The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Oyo

  • Oyo to review health workers’ salary

    Oyo State Governor Abiola Ajimobi yesterday pledged to review the salary of health workers to reflect the country’s economic situation.

    He spoke in his office in Ibadan, the state capital, while hosting executive members of the Association of Medical and Dental Officers.

    Ajimobi said his administration is determined to promote health care delivery through the provision of equipment in hospitals and improved welfare for workers.

    He said: “I hail you for your cooperation with the government, which has allowed peace and development in the state. Our development, in terms of infrastructure, is unprecedented in the history of this state and the whole world is attesting to it. All these could not have been achieved without your support, understanding and sacrifices.”

    The governor said his administration would not relent in its efforts to better the lot of the people and urged well-meaning Nigerians to partner the government, especially in the provision of basic health services.

    He said: “We have a transparent, efficient, accountable and people-oriented government, but no matter how much we do, we must expect criticisms. Our concern is to do our best to promote the progress and happiness of our people.

    “This is the essence of governance. You can assist the government by bringing up ideas on how to identify areas that need attention and improvement.”

    The association’s Chairman, Dr. Fola Oni, hailed the Ajimobi administration for improving the health status of the people through improved environmental sanitation and an effective waste disposal system.

    Oni called for the review of the edict establishing the State Hospitals’ Management Board, so as to create semi-autonomy for state-owned hospitals and to allow the board play only administrative roles.

    He also called for the review of health workers’ salary.

     

  • Mayhem in Oyo town over 2015 poll

    •Scores injured 

    There was mayhem yesterday at Isale-Oyo community in Oyo town as people engaged in a free for all over the call for the removal of Mr. Kamil Akinlabi, who represents Oyo Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives.

    About 7:30am, several people were seen at Isale-Oyo. Their mission was initially unknown until their number increased. The people, who were mostly youths, carried placards, protesting against the call for the removal of Akinlabi.

    Later, another group in support of the removal of the lawmaker emerged with dangerous weapons, such cutlasses, charms, clubs and bottles. They attacked the protesters.

    Blood stains, shoes, pieces of placards and clothes were seen on the spot of the mayhem.

    There was confusion and residents fled to avoid being attacked. Commercial activities were paralysed.

    Unspecified number of people were said to have sustained injuries.

    Oyo Federal Constituency comprises Oyo- East, Oyo-West, Afijio and Atiba.

    A few days ago, there was a similar protest by another group.

    Members of the group demanded the removal of Akinlabi for allegedly neglecting his constituents. They called on Akeem Adeyemi, son of Alaafin of Oyo Oba Lamidi Adeyemi III, to replace him.

    Spokesman for the pro-Akinlabi group, Mr. Waheed Ajagbe, said his achievement from 2011 to date was commendable and that was why they protested against move to remove him.

    It took the intervention of mobile policemen from Durbar Division, who stormed the area with Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC), before peace could be restored.

     

  • Oyo to revive technical colleges

    The five technical and vocational colleges owned by the Oyo State Government will soon be revived, the state government said yesterday.

    The government also reiterated its commitment to funding the Education sector.

    The Commissioner for Education, Mrs Adetokunbo Fayokun, spoke during the technical and vocational education stakeholders’ meeting at the state secretariat in Ibadan.

    She blamed the sorry state of the colleges on the neglect by past administrations and dearth teachers to handle the vocational courses offered in the schools.

    “You can be sure that conditions of our technical colleges will change for the better now, because Governor Abiola Ajimobi is interested in turning them around. He has asked us to do our needs assessment and get back to him for approval,” Mrs Fayokun said.

    The commissioner stressed that the Ajimobi administration was determined to address some of the challenges confronting technical education in the state.

    She added: “There is need to set their priority right, considering the huge resources required in meeting most of our needs. The financial wherewithal to address all the needs at once is not available.”

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Oyo to build eight markets

    Oyo State Governor Abiola Ajimobi has said his administration would build eight more markets before the end of the year.

    He spoke during an interaction with reporters in Ibadan.

    The governor said his administration has built more markets than previous administrations. He stressed that he would address the challenges facing the indigenes.

     

     

     

  • Oyo launches mobile advert policy

    THE Oyo State Signage and Advertisement Agency (OYSAA) has launched a new mobile advertisement policy to end an era of jungle justice by previous operators in the state.

    Speaking at the launch of the new policy in Ibadan last week, the agancy’s Director-General, Yinka Adepoju, said the policy was borne out of Governor Abiola Ajimobi’s priority for creating a world-class environment for business, the government and other activities in the state.

    He noted that though it took the agency six months to fashion the policy, the time of planning afforded OYSAA the opportunity to harness interests of all stakeholders before evolving the new strategic policy.

    The strategic frame work for the policy was designed with inputs from the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), Mobile Outdoor Advertisement Agency of Nigeria (MOAN), the Nigeria Police Force as well as financial institutions.

     

     

  • Oyo floats medium-term strategic plan

    Oyo State Governor Senator Abiola Ajimobi has approved the process of preparation of the successor medium-term strategic plan expected to span 2014 to 2016.

    He said this at the opening of the 2013 Conference of Directors of Planning, Research and Statistics (DPRS) in the public service, held in Ibadan.

    The governor said this was in line with the resolutions of the Joint Planning Board (JPB) and the National Council on Development Planning (NCDP), held in Benue State last December.

    He described as timely and reliable, the statistics on social, economic and environmental conditions.

    He said they are key factors for development, evidence-based planning and policy decisions, which require reliable and sound statistical basis.

    Governor Ajimobi said towards this, his administration has enacted a law to reposition the state’s statistical system, towards transforming the Department of Macro Statistics and Research in the Ministry of Economic Planning and Budget into the Bureau of Statistics.

    He said the process of appointing a Statistician-General for the state was on.

    Ajimobi hailed the National Planning Commission for involving the top management of the Ministry of Economic Planning and Budget in the review of the National Implementation Plan (NIP) and the development of the National Integrated Infrastructure Master-Plan (NIIMP).

    He hoped that the experience gathered from the exercise would improve them for better performance.

    The governor said his administration was looking forward to a successful conduct of the GDP computation.

    The Minister/Deputy Chairman of the National Planning Commission, Dr. Shamsuddeen Usman, said the conference would afford participants the opportunity to be acquainted with the key findings of the mid-term report of the transformation agenda.

    According to him, it would also give them the opportunity to review the extent of the implementation of key recommendations arising from the Katsina and other previous conferences towards enhanced growth and development.

     

  • Oyo students protest hike in fees

    Part-time degree students of the Ekiti State University, Oyo campus, are protesting what they call hike in tuition fees by the authority.

    The Emmanuel Alayande College of Education, Oyo is affiliated to the university for the award of degrees in Education-related disciplines.

    The protest began last Friday as students marched on the streets, carrying placards.

    They marched to the palace of the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi III, protesting “the sudden increase in school fees.”

    Oba Adeyemi was said to have advised them to be law-abiding and abstain from unlawful acts. He said their grievances would be tabled before the appropriate authorities.

    But at 6am yesterday, the students, with the support of some NCE students of Emmanuel Alayande College of Education, barricaded the main entrance to the college with bonfire, preventing vehicular movement.

    Administrative and academic activities were paralysed. The students drove away the lecturers.

    Efforts to speak with them proved abortive, as they referred our correspondent to the management.

    Neither the director nor any of the assistant directors was on duty to speak.

    But in a telephone interview with the acting Provost of the college, Mr. Oyewobi, he said the part-time degree students were protesting against increase in fees from N20,000 to N45,000. He said the protest was embarked upon by the degree students and not the NCE students.

    His words: “As students, you know their mentality. A few of them may decide to sympathise with the degree students. But our students are not involved and there should be no basis for it.”

  • Oyo Speaker bemoans revenue allocation formula

    Oyo State House of Assembly Speaker Mrs. Monsurat Sunmonu has described the present revenue allocation formula as grossly inadequate.

    She said it has incapacitated many states and local governments in the discharge of their roles.

    Mrs. Sunmonu spoke yesterday when she addressed officials of the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), led by a Federal Commissioner, Otunba Ademola Ayodeji, who visited her.

    She said the states shared a greater burden of the inadequacies as they carried out repairs and reconstruction of federal roads since the citizens could not differentiate between federal and state roads.

    The Speaker said the money spent most times is not refunded by the Federal Government that gets the larger share of the revenue allocation.

    Mrs. Sunmonu said for the states and local governments to perform optimally at improving the living standard of the citizenry through the provision of basic amenities, the abnormalities associated with the revenue allocation formula must be addressed by RMAFC.

    She assured its team that the state would join other states in proposing a revenue allocation formula to meet up with the present economic reality.

    Messrs Olusegun Olaleye, Sikiru Alli and Olusegun Ajanaku hailed the RMAFC officials for visiting the state.

    They urged the commission to consider the submissions made by the stakeholders so that the new revenue formula, when finally adopted, would assist other tiers of government than it is now when the Federal Government takes almost half of the total revenue.

    Otunba Ayodeji said they were in the state as part of the sensitisation drive to meet the stakeholders so that they would submit memoranda capable of assisting the commission in arriving at an acceptable revenue sharing formula.

  • Oyo warns against manipulation of Ajumose shuttle tickets

    The Oyo State Government has warned the public against any act of fraudulent activities in obtaining the Pace Setters Transport Services (PTS) tickets popularly called Ajumose shuttle buses.

    It warned that anyone caught contravening the warning will pay a fine of five thousand naira or handed over to law enforcement agencies.

    The Chief Executive Officer of Ajumose Transport Limited, Engr. Olugbenga Ayoade, made this known while commissioning the PTS administrative building annex yesterday in Ibadan, the state capital.

    He warned, “I believe Oyo State residents are law abiding citizens and these shuttle buses are meant for their safe transportation, but if anybody is found defaulting the ticket rules, he or she will be prosecuted.”

    He urged the public to note the modalities for engaging the services of the Ajumose shuttle buses, routes plied and ticketing modes.

    Ayoade said the mission of the agency is to develop a world-class transportation system with standard infrastructure, efficient, reliable and affordable service for the people of the state in line with the transformation agenda of the state governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi.

    “All ticket dealers whose primary assignment is to provide first-class services to the general public has been allocated various routes in order to ensure efficiency, sanity and easy monitoring,”he added.

    Commenting on the new PTS administrative building, he stated that the project was carried out with the support of the board members.

    He declared, “This project is for the convenience of our staff and customers and it includes visitors reception hall, a well designed car park and replacement of the entrance gate.”

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Oyo security outfit extends service

    The Oyo State joint internal security outfit, Operation Burst, has extended its service to Oke-Ogun Zone II, comprising Saki West, East and Atisbo local governments to combat border and other related crimes.

    Operation Burst, consisting of the military, police, State Security Service (SSS) and Civil Defence Corps, was inaugurated yesterday in Saki West Local Government to maintain law and order.

    Commander of Operation Burst Brig.-Gen. Laz Ilo said it has extended its service to the zone to ensure the security of lives and property.

    Ilo hailed Governor Abiola Ajimobi for giving security priority. He said this is responsible for the development in the state.

    According to him, the security outfit would replicate the success it had achieved in Ibadan.

    Gen. Ilo said: “Let’s not politicise Operation Burst because it is a security outfit. The residents should not be intimidated by the presence of our officers. They are here to protect you and you should give them information to make their job easy.”

    Addressing his men, the commander urged them to have zero tolerance for indiscipline, stressing that any officer caught in such an act would be dismissed.

    “Our mission is to respond to every distress call from the civilians. You must not mount any roadblock. Harassment of civilians is forbidden. You should shun bribery because anybody caught will be punished,” he said.

    The Caretaker Chairman of Saki West Local Government, Mr. Dapo Popoola, lauded the governor for approving the deployment of the force in the zone.