The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Nigeria News

  • Dangerous beauty trends amongst ladies

    We live in a world where a woman’s skin and her body shape define her beauty and fate; a  world where you’re being judged by how you look, your skin colour and body curves. A world where beauty and body become a criteria for women to obtain a good job, a criteria to attract people get likes on social media and be respected.

    Newsweek columnist, Jessica Bennett, once said: “ In this economy, looking good isn’t just vanity, it’s economic survival. Then it is not surprising and only natural that women try to obtain that criteria and fit into that world for economic survival.”

    However, what’s shocking is what most women do to fit into that world and its injurious effects.

    Women resort to different methods and ways to look good and fit perfectly into the ideal world of pretty women with charming body curves. Due to the pressure on women on the need to look good and the requirements of our contemporary society for a beautiful woman, many have subjected themselves to dangerous procedures, barbaric and expensive means just to obtain and maintain the so-called right body and face. Most women go through series of heart wrenching pains to achieve pretty looks and the most shocking is the adverse effects that come with it or follow after.

    Face is one of those parts that the world believes makes a beautiful woman, and that’s why women go the extra length to make their face beautiful either by bleaching, make-up, piercing of the ears, eyes, nose and lips, and worse still undergoing surgery, among others.

    However, bleaching, surgery and make-up seem to be the most widely used. There are lots of materials seen to be used in reaching their desired dream, such as bleaching soap, bleaching cream. Most women use to tone their skin colour, especially those who believe being black isn’t beautiful. There are also different types of cosmetic surgery many women undergo to improve their facial appearances despite the risk and high cost, Such cosmetic surgery includes: botox (to conceal wrinkles), cheek lift, chin surgery, aleph atop pasty (eyelid surgery), face-lift, neck lift, otoplasty (ear surgery), and rhinoplasty (nose surgery). Also, the most widely used is make-up, which is predominant among female Nigerians, such as foundation for different skin tone, concealer, eye pencil, lipstick, face powder, eye liner, mascara, eye lashes, have been prioritised and socially uplifted.

    Another criteria used is the woman’s body shape and parts, the curve which has been proclaimed as figure 8, the breasts, the butt, shaped midsection, straight legs and wide hips. It is a general belief, in Nigeria, that a woman with a fit body and curve attracts men more, and also has a higher chance of getting job opportunities. I guess that’s why most women subjected themselves to different painful exercises and means such as; using waist trainers, padded bra, cosmetic surgery, body enhancer cream, hip enhancer, stretch marks removal cream, butt enhancer, breast enhancer, flat tummy balm etc. Some women engage themselves in various cosmetic surgery in pursuit of admirable curve. Abdomen reduction/ tummy tuck, arm lift, liposuction, belt lipectomy, and inner thigh lift are all sorts of surgery recorded.

    Women also go through the pain of fixing nails, using hair extensions, drawing tattoos, wearing high-heeled shoes. Nevertheless, it is shocking that women still troop in to fit into all stated above despite the adverse effects.

    Yes! Beauty is pain, but at what expense? Most of these things we do in the name of beauty come with unfavourable effects that are injurious to health. Cosmetic surgery including face and body cosmetic carry greater risk. These risks include: Infection at the site of incision; which may worsen scarring and required additional surgery, Fluid buildup under skin, skin breakdown, nerve damage, high probability of varieties of cancer; and even death in some situation. Besides, it comes with a high cost and complicated procedures such as:stable weight for six months to a year; not chewing tobacco; gums or lozenges for four to six weeks before and after surgery, and signing of consent form in case things go wrong, among others.

    Bleaching creams are also known to contain harmful ingredients such as hydroquinone, mercury, tretinoin, serotonin etc. Tretinoin also known as trans retinoic acid is used mainly for skin discoloration. Using it makes the skin more sensitive to ultraviolet rays therefore the need to avoid sunlight.

    Now, the question is: Is the beauty really worth all these pains? Do you really have to fit into the world idea of a pretty woman at the expense of your life? I mean even if you want to, there are safer ways to do it by using natural remedies, eating right and staying happy instead of resorting to methods that could cost you your life and health.

    And to women, I believe we’re strong enough to accept ourself for who we are. Be proud of who you are. You don’t have to give up your health, life and freedom in order to fit into the world’s idea of a good looking woman.

    Yes! It’s nice to look good, but do it in a safe way. Facial beauty attracts people but not for long. Nobody cares about a pretty corpse. If you’re so worried about how your lover and the world will look at you, then what happens when the beauty fades.

    Women deserve to be happy, Yes, We deserve that!!!

    • Owolabi Khadijah is a 200level student of Law, Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto.

  • Obolo Students hold Cultural Day

    It was all fun at Akwa Ibom State Polytechnic (AKPOLY) last weekend when Obolo students marked their Cultural Day. Clad in different attires, the students under the aegis of National Association of Eastern Obolo Students (NAEOS), thronged the AKPOLY mini stadium, venue of the programme.

    The event, which was organised to showcase the cultural heritage of Obolo natives, was graced by many members of theObolo community in IkotEkpene, as well as lawmakers from the National Assembly.

    In his addressthe president of the association Moses Etem, expressed gratitude to God for making the day a reality. He said his strength and leadership ability would set the association on progressive pace after his tenure.

    The chairman of the occasion, Uro Bill, emphasised the need for students to unite and promote their language and cultural heritage wherever they may be. According to him, Obolo culture remains one of the richest, while transmission from parents to children is fluid.

    He urged lecturers to always instill morals and good values on the students, saying such would encourage students to focus on their future.

    The cultural troupe of the association entertained guests and members with agaba and nwatamdance steps. Also, some of the members recited the Obolo anthem to the surprise of the guests.

    One of the students, Cecilia Anthony, 200-Level Business Administration, told CAMPUSLIFE that the messages of Agaba and Nwatam drums were to educate and prick the conscience of the people in Obolo society. He added that agaba and Nwatam remains relevant in today’s society to speak the truth to the power that be.

    The highlight of the occasion included the presentation of awards to some of the guests;launching of the association’s almanac and decoration of the pioneer MR and MISS Obolo.

  • Death in the cantonment

    MILITARY bases are fortresses. They are not places to be accessed with ease by anybody, no matter who they are. Unfortunately, our military formations are not as secure as expected. They have become so porous that hoodlums easily find their way in there. That a place is called a base is enough to instill fear in intruders. This is why when people see walls on which the legend is written: ‘’military zone, keep off’’, they keep their distance. But some daredevils have found military bases so easy to penetrate to commit crime. They go in, kill and vanish into thin air. Just like that. It should not be so. If bases are no longer safe, we are all in trouble because nobody will be safe. What should deter miscreants from entering military formations is that the people there are armed and sworn to kill.

    Whether it is familiarity or what, I cannot say. The fact remains that these formations have lost their bite before hoodlums whose latest victim was Commander Oluwayemisi Ogundana, the Commandant of the Armed Forces Command Secondary School and Staff College (AFCSC), Jaji, Kaduna State. Ogundana was allegedly killed by a teacher in the school, Bernard Simon, her body dismembered, bagged and dumped in a well in a village near the cantonment. She did not meet death on the road. She was slain in her home and her remains taken outside the barracks to be dumped inside a well. How did her killers gain access into her home? Didn’t she have security guards? If our military bases cannot stop killers who are on the rampage nationwide from entering the barracks then there is no need maintaining those cantonments. If they cannot secure themselves, how can they secure the country?

  • AAUA: Students bemoan bad roads, harvest of deaths

    For locals and particularly students of Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko (AAUA) in Ondo State, incessant motorcycle mishaps are not alien to them. From time to time, students recount horrendous tales of accidents by desperate and overzealous motorcyclists. The incident has left many dead while majority of those who survived have remained handicapped. The latest accident, which killed Miss Esther Ayo, a 100-Level Plant Science and Biotechnology student, is raising fresh concerns on the security of lives of AAUA students generally, ADESOLA IKULAJOLU a final year MASS COMMUNICATION student, reports

    Miss Esther Ayo was happy when she was offered admission to study Plant Science and Biotechnology at the Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko (AAUA) in Ondo State. Little did she realise that she would not survive the first year before death cut her life short.

    Apparently oblivious of the evil that dotted her path that fateful Saturday, Esther had attended lectures after which she returned home, excited.

    In the evening, Esther made her way to the market to get some foodstuff, only to  run into an errant cyclist at Okusa quarters (an area in  Akungba). The impatient cyclist had a head-on collision with Esther at top speed. She  never survived it  as she died on the spot.

    News of her sudden death, earlier this month rang through the length and breath of the school. Besides, it left many students shell shocked and resigning to fate amid seeming hopelessness over their vulnerability to reckless motorists and cyclists’ popularly known as okada.

    President of AAUA Students’ Union Comrade Adesomoju Samuel lamented how Esther’s life was cut short by a tragedy that could have been avoided.

    He said: “I’m shocked with this sad report of accident mostly due to reckless riding of our motorcyclists. So sad that Esther left us so soon. We love her but God loves her most.”

    Adesomoju appealed to appropriate quarters to checkmate the situation and protect the students against future incidents.

    Esther’s case was one of those needless deaths caused by the propensity of motocyclists to an innocent life; no thanks to deplorable roads that often aid such calamity.

    In 2016, a motorcyclist knocked down a student. The development prompted wide protests by students against the recklessness of public transport operators in Akungba, a community that houses a chunk of students of AAUA.

    CAMPUSLIFE observed that the accidents do not only occur on the major roads in Akungba-Akoko , but also on minor  roads in the community.

    According to road users, the deplorable state of the Akungba – Ikare road (a federal road) has made road accidents almost a daily occurence. Owing to those needless road mishaps, Akungba community decided to build  bumps along streets apparently in a bid to reduce the speed of public transport operators.

    But has the accidents abated?

    Some of the students complained of over-speeding by the riders. Others say they recklessly bump into portholes; yet others complained of their impatience which sometimes make them collide with one another at top speed.

    President of the Osun State students in AAUA, Comrade Abodunrin Samuel, described the attitude of the cyclists as ‘unbecoming’.

    He said: “They ride as if they have an extra life somewhere, all because they want to make money. They risk their lives and that of their passengers’. Some of them even drink and smoke. Once intoxicated, they become something else. They don’t care what type of car is approaching or at what speed the car is driving towards them.”

    Abodunrin, who is a final year Mass Communication student of the university, said bad road has been another cause of accidents in Akungba, most especially around market areas on market days.”

    He added: “If concerned associations can look into rehabilitating these roads and cautioning cyclists, then accidents will be reduced to the barest minimum. Passengers should also look before they board motorcyclists. They should avoid cyclists that are addicted to substances.”

    “The reckless riding of motorists/cyclists in Akungba is becoming unbearable, “said another 400-Level student of Mass Communication, OluponaTemitope.

    Temitope continued: “I really don’t know if probably they are in haste or something else. Recently, a student of the university was knocked down due to this reckless driving. Students are no longer safe when walking or crossing roads. The school needs to address this issue. Students’ lives  are at risk here, the school should hold a meeting with  the association of transport operators in Akungba, and make them see reasons why this recklessness must stop. The safety of students is very paramount here.  It is getting out of hand and the school must act to avoid protest.”

    On his own part, AdeyefaTolulope, who is a second year Political Science undergraduate, lambasted transport operators for their carelessness, and propensity to ignoring traffic signs.

    “Most of the many mishaps occurring on the highway in Akungba,are as a result of carelessness and recklessness on the part of motorcyclists. Their carefree attitude towards traffic regulation is often the cause of accident, which at times results into loss of lives. Majority of them ride under the influence of alcohol and India hemp. As long as this remains their stock in trade, they cannot but be reckless.”

    Adeyefa suggested that more officers from the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) should be mobilised to apprehend and mete appropriate sanctions  to traffic offenders. This is in addition to making more bumps on roads that are vulnerable.

    Oluwaseun Blessing, a final year student of English Studies, said it becomes more dangerous for students and pedestrians to cross the road as motorcyclists could run across from anywhere without using the horn.

    She said: “I am tired of the behaviour of these cyclists; they act like the owner of the roads. At evenings, it becomes very difficult to cross even normal streets. They appear from any angle without using the horn. They have little or no consideration for pedestrians.”

    Another student Emmanuel Ade, who claimed to have been a victim of road accident in Akungba, also condemned the reckless attitude of the cylists.

    “One would think reckless driving occurs on Owo-Ikare expressway and other major roads in Akungba alone, but that is not true. Minor roads and even bush paths are not spared of this act of carelessness. I have been an accident victim in Akungba and can boldly say that motorists, especially cyclists are the major destroyer of the roads,” Emmanuel said.

    “Considering the number of accidents that have occured on Akungba roads this year, one does not need a soothsayer to infer that the cyclists need  to be cautioned.”

    A student who pleaded anonymity, attributed the recklessness of motorists to bad roads.

    “It is imperative to note that most of the roads in Akungba need reconstruction. I would not really blame cyclists who try to make use of every available path, as it is just a way of wriggling out of the messy situation they found themselves .”

    Defending his colleagues, a cyclist who identified himself as Gabriel Olagbemi, attributed incessant road mishaps to bad roads. He also commented on the indifference of pedestrians, majority of who are students.

    He said: “It is not our fault that some accidents occur sometimes. The roads are not good enough especially in this rainy season. Everyone tries to sort himself out.

    “Concerning the rise in the rate of accidents, I think the pedestrians have their own share of the blame. They act with carelessness  and are quick to verbally attack cyclists when being corrected.”

    He added: “This is not to say that all cyclists are good. There are some who get drunk before setting out for business of the day which is not a good thing.”

    Olagbemi further pleaded with pedestrians to exercise patience while also calling on the government to repair and reconstruct damaged roads.

    Meanwhile, the Students Union has scheduled a meeting with the Akungba chapter of  the Amalgamation of Commercial Motorcycle Riders Association of Nigeria ((ACOMORAN), which comprises motorcycle transport operators nationwide.

    General-Secretary, AAUA-SU, Comrade Adebayo Jesutola, noted that the union is inundated with reports of recklessness of cyclists in Akungba .

    “Following the various reports of recklessness of motocyclists in Akungba-Akoko and its environs, the Students Union of AdekunleAjasin University has reached out to the chairman and other executive members ACOMORAN). We need to deliberate because this thoughtlessness has become too much.

    “The Students Union leadership has repeatedly admonished members of ACOMORAN against the use of hard drugs before mounting the motorcycles. This, we believe, will also reduce their recklessness on the highway,” Jesutola added.

    In the same vein, management has waded in promising to partner with necessary agencies to ensure that students are always in safe hands.

    The university’s Head of Information, Protocol and Public Relations Unit (IPPRU), Mr Victor Akinpelumi, who spoke to CAMPUSLIFE, lamented that the university has received several reports bordering on threatens to students’ life.

    Akinpelumi said management has put in place a patrol team that would help reduce the ugly incidents happening to students off-campus, especially at night.

    He said: “The AAUA management received the reports of armed robbery attacks on students living off campus, precisely in the Medoline and Cele areas of AkungbaAkoko.

    “The university has held several meetings with students and landlords in the affected areas on how best to stop this menace.

    “Apart from this, the university has also put in place a joint patrol team comprising the police, our security outfit in the institution, and paramilitary outfits.”

    Akinpelumi explained that the management is also engaging a local vigilante group that would work in conjunction with the people in a joint patrol of the aforementioned areas.

  • ‘Teachers’ reward not in heaven’

    As Principal of Lanre Awolokun High School, Gbagada, Mr Adegbenga Kunle Oresegun retired last Friday, he disagreed with the notion that teachers’ reward is in heaven.

    According to him, despite the economic situation of the country, he sent all his children to private universities.  Speaking during his Pen Down ceremony at the school, which marked his last day in the civil service, Oresegun said joining the teachers’ cooperative society helped him to meet his financial needs.

    “As a teacher, all we needed to do was to join cooperative societies and we were not extravagant, hence we were able to make it in life as teachers”.

    Oresegun, a recipient of many awards for his hard work and dedication to duty, said the school was not doing well academically when he became the princip al.

    He said: “My turning point came when I was promoted principal. I met the school in a very bad shape. When I assumed office, academically, the percentage of the school then was 35 per cent and glory be to God, in my first year as a principal, we scored 85 per cent.  The following year was 100 per cent.  The next year was 73 per cent.  Those were my three years as principal in this school.”

    Oresegun charged all members of staff not to relent in their efforts to keep up with the standard already set academically.

    Ven. O.B Dokunmu, who officiated the event, described Oresegun not only an administrator per excellence, but a very disciplined man who touched many lives.

    Many pupils and workers of the school wished their outgoing principal good luck in his future endeavours.

    They presented Oresegun, who was nicknamed King of Boys, with many gifts.

    Oresegun, who was delighted with the show of love, admitted that he did not expect that much from people some of whom he could not remember again.

  • Sanwo-Olu, deplorable roads and criminal okada riders

    Protecting the interest of the ruled, especially the middle class- teachers, journalists, lawyers, doctors and other professionals, is the best safeguard against government instability in any society. And once those basic needs of the governed are met, government can do no evil. This explains why our highly educated youths and skilled professionals are moving in droves to Canada and other western societies where these basic needs are secured despite the prospect of ending up as slaves in the service of capitalist slave drivers that own those societies. And what are these basic needs for which many Nigerians are prepared to trade their freedom for enslavement in foreign lands? Good schools for the education of their children, security of life and properties and of their families at home or in the streets, regular supply of electricity and water and affordable health care system.

    Today, the governed are not even asking for all these basic needs which were taken for granted in Lagos and some parts of the country until the collapse of the first republic in 1966. They have been scaled down because of our crisis of underdevelopment.  With the collapse of public schools and government tertiary institutions, the governed especially in Lagos spend the bulk of their earnings on sending their children to private schools and higher institutions at home or abroad. They generate their own electricity, are responsible for their own water supply as well as their own security and that of their communities. What the governed expect from their government is therefore limited to clearance of refuse, provision of roads, and protection from unruly ‘okada’ riders and sick ‘danfo’ drivers on those roads. Sadly, the few expectations have been met more in default by immediate past and current Lagos State government.

    Governor  Sanwo-Olu admitted this much  while marking his first 100 days in office on the on September 5 in an event grazed by top chieftains of the All Progressives Congress, traditional leaders, members of the state executive council, civil society, market leaders, students, and youth group. According to him “On assumption of office, we were confronted with major challenges, including traffic management and environmental sanitation. Potholes dotted our highways and heaps of refuse were common sites in our communities. And traffic situation became a source of concern to residents.” He wants Lagosians to believe his declaration of emergency on traffic management and transportation in the state through an executive order “has brought about significant relief to the residents of the state”.

    It is doubtful if many Lagosians, not least, the opposition PDP that dismissed the governor’s outing as “a fanfare of failure”, share his sentiment. In this group are  residents of  potholes dotted Ikeja and its environ, Agege, Ikotun, Ejigbo, Ikorodu, Apapa, Gbagada, Oshodi, Magodo 1, Egbeda, Ipaja, and Abule-Egba; Ikorodu community with huge heaps of un-cleared refuse and motorists who are daily robbed inside traffic gridlocks by okada riders. Obviously the governor is unaware that what has so far defined his four months administration is the chaos and anarchy created by okada riders inside traffic gridlocks on Lagos highways.

    As much as one might wish to sympathise with Sanwo-Olu for inheriting a regime of pot-holes, un-cleared refuse dumps and the takeover of Lagos major roads by okada riders from Ambode who abandoned governance the moment he failed to secure his APC’s party ticket for a second term, but then one remembers he has not only been part of government since 2003, he had two clear months to prepare for Ambode’s failure of governance. In any case, this is the fourth month of Sanwo-Olu in government and there is no evidence the Lagos State Road Traffic Law of August 2, 2012 which restricts the operations of commercial motorcycles on about 475 out of the over 9,000 roads in Lagos State which is today being breached by commercial motorcyclists who ride against traffic on major high ways and express ways has been repealed.

    The governor is also not unaware that most crimes in recent times have been linked with activities of unruly okada and tricycle drivers. Just last Monday, Lagos State Police Commissioner, Zubairu Muazu disclosed 11 notorious traffic robbery suspects arrested by the police on September 14, at Igando area of the state and the notorious armed robbers who specialised in snatching phones, money and other valuables from unsuspecting members of the public, mostly where there were traffic gridlocks “ operate mostly on motorcycles”. According to him, “those arrested all confessed to be responsible for series of robberies at traffic points, bus stops, around Yabatech, Yaba, Ejigbo, Igando-Ikotun, Ipaja and Isolo areas of the state”. In all, he disclosed “19 Lagosians have been murdered in Lagos and 31 armed robbery attempt foiled in one month, a ‘huge reduction in violent crimes over the last few months”. If Sanwo-Olu is troubled by these statistics, the governed are yet to see that in his response.

    Sadly, the tepid response of Sanwo-Olu to the menace of motorcyclists so far was the questioning of 123 Jigawa youths ferried to Lagos along their 48 motorcycles in a trailer on August 31 by his Lagos State Environmental Sanitation and Special Offences Task Force. Ferrying of northern youths and motorcycles to Lagos by northern governors who claimed it was their own answer to mass unemployment dates as far back as 2012. Neither the governors who are under pressure to provide jobs for largely unemployable illiterates nor the desperate marginalized youths who are in search of greener pastures can be blamed. What attracts them to Lagos, the economic capital of the country is what daily draws other poor, jobless youths from other geo-political zones of the country to Lagos.

    What Governor Sanwo-Olu needs is a more creative approach to the menace of unruly and criminal okada riders whose operations had been banned even by some northern states.  He also needs to take a cue from Fashola who called the bluff of okada riders even when they had the support of the then President Jonathan whose party attempted to use them to destablise Lagos.

    Fashola was also not waiting on the public to send pictures of pot-holes through indolent civil servants.  Some three years back, I wrote a piece about the menace of touts and police men on Mile 12-Ikorodu road who ferried their unsuspecting victims to a location behind Agric Bus Stop in Ikorodu where they give their victims after hours of standing in the sun a Hobbesian choice of paying bribe to bail themselves out and going to pay fine in Oshodi which will take about two days while their impounded vehicles attracted demurrage. Two weeks after the report, some indolent men who claimed to handle public complaint for Ambode called asking me to furnish them with more information. Fashola would have driven to the identified location incognito. It is also on record that Marwa ensured that any identified pot-hole in any part of Lagos was attended to within a week while uninspiring Oyinlola before him blamed the deplorable state of Lagos roads on scarcity of bitumen.

    Sanwo-Olu as an executive governor is not obliged to retain political hangers-on and indolent bureaucrats who undermined Ambode’s efforts to meet the scaled-down demands of the Lagos’ governed.

  • ‘Lagos Assembly will not fail Lagosians’

    A member of the Lagos State House of Assembly representing Mushin1 Constituency, Nureni Akinsanya, has assured Lagosians that the House will not let them down.

    Speaking at the Lawmaker’s Constituency Stakeholders meeting, he said the 9th Lagos Assembly would be unrelenting in partnering with the Executive on moving the state forward.

    According to Akinsanya, a smooth relationship was necessary between the two arms to develop the state.

    He said that was one of the reasons why the 2019 Constituency of Stakeholders meeting was targeted at a cleaner environment.

    According to the lawmaker, this was part of the House’s contributions towards ensuring a cleaner, safe and sustainable environment.

    Akinsanya said one of the focal areas of the Sanwo –Olu administration is a cleaner environment as promised in its campaign promises.

    Akinsanya pointed that a clean environment is essential in a mega city like Lagos for it to continue to maintain its leadership position in the country.

    He therefore tasked his constituents in Mushin Local Government to key into the clean environment agenda of the state government.

  • Abiodun: Development for the forgotten ones

    Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun has made poverty abolition his priority. In this piece, Donald Oluwafisayo highlights the programmes of the administration to mitigate the suffering of the poor and enhance public welfare.

    A major affliction that has hit the 36 states since the return to civil rule in 1999 is governance without vision.

    While some, admittedly few and far between, have put in valiant efforts, it is a fact that in most cases, a significant portion of the states has rotted under ungoverned governors. The implication: what has been labelled development has been no more than the mere window dressing of the state capitals.

    The rule seems to have been: site visible projects in the state capitals and one or two major cities that travelers will no doubt come in contact with, and then a second term of office is a done deal. But, then, even the development in the state capitals is circumscribed by location, meaning that the state capitals inevitably present two worlds: the new areas enjoying government patronage and the traditional slums still in full communion with degradation, poverty and want. In this connection, the point just cannot be ignored that Ogun, a state most contiguous to the country’s economic capital, Lagos, is happily presenting a new paradigm, one that promises to bring the ‘dividends of democracy’ to the forgotten neighbourhoods, the abandoned populations, hapless citizens who have been for ages no more than statistical incidentals in government agencies. For the first time in a life time, many ancient communities are seeing good roads, hospitals, schools and other facilities springing up before their very eyes, places that politicians only remembered during campaigns—places, let us remember, that have never mattered to government until now.

    Through the direct labour agency, roads are now being cleared that were hitherto a nightmare to motorists, and this is being done simultaneously in all the local government areas of the state. For the first time since 1999, the point is being made, in practical terms, that development cannot be limited to major towns like Ijebu-Ode and Abeokuta; that every part of the state must feel government presence. A technology hub has been set up to rejig ICT across the state and enhance the ease of doing business, and two more to follow shortly. Surely, Governor Dapo Abiodun’s identifification of 236 schools across the state, one per ward for complete rehabilitation, will address the monumental rot in Ogun public schools, and it is ennobling that after this exercise, a new set of schools will enjoy the same treatment. The long and short of this is that there will be no ward without government’s educational presence. And with the approval of the years 2016 and 2017 promotion of 10,000 teachers, resolution of the MAPOLY crisis and its re-accreditation, implementation of the recommendations of the visitation panel on the Tai Solarin College of Education (TASCE) and the establishment of a Government Delivery Unit for Education, education in the state will begin to get back on track.

    As in education, so in health: dilapidated hospitals are being given a facelift and more resident doctors employed to serve in the hitherto forgotten habitations. Primary health centres are being set up per ward so that people can enjoy health services without travelling miles away from home. At the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital, the recruitment process for all categories and cadres of healthcare professionals (doctors, nurses, pharmacists, lab scientists, radiographers, etc) has already commenced, as has the rehabilitation of the State Hospital Ilaro. The government has already organised free medical outreach at Ilishan, Odeda and Ilaro, addressing polio, diabetes, malaria, eyes, malaria, typhoid and other issues. There is the anchor borrowers scheme with several hectares of land acquired and distributed to agropreneurs, a project for which N1.5 billion is being accessed from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The initial 2000 agro-preneurs  have been allocated 1ha of land each. It must be music to the ears of Ogun citizens that their governor wants to take advantage of land resources to build agriculture and provide food for people through a project that attracts a zero digit interest rate; one which has  a mechanism for tracking efficiency. Again, about 120,000 citizens are already registered on the job portal created by the state government, the essence being to know who to employ when vacancies arise in government. And if there are companies interested in Ogun State, they will place their adverts on the job portal and applications can then be received through it. It certainly not fortuitous that appropriate legislation and executive orders have been put in place to ensure accountability and prudence in the management of government resources, including the implementation of the medium term expenditure framework for budget preparation, establishment of the Fiscal Responsibility Commission for prudent financial management of state resources; efficient allocation of public expenditure, revenue and debt management; long-term economic stability of the state. Nor can the establishment of public Private Partnership (PPP) Office, implementation of staff biometrics and payroll audit and treasury management solution for single view and efficiency in treasury and payment processing and  the establishment of the Bureau of Public Procurement Council be less development-oriented.

    The state is actively pursuing investment initiatives, and has already undertaken an amendment of the Investment Promotion Agency (IPA) / Ogun Invest Bill to actualise this objective. It has held a business roundtable with CEOs and business executives in the private sector and established the Ogun State Business Environment Council to improve and streamline the state’s internal processes towards achieving better scores in the ease of doing business ranking, as well as the Enterprise Development Agency (EDA) for capacity building and facilitation of financing access to support the MSMEs sector. In this regard, the executive order for the Ogun State Economic Transformation Project Implementation Structures, as part of the requirements for the establishment of Project Steering Committee (PSC), Project Implementation Unit (PIU) for the $250m World Bank loan, is a step in the right direction. It has initiated a creative arts and entertainment hub in conjunction with Shared Agent Network Expansion Facility Limited (SANEF) to further deepen development at the grass roots.

    The foregoing, though, should leave no one with the impression that Abiodun wants to abandon the state capital and the major towns. He has already commenced 50 units of housing development at Hilltop Estate Abeokuta, and there is the 200 low income, mass housing units project at Ibara Abeokuta. In any case, if the etablishment of the Ogun Sports Commission is geared towards youth development, issues of social welfare are encapsulated in the empowerment of 1000 Widows by the wife of the Governor, launching of ‘Okowo Dapo’ loan programme with 2000 initial beneficiaries of N10,000 each. There is of course the overarching issue of security, where the procurement of 100 pick-up patrol vehicles, 200 motor bikes for the state law enforcement agencies, sourcing of Helicopter from the Presidency for aerial surveillance and the amendment of the Security Trust Fund (STF) Law and the inauguration of the STF Board are all expected to enhance governance objectives. Not a few Nigerians would hope that the informal sector enumeration and resident registration, centralisation and automation of the administration and management of key revenue toll points, will drive revenue, along with the commencement of the energy sector reforms. For a government that has in just three months given the Ijebu Ode Stadium a facelift and established the Ogun State Public Works Agency, Ogun State Waste Management Agency and Government Delivery Unit for Infrastructure, the best is certainly yet to come.

     

  • MAPOLY gets N10 million endowment

    A BUSINESS mogul Chief Olatunde Ayinla Abudu  has donated N10million to  Moshood Abiola Polytechnic (MAPOLY), Abeokuta.

    Abudu, a  Fellow of the institution, made the donation when the management of the institution paid him a visit in his Abeokuta residence to canvass financial support for the institution.

    Rector of the Polytechnic, Dr Samson Adeola Odedina, who led the management team, thanked Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun, for returning the institution to status quo ante in June.

    Odedina said the meeting was meant to reopen a relationship with all stakeholders to bring back the institution’s glory.

    Odedina told their host that their effort was aimed launching the institution back to prominence through the 2019/2020 admission with the Joint Admission Matriculation Board (JAMB).

    He said management has reached an understanding with its regulatory body, the National Board For Technical Education (NBTE), to return the institution to its portal. In view of the ongoing development, Odedina assured  a revalidation and accreditation of 44 programmes previously run by the polytechnic, including its first set of agricultural and land-related courses.

    According to him, the institution is also taking advantage of the new Polytechnic Act signed by the Federal Government which empowers polytechnics nationwide to partner with other relevant institutions to produce high-level manpower.

    In his response, Chief Abudu reiterated his belief in the institution’s ability to address capacity gaps and employment generation in Nigeria.

    The nonagenarian educationist praised the Odedina-led management for initiating moves to re-ignite the relationship with stakeholders towards improving the lots of the institution.

    In 2017, the 40 year-old institution was rechristened Moshood Abiola University of Science and Technology by the immediate past administration, a move that created an identity crisis before the present administration directed that status quo should be maintained.

  • On Buhari’s new economic team

    Sir: The recent dramatic action taken by Muhammadu Buhari has been variously interpreted as the crucifixion of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and the Yoruba race. Even in these days of national emotion, and ethnic disorder, this is an exaggeration and not the views of many people in the Southwest or among the Yoruba race.

    The new body that was setup is a purely professional one, aimed at energizing the economic well-being of this country. Compared with the Economic Management Team (EMT) presided over by the vice president, it is not a collection of key cabinet ministers and some important administrators of this government. To me, it now appears the president is on the right track of moving our country forward or to the next level. We must admit it, the former body was merely a branch or a sub-committee (plus a few technocrats) of the Federal Executive Council. It was the same people Osinbajo met at FEC that he presided over at the lower level of his former Economic Management Team (EMT).

    If we care to have a look, a dispassionate look at Buhari’s Economic Advisory Committee, it is a think tank forum for serious minded professionals-economists, public finances experts, most of whom have had some connections or attachment to multinationals in Africa and at the World Bank at large. They are people who would not like to please and shower praises on the president at every turn and by every turn. They are professionals who will talk straight and look straight at Buhari’s face.

    On the other hand, Prof. Osinbajo is a very loyal, committed and willing supporter of the president. It is hard to come by a deputy to a president or a head of state that is more vigorous and loyal to his boss. But may I ask fellow Nigerians if these are the only qualities needed now for our struggling economy where over 100  million Nigerians are struggling under the poverty line? Osinbajo is not an economic planner. He should be left to where he belongs, legal and administrative matters. No country in Africa is blessed more than we are in the skills required to develop and advance economy. We should not play cheap like some others who will jump and defend ‘their own’, right or wrong

    I guess the next three to four years will be crucial to the well-being of Nigerians and therefore to the peace and stability of our country. No political jargon ever ensures stability and peace. What restrains restlessness among the youth is ability to make a living out of life. It is not how many voting process or free elections that our country may go through to ensure peace and progress in our community. It is simply ability to put food on the table which the new Economic Advisory Committee must consider to be its number one priority.

    I want to advise the Afenifere faction that pretends to spit fire every time on any issue, the contending parties constituting the Yoruba Council of Elders and the newly inaugurated Yoruba leadership that the Yoruba are so civilized, so exposed, so informed that no desperate attempt for self or group recognition can turn the Yoruba Race into negative partners in the Nigerian project. Most of our people young and old are fortune seekers who cling to one nomenclature or the other to be able to earn a living. No, the Yoruba have passed that state.

    May I humbly repeat that the economy of this country needs constant appraisal, re-appraisal, re-positioning and turning that our joint efforts must be seen to rise above linguistic and ethnic pursuit. The Yoruba must rise and attempt to meet the basic moral and nationalistic position of Obafemi Awolowo who considered his personal well-being, far less important than the progress and stability of our nation. Indeed we have a history to be proud of. Let us now rise to the occasion by seeing the well-being of our country our major concern.

     

    • Asiwaju Deji Fasuan; MON, JP; Ado-Ekiti.