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Tag: Osogbo

  • OAU suspends six students over cultism

    Six students of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile Ife have been suspended by the authorities of the institution.

    The students were suspended after confessing to be members of a secret cult.

    A statement by the university Registrar,  Mrs.  Magaret Omosule,  said that the OAU management on Monday July 2 received  the information two students of the institution were being forced to join a cult group outside the school campus against their will.

    Read Also: Artist decries poor handling of Soyinka’s portraiture at OAU

    The statement read in part: “The security unit of the university promptly swung into action in receiving the information. After a thorough preliminary investigation, twelve students of the university were apprehended and handed over to the Osun State Command of the Nigeria Police to assist with further professional investigation.

    “Following the investigation of the suspected students by the Nigeria Police, the University on 20th August, 2018, received a detailed report of the police findings where it was confirmed that six students of the university had admitted their membership of proscribed groups, thus breaching their Matriculation Oath, Code of Conduct and other pertinent University regulations.

    “So, in accordance with the relevant statutes, the following students have been suspended pending the outcome of investigations by the appropriate Students’ Disciplinary Committee. They are :
    (1) ONYEKWUSI Praise Chinemerem,  Matriculation number ASE / 2014/218
    (2). OJO Abiodun Olamide,  Matriculation number MCB /2012 /149
    (3).UDE John, Matriculation number ASE /2015 /362
    (4). OLADOYE Tobi Olakunmi, Matriculation number EGL /2014/ 383
    (5) AYEYI Damilola Ayomide,  Matriculation number EGL /2016 /075
    (6) DAVIS Jesulayomi Olakunle,  Matriculation number EGL / 2014 /207.”

    The university management assured students and other stakeholders of adequate security.

  • Osogbo Agog for grand finale of Osun Osogbo festival

    Tourists and cultural enthusiasts from across the globe on Friday flooded the ancient city of Osogbo, Osun, to join the fiesta marking the grand finale of the annual Osun Osogbo festival.

    The tourists and the enthusiasts include those from Africa, Europe, Latin America and other parts of the world for the celebration.

    The News Agency of Nigeria  reports that the fiesta involves various socio- economic and traditional activities with several Osun devotees singing, dancing while others exhibit some cultural styles as early as 8:00 a.m around the Osun groove.

    Many devotees were seen carrying plastic bottles and kegs, moving to the Osun River to fetch some water for spiritual purposes.

    The event also witnessed traditional masquerades with their masquerades chanting and singing, brandishing locally made gun shots while firing gun shots sporadically into the air.

    Security personnel were seen at strategic locations to include the FRSC personnel, the NSCDC, and also the Nigerian Police with large members of the Odua Peoples Congress (OPC).

    The Osun FRSC Sector Commander, Mr Peter Oke, had earlier told NAN that special patrol for both the Osun Osogbo and Eid-el-Kabir festival would commence on Aug.17 to Aug .26 to avoid auto accidents and other route violations as such as speeding during and after the celebrations.

    Oke said that 500 personnel from both the sector and unit commands would be on ground to checkmate the activities of drivers who might want to go against traffic rules and regulations.

    NAN further reports that some residents in the area such as food vendors, souvenir sellers and other related business enterprises took advantage of the festival to market their goods and service.

    The event, which started on Aug.10 is expected to end Aug.17 with a young maiden, Aruga, who will carry a calabash on her head as a symbolic sacrifice to the river goddess.

    The Osun-Osogbo festival, whose history dates back to many centuries, is usually celebrated in a Grove outskirts of Osogbo, It is among the last of the sacred forests that adjoined the edges of most Yoruba cities before extensive urbanisation.

    In recognition of its global significance and cultural value, the Sacred Grove was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005.

    For the people of Osogbo land, the festival represents traditional cleansing of the town and cultural reunion of the people with their ancestors and founders of the Osogbo Kingdom.

  • Boost for Osun health care delivery

    The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a philanthropic religious body, has supported the health care delivery in Osun State with the renovation and donation of modern medical equipment to the Comprehensive Health Centre at Isale Agbara in Osogbo.

    At the presentation of the equipment worth over N5 million to the state government, the President of Ile-Ife branch of the church, Mr. Joseph Onuegbu Mba, said supporting people and communities in need is not new to the church.

    According to him, the health centre built in 1978 for the use of people of Osogbo Local Government Area was considered by the church for an intervention out of  several requests from various communities across the country.

    He said: “What we are doing is not about politics. Our church stands for generosity. We are mostly concerned about humanity, we are concerned about how to reduce child mortality rate, how to reduce maternal mortality during pregnancy and delivery and how to support government programmes that have direct impacts on human lives. There is no better way to serve God than to serve humanity and also to bring lost souls to Christ.”

    The Executive Secretary of the Osun State Primary Health Care Board, Dr. Kayode Ogunniyi, on behalf of the state government commended the church for the donation, which he said would boost the health care delivery in the state. He revealed that Osun was among the four states of the federation considered for basic primary health provision fund.

    In his speech, the Chairman of Osogbo South Local Council Development Area, Mr. Abdul-Akeem Olaoye, advised well-meaning Nigerians and groups to emulate the church by supporting the needy and placing premium on the provision of good health care for all citizens around the LCDA in consonance with the universal administrative norm.

    The Community Health Officer at the health centre, Alhaja Risikat Aderibigbe said the renovation of the health centre and the donation would improve the quality of medical service to the people, particularly women and children of Isale Agbara and the adjoining communities in Osogbo South LCDA. Materials donated by the church include beddings and circumcision sets, among others.

  • Ramadan: Let’s pray for people in difficulties – Aregbesola

    Osun State Governor,  Rauf Aregbesola, has urged Muslims to approach the Ramadan season with best practices and show love to their neighbours.

    Aregbesola, in a Ramadan goodwill message on Thursday in Osogbo, urged Muslims to be sober and do things with moderation.

    The governor also admonished Muslim faithful to remember the poor, sick and those in difficulties in their prayers and work of charity.

    He said: “l am most pleased to see the beginning of this year’s Ramadan.

    ” Ramadan is that period when Muslims worldwide engage in fasting – a physical and spiritual act of self denial, cleansing, prayers, fellowship and charity.

    ” As one of the pillar of Islam, Ramadan is also a time of deep consecration to spiritual matters .

    “It is therefore time of spiritual awakening and commitment to the tenets of Islam.

    “As we celebrate this great festival of the religion of peace, may the peace and comfort of Allah (SWT) rest upon us , our family, community, state and the nation.

    ” This is wishing all Muslims Ramadan Kareem, with love and grace on behalf of the government and good people of Osun.”

    Similarly, the Osun House of Assembly has congratulated Muslim faithful on the commencement of Ramadan.

    The Assembly, in a statement signed by the Chairman of the House Committee on Information and Strategy, Mr. Olatunbosun Oyintiloye, urged Muslims to use the period to renew their commitments, virtues of love and peace as taught by Prophet Muhammed.

     

    NAN

  • Ado-Ekiti, Osogbo to be linked by rail, FG signs $6.68b contract

    Ado Ekiti, capital of Ekiti state, will be connected to Lagos-Kano rail line, the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi said today as he signed a $6.68 billion dollars contract agreement for the Ibadan-Kaduna segment with China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC).

    Amaechi said at the signing ceremony in Abuja that Ado-Ekiti will be connected with a single track branch line from Osogbo.

    He signed the contract on behalf of the Federal Government.

    “This agreement is for the Ibadan-Kaduna rail line, which is part of the Lagos-Kano rail line, the completion time of the contract should be between two to three years, depending on availability of funds,” Amaechi said.

    Amaechi promised that the ministry would be able to provide its counterpart funding between 2018 and 2019 budget provision, stating that the contract was a fulfilment of Federal Government’s plan to complete the Lagos-Kano rail modernisation project.

    “The Ibadan-Kaduna standard gauge line will pass through Oshogbo-Ilorin-Minna to Kaduna, with a single track branch line from Oshogbo to Ado-Ekiti.

    “This contract is in fulfilment of Federal Government’s plan to complete the Lagos-Kano rail modernisation project started in 2006 and broken into segments for implementation.

    “The segmentation phase commenced from Abuja-Kaduna rail line in 2011, which was completed and commissioned into commercial operation by President Muhammadu Buhari in 2016.

    “The Federal Government in March 2017 commenced the second leg of the Lagos-Kano line that is currently ongoing and planned to be completed by the end of 2018.

    “The signing of the Ibadan–Kaduna segment contract agreement today concludes all outstanding segments of the Lagos-Kano rail line.”

  • Fountain Varsity appeals to FG to review stand on TET-Fund

     

    An Islamic institution, the Fountain University, Osogbo has appealed to the Federal Government to review its stand on making Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TET-Fund) provision available to private universities in Nigeria.

    Addressing a press conference on the 10th anniversary of the founding of the institution in Osogbo, the Osun State capital, the Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof. Amidu Olalekan Sanni, said it should be realized that graduates produced by private universities along with their counterparts from public universities serve this same job market.

    According to him, what should be paramount for the government is finding every available opportunity to raise the standard of education.

    Sanni it was obvious that more is required to train graduates to serve as human resources in all sectors of the economy, therefore, advising the federal government to have a re-think on its earlier stand that TET-Fund is only to serve the public tertiary institutions.

    He further advised that the federal government could support infrastructural development in the private institutions to ensure there is a conducive environment for learning which he said in the long run would produce a multiplier effects in the national economy.

    The Don said: “In as much as their is no one asking for whether graduates are products of private or public universities before they are employed the government has no excuse to support the public in situation to achieve their mandate. What should interest the government is the quality of graduate and part of necessary steps to raise education standard in the country today is to shun discriminatory policies because in the over all it would not do this great nation no good.

    Speaking on the future projection of the 10-year old university,  Sanni said the new management has adopted a strategic plan to advance the fortune of the institution.

    He said many courses would soon be introduced to make the university more attractive to admission seekers, adding that curriculum of the university is now repackaged in a way to add more value to its students.

    He said the management had reached out to the Islamic and Quaric schools to have a uniform study curriculum so that they could benefit from advanced studies in Arabic course to be soon introduced by the university.

    The vice chancellor also said the university is about to collaborate with many universities in Asia, Europe and United States of America, espically a university in North Carolina, America to build capacity of its staff.

  • NASU strike: Osun varsity to implement ‘no-work-no-pay policy’

    The Governing Council of  the University of  Osun  says it will implement  the ` no-work-no-pay’’  policy against striking members of its  Non Academic Staff Union ( NASU )  if  they failed to resume work  on  April 10.

    Mr Gafar Shittu, the Registrar and Secretary to the Council said this in Osogbo on Tuesday in a statement. Shittu said that any non-academic staff who fails to return to work on or before April 10 would no longer be paid.

    The News men  recalls that the non-teaching staff  under the aegis of the Joint Action Committee ( JAC )  had on March 5 embarked on an indefinite strike over non-payment of earned allowances among other demands.

    The registrar  said that  a  register of  attendance would be opened in every college and department for non-teaching staff members who are willing to resume work immediately.

    Shittu, however, said that the council had agreed during its emergency meeting on Monday that the N300 million balance of the 2014/2015 Earned Allowance would be paid in instalments at N10 million per month beginning from April 30.

    Read Also: FG to source N8bn to settle SSANU, NASU, NAAT

    ‘‘It is apposite to state at this juncture that the University has been unable to pay the Earned Allowance because of the shortfall in its finances.

    ‘‘Nevertheless, of the total sum of N524 million being the cost of the accrued allowances for the 2013/2014 and 2014/2015, N224 million has since been paid while the university is not owing any arrears of salary till date.

    ‘‘It is on this note that the management reiterates its long-standing appeal to the striking non-teaching staff to return to work and join once again in the arduous task of the growth and development of the university,’’ he said.

    In a telephone interview with the News men, the university’s NASU Chairman, Mr Isaiah Fayemi, said the Joint Action Committee ( JAC ) of the institution would meet later in the day to decide the next line of action.

    “We are presently in the state House of Assembly premises but once we are through, JAC will meet to take a position on the issue,” Fayemi said.

    NAN

  • Osun assembly wants residents to comply with land use charge law

    The Osun House of Assembly has called on  residents of the state to comply with the land use charge law in the state. Mr Nurayn Adebisi, the House Committee Chairman on Lands, Physical Planning and Urban Development, made the call on Tuesday in Osogbo at  a meeting with consultants engaged for the operation of the land use charge and officials of the  Ministry of Finance.

    Adebisi said that the revenue generated from land use charge between 2015 when the bill was passed into law and 2017 was not commensurate with the expected revenue.

    He said that more needed to be done to generate more revenue from the land use charge to enable government to perform its responsibilities.

    The lawmaker called on officials of the Ministry of Finance and the consultants to collaborate with the Osun Internal Revenue Service to  harmonise   revenue collection from the land use charge.

    Read Also: Osun poll: Towards a worthy successor

    Adebisi also said that there was need to review the operations of the land use consultants with a view  to adhering strictly with the public procurement law.

    He said there was also need for public enlightenment on the importance of the land use charge

    In her remarks, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Mrs Adebimpe Ogunlumade, said that the ministry would ensure that the revenue generated from  land use charge was deployed  in line with the enabling law.

    NAN

  • Car crushes teenager to death in Osogbo

    A 15-year-old boy was on Monday crushed to death in Osogbo, the Osun capital, when a Sport Utility Vehicle  lost control and rammed into him where he was standing to cross the road.

    An eye witness said  the deceased, who went to Ayegbaju Market in the metropolis to buy pepper, was returning home when he was  killed.

    The vehicle  was said to have lost control while on speed  and  skipped off  the highway before  ramming  into the deceased.

    The grey coloured SUV with registration number, Lagos JJJ 243 EF  was said to have a  middle age  man, his wife and kid as occupants.

    While the occupants were quickly ferried away to safety, an angry mob set the vehicle ablaze.

    Another eyewitness, who knew the deceased,  said he  was preparing for his Junior Secondary School Certificate Examination before he met his untimely death.

    “The vehicle was coming from Ogo-Oluwa area and rammed into the boy,   killing him instantly,’’ she said.

    Mr Rasaki Azeez, the father of the deceased and  Deputy Chairman of  NURTW at  Fakunle Motor Park in Osogbo, said he could not believe his son was dead.

    Azeez,  who was devastated by the incident,  said  sympathisers  came to call him at the park to  retrieve the body of his  son.

    He said that the corpse had been deposited at the morgue of Ladoke Akintola University hospital, Osogbo. (NAN)

  • Akeredolu expresses commitment to South West integration

    Akeredolu expresses commitment to South West integration

    Gov. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State  says his administration is committed to the integration and  socioeconomic growth of the South West Zone.

    Akeredolu made this known at a  Youth Regional Integration Summit  in Osogbo on Wednesday.

    The governor, who was represented by his deputy, Mr Agboola Ajayi, said  one of the cardinal programmes  of his administration was  job creation for the youths and women through sustainable agriculture and entrepreneurship.

    He also said his administration was committed to achieving the vision by creating an enabling environment that would  attract investors to the state and  across other south west states.

    Read also: Akeredolu approves committee on first year anniversary

    The governor revealed that his administration  had taken practical steps to make the dream a reality by signing an MoU with the NDDC for the construction of the road linking the southern senatorial district to Epe-Ibeju Lekki in Lagos State.

    “Other roads connecting our states to our neighbours in Ogun, Lagos and Edo States are receiving considerable attention,” he said.

    Akeredolu stressed that he had also put in place measures to  ensure  that the state  did not become a haven for miscreants and other deviants.

    He noted that the fresh amnesty programme had yielded positive result by reducing  the rate of crime in the coastal areas of Ogun, Lagos and Ondo.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the event, which  began on Tuesday,  ends  on Wednesday.

    Dignitaries at the event  organised by the Osun government included  Vice-President Yemi Osibanjo, Gov. Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State as well as  representatives of Lagos, Ogun and Ekiti governors.

    NAN