The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Fasuan

  • Fasuan hails Ekiti govt for immortalising him

    Chairman, Committee for the creation of Ekiti State Chief Oladeji Fasuan has expressed gratitude to the state government for immortalising him as a living legend.

    Fasuan said he was elated that such honour was bestowed on him, having considered his indelible footprints in the state’s growth.

    The government last weekend announced its intention to establish four secondary schools after four prominent indigenes.

    The schools will be situated in Ado-Ekiti metropolis, where there is a dire need to create secondary school’s educational facilities for pupils, who trekked long distance to attend schools.

    The secondary schools are being established at critical areas like Iyin, Ikere, Ilawe and Ijan roads.

    The schools will be named after four prominent sons of the soil, namely: Oladeji Fasuan, Afenifere leader Pa Senator Ayo Fasanmi and Second Republic Senator Prof. Banji Akintoye and Prof. David Oke.

    The former Permanent Secretary, who spoke in Ado Ekiti, the state capital, expressed happiness that for the first time in the state’s history, the government would be demonstrating appreciation for the modest contribution of some of its indigenes.

    He said: “I am impressed with this bold step taken by Fayemi. He has demonstrated appreciation for its indigenes, who had in one way or the other contributed modestly to the state’s development.

    “He has restored the lost values through his laudable policies targeted at raising the bar for qualitative and functional education in the state and beyond.”

    Fasuan hoped that the new administration in Ekiti would continue the just aspiration of the people with enlightened and well focus administration.

    He advised the new generation to take socio-economic and political development of Ekiti State as a child of necessity, saying posterity would judge and reward individual’s contribution in societal growth.

    He added that he never engaged in the development struggle of the state for any gains but rather for the sake of humanity.

  • I’ll work more for Ekiti, says Fasuan

    •Ex-RMAFC chief gets Asiwaju title

    Elder statesman and Chairman of the Committee for the Creation of Ekiti State Chief Deji Fasuan has pledged to do more for the development of the state.

    Fasuan spoke at the weekend after he was conferred with the title of Asiwaju of Afao-Ekiti by the Alafao, Oba Joseph Ademilua.

    The former federal commissioner on the board of Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) said the title was a motivation for him to continue to serve Afao community and other parts of Ekiti State.

    He was the arrowhead of a committee, comprising monarchs, senior civil servants, politicians, businessmen, who worked for the creation of Ekiti State by the Gen. Sani Abacha government on October 1, 1996.

    Oba Ademilua said Fasuan was given the title because of his passion for the growth and development of Afao.

    Dignitaries at the event include the Oloye of Oye-Ekiti, Oba Oluwole Ademolaju; the Olosi of Osi-Ekiti, Oba Oladiran Agunbiade; the Alare of Are-Ekiti, Oba Boluwade Adebiyi; the Owatapa of Itapa-Ekiti, Oba Makanjuola Ajaja; the Oluyin of Iyin-Ekiti, Oba Ademola Ajakaye; former Minister of National Planning Chief Ayo Ogunlade and mother of Ekiti State governor Evangelist Olufunke Oluwayose.

    Fasuan later hosted senior citizens from the 16 councils to their annual feast, called the Buffet in the Jungle, where they relived old memories and deliberated on development of Ekiti State.

    The retired technocrat urged his fellow senior citizens to always serve as agents of change in the society.

    “The roles of senior citizens in the community were fundamental.”

    Fasuan urged them to make their impact felt.

     

  • Don’t hide your earnings, Fasuan tells public officials

    Don’t hide your earnings, Fasuan tells public officials

    Elder statesman Chief Deji Fasuan has condemned the secrecy in which the salaries, emoluments and allowances of the members of the National Assembly are shrouded.

    Fasuan, who spoke with The Nation in Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital, yesterday, described the allocations that go to National Assembly members as “not only overblown but obscene”.

    The retired Permanent Secretary condemned the claim by the lawmakers during plenary last week that “only two per cent of the national budget was allocated to the National Assembly”.

    He contended that two per cent of the National Budget is too much for a National Assembly, the National Assembly Service Commission and its bureaucracy that cannot be more than 10,000 individuals in a population of about 170 million Nigerians.

    Fasuan, a former Federal Commissioner on the board of the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) suggested an urgent review of the bicameral legislature being run in the country and the need to consider electing lawmakers on part-time basis to save cost and reduce waste.

    His words: “Besides stark statistics, we must all admit that our lawmakers do not understand the Nigerian situation of today. There are families that cannot boast of more than N300 per day for their upkeep.

    “This translates to about N5,000 per month. Can you compare that with Assembly members earning over N18 million per month?

    The ritual some of them engage in is that at the end of each Session, they give out peanuts to their constituents as ‘empowerment’. These innocent people would react differently if they knew the take home pay of our new ‘masters’ in Abuja.

    “The question is do we really need a bicameral legislature? Do we need full-time legislators? These two questions and others will continue us to feature in our political discourse in the next few years.

    “It is unthinkable that parliamentarians believe that what the public needs to know about their financial allocation is only the quantum of a block votes and not details.

    “This is horrible to say the least, the resources allocated to them are from public treasury. Why then should we not know the details of the application of resources.

    “Even the Judiciary is an open book, there is nothing hidden about payment and emoluments of judges whey then should we knot know what these do-or-die legislators earn? The time is running out.”

  • ‘Improved’ GDP has no effect on Nigerians, says Fasuan

    ‘Improved’ GDP has no effect on Nigerians, says Fasuan

    Elder statesman Chief Deji Fasuan has said the size of Nigeria’s economy has made no impact in the lives of Nigerians.

    Fasuan, an economist, said eight of every 10 Nigerians live under dehumanising conditions, without access to three square meals daily, shelter and clothing.

    The former federal commissioner for Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), Abuja, spoke with reporters yesterday in Ado-Ekiti, on the April 6 announcement by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Nigeria’s attainment of $510-billion (N80.3 trillion) Gross Domestic Product (GDP) status.

    The NBS claimed that the attainment makes the country’s economy the biggest in Africa, an announcement that has attracted moves by the Federal Government to rebase the economy.

    Fasuan said: “To me, the announcement is a big hoax. The status of Nigeria as Africa’s biggest economy is a lie, considering the sad realities of many citizens who practically live off the dustbins.

    “Even if it is true in terms of the physical appearance of the GDP, the question one would ask is ‘does the quantum of the value of the economy and the GDP relate to individuals or citizens constituting the nation state?’

    “Until we come to the honest truth that we have no exact statistical data about vital elements of our economy, we cannot reasonably say this is the value of our economy.

    “How does the quantum of our GDP relate to the welfare of citizens? What percentage of people has been lifted above the poverty line as a result of the enhanced quantum of GDP? Seventy to 75 per cent of Nigerians live below the poverty line; that is, those who earn less than one dollar a day.

    “Not uncharitably, some commentators say about five per cent of the population has cornered about 70 per cent of the national wealth. You will now see why the equation of poverty is so skewed against the so-called poor. I am, most certainly, very apprehensive of the future of this country.

    “The bomb that could explode anytime would arise from not the mob of thugs you see outside everyday, but from the educated mob. There is nothing more dangerous in the world than mobilising an educated mob because they would be operating on conviction and daredevil mind.

    “When we have two three millions of graduates roaming the streets, that is a gunpowder waiting to explode. I hope and pray that there will be a re-orientation, a quick one at all levels, that we owe Nigeria and Nigerians certain obligations to elevate their quality of life; to lift them up from the abyss of poverty.”