The Nation Newspaper

Tag: OSUN

  • Osun PDP member’s ‘killer’ arrested

    •Party wants murder probed
    •ACN urges police to tighten security

    A member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Osun State, simply identified as Laniyi, has been arrested for allegedly killing another member of the party, Kunle Olagoke (25), last Sunday during a clash in Edunabon, Ife North Local Government Area.

    A police source, who preferred not to be named, said Laniyi has been arrested and investigation has begun into the killing.

    The PDP’s Publicity Director, Prince Diran Odeyemi, yesterday urged the police to unearth the circumstances that led to the murder and bring the culprit to book.

    In a statement, Odeyemi said: “The insinuation that the crisis erupted as a result of a supremacy battle between supporters of a governorship aspirant and another group is far from the truth.

    “The congress was held over a year ago and there has been no rancour in the area until this unfortunate incident. The killing has nothing to do with anybody’s governorship ambition.

    “I urge the police to conduct a thorough investigation into the immediate and remote causes of the murder to ascertain the culprit and bring him to book.”

    The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) described the killing as “a foretaste of the PDP’s plan for next year’s governorship election.

    In a statement, the ACN’s Publicity Director, Mr. Kunle Oyatomi, urged the police and other security agencies to brace up to protect the people during next year’s election.

    He said: “Olagoke’s killing is reminiscent of the murderous disposition of some PDP governorship aspirants, who are bent on winning by violence and murder. Those PDP leaders, who are notorious for violence, thuggery and murder, are on the loose and have started killing from Edunabon.

    “If they are not checked now by the police, things could get worse before next year’s election. A stitch in time would save several lives, so the police must act swiftly to bring Olagoke’s killers and their sponsors to justice.”

    Explaining that some opposition politicians had threatened the governor on many occasions, Oyatomi said “dangerous characters” should not be allowed to roam the streets.

    He said: “It is clear that these desperate politicians will stop at nothing, including killing their own member, to get their party’s ticket. If they could do that to their own member, then they will do worse things before, during and after the election if the law fails to stop them.”

  • Man shot dead at Osun PDP meeting

    A 25-year-old man Kunle Olagoke, was on Sunday shot dead at a factional meeting of a political party believed to be the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edunabon, Ife North Local Government Area of Osun State.

    It was gathered that he died during a clash of rival factions of the party in the area.

    Sources said there had been a leadership tussle between the two factions since last year in Ife North Local Government.

    The PDP in the area had been allegedly enmeshed in crisis since the assumption of office of the chairman of the party in the council, Mr. Sam Oyetade.

    A leader of the party in the state, who is also a governorship aspirant was not favorably disposed to the emergence of Oyetade as chairman and had made several efforts to get him impeached to no avail.

    Trouble started at the ward meeting of the party at the Local Authority Primary School, in Edunabon at about 4.00pm on Sunday when some loyalists of the governorship

    aspirant allegedly stormed the venue of the meeting and called for the removal

    of Oyetade as the party chairman.

    However, loyalists of Oyetade were said to have resisted attempts to remove him and this resulted in a bloody clash between the two factions.

    It was gathered that the deceased died before he getting to the hospital.

    A police source, who did not want his name in print, confirmed the incident.

    The Publicity Secretary of the state PDP, Prince Bola Ajao, said the state

    secretariat of the party was not yet briefed on the matter.

    He said that the matter would be properly investigated by the state executive council of the party.

     

  • Appraising Osun’s tablet of knowledge

    […] It is only when the minds of men have been properly and rigorously cultivated and garnished, that they can be safely entrusted with public affairs with a certainty and assuredness that they will make the best of their unique opportunity and assignment. —Chief Obafemi Awolowo.

     

     

    Anyone who conscientiously observes the policy initiatives of the current administration in the State of Osun since inception may not be hard-pressed to aver that it is increasingly working its fingers to the bone in order to make the effects of governance felt in all households in the state. Through many of its “O’projects”, the Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola administration is unusually raising the bar of governance. Indeed, here is a governor who with uncommon hardihood and ideas is making life more meaningful for the generality of Osun citizens.

    What I personally find incredible is that in less than three years of assuming office, this O’Governor (as some people warm-heartedly brand him) has initiated a highly comprehensive reform that the Philistinic and rapacious PDP administration deemed impossible in the education sector of the state for an unbelievably uninterrupted seven years! In various aspects of the education sector of Osun today is striking evidence of how structured thinking and judicious use of resources can make a huge invaluable difference in the life of a people. As clearly stated in the epigraph to this piece, only rigorously cultivated and garnished minds can make the best of the opportunity availed them to serve the public.

    One of those beneficial projects Governor Aregbesola’s government will be forever remembered for is the newly launched computer tablet, an I-pad-like learning device christened Opon Imo. It was reported that about 150,000 units of the device would be given free of charge to both students and teachers in the state’s public schools – 20,000 for teachers and 130,000 for students in the high schools. With the introduction of this learning device, there is no doubt that the lacuna between teaching and learning, and access to requisite materials will be greatly reduced.

    It is noteworthy that the tablet is preloaded with different tutorial notes, past questions, and textbooks on 17 subjects that students register for in the West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examinations (WASSCE), the National Examination Council (NECO), and the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME). This is a potent elixir for students; they will be motivated to settle down for business as the tuneless music of lack and dearth of necessary learning materials would have been taken care of. Experience has shown that where students are availed of the required learning materials, their capacity to excel is greatly enhanced. I am confident that the use of this device will greatly increase the capacity of our students for remarkable performances in their studies. Also, with Opon Imo, it is certain that public schools in the state will no longer produce students who are happily alien to the use of computer, which every young adult in current time can only neglect to their own disadvantage.

    For the government, parents, and teachers, it is all the way a win-win situation. In other words, while government saves money from buying textbooks (each computer tablet has about 65 textbooks), the teachers as well will no longer be tortured with teaching students who know nothing about the unsullied joy of possessing textbooks. Let me observe here that those who whoop and whine about the substantial billions of naira that the government will save from not having to buy textbooks because students can now access them on the tablets are only being mischievous. Only asinine kind of opposition politics would inspire anyone to condemn and howl negatively against a prudent government, which has even demonstrated in more ways than one, that it is committed to allocating resources across the various sectors of the state astutely. I think it is a sensible and laudable move for the Aregbesola government to even recognise in the first place that it can make savings from the huge investment it is making in the education sector. What is more, even parents, especially those with financial challenges, now have their burdens significantly crashed as they may not have to worry about how to buy textbooks for their children. Whether the nagging nabobs of notorious negativities in Osun find it palatable or not, the different households in the state are firmly convinced that they have a government which adds lasting values to their lives.

    The Opon Imo device is also said to contain six extra-curricular subjects, to wit Sexuality Education, Entrepreneurship, Yoruba Proverbs, Civic Education, Yoruba History and the Yoruba Traditional Religion. This is a welcome development as it will go a long way in equipping the minds of the students with knowledge in other useful areas other than their school subjects. The fact that the students may not be examined on these areas suggests to me that the government is directly awakening the consciousness of the students to the inexorable need for them to stuff their minds with knowledge not purposely for the sake of examination. Their capacity for dialectical thinking will be developed and they will not suffer from the malaise of insular and shallow thinking mostly favoured by charlatans and pedestrian souls. Surely, as they furnish their minds with the knowledge from those diverse subjects, they will know something about everything and everything about something. That is how to produce sound and round students. Precisely, the aspect on Yoruba, history, traditional religion, and proverbs are part of the effective ways of imbuing these students with the understanding of their culture.

    Surely, with its manifold brilliant and remarkable initiatives in the various sectors of the State of Osun, especially the education sector, the Aregbesola government is not unmindful of the tested and true view that the extent to which a government accords attention to its educational system will determine the level of the socio-economic development of the state or country, after all it has been proven again and again that there is a direct relationship between education and development. As the computer tablet affirms, the State Government of Osun knows what is at stake if it does not modernise its learning system.

    I can only cheer parents, teachers, and other stakeholders to help in ensuring that the students make valuable use of the device. The government must also continue to deepen this ICT-compliant learning system, even as it allows the worrywarts to keep clutching their permanent crutches of baseless bellyaches.

     

    • Alawode, a retired secondary school teacher, lives in Ile-Ife, Osun State.

  • Aregbesola not high handed, say Osun LG chairmen

    The 30 councils’ executive secretaries in Osun State have absolved GovernorRaufAregbesola of alleged high handedness by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party.

    The council bosses at a press conference inOsogbo, the state capital, during the weekend, said it was erroneous for any individual or group to accuse Aregbesola of meddling in the administration of their councils.

    The chairman, Osun State chapter of ALGON, Prince AdekunleAyantoye, said that Aregbesola administration has accorded due respect to all tiers of government, including the judiciary.

    He stressed that the approach is made manifest in the several initiatives by the state government that border on the socio-economic development of the state.

  • Osun to benefit from World Bank’s $300m loan

    Osun State is among the four states that will benefit from the World Bank’s $300 million poverty reduction loan.

    In a statement, the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Sunday Akere, said the state was the first to be selected for the first phase of the project, tagged: Youth Employment and Social Support Operation (YESSO).

    He said the programme was aimed at providing short term employment opportunities, especially for unskilled/semi-skilled youths .

    Akere said the World Bank is collaborating with state governments to provide jobs for the poor and vulnerable members of the society.

    He said youths would be trained in skill acquisition.

    Akere said the Osun Youth Empowerment Scheme (OYES), an initiative of the Governor Rauf Aregbesola administration, qualified the state for the fund.

    He said: “It is a jointly funded operation, in which the World Bank’s contribution will be through a loan with 40 years tenure and an interest rate of three per cent.

    “The operation disposes the need for beneficiary states to engage middlemen, consultants or brokers.”

  • Osun kicks off 30km road, bridge projects

    •Aregbesola builds 900km roads in 30 months

    Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola has kicked off the construction of a 30km Gbongan-Akoda road, named Omoluabi Motorway and the Adebisi Akande Trumpet Interchange Bridge in Gbongan, Ayedaade Local Government Area.

    The road project was awarded to RATCON Construction Company at N29.22 million and is to be completed in 18 months.

    It will have streetlights on the entire stretch, landscaping on the verges, lane marking and traffic signs.

    The Adebisi Akande Bridge would link the Ibadan-Ile-Ife Expressway with Osun State through Gbongan.

    Aregbesola said Osun would soon boast of the best road network in Nigeria.

    He said good roads would ease transportation and speed up development.

    The governor said the former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) administration’s record of 553kms of roads in almost eight years pales into insignificance when compared with the 513kms of “high quality roads” the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has built in the last 24 months.

    He said: “Our assault on bad roads is massive. At the state level, work is ongoing on various road projects at varying stages of completion. These include the rehabilitation of 21 Osogbo township roads, 15 Ilesa township roads and 14 Ede township roads by direct labour.

    “Others are 20 intercity roads, totaling 319kms; 13 intra-city roads, totalling 79.46kms; rehabilitation of selected roads in six zones, totalling 74.1kms; eight roads inherited from the past administration, totaling 144.29kms, dualisation of the Osogbo-Kwara boundary road, totaling 43.37 kms and the Gbongan-Orileowu-Ijebu Igbo Road.”

    Aregbesola said at the beginning of this year, his administration began building 229km roads in local government areas.

    He said: “We are exploring and investing in other avenues, such as rail. Bad roads regrettably are responsible for many road accidents that claim lives and leave hitherto able-bodied individuals permanently incapacitated, an avoidable depletion of our valuable human resources.

    “Bad roads also have health cost, besides the possibility of road accidents. People are loath to travel on bad roads because of the possible challenge to their health after the trip. Good roads, on the other hand, will enhance economic and social activities, bring down the cost of goods and services and reduce thewear and tear on vehicles.”

    The governor said the roads are built with 50mm asphalt on stone base with concrete drainage, as against the old practice of cheap macadam overlay on weakly compacted earth and poor drainage provision.

    He said the Omoluabi Motorway and the Adebisi Akande Interchange Bridge, when completed, would last for more than 30 years and improve the safety and comfort of motorists and pedestrians.

    Special Adviser to the Governor on Works and Transport Sabitu Amudah said the administration has spent N92 billion on over 900kms of inter and intra-city roads.

    RATCON’s General Manager Dany Boumikhael said company will deliver the project promptly and according to the terms of the contract.

     

  • Osun CPC endorses Aregbesola for re-election

    The Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) in Osun State has endorsed Governor Rauf Aregbesola for a second term.

    CPC made the decision at the weekend at the main hall of GMT Hotel in Osogbo, the state capital, during a public awareness programme on the merger of some opposition parties.

    The programme was organised by CPC in collaboration with a socio-political volunteer group, ‘De Raufs’.

    CPC’s Legal Adviser Mr. Segun Oyewole moved the motion for Aregbesola’s endorsement for a second term and it was seconded by the CPC Chairman in Osun West Senatorial District, Mr. Francis Kayode.

    Acting CPC State Chairman Alhaji Hamid Abdulhamid said Aregbesola’s endorsement was in fulfillment of the merger agreement as directed by the party’s national council.

    He warned any person or group planning to use CPC as a machinery of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to perish the thought.

    Abdulhamid hailed the party’s Youth Leader, Mr. Majeed Yahaya, who was absent at the programme due to illness, for the “great role he played in fostering harmony in Osun CPC”.

    Aregbesola, who was represented by the Commissioner for Cooperative, Commerce and Empowerment, Alhaji Ismail Alagbada, thanked the CPC for having faith in him, pledging that the party would not be left out in the scheme of things.

    He said his administration would remain focused on delivering more dividends of democracy to the people.

    CPC National Financial Secretary Pastor Folorunsho Longe, who represented the party’s National Leader, Gen. Mohammadu Buhari (rtd.), delivered a goodwill message from the national party.

    The party’s spokesman, Mr. Awwal Kazeem, led the Hausa Community from 30 local government areas to the programme.

    Dignitaries at the event included the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Mr. Kolapo Alimi; Director-General of De Raufs Comrade Amitolu Shittu, who delivered the keynote address; Dr. Femi Olufunmilade of the Igbinedion University in Edo State; a rights activist and Executive Director of the Transition Monitoring Group (TMG), Comrade Moshood Erubami and a CPC chieftain, Mr. Dapo Oyewumi, among others.

     

  • Osun gathers Yoruba monarchs for maiden Oodua Children’s Day

    Osun gathers Yoruba monarchs for maiden Oodua Children’s Day

    Over 50 royal fathers from various Yoruba-speaking communities and cities across Africa yesterday converged on Osogbo, the Osun State capital, for a unique celebration of the maiden Oodua World Children’s Day.

    The Oodua World Children’s Day is Osun State’s initiative aimed at bringing together children from Yoruba-speaking communities to revive the cultural values of the Yoruba race in the youths.

    Governor Rauf Aregbesola said the Yoruba cultural integration can only be meaningful if children, who will carry on the culture, are properly socialised into it with the right inculcation of values.

    His address, entitled: Towards Global Yoruba Integration, was delivered at the Osogbo City Stadium, the state capital, where the colourful event was held. The event, which was to commemorate Children’s Day, was attended by eminent Yoruba personalities and selected children from Ekiti (100), Ondo (83), Ogun (100), Oyo (100), Lagos (100), Kwara (50), Kogi (50) and Edo (25). Delta State as well as other West African countries of Benin, Togo, Ghana and Sierra Leone; South American countries of Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Cuba; the Caribbean and the United States were well represented at the event.

    Aregbesola explained that the promotion of the Omoluabi ethos in Osun State is aimed at re-awakening the cultural and value consciousness of the people to make them realise the beauty of Yoruba virtues and give them a sense of pride in their culture.

    He said: “We are of the conviction that the realisation of the socio-cultural and economic integration of the Yoruba race can be greatly enhanced by imparting that vision into our children.

    “Indeed, such a cultural renaissance agenda cannot succeed without including the children, for they are a key factor in its success.”

    The governor stressed that among the various programmes being implemented in Osun, education will be the best.

    Aregbesola said his administration has begun the most ambitious projects in education.

    He said: “The schools we are building are state-of-the-art with modern learning infrastructure. They have sprung up everywhere and will be ready in the shortest possible time. We are feeding our children with nutritious meals everyday. This is because of the realisation that it is only a well-fed child that can muster the mental capability to learn.

    “We have also provided free uniform to our school children. Next week, by the grace of the Almighty, we shall begin distributing Opon Imo to all senior secondary pupils in the state. This is the first of its kind in any part of the world.”

    The governor stressed that the Yoruba race constitutes a significant part of the global population, with civilised and dynamic culture as well as the potential to become a powerful force in the world, if it gets its acts together and forge a common and united front.

    He added: “We can begin right from here, the cradle of the Yoruba race, to plant the seed that may germinate into something that will in time surpass the wildest dream of the brains behind the idea.”

    The Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, described the trans-state Children’s Day as a unique event that must be sustained for the progress of Yoruba nation.

    The Oyo monarch, who was flanked by the Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade, in a single outing for the first in many years, said the Yoruba people need to come together for the benefit of the race.

    He noted that Yoruba monarchs and those in the Diaspora have once again united for the progress of the Black Race.

    Pigeons were released as a symbol of unity among Yoruba rulers across the globe.

  • Osun lecturers suspend strike

    Teaching and non-teaching staff of Osun State-owned tertiary institutions yesterday suspended their over two months strike.

    The institutions are: College of Technology, Esa-Oke; Osun State Polytechnic, Iree; College of Education, Ila-Orangun and the College of Education, Ilesha.

    The workers suspended the strike after signing an agreement with the state government.

    According to a statement signed by the presidents and secretaries of both associations – F. A. Ademiluyi, O.O. Fasipe, L.A. Jimoh and D.M. Esan – the parties have reached an agreement on the implementation of the 2009 Consolidated Salary of Tertiary Institutions (CONTEDISS) and Colleges of Education Staff Salary Structure (CONPCASS).

    The agreement includes payment of 90 per cent of the consolidated salary with effect from May 1.

    Seven per cent of the total emolument is to be sustained as Peculiar Academic Earned Allowance and the government would continue to pay 10 per cent of the basic salary as annual leave bonus.

    The statement said: “The government will continue to remit outstanding and subsequent pension contribution.

    “The government has concluded arrangement for a Group Life Assurance Scheme.

    “All other issues relating to the Contributory Pension Scheme would be addressed accordingly. The government would address understaffing as soon as the Governing Councils are put in place.

    “The issue of the 65 years retirement age, being a legal matter, will be addressed by the House of Assembly.

    “It was agreed that no individual or group would be victimised as a result of their roles in the strike.

    “In view of the foregoing, all academic staff of Osun State-owned tertiary institutions have agreed to suspend the on-going strike.”

  • Osun gets anti-domestic violence Law

    The Osun State House of Assembly has passed the Anti-Domestic Violence Bill, 2013, into Law.

    House Leader Timothy Owoeye (Ilesa East) moved the motion for its passage and it was seconded by the Deputy Chief Whip, Akin Taiwo Adeyemi (Ayedaade) at plenary.

    The Speaker, Najeem Salaam, said the law protects women and other vulnerable people from all forms of domestic abuses, such as battery and denial of their rights.

    He urged the Ministry of Information and Strategy to sensitise residents on the law.

    The House approved the governor’s request to obtain a N10 billion loan, which is sought jointly with the 30 local government councils and Ife-East Area Office.

    The loan is to finance the construction of 218.891 kilometers of roads across the state.