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Tag: Ogun

  • The week Ogun struck twice

    The week Ogun struck twice

    There were you on the bleary afternoon of October 19, 1986 as the dreadful news began to seep through the airwaves? Somewhere in Opebi, Ikeja life drained out of a gifted and most inspiring Nigerian journalist. No one could have survived the horrific wounds. Dele Giwa, the charismatic and dynamic editor of the ground breaking weekly, Newswatch had just been assassinated. It was the weekOgun, the god of iron, struck twice.

    Earlier in the same week, Nigerians had risen as one to celebrate the first Nobel Prize for Literature ever awarded to a Black African.  As it had been widely predicted, it went to a Nigerian. Ogun, the god of iron and Wole Soyinka’s acknowledged creative muse, had gifted the great Nigerian dramatist with literary immortality. But before the week ran out, Ogun had struck again.

    The deity of steely violence and blood –suffused cleansing berthed at Talabi Street, Ikeja. As the acrid fumes cleared, Dele Giwa’smangled body nestled amidst a tangled mass of twisted metals and charred wood.   The hour of platinum is also the hour of pellets. For a nation accustomed to extravagant paradox, this was irony at its most supreme.

    Thirty years later, the mind continues to marvel at the revolutionary wickedness of this novel method of human wastage. This was to open a gale of murder and mayhem as if Nigeria was waiting for the astral signal of sophisticated violence.  Three decades later, Nigeria is foaming with blood and is like an open ended morgue filled with the dead and the devastated.  Historians of the future gazing at the vast necropolis will wonder how killing and human culling could occur on such an industrial scale in a largely primitive society. A society which cannot sustain its citizens has procured the most scientific means of dispatching them.

    Let us say this once again, particularly to those who pretend to be hard of hearing. No one who has blocked or conspired to thwart Nigeria’s path to greatness will escape harsh and exacting retribution. If not now, then much later, as Dele Giwa himself famously noted in the poetic prose of a joyously clairvoyant child.

    In many respects, Dele Giwa himself reminds one of a child, particularly in the sweet innocence with which he romanced unaccountable power and its hard principalities. As the Yoruba in their gnomic wisdom will put it, nobody must ask a child not climb the hill of Langbodo. That is if he ever survived to ask questions.

    Yet,there is a mystical and metaphysical dimension to Nigeria’s fortunes and misfortunes, a hidden order to disorder, that one can only shudder at the brainless effrontery of those who have been toying with the destiny of the greatest conglomeration of black souls on earth. Described by an early colonial administrator as an arbitrary block hewn out of the heart of Africa, Nigeria is a great tribute to the self-subverting genius of the colonial imaginary. If it had not existed, it would have had to be willed into existence by post-colonial imagination.

    As part of the national remembrance of this great Nigerian journalist, we republish this morning an expanded tribute to Dele Giwa which was first published on this page nine years ago.. As it was on October 19, 1986, so it has been on October 19, 2016. But this time around, it is the judiciary that was being firebombed by public opprobrium.

  • Why Ogun PDP remains in disarray

    Why Ogun PDP remains in disarray

    The crisis threatening the Ogun State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is far from being over. In spite of the frantic efforts to bury their differences, the warring chieftains remain implacable. Assistant Editor LEKE SALAUDEEN examines the root of the crisis and why it has defied solution.

    There seems to be no solution in sight to the crisis rocking the Ogun State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Since its defeat in 2011 by the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), the PDP has not fully recovered from the shock. The party is fragmented into three groups and the crisis continues to fester.

    It all started prior to the 2011 general elections; as a proxy war between former President Olusegun Obasanjo and former Governor Gbenga Daniel over the control of the party structures ahead of the polls. The gladiators were divided over the choice of the party’s governorship candidate. Obasanjo had insisted that former Sole Administrator of Ekiti State, General Adetunji Olurin, should get the ticket, while Daniel preferred his long-time protégée and former Managing Director of the Gateway Holdings, Mr Gboyega Isiaka, for the role. The party became polarised, with the Daniel camp breaking away to contest the election on a different platform. The division proved to be their undoing; as the two groups eventually lost out in the election.

    In an attempt to regain power in 2015, remnants of the party after the exit of Obasanjo and the Daniel camp re-united. This includes supporters of Senator Buruji Kashamu and that of former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Dimeji Bankole. But, it was not enough to stop the All Progressives Congress (APC), led by Governor Ibikunle Amosun, from retaining power.

    Shortly after the elections, the cracks that were hurriedly patched for the purpose of regaining power widened once again, with gladiators moving in different directions. It became apparent that the centre could no longer hold during the failed bid to rebuild the party nationwide, when the three gladiators conducted separate ward, local government and state congresses. The arrow heads are Hon. Ladi Adebutu, son of multi-billionaire business mogul, Chief Adebutu Kessington, who represents Remo Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives; Senator Kashamu and Hon. Bankole.

    Adebutu, who is backed by his father and Bankole are pitched in a fresh battle against Kashamu who also has the financial war chest to prosecute any political battle. While Adebutu has his eyes firmly on the governorship seat in 2019, Bankole is said to be bent on taking his own pound of flesh from Kashamu who single-handedly stopped him from picking the party’s governorship ticket for the 2015 polls.

    A chieftain of the PDP in Ogun State, Hon. Sikirulai Ogundele, attributed the division in the chapter “to the selfish interest of Kashamu”. Ogundele, who is the Chairman of the Adebutu faction said: “We started having problems when Buruji Kashamu when he came up with a deceit that was supported by Daniel. We found out later that Kashamu was out to use our political fortunes to enrich his business interests through a diabolical organisation he called ‘Omo Ilu Foundation’. He forced many members of the party to take an oath of allegiance to his leadership.

    “Later, he took the party leadership to court on certain issues. With the support of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, he had his way. He used court injunctions to take over the structure of the party. Kashamu later frustrated Obasanjo, Daniel and other notable leaders out of the party.

    “What Kashamu did to the PDP in Ogun was the height of deceit. In 2011, he started selling party tickets for political offices to the highest bidders. In 2015, we had the opportunity of regaining power in the state, but we could not capitalise on it because of the selfish interests of Kashamu. Like he did in 2011, he fixed prices for elective offices. Those who could afford to pay were given the tickets; it was a cash and carry business.

    “He didn’t put into consideration the popularity of the candidates. For instance, Kashamu foisted Bisola Clark, the wife of Ijaw leader, Chief Edwin Clark, on the Ogun Central Senatorial District as candidate. She is an Egba woman, but not popular among the people. She doesn’t stay in Abeokuta. Still, Kashamu gave her the senatorial ticket at the expense of a popular candidate.”

    A member of the Bankole group, Mr Adedotun Adetona, agreed with Ogundele. He confirmed that the seizure and firm grip of Kashamu on the party’s structure forced former President Obasanjo, with whom he had a running battle since 2010, to suddenly quit the party along with his supporters in the run-up to the 2015 general elections. According to Adetona, it was in a bid to pre-empt Kashamu’s deft moves that Obasanjo decided to call it quits.

    He said: “It was when Obasanjo got wind of the plan by the state executive committee of the party loyal to Kashamu to expel and disgrace him that he hurriedly called a press conference in his Abeokuta Presidential Mansion and announced his decision to quit the party. He did this in a dramatic fashion, by tearing his membership card in the glare of cameras.

    “The supremacy battle between Kashamu and the remnants of the Obasanjo camp dragged on and culminated in the party’s defeat in the 2015 general elections. The party could only boast of one senatorial seat won by Kashamu himself, two House of Representatives seats, one won by Adebutu and nine House of Assembly seats.

    “Rather than consolidate on this modest achievement and strive for better performance in future elections, the party became more divided, with each group jostling for its soul. The Adebutu and Bankole groups are upset with the way and manner Kashamu has taken over the party’s structure. Kashamu has remained the major financier of the party since 2011 when he took the structures from Daniel. As a result, he became the alpha and omega of the PDP in Ogun. He determines who gets the PDP’s tickets for various elective offices.

    “In their wisdom, the opposing groups argued that if they did not rise up now to challenge and checkmate the ‘one-man-takes-all’ style of Kashamu, the electoral fortunes of the party may dim further and prevent it from capturing the state in 2019.”

    Fatoki explained what led to the formation of the splinter group thus: “In order to put an end to Kashamu’s impunity, we the like-minds in Ogun PDP decided to return to the drawing board, by first identifying the problems. We realised that Kashamu had turned the party into his personal property and was using our political fortunes to entrench his business interests. We came together, we mobilised our members against the self-acclaimed leader. We formed a formidable team, with Daniel and Adebutu.

    “After we had gathered enough members to fight the monster, we went ahead to conduct ward, local government and state congresses. It was not only our group that held congress outside the one conducted by Kashamu group; the Bankole group did the same thing. It was a protest against the leadership of Kashamu. Ogun is an elitist state. Kashamu can’t lead Ogun PDP. The likes of Kashamu can’t be a councillor In Egbaland, because of his dented image. He can’t lead our campaign; people will look at your leader and judge you.”

    The parallel congresses from where three parallel executives emerged have worsened the crisis in Ogun PDP.  The simultaneous conduct of the state congress recently at three different venues, by party members loyal to each of the three combatants, suggests that reconciliation of the warring factions is not feasible. At the end of the exercise, a former Chairman of Ijebu North Local Government, Chief Adebayo Dayo, was elected chairman by the group loyal to Kashamu, while a former Commissioner for Lands and Housing, Chief Wale Egunleti, emerged chairman of the Bankole faction. The Adebutu group elected Ogundele as chairman.

    There has been a growing apprehension within the party, as each faction continues to lay claim to the party leadership. A political analyst, Mr Duro Bankole, said: “The PDP in Ogun is in disarray. Nobody is sure which group conducted the authentic congress or which set of the executive is the authentic one. Each of the groups continues to lay claims to legitimacy and authenticity.”

    For instance, Ogundele argued that the congress conducted by his group was the authentic one and that the elected officials are the legitimate state executive council. He insisted that theirs is the constitutionally-recognised one and that it emerged to arrest the drift foisted on the party by the Dayo-led executive under the prompting of one man (Kashamu). He faulted the congress that produced the Dayo-led executive, saying it was an exercise in futility.

    He said: “We went to court to challenge the Dayo-led executive that conducted the Kashamu group’s congress. We got a court injunction restraining the faction from conducting or supervising the congresses. The Stakeholders Committee was put in place by the party at the expiration of Dayo’s tenure on February 28. The committee headed by Chief Iyabo Apampa conducted the congress from where I (Ogundele) emerged as party chairman.

    “This is why I am saying with confidence that we are the authentic executives of the party in Ogun State. We are also recognised by the zonal body (Southwest PDP). A stakeholder constituted by the party conducted our congress where I emerged chairman and that makes it legal and authentic. We got a letter from the Makarfi-led National Caretaker Committee, recognising us as the authentic state executive of the party. The Ogun State Electoral Commission has also recognised as the authentic state executive and that was why the commission accepted the list of candidates submitted by our group for the recent local government election.”

    But the Kashamu faction hinged the legitimacy of its congress on its recognition by the National Congress Committee Chairman for Ogun State, Mohammed El-Yakub, and the presence of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), which monitored the exercise. El-Yakub said he was not aware of any parallel congress in Ogun, “because we had designated centres and the congresses my committee monitored took place in those centres”. He added that members of the committee monitored the exercise across the three senatorial districts and it was peaceful and smooth.

    Insisting that the congress organised by the Kashamu faction was authentic, El-Yakub said: “We carried all the members along and asked any intending contestant to approach the party secretariat to obtain forms. We gave everybody a level-playing ground and equal opportunity. What I know is that some people cannot consider themselves as having conducted authentic congress without nomination forms.”

    On the authenticity of Kashamu group’s congress, Dayo who emerged as chairman said: “There are no factions in Ogun PDP and there was only one validly conducted congress held on May 10, 2016. Any other arrangement anywhere that purports to be another ‘parallel congress is nothing but a gathering of people whose motives and intentions are not clear and definitely not in consonance with the mood of the larger percentage of our members that are desirous of a rejuvenated, peaceful and progressive party.”

    The Secretary of the faction loyal to Bankole, Hon. Johnson Fatoki, said his group obtained its nomination form on which the congresses were conducted from the PDP national secretariat, Abuja. According to him, “the executive that emerged from our congress is valid; we followed the party guidelines.”

    Fatoki noted that divergent interests were fuelling the internal rancour in the Ogun PDP. He said: “It is about interests; some people want to use their interest to overshadow that of the group. So, I can’t rule out 2019 connection in the internal rancour in Ogun PDP.   In politics, there are bound to be competing interests, but it must not be at the detriment of the party. Personal ambition must not override the collective prosperity of the party.”

    Observers are of the view that “the PDP in Ogun State has lost its potency and slipped into political irrelevance, because of the inordinate ambition of its leaders. The PDP has ceased to be a viable opposition to the ruling APC; because of the expansionist tendencies and the crude ambition of its leaders in their bid to control the party structures”.

  • Ogun to partner private sector to reposition education

    Ogun to partner private sector to reposition education

    The Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle. Amosun, has said his administration would partner the private sector in its determination to reposition education in the state. Speaking at the 8th Convocation of Crescent University, Abeokuta, yesterday, the governor emphasised that his government places high premium on education and promised not to relent in his efforts to ensure qualitative, accessible and affordable education.

    The governor, who announced automatic employment for the first class graduating students into the state public service, advised the graduates to strive to become self reliant and not depend on white collar jobs.

    He also charged them to be good ambassadors of the nation, the institution and their families as well as apply all their academic knowledge towards the development of the nation.

    In their separate remarks, awardees, former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar and the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, who were both honoured with the award of Doctor of Science in Public Administration, appreciated the management of the institution for the honour bestowed on them.

     

  • Now that Ogun LG election is over

    SIR: The newly elected 57 local council chairmen in Ogun State were on Monday sworn in by the Chief Judge of the state, Justice Olatokunbo Olopade. At the ceremony, the Ogun State governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, urged them to lead by example and contribute to the development of their respective local councils.

    The election of the chairmen of the 20 Local Governments and 37 Local Council Development Areas (LG/LCDAs) last Saturday brought to a close the month-long electioneering in the state.

    The APC, despite being the party to beat, did not leave anything to chance. The party did not take the electorate for granted. Even the state governor had to mount the rostrum in the three senatorial districts of the state to campaign for the party’s candidates.

    The APC won all the chairmanship positions and overwhelming majority in the councillorship posts. Two things account for this. The sterling performance of the Amosun administration, which has endeared the party to the electorate and the intra-party disputes within the opposition parties, especially the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The PDP is torn apart in Ogun State and is virtually non-existent. Most of the other parties only exist on the pages of newspapers.

    Now that the council chairmen have been inaugurated, they should hit the ground running. Ogun has fertile agricultural land and so there should be no room for excuses. They should take their cue from Senator Amosun by getting value for money for every project executed. They should be frugal and think out of the box in order to raise the revenue of their council areas.

    One must congratulate the Ogun State Independent Electoral Commission (OGSIEC) for conducting a peaceful, free and fair election and the people of the state for trooping out to elect their leaders. The state government deserves commendation for providing a secure ambiance for the poll to take place.

     

    • Kayode Salawu,

    Ilaro, Ogun State.

  • Ogun Health Technology college recounts success, challenges at 40

    The first state-owned tertiary institution in Ogun State, the College of Health Technology, Ilese-Ijebu, which opened its gate to 41 pioneer students in 1976, turned 40 penultimate Monday.

    Its Provost, Dr Abiodun Oladunjoye, at a briefing at the institution’s campus, unveiled activities to mark the anniversary scheduled to end on November 17.

    Oladunjoye, an expert in Environmental Healthcare Management, said the institution, which began with two programmes at inception, has not only grown into a full-fledged institution, but also runs 11 programmes approved by the National Board for Technical Education(NBTE) at Diploma and Higher National Diploma levels.

    He added that the Pharmacy programme had been accredited by the Pharmacists Council of Nigeria (PCN).

    He listed paucity of funds, limited carrying capacity as prescribed by various professional boards and Council, and unilateral increase in fees  by some professional bodies in healthcare as the challenges facing the college.

    Praising the government for its support to the college, Abiodun appealed for more assistance from the government and the private sector to enable it meet its core mandate.

     

  • Ogun LG Polls: APC wins 53 chairmanship seats

    Results of the Chairmanship and Councillorship elections into the 20 Local Government Areas and 37 newly created Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) in Ogun State in 53 Councils have been released.
    The candidates of the All Progressives Congress(APC) won 53 chairmanship seats based on the results so far announced on Sunday afternoon by the Ogun State Independent Electoral Commission(OGSIEC).
    The ruling APC also won 99% of the councillorship seats in the 53 LGAs and LCDAs announced by OGSIEC Chairman, Alhaja Risikat Ogunfemi.
    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has however only won a councillorship seat in Yewa South.

  • Council election holds in Ogun, Speaker, others hail voters turn – out

    Council election holds in Ogun, Speaker, others hail voters turn – out

    Chairmanship and Counllorship elections into the 20 Local Government Areas and 37 newly created Local Council Development Areas(LCDAs) held seamlessly across Ogun State with each voter getting accredition and casting of ballot paper simultaneously within three minutes.
    About 17 political parties are participating in Saturday Local Governments polls in the state with the trio of the All Progressives Congress(APC), Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) and Unity Party of Nigeria(UPN) showing dominant visibility.
    In Ayetoro, the Headquarters of Yewa North Local Government Council in Ogun West Senatorial district of the state where The Nation monitored, officials of the Ogun State Independent Electoral Commission(OGSIE) arrived all the polling units early with election materials while the voters too were also enthusiastic to vote for parties and candidates of their respective choices.
    At Ayetoro ward 1, Mechanic junction polling unit, where the Speaker of the Ogun State House of Assembly, Suraj Adekunbi, voted, the turn out was relatively impressive.
    Same scenario was observed at the AUD 1 polling unit, Ayetoro ward 3 and other locations visited by The Nation – the turned out to vote while PDP and APC party agents were also present.
    Adekunbi who in his Ayetoro ward 1, Mechanic junction, voted few minutes after 10am, expressed satisfaction with the exercise, saying it was a reflection of the confidence the people reposed in APC government in the state.
    He noted that the system adopted this time by OGSIEC made it stress- free and removed cases of crowding as voters voted immediately upon accredition unlike the usual method of accrediting voters, asking them to wait or go home for a while and then return to cast their votes later.
    The Speaker expressed the confidence that the candidates of the APC would all have a successful and emerged winners when the polls is concluded.
    Also, former Information Commissioner and leader of APC in Ogun West Senatorial district, Kunle Elegbede, described the exercise as “flawless.”
    According to the ex – Editor of Daily Times, victory is sure for APC and its candidates adding that the performance of Governor Ibikunle Amosun has made things easier for them.
    At Ita Bada polling unit, Igbogila town where the APC chairmanship candidate, Alh. Abdulrahman Alebiosu voted, many of the registered voters came forward and voted in a hitch – free atmosphere.
    Alebiosu who described the election are “free and fair,” said because the electorate voted and left for home without congestion at the polling units, it tended to give the impression to casual observer that there was an apathy whereas the contrary was the case.

  • Ogun community to relocate 304 years old drums, others

    THE Alaye Ode of Ode-Remo in Remo North Local Government of Ogun State, Oba Adetunji Osho, yesterday, said he would relocate the town’s valuable artefacts to a safer haven for posterity.

    The monarch, who spoke to reporters in Ode-Remo, preparatory to the inauguration of his palace, added that the culture and tradition of a people should be protected from extinction.

    According to him, the need for ‘’safety” of the “artefacts,” among other things, informed building of phase 1 of a new palace.

    The traditional Prime Minister (Lisa) of Ode Remo, Chief Richard Olubodun, said the 304-year-old drums, the Alaye’s two original crowns, among others, would be taken to a safer location.

    Olubodun noted that the “crowns, which are venerated and adorned on occasions because of their place in Ode Remo traditional institution, are jealously guarded from the public”.

  • Free surgery for Ogun community

    No fewer than 27 persons in Ijebu land, Ogun State, have benefited from free general and orthopaedic surgeries carried out by experts under the aegis of Steno Memorial Foundation.

    The beneficiaries included two women who had lumps extracted from their breasts, men suffering from hernia and two others who received corrective surgeries for fractured leg and hip joint.

    Experts from Nigeria and abroad including Dr Aigbokhaewo Osagie (Consultant, Orthopaedic Surgeon,Nigeria), Dr Shobode Mutaleeb Ayodele (Abroad) among others, volunteered their services and facilities to the foundation to execute the month-long free surgery procedure at the St. Michael-Israel Specialist Hospital, Ijebu-Ode.

    Dr  Olufemi Sanni, an England-based Psychiatrist, who runs Steno Memorial Foundation, told Southwest Report that 27 persons  have undergone surgical operations.

    Sanni said he was also planning to build a theatre for operations as well as primary health care centre in Nigeria for free treatment of children of age five and below. He added that since inception in 2011,  over 2,500 people had benefited from its health programmes.

  • Ogun receives $11m foreign loan for housing

    Ogun State government has received a loan offer of 11 million dollars from a Kenyan based Shelter Afrique Company, for the construction of over 500 units housing project, for residents at Idi-Aba, Abeokuta.

    The Special Adviser to the Governor on Housing Development and General Manager of the State Housing Corporation, Mrs Olajumoke Akinwunmi, disclosed this while playing host to members of the State House of Assembly on House Committee on Land and Housing during an oversight visit to the Corporation.

    Akinwunmi said the proposed housing project would occupy 26 hectares of land, affirming that the Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement would assist government to deliver on its set objective on the provision of affordable housing under its five cardinal programmes apart from meeting up with its industrialisation development.

    According to her, ”The state government entered into the PPP arrangement to further promote affordable mass housing for the people and create new benchmark in quality and economy to meet up with the ongoing industrialisation development in the state”.

    The General Manager added that the proposed estate would be designed as flats, terraces, semi and full detached bungalows with self-built homes on service plots, stating that  the corporation would  send a request to the State House of Assembly for the loan approval.

    The Chairman of the House of Assembly Committee on Land and Housing, Hon. Adebiyi Adeleye expressed satisfaction at the development, saying the Corporation had turned around the fortune of the state with a request that the gesture be extended to other senatorial districts in the state.