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Tag: Osun State

  • OAU and rule of the mob

    One image that lingered on the screen of my mind for a few days as I consciously monitored the crisis invented by the Non-Academic Staff of University (NASU) and the Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Universities (SSANU) of Obafemi Awolowo University over the emergence of the process that produced Prof. Ayobami Salami as the 11th Vice-Chancellor (VC) of the university is that of the mob in William Shakespeare’s plays. Specifically, the mob depicted in the eponymous Julius Caesar possesses everything but tact, character, discipline, and structured thinking.

    As a matter of fact, as the seminal play shows, the first casualties of the mob’s actions are those adumbrated virtues. To achieve their nihilistic goals, the mob dispenses with discretion and organised thinking, speaks in decibels higher than their numerical strength, and believes its own lies and passes them off as truths. As the mob loathes civility, so does it detests justice. It does not care about the corrosive consequences of choosing evil as good.

    The OAU crisis of the last one month was inspired and sustained by the mob. The present fragile resolution puts in place by Abuja also satisfies the hankering of the mob. Let’s not pretend about it; the actions of NASU and SSANU members in OAU against the process that threw up Prof. Salami were glaringly in tandem with that of a mob. These unions behaved violently, repudiated civility, embraced indiscipline, and acted lawlessly. In their organised violence, they demanded two things and got them.

    The NASU and SSANU mob said it wanted the Governing Council of the university dissolved. President Muhammadu Buhari, the Visitor, granted it without first investigating their claims that the body was incompetent and manipulated the process leading to the appointment of a new VC. The mob demanded an Acting VC and the Visitor obliged them. The two rudderless unions boasted they could commit punishable offences and get away with them. They did – they disrupted a meeting of the Governing Council at a point and locked up the members before the Ooni of Ife came to secure their release the following day. The offences of disrupting a lawful meeting and the one of false imprisonment were freely committed by the unions without any corresponding condign legal retribution.

    Even the defunct leadership of NASU in the university hardheartedly beat up representatives of their National Executives and seized their vehicle. No comeuppance greeted that barbarous behaviour.  The unions said they could determine when school open and close. They got it. It was on account of their violent conducts that the university was shut down in June. They have also swanked that they would only ‘hand over’ the control of the school to the Acting VC of their liking. NASU and SSANU in OAU do not believe in civilised conducts. They abhor dialogue as a means of solving social problem. It is the reason they went to court but decided to take laws into their hands, declaiming that the court would not dispense justice. Governed by the mob mentality, the two unions accepted as gospel truth the misinformation given to them by certain roguish minds that the court notice they got for the Governing Council was a restraining injunction to stop the appointment process of a new VC.  They swung into destructive actions by effectively making the school ungovernable.

    For those who wonder why non-state actors thrive in the Nigerian space, I ask them to look to the weak crisis management capacity of state actors. Look to their hollow sense of justice. Those two bellicose unions in OAU did call on the Visitor and the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu (someone The Punch newspaper in one of its editorial aptly carpeted for his ‘reckless desecration of university values’), to intervene in the contrived crisis (to quote Femi Macaulay, a columnist with The Nation newspaper) before they carried on too far with their campaign of impunity. The improper intervention of the Visitor via the Education Minister in the OAU matter is another striking illustration of the present central administration’s telling incompetence in crisis management.

    The sacking of the OAU Governing Council without an investigation to establish whether it was guilty of the imagined crimes levelled against it by the two unions in the university was hasty and improper and remains an example of how the Visitor picks and chooses when it comes to obeying the law of the land. The law is clear that the Governing Council of a federal university whose tenure has not ended can be disbanded by the Visitor where an investigation proves that it is incompetent and corrupt. In fact, the Universities Autonomy Act No.1, 2007 (Section 2A) clearly states that ‘The Council so constituted shall have a tenure of four years from the date of its inauguration provided that where a Council is found to be incompetent and corrupt it shall be dissolved by the Visitor and a new Council shall be immediately constituted for the effective functioning of the University’.

    But because the Visitor is less a man of justice than it is believed, and his Minister of Education an alien to the rule of law, he gave in completely to the demands of the mob in OAU. He trampled on the law, froze the appointment of Prof. Salami, asked for an Acting VC via the back door, and eulogised that to the unquestioning public as justice. This also aligns with the unlawful sacking of 13 VCs of federal universities and their Governing Councils last March. Not even the admittance of the wrong by the Visitor compelled a reversal of the illegality.

    Let it be noted that the new peace in OAU is brittle. The solution generated by the Visitor is insubstantial. It is a rape of justice that will still boomerang. The Visitor ought to know by now that anywhere justice is contemptuously denied as in the case in OAU, unity and peace cannot reign. The cockeyed action of the OAU Visitor, to wit doing the bidding of a party to a case without even the least understanding of the core issue, has widened the gulf of disunity in that university. He has done exactly what Chinua Achebe’s Obierika in Things Fall Apart says of the coloniser: ‘He has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart.’ The undisputable fact is that, to borrow the words of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the Visitor and the mob-like unions in OAU have only ‘scotched the Snake, not killed it’. And because the brazenly belligerent unions were not made to account for their follies and lawlessness, they will soon behave like the camel of the Bedouin in a story which after his master acceded to its request to allow it warm its nose in the room later brought in its whole body and deprived its master of his abode. It is a matter of time; the mob is forever besotted to the logic of anarchy and impunity. Anytime SSANU and NASU in OAU or those of the branches in other universities rake up impossible demands and insist on who they want as VCs but get turned down, they will resort to the rule of the mob and make the universities ungovernable.

    Alawode writes from Obafemi Awolowo University

    Ile-Ife, Osun State, Nigeria

  • The Hijab saga in Osun State

    The Hijab saga in Osun State

    There are good men in every land; the tree of life has many branches and roots; let not the topmost twig presume to think that it alone has sprung from the mother earth; we did not choose our races by ourselves; Jews, Muslims, Christians, all alike are men; let me hope I have found in you a man”.

     

    Preamble

    Quite a number of ardent readers of ‘The Message’ must have anxiously waited for today’s article having been familiar with the writing style of this columnist. ‘The Message’ is well known for its currency, promptness and research especially on matters relating to justice and logical deductions. Thus, writing on the controversy surrounding the wearing of hijab in Osun State’s schools by Muslim female pupils cannot be strange at this time. The issue has generated so much of unwarranted heat that only a few people will wonder if decorum has any role to play in religion at all in this case. And the Press which is supposed to be the Fourth Estate of the Realm is not helping the matter as men and women of the pen profession have shamelessly turned themselves into the judiciary passing judgments on the pages of newspapers or radio and television stations.

    As expected, this article is about the unnecessary hyperbolic brouhaha going on in Osun State over a court judgment on the baseless controversy surrounding the wearing of hijab by the State’s secondary school Muslim female pupils as ruled by the court of law. The brouhaha became ridiculously laughable when one looks at the caliber of people involved and the role they are playing in spite of their self-acclaimed education and religious leadership.

     

    VP’s Comment

    Nigeria’s Vice-President, Professor (Pastor) Yemi Osibajo SAN, was, as usual, eloquent, last Monday (June 20, 2016) while commenting at a conference held in Abuja on law and religious freedom in Nigeria. He said that law should not be enacted to hinder religious freedom. His Excellency was apparently speaking in reference to the controversial bill seeking to control the propagation of religions against provocation and fanaticism in Kaduna State.

    By inference that comment can equally be applicable to the situation in Osun State where the State leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) is taking the law into its own hands with crude impunity against the court judgment on the case. Instead of contesting the judgment in a higher court, if it finds it objectionable, as the Lagos Muslim Community did in a similar case two years ago, Osun State CAN decided to constitute itself into a counter court with little regard for decorum expected of religious leadership.

    That situation has elicited many logical questions which would have been raised and answered in this article but a thorough and sincere stakeholder has relieved yours sincerely of that trouble in an article published by Premier Times of June 18, 2016. Excerpts from the article written by one Kikiowo Ileowo (a Christian) and entitled “Much Ado about Hijab Wearing to Schools In the State Of Osun” are presented verbatim here as follows:

    “Much has been said in recent times about the wearing of Hijab and Church robes to school by pupils in public schools in the State of Osun. However, what has apparently been missing in the discussion is the availability of facts and logic, and for discussants to analyze the true situation of things before making their opinions public.

    Before going to the crux of the matter, let me lay a background to the true situation of things with regard to the recent hullaballoo amongst organizations that purport to represent the interest of diverse religious groups in the State of Osun. We have Christians represented by the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN); Muslims, represented by the Muslim Students Society of Nigeria (MSSN); the government, led by Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, and other interested parties in the case.

    The religious conflict got to a crescendo last week when an Osun State High Court judge, Justice JideFalola, delivered a judgment in favour of a case instituted by the MSSN against the state government on the right of female Muslim students in state public schools to wear Hijab to their various classes. The judge declared the wearing of Hijab in public schools by female Muslim pupils as legal and appropriate.

     

    Litigation

    “The Muslims had dragged the state government headed by Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola to court over the refusal of some ‘Christian’ public schools to allow their female students wear the Hijab. After the judgment, CAN Osun State Chapter instructed Christian pupils to wear church robes to school if the state government dared implement the judgment.

    To cut the long story short, some five students, following the instruction of the CAN leaders, wore church robes to school this week. In fact, the CAN leaders followed the pupils to schools to make sure they weren’t turned back for wearing their church robes (never mind, they didn’t carry out the action over the failure of some Christian pupils in their examinations).

    Interestingly, a similar suit by the Muslim group in Lagos failed as the judge, Justice Modupe Onyeabor, ruled that the prohibition of the wearing of Hijab over school uniforms within and outside the premises of public schools was not discriminatory. According to her, the ban does not violate Sections 38 and 42 of the 1999 Constitution as claimed by the plaintiffs. The Judge also said Section 10 of the Constitution made Nigeria a secular state and that government must maintain neutrality at all times. Justice Onyeabor held that the government had a duty to preserve the secular nature of the institutions concerned as argued by the then Lagos State Solicitor-General, Mr. Lawal Pedro (SAN). Muslims in Lagos have since proceeded to the Court of Appeal where it is yet to be determined. Why should the case of Osun CAN be different? Aren’t they supposed to be the salt and light of the earth? Aren’t they supposed to be leading by example? Rather than take the legal route, CAN in the state of Osun resorted to self-help, asking students to disobey school rules by wearing unapproved uniforms. The Christians based their argument on one point; the Muslims cannot be allowed to wear hijab in ‘Christian schools”.

     

    Authority for Taking over Schools

    “By Edict No. 14 of 1975, the then military government took over private/missionary schools because, according to available records, “the owners charged exorbitant fees and did not give quality education to students. School buildings were of substandard structures, unqualified teachers were employed, teaching and learning materials were inadequate, while classrooms were over-crowded.”

    Muslims have been wearing Hijab to schools for a very long time. As a Christian, it doesn’t hinder my faith or ability to learn. If the CAN leadership has a problem with it, they should approach the law courts, rather than embark on actions that could cause disaffection amongst the peace loving people of Osun.

    That was the summary of the situation of privately owned schools that prompted the takeover of all such schools in 1975. It should be mentioned here however that the findings of the Western State Government in 1975 was not at variance with, but a replica of one common feature of the reports of the various Educational Review Committees set up at different times in the old three main regions of Nigeria. These include the Oldman’s Report in the old North, Dike’s Report in the old East, and Banjo’s Report in the Western Region. The reports of the various committees intensely reflected the acute immobility that had characterised the inherited colonial system that involved prejudice, high handedness, religious discrimination in pupils’ enrolment, staff recruitment and the general administration of schools.

     

    Validation Decree

    “In fact, the “Takeover of schools Validation Decree” of 1977, which still remains in force, states that, “the hold of government on those schools has afforded the government to be able to provide sustained education to the mass majority of the Nigerian public at an affordable cost, without RELIGIOUS DISCRIMINATION AND BIAS”.

     

    Connotation

    What this means is that there are no Christian or Muslim schools in Osun. There are only PUBLIC schools. The government back in 1976 resolved to keep the names given by the missionaries. That is why you have public schools bearing names such as Ede Muslim Grammar School, Baptist High School, etc. The schools may bear religious names, but they belong to the government/public. It is being financed with public funds. Most of the schools now wear new looks, and have modern learning equipment paid for by ALL citizens of Osun, which include Christians, Muslims, Traditional Worshippers, Agnostics and Atheists alike.

    Therefore, the schools Christians are laying claim to are government schools. They were acquired from diverse sources: religious bodies, individuals, communities, groups, etc in 1975. That was 41 years ago. But for the five students of Baptist High School, Adeeke, Iwo, many Christian pupils in Osun ignored the CAN leadership, toeing the path of decorum and civility. In truth, the schools compound where the orchestrated drama took place housed three schools with a combined population of about 3000 students and we saw no other student wear unapproved garments to school.

    Thank God other citizens did not take the law into their own hands. Imagine if the traditional worshippers – many of whom are in abundance in Osun – decide to start wearing traditional robes such as Bante, Ifunpa, Ofi, etc. Or imagine, for a minute, adherents of Osun religion demanding the wearing of white uniforms only, with white beads to school? Or, children of Sango worshippers, in another instance, insisting on wearing red caps to school, with earrings in the ears of their boys?

    Conclusion

    “Muslims have been wearing Hijab to schools for a very long time. As a Christian, it doesn’t hinder my faith or ability to learn. If the CAN leadership has a problem with it, they should approach the law courts, rather than embark on actions that could cause disaffection amongst the peace loving people of Osun”.

    • Kikiowo Ileowo is the Chief Strategist at Revamp Media.
  • OAU shut down indefinitely

    OAU shut down indefinitely

    The Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State was shut down Wednesday following workers protest over appointment of the institution’s new vice chancellor, Prof. Ayobami Salami.

    Workers of the OAU under the aegis of Non Academic Staff of Universities (NASU) and Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (SSANU) till Wednesday intensified their protest over non-payment of allowances and alleged imposition of a Vice-Chancellor despite the ‘no work’, ‘no pay’ threat by the university’s authorities.

    The workers, who claimed that the new Vice Chancellor’s appointment was illegal, vowed to stop him from resuming office Thursday.

    The authorities shut down the university less than two days to the expiration of the tenure of the outgoing vice chancellor, Prof. Bamitale Omole.

    In a public announcement, monitored on Ife-based radio station, the university Registrar, Dotun Awoyemi, explained that the closure was to ensure the safety of students and staff.

    On the radio anouncement he said: “We have shut down the university indefinitely pending the time that we will resolve issues with our workers – NASU and SSANU. We have asked our newly students to go home and postponed the resumption of old students indefinitely.”

    The old students of the university are expected to resume next week after a two-month break.

     

  • Why Osun State is least crime-infested state, by govt

    Osun State said yesterday that the “low crime rate in the state” as confirmed by the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Solomon Arase, was the result of the initiatives of the Governor Rauf Aregbesola administration since its inception in 2010.

    The Director of Bureau of Communication and Strategy in the Governor’s Office, Mr. Semiu Okanlawon, explained that the Aregbesola administration did not just secure the state through procurement of security hardware, it achieved the feat through well-thought-out welfare packages that were disincentive to crimes.

    Okanlawon added that the declaration by the Inspector General justified the huge investment of the government in security.

    He stated that the commendation has shown that the commitment of the governor to security of lives of it citizens has not gone without notice.

    Arase had hailed the administration and the indigenes for making Osun the safest state in the country at an interactive forum of Osun State Association of Veteran Journalists, where the IGP was also given an award.

    The IGP, who was represented at the occasion by Commissioner of Police Mr. Femi Oyeleye, said the achievement was not without the cooperation of the citizens and vigilance groups that have had good working relationships with the police.

  • Osun doctors call off seven months strike

    Striking medical doctors in Osun under the aegis of Association of Medical and Dental Officers, on Sunday suspended their seven months industrial action.

    The chairman of the association, Dr Isiaka Adekunle confirmed the suspension of the strike in a telephone interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Osogbo.

    He said the doctors would report for duty on Monday..

    Adekunle told NAN that though the government was yet to meet any of their demands, their decision to resume work was in response to appeals from well-meaning people of the state.

    He, however, said that the association would continue to dialogue with the government.

    Adekunle said the association took the decision to call off the strike at its Annual General Meeting held on March 30.

    He said: “the Speaker of the state Assembly, Mr Najeem Salaam and some other people prevailed on us to call off the strike.

    “We also observed that the people who are at the receiving end of our strike are the masses who can only access health care from state owned hospitals.

    “Based on this, the doctors unanimously agreed at our AGM that the strike be suspended despite the fact that none of our demands has been met by the government

    “While we pray for good fortune for the state and the nation as a whole, when the economy of the state improves, government will have no choice than to answer our demands.”

    Adekunle appealed to the government to keep to its promises by not victimising its members who participated in the strike.

    “We want a promise from the government that none of our members will be victimised for participating in the strike.

    “We believe government will keep to its side of agreement while we keep to ours,” he said.

    NAN recalls that the doctors went on strike on Sept. 28, 2015 to protest unpaid salaries and non-remittance of their cooperative and contributory deductions from their salaries to the appropriate quarters.

  • Osun discovers 71 ghost workers on payroll

    Osun discovers 71 ghost workers on payroll

    Seventy-one ghost workers were discovered in Osun State during the last screening exercise carried out among ministries, agencies and departments of government and public secondary schools.

    The Permanent Secretary, Local Government Service Commission and the Chairman of Personnel and Job Audit Committee on MDAs and Secondary Schools, Mr. Dayo Olaluwoye,  made the disclosure when submitting the final report of his Committee to the State Head of Service, Mr. Sunday Owoeye.

    Olaluwoye explained that out of the Seventy-one ghost workers, thirty-nine were deceased while thirty two were supposed living individuals, disclosing that the ghost workers have been collecting salaries without coming to the office.

    However, he expressed gratitude to workers for their cooperation during the period of the exercise.

    In his remarks, the Head of Service, Mr. Yinka Owoeye, commended the Committee for redeeming the image of the Civil Service by doing a thorough job while discharging the duty assigned to them.

    Owoeye, who observed that the MDAs and Secondary Schools Committee was just one of the four Committees set up for the screening exercise at the time, said that the use of Civil Servants for the screening exercise had saved the Government lots of money compared to the use of Consultants.

    The Head of Service emphasised that screening of workers is an on-going process, adding that those that had issues with their certificates should endeavour to clear themselves.

    He then charged all public officers in the State to be revenue collectors in their respective areas of operation in order to revive the economy of the state.

  • Osun Robbery: Security Council commends police, others for foiling attack

    The Osun State Security Council has on Monday commended the Police and other security agencies that foiled the bank  robbery incident in Ikirun last Friday.

    Addressing journalists after the state security council meeting, Osun Commissioner of Police, Mr. Kola Sodipo, held that security agencies in the state need to be lauded for their gallantry, utmost sense of duty and professionalism.

    The Osun CP represented by the Assistant Commissioner of Police (Operations) ACP Jesubiyi Taiwo, stated that the Police and other security agencies swiftly responded to the security challenge with superior firepower.

    He added that the recorded success was the result of the Armoured Personnel Carriers provided the police by the state government, stressing that four of the robbers were killed while four have been arrested.

    The Police boss assured the people of the state of its readiness to protect lives and property, maintain peace and deter any criminal activity in the state.

    He said, “Last Friday, armed bandits attacked three commercial banks in Ikirun, in Ifelodun Local Government area of the state, these bandits came with sophisticated weapons and explosive devices.

    “The police responded swiftly with superior firepower, four of the robbers were killed while four others have been arrested. Sums of money were also recovered from the robbers. Every effort is being made to apprehend other members of the gang who are in hiding.

    “Regrettably, ‎two police officers and two bank officials lost their lives during the operation. The state security council wishes to commend the police and other security agencies that rose to the occasion for their gallantry.”.

    He informed the people of the need for safety precautions in any emergency situation in the nature of armed threat to lives and property involving bandits and other criminals.

    The CP stressed‎ that emergencies required special attention, adding that in case of armed robbery and other armed threats, the first reaction expected from people is to run for safety in other to avoid being hit by stray bullets.

    Acco‎rding to him, “Emergencies require special response. In cases of armed robbers, insurgents and other armed threats, the first reaction of the people should be to run for safety, lock themselves in and alert security agencies on their emergency numbers, in order to avoid being hit by stray bullets.

    “It is most advisable to lie on the floor until it is safe to get up. Please, on no account should people come out to view the engagement of the threat by armed security agencies. It is very dangerous”. The police boss emphasised.

    He stated that Police and other security agencies are prepared to keep citizens safe and will do their job to ensure a safer society.

    Security agencies whose heads were present at the meeting included the Nigerian Army, Nigerian Prisons Service, the Civil Defense, Nigerian Immigration Services, Federal Roads Safety Corps.

  • Osun at retreat: Plans to sustain development programmes

    Osun at retreat: Plans to sustain development programmes

    The state of Osun has said it has resolved to come up with new strategies that would help it navigate through the financial challenges while sustaining all its development programs.

    According to a communique issued at the end of a three day retreat held in Iloko Ijesa, in Oriade Local Government Area of the state, the government was compelled to review its programs with a view to executing its various development programs within the context of the ongoing economic crisis in the country.

    In the communique signed by the Chief-of-Staff to the Governor, Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola, participants at the retreat identified the need to reduce the cost of governance, increase internally generated revenues and drive investments to the state as vital to the continued growth of the state.

    The document noted that the state is on the verge of ‎unveiling what it called, “a competent and capable cabinet” which is expected to be identified and inaugurated soon.

    It said the in-coming executive council of the state would be expected to work in conjunction with dedicated civil servants of the state for implementation of these plans.

    The communique said participants at the retreat recognized the urgent need to put in place clear action plans that would put the state on a good footing among its peers in the country despite the biting economic hardship.

    Highlighting the current global economic hardship, the communique added that Osun is not alone in the economic difficulties just as participants noted that the dwindling economic fortune will affect all tiers of government, including their business partners.

    “Osun has been at the forefront of innovation in governance and it is one of the few states in the country with commendable development statistics. 

    “The state has made massive investments in physical and human infrastructure in the last five years. In 2013, Osun had the lowest unemployment rate in the country and the second lowest poverty rate.

    “Osun’s Youth Empowerment Model and School Feeding Scheme influenced the World Bank’s YESSO programme and the All Progressives Congress (APC) National School Feeding goal respectively,” the communique pointed out.

    It further noted that the commitment of the Rauf Aregbesola administration to delivering on its development initiatives to the people of the state, stating that Osun will institutionalise performance-driven governance‎.

    “The role of humans in economic development must not be overlooked, so it is important to leverage on the human resources of the state to generate ideas, establish enterprises and create much-needed goods and services. 

    “If we can get 40% of the population to be productive and generate surplus value, we will generate enough revenue to be comfortable. The aim of the Repositioning Osun for Prosperity (ROPE) initiative is to achieve increased IGR by employing creative means to widen taxpayers’ base and supporting enforcement action,” it added.

    It said that the repositioning of the state will reduce the cost of governance by strengthening the state’s public financial management system and ensure compliance with International Public Sector Accounting Standards.

    The document said that the new era that Osun is entering will increase investments in the state by attracting investors for short to medium term investments in agriculture, tourism, solid minerals, and strengthening the Public Private Partnership framework.

    It also identified performance-based governance with the setting up of appropriate mechanisms and frameworks to track performance in Millennium Development Agencies and government policies as benefit of the new initiatives.

  • Our new focus for developing Osun is agric – Aregbesola

    Our new focus for developing Osun is agric – Aregbesola

    • International Breweries to support Osun through IGR

    The Osun State Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, has said that his administration’s ‎new focus for development will be agriculture, solid mineral development and industrialisation‎.

    The Governor stated this at the commissioning of the new effluent treatment plant and expansion project of the International Breweries PLC in Ilesa.

    This was just as the company promised to do its best in ensuring compliance with payment of taxes to boost Osun’s drive for internally generated revenue.

    Aregbesola noted that, given the falling price of oil and diminishing revenue from the oil sector, the state is already looking beyond oil for revenue, sustenance and meeting her obligations to fulfilling his electoral promises.

    He commended the company for ‎its vision and forthrightness of the founder, the late Dr. Lawrence Omole and managers of the company for complying with international best practices and the aptness of the commissioning of effluent treatment plant coinciding with the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris, France.

    Aregbesola said: “Our new focus is agriculture, solid mineral development and industrialisation. This indeed should be the focus of the wise who is thinking beyond the financial catastrophe that befell this nation since 2013 on account of falling revenue from the Federation Accounts.”

    Aregbesola also lauded the company for increasing her presence and acceptability, which has translated to increase in market share of the brewery.

    “I commend you. But you must do more, not just to dominate your immediate environment but to spread to other regions as well and ultimately make your brands international by venturing outside the country. On our part, we will continue to support you and help to realise your vision to expand,” he added.

    The Governor stated that concerns for the environment have been an issue since the industrial revolution and the emergence of cities, noting that the fallout of industrialisation is pollution of the environment from industrial and household wastes.

    ‎He therefore described the impression that environmental friendliness is mutually incompatible with development as false, saying, if the right measures are adopted, there will be sustainable development.

    He enjoined other industrial concerns in the state to emulate IBL Plc which is complying with international best practices.

    Governor Aregbesola added that it is the dream of his government that an industrial hub develops around where allied industries that support you or feed off your operations can develop, prime one of which is agriculture and allied industries.

    He said “In October, we signed an MOU with a Chinese consortium to start an agriculture and industrial park in Osun which will be cited in Ilesa. Last month, we also signed an agreement with the IITA to start agriculture demonstration farm and research centre at Orile Owu,” the governor emphasised.

    Earlier in his remark, the Chairman Board of Directors, International Breweries Plc, Ilesa, Otunba Micheal Daramola, commended the state government for its unflinching support towards the growth and development of the company.

    He extolled Governor Aregbesola for keeping to the promises he made in 2013, saying the MoU signed between the company and the state government has yielded positive results and tremendous impact in the lives of the citizens of the state.

    Enumerating some of the organization’s achievements, Otunba Daramola said the company has been a job provider and development partner to the state.

    He disclosed that N1.4billion was expended on waste management in the state, while N1.2 was spent on several projects, as the company equally spent N1.2billion on the new road and new pipeline recently installed and commissioned for use.

    Daramola said over N4.8 billion has been expended so far on the new effluent treatment and water pipeline projects, promising that the company would not relent in its efforts to support the train of development in the state.

    He described the present administration as being supportive, saying that the company’s relationship with current government has been very seamless.

    He said: “The main focus of this company is to ensure that we effect real change and transformation of our immediate environment and the state as a whole for meaningful development and positive improvement.

    “We are doing everything to assist the government by empowering the youths through different programmes targeted to reduce the scourge of unemployment.

    “Over 120 youths have been successfully selected and financially assisted on running capital to start both small and medium scale businesses.

    In his address, the Chief Operating Officer of the company, Mr. Andrew Ross, said the newly installed Effluent Treatment Plant and Water Pipeline projects were first of its kind in the South-west, saying it remains a milestone for economic sustainability.

    He commended the state government for its support, saying its continued cooperation had provided a seamless improvement, growth and development to both the company and the state government.

    He promised that the company was ready to assist the government at improving its Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) by fulfilling its quota on regular tax payment.

    Ross stressed further that the company was committed to offering Nigerians world class products, saying its mission was to be the best beverage company in Nigeria.

    “The Effluent Treatment Plant and Water Pipeline we are commissioning today is very environmental friendly because it emits clean water.

    “This project is of world class standard and this is so because our company is ever ready and committed to world class products that, is why our company has been progressing geometrically.

    The Owa Obokun of Ijesaland, Oba Gabriel Adekunle Aromolaran, commended the company for the introduction of modern technology into its operation just as he saluted the efforts of the management and staff of the company in its bid to realize the dream of the organization.

  • Fuel scarcity hits Osun

    An acute fuel scarcity has hit Osun, crippling business activities in the state in the past few days, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

    Attendants at some filling stations in Osogbo blamed the scarcity on what they described as a subtle protest by petroleum marketers, who were anticipating a downward review of the pump price of fuel.

    A source familiar with the development said that Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) in Osun had since directed its members to stop lifting fuel.

    NAN reports that virtually all filling stations along Gbongan-Osogbo Road, including the NNPC Mega Station had stopped selling fuel since Oct. 6.

    At the ancient city of Ile-Ife, long queues could be seen at various communities, while filling stations along Ede road were under lock and key.

    Only one filling station was selling fuel at Ikirun but the station closed shop early on Saturday.

    Long queues were also seen at Ilesa, Oke-Ogbo and Ijebu-Ijesa Road.