The Nation Newspaper

Tag: OSUN

  • Osun: Tackling the challenge of water supply

    Following the commencement of the full rehabilitation of the Ede Water works in Osun State, the government of Rauf Aregbesola signalled a deepening of its double-edged policy turning around the fortunes of the citizens. One face of the policy entails providing structures that prevent problems from arising in the future. That is the proactive or prophylactic approach. The other, therapeutic or curative, is to wait until the challenge crops up and then deal with it.

    But Aregbesola, the visionary leader that he is turning out to be has opted for the former in most cases since he moved into the Government House in Osogbo in November 2010. With the problems that he inherited, he has promptly applied the innovative edge of the sword. He wasn’t the creator of these problems. But tackle them, he must.

    The worth of a true leader, however, is to develop the capacity to foresee the problems and halt them in their destructive approach. That way you save money, time, energy and other valuable resources that would have gone into dealing with full-blown crises with fatal consequences both for the present and the future.

    That is the perception from which we must view the massive intervention in the Ede Water Works. Now let us look at what has been going on in the mind of the Aregbesola government to make it turn to the provision of good water as a panacea for ill-health.

    The government’s Special Adviser on Water Resources, Engineer (Mrs) Mrs Tawa Williams spoke of the mammoth funding the government is sinking into Ede Water Works to underscore its seriousness. Addressing journalists recently, Williams said the government has awarded a N2billion contract for the full rehabilitation of Ede Water Works. This supplies over 70 per cent of the water needs of Osun State. The government has set aside another N2.2billion in the 2013 budget to replace obsolete pipes across the state.

    At the inception of the Aregbesola Administration in 2010 for instance, its installed capacity had dwindled to a mere 15%, with major equipment completely broken down and staff morale depleted. The same scenario also played out in other major and mini-water works across the state.

    As soon as the Governor Aregbesola settled in, the first thing he did was to provide an initial N 417 million intervention fund to quickly reverse the downturn of this water works. Through the fund, the following equipment were promptly procured and installed: Two Brand new intake pumps; 1.5 MVA generating set; two (2 MVA) transformers; and 7 Dozing pumps.

    This intervention immediately impacted positively on the output of the water works as production rose to 30 percent and staff morale boosted. Not satisfied with this state of affairs and in his avowed commitment to touching lives in every sphere, the governor with members of the executive council, spared no effort in setting aside a whopping sum of N 2 Billion which is what is required for the full and unfettered rehabilitation of the water works.

    The rehabilitation work will be wide-raging and will ultimately transform it into what it was originally, albeit with supportive contemporary technological know-how. In this rehabilitation process, two additional low lift pumps will be installed with twelve high lift pumps. An additional 1.5 MVA generator will be provided with one MVA generator for the low lift. There will be exhaustive repairs of four-unit Clarifier and other ancillary equipment, together with the rehabilitation of 16 filter beds.

    We would not hesitate to align with this great drive to infuse funds into the business of reform in the water if we consider what the World Health Organisation WHO says: in the developing countries four-fifths of all the illnesses are caused by water-borne diseases, with diarrhoea being the leading cause of childhood death.

    WHO says that the global picture of water and health has a strong local dimension with some 1.1 billion people still lacking access to improved drinking water sources and some 2.4 billion to adequate sanitation. Today we have strong evidence that water-, sanitation and hygiene-related diseases account for some 2,213,000 deaths annually and an annual loss of 82,196,000 Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs).

    WHO estimates indicate that worldwide, over 2 billion people are infected with schistosaomes and soil transmitted helminthes and 300 million of these suffer serious illness as a result.

    Malaria kills over a million people every year, and a large percentage of them are under five as well, mainly in Africa South of the Sahara. In 2001 the estimated global burden of malaria amounted to 42.3 million daily, constituting 10 % of Africa’s overall disease burden. Malaria causes at least 396.8 million cases of acute illness each year. Pregnant women are the main adult risk group. As one of the major public health problems in tropical countries, it has been claimed that malaria has reduced economic growth in African countries by 1.3 % each year over the past 30 years.

    An estimated 246.7 million people worldwide are infected by schistomiasis, and of these 20 million suffer severe consequences of the infection, while 120 million suffer milder symptoms. An estimated 80% of transmission takes place in Africa south of the Sahara.

    Diarrhoea occurs worldwide and causes 4% of all deaths and 5% of the health loss to disability.

    In Bangladesh alone, some 35 million people are exposed, on a daily basis, to elevated levels of arsenic poison in their drinking water, which will ultimately threaten their health and shorten their life expectancy.

    After the Tsunami attack in Asia on December 26, 2004 people faced the threat of water borne diseases linked to flooding, like Shigellosis, Cholera, Hepatitis A, Leptospirosis, Typhoid Fever, Malaria and Dengue fever.

    Now imagine what great gains the society would make in Osun if we have a healthy citizenry free from the debilitating effects of the diseases brought about by impure water. Imagine a healthy citizenry ensuring the full implementation of the great economic and social policies of the Aregbesola government! Imagine the enormous savings that would come the way of government if it didn’t have to spend the scarce funds looking after the sick whose ailments were caused by lack of potable water. Imagine these massive funds going into even more massive economic, industrial, social and infrastructural projects to the benefit of our active and healthy workforce.

    Who would dare oppose this formidable social army or seek to topple the government creating and sustaining them? The challenge of the moment is for all governments across the country, federal and states, to take-up the challenge thrown by the state of Osun and strive to provide efficient and sustainable water for our long-suffering citizens.

     

  • Lawmaker lifts constituents

    An Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) Chieftain in Alimosho Local Government Area of Lagos State, Princess Uzamat Akinbile, has distributed poverty alleviation materials to residents and community development associations.

    Speaking at the event tagged: Goodwill Project 2013, Akinbile, who is the Supervisory Councillor for Agriculture, Rural and Social Development in Agbado/Oke-Odo Local Council Development Area, said that she was touched by the plight of the residents and the limited resources by community development associations to carry out self–help projects.

    “There is need for public office holders to initiate community-based developmental projects that would uplift rural dwellers and alleviate poverty in the society. I was encouraged to embark on this gesture because there are many skilled residents who, for lack of fund do not have necessary work tools to earn a living while many communities lack basic infrastructure or social amenities to make life worth living especially in the rural areas.”

    Speaking further on the choice of the choice of beneficiaries, Princess Akinbile said they were picked after a careful selection by a committee.

    “We selected 10 outstanding community development associations across the wards in the Agbado/Oke-Odo council area for a N50,000 grant each as support for their self-help developmental projects. We have single handedly constructed and commissioned a culvert project in Ward G to alleviate the untold hardship experienced by road users and we have also rehabilitated a borehole in Temidire community. This is not my first time of reaching out to my people; many residents have benefited from my charity in the past, especially in the areas of health education and free treatment for infirmed mothers and their children. I have given free medical treatment to people and I have also distributed drugs, mosquito nets and other items to empower indigent residents who don’t have any means of livelihood or resources to prosecute their children’s education. I am not tired yet of doing more because it’s a calling to help humanity, not to actualise self-seeking goals,” she added.

    In his message on the occasion, Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola, who was represented by Hon. Dele Ogunsakin, praised Akinbile for her gesture saying :” she has demonstrated outstanding commitment toward grassroot development which is the pivot of national development and one of the cardinal programmes of the Action Congress of Nigeria. toward executing

    About 100 artisans and traders were given various items and tools ranging from hair dryers, clippers, baking oven, freezers, generators, computers, public address systems and digital camera among others.

     

  • Osun tribunal lawyer Kalejaiye for trial today

    Osun tribunal lawyer Kalejaiye for trial today

    Details of the alleged illicit telephone exchanges in 2008 between a lawyer, Kunle Kaleijaiye (SAN) and then Chairman of the Osun State Election Tribunal, Justice Thomas Naron, may be made public today as the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC) opens hearing in the case against Kalejaiye this morning.

    Justice Naron was the chairman of the tribunal that heard the petition filed by the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and its candidate, Rauf Aregbesola challenging the election that got the now sacked Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola to office.

    Based on the recommendation of the Nigerian Judicial Council (NJC), Governor Jonah Jang of Plateau State, earlier this year, sacked Justice Naron, then of the state High Court.

    The LPDC, headed by Joseph Daudu (SAN), began sitting yesterday at the Court of Appeal, Abuja.

    The committee will hear the three-count complaint filed against Kalejaiye. The Nation sighted yesterday, a copy of the complaint, signed by lawyer to the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Dele Oye.

    Kalejaiye is accused of engaging in “private and confidential telephone conversation” with Justice Naron without the knowledge of the other party, while the tribunal was yet to conclude hearing in the petition involving Kalejaiye’s client.

    The complaints read: “That you Kunle Kalejaiye (SAN), as a legal practitioner involved in the election petition before the Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Osogbo, Osun State sometime in 2008 engaged in constant, private and confidential telephone communications with the Chairman of the Election Petitions Tribunal, Justice Thomas Naron, during the pendency of the said petitions without informing the opposing counsel or allowing the opposing counsel to be present and by so doing, you created the impression of a special personal favour likely from the chairman of the petitions tribunal and by so doing, you have failed to maintain the high standard of professional conduct expected of a legal practitioner.

    “That you, Kunle Kalejaiye (SAN) as a legal practitioner involved in the election petition before the Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Osogbo, Osun State sometime in 2008 engaged in constant and regular telephone communications with the Chairman of the Election Petitions Tribunal, Justice Thomas Naron, during the pendency of the said petitions, conducted yourself in a manner that is likely to obstruct, delay or adversely affect the administration of justice and by so doing, you have failed to maintain the high standard of professional conduct expected of a legal practitioner, by engaging in a conduct unbecoming of a legal practitioner.

    “That you Kunle Kalejaiye (SAN), as a legal practitioner involved in the election petition before the Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Osogbo, Osun State sometime in 2008 engaged in constant, private and confidential telephone communications with the Chairman of the Election Petitions Tribunal, Justice Thomas Naron, during the pendency of the said petitions, conducted yourself in a way calculated to erode the confidence in the Chairman of the election petitions tribunal and by so doing, you have failed to maintain the high standard of professional conduct expected of a legal practitioner, by engaging in a conduct unbecoming of a legal practitioner.”

    Kalejaiye is, by his alleged unprofessional conduct, said to have violated Rules 1, 15, 30, 31, 32, 34, 36 and 55 of the Rules of Professional Conduct in the Legal Profession 2007.

    The LPDC considered some complaints yesterday including those against the Deputy Director of Public Prosecution (DDPP), Anambra State, Azubike Onyedika Okeke; G. T. Ahembe and Chikwendu Kalu.

    Okeke, against who a three-count complaint was filed, is accused of abusing his office by allegedly acting as a private solicitor, while still in public service.

    Kalu was, in a three-count complaint, accused of defrauding his client.

    He was accused of receiving N1.2million from his client, Nze Jerry Nwampa, as deposit for a property at 2, Okorocha Avenue, Umungasi, Abia State, claimed to have kept the money in his office for a day and later accused the client of breaking into his office and stealing part of the money.

    Kalu is said to have breached Rules 1 and 23(1)(2) and 55 and liable under Section 12 of the Legal Practitioners Act 1990 (as amended)

    On his part, Ahembe was accused of receiving N5 million on behalf of his client, but only gave the client N5,000, a conduct contrary to Rules 1, 14(4) and 55 of the Legal Practitioner Act, now Rules of Professional Conduct for Legal Practitioners 2007.

    The lawyers denied the allegations yesterday when adopting their final written addresses. They prayed the committee to hold that their actions do not amount to professional misconduct as alleged in the petitions against them.

  • Okonjo-Iweala and governance in Osun

    Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Nigeria’s Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy has a knack for cutting superfluous controversies. Though highly self-opinionated, her coruscating brilliance is not in doubt. She speaks candidly on any aspect of economics that catches her fancy. One may have deep reservations about her soaring prognosis on the Nigerian dodgy economy and even dislike the somersaulting policies of the government she is a part of; certainly one can’t deny that the former World Bank technocrat often ardently means whatever she gives voice to. It is in this context that I view her recent remarkable appraisal of governance in Osun State. This should remind us of the useful lesson evident in the idiomatic expression that it can be counterproductive to throw out the baby together with the bath water. The minister’s considered utterances sometimes embody unassailable facts.

    I commend Okonjo-Iweala for adding her notable voice to those of many others who have conscientiously spoken about the unprecedented improvement evident in the socio-economic condition of the State of Osun since the advent of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola’s administration. Media reports quoted the Finance Minister as saying that Aregbesola is a model for good governance, having demonstrated clearly that good governance in Nigeria is feasible. She made the remarks in the address she read at a two-day workshop organised by the World Bank in June at Iloko-Ijesa for volunteers in the Federal Government’s Youth Empowerment and Social Support Operation (YESSO). It must be remembered that the unimaginable success of the Osun Youth Empowerment Scheme (OYES) necessitated the existence of YESSO. About a year after the introduction of the scheme in Osun, the World Bank reportedly began to study the programme and later submitted that OYES provided a practical platform for mass employment. It recommended the idea to both the Federal Government and states in Nigeria.

    In the said address read by her representative, the National Coordinator of YESSO, Peter Papka, Okonjo-Iweala rightly observed that the initiatives of the ACN government in Osun gave comforting assurance that it is very possible to level the perilously imposing mountains of youth unemployment across the country.

    Hear her: “You [Aregbesola] have demonstrated that good governance is possible with your programmes. You have demonstrated that youth development is possible. Your programmes so far have demonstrated that you are a good example of government and governance”.

    These are no patronising sound bites, for when the minister says “programmes” she guilelessly speaks of the numerous sustainable O’initiatives of the state government, which continue to undeniably redefine the social and economic conditions of the people of Osun.

    That the State of Osun comes first as the state with the least unemployment woes in Nigeria is a reality that can no longer be ignored by those who incessantly carpet its government. Before Aregbesola became governor, those of us who live and make our living in Osun know that the state was a haven of youth unemployment, infrastructural decay and economic stasis. Poverty stalked and menaced the people. But that is no longer the case. The transition that has been witnessed in the state for the past two years now has soothing evidence of concrete transformation. Youths whose lives were steadily wasting away have been rescued, given training in useful skills and empowered to start small businesses. Farmers have their own happy stories to tell. Under the aegis of the Osun Rural Enterprise and Agricultural Programme, agro-allied businesses have received a massive boost. With the computer tablet, free school uniforms, free daily feeding for pupils in Elementary Class 1-4, building of ultra-modern schools across the state, and increase in funding, the education system of Osun as we used to know it has changed significantly. Infrastructural development enjoys adequate attention now. Old roads are being rehabilitated and newer ones are springing up. A few weeks ago I read in the papers that all the nine state hospitals are already being renovated. That is in addition to the marked changes in healthcare services. Indeed, great things are taking place in Osun. Those who can’t hear see them; those who can’t see hear them; and hardly is there a single household in the Land of the Virtuous that doesn’t benefit from the policies of the present government.

    One other way to test for the genuineness and effectiveness of the policies of the Aregbesola administration is to invoke the methodology prescribed by the seasoned British economist, Dudley Seers. According to him, to understand whether a state or country is developing or not, three main questions need to be asked: First, “what has been happening to poverty?” Second, “what has been happening to unemployment?” Third, “what has been happening to inequality?” He contends that if we notice tangible declines in all of these key areas, doubtlessly the entity – state or country – can be said to be in an era of development. However, he cautions that if one or two of those core issues have an organic tale of misfortune, or if the three are becoming more unbearable, it would amount to sheer lunacy to describe that misery of biblical proportion as development.

    Surely, Okonjo-Iweala had issues of unemployment, poverty, and inequality in mind when she lauded Governor Aregbesola as an exemplar of good governance. The capacity of the Osun people to live dignified and meaningful life has been (and is still being) made possible through a consistent and focused implementation of programmes that squarely address poverty, unemployment, and social injustice. This is a fact that a high-ranking PDP apologist has affirmed dispassionately. And I see this as another clinical deconstruction of the two-for-one-penny fable of secession and islamisation that some calcified minds who could not stand the vision of Aregbesola wickedly spawned against him but to no avail.

    •Awopegba writes from Iloko-Ijesa, Osun State.

  • ‘PDP can’t win Osun’

    ‘PDP can’t win Osun’

    Oyo State Commissioner for Finance Mr. Zacheaus Adelabu

    has lauded the performance of Osun State Governor Ogbeni

    Rauf Aregbesola, saying that opposition parties in the state have no chance in the next governorship election.

    Speaking at the inauguration of the secretariat of the Ede Chapter of a socio-political volunteer group, ’De Raufs’, Adelabu charged the members of the group to be fearless in publicising the good works and ideals of Ogbeni Aregbesola praying that the dream of the volunteer group would come to reality.

    “The enormous achievements recorded by the present administration in Osun State would speak for Governor Aregbesola during the election in 2014”, he said.

    He however, solicitedfor the support of people the governor’s re-election bid Adelabu said the governor has performed beyond the expectation.

    He further described Governor Aregbesola as the parameter of good governance and representation stressing that, “what we are witnessing today in the State of Osun today is not by accident, but carefully planned action of a visionary leader like Ogbeni Aregbesola.

    Adelabu, who lamented the cost of acquiring education in the country, urged the government to ensure that education is accessible to the children. He noted that Governor Aregbesola has brought the needed change to the education sector. The recent launching of Opon Imo, “The Tablet of Knowledge” in the state by Ogbeni was the first of its kind in the black continent of Africa., the said.

    Adelabu, who later donated an 18 seated passengers bus to the group and paid N1,000,000 for surgery for a patient with cancerous neck tumour, urged the group to support the governor.

    He described the leader of the group, Comrade Amitolu Shittu, as someone who has passion for the development of the society at large.

    “Going by the antecedents of the present crop of leaders controlling the southwest region of the country, we can now say that we have good government and Nigerians in this part of the country can also feel the real good governance which indicates that democracy has been entrenched and there is future for the country’’.

    Also speaking at the event, the Osun State Commissioner for Environment and Sanitation, Prof. Olubukola Oyawoye, urged the people of the state to support the government, promising that Aregbesola Administration would bring more dividends of democracy to the people.

    Professor Oyawoye, who was the guest of honour called on the people to also support the re-election bid of Aregbesola.

    Delivering his lecture, the guest speaker Prof. Siyan Oyeweso, said that the event is watershed in the political history of the ancient town where people without political sentiment would come together to support a candidates for the election.

  • Osun provides N2.2b to replace water pipes

    ABOUT N2.2 billion has been set aside in the 2013 budget by the Osun State Government to replace obsolete pipes and improve water supply.

    Addressing a news conference yesterday in Osogbo, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Water Resources, Tawa Williams, an engineer, said the amount was different from the N2 billion earlier made available by the Governor Rauf Aregbesola administration for the rehabilitation of the Waterworks at Ede.

    The Special Adviser, who said the rehabilitation of the Ede Waterworks has begun, added that the current administration is on course in its efforts to ensure that residents enjoy potable water.

    She said: “When the present administration came to office in November 2010, six major waterworks were operating below their designed capacities. The 33 micro waterworks serving other semi-urban centres of the state were at different stages of disrepair. This situation is changing as money has been provided for the operation and maintenance, repair and rehabilitation of some of them.

    “The Aregbesola administration has its work cut out. Government is redressing the water challenges from two fronts.”

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • 14-year-old drowns in Osun River

    A  14-year-old boy, Sefiu Sikiru, yesterday drowned in Osun River on Gbongan Road in Osogbo.

    According to an eyewitness account, the boy with his two friends went to the river to fish.

    At about 2pm, the boy slipped into the river when trying to catch a fish with a hook and was drowned.

    It was learnt that his friends ran away.

    A neighbour, Saheed Buhari, reportedly informed some Moslems praying at a nearby mosque to rescue the boy.

    He reported the incident at the Ataoja Police Station and men of the State Fire Service and local swimmers were invited to rescue the boy.

    The Nation learnt that the three-hour rescue mission was frustrated by the downpour.

    A police source, who preferred anonymity, confirmed the incident.

     

  • Aregbesola fights poverty with O’Meal

    Aregbesola fights poverty with O’Meal

    There were grim statistics for Nigeria from the recently released “State of School Feeding Worldwide Report”, compiled by the World Food Programme (WFP).

    The report, launched at the United Nations headquarters in New York, indicated that only one out of five school children get a healthy school meal in developing countries. The report also presented a gloomy picture of Nigeria’s school feeding programme highlighting that less than 500,000 school children get a decent meal in school. In that report, Nigeria and Cameroon shared the ignoble position of coming last.

    In 2004, Nigeria began a pilot project of Home Grown School Feeding and Health Programme (HGSFHP) which was part of the Universal Basic Education Programme. It was designed to feed pupils in elementary public schools. But out of the 13 states that participated in the programme, only one state remained committed to the continued implementation and improvement of the project: The state is Osun.

    The state governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola has been developing a simple theory with his re-organised school feeding programme in the state. For him, providing nutritious and healthy meals in schools has a direct link to mental development and the eradication of poverty.

    Therefore when in April 2012, he decided to review the school feeding programme with a bigger and better menu, he targeted not just the children but also the farmers in the state. The Osun Elementary School Feeding and Health Programme (O’Meals), which was the result of the new thinking in the state has since surpassed most of its main objectives.

    One of the cardinal points of O’Meals is to increase enrollment and retention of school children in state primary schools. Within four weeks of the commencement of the programme however, school enrollment has jumped about 25 per cent in government primary schools. By June 30, 2012, enrollment increased from 155,318,000 to 194,253 from primaries 1-3.

    Basking in the euphoria of this success, the state government promptly widened the scope and included primary 4 in the scheme. The state now feeds a total of 252,793,000 students daily at the annual cost of N3billion. From the report of the WFP, Osun State accounts for more than half of the total number of children getting healthy and nutritious school meals in Nigeria.

    The operation officer of O’meal, Mrs. Bunmi Ayoola, said the programme has achieved and surpassed its objectives of increasing school enrollment in the state. She said the government also ensures that the food is prepared in a healthy and neat environment.

    “Balanced diet helps in developing the brain’s capacity as well as cognitive response index of each child and it plays a major role in ensuring that children assimilate learning instructions fast and well,’’ she said.

    Fighting poverty and increasing enterprise

    But increased enrollment was not the only intention of the Osun State government; reduction of poverty and boosting small and medium scale enterprise were also key points in the school feeding programme. According to the Deputy Governor, Mrs. Grace Titilayo Laoye-Tomori, the rebirth of the school feeding programme has had a positive impact on farmers.

    “As part of six points integral action plan of the state government to banish hunger, create employment and education for all; the school feeding programme has increased the enrollment of the pupils by 25 per cent within the two weeks of re-introduction, allowed farmers to engage in massive food production and encouraged learning in primary schools. Let me tell you that 80 per cent of food production by the farmers in the State will be used for feeding of our kids in the programme”.

    The deputy governor revealed that over 900 cocoyam farmers have been empowered by the government.

    “In order to ensure that the programme is sustained, we have encouraged our farmers to go into massive production of fish and chicken with which to feed the pupils. We have also directed our farmers to go into massive production of plantain, banana and very soon we are thinking on the possibility of going into massive production of rice and establish rice mills across the state to encourage our farmers,” she said.

    More than 3,000 women in the state have also been empowered to serve as the food vendors. The vendors are well kitted with modern cooking utensils and bowls at the cost of N152 million to the state government. One of the vendors, Mrs. Esther Ogundipe said the programme has empowered her family. “Aregbesola has added value to my life; I am no more a housewife,’’ she said.

    Today, according to the state government, 15,000 whole chickens are sourced weekly from local poultry farmers; 254,000 eggs sourced weekly; 35 heads of cattle purchased weekly from local cattle farmers and 400 tonnes of catfish purchased weekly from local fish farmers.

    Even though some have criticised the enormous cost of the programme, the WFP said even in developed country, the amount spent by government on school meals is a worthy investment for the future.

    “This will help raise healthy adults for the future, it is a worthy investment by any government,” the world body said.

    At mid-day on any school day, the bell rang; food vendors immaculately dressed began to make preparations for the feeding of their wards. All across the state, the same process is repeated at every primary school. Meals like Yam Porridge, bread soaked in a steaming red stew with chicken to garnish, beans porridge and vegetables, all complemented with fruits were handed over to 250,000 children. In Osun schools, time for break means time for “Ounje Aregbe.”

     

  • Osun students celebrate Omoluabi Day

    The Geology Lecture Theatre of the University of Ilorin (UNILORIN) was filled to capacity as students of Osun State origin and their friends from other states gathered to celebrate the Omoluabi Day. The event was organised by the UNILORIN chapter of the National Association of Osun State Students (NAOSS).

    Welcoming participants, Mojeed Fasasi, the President of the association, who said the students were poised to reflect the rich cultural heritage of the state.

    Dr Abdulrasheed Adeboye, Head of Performing Arts Department, who was the guest speaker, gave a lecture on the concept of Omoluabi (responsible citizen) and its effects on the development of the nation.

    The lecturer said monuments and tourist attractions, which dotted the landscape of the state made it to be respected among Yoruba state. He mentioned Oluminirin Waterfalls, Ooni’s palace, Ife museum, Enuwa Square, Ile-Ife City Walls, Oranmiyan Staff and Osogbo Arts Metal Works among others as historical monuments that distinguished the state.

    The association also used the occasion to inaugurate leader who was recently elected. The incoming executive was led by Tolulope Awoyinfa, a 300-Level Linguistics students. There was also drama presentation to mark the day.

    Prof Ronke Olademo, a lecturer who witnessed the occasion, admonished the students to promote the good image of the state and to desist from vices that could terminate their studentship.

    Dignitaries at the event included Prof Deremi Abubakre, a lecturer in Faculty of Art, Dr Mahfouz Adedimeji, representative of the Federal Commissioner of Public Complaint Commission, Osun State chapter, Prof Ronke Olademo, Head of Religion Department, Prof Babatunde Adeleke, Dean Faculty of Science and Dr Raji Abdulgafar, former Head of Economics Department, among others.

  • Aregbesola advocates care of environment

    Aregbesola advocates care of environment

    •Osun buys 2.5m seedlings for tree planting

     

    Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola has urged youths to embrace his administration’s environmental policies.

    He said this would prevent further degeneration of the environment.

    Aregbesola spoke yesterday after receiving the Environment Gold Award of the Institute of Environment and Ecology, Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife.

    He said his green policy is aimed at regenerating the environment, adding that his administration has bought 2.5 million seedlings of various tree species under the Igi Iye (tree for life) initiative.

    Aregbesola said: “The environment should not be seen as ours alone, but that which belongs to many unborn generations.”

    He said the environment should not be trampled upon, but should be regarded as a precious resource of nature put in our care.

    Thanking the institute for the award, the governor said it would spur him on to strengthen awareness on the importance of protecting the environment.

    Osun State Commissioner for Environment and Sanitation Prof. Olubukola Oyawoye said tree planting is a necessity for a good environment.

    OAU’s Vice Chancellor Prof. Bamitale Omole, who was represented by his deputy, Prof. Ayobami Salami, said the people should take responsibility for the growth or otherwise of the environment.

    He praised the governor for the “remarkable feats” recorded by his administration, which he said have improved the state.

    At the event were Deputy Governor Mrs. Titi Laoye-Tomori; Acting State Chairman of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) Elder Adebiyi Adelowo; the Head of Service, Mr. Sunday Owoeye; members of the State Executive Council (SEC), market women and students.