The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Osogbo

  • Expert advocates proper funding for health sector

    A medical expert, Dr Oso Taiwo, on Monday called for proper funding of Nigeria’s indigenous health sector as an alternative to foreign medicare.

    Taiwo, who is the Executive Director of Ibukun Oluwa Hospital, Osogbo, made the appeal in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

    He said that only well-funded and standardised health sector can make the society better for the purpose of improving the well-being of the people and happy at all time.

    According to him, “If the healthcare system is being developed and adequately funded, there will be no need for Nigerians to go abroad to treat simple headache.

    “The case of former President of South Africa, Nelson Mandela, is a practical example for the rest of African countries, most especially the ruling class to have a re-think and do the right thing.

    “It has been established that those who go abroad for treatment are those who have easy access to national resources, which is seriously killing the economy,’’ he said.

    He stressed the need to commit more resources to the sector and make it a priority in the consideration of governmental policies.

    Taiwo also called on the practitioners in the health sector to stand up to their professional ethics in order to fulfil their obligation of service to humanity without blemish.

    He urged them to be rooted in the modern trend of the profession in order to face the challenges of the moment in the face of global warming, which is seriously threatening the human race.

    The physician implored the government to pay more attention to the sector and adequately make funds available.

    He said that practitioners without facilities are like army generals without weapons. 

  • ‘A dream come true’

    ‘A dream come true’

    Visiting Osogbo? You do not have to worry about where to stay. Aenon Suites and Hotel International Limited has opened in the Osun State capital. It promises to give customers and tourists to the Osun Osogbo Festival, value for their money. Ass

    Osun State tourism industry has received a boost with the opening of a multi-million naira hotel, Aenon Suites and Hotel International in Osogbo, the state capital.

    Located on two-and-a-half hectares of land in the Government Reservation Area (GRA), the 41-room  facility has not only changed the leisure and tourism landscape of the city, but has also lifted the quality of services in the industry.

    Its Chief Executive Officer, Ademola Adedapo, said he was inspired to embark on the project by his experience in 2012. While trying to get a good hotel in Osogbo, he recalled, he drove round the state capital for several hours.

    He said: “In 2012 during one of my visits to Osun State, it was difficult for me to get an ideal hotel to stay. I went to about eight hotels, yet none was okay for me. The search lasted from 6pm to 9pm. So, this challenged me to start the hotel project and my dream was to have a standard hotel in Osogbo. Today, it is a dream come true,” he said.

    Adedapo, an engineer, may not be in the hospitality business, but he has stayed in standard hotels across the globe. He has taste, knows what he wants and which hotel will deliver quality services. He said the hotel’s plan and its facilities show that “we are here for business, and I would have opened the hotel last year but wasn’t ready with quality.”

    According to him, the long-term plan is to spread to other parts of the country and possibly sell the franchise to the world.

    On what makes the hotel unique, Adedapo said he hired  managers with performance indices, who are tasked to keep the place as new as possible.

    “If you appreciate quality and standard, Aenon is the place to be. I insisted in thoroughness and I have a taste for excellence, which influenced what we have here.

    ‘’Yet, it is affordable, and it is here for guests and as such should be affordable… We picked ideas from different hotels to give what we have now. We tried to model the hotel after a famous hotel in China. The beddings are modelled after Sheraton Dubai,” he added.

    Apart from quality and standard of service, Aenon Suites is located in a serene environment where security is guaranteed. It is equipped with facilities, such as conference hall for seminars, bar, event centre, business centre, restaurant, gym, sauna bath, swimming pool tennis court and laundry services. At Aenon Suites, every worker is a marketing officer whose target includes Osogbo, Ekiti State, Ibadan and its environs.

    istant Editor (Arts) OZOLUA UHAKHEME reports. 

  • Man swept away in Osogbo flood

    The lifeless body of a 60-year old man, Elder Ebenezer Olabode, who was swept away by Tuesday evening flood in Osogbo, Osun State capital, on Wednesday floated on the bank of River Okooko in Oke Oniti area of the town.

     

    The victim was said to be returning home when he ran into the flooded street ahead of his residence.

     

    An eyewitness account said that Olabode was adamant to move in the flood despite the advice of people around the scene not to do so.

     

    The eyewitness, Thomas Onaolapo, said that the victim’s body could not be recovered by some Hausa men present at the scene after an intense search that lasted several hours.

     

    He said: “We all warned him to go back but he didn’t listen. After moving for few minutes, the intensity of the flood forced open the booth of his car and the flood caught up with him. Two people standing nearby made attempt to rescue him and one of them nearly got drowned in the process and we all became powerless.”

     

    It was gathered that Olabode’s body has been deposited at the morgue of the State Hospital, Asubiaro.

  • Osogbo streets flooded after downpour

    AFTER about four hours down pour, some parts of Osogbo, the Osun State capital, were yesterday  flooded.

    The affected areas are: Rasco, Okefia, Awosuru, Tanishi, Gbonmi, Oke-Baale and Testing Ground, where vehicular traffic and human movement were halted till about 7. pm after the rain.

    Many residents in the affected areas, whose properties were destroyed by the flood were also trapped in their houses.

    Commuters were stranded at the bus stops as the intra-city buses disappeared from the roads.

    Inter-city travellers could not also embark on their trips.

    Some of the travellers, who were desperate to return to their stations after the Sallah celebrations besieged the Old Garage motor park and many others were seen on the road side on Gbongan Expressway with their luggage.

     

  • Osogbo is Osun capital, not Ede

    SIR: On August 11, a news story in The Punch newspaper was titled ‘Don’t pit us against Osogbo people, Ede warns Aregbesola’. It contained a press conference held at the palace of Timi of Ede where an indigent group alleged that Ede’s land was being annexed to Osogbo. The group, Federation Council of Ede Descendants Union, through its leader, Chief Moshood Adeleke, alleged that Governor Rauf Aregbesola directed the General Manager of the Osun State Capital Development Authority to rename all government establishments, settlements and communities within the capital territory as belonging to Osogbo.

    To begin with, there is no way any government establishment can be said to belong to Osogbo. If it belongs to government, then, it cannot belong to Osogbo. It is one thing for someone to make a claim, it is another matter for a respected newspaper to slam it on its pages. Happily, other newspapers, including The Nation, did not report it from this adversarial and malicious angle.

    This editorial gaffe notwithstanding, there has been dispute over boundary between Osogbo and Ede, dating back to the precolonial era. When Osun was created in 1991, this rivalry was renewed when Osogbo became the capital.

    The dispute was accentuated when the then governor, now Senator Isiaka Adeleke, who is from Ede, built the state secretariat and the office of the governor in Abeere. This small community is one of the disputed land with Osogbo but which has acquired Ede identity. This gesture gave the people of Ede the false notion that since the seat of government is on Ede land, therefore, Ede is the de facto capital of Osun and should be referred to as being in Ede. They want the seat of government to be referred to as being in Ede and not Osogbo.

    However, this is a constitutional matter. Osogbo is the capital of Osun, it cannot be taken to Ede by a sleight of hand.

    Then came the state capital development authority which by law designated an area as capital territory. This area covers parts of eight Local Governments of Osogbo, Olorunda, Boripe, Ifelodun, Obokun, Atakumosa West, Ede North and Egbedore.

    Apart from the secretariat, other government institutions or government supported projects like Omoluabi Garment Factory have been established in the Ede part of the Capital Territory but the concern of some atavistic elements in Ede is the location name.

    For crying out loud, these elements should be reined in by the Timi of Ede who is a very peaceful man and certainly cannot give his royal blessing to the false accusation against Governor Aregbesola. Our royal father should tell these agitators to stop contending with the law. The state capital is Osogbo and eight local governments are in the capital territory, not Ede alone. The others are happy and praying that development projects will be sited in their land.

     

    • Mike Ogundele,

    Osogbo, Osun State.

  • Monarch hails Grand Oak for supporting Osun Osogbo Festival

    Monarch hails Grand Oak for supporting Osun Osogbo Festival

    The Ataoja of Osogbo, the Osun State capital, Oba Jimoh Olanipekun, has hailed a major sponsor of Osun Osogbp Festival, Grand Oak Limited, for its continued support for the festival.

    At the presentation of the company’s products, including Seaman Schnapps, Regal and Lord’s Dry Gins at his palace, Oba Olanipekun also expressed happiness at his Appeal Court victory in Akure, the Ondo State capital, on July 22.

    The monarch said this year’s festival, which began at the weekend, would be celebrated with funfair.

    He blessed the company, which he described as a true partner in progress.

    Oba Olanipekun said: “I am extremely happy for this day. This is my first outing after my victory at the Appeal Court in Akure on July 22. The victory, no doubt, will make this year’s Osun festival remarkable in all ways. My victory has made it clear to everyone that it is only God Who enthrones and dethrones.”

    Grand Oak’s Category Manager Olayinka Amuwo said the company valued traditions and cultures, adding that it would continue to feature prominently in major festivals across the country.

    The manager noted that Grand Oak had been partnering the organisers of Osun Osogbo festival, which he said had put Nigeria on the world tourism map.

    Also, the festival’s consultant Ayo Olumoko said this year’s festival would be unique, despite the economic crunch and technical recession.

    He said many of the corporate organisations were supporting the event in many ways.

    Olumoko said the main aim of the event was to celebrate and project the distinct African value and culture to other African countries and beyond.

    The consultant said Osun Osogbo Festival would today organise a symbolic ritual for cleansing the town, called “Iwopopo”.

    According to him, the organisers will ensure the safety of life and property before, during and after the event.

  • NGO advises government to promote girl-child education

    Mrs Olayinka Ojomo, the Executive Director, Girl-child Right Awareness Initiative in Africa, has advised governments at all levels to evolve education policies that will enhance qualitative education for the girl-child.

    Ojomo told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Osogbo that the measure became necessary in order to build an egalitarian society.

    She said that the only way the society could be sanitized and become sophisticated was to educate the custodians of families from the beginning and prepare them for better future.

    Ojomo explained that young girls of today would eventually become wives and mothers that would be in charge of families, hence the need to make them more enlightened and educated.

    “Family is the smallest political unit in any society and it plays critical role in nation-building,’’ she said.

    According to her, the trend of total dehumanization of the girl-child in the recent time is inimical to the quest for egalitarian society and socio-economic growth.

    She implored government at all levels to initiate policies that will restore the glory and dignity of the girl-child and prepare her for better future.

    “Our attitudes toward the girl-child must change for better if we really want to turn our society around for better.

    “Government at all levels should strive to make the protection and education of the girl-child a priority, most especially in the North, where girl-child education is at the lowest ebb,” he concluded.

  • Osun Hijab crisis: Cleric calls for caution

    Osun Hijab crisis: Cleric calls for caution

    A cleric, Pastor Dotun Ajileye, on Wednesday, advised religious leaders in Osun to exercise restraint with their utterances over the court ruling on Hijab wearing in public schools.

    Ajileye, a Senior Pastor at Glory Ministries Chapel, Agunbelewo, Osogbo, gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

    He said that the issue might degenerate to a terrible situation if they do not dialogue and resolve the issue amicably.

    He added that “there is need for caution here, the trend the issue is taken appears too dangerous to me.

    “Both religions must find a means of coming together on roundtable and discuss the way forward to ameliorate the tensed atmosphere.

    “The issue on ground requires diplomacy and caution and the youths that are directly involved must be properly guided.

    “While I respect the rights of individuals to associate and all that, I also believe that court ruling remains sacrosanct until it is set aside by another higher and competent court of law.

    “In that wise, I am not convinced that the solution to this problem is to polarise the system and accuse government of the day. We should adopt both legal and diplomatic means of resolving the problem.’

    NAN reports that Justice Jide Falola of the Osun State High Court, on June 3, gave a ruling, allowing Muslim female students to wear veil (Hijab) to public schools.

    However, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) had described the ruling as an “infringement on their rights.”

    The Association then threatened that it would also instruct Christian children to attend classes in Church garments and robes.

    Meanwhile, some Christian students of Baptist High School, Iwo, were seen in classes with their Church garments and robes
    without any restriction from their teachers.

     

  • Radio technician electrocuted in Osogbo

    Radio technician electrocuted in Osogbo

    An unidentified man was at the weekend electrocuted behind the Ataoja’s palace at Oja Oba, Osogbo, the Osun State capital.

    The man, who was a radio technician, had his workshop at Iso-Isu, Oja-Oba.

    An eyewitness said the incident occurred at a sub-station of the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) when the technician attempted to fix an electrical fault.

    The man was said to suffered third degree burns after falling on a transformer.

    Investigation revealed that the deceased was in his shop when he was called to fix a fault in the substation located few metres away from his workshop.

    A source, who pleaded for anonymity, said: “He (the technician) initially thought the fault was minor.

    “But when he got to the substation where the transformer was, he discovered the fault was on a pole carrying the transformer. He climbed a ladder and began work on the pole.

    “He had barely spent three minutes on the pole when he suddenly shouted as a result of an electric shock. He lost his balance and fell on the transformer.

    “His body was badly burnt and barely recognisable.

    “Those standing nearby fled and he was left there for several hours.”

    IBEDC’s Branding and Communication Manager Ms Kike Owoeye expressed concerns on the increasing rate of electrocution caused by unauthorised access to the company’s facilities.

    She warned people against unauthorised access to IBEDC facilities, saying  the company, with the help of law enforcement agencies, would punish any unauthorised person caught working on its facilities.

  • Face the reality that PDP is dead, Aregbesola to Fayose

    Face the reality that PDP is dead, Aregbesola to Fayose

    • as Fayose made his first visit to an APC Gov in Nigeria.

    The Governor of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola on Tuesday advised the Governor of  Ekiti, Dr. Ayodele Fayose to face the reality of the death of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as a party.‎

    Aregbesola said while he is not asking the governor to abandon the opposition PDP against his wish, he would only advise him to join hands with a political party that will give hope to the people of Nigeria.

    He also charged the Ekiti State governor to direct his energy towards bringing human and physical development to western region and Nigeria as a whole.

    The Governor stated this when his Ekiti counterpart paid him a courtesy visit at the Government House in Osogbo.

    Governor Fayose, during the visit, had said that he is in Osun not for any political reason and that he is not ready to abandon the PDP for the All Progressives Congress (APC) but for his belief in the Yoruba race and her development and unity.

    Aregbesola described the visit of Governor Fayose to Osun as demonstration of maturity, saying it takes a very matured human being to know that at the end of every public office, he will be left with humanity.

    He said, “Osoko has said that he is not going to leave his party, but the reality today is that PDP has served its term in Nigeria. When a horse is dead, it is either you abandon it or you bury it.

    “I want my good friend and brother to know that PDP has exhausted it’s stay in Nigeria, it can no longer be revived, let us look at a political party that will give hope to our people. Opposition must be for a purpose, I stand by you on the unity of Yoruba land and that our leaders not put down in the country.

    “The war is over, we are in a season of mobilising our people to agriculture and produce such that we will economically have the strength to give leadership to the Nation and Africa. Our energy must be directed at bringing human and physical development, we have enough in this region to give leadership”. Aregbesola stressed.

     He assured Fayose that he will stand by him in his effort to galvanise the people of South-west for accelerated development.

    The Governor who lamented the present economic situation of the country noted that there is an invasion on the economy of Nigeria to the extent that the country is loosing 75 percent of her income due to oil glut.

    “The country is facing a very serious crises with the rate at which the crude oil price is falling. There is an invasion on the economy to the level that we are loosing 75 percent of our income which is not good.

    “At this point, wise people must have an alternative to oil which part of it is your visit. We must use our culture and affinity to form a bond that can make our people live a normal life, it is a duty that we owe our people, States and Nigeria as a whole”.

    Speaking earlier, Governor Fayose stated that against all speculations that he was coming to Osogbo to ask Aregbesola help him beg President Muhammadu Buhari, he was  in Osun for the unity of Yoruba race.

    He added that the Yoruba race is greater than any political office hence his belief in the development of the race.

    The governor averred that the visit of the Ooni of Ife to the 45th coronation of the Alaafin of Oyo is instructive hence the need for every Yoruba sons and daughters to see to the unity and progress of the race.

    He said, “This is my first official visit to any APC state in Nigeria. I am not in Osogbo to ask Aregbesola to help me beg as being speculated in some quarters. We are all Yoruba, politics is like water, it can flow anywhere.

    “I believe in the Yoruba race, the race comes first before the office of the governor. The race is eternal while that of governor is momentary. We must watch today to be guided by tomorrow. I am here for the unity of Yoruba as it affect the Oodua, the progenitor” Fayose emphasised.