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Tag: Oyo

  • Oyo tackles delay in issuance of land documents

    Oyo State residents will no longer have their land documents delayed, an official said yesterday.

    The General Manager of the Ibadan Local Government Properties Limited, Mr. Babalola Olalekan, spoke yesterday at the Town Planning Hall on Ring Road, Ibadan, during a special prayer marking his assumption of office.

    He said the focus of the company, which is owned by the 11 councils in Ibadan, was to ensure the timely allocation of land to residents.

    Olalekan said this would be possible through the training and retraining of the company’s staff.

    Attributing past delays in land allocation to logistic problems and corrupt workers, he urged the staff to be dedicated to their responsibilities.

    Olalekan assured allottees that they would get their documents within three months after paying their land fees.

    He said: “I have assumed this office to maintain efficiency in service delivery and make this company one of the foremost estate companies in Nigeria by reducing the duration of land acquisition.

    “I will do everything necessary to reduce the duration of land acquisition and documentation by building the capacity of my staff.”

     

  • Ajimobi says Oyo Technical Varsity’ll be best in Africa

    Oyo State Governor Abiola Ajimobi has said the newly-established Technical University in Ibadan, the state capital, would be the best in Africa.

    He spoke in his office in Ibadan while receiving a delegation from the Texas Technical University, United States (US), at the weekend.

    Oyo State and Texas Technical University are in a partnership to develop the new university.

    Students of the new institution are to spend the last two years of their programmes at the Texas Technical University.

    Ajimobi said the concept of the new university was developed by some of the best brains in Africa, with inputs from experts at the Texas Technical University.

    He said the government has employed the services of one of the best architects in the world for the institution’s architectural design.

    Ajimobi said the visit, which is coming less than three weeks after he visited Texas, shows that the American university is committed to the establishment of the institution.

    The Associate Vice-Provost of Texas Technical University, Dr. Gary Elbow, said he was impressed by the government’s commitment to the project.

    Former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ibadan (UI) Prof. Olufemi Bamiro, who is handling the new university’s academics, said the school would produce technical experts that would develop the nation’s infrastructure.

    Speaking with reporters at the university’s temporary site, the Technical Implementation Committee Chairman, Prof. Oladapo Afolabi, said the institution would focus on engineering courses.

    Afolabi said: “The university will be the first of its kind in Africa. It will exemplify the highest level of public-private partnership.”

  • Oyo ACN urges IG to probe PDP’s allegation

    The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in Oyo State has urged the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) to investigate the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP’s) allegation that the state’s Joint Security Task Force, called Operation Burst, is being used to witch-hunt perceived political enemies.

    In a statement by its Publicity Secretary, Mr. Dauda Kolawole, ACN described the allegation as “baseless, puerile and illogical”.

    It said a probe of the allegation would put an end to the “PDP’s long years of tarnishing the image of the opposition for political advantage”.

    ACN said: “While we have always known the PDP to be a nest of liars, we never knew its operatives had no respect for the sacredness of facts and figures. The people of Oyo State know that the Governor Abiola Ajimobi administration is modern and cannot stand thugs and violence.

    “They also know that but for Operation Burst, the crime rate in Oyo would have quadrupled. How come the PDP is dishing out this falsehood? The security outfit comprises professional members of all the forces.

    “Until a few weeks ago, when it was deployed in Ibarapa, Operation Burst, was only in Ibadan. This is a fact that can be cross-checked, so how come the PDP is claiming that it was deployed to harass one of our leaders, Chief Michael Koleoso? We urge the IG to investigate these allegations, so that the public would not be deceived by these cheap lies.”

    The party alleged that the Accord and PDP were out to tarnish the image of the state government.

    ACN said: “We learnt that former Governors Rashidi Ladoja and Adebayo Alao-Akala met in London after Ajimobi sacked Ladoja’s men in his administration. Less than a week after the report, Accord and PDP are in cahoots trying to dismantle our greatest achievement in Oyo State, which is peace. The IG should please investigate this because as the African proverb says, we should not dismiss the unholy connection between the witch that cried overnight and the child that died at dawn.”

  • Oyo to establish libraries in public schools

    The Oyo State government, has approved the establishment of libraries in primary and secondary schools across the state.

    In addition, library periods have been reinstated in schools, thus making it compulsory for all free periods on the school’s time-table to be converted to library periods.

    Director of School Library Services, Oyo State Library Board, Pastor Oluyemi Akintunde, said this at the 26th anniversary of Thomas Ayorinde Memorial Library, Akinmoorin Grammar School, Akinmoorin.

    Pastor Akintunde, who attributed lack of good reading habits among students to non-availability of libraries in most schools, said the governor’s gesture would enable students inculcate reading habits and library uses at young age.

    He stated that in line with government’s desire to improve the reading needs of students and the populace, the Board has created a Department of School Library Services saddled with the responsibility visiting and monitoring the libraries, as well as organising book fairs, talks, public lectures, career talks, library day in schools, and offering free technical assistance where necessary.

    In his speech titled: Reasons why students should use the library much more intensively than hitherto is the practice, Akintunde explained that apart from providing a framework for academic success in present school and increasing student’s chances of better performance in higher institutions of learning, the board also provides up-date resources to keep students abreast of developments in all disciplines of knowledge, most importantly in this computer age and internet services through which the world has now become a global village.

    He said: “Studies have shown that a student even the most brilliant one can acquire more than 25 per cent of what is being taught in the classroom, and unless such a student personally develops and masters the art of reading , he or she will be missing out on the remaining 75 per cent which will result in his or her poor academic performance.”

    “We praise the donor of Akinmoorin School library building, reading materials, and other learning resources for the benefit of the students. This development has made Akinmoorin Grammar School, a model school library that other schools would be motivated to emulate; and this has by no means sustained the interest in promoting reading culture amongst our budding youths in Akinmoorin community.”

     

     

    Permanent Secretary, Teaching Service Commission (TESCOM), Alhaji Wahab Adelakun, urged the students to adequately utilised the library for their benefits and future advancement. Also speaking at the occasion, Chairman of the Books Donation Committee, Chief Tade Ipadeola, called the attention of TESCOM to the school’s dilapidating toilet, inadequate desks and benches, termites -ridden staff room, and un- habitable Principal’s office.

    Chief Ipadeola, former Principal of the school, and one-time Chairman, said he facilitated the donation of the library by Mrs Iyabo Attah, an indigene of Akinmoorin, in memory of her late father.

    “Why is it that results of examinations in public schools are not published? It is simply because the results are not good? Let every teacher starts adopting a student, take him or her to the library and force the student to read.The erroneous impression that some books are old and therefore no longer readable should be discarded. No matter how old a book is, some knowledge can still be tapped or gained. Take for instance, pick a textbook in English Language, written 20 years ago, with another recently published, search for adjective , and see if there will be any difference.”

     

  • 2013 May Day Celebration

    2013 May Day Celebration

  • Oyo, Chinese firm partner on vehicle assembling plant

    The Oyo State Government has concluded plans with a vehicle-assembling plant from China to start assembling cars and commercial buses in the state.

    Governor Abiola Ajimobi spoke at the weekend in his office in Ibadan, the state capital, while receiving delegations from two Chinese companies.

    The visit was the aftermath of a visit to some firms in China by Ajimobi and officials of First Bank Nigeria PLC a few weeks ago.

    The governor said some Chinese companies had agreed to establish their presence in the state in the areas of agriculture, education, silos and tractor manufacturing, e-learning and digitalisation of the state-owned Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State (BCOS).

    He said: “In China, we met companies that would build silos for us for storage. We discussed industrialisation and they have decided to bring to us here in Oyo State, a vehicle-assembling plant, to assemble cars as well as big and small buses.”

    Ajimobi said his trip to China resulted in the state partnering seven Chinese companies to speed up the state’s growth.

    He said: “Our visit to China was for the development of the state and not sightseeing. The visit to seven provinces was worth the trouble. It has paid off, as the companies have agreed to help our development efforts.”

    Leader of the China Poterio Group Miss Cheryl Li said her company would partner the state on e-learning, street lights, building of silos and digitalisation of BCOS.

    The Executive Director of First Bank Plc, Mr. Uron Kalu Eke, lauded the governor’s leadership qualities and his determination to develop the state.

    He said: “In First Bank, we are excited because we are working with a committed team. Ajimobi, during the trip to China, demonstrated a very keen understanding of economics and I hail him for that.

    “He (Ajimobi) really means well for the people of Oyo State. We are ready to help the state government to build human capacity in articulating projects and policies that will have more impact on the lives of the people.”

  • Ladoja and Oyo marriage of convenience

    Ladoja and Oyo marriage of convenience

    It is true that the history of political alliances in the country had never been pleasant to human memory. But while that is true, however, what is even truer is that never in the history of political alliances in the country had the spirit of such coalition been betrayed or abused in anyway near the contempt and disdain to which Rasidi Ladoja had subjected the recent or current working relationship between his Accord Party and Governor Abiola Ajimobi.

    I deliberately avoid the dragging of the ACN into the deal because it was a personal risk taken by Abiola Ajimobi.

    On the part of the ACN leadership, although it was circumspect enough about the unreliability and unpredictability of the so-called ally, going by his political antecedent, it was, however, magnanimous enough to have conceded some level of executive discretion to the governor on the administration of his government. It was in the exercise of that discretion that Ajimobi entered into that deal with Ladoja. So the question of him disobeying his party on the accord does not arise.

    In the case of the NPC/NCNC alliance of 1959, which was the first in the country, the two parties remained faithful until the alliance was voluntarily collapsed by the two parties on the approach of another general election in 1964. The collapse of that alliance, caused by the new radical leadership of the NCNC under Michael Okpara, who felt more at home and comfortable with the progressive forces in the country, especially the Action Group against the conservative nature of the NPC, the senior partner of the alliance. Even at that level of the political ineptitude of the NPC, Okpara never spoke openly against the seeming pedestrian style of Balewa until his party formally pulled out of the alliance.

    Coming nearer home, in the case of the UPP/NCNC marriage of convenience in the old western region between Akintola and Fani Kayode, individual members of the alliance like Adeoye Adisa, who was not comfortable with the merger plan, who was Minister for Information, pulled out of the government before the coalition metamorphosed into NNDP.

    I have read in some social media, some feeble defence based on Ladoja’s right of expression in spite of his rapport with Ajimobi. But where such postulates missed the point is that the rapport is not personal affairs between ‘two brothers’. Rather, the product which both agreed to sell on coming together is the government. It is on this basis that Ladoja nominated his men, which included his younger brother into that government. By virtue of the position, some of them as Commissioners and Special Advisers are in the highest decision making organ of government, which is the State Executive Council, which by both convention and statute is guided by top secrecy in its deliberations.

    Given the importance of that organ in governance, it is not supposed to be or even safe to be peopled by anybody of suspected loyalty. In view of the prevailing scenario, anybody keeping supporters of Ladoja in that sensitive body should submit his brain for psychiatric examination.

    Still on Ladoja, if he is now criticising the government because Ajimobi is derailing in governance, does he want his people to be consumed by the ‘impending’ doom. It is unethical of him to adopt an ‘eat and have cake’ strategy. The path of honour for him is to first ‘rescue’ his men by pulling them out of the ship ahead of the doom of his imagination and dream.

    That he did not do that can only be attributed to the fact that he knows within himself that the government is popular among the people; and will want his team to benefit from the gain of that popularity. The truth, however, is that to Ladoja, the 2015 campaign had begun in earnest. The main obstacle he sees on his way, rightly speaking, is Ajimobi and the ACN. Hence he cannot see anything good in the government of that party and especially the governor. As an astute politician and former governor himself, he should not have waited until the avoidable disgrace to which he and his party were subjected.

    With the exit of the fifth columnist in his government, what is left for Ajimobi is to remain focussed and consolidate on the success so far. The only way to do that is to put his house in order by ensuring that the ACN under his leadership remain well organised and united. He should remain purposeful and unshaking in his current will to move the state forward.

     

    • Sanni wrote in from Ibadan

  • ‘Why Oyo arts was least studied’ 

    ‘Why Oyo arts was least studied’ 

    Adon, Prof. Rom Rasaq Kalilu, of the Ladoke Akintola University, Ogbomoso, has said the Old Oyo arts is the least studied, despite the scholarship on its socio-political history is very rich.

    He said prior to his work, of all the Nigerian arts of antiquities, it is the least studied, noting that the Old Oyo is the key to understanding the arts of West Africa.

    Kalilu spoke at the 10th inaugural lecture themed Arts For Arts From Arts\Conceptualising Existence In The Space Of The Visual  Arts, organised by the Ladoke Akintola University Of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso, Oyo State.

    He blamed six factors for the initial omission and the lukewarm attitude to its scholarship.

    His words:“The capital city of the kingdom moved to about seven different sites. Of the lot, only the last two were identified and one has been archaeologically examined. There was also the early tendency to take the site of Oyo Ile, the capital city of the kingdom, as the entire kingdom, Oyo Ile had been denuded of its artworks in various ways; the treasures were inadvertently destroyed in several fire outbreaks, particularly, between 1774 and early 1830s.All these posed challenges to meaningful scholarship on the arts of the kingdom.”

    Examining the art forms in contemporary religious contexts provenance and significance of masqueraders, Prof. Kalilu said while masquerading (Egungun) is an art to enhance the religious practice of ancestral veneration, the sculpture and the art forms associated with the religion are neither representations of any gods nor objects of worship.

    “Egungun is a composite art in motion, resulting from the expertise of different types of artists: cloth weavers, sculptors, costume makers, leather workers and decorators. In principle and practice, it is a means by which the people, through arts, express triumph over death on the one hand, and by which the pre-21 century Yoruba society on the other hand encouraged meaningful living by immortalising dead elderly people who lived well. This artistic tradition is instructive to the contemporary Nigerian society which celebrates wealth, even of doubtful sources, at the expense of good moral values and public spiritedness,” he said.

    The Yoruba, Kalilu said, constitutes one of the largest ethnic groups and one of the most prolific producers of art in Africa, South of the Sahara. He noted that of all the many kingdoms that emerged in Yoruba, Old Oyo, the most northernly of Yoruba Kingdoms, attained the greatest political, military and economic renown.

    According to him, its location in the savannah, especially that of Oyo –Ile, the Old Oyo metropolis and capital, put it at a vantage position for commerce and cavalry, which were the basic sources of its greatness.

    “The kingdom headed by Alaafin, its traditional ruler, controlled the trades of western Sudan to the north and the trades of the coast to the south. The kingdom was far superior to others in size, military strength and grandeur. It was the scourge of its neighbours, and the mere mention of its name was enough to create panic in the circumjacent territories. At its height, it controlled a large empire that extended from the southern bank of the middle of the Niger to the coast as far as parts of the present day republics of Benin and Togo,” he added.

    The arts historian observed that with its size and wealth, Old Oyo could not but be a factor in Yoruba and, indeed, West African art.

    He claimed that the age of Oyo Ile, the last capital city of the kingdom, predated the date associated with the kingdom, adding that visual evidence did not support a direct migration from Ile-Ife to Oyo-Ile.

    “Gourd carving, leatherwork, Egungun, masque-dramaturgy and body decoration with scarification (not facial markings) developed among the Oyo-Yoruba. The high artistic merit of the eighth century pottery from Oyo-Ile, the last capital city of the kingdom, is an indication of the existence of art traditions at the site of the metropolis, prior to the supposed 14th century arrival of the Oyo royalty (and their group). Similarly, the theory of contemporary Yoruba art styles having their roots in Ile-Ife is also not supported by visual evidence. Evidence indicates that the majority of contemporary Yoruba art forms and styles resulted from Old Oyo attraction,” he added.

    Kalilu hinted that arts featured in all aspects of life of Old Oyo and was deployed in the cosmisation of the human space within and around the kingdom and the empire.

    He added that specifically art objects featured as decorations, emblems, and devices in architectural, clothing, personal adornments, religious, political, ideological, martial, spiritual, magical, educational, historiographical, commemorational and utilitarian contexts among other numerous functions.

    “The Old Oyo kingdom’s capital was an emporium and a melting pot for divergent artistic skills and styles even from non-Yoruba groups.”

    Kalilu, a specialist in African Arts, developed visual and creative arts programmes, particularly, for examinations or quality assurance in 19 universities that offer the courses. He produced the first doctoral degree in environmental and industrial sculpture in Nigeria, and the first non-African deaf and dump art historian, thus opening the vista for critical art attention to the physically challenged, at least in Nigeria.

  • Oyo trains 500 female workers on ICT

    THE Oyo State govern-ment has through the office of the First Lady trained 500 female civil servants on Information Communi-cation Technology (ICT).

    The training was to improve their work performances and expose them to the abounding opportunities on the internet.

    Speaking at the graduation ceremony, which coincided with her 54th birthday at the weekend the First Lady, Mrs. Florence Ajimobi, said it was time for women to claim their rightful positions through acquisition of knowledge.

    She said: “These are projects I hold very close to my heart and I enjoin you all today that rather than give me personal gift for my birthday, I would appreciate it very much if everyone could make a contribution towards any of these projects so that together we can make a joint impact on our people.”

    She solicited additional support not only for the ICT centre but also for the Educate a Rural Child Project geared at bridging the gap between children educated in the urban and rural areas of the state.

     

     

  • Guard’s murder: Oyo ACN, Accord disagree

    The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and Accord in Oyo State yesterday disagreed on the murder of the security guard of a former Secretary of the State Government (SSG), Mr. Ayodele Adigun.

    Adigun’s guard was killed last Tuesday by gunmen, who invaded his (Adigun’s) home at night. It was learnt that the hoodlums did not steal anything from the house.

    Reacting to speculations that the murder might be politically-motivated, ACN, in a statement by its Publicity Secretary, Mr. Kolawole Dauda, said the incident was a ploy to make the people believe the state has returned to the old days of violence and blood shed.

    It said: “Seeing that in the last two years, there has been unprecedented peace and quiet in our state, we cannot rule out the fact that they may have martyred that hapless night guard to pollute our river of peace in order to score a point that we are not different from them. This should be a great lead for the police investigators.”

    Adigun decried the ACN’s position on the murder.

    He said: “That I stage-managed the death of my guard, who had worked with me for 12 years, to gain publicity for the Accord, a party where I lead the mobilisation committee, is uncharitable.

    “As a practising Roman Catholic, I value the sanctity of human life and take politics as a hobby, not a do-or-die affair.”