogbo.

    However, this is a constitutional matter. Osogbo is the capital of Osun, it cannot be taken to Ede by a sleight of hand.

    Then came the state capital development authority which by law designated an area as capital territory. This area covers parts of eight Local Governments of Osogbo, Olorunda, Boripe, Ifelodun, Obokun, Atakumosa West, Ede North and Egbedore.

    Apart from the secretariat, other government institutions or government supported projects like Omoluabi Garment Factory have been established in the Ede part of the Capital Territory but the concern of some atavistic elements in Ede is the location name.

    For crying out loud, these elements should be reined in by the Timi of Ede who is a very peaceful man and certainly cannot give his royal blessing to the false accusation against Governor Aregbesola. Our royal father should tell these agitators to stop contending with the law. The state capital is Osogbo and eight local governments are in the capital territory, not Ede alone. The others are happy and praying that development projects will be sited in their land.

     

    • Mike Ogundele,

    Osogbo, Osun State.

  • Redeemer’s University at Ede -2

    The significance of the presence of Redeemer’s university in Ede is huge. This is unquantifiable on a spiritual level for both the town and the state as well as for Nigeria. Everybody needs prayers especially now when we are faced with challenges of existential nature. Ede is predominantly a Muslim city but it has a forward-looking Oba, the Timi, Alhaji Muniru Adesola Lawal who in spite of being a fervent and practicing Muslim, is totally supportive of the university in terms of making land available. This he has sometimes done in spite of opposition of some of his subjects who do not have a global perspective of the material spin-off that the university would bring to the Ede community. We have sometimes put the monarch in the invidious position of having to defend a Christian institution against the opposition of conservative Muslim subjects. Within a short time to come, this monarch’s vision would soon become manifest to his subjects and would be praised for taking his people to the right path. Ede is an historic city at the frontier of the old Oyo Empire. His kings were battle axes for the Oyo Alaafin and the Sango worship was the imperial religion that was practised in Ede. It still has adherents but not as many as before the coming of Islam and Christianity. Towards the end of the colonial era in Nigeria, Ede was made famous by its Timi, Oba Laoye, the father of the present deputy governor. Timi Laoye was proficient as a drummer and went all over the world particularly to Great Britain as a cultural ambassador of Nigeria, exposing to the western world, the drumming ingenuity of the Yoruba talking drum. He shared the glory of mastering the talking drum with Ibadan’s Chief Ayorinde, the father of the current Baale of Ekotedo, Chief Taiye Ayorinde. Timi Laoye was a forward-looking Oba and he laid the foundation for his forward-looking successors and he ensured that all his children were well immersed in western education.

    Even though Osun State as a whole is probably 60 to 70% Muslim, Yoruba people for centuries have managed to reconcile the fact that religion is a personal affair and everybody would be individually answerable to the Almighty. There would be no collective judgement on the last day. This has helped Muslims and Christians to co-exist peacefully in Yoruba land. In my ancestral family, the graves of Christians and Muslims are side by side. On a material level, Osun State would benefit to the tune of millions of naira from the tax that we would accrue to it from the workers of the university. The institution would not only be an academic institution at the tertiary level, it would have schools from kindergarten through primary, secondary to university level. So if you permit my immodesty, Redeemer’s University is coming to Ede on a civilising mission. Because of this we hope, pray and expect to benefit from Osun state’s infrastructural budget especially in helping us open our vast campus for development. It would also be necessary for the state government to build a police post somewhere near the university preferably at the gate so as to keep miscreants and hoodlums from disturbing the peace of the university community. The university is in its 10th year of existence and during this period it has attracted attention from local and international bodies. It is today a centre of excellence in West Africa for Genomics research and some of our staff were at the forefront for testing people for the Ebola virus because we have a strong foundation in microbiology. Thanks to Professor Oyewale Tomori, our founding Vice-Chancellor who is presently President of Nigeria Academic of Sciences. His able successor, Professor Debo Adeyewa has sacrificed his personal comfort by moving the university screamingly into its permanent campus as well as by encouraging research and excellence among staff and students and he would go any length to see that this is the central focus of the university without losing touch with our foundational credo of making God the centre of the university’s activities. Graduates of our university are globally recognised and when they go abroad, their certificates confer respect on them and they complete their master’s programme within a year and without having to do a make-up year as is the case with the graduates of public universities in Nigeria. The future of this university is great. All that it would require is support from its proprietor and commitment on the sides of staff and students and encouragement from the society and state in which the university is located.

    The plan of the university is that it would probably not exceed 10,000 students when it is at optimal level of development. The plan also is that the university would be a comprehensive university, having all the traditional colleges of medicine, engineering, dentistry, pharmacy, and law in a programmed development. It has three colleges right now- natural sciences, humanities and social and management sciences which would be split into two colleges of social sciences and management sciences. It also has a budding graduate school and because there is no trade unionism on campus, there is predictability in the number of years students spend and whatever school fees students pay which is not huge, it is money well-spent considering the quality of education being provided by able hands of young and experienced professors some of who have retired from public universities but who are not yet time expired. Even the 10,000 planned student body would eventually have to be increased and I can see the university in future, taking more students than 10,000 and probably increasing to 20,000. Just like the most famous universities in the world such as the University of Al-Quarawiyyin in Morocco, Al-Azar in Egypt and European universities like Oxford and Cambridge and their American counterparts like Harvard, Yale, and Columbia all started as religious institutions and have grown into academic trees that they are today. Redeemer’s University in the future should also become a global centre of learning with its doors open to all and sundry from all over the world. This is my prophecy.

  • RUN moves to permanent site in Ede

    The Redeemer’s University (RUN), hitherto based at the Redemption Camp on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway has moved to its permanent site in Ede, Osun State.

    President of the Redeemer’s University Students’ Association (RUNSA), Adelekan Doyin, said students would be resuming at the new location for the new academic session.

    “The permanent site is close to completion. The classrooms have been built and are currently being furnished. The hostels for students have also been built and are also getting finishing touches,” he stated.

    Vie-Chancellor, Prof Debo Adeyewa promised the permanent site would be very conducive for learning, saying work was in progress at the site.

    Speaking on accommodation, he said two students would be allocated to a room with a private lavatory.

    He assured that management had made provision for buses to convey the students from different states in the country to the new campus.

  • Ede basks in Super Cup win

    Ede basks in Super Cup win

    Enyimba forward, Ifeanyi Ede, has underlined the importance of Thursday’s Charity Cup win over Globacom Premier League champions, Kano Pillars at the Warri City Stadium.

    Ede’s magnificent effort opened the scoring for the People’s Elephant in the 20th minute of a wonderfully open and entertaining encounter and the attacker took the time to explain his show of confidence en route to the goal.

    He had received a pass from inside the Enyimba half before embarking on a mazy run and firing an unstoppable rocket past the Pillars goalkeeper, Theophilus Afelokhai.

    “When I received the ball, I wanted to pass to a teammate but my instincts told me to shoot instead. The defender (of Pillars) tried to block but I turned him inside out. It was one of the best goals I have ever scored,” he exclusively told supersport.com.

    Sibi Gwar added a second for the Aba club 15 minutes after the restart and, despite the best efforts of Pillars to launch a late fight back, Enyimba held on for the win.

    “We have shown by this win that we are the best club in Nigeria. We did not just beat Pillars, we outclassed them with 10 men,” Enyimba chairman, Felix Anyasi Agwu added.

    His Pillars counterpart Abba Abdullahi Yola tried to make light of the defeat.

    “In any game, there must be a winner or a loser. You cannot say it’s the end of the world. We congratulate Enyimba for emerging winners of the Charity Cup,” he said.

  • CAC Baba Abiye’s convention kicks off

    THE theme of the annual convention of Christ Apostolic Church (CAC) Ori-Oke Baba Abiye Ede Osun State is Dry bones shall live.

    The convention holds from November 13-15.

    A statement by the host, Prophet Funsho Akande, said Bishop Wale Oke, Pastor Segun Olatunde, Rev. Ade Ajala and Evangelist Bola Are are some of the invited ministers.

    He assured that expectant mothers and participants seeking salvation, healing and deliverance will return with fullness of joy.

    The event holds at CAC Ori Oke Baba Abiye (Ibadan-Iwo-Osogbo Highway, Iwoye junction Ede, Osun State).

     

  • Hope for less privileged

    Youth group donates clothes

    A development youth group, ISELERU-Spring of Possibilities, has donated clothes worth N300,000 to over 100 less privileged children of Mobi and Agboko communities of Ede, Osun State.

    At a ceremony in Ede,the group’s trustee, Abdul-Majeed Adesina, urged Nigerians to be their brother’s keeper. He said: “The world will be better for all if those blessed within the society take it upon themselves to show love and good neighbourliness by sharing with others.”

    He explained the reasons for raising funds to purchase the clothes for the less privileged, adding that the event was conceived as a way of giving back to the society. “Our leaders should have mercy on the poor by improving their standard of living,” he said.

    Chairman of the group, Hakeem Bolarinwa, said group would execute many programmes in the future. He said it would build communities and enhance the social status of the less privileged.

    Earlier, the Project Co-ordinator, Semih Adabanija, said God would support the poor through the rich. He urged those holding political power to assist the less privileged rather than taking advantage of their economic condition.

    He said: “Helping the less privileged will make the people live in peace and harmony and every Nigerian would be the better for it. The security threats endemic in the country would be reduced if this is done with sincerity.”

    Thanking the group for the gesture, a Mobi community leader, Imam Amusa Raji, prayed for the success of the ISELERU-Spring of Possibilities.

    At the event were community leaders, religious clerics, youths and student leaders as well as relatives of beneficiaries.