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Tag: Obafemi Awolowo

  • 32 teams battle for Obafemi, HID Awolowo memorial youth football  tournament

    32 teams battle for Obafemi, HID Awolowo memorial youth football  tournament

    Thirty-two youth football  teams are expected to participate in the 12th edition of Obafemi & H.I.D Awolowo Memorial Football Tournament organised for children.

    The event which begins this afternoon at Lekki playground, Lagos, will feature 16 teams from both U-10 boys and U-17 girls categories.

    The teams drawn from the South-West are expected to engage in a keen competition in the annual tournament for the top prize.

     Supported by the Obafemi Awolowo Foundation and sponsored by Value Jet Airline, the tournament is organised to immortalise first Premier of Western Region of Nigeria, the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo and also mark his 117 years posthumous birthday in southwest.

    Read Also: Obafemi and African indigenous language system

    The opening match would between Young Boys FA from Orile, Lagos and Otta Babes FA from Sango Otta, Ogun State.

     In the girls category United Queens FC from Ibadan and Marry Queens FC from Lagos are expected to slug it out for a place to continue in the competition.

    According to the match coordinator, Mr Aliu Ganiu, all necessary arrangements have been put  in place to ensure the success of the  tournament while  urging the participants to always abide by the rules governing the game.

    Ganiu thanked the Obademi  Awolowo Foundation for supporting the competition since inception and promised that this year’s edition would be better organised.

  • Time has preserved Awo’s principles, legacies – Tinubu

    Time has preserved Awo’s principles, legacies – Tinubu

    … Celebrates Adesina of AfDB for clinching 2024 Awo Leadership Award

    President Bola Tinubu, on Wednesday, March 6, said the principles of the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, have withstood the tests of time and geography, through the instrumentality of time itself.

    President Tinubu, who was speaking at the 2024 Obafemi Awolowo Prize for Leadership held at Lagos Continental Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos, also extolled the virtues of the late pan-African nationalist.

    Represented at the event by Vice President Kashim Shettima, the President identified the power of time to judge fairly, noting that it is only time that defines the tough decisions, character and sacrifices a leader has to take to make a difference.

    According to a statement issued by Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Information, Office of the Vice President, Stanley Nkwocha, President Tinubu described the late Awo as a compass and guiding light for several generations of leaders.

    The Obafemi Awolowo Prize for Leadership, a prestigious, biennial, international prize that follows a rigorous process of nomination and subsequent screening by a selection committee, celebrates the democratic and development-oriented ideals of Chief Awolowo, a foremost Pan-African nationalist.

    President the observed that understanding Chief Awolowo’s teachings requires coming to terms with “the obscured reality of leadership,” even as he said that “overcoming the conspiracies of mischief-makers, sceptics, and saboteurs” is the very first test every true leader must undergo.

    Delivering the President’s address titled, “Leadership: An Alliance with Time,” Senator Shettima stated: “For the great sage from Ikenne, his enduring impact persists despite revisionist efforts. Time sifts through biases and lies, and hidden agendas and propaganda. Time delivers to us the naked truth that defines the tough decisions and sacrifices every sincere leader must make to create a difference

    Read Also; Tinubu congratulates AfDB president, Adesina for winning Awolowo prize for leadership

    “But, in all we do, we must always find strength in the belief of those who trust the process, those who give us the benefit of the doubt. There is no greater honour than the privilege to lead one’s people, and assuming a position of leadership during times of turbulence is the ultimate test of our mettle as leaders.

    “It is in these moments of uncertainty that true character and capability come to the forefront. While the immediate judgment may be rendered by the people we either impress or displease, the long-term verdict is carved by time, the passage of time.”

    The President recalled how Chief Awolowo contended with forces both within and outside his political party, stating that the great sage was a victim of his ambition to make a difference and was dragged by a hostile opposition until he found himself behind bars.

    He however noted that with time, even the harshest of Awo’s critics came to realize the futility of taking a man who stood out, even in death, because he refused to compromise his convictions for granted.

    “He (Awolowo) fought until his very last days in defence of democracy in Nigeria, and these are the examples that make him a hero of the nation. There is no doubt that time has been Chief Awolowo’s ally. Time has revealed the enduring impact of his ideas and actions,” President Tinubu said.

    He congratulated the President of African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr Akinwunmi Adeṣina, for clinching the 2023 Obafemi Awolowo Prize for Leadership, describing the former Nigerian Minister of Agriculture as a “maverick change-maker who has not only flown our flag all over the world, but has dazzled the world with the novelty of his thoughts, indispensability of his ideas, and dynamism of his actions”.

    Adesina won the 2023 prize to become its fourth recipient after Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka; former South African President, Thabo Mbeki, and legal luminary, Chief Afe Babalola had clinched the prize meant to encourage, recognise, reward and celebrate excellence in leadership.

    Likening the AfDB President to a Prophet they have chosen to honour in his hometown, President Tinubu said just like Awolowo, Adesina “has exemplified the values that have shaped the course of history at all the institutions he has headed, all the offices he occupied.

    “In celebrating Dr. Adesina’s achievements, we are not merely acknowledging a leader; we are recognizing a role model and mentor who paves the way for current and future generations,” the President further noted.

    Also speaking at the event, Dr Adesina recalled the visionary leadership and legacies of the late sage, Awolowo which, according to him, spreads across education, healthcare and infrastructure development.

    The AfDB President who delivered the prize lecture, said the award has humbled, inspired and motivated, even as he pledged to support initiatives that will transform more lives and livelihoods across Africa.

    He noted that the issue of feeding Africa must be achieved because there is no pride in begging for food.

    “We must make poverty and hunger history in Africa and Nigeria,” Dr Adesina stated, assuring that the AfDB will support the Tinubu administration in transforming agricultural practice to boost production and improve livelihoods.

    He also spoke about the possibilities of a new Nigeria where all the states are viable, and peace, security and prosperity for every citizen is assured.

    “In the coming season farming season, across states, the AfDB will mobilize resources to cultivate 300,000 hectares of land for rice production, 300,000 hectares of land for maize production and 150,000 hectares of land for cassava production, among others,” Adesina pledged.

    He further stressed the need for urgent interventions by governments at different levels to invest massively in human capital development and initiatives by the bank to support the efforts.

    Earlier in her remarks, the chairperson of the occasion and President of Tanzania, Samia Suluhu Hassan, commended the foresight of the eminent team of judges for selecting Dr Akinwunmi Adesina for the 2024 Obafemi Awolowo Prize for Leadership, noting that they would not choose a better recipient.

    She said Dr Adesina is more than the President of the AfDB, describing him as a true African leader and agent of transformation who has carried his responsibilities with grace, humility and uncommon commitment.

    On his part, the President of the Union of Comoros, Azali Assoumani, paid glowing tribute to the achievements and efforts of Dr Adesina, noting that the fruits of his innovative ideas are felt across Africa’s landscape, particularly in Agriculture, and industrialisation.

    In the same vein, the President of Ethiopia, Sahle-Work Zewde, emphasized the importance of celebrating people whose works impact millions of lives, especially in developing countries.

    She said the presence of present and former leaders across Africa and beyond at the event was a testimony of Dr Adesina’s visionary and purposeful leadership, particularly his efforts that have taken the AfDB to global heights.

    Also present at the event were former Head of State and President of Nigeria, Gen. Yakubu Gowon (rtd); Chief Olusegun Obasanjo; Dr Goodluck Jonathan; former Vice President Namadi Sambo; former Commonwealth Secretary General, Chief Emeka Anyaoku and Chief Ayo Adebanjo.

    Others include Governors Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State, Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State, Uba Sani of Kaduna State, Mohammed Bago of Niger State, Caleb Muftwang of Plateau State, Umar Namadi of Jigawa State, Abba Yusuf of Kano State; Dikko Raddah of Katsina State and Alex Otti of Abia State.

  • Awolowo, WNTV and the barbarians

    SIR: It has been said of Obafemi Awolowo, Western Nigeria’s first premier, that like Roman Empire’s first emperor, Augustus Caesar, he was ‘’an efficient organizer’’ and a ‘’great builder’’ who struck several feats that have remained unmatched in Nigeria’s record books several decades after his rule. In his severally referenced book, An Outline History of the World, H. A. Davies notes that Augustus appeared to have fulfilled his boast that ‘’he had found Rome a city of brick and left it a city of marble.’’ He transformed Rome from a small republic not only into an empire, but also into a civilization that has influenced world history over the ages.

    With Awolowo, there are also parallels that are engraved on marble. As premier from 1954 to 1959, when Nigeria was yet a dependent colonial outpost of Britain, he ran a government that has since been rated the golden era of the southwest, the outer region of the area stretching eastwards to the banks of the Niger also  being beneficiaries. Awolowo introduced free education, the first in our clime. He then embarked upon a voyage of social reforms that heavily subsidized health to announce to the world the arrival of a socialist, even if of the centrist hue.

    October 31, 1959, Ibadan made history to become home to Western Nigeria Television, WNTV, the first TV station in Africa. Uncommon accomplishment, because it was only in the mid 1930s that even the British Broadcasting Corporation, BBC, began transmitting experimental entertainment programmes to about 100 viewers in the London area.

    Now, what many of us fail to realize is that Awo’s goal on WNTV wasn’t to catch the attention of history or to get a box to entertain the people. Well, history could so reckon his move. But his aim, from my reading of the legislative debate that preceded the law birthing the station, was to drive the premier’s vision for mass education. His dream to offer education to all went beyond the classroom.

    This dream took WNTV to the precincts of industrious integrity befitting a first in Africa, as it employed the best in the field. When Anike Agbaje-Williams became Nigeria’s first female announcer at WNTV, she was hitting a road to be followed by equally illustrious professionals: Teju Oyeleye, Ayo Ogunlade, Vincent Maduka, Ayo Vaughan, Tunji Shenjobi, HO Robin, Jide Akinbiyi, Yemi Farounbi, Kunle Adeleke, Fabio Lanipekun, Modupe Akin Olotu, Tunji Marquis, Akin Akinwunmi etc.

    As these distinguished professionals receded, the management began a seamless recruitment scheme that seemed to bring in quite young replicas of these masters: Toye Akiyode, Soji Alakuro, Bode Oyewole, Bukola Famuyiwa, Segun Soroye, Segun Aderiye, Kayode Adedire, Gbadebo Olaitan, Niyi Yusuf, Banji Ojewale etc. These were enterprising young men and women the station was willing to invest in through exposure to further professional courses in and outside the country. They didn’t disappoint the management. They went on to scale the heights right within WNTV or after their stay there, taking after the greats they met at the station in the early 70s.

    WNTV developed into a school, a monument of sort, that turned out those who today have swayed the broadcast industry in directions challenging one to greatness and ideological imperatives of service to the society. That’s what broadcasting is all about. From Ibadan, a seed sown at Agodi has grown beyond its territory to cover the entire expanse of Nigeria.

    But alas, rather than preserve this monument, the military government of Olusegun Obasanjo took over WNTV in 1976, halting a trajectory pushing that institution into the league of Third World monuments. As the barbarians rubbished all the totems of civilization they met when they conquered Rome in 476 AD, the military government’s takeover of WNTV, with its radio wing WNBS, also moved the industry into its dark ages. The world after the overthrow of Rome, was plunged into a long period of anarchy characterized by ignorance, turmoil and contempt for the arts, literature and science. The blueprint the station had, to be perpetual partners in development with society as conceived by Awolowo and the patriarchs and matriarchs he put together, was drowned by the bureaucracy of the forfeiture.

    History must be put back on its two legs. WNTV should be returned to its original owners. The second step is to reconstruct the premises to reflect its old façade and position it into a tourist complex. WNTV is a monument, the way it is with the Statue of Liberty in New York and Mount Rushmore, in South Dakota, both in the United States. Millions troop there paying good money to stand in the presence of history.

    WNTV in the ancient city of Ibadan is our own history. Let our people come to WNTV as we rehabilitate her and play back the best of TV we shall be dredging from the past. As the new-look station runs contemporary programmes, it shall also give visitors a peep into its glorious past.

    The current crusade by Farounbi and others who worked at WNTV to mark the station’s 60th anniversary in October should soar above a one-off affair. They should go the whole hog of restoring WNTV to its old status as broached by Awolowo and his government.

     

    • Banji Ojewale, Ota, Ogun State.

  • More knocks for Obasanjo as Yoruba leaders urge caution

    Some Yoruba leaders of thought under the aegis of Yoruba Patriots’ Movement, on Tuesday berated the former President Olusegun Obasanjo over his recent attack on President Muhammadu Buhari.

    The group who expressed disappointment on the outburst of Chief Obasanjo stoutly rose in defence of president Muhammadu Buhari.

    The National Coordinator, Yoruba Patriots’ Movement, Chief Oladosu Ladipo, said the comments of the former President were unbecoming of a statesman.

    They were of the view that the unsubstantiated allegations against the president have “reduced his (Obasanjo’s) value both politically and intellectually”.

    Wondering about the alleged inconsistency of the ex-president, Chief Oladipo who was flanked by the National Treasurer who doubles as the Lagos state Chairman of YPM, Dr Wale Omole and the National Secretary, Otunba Niyi Dada during his 72ndbirthday anniversary which held at his residence in Ibadan, said the aspersions had further waned the integrity of the former president.

    Chief Oladipo said, “Two things I see, making a U-turn or somersaulting in the broad daylight has reduced his value both politically and intellectually. It has reduced his integrity; reduced all his virtues and has put him as somebody whose words cannot be relied upon and who cannot mentor the up and coming generations. In fact, he is double-mouthed”.

    “Two, the history of 1999-2007 is still with some of us; the facts between Obasanjo and Atiku. I mean facts that cannot be debunked. So, I want to leave that aside for now. The other one is that democracy involves propaganda and propaganda involves truth, half-truth, total falsehood and blatant lies. I can describe the things he is saying as total falsehood, mere propaganda. Can a good Statesman make propaganda? Shagari died at the age of 93; did you hear him say anything like this? What he is doing is propaganda for post-election riot, which can be an inducement for the military to take over, and military cannot take over in Nigeria again.”

    Dr Omole who read a prepared statement to journalists said, “Those of us with genuine intention shall support these great leaders to take Nigeria to the next level. The national looters of yesterday should please go to sleep and give development a chance. We call on smaller parties to merge with APC which is now a mega party. I want to advise Nigerians not to take Chief Obasanjo serious.

    The elders described the national leader of APC, Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu as a great man following the footsteps of the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo.

    “Awolowo is also back to life in the person of Asiwaju of Yorubaland. For the youths who did not know Chief Obafemi Awolowo, once you know Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu. You have known Awolowo. Chief Awolowo and Tinubu remain the greatest tacticians in the history of Nigeria”, Oladipo said.

    “Consistency is very important. Look at America politics, if you have said something, many years after, they will play it back to you. Obasanjo’s book on Atiku is very recent and very current and has he made another edition to counter all those things he said about Atiku? That goes to the root of character. And before you can take whatever anybody says with a grain of salt, you have to look at its traits of character overtime, consistency from the family to the ward, to the local government, hometown, tribe and then to the nation”.

    “Obasanjo is a father of the nation, but if I were him, I will behave like a father. Danjuma is supporting political parties, have you seen or heard him making such a statement that cannot be substantiated or nearly causing chaos? The fact that you had the privilege of being the Head of State or President does not mean you are the wisest. It doesn’t mean that you are the best”, the elders said.

    “Sometimes, the opportunity comes for a nation to develop, many a time the people scuttle the chance and lose that opportunity. But, opportunity always comes and goes. We lost the golden opportunities when Gen. Muritala Mohammed who came on board with clear agenda was prematurely terminated in 1976. We equally lost that chance when the great sage, Chief Obafemi  Awolowo, the man with rare intelligence and vision was prevented from ruling Nigeria. He did not lose, Nigeria lost. Nigeria missed it again when Chief MKO Abiola’s life was prematurely terminated.

    Read Also: Presidency to Obasanjo: get well soon

    “If these great leaders had been allowed to lead the nation when the opportunities presented them, certainly Nigeria would not be where it is today. We would have long been out of woods. If perhaps Buhari-Idiagbon military regime had not been cut short by the military coup of August 1985, Nigeria would have been taken to a higher ground of development because the duo of Buhari and Idiagbon were burning with passion and vision. They were ready to serve. They abhorred corruption.

    “Today, we are lucky to have Buhari and Professor Yemi Osinbajo. It is another opportunity for Nigeria to develop. We should not waste this opportunity else it becomes a curse on our nation. Nigeria should have learnt its lesson by now. Therefore, members of Yoruba Patriotic Movement have thrown our unflinching support for Buhari-Osibajo and APC.

    “With this political tactician in support of Buhari and Osinbajo the nation will witness development and growth. The trio will return Nigeria to the path of progress.  There will be jobs for the youths. Things will turn around for better for Nigerians at home and abroad.  Those of us with genuine intentions shall support these great leaders to take Nigeria to the next level. The national looters of yesterday should please go to sleep and give development a chance. It is on this premises that we, in YPM, call Nigerian youths to support this administration”, they said.

  • Historian warns youths on selling their vote

    Weeks to the commencement of the 2019 general elections, Africa’s foremost Historian, writer and scholar, Prof Toyin Falola has advised Nigerian youths to take advantage of their huge population to vote in credible politicians in this year’s general elections.

    He also warned the youths against being induced by money but to vote according to their conscience in the interest of their future.

    The African culture enthusiast spoke on Wednesday at a one-day conference where he made a public presentation of his new book entitled, “In Praise of Greatness: The Poetics of African Adulation” which held at the Conference Centre of Lead City University, Ibadan.

    The conference was organized by Pan-African University Press in collaboration with Lead City University, Ibadan and Faculty of Arts of the University of Ibadan.

    The conference chaired by Professor Femi Osofisan was attended by literary giants and scholars including Pro-Chancellor, Lead City University, Prof Jide Owoeye, Executive Chairman, Ibadan School of Government and Public Policy (ISGPP), Prof Tunji Olaopa, Prof Adeyemo Aderemi, Prof Demola Da’Silva and Prof Michael Oladejo Afolayan who delivered the keynote address.

    Professor Falola said, “Our youths should not see politicians as their role models but they should stop them from looting the country. Do not imitate them. Do not collect money from them. Poverty does not mean the absence of dignity and that dignity as I said people must cherish, sustain, maintain and reproduce.”

    Falola, the Jacob and Frances Sanger Mossiker Chair in Humanities at the University of Texas, Austin, United States of America blamed politicians for jettisoning  African value system and corrupting the youths, saying politicians have failed to be role models because of their uncontrolled appetite for acquisition of wealth and the manner they allegedly retain themselves in power.

    He noted that it is saddened that there are no ideological based political parties among the two major contending national parties in Nigeria, describing both the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the same.

    Read Also: INEC’s anti-vote buying app

    “Unfortunately, the two parties are not emphasizing ideas, because they are not ideological parties. APC is populated by people who belonged to the PDP and vice versa. So these are not parties of ideas. They are just parties of calculations, ethnic calculations; their interest is to have access to federal resources.

    “And a new disturbing pattern has emerged, an outgoing governor wants his friend or crony to replace him, and he would go to Senate and continue to claim relevance. They are planting their children in various political places, they are making their children the managers of stolen money, they are even stealing for the next generation and this stealing has become so legendary. They don’t mind stealing the whole resources of the entire country”, the Don lamented.

    Speaking on what informed the writing of the 1,056 paged and 17 chapters book, the renowned international scholar said, “the central idea of the book is to take on a number of scholars to look at the bigger issues on the concept of praise, adulation and greatness. And the target is not actually the people I have written about but the younger people coming behind. I want to use the book to motivate the younger generation of Nigerians to rethink the concept of greatness and heroism.

    “They should not be worshipping fake gods and they should be careful with the people they try to imitate. Don’t follow people because there is money for you but let us rethink the people you follow, the intellectuals, the great thinkers, great scholars, this is not about money. You have to respect men of ideas. One of the things this book has done is to stop them as using them as heroes.”

    In his remarks, Osofisan described Falola as a man of “prodigious productivity” who has used his energy and resources to encourage the youth, saying “Prof Falola is not the only scholar we have in the Diaspora but he is the only one bringing his energy back to encourage the youth.”

    While calling on Nigerians to cultivate the habit of celebrating living heroes, the literary critic lamented that the culture of Nigerians is to celebrate people only when they are dead.

    He said, “Our people do not celebrate heroes while they are alive. When Chief Obafemi Awolowo was alive, many people did not support him. But after his death, people began to sing his praises. You can hardly say two sentences today without mentioning Awolowo.”

     

  • Kwara UPN condemns vote buying

    As the 2019 general elections approach, Kwara State Chapter of the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) has condemned the act of vote buying.
    The Chairman of the party, Mr Abdulrazaq Badmus, told our reporters on Wednesday in Ilorin that vote buying was tantamount to mortgaging of the future.
    ”We are appealing to the electorate that they don’t have to mortgage their future or their rights.
    ”The influence of money in election should be discouraged in Nigeria because any politician that spends to be voted for, will recoup the money at the end of the day, and it is still the voters that will be at the receiving end,” Badmus said.
    The UPN chairman said that his party is one for the masses and would not gain support of the electorate with money.
    ”UPN doesn’t have money to spend to buy votes, but we are a party for the masses.
    ”We want to introduce the agenda of the then UPN as well as the core cardinal programmes of the party,” he said.
    Badmus said the party’s campaign would be issue based, centering on how to provide social amenities and services that are lacking in Kwara State like good roads, free education and qualitative health care, which the party founder, late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, was always agitating for.
    NAN

  • 2019: Omatseye warns against returning Nigeria to nanny state

    Chairman of The Nation’s Editorial Board, Mr. Sam Omatseye, has cautioned Nigerians not to elect leaders that would return the country to the nanny state.

    Omatseye noted that a nanny state birthed stomach infrastructure which he said does not lead to progress.

    Speaking on  Friday at the Igbinedion University, Okada where he delivered the 16th convocation lecture titled “Epistocracy: The Challenge of a Knowledge Democracy”, Omatseye said Nigeria need a republic of conscience.

    Omatseye stated that a republic of conscience would made the epistocrat enrich the country’s democracy by emphasizing education with the right values.

    He said Nigeria need to return to a republic of the enlightened that Chief Obafemi Awolowo started by making education compulsory up to the university level.

    The Nation’s Editorial Board Chairman stated that the resources for the free university education would be available if there was a will.

    Read Also: Omatseye delivers Igbinedion varsity lecture

    Omatseye said an enlightened masses is the country’s way out of the quagmire of ignorance and out of the morass of poverty.

    According to him, “In Nigeria, the problem of poverty is perceived to be at the bottom of the challenge of a Knowledge democracy.

    “But how do we handle this without a good educational system? So ignorance and poverty have come together as the twins that haunt us.

    “We still need a democracy not of dunces but of the discerning. We cannot have it for instance with a mass of talakawa who line up behind a man because he is perceived to be a specimen of high integrity and asceticism.

    “We need imagination, courage and a spirit of accommodation. Awolowo understand this when he introduced free education and birthed a generation of enlightened men and women.”

    Deputy Chancellor of the institution, Chief Lucky Igbinedion, urged government at all level to provide jobs for young graduates or create an environment for skilled graduates to excel.

  • Edo, WAEC train teachers to improve learning outcomes

    The Edo State Commissioner for Education, Hon. Emmanuel Agbale, has said that the Governor Godwin Obaseki led-administration will continue to focus on improving the capacity of teachers in the state, to improve their competence.

    The commissioner disclosed this while declaring open a three-day seminar themed: “The 21st Century Teacher and Pedagogical Shift in Basic and Secondary Education,” which was held across the three senatorial districts of the state and organised by the Ministry of Education in collaboration with the West Africa Examination Council (WAEC).

    Agbale charged the participants to demonstrate commitment to the training as it was geared towards equipping them with up-to-date knowledge, adding that participants stand to gain tremendously from the event.

    Read Also: Association to reward best teachers

    In his presentation, Prof. Francisca Aladejana of the Institute of Education, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile- Ife, said the essence of the training was to ensure improved students’ performance in schools.

    Aladejana urged the participants to share their knowledge and experience with their colleagues in their respective schools after the training, to extend the gains to more teachers.

    She further said that factors such as the home front, peer influence, environment, facilities in schools, teacher factor in the classroom, could affect the overall performance of children in schools.

  • Yoruba Tennis Club calls for emergence of new generation leaders

    The Yoruba Tennis Club has called for the emergence of a new generation of national leaders as the 2019 general election approaches.

    It made the call in a press release signed by Professor Adetokunbo Fabamwo, Chairman, Yoruba Tennis Club made available to the press on Saturday.

    The Club said the political landscape is occupied by the same old breed of politicians who had held sway in the terrain since the inception of democratic rule and that there are no obvious or visible signs that there is a deliberate effort to groom younger men and women in the next generation to take over from them.

    “As we approach the third decade of the millennium, there is  an urgent need to evolve a new generation of Nigerians as leaders at communities , local governments, States,  zones and national levels.

    It was further observed that the Nigerian youth category has been rudderless since the commencement of the civilian government in the Year 1999, suffering exclusion from responsibilities, compared to the early nationalists who had opportunities thrust at them at young ages.

    Read Also: Adams calls for revival of Yoruba culture

    “It is more unfortunate that the generation referred to does not even appear to be in any particular hurry to mount the saddle of national political leadership. This is against the backdrop of the emergence of the early nationalists like late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Nnamdi Azikiwe, Anthony Enahoro and a host of others who rode the political landscape like colossuses in their thirties and forties.”

    The Club therefore, called for an urgent, deliberate plan to evolve a generation of educated youths within the 18 to 40 years age bracket as youth community activists who will first and foremost establish relevance in their immediate communities through voluntary and beneficial communal activities.

    “Thereafter, having gained recognition and confidence, they will eventually start to assume political roles starting from the ward level upwards.

    The club said that at its August Business Luncheon, it identified that the nation got to this point as a result of the over 32 years of military interregnum, money politics/godfatherism and collapse of active students’ unionism which would have been a veritable breeding ground for youth leaders as it was in the days of yore.

    “In this regard it was suggested that Non-Governmental organizations and Civil Society organizations that have as their central theme, the emergence of youths as Leaders should be at the fore front of galvanizing and mobilising  the youths in each community, to identify and deal with  challenges in the community and act as a pressure group and community influencers.”

    According to the communique, once the youths are mobilized as community activists in the manner prescribed, with directions from role models, they would spend less time on the prevalent youth vices of cultism, drugs, rituals and political brigandage.

  • Strong, autonomous states is panacea to eradicate poverty – Osinbajo

    As 8th Lagos Assembly celebrates Third Anniversary

     

    Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has advocated for strong and autonomous states within the Nigerian federal system as a panacea for eradicating poverty in the country.

    Osinbajo stated this position while delivering a lecture at the special parliamentary session  in commemoration of the 3rd Anniversary of the 8th Assembly of Lagos State which took place at the chamber of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Alausa on Friday evening.

    Although the topic for the lecture was ‘Strengthening legislative institutions: panacea for eradicating democracy’, the Vice President who was the Guest Speaker however narrowed the topic down to ‘Stronger states and the eradication of poverty.

    As against the general belief that the creation of a conducive environment by the government for business for business to thrive to checkmate mass poverty, Osinbajo said poverty can be eradicated by having stronger states with strong judiciary, executive and legislature who would channel the resources of the state to create wealth for the citizens and eradicate poverty.

    “The three arms of government in the states must work proactively for the economic development of its citizens. To achieve this there must be devolution of powers to the states to enable them control their resources”, Osinbajo said.

    He cited the great feat achieved by the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo who as Premier of then Western region recorded achievements that were acknowledged world wide and most of which has remained enduring relying solely on revenue from taxes and cocoa.

    Osinbajo submitted that although he supports devolution and restructuring but that even without restructuring it is possible to create a strong state without any major constitutional changes.

    He cited how collaboration between the the three arms of government in Lagos right from the reign of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu to the present governor the state has been able to win series of cases at the Supreme Court which has given more powers to not just only Lagos state but which has benefited so many other states as well.

    According to him, the Lagos Assembly has pushed the frontiers of federalism by passing laws which has strengthened federalism in Nigeria.

    He advised that for outstanding economic growth there is need to focus more on education, healthcare and provision of jobs through delibrate programmes and pumping of more resources to these sectors to benefit the majority of the citizens.

    The Vice President disclosed that the present government is working round the clock to  create an environment for business to grow especially through a micro credit scheme for those at the lower rung of the economic ladder to lift them out of poverty.

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    He commended the Lagos state government for creating exemplary institutions for economic growth and development.

    Osinbajo also made a case for state police to tackle present security challenges confronting the nation, saying that “local policing is very important as part of security architecture”.

    Giving his remarks, Governor of Lagos State, Akinwunmi Ambode praised the leadership of the state Assembly for team dynamics and infrastructural development within the Assembly.

    According to him the three arms of government in the state have always worked together and have strived to show a good example of tenents of democracy and what growth and development should be “and with that collaboration we will take Lagos to where it is supposed to be”.

    In his welcome address earlier, speaker of the Assembly Hon.Mudashiru Obasa said in three years the Assembly has passed 28 bills into law and over 100 resolutions on education, health, power, transport, security and environment for the well-being of Lagosians.

    Obasa commended Ambode for the good job he is doing which is visible all over the state “he has turned the whole state to one construction site.”

    While stressing on the important role of the Assembly in democracy, Obasa said the executive should ensure the survival of the legislature by playing the role of a father and ensuring cordial relationship to avoid instability and anarchy.

    Dignitaries at the event includes: Osun state governor, Rauf Aregbesola, Fmr speaker, House of Representatives, Hon. Ghali Umar Na’Abbah who was the Discussant, fmr deputy governor Lagos state, Femi Pedro represented Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, PDP chieftain Adesewe Ogunlewe while Governor of Oyo state, Ajimobi was represented by the Attorney General of Oyo state.

    Others are: House of Representatives Majority Leader, Femi Gbajabiamila, APC National Legal Adviser, Hon. Babatunde Ogala, APC South West Women Leader, Mrs. Kami Nelson, Rights Activist, Femi Falana, Secretary to the state government, Tunji Bello and other exco members, Body of Permanent Secretaries of the state, traditional rulers, APC Lagos chairman and other party chieftain.