Tag: Ibikunle Amosun
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Photo: Amosun visits Buhari in London
Ogun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun, wife during a visit to President Muhammadu Buhari in London -
Bill upgrading MAPOLY to university scales second reading
The Bill to upgrade Moshood Abiola Polytechnic (MAPOLY) to a state University of Technology, on Wednesday, scaled second reading at the Ogun House of Assembly.
The bill is titled: A bill for a law to provide for the establishment of Moshood Abiola University of Technology and for matters of administration and discipline of students connected therewith.
The Majority Leader, Mr Adeyinka Mafe, who moved the motion for the second reading of the bill, described it as historic, adding that it would encourage more students to study science and technology courses.
“We have come to a stage whereby the nation is trying to diversify; it is very important to encourage our people in terms of research.
“We need to encourage our people to go into science and technology so that we have entrepreneurs like they do in other advanced countries.
“In Ogun State, we have so many secondary schools, if we have this University of Technology, it will give an opportunity for indigenes of the state that wants to study courses that are not available in our state universities,” he said.
The majority leader urged the lawmakers to give the bill accelerated passage, saying that the people of the state would appreciate it.
In his submission, Mr Victor Fasanya, (Abeokuta South 1), who seconded the motion, said education was the bedrock of socio-economic development of any country.
Fasanya, who is also the Chairman, House Committee on Education, explained that the bill would have a great impact on academic research which would lead to a technological breakthrough.
According to him, the bill is timely, as Nigeria requires more people who would extend the frontiers of science and technological development.
Also, the Deputy Speaker, Mr Olakunle Oluomo said that if established, the university would offer opportunities for more students from the state seeking admission into tertiary institutions in the country.
“It is futuristic and timely to have a university of technology that will accommodate our ICT graduates, it is good for all of us to make history.
“MAPOLY started 37 years ago and it has the infrastructure and every other thing,” he said.
During plenary, the bill for a law to provide for the establishment, incorporation, constitution and function of the Ogun State Polytechnic, Ipokia scaled second reading.
Mr Suraj Adekunbi, the Speaker, commended the lawmakers for their contributions and thereafter ordered that the bills be committed to Committee on Education, Science and Technology for further legislative action.
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2019: We know those who won’t be governor in Ogun – Amosun
Ogun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun, on Friday said that while he does not know yet who will succeed him come May 29, 2019, he certainly knows those who won’t be governor in the state.
Amosun said there are about seven persons aspiring and working to occupy the number one Office in the Gateway State in 2019, but added that none of them would become governor.
The Governor, who spoke during an expanded meeting of the state chapter of the All Progressives Congress(APC) caucus in Abeokuta, the state capital, said the seven aspirants – whom he did not mention by names, are simply wasting their time and resources.
According to him, there are no qualities of a would – be – governor in any of them.
Amosun, who was reacting to comments written about him on the social media regarding politics of Ogun State in 2019, said he was not bothered by such write – ups, dismissing the authors as “traitors and cowards.”
In the comments on an alleged audio recording of a meeting last week, the governor was accused of abusing former Lagos State governor, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and claiming he will disgrace him.
The Governor’s response came when Senator Lanre Tejuoso drew the attention of Amosun to social media report and wanted to seek clarification from him about it, but the Governor quickly cut-in and urged Tejuoso not to allow himself to be distracted.
Amosun’s reaction in full: “Thank you Senator Tejuoso, my attention has been drawn to it. You should congratulate yourself. For me, we should be happy People are so afraid of whatever we do. They are just running round and it shows clearly that we are on ground and there is no problem.
“They said they have audio and I said they are cowards or even traitors if they are inside the hall. If they have audio, don’t wait for audio, this is me, I will not only give you the audio, do the video, I am here personally and the way we are brought up, whatever we want to say, we will say it openly.
“Those cowards or those traitors if they are trying to record something, I believe those people don’t have anything to do really and truly, you remember when I told you what we use to do truly.
“We have responsibilities to govern, please don’t be distracted by somebody who said this or that but let me say this. For us in Ogun State, I may not be able tell you quickly and say this is who our Governor will be, but we know those who will not be Governor of this state.
“This is Ogun State, this is where I was born, my primary school, secondary school, and tertiary institution took place here. So, if I am speaking, I am speaking from the position of strength.
“And I know with all our elders, even those that are political, I know those who will not be Governor. So, I know that at the appropriate time, we will get our people together and say this is your sons and daughters. We will pick and whoever we pick, is going to be Governor.
“If you want something, there are several ways of getting it. Imagine people said that Asiwaju Bola Tinubu will finish him in Lagos and I said, don’t worry, they don’t know what they are saying.
“I am from Ogun State, what will happen in another place I don’t know and I don’t talk about what I do not know. By the way, I say it all the time, that Asiwaju that you see, not money, he didn’t give me any money, no and I said it often “won ki fi oju olore gbole o,” (Don’t be ungrateful to your helper) when I needed him, he stood by me.
” I talk to him, despite all of those things people will want to say. I think they are afraid to write something about what we are doing and what we are not doing.
“So, the ones I feel they are correct is that we are confident. We are more than confident. This Ogun State, whoever is probably backing them, they are just wasting their time. This Ogun State, we are no God, we are human, but who will be Governor, by the time we say this is the person who will be Governor, our people will chose him because we will do our work,” Amosu stated.
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CBN warns against charging double digit interest rates
Participating Financial Institutions (PFIs) in the country have been warned against charging double-digit interest rate on intervention funds guaranteed by the CBN.
According to a statement by the CBN acting Director, Corporate Communications, Mr Isaac Okorafor on Wednesday,The Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele gave the warning in Abeokuta, Ogun.
He did so during an interaction between the Presidential Task Force on Agricultural Commodities and Production and young farmers at the Owowo Model Farm Estate.
The governor assured the young farmers of the CBN funding support through their respective PFIs.
Emefele asked them to report any bank that charged above 9 per cent interest on loans guaranteed by the CBN.
He assured them that development finance officers of CBN were available to assist them on how to access credit from its various intervention funds to create wealth and meet the country’s food needs.
The governor advised the young farmers to take advantage of the Bank’s Youth Entrepreneurship Development Programme (YEDP) and the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Fund (MSMEDF) to create wealth.
Also, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief AuduOgbeh, assured the youth that the Federal Government would support their quests to make legitimate earnings from agriculture.
Ogbeh expressed confidence in the ability of the youth to produce agricultural commodities that would earn the country the much-needed foreign exchange.
He also commended the effort of the CBN governor, who he noted was very concerned about the import bills of the country, particularly as it had to do with rice importation.
Also, Gov. Atiku Abubakar Bagudu of Kebbi commended the CBN for its support to revamping agricultural value chains across different crop types.
Gov. Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun thanked the presidential task force for visiting the state.
He said that his administration would partner with the CBN and do all within available resources to fund the agricultural sector.
It will be recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari, on Nov. 17, 2015, launched the CBN Anchor Borrowers’ Programme in Kebbi.
The programme is aimed at upgrading small farmers to commercial farmers, thereby achieving the trio objective of stimulating the needed capacity to meet the nation’s increasing food needs.
Some of the intervention fund by the CBN in the agricultural sector include Agricultural Credit Support Scheme, Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme and Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme.
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Buhari, Amosun meet in Aso Rock
President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday met with Ogun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Amosun arrived the Presidential Villa around 4 p.m.
Journalists waiting to know the purpose of the visit dispersed when many staff in the President’s office closed for the day.
The governor was believed to have followed the President to his official residence.
As at the time of filing this report, Amosun did not pass through the main entrance on his way out of the President’s office.
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Osinbajo, Saraki, governors meet in Aso Rock
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Monday met with the Senate President, Bukola Saraki and some state governors at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara was also part of the meeting.
The governors at the closed-door meeting included Ogun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun, Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, Zamfara State Governor, Abdulaziz Yari, Niger State Governor, Abubakar Sani Bello and Adamawa State Governor, Jubrilla Bindow.
President Muhammadu Buhari left Abuja on Monday for Morocco to attend the 22nd Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), also known as COP-22, in Marrakech.
Before Buhari’s trip out of the country, Saraki had met with him three different times within one week over his request for approval to get $29.9 billion loan.
The Senate had recently rejected Buhari’s approval request for the loan.
It also described the 2017 to 2019 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) forwarded by President Buhari for approval as “empty.”
The MTEF is yet to be approved by the Senate.
At the end of the meeting with Osinbajo on Monday, Saraki simply told State House correspondents: “Am sure the VP will issue a statement. But nothing of great alarm. It’s all for good governance, inclusion and collaboration with all arms. The states are here, national assembly executives just came up with ideas on how to make things work even better, that’s all.”
No official statement on the meeting has been issued at the time of filing this report.
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Accountability will take Nigeria out of recession – Amosun
The Ogun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun on Tuesday said that the quickest way out of the recession in the country is accountability.
He pointed out that everything will collapse if all Nigerians in different fields are not held accountable with what they do.
The governor spoke on the topic ‘Accountability, A collective Responsibility’ during the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) 46th Annual Accountants’ Conference in Abuja.
The governor said: “If we have to quickly get out of the recession we found ourselves, we all must be accountable.
“If we are not going to be held responsible for our actions, then everything will collapse.
“We must be ready to adhere to world best practices.” He added
Noting that the ICAN has been up and doing, he pointed out that not all Nigerians have been following the accountability norm.Presently, he said that the private sector is doing more accountability than the public sector.
Even though Nigeria is facing tough times, he said that Nigerians must be ready to face the challenges.
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Dwindling income: States seek World Bank grants
With the dwindling prices of oil in the international market and reducing income to the Federation Account, states are seeking ways to access World Bank grants.
To this end, the governors under the platform of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) Wednesday night received presentation on how to access the grants from the Country Director of World Bank, Rachid Benmessaoud.
Briefing State House correspondents at the end of the meeting, NGF Chairman, Abdulaziz Yari said: “We the Nigerian Governors Forum had a meeting today in the banquet hall,we invited the country director of World Bank, Rachid Benmessaoud who briefed the forum on the money lying down in the world bank which largely belongs to state governments but has not been accessed.
“Because of the cumbersome procedure in accessing these funds, most of the governors did not even know they had such funds there, it was the initiative of the Governor of Kaduna state that they should come and make this presentation so that they can educate the governors to know that these monies are there especially in the kind of situation we are the difficulties so that the state can move forward in terms of infrastructure development and other matters in our respective states.
“We have a presentations from the world bank officials and we agreed on terms, the governors contributed that so many things should be involved, most especially the issue of counterpart funding which the world bank accepted they are going to look into.
“Also they agreed that they will give us the details of state by state how much is lying down for each state and how we are going to access it.
He said that in the meanwhile the World Bank has agreed to facilitate a workshop for the state governors, commissioner of finances and other staff.
The workshop, he said, is to show how best to access the funds.
He added: “We discussed sincerely on the issue of counterpart funding. It is more difficult for us to fulfill our own part because we are struggling to see how we can pay salaries that is the most difficult aspect of it and they promised that they will look into it and immediately that is done, the states will move fast to ensure we access it.”
On his part, Kaduna State Governor, Nasir el-Rufai said that the World Bank portfolio for the states for 2016 is $4.25 billion and $3.25 billion out of it is lying undisbursed.
According to him, the states are either not meeting their conditions or not moving fast enough to draw the $3.25 billion.
He said: “You know $3.25 billion can do a lot to improve the lives and livelihood of our citizens in the states and the world bank has expressed its flexibility to look into the challenges we are facing as well as the procedure or bottleneck to ease the access of these monies because the World Bank wants us to withdraw these money as quickly as possible so that our citizens will get the benefits from health to education and the rural access, agriculture and the revival of livestock and water supply.
“These are the areas that most of these funds are dedicated and we all need the money because we are all broke, so we are going to work very hard to try to get these monies in trust.” He stated
On the increase in pump price of fuel, Ogun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun said that it is a sacrifice that must be paid by all.
He said that the President and the government mean well for the country.
He said: “All of us means well and if truly we are caring for the masses we believe that subsidy only serve the rich, those that are getting us the fuel, not the masses.
“We believe that such money that have been saved from the subsidy would be used for infrastructural development particularly for social services for all of the down- trodden masses.
“We are putting our weight behind it, while urging the federal government and in deed the state governments to see how we can ameliorate all the problems the masses would probably go through in the short run because in the long run they would be the better for it.
“We supported it because we believe that it is in the interest of the masses.” He stated
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Ogun state will be the best in five years- Amosun
Ogun State governor, Ibikuble Amosun has said that Ogun state will become the best state in five years.
He stated this in an interview with Channels television.
According to him, this will happen as a result of the state’s numerous successes in attracting million-dollar investments recently.
Speaking ahead of the recent State Economic Summit, Amosun revealed that the internal generated revenue of the state has increased despite the debt profile of State put at N65 bn.
He also stated the importance of the economic summit which focused on opportunities in the environment, transportation and agriculture sectors of the state’s economy.
“There are currently new ways in doing things. That is why we must forge partnerships with those that have done it. Infrastructure has increased in the state, same goes for transportation.
“Our roads are as good as it gets now. Ogun state is secure. Ogun state will be the best in five years. We have the largest number of industries in Nigeria. We have plans to develop our transport options and we look forward to building three airports in the state,” Amosun said.
The building of the three airports, the governor said is not for luxurious purposes, but what the country needs to develop our transport system.
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Unilever reaffirm commitment to sustainable business in Nigeria
The Managing Director, Unilever Nigeria Plc, Mr. Yaw Nsarkoh, has said that the company will continue to step up its capital investment in the country by enhancing its local manufacturing capacity.
Nwarkoh made this known on Wednesday when he led the Management team of the multinational company on a courtesy visit to the Executive Governor of Ogun state, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, at the governor’s office, Oke Mosan in Abeokuta.
According to him, the company which has been operating in the state since the 80s, has concluded plans to expand its business base in the country, albeit the prevailing economic challenges.
He noted that the company is a proudly Nigerian business which has been in the country for over 90 years, and intends to stay for even longer.
His words: “Ogun State is strategic to our business operations. We have been here for a long time and we hope to continue to do business here, add value to the community, to the people and the state at large. We believe in the survival of the community, because the community would drive the survival of any business.
“As a company, we are committed to the growth and development of Nigeria and we will continue to do our best to support the various initiatives of government, while stepping up our capital investment in Nigeria.”
In his response, Governor Amosun, commended the company for their interest in the state, and promised that government would provide all the necessary assistance to the company in their expansion plan, adding that his administration is committed to creating the required conducive environment for businesses to thrive.
He said, “The state has classified Unilever Nigeria as one of our stakeholders, one of the companies we will continue to encourage.
“We will continue to partner with companies that adhere to best practices. We thank you for creating employment opportunities for our people; we look forward to having you as one of our partners during the forthcoming economic summit.”