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Tag: Ogun

  • Ogun schools open, courts paralysed over strike

    Ogun schools open, courts paralysed over strike

    Public secondary and primary schools in Ogun State opened on Tuesday despite the nationwide strike by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress(TUC).

    But activities were totally shut down at the courts in the State. 

    Checks by The Nation at Abeokuta Grammar School Idi – Aba, Kuti Memorial School Isabo and few others in Abeokuta showed teachers and learners were in their various classrooms for morning lessons. 

    Ogun TUC chairman, Akeem Lasisi, told The Nation that the directive was full compliance by all but stressed that instruction would soon be passed to the affected schools.

    Read Also: Yuletide: Police ban use of fireworks, explosives in Ogun

    However, activities at Ogun Judiciary were completely paralysed on Tuesday as the judiciary workers locked the gates to the courts in compliance with the NLC and TUC directive. 

    A lady stenographer/typist whose stand is located beside the Isabo Magistrate Court complained that the strike had affected their daily business. 

    The lady, who does not want her name in print, said nobody has brought affidavit materials for typing since morning as no judicial worker was on duty to process and stamp them. 

    “The strike is punishing us, no business today and I pray it does not last. We don’t even understand why the people are on strike,” she said. 

  • ‘Awori, not Yewa, will produce Ogun governor in 2027’

    ‘Awori, not Yewa, will produce Ogun governor in 2027’

    Four years to the next election in Ogun State, the debate on which section of the state will produce the next governor has started in earnest, with the Awori group insisting they are long overdue for the position. Azeem Salako, spokesperson of the Forum of Awori Intelligentsia, and convener/coordinator Awori for Ogun State Governor 2027 in this interview with Olufemi Adediran speaks on why Aworis and not Yewas must produce the next governor. Excerpts:

    HY the quarrel over Awori/Yewa turn now?

    There is no quarrel, but a clarification between the two sub-Yoruba ethnic groups. Ogun State is divided into three senatorial districts, namely Ogun Central, dominated by the Egbas, and some will add Owus; Ogun East, dominated by the Ijebus and Remos; and Ogun West, dominated by the Aworis and Yewas. It is this clarification that the Aworis are a distinct ethnic community that only shared a political district with the Yewas that some politically driven Yewas considered an upset.

    Is the agitation for autonomy of Awori from Yewa premised on the 2027 election?

    No. The agitation for the autonomy of Awori from Yewa has nothing to do with electoral politics or politics at all. I also need to underline that the agitation for Awori autonomy is not peculiar to Yewa alone but also to the Egbas, both of whom the Awori communities in Ogun State are sandwiched under their traditional councils. So the agitation concerns administrative restructuring, not a constitutional amendment.

    Meanwhile, we have been clamoring for the Awori Traditional Council ATC many decades ago, which I documented in Chapter 8 of my book Fourth Treaties, which I launched at Trenchard Hall at the University of Ibadan in February 2022. That was even before the 2023 election. Mischief-makers, specifically those from the Yewa axis of the Ogun West, threatened by the autonomy of the Aworis, are the ones trying to cause unwarranted confusion, thereby linking our agitation to 2027 politics.

    Yewa has been producing major candidates in elections. What are Aworis doing for 2027?

    By the special grace of God, the next governor of Ogun State to succeed the incumbent government in 2027 will come from Awori land. And I do not doubt that the Yewas—I am talking about those who are committed to progressive thoughts, ideals, and ethos—would support the agenda in due course. This is because all the time, especially in 2011 and 2019, when candidates from Yewas contested the governorship, they always received the highest votes from the Aworis and Aworiland. It is instructive to add that the Yewas decided that they would not produce a governor. This is because the Yewas usually present multiple candidates who share the huge and substantial numbers of votes that usually lead to the election of candidates outside the Yewas. In fact, in 2019, the candidate of the APM, Hon. Kunle Akinlade, needed only less than 20,000 of the over 110, 000 votes his kinsman, Nasiru Isiaka of the PDP polled, to defeat incumbent Governor Dapo Abiodun. It will interest you to know that the Ado/Odo-Ota local government, the ancestral homeland of the Aworis, gave the APM the highest votes in that election per local government. So, it is only logical for the Awori, who have shown themselves to be ready and politically disciplined, to produce the next candidate who will represent Ogun West in 2027 and win the election. That is our undisputed agenda.

    Read Also: Man rapes drunken teenager in Ogun

    Is the next governor coming from the Ota/Awori section?

    We won’t want to dabble into where in Aworiland the choice of candidate should come from. In truth, the Ogun West senatorial district, which comprises the Aworis and Yewa ethnic groups, has not produced a governor since the creation of the state in 1979. But like I said earlier, the Yewa failed to break the jinx each time they were afforded the golden opportunity. And we won’t slip into one of the factors that contributed to their failure.

    The contest is not built on any individual per se. In Awori land, we have the Ota, Igbesa, Ado, and Agbara, and in fact, we have Isheri Olofin and Agbada, which are partitioned under the Ogun Central Senatorial District. We have been working back home, and our elders, leaders, youths, and stakeholders are arranging the home so that once a candidate emerges either from Ota, Ado, Igbesa, or anywhere, such a person would be generally acceptable and backed.

    Why are Ota/Awori people agitating for an independent traditional council?

    The Awori traditional council is in the common interest of all the Awori communities in Ogun State; hence, all the monarchs have a common purpose for its actualization, not only Ota. The fact that Awori is submerged in the Yewa and Egba traditional councils, despite our rich and distinct culture, huge industrial assets and economic contributions, strategic location, voting power, and demographic dividend, among others, has deprived us of access to their benefits because the state government and, in some cases, the federal government distribute values and work out governance through the four traditional councils: Remo, Egba, Ijebu, and Yewa. The recently concluded budget review in Ogun State was organized at the headquarters of the four councils I mentioned above, so one imagines what happens to the Awori when, in fact, we control greater human and material resources in the state.

    Yewa people have been claiming ownership of the Ogun West Senatorial District. What are the Ota and Awori people doing to change the narrative?

    They are joking. But let me continue to say that the majority of Yewas are peaceful and orderly, and they recognized why the Yewas and Aworis must enjoy mutual benefits in Ogun West. The minority who are causing the rife and innuendos are those who want to rewrite history for political gains.

    Thus, Aworis and Yewas own Ogun West. These political merchants are only being mischievous over a part of the Aworis in Ogun West, with Ado, Igbesa, and Agbara sharing the same traditional council with them. Unfortunately for them, they lack such power over these Awori lands. Olu Ilaro, who happens to be the president of the Yewa traditional council, knows that he lacks the power to claim the entire Ogun West. He can only claim the four local governments in Yewa: Yewa South, Yewa North, Ipokia, and Imeko Afon, but not the Ado/Odo-Ota local government.

    They have made a series of attempts that have faced stiff resistance. That Ado and Igbesa share the same traditional council with them neither arrogate claim over the land of the Aworis nor extinguish the identity of the Aworis. Recently, a socio-political organization by the name of Forum of Awori Intelligentsia, of which I am its spokesperson, has demanded the senate president, Godswill Akpabio, apologize over a statement he made during his visit to Ilaro, where he was chairman at the Yewa cultural festival and made a similar statement.

    Let us even ask, how does one exert influence or power over land that you have no control over? In these areas that share the same council with the Yewas, the Aworis, under the law, remain the only ones to nominate and crown their monarchs. Section 42(a) of the Obas Law 2023, as amended, gives the power to appoint a chief only to the traditional ruler with the prescribed authority, which in this case, the authority of Olu of Ilaro, does not extend to these Awori communities.

    Section 35 of the same law lists the functions of the traditional council, which are basically and solely administrative functions. I am a trained political scientist, and I teach public administration too. So one of the interesting debates in public administration is the dichotomy between politics and administration, and the simple means to differentiate both is that one (politics) is the end and the other (administration) is used as a means to achieve the end. Therefore, the traditional council is merely operating as machinery under a delegated power on behalf of the governor who created it.

    What are we doing to change the narratives? We remain committed to demanding our traditional council from the Governor, to whom the law has given the sole authority to create the Awori Traditional Council, because Section 33(1) of Part 4 of the same Ogun State Obas Law, as amended in 2023, gave the sole prerogative to declare the establishment of a traditional council to the Governor of the State. It reads: “The Governor may, by order, establish, for such traditional area as the case may require, a traditional council”. We are convinced that the Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, is a man of justice, equity, and fairness, and he will definitely establish the Awori Traditional Council before the end of his tenure. Although the traditional council would not mean that we would not continue to sustain our political relations, it certainly will strengthen them.

    Ota, Agbara, and the Awori side appear to be the industrial hubs of the state – yet they feel marginalized. Why?

    Simply because the terms of income the government generates from these hubs do not correspond with what is being allocated as values. This part of the state has the highest level of underdevelopment in the areas of roads, infrastructure, and other government deliverables. The Ota, Agbara, and Igbesa industrial settlements have not been used to develop our communities.

  • We are not part of Ogun state, says Irokun monarch

    We are not part of Ogun state, says Irokun monarch

    Regent of Irokun kingdom in the Ilaje local government area, Princess Adeyinka Abejoye-Ogunyemi, has said that her people were prepared to endure any hardship to resist what she termed the territorial ambition of the Ogun state government.

    Princess Ogunyemi, who faulted claims by the deputy governor of Ogun state, Noimot Salako Oyedele, that Irokun was not part of Ondo state, said nothing would change the reality that the kingdom remained within Ondo State.

    Ogunyemi said the move by the Ogun state government to claim the Olurokun stool as part of the Ijebu Traditional Council was due to the now moribund multi-million-dollar Olokola project.

    Speaking through the Olurokun Palace Secretary, Prince Emmanuel Ogunbajo, the Olurokun of Irokun, said the Ogun state government has no business rejecting her appointment as Regent on the false claim that Irokun kingdom was part of Ogun State.

    He said: “The current non-existent territorial dispute was schemed when the Ondo and Ijebu Provinces were created in 1915 and part of Ilaje in the western boundary with Lagos along the Lekki Peninsula was sought to be carved to create littoral access for the new Ijebu Province.

    “It cannot be overemphasized that apart from ambitious territorial claims, Ogun State has no presence in any of the constituent communities of Irokun kingdom which limited access to social amenities including secondary education is from the Ondo State.

    “By this vaulting territorial claim of Ogun state, the Olokola project has become moribund and investors in oil refinery, deep sea port, and petrochemical industries scared away giving room for fake real estate developers and land speculators aided by officials of the Ogun state government.

    Read Also: Heavy rainfall alert in Lagos,  Ogun Rivers, 12 others

    The proposed Araromi-Lekki (Lagos) road through the old Ilaje-Lagos trade route by the Ondo state government is a salutary reenactment of the connections between Ilaje and Lagos.

    He added: “We wish to let Her Excellency know that Irokun kingdom is not being claimed for Ondo State. It has always been as an inseparable component of the Ilaje nation as part of Ondo State. This reality will remain the same wherever the Ilaje is made to be by any administrative arrangement by Nigeria.

    “The resort to violence and intimidation by the Ogun State Government using the police and other security agents, including some miscreant immigrants within the Irokun kingdom, will not alter the status quo that Irokun kingdom is an integral part of Ilaje and Ondo State. On this, we are resolved and prepared to endure any hardship in its realization in all generations.”

  • Dredging Ogun river would curb flooding at Isheri – Abiodun

    Dredging Ogun river would curb flooding at Isheri – Abiodun

    Ogun State Governor Prince Dapo Abiodun has said that adequate dredging and channelisation of the Ogun River would go a long way in curbing the perennial flooding of Isheri and its environs.

    Governor Abiodun made the suggestion when he received the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr. (Miss) Betta Edu, who paid him a courtesy call in his office at Oke-Mosan Abeokuta at the weekend.

    Abiodun also observed that water released from Cameroon contributed to the disaster.

    He said: “We have identified some immediate causes. We have the Oyan Dam, and it is being overseen by the Ogun-Osun River Basin Development Authority. The Minister of Water Resources and State for the Environment were here to see for themselves that it was the consequences of the flooding.

    “We identified together that the Dam itself contributed to the problem, and of course, it is not intentional because Dams were built to capture bodies of water that are in the channel. It serves as sources of water supply, irrigation, and also the control of flooding.

    “The other part is that the Ogun River is channeled to go through the area in question. That channel itself requires proper channelization. There is evidence that the channel needs to be disilted. The Ogun River emptied into the Lagoon, so when you have the channel where people build houses on, when there is a downpour, when the Dam itself is opened, the water overflows.”

    Governor Abiodun described this year’s flooding in the Isheri axis as the worst in recent times, saying it has affected the commercial and social life of the people as residents now take refuge in camps of various religious bodies across the State.

    He said though the area is floodplain, successive governments allocated the land for development purposes, saying the immediate concern of his administration was to look at the remote causes and the interventions that could be deployed to bring relief to the residents as the government could not embark on demolition exercise as there are warehouses, different estates, businesses, and schools in the axis.

    While emphasizing the need for correctional work on roads in the axis, Governor Abiodun opined that the flooding is not localized as the State has to contend with water released from the Republic of Cameroon, noting that there is an urgent need to engage a Consultant to conduct a proper study and come up with a holistic plan that could lead to permanent and sustainable solutions to the problem.

    Abiodun appreciated President Bola Tinubu for the laudable intervention programmes put in place to cushion the effects of the subsidy removal and the ones meant for the State, saying he would personally review the State’s Social Register to ensure fairness and inclusiveness.

    “I have set up an expanded Committee under the Ministry of Budget and Planning and I have also expanded the participation to ensure that it is an inter-ministerial team working alongside Council Chairmen, and religious bodies, to look at the list and ensure inclusiveness and that it is the true representative of those that are in need.

    “Soon the list will be ready, and the state will join the comity of states that are enjoying the programmes,” Abiodun submitted.

    Speaking earlier, Edu said the federal government is considering the construction of buffer dams to control flooding around communities abutting the Ogun River.

    Read Also: FG to open up 28 States for water transportation

    The minister said she and her counterpart in the Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation had discussed the issue at the last Federal Executive Council meeting on the need to have dams that would act as buffer to prevent further flooding in the axis.

    She also hinted at the Federal Government’s plan to take 50 million Nigerians out of poverty in the next 42 months and get every single person in the country out of the poverty line by the year 2030 in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

    She lamented the recent flooding in many parts of the country, which she noted has pushed people into humanitarian crises and further pushed them down the poverty line.

    Edu said she was in Ogun State to assess how the federal government could provide immediate succor in terms of relief to the affected people.

    The minister noted that the government at the center has put in place various programmes to meet the objectives it has set for itself in eradicating poverty in the country.

    She also said she was in the state to have the sign-off of the Ogun State Social Register, which fits into the National Social Register so that people in the State could begin to receive the N25,000 Conditional Cash Transfer which has already started in other states of the Federation.

    “Beyond this, we have carefully mapped out immediate interventions that will be carried out in Ogun State. Some are designed specifically for the state, like the Adire fabric scheme, with which we want to support women to produce the Adire. We also have the GIP programme, which is the market and traders, as well as the farmers’ money.

     “We have the End-Hunger Programme, which will be started almost immediately. The State’s sensitization team would engage with the communities, market women, and the state government so that we can have a smooth flow of the interventions,” she said.

     Edu said the federal government is also working with the state government to provide grants for vulnerable women to set up their businesses, adding that the GIP programme which is a zero-interest loan to the vulnerable, is aimed at supporting the already existing programme being implemented in the State.

     a”The GIP is a zero-interest loan to the vulnerable, but the grant will also be supporting a programme already being implemented here in Ogun State, and all of these are targeted at seeing that we can achieve the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s instrument of getting 50 million people out of poverty within the next 42 months, while we work towards getting every single person out of poverty by 2030 which is in line with the Sustainable Development Goals.

    “It is a transparent process that we want to use to build the confidence of Nigerians that President Tinubu truly means well for this country and wants the interventions to go to the people that truly need them,” the minister explained.

  • Bloody day in Ogun community as robbers kill two policemen, welder

    Bloody day in Ogun community as robbers kill two policemen, welder

    • Hoodlums flee in police vehicle

    A gang of armed robbers shattered the peaceful atmosphere on Babaloja Street in Iyana Cele community, off Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway, Ifo in a tragic manner penultimate Sunday. The hoodlums, numbering six, were initially resisted by a night guard, who fled into hiding after he had fruitlessly fired shots to repel the invaders, who were said to be armed to their teeth.

    Witnesses said a welder in the neighbourhood, Paul Adesanwo, who rushed out of his home to see what was going on, was silenced by two shots fired at his head by the gunmen. He fell and died in a pool of blood. The gunmen were then said to have moved into the deceased’s home, broke into a safe and removed some money kept there by the deceased welder while they locked up his wife and moved into another building.

    Recalling the tragic incident, the bereaved wife of the slain welder, Kehinde Adesanwo, said: “My husband and I were in bed when the night guard hired to protect the street started shouting thief! thief! at about 1 am on Sunday, October 15.

    “My husband thought the man was chasing someone who had come to steal our chickens, so he rushed out to see who the thief was, not knowing that it was actually some armed robbers that were chasing the night guard.

    “As soon as he came out, the robbers sighted him, asked him to lie down on his face and shot him dead.

    “After killing my husband, they entered our apartment, brought out their rifles and loaded them with bullets. They used a saw to destroy the gun they had collected from the night guard.

    Read Also: Robbers killing motorcyclists at night, says Ondo Amotekun

    “The person that killed my husband was called Ojueje (bloody eye), and they left after collecting the key to my husband’s car.’’It was said that the gunmen moved to another building and ended the promising life of a police officer, Eric Olu Akinmusiyitan a.k.a. Osha, exactly eight days after he lost his 18-year-old daughter, Temilola, who died after a brief illness.

    Akinmusiyitan, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) attached to Ijoko Division in Ogun State, who was still grieving over the loss of his daughter, was said to have taken some drugs that would enable him to sleep well after observing some prayers for his departed daughter in the evening of that day.

    The hoodlums, who had also killed a welder, were said to have scaled the fence into his compound and threatened to kill all the occupants of the house if they failed to open the door to the building.

    Speaking with our correspondent, the wife of the deceased 48-year-old police officer, Mrs. Kehinde Akinmuyiitan, said: “My children are still small. In fact, I am seriously grieving because I have lost my daughter and husband within one week. A lot of money was spent on my daughter’s sickness before she died while my husband was also killed within the same week,’’ Akinmusiyitan’s wife lamented.

    She added: “The incident occurred around 1 am. I heard a noise and decided to check on my children when I started hearing sporadic gunshots. I woke my husband up from sleep and rushed to the toilet to pee.fully armed.

    “When I called the night guard on his phone, he explained that he and others chased the robbers and that they escaped with a car brought by some policemen.

    “He said the robbers chased him and turned back after he dropped his rifle on the ground while he was fleeing, following which he alerted the So Safe Corps, who in turn informed the police.

    “Men of the Ifo Division who came there were overwhelmed and the robbers actually escaped in the car brought by the policemen.”

    Adesugba explained that Akimusuyimi’s wife told him that the robbers killed her husband in her presence.

    He said: “She told me the hoodlums were pushing the main gate to their building in their bid to gain entry and that she immediately woke her husband.

    “She said that as soon as the robbers came into their compound, her husband said he had a feeling that they came for him. She said subsequently, the robbers said they respected my husband and would not harm him.

    “However, as they were leaving the policeman’s apartment, one of the robbers turned back and shot him three times in the chest and stomach, and he died.

    “The wife of the other police traffic warden who was killed by the robbers said the hoodlums had earlier dispossessed her and her husband of their phones before moving to Akinmusiyu’s apartment. She, however, said her husband rushed out when shots rang out and he thought that ASP Akinmusiyitan had overpowered the hoodlums. The robbers however killed him instantly for having the guts to come out to rescue his colleague.’’

    The spokesperson for Ogun State Police Command, Omola Odutola, had not responded to a WhatsApp message sent to her phone at press time.

  • Two pupils raze books, community school in Ogun

    Two pupils raze books, community school in Ogun

    Two pupils of Community Primary School Isheri Olofin, Ogun State have burnt the school and properties, including books.

    Wahis Musa, 6, and Malik Iliasu, 9, residents of the Isheri Olofin community stormed the community school on Sunday and entered one of the classrooms through an unlocked window.

    The suspects, it was learnt, gathered the books left by the teachers and other pupils and burnt them.

    But residents, who noticed the arson, rushed to the scene and brought the situation under control.

    The Police Public Relations Officer in Ogun State, Superintendent of Police (SP) Omolola Odutola who confirmed this on Sunday night informed the pupils have been arrested.

    SP Odutola stated further that the incident was reported to the police by a community chief, stressing that inquiries were being made to locate their parents or guardians as the matter is also being treated as a “serious crime.”

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    She stated: “The Ojodu-Abiodun Divisional Police Officer of the Ogun State Police Command, has made arrests in a case of malicious damage and arson. Two pupils, of Community primary school, Isheri Olofin, one Wahis Musa, aged 6 years, and Malik Iliasu, aged 9 years, both residents of the Isheri Olofin community, have been apprehended for setting fire to their school and properties of the school on 29th October, 2023.

    “The incident was reported to the Police by a Chief in the Community. According to the report, Wahis Musa and Malik Iliasu gained access to one of the unlocked classrooms at Community Primary School Isheri Olofin. They then proceeded to gather books left behind by the teachers and pupils and set them on fire. The value of the damaged books is currently unknown.

    “Upon receiving the report, the Anti-Crime and Detectives visited the scene and brought the alleged children to the police station for interrogation.

    “The Police has started making inquiries on how to contact their parents as this is a very serious crime for these children to get themselves involved with ,the police will unravel and update members of the public in due course if there are other persons who may have instigated the youngsters.”

  • Succour at last for Ogun’s flood-ravaged Isheri community?

    Succour at last for Ogun’s flood-ravaged Isheri community?

    • By Elijah Udofia

    Sir: These are certainly not the best of times for residents of Isheri and its environs in Ifo Local Government Area of Ogun State – no thanks to the perennial flooding they usually experience during rainy seasons.

    Just like the previous years, the unwanted visitor came calling again this year bringing along with it what the Afro Beat legend, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, called “sorrow, tears and blood”.

    A drive on the long bridge of Lagos-Ibadan Expressway in the Isheri axis of Ogun State, one could see the once beautiful landscape turned into river of waters and the destruction that accompanied it. The flood not only submerged shops, residential building, but also industrial buildings.

    To the residents of the community, who are said to be of middle and high income earners, this year’s flooding is the worst as it destroyed properties worth millions of naira and painfully too, led to lose of precious life.

    They lamented that the recent release of water from the Oyan Dam is the main cause of the flooding and this has done unimaginable havoc not only to their properties, but their livelihoods.

    The implication is that the residents of the areas have fled their homes while business, schools and religious centres have all shut down in the affected communities.

    As things are now, there is an urgent humanitarian crisis occasioned by the flood as those sacked by the flood are hanging around with family members and friends, while those who have no place to go are accommodated by religious bodies in their various camps.

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    It is on record and as supported by the residents, that government officials, both from the state and national levels in the past, hardly visited the area whenever flood occurred and when they do, only give the victims promises which are never fulfilled.

    However, this year’s seems to be different. It is heart-warming to see that shortly after the flood disaster and the threatening humanitarian crisis, the governor of Ogun State, Dapo Abiodun, the Ministers of State for the Environment, Isiaq Salako and his Water Resources and Sanitation counterpart, Prof. Joseph Tsev, visited the affected areas and agreed that something urgent needed to be done.

    While Salako stressed the need for a comprehensive study of the area to find a lasting solution, he also believed that by expanding the drainages and lifting the roads, it would help in tackling the problem. Prof Utsev on his part, want residents of Isheri and other flood prone areas in the country to know that the federal government is not unmindful of their plight as it has set up a committee that is working extensively on flood challenges across the country.

    For Governor Abiodun whose portion of territory continue to experience flooding year in year out, the presence of the federal government through the two ministers, was an indication that solution has finally come to Isheri community. He was however quick to warn that drastic action has to be taken to confront the challenge of flooding in the area once and for all.

    Taking a cursory look at the area, no one will be left in doubt that haphazard erection of structures even on water plain contributed to the disaster that has become a yearly occurrence in the community. One is happy that the governor was emphatic when he put the residents on notice that some or all of those structures obstructing free flow of water have to give way if they want permanent solution to the perennial flooding.

    From the discussions Governor Abiodun had with the residents and community leaders coupled with the fact that the federal government, this time around, has shown greater interest in seeing to the end of the menace, one can say with certainty that succour has finally come to Isheri and its environs.

    •Elijah Udofia,

    Laderin, Abeokuta, Ogun State

  • Ogun NNPP commends DPP’s intervention in party crisis

    Ogun NNPP commends DPP’s intervention in party crisis

    The Ogun chapter of New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) has commended the intervention of the Directorate of Public Prosecution (DPP) over a suit involving two officials of the party, and former chairman of the party in the State.

    This was contained in a statement by the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the party in the state, Com. Olowu Omokehinde.

    Lawyers from the Department of Public Prosecution (DPP), Ogun State on Wednesday informed the Abeokuta Magistrate Court, Isabo that they were taking over the prosecution of the case from the Police.

    The court responded by saying that it was served a letter to the effect earlier from the Department of Public Prosecution (DPP) and as such granted them leave to take over the case and directed the Police prosecutor to hand over the case file to the state prosecutors.

    The prosecution counsel asked the court for an adjournment as they needed time to study the case file and go through all the statements of the witnesses, and  the matter was adjourned to the 30th day of November 2023 for trial.

    Omokehinde however commended DPP decision to take over the case, saying justice delayed is justice denied. 

    He explained that this would give room for thorough investigations into matter so that justice would prevail.

    According to him: “We are very much happy that the DPP has taken over the prosecution of this case. It  is our firm belief that justice would be done and the truth of this case will be brought to light”.

    The crisis rocking the Ogun chapter of the NNPP took a new twist when two leaders of the party were dragged to court.

    The national headquarters of the party expelled the former  Chairman of the NNPP in Ogun, Olaposi Oginni for anti-party activities and misappropriation of funds.

    While Oginni’s  expulsion was announced by the party, a faction loyal to the 2023 governorship candidate of the party, Comrade Olufemi Ajadi Oguntoyinbo went to perform legitimate function at the party secretariat but the expelled Chairman, locked up the place.

    The party leaders and other executives went to Police station to seek assistance of security agents to open the party secretariat but Oginni reported the matter to the Police as alleged stealing and malicious damage.

    Consequently, the South West Publicity Secretary of the NNPP, Kilamuwaye Badmus and Ogun state party’s PRO, Olowu Olayemi Omokehinde were dragged before an Abeokuta Magistrate’s Court sitting in Isabo.

    They were arraigned for alleged malicious damage of worth N575,000 and stealing of N7.5 million kept in the party’s secretariat and belonging to Ogun NNPP.

    As the crisis raged, Kilamuwaye Badmus and the party in Ogun NNPP also accused Oginni of financial impropriety, fraud, money laundering and terrorism financing in parts of the country, which led to his arrest.

    He was arrested in Abeokuta, the Ogun state capital by detectives from the Force Headquarters Abuja, first detained in Lafenwa Police Station before he was moved to Abuja. 

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    The arrest, it was learnt, followed a petition to the Inspector-General of Police by E.A Igwe & Co, Barristers and Solicitors of the Supreme Court of Nigeria on behalf of the NNPP national leadership.

    The petition marked EAV/MISC/05/1992/2023 dated May 20, 2023 with the heading: ”Call for the arrest of the culprits and to subject them to the full wrath of the law” expelled Oginni was accused of operating secret accounts and allegedly diverted party’s money into it as well as collecting money from governorship aspirants on behalf of NNPP and failing to remit same to party.

    On the resume hearing of the case of alleged stealing and malicious damage at the Magistrate Court, Isabo, Abeokuta, Ogun state on Wednesday, Lawyers from the DPP announced its taken over of the suit, and the court responded by saying that it was served a letter to the effect earlier from the DPP and as such granted them leave to take over the case and directed the Police prosecutor to hand over the case file to the state prosecutors.

  • Dapo Abiodun, unlocking Ogun prosperity   through aerotropolis

    Dapo Abiodun, unlocking Ogun prosperity   through aerotropolis

    • By Olaniyi Ajibola

    John C. Maxwell, American clergyman described a leader as “one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way”. By the tenets of his thought, Maxwell believed only an individual with capacity to see ahead of others follow the path with conviction and make others to see in that direction qualifies to be called a leader.

     In political landscape, there are people at the corridors of power parading themselves as leaders without the qualities enunciated by the late American clergyman; in the real sense of it, they are not more than  dealers and jobbers in power.

    Fortunately, for people of Ogun State, the evil machinations of political dealers and jobbers could not deny them a leader in the description of Maxwell; and the man with blue blood, Prince Dapo Abiodun, came into the saddle and took the mantle of leadership with utmost alacrity.

     Going by the manner and speed the governor redefined governance and entrenched purposeful leadership, it would have been an unimaginable disaster and catastrophe if his naysayers and antagonists had succeeded in stopping him in 2019 and subsequently in 2023.

     The state would have been robbed of laudable projects of global attention amid political stability and peaceful co-existence,  unlike the past  years of palpable tension, suffocation and intimidation.

     Of great interest and global attention is the construction of an aerotropolis, an agro-cargo International airport of distinction, strategically located on Iperu-Ilishan road in Ikenne Local Government, a contiguous community to Lagos.

     By its concept and scope, the airport was designed to have facilities for cargo processing, storage warehouse, training centre, International Standard Testing Centre for agriculture produce, a logistic hub, and special space for commercial flights.

    At the completion of the airport, it will generate over 25,000 jobs for youths , aside creating infrastructure to boost export of agricultural and non-agricultural goods on one hand and on the other, to reinvigorate socio-economic activities capable of increasing revenue generation drive.

     It is in the face of this that developmental economists and stakeholders in aviation have described the Gateway International  Airport as  a game-changer in Nigeria, with its special design to connect rail, road and water transportation, which decongests Lagos airport, coupled with component and facility to receive parcels coming into Nigeria to be redistributed to other parts of the country.

    The airport is a direct and complete fulfilment of Abiodun’s transformational philosophy, popularly known as  ISEYA, an acronym for Infrastructural Development, Social Welfare and Well-being, Education and Human Capital Development, Youth Empowerment, Agriculture and Food Security.

     With the largest industrial zones in sub-Saharan Africa, comprising  8,000 hectares OPIC-owned Agbara Industrial Estate, with over 200 companies, which includes the federal Ogun-Guangdong Free Trade (OGFTZ) with 44 operational companies, factory tenants from across the world, accommodating  over  6,000 Nigerian employees and an estimated 100,000 metric tonnes of freight moved in/out of OGFTZ daily, the Agro-cargo International Airport is indeed a game changer.

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     The governor, after several visits to the airport and in his usual style of project monitoring, again visited the on October 21 to inspect some developments and briefed the press, in an obvious euphoria of sterling performance and indelible achievement.

     Abiodun went into memory lane and gave details of the journey towards his success in Aerospace Economy.

     The governor averred: “When we assumed office, we established the Ministry of Transportation and commissioned a transport master plan for Ogun State. It was called a multi model transport master plan. The idea is to have a document that speaks to the connection between all modes of transportation in the state; road, rail, water and air. That document has continued to guide and shape our policy decisions in the sector.

     “We considered transportation and the ease of transportation as a key enabler in our socio-economic development. We decided that an airport would need to be established on a business case. And that business case among others is to have it co-located in an industrial zone. So, we decided to locate a special agro-processing zone on the same premises. So, we have the airport inside a special processing zone. And what is that? A special processing zone is a zone that is dedicated for processing companies that take raw materials from the immediate corridor and process into finished good.

    “For us, this initiative ticks the box of providing an enabling environment for Public Private Sector partnership, which is part of our vision ab initio. Today, what you see here is an airport that has landed a number of aircraft. The airport is not officially opened yet because there are things required by the regulatory authorities for an airport to be given commercial licensing right and some of those things are not in place yet.

     “However, the most important part of an airport that is already in place is the runway. This runway is the longest runway in Nigeria. It is the widest runway in Nigeria and is the best constructed runway in Nigeria. Beyond the runway, we have an apron. The apron is world class. That is where planes park after they land. That apron is 82,000 square metres of concrete. I am not sure how many aprons are built to this standard. And we have the administration building which is nearing completion. 

    “Against the administration building is the control tower. I say with pride and I beat my chest, there is no control tower that comes anything near this facility. And when I say this, people wonder am I competing? No, I am not competing. However, we set up standards for ourselves.

     “We are building a truly international airport. We have de-risk this project because as much as we believe that as government, we don’t have any business in business, we realise  that were we to wait for others to come and build this airport, we would probably be waiting after I must have left office. But, what did we do, we decided as government to look for funding and build this airport and then concession it to others, thereby de-risking the project. So, today, what you see is a world class airport that is attracting the attention of airport operators around the world.

     “We have a process in place where a few others have expressed interest. It is very exciting that the airport is not completed and yet people are jostling to take over the airport, pay us all that it has cost us and begin to run this airport. Had we not built this airport to world class standard, nobody would come here. There are other airports all over the country that states have built and I don’t know how much interest those airports are receiving all over the world, but this airport is receiving interest from international airport operators.

     “I am sure in the next 30 to 45 days, we should sign the dotted lines of the concessioning, which would mean that everything the airport has cost us would be paid back to us and we can use the money to pay our debt and begin to look at other projects. Like they say, you build a highway it leads from one point to other, you build an airport, it takes you from that point to the rest of the world. Today, Ogun is being opened to the rest of the world. We are saying with all sense of modesty and sincerity that Ogun is ready for the world”.

     By the above submission of Abiodun,  the governor has left no one in doubt he possesses greater knowledge and capacity of developmental governance; he has proven it to all  he is more cognitive and cerebral than what his political foes peddle about him.

    I know by now, all his political naysayers must have  eaten the humble pile and resort to fate; Congratulations, Abiodun, on this enviable feat.

    You are without doubt our Lee Kuan Yew in Ogun State.

    Olaniyi Ajibola, writes from Abeokuta

  • Subsidy removal: Ogun accuses opposition of blackmail over palliatives distribution

    Subsidy removal: Ogun accuses opposition of blackmail over palliatives distribution

    Ogun State government on Sunday raised the alarm over the ongoing attempt by opposition politicians to rubbish efforts by the state and the federal governments to provide relief to the vulnerable people to cushion the effects of the recent subsidy removal.

    The state government warned Nigerians to be wary of the antics of such politicians who have been going about to rubbish the palliative programmes put on place meant to cater for the poorest of the poor.

    Reacting to recent online videos in a statement signed by the Chief Press Secretary to the state governor, Lekan Adeniran, the Ogun State government said some agents of the opposition have resorted to media blackmail to discredit the administration of Governor Dapo Abiodun.

    Describing the perpetrators of the media blackmail as fifth columnists, the statement noted that the federal government was unambiguous in saying the palliative is not meant for everybody but for the most vulnerable people in the society.

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    The statement noted that it smacks of bad blood and evil intentions for some fifth columnists to be spreading falsehoods targeted at discrediting the ongoing well coordinated distribution across the state.

    According to the statement, the government of Governor Abiodun has been severally lauded at home and abroad for the efficient and prudent manner the sharing of the palliatives has been handled.

    “Let it be recalled that Governor Abiodun made it clear to everybody involved in sharing the palliatives that it must get to the intended beneficiaries.

    “But in spite of the painstaking effort of the government in to ensure that the palliatives get to the right beneficiaries promptly, some people are unrelenting in their bids to tar the administration with negative brushes for reasons not beyond politics.

    “This explains the case of the man in a recent video who claims to be a Community Development Association chairman somewhere in the state. Taking to social media and throwing cautions to the wind, he betrayed the posture of a man out to do mischief so as to score cheap political gains ,” he said

    The statement expressed surprise at the man’s claim that the bag of rice he displayed was meant for his entire CDA.

    “This man is aware that the bag of rice is meant for ONE vulnerable family in the community, and not for all the residents. It was sent to him as the chairman for onward transfer to a vulnerable widow in his community.

    “But, instead of ensuring that it gets to the intended beneficiary, he chose to play politics with the palliative, exposing himself as the destructive opposition agent that he actually is.

    “This man’s expression of disappointment is against the federal government’s clear instructions on the palliatives. He clearly got it wrong thinking that government was ready to provide enough bags of rice that would go round every family in his community. It is also obvious that he was out on a hatchet job.

    “It has also been established by some members of his community that more bags of rice were sent to other beneficiaries in Shokeye community through other stakeholders. Sadly, the chose to play dirty politics on the social media for which his political party is known for.

    “Need we tell him and his sponsors that they cannot secure the political victory they could not win at the polls and at the tribunal by telling lies and half truths on the social media as regards the well thought out palliative arrangement in the state,” the statement added.

    The statement recalled that another CDA boss in the same Obafemi Owode Local Governments, Mr. Timothy Agboola, who had made similar remarks later retracted all he said.

    Mr. Agboola, it would be recalled later discovered that many bags of rice were shared in his community while the one given to him was meant for just one vulnerable family.

    A rejoinder by the LGA said all groups were equally represented at the stakeholders meeting and committee set up by the government to monitor the distribution of the palliative across wards, villages, communities and town within the local government.

    The groups includes, traditional rulers, Baales, religious body, Community Development Associations, youths, security agencies, market men and women and People Living with Disability.among others

    The statement read: “At no time or place has any community or group been given one 10kg bag of rice as their share of the relief materials as displayed by the CDA chairman.

    “We called on the general public to disregard the content of the video and others in circulation. They are not the true reflection of the palliatives sharing mechanism.

    “Governor Dapo Abiodun is doing everything possible to bring succour to the generality of our people, including the introduction of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) buses and electric powered tricycles and motorcycles to reduce the cost of transportation to the barest minimum in the state.”