The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Oyinlola

  •  Plateau killings fueled by long-standing grievances, mistrust – GOC 3 Division

     Plateau killings fueled by long-standing grievances, mistrust – GOC 3 Division

    • Says operations underway to hunt down attackers
    • From Kolade Adeyemi, Jos

    The General Officer Commanding 3 Division of Nigerian army and Commander of Operation Safe Haven (OPSH) Major General Folusho Oyinlola has attributed the renewed killings in Plateau State to a tragedy fueled by long-standing grievances, mistrust, and failed leadership.

    Gen Oyinlola disclosed this during a high-level stakeholders meeting conveyed by the GOC to review the activities of the recent killing of over 100 residents in Plateau communities.

    While addressing stakeholders during the meeting, Gen Oyinlola said, “We are gathered today at the headquarters of OPSH, 3 Division Nigerian Army, in an urgent effort to de-escalate tensions and prevent further bloodshed in communities rocked by ongoing attacks.

    “The high-level engagement followed nearly two weeks of deadly violence in Bokkos and Bassa local government areas, where over 100 people have reportedly been killed and more than 2,000 displaced, according to emergency responders.

    “This meeting brought together top government officers, local government chairmen, traditional rulers, religious leaders, community representatives, and security agencies to brainstorm and find solutions.

     “No doubt, the current wave of attacks is a tragedy fueled by long-standing grievances, mistrust, and failed leadership. We are at a critical point where silence has become complicity, and inaction, dangerous. No grievance, no matter how deep, justifies murder,” he stated,

    Oyinlola, who assured that military operations were already underway to hunt down those behind the attacks, criticised the failure of some leaders to rein in their followers and called for renewed commitment to dialogue and reconciliation.

    Read Also: Police arrest eight suspects for killing, burying baby in hospital

    “This stakeholders’ meeting is not a formality—it is a call to action. Let us talk to one another, not take up arms. Peace is not a favour; it is a necessity for survival.”

    Also speaking at the event, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Community Engagement (North-Central), Abiodun Essiet, expressed deep sympathy for affected families and emphasised the federal government’s commitment to peace building efforts.

    “Lives have been lost, homes destroyed, and livelihoods shattered,” she said. “But I am hopeful because today’s gathering signals a shared determination to break the cycle of violence.”

    Essiet highlighted past reconciliation efforts and urged stakeholders to tap into traditional dispute resolution mechanisms and inclusive dialogue. She announced plans by the presidency to launch a Community Peace Initiative and an Inter-Religious and Inter-Tribal Town Hall Meeting in Plateau and other North Central states later this month.

  • My father warned his 64 children against inheritance despite being a king — Oyinlola

    My father warned his 64 children against inheritance despite being a king — Oyinlola

    Former Osun State Governor, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, revealed that his father, who served as the Olokuku of Okuku, warned him and his 63 siblings not to rely on inheriting his wealth.

    Speaking at the orientation programme for the pioneer students at his newly established Alolade Oyinlola College of Health Sciences and Information Technology in Okuku, Osun State, Oyinlola emphasized the importance of education in an ever-changing world.

    Addressing the students, he said: “We are laying the foundation for excellence in health science and information technology education, and your names will forever be etched as the pioneers of this institution.”

    He added: “This is my own contribution to education. When I was young before my father who was a king died, he told us that if any child thinks he will inherit any wealth after his demise such a child is wasting his time because all he was giving in terms of wealth and inheritance is education.

    Read Also: Adeleke, Oyetola, Oyinlola condole with Owa Obokun family

    “We are 64 children with me 43rd and it was his vision of being committed to education that sustained the family till today. My father has been dead for 64 years, nobody has even thought of sharing any of his property.”

    He urged the students to stay focused, committed, and disciplined in their studies, assuring that “innovative curriculum, hands-on learning experiences, and dedicated faculty are designed to arm you with the skills and knowledge to make a lasting impact in today’s evolving world.”

    He disclosed: “For Alolade University, I believe that we will scale through the approval stage, we are just waiting for the Federal Executive Council’s approval.”

  • Why I’m establishing two institutions same time in my hometown —Osun ex-governor Oyinlola

    Why I’m establishing two institutions same time in my hometown —Osun ex-governor Oyinlola

    The former governor of Osun state, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola on Friday, May 17, unveiled the establishment of two institutions in his hometown, Okuku, the headquarters of Odo-Otin local government area of the state.

    The Nation recalled that the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola visited Oyinlola to inspect the facilities of the two institutions in December 2023.

    Oyinlola announced the establishment of Alolade Oyinlola College of Health Sciences and Information Technology during a press conference.

    Read Also: Vehicles bought by Oyinlola ‘missing’, says Osun SSG

    He was joined by former Executive Secretary of the National University Commission (NUC), Professor Peter Okebukola, and former Vice-Chancellor of Obafemi Awolowo University Ile-Ife, Professor Eyitope Ogunbodede, among others.

    Oyinlola explained that he chose to establish the school in Okuku and name it after his mother because his father ensured that all his over 60 children received a formal education.

    He added: “If by chance in the next generation, people ask who is Olagunsoye Oyinlola, unless if there is no Lagos state again that the name will not reflect in history, unless, if there is no Okuku again that is when people will forget that there was one Oba Moses Oyewole Oyinlola who has passed. In 250 years, who will remember that woman who gave birth to Olagunsoye Oyinlola, hence the naming of this institution after her.”

    Okebukola disclosed that about 35 professors both within and outside Nigeria will be adjunct lecturers for the institutions when they commence operations.

  • Vehicles bought by Oyinlola ‘missing’, says Osun SSG

    Vehicles bought by Oyinlola ‘missing’, says Osun SSG

    As Osun State Government embarked on asset recovery mission, the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Teslim Igbalaye, has said official vehicles bought during the former Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola administration were taken away by appointees of ex-Governor Rauf Aregbesola.

    The Nation recalled that Governor Ademola Adeleke had set up a committee and task force to recover assets allegedly looted under the administration of his predecessor, Adegboyega Oyetola.

    The SSG tackled reactions that followed the decision of the government, which was made by a civil society group.

    Read Also: Asset recovery: Cars bought under Oyinlola were taken away by Aregbesola’s men—Adeleke’s SSG 

    Igbalaye, a former chairman of Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON), Osun State chapter, under the administration of Oyinlola, in a statement by his media aide, Kehinde Adeoye, said none of his members, including the current Chief of Staff to the governor, Kazeem Akinleye, took away any official car. 

    He said: “I affirm here that none of the local government chairmen and their wives took away their official cars during Oyinlola’s administration. We were eased out of the government through the Supreme Court judgment. 

    “The official cars bought by local government chairmen during the Oyinlola administration were given as take home to all ACN caretaker local government chairmen that took over from us under Aregbesola administration. The only car I took home as an official car was the one bought by ALGON as ALGON state chairman. This has been the practice from the national headquarters in Abuja by paying the necessary fees, which I did with my receipt intact.”

    Igbalaye said: “No fake news will stop recovery of vehicles and other assets belonging to the state. The task force will soon begin operation. My advice to those who took away government vehicles is to return them as quickly as possible.”

  • Oyinlola ceded LAUTECH to Oyo, says Alao-Akala

    A former Oyo State Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala yesterday released the documents formally transferring the ownership of the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso, to the state government.

    This followed claims and counterclaims trailing the revelations that the joint ownership of the institution had been severed between Oyo and Osun states.

    In a radio programme at the weekend in Ibadan, the state capital, Alao-Akala reiterated that himself and former Osun State Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola finalised an arrangement to share the assets and liabilities of the institution in 2010.

    The former governor said Oyinlola signed the legal document to formalise the arrangement.

    The eight-page document, a copy of which was made available to The Nation, is titled: Legal Framework for the Sharing of the Assets and Liabilities of LAUTECH Between the owner states of Osun and Oyo.

    It was prepared by F. M. Kwede, Esq. of F. M. Kwede and Co., Barrister and Solicitors, with office address at Suite 212, Anbees Plaza, Wuse Zone 5, Abuja.

    The document was jointly signed by the former governors and their attorneys general on October 23, 2010.

    While Alao-Akala and Oyinlola signed with red ink, the states’ attorneys general signed with green ink.

    According to the former governor, the document spells out the new ownership status of the institution, while the National Universities Commission (NUC) set up a seven-man committee to administer the process.

    The document reads: “At the instance of the government of Oyo State, both parties, joint owners and proprietors of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), its subsidiaries and associated institutions (“the university”) have decided to terminate their joint ownership and management of the university, and share its assets and liabilities.

    “Whereas the parties, by an agreement dated September 2, 2010, mandated the National Universities Commission (NUC) to constitute a LAUTECH Transition Committee (the committee) to, inter alia, share the assets and liabilities of the university.

    “Whereas, pursuant to this mandate, the NUC constituted a seven-person committee consisting of the under-listed, without objection from any of the parties, inaugurated the committee on September 14, 2010; consequent upon which the committee formally assumed duty on September 20, 2010.”

    Members of the seven-man committee were: Prof C. F. Mafiana (Director, NUC), as the committee chairman, Profr Dakas C. J. Dakas (former Attorney-General), Mr Ahmad Muhammadu (quantity surveyor), Mr Paul Osaji (estate valuer), Dr Chris A. Tamuno (former Registrar), Mrs Ubong Etuk (chartered accountant) and Dr N. B. Saliu (Deputy Director, NUC).

    The committee’s mandate included sharing the assets and liabilities of the university between the parties.

    About 13 items were listed as assets and 10 listed as liabilities of LAUTECH at the time.

    Some other items were listed as the workers, students, verification, among others, after the two attorneys general, Niyi Owolade and Aare Abdulsalam Ladi Abdulllah, for Osun and Oyo states, signed the documents on October 23, 2010, after the governors.

    But the agreement stipulated that the interests of the workers and students, “irrespective of state of origin, shall be protected”.

    It added: “Without prejudice to the powers of the courts, the decision of the committee in respect of the assets and liabilities sharing exercise shall, without further assurance, be final and binding on both parties.”

     

     

     

     

  • 2019: APC faction, Oyinlola, Mimiko meet Ladoja for merger talk – News

  • 2019: APC faction, Oyinlola, Mimiko meet Ladoja for merger talks

    A faction of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo State, a former governor of Osun State, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola and former Ondo State Governor Olusegun Mimiko yesterday met with former Oyo State Governor Rashidi Ladoja in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.

    They met in separate meetings with Ladoja at his Bodija, Ibadan home amidst a crowd of supporters.

    The meetings, it was learnt, were reportedly called to enable the top politicians plan ahead of next year’s general elections and discuss strategies for the merger of opposition parties in the Southwest.

    In Ladoja’s team were former Secretary to the Oyo State Government (SSG), Sharafadeen Alli, Senator Femi Lanleyin, Peoples democratic Party (PDP) leaders in Oyo State, including Otunba Yemi Aderibigbe, Bayo Lawal, Dr. Nureni Adeniran, Nureni Adisa, Bashiru Lawal and Bimbo Adepeju.

    Oyinlola, who arrived Ladoja’s house around 9 a.m yesterday, said his meeting with Ladoja was not political.

    “I am here to visit my brother,” he said.

    Also, Mimiko, who recently defected to the Labour Party (LP), declined comments but later said: “This is a private visit, please.”

    A source close to Ladoja confirmed that members of the Unity Forum, led by Senator Monsuratu Sumonu, were on their way to meet the former governor to prepare the ground for them to work together.

    “Unity Forum members were talking to our leader before now and they are on their way to Ladoja’s house,” one of Ladoja’s loyalists said.

    A member of the former Oyo State governor’s team, who spoke in confidence, said Mimiko and Oyinlola wooed him into their parties following the seven-day ultimatum given to the National Working Committee (NWC) of PDP by Ladoja’s group over the crisis in the state chapter of the party.

    “We have not decided now. We are going to meet with our leader, Ladoja, to decide our next move. But we may have a merger at the end of the day,” the source said.

    It was further learnt that after the meetings, Ladoja and his team would need to review the visits before announcing their next move.

    Ladoja recently issued a seven-day ultimatum to the NWC of the PDP over some unsettled crisis rocking the state chapter of the party.

    The APC faction, also called the Unity Forum, following a face-off with Governor Abiola Ajimobi, had threatened to quit the party, if the NWC refused to address the crisis.

  • Baraje, Oyinlola must apologise to Buhari, says ex-nPDP spokesman

    Ex-Publicity Secretary of the defunct New Peoples Democratic Party (nPDP)  has decried nPDP’s May 9 letter to the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief John Odigie-Oyegun and its ultimatum to the Federal Government.

    Chukwuemeka Eze said nPDP’s ex-National Chairman Alhaji Kawu Baraje and former National Secretary Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola should apologise to President Muhammadu Buhari and the Federal Government following its allegation of neglect.

    In an online statement yesterday, he distanced himself from the letter, and declared that the writers were not speaking for him and others since they had no knowledge of it.

    He said he issued a statement after consultations with other former nPDP members, insisting there must be a retraction within seven days.

    Eze said: “I have so much respect for Alhaji Baraje and Prince Oyinlola, but after going through their letter of May 9, 2018 to the National Chairman of APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, the need to straighten some of the facts raised in the letter becomes imperative, to douse the tension the letter has generated in the polity.

    “It is unfortunate Alhaji Baraje and Prince Oyinlola could send the letter without recourse to me or most of the stakeholders of the movement, considering our key roles in making the nPDP the beautiful bride it turned out to be and in bringing down the administration of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, after teaming up with likeminds in the mega party, APC.

    “The letter has generated tension in the polity, that some sections of the media have concluded that it will lead to implosion of APC and probably the downfall of the administration of President Buhari, as well as the return of PDP to power.

    “The letter, though engineered by some key actors of nPDP looking for attention from President Buhari to negotiate for relevance during and after the 2019 general election, but using a body that has been dissolved in the bigger body of APC, is not in order and acceptable to some of us who risked our lives in projecting the ideals and vision of the body.”

  • Oyinlola holds on to Fed Govt’s job despite leading anti- Buhari campaign

    FORMER Osun State Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola is holding tight to a Federal Government board appointment, despite  leading ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo’s Third Force battle against the President Muhammadu Buhari administration.

    Oyinlola presided over a major three-day international conference that ended in Abuja yesterday, as the board chairman of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC).

    Many assumed that he would resign from the position after the launch of the Coalition for Nigeria Movement (CNM).

    On January 31 , the ex-governor and former Cross River State Governor Donald Duke were in Abuja to launch CNM, an Obasanjo-inspired platform, whose sole aim is to see to the defeat of the President in 2019.

    However, during the “Identity for Africa” international conference at which some 760 government officials from 47 African countries joined hundreds of technical experts to brainstorm on digital identity, security and population issues, Oyinlola maintained his position as chairman of NIMC and presented an address.

    He was acknowledged as one of the eminent persons in attendance along with  Secretary to the Government of the Federation Boss Mustapha, who represented  Buhari, Minister of Interior Maj.-Gen. Dambazau and a host of others from Nigeria and the global community.

    While Obasanjo was elsewhere urging Nigerians, including all members of the CNM to be battle ready to take over power from Buhari in 2019, Oyinlola was still not keen to abandon his NIMC board chairmanship position.

    When The Nation met him at the International Conference Centre, Oyinlola was eagerly responding to questions but he entered his car and drove away immediately he was asked about his continued chairmanship of NIMC board while mobilising for a political war against the ruling party.

    “We are talking about harmonisation of national identity here,” he remarked and turned away to hurriedly enter his car.

     

     

  • Oyinlola, George intensify verbal war over Obasanjo’s coalition 

    A former Governor of Osun State, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola,  yesterday said a former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP), Chief Bode George did not make him a governor.

    He said George was backing a candidate before he made a U-urn when it was obvious that he was going to win the gubernatorial primaries.

    He also challenged George to open the can of worms he threatened to release.

    The two leaders had been bickering on the propriety or otherwise of the Coalition for Nigeria Movement (CNM) which was formed by ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo against a second term in office for President Muhammadu Buhari.

    Oyinlola said what he told George in a statement on Saturday was just a piece of advice from a prince to a chief in Yorubaland on why he should stop throwing stones at his benefactors.

    George in a response said:” I read today the untidy, uncharitable and irritable vituperations of Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola against my good self. I was rather astonished at the level of uninformed , reckless, misleading verbiage against me”.

    “Prince Oyinlola was very junior to me in the military. I am very senior to him in age. It was my humble self and the late Chief S.M. Afolabi who introduced him to our former President and my Egbon Chief Olusegun Obasanjo.

    “ It was through me and the grace of God Almighty that he was elected Governor of Osun State.  Oyinlola should not dabble into issues he does not know anything about at all. I have served several Generals with hundred per cent loyalty. I have no grudge against our former President. I have a lot of respect for him. I greet him wherever we meet with deep respect and reverence as a well born Yoruba man.

    “Oyinlola, please don’t start to open any can of worms that you do not know where it will- widen and spill over.

    “When one is sent a slave’s errand, you should behave like a true, well-born”

    But Oyinlola in a reply also yesterday insisted that it was God who made him a governor and not George.

    Oyinlola said: “I must however, say that I found it surprising that Chief George said he made me governor of Osun state. How?

    “I became governor by the grace of God and the overwhelming support of the people of Osun state. The results of that election showed clearly that my support was rooted in the people and not in outsiders who neither voted nor funded my election.

    “I know my leaders whose support was greatly invaluable. They were with me throughout the unprecedented three primaries which I won three times.

    ”Chief George started out as a backer of one of those I was contending with. He later switched over to the popular side which was mine. He did not vote in my election; he did not give me money. So how did he make me governor?

    He said it was uncharitable of George to repay good with evil by attacking his (George’s) benefactors who included former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

    He said: “If you are allergic to the singing of birds you won’t build your house near the bush. If Chief George didn’t want me to react to him, he won’t call me and other promoters of the CNM all sorts of names as he did.

    “ Our ancestors in Yorubaland did not recommend Kolanut as appreciation for the kind of negative words Chief George used against me and other leaders of the CNM including Chief Obasanjo.

    “Chief George is my Egbon by six years. I respect him and said so in my statement on Saturday.  I observed he also said he was “very senior” to me in the military. He used the word “very.” It will interest him to know that I joined the Nigerian Army on September 3, 1969 and was commissioned as an officer on September 11, 1971. I want my Egbon to do his calculations and justify the word “very” that he used.

    Oyinlola asked George to release the can of worms he had threatened to expose and insisted he must apologise to Obasanjo.