The Nation Newspaper

Tag: REVOLUTION

  • Agricultural revolution in Osun

    Agricultural revolution in Osun

    The State of Osun’s agricultural programme is gradually yielding the desired results as the good people of the state are being empowered through land preparation and free distribution, credits for improved seedlings, fertilizer, etc and commercial production of honey, fish, cattle and birds. The O’honey apiary project that the Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola embarked upon became a reality when it was commissioned at Oyan in Odo-Otin local government, the first of its kind in Black Africa.

    The Bees farm covered about 11.56 hectares of land that will not only produce honey in commercial quantities but will train at least 300 youths annually and by implication reduce unemployment among the youths of the state.

    The largest job creation for mankind is farming, the only way out of food scarcity is a return to land but the petro-naira has made many Nigerians to neglect agriculture in which today we are not only importing foods to feed ourselves but we are importing fertilizers to impoverish the land that is naturally fertile because of our sharp practices and made get-rich quick attitudes.

    For over 30 years in Nigeria, the military governments and the succeeding civilian administrations have not been sincere about the need to take agriculture with all seriousness and to motivate the farmers though incentives to cultivate in commercial quantity. The few commercial farmers were majorly the ex-military generals who knew that there is wealth in tilling the land and a few others who are currently enslaving the youths who are on their payroll tilling the land for them instead of training the youth to become farms owners.

    It was Chief Obafemi Awolowo who declared at the convocation ceremony of the then University of Ife now Obafemi Awolowo University in 1971 that “except we urgently go back to agriculture our country may soon be importing food to feed the population”. But the government and people turned deaf ears to the political prophet of our time, rather the Udoji awards made the few farmers to abandon farming, migrate in large numbers to cities for white collar job, with the result that we import various kinds of food to feed our people today.

    When in the late 70s the frozen fish was introduced by some of our leaders to complement nutritional needs of the populace, only a few Nigerians patronize the imported frozen fish for one reason or the other. I remember my grandmother refusing the consumption of the frozen fish because of its peculiar smell and many Nigerians distanced themselves from the said fish, it was then derogatorily called “Oku Eko”. Today it is a delicacy that no family can ignore. Many homes eat the meals without meat or fish and the people are becoming malnourished and sick for lack of balance diet.

    The state government of Osun has taken its battle against poverty and unemployment to fish farming and the O’Fish farms have put smile on the faces of the people as the youths are currently undergoing training that will make them not only fish farmers but owners of such farms in the sort possible time.

    Just few weeks ago, the Cattle Ranch at Oloba Farm, Iwo Farm Settlement was revived by the government of Ogbeni Aregbesola who declared that the ranch is open to whosoever is interested in the cattle business and that his government will not only support the individual financially but guarantee security of lives and properties at the ranch. It was the late sage Chief Bola Ige that established the ranch that was later abandoned by successive administrations.

    It was this vision that made the government of Ogbeni Aregbesola to partner with the German government that sent a seven man experts drawn from their agricultural sector State of Saxson Anhalt to meet the farmers’ cooperatives in the state, soil scientists, animal husbandry experts and others on how to improve agricultural products in the state.

    At Okuku in Odo-Otin local government council area of the state, the governor and the state executive council members were more than surprised to see a huge fish farm covering acres of land and with 120,000 fish under production and is now ready for sale, a product of the fish farm initiative of the administration.

    The state Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Production, Wale Adedoyin told the mammoth crowd that came to welcome the governor at the fish farm that the government took the risk of standing as surety for the granting of loan for the commercial farm and also involved in the supervision of the projects to ensure that the money or loan obtained from the bank is judiciously utilized for the purpose.

    The true story is that governor who within the space of one and a half year did not only employed over 20,000 youths of the state but is currently on a mission to revolutionise farming and empower the people to kick out poverty. The rationalization of poverty on paucity of fund has now been exposed as a product of misapplication of resources.

    Just about two years into this government, much impact has been made on good governance and empowerment. By the time the first four years is over God helping the government, the better judge of this administration will be the very people who lived through the aimless and vision-less seven and half years of locusts that added little or nothing to the lives of its citizenry but misery and death, poverty and woes.

    This government is not saying that it has reached the state of Utopia but the hand writing is on the wall for those that care to see that the little resources available would not be consumed by political termites neither would it be poured on project that will not add value to the lives of the people, but rather this administration on the long run bring about the dignity of the people who have a great history and antecedent to stand shoulder high above the ordinary. There is a clarion call from all our people to Ogbeni Aregbesola to not only lift up the standard life of our people but to move our state to a state where we shall eat in plenty and feed other state in Nigeria. With Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola we can.

    • Obaditan writes from Osogbo, Osun State

  • Osun’s revolution in education

    Osun’s revolution in education

    Unarguably, education is the most precious and enduring catalyst that has helped mankind in the discovery and sustenance of the world as we live in it today.

    It is indeed the strongest weapon with which mankind broke the cycle of ignorance and darkness, thus arriving at the threshold of civilization.

    It ultimately amounts to merely begging the question to say that a country which handles its education sector in slipshod manner faces one of the greatest perils that could ever threaten the foundation of its very existence.

    And expectedly, a nation without clear cut education policy or one with low education quality, undoubtedly cannot stand among great nations of the world, which pioneer development, break new ground and open new vista in learning and knowledge towards the advancement the of entire human race via research.

    The past three decades in the history of Nigeria’s education – both in policies and planning, not to talk of its progress – confronts one with a gory statistics of decadence, retrogression and abysmal performance if not outright failure.

    It goes without saying the fact that the same measure of failure cascaded to the states with each one of the 36 states jostling to occupy the bottom table of poor performance index.

    Sadly enough, in comparison, the type of education the country had from post-independence up to early 70s appeared to be the golden era in the nation’s history as opposed to the sham we have today.

    As earlier observed, the shambles confounds one from one state to the other. No one state has the same problem or challenge as the other; each with its own peculiarity.

    Hence the Case of the State of Osun couldn’t be any different from the shoddy account above. Until around October 2010, no one believed, including the people of the state themselves that the air in the balloon of the state’s education has instalmentally leaked away inexorably.

    This point of despondency was exposed when the incumbent governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, declared a state of emergency in the education sector and called a summit on education.

    What his government discovered were so terribly disheartening that the governor toyed initially with the idea of closing down all primary and secondary schools across the length and breadth of the state so as to allow for a total overhauling – from physical structure to curricula as well as restructuring of teachers and teaching aids, some of which were then scantily available.

    The decision, according to Aregbesola, was informed by his administration’s discovery of crass degeneracy in both physical structures and polices of the school, thereby making qualitative and conducive learning impossible.

    He also told the people at the summit that he however, refrained from his initial decision because of the colossal adverse consequences such clamp down would cause all stakeholders -government, pupils/students and parents – in the education sector.

    He lamented that none of the public schools at that time could actually be called schools in the real sense of the name, which explained why he proposed closing all the schools down in order to swiftly address the rot.

    Reversal of this decision, the governor revealed, caused the slow process of government’s intervention efforts in revamping the schools from this near total decline they have been for more than three decades without concrete efforts towards a turnaround around – how ever feeble – by successive governments.

    Consequently, he elected to approach the gargantuan problems through a middle-of-the-road approach. The obvious corollary of this approach, as Aregbesola revealed, was a slow process of revamping the decades of cold-hearted inattention meted to the education sector in the State of the Virtuous.

    The intervening periods thus allowed Ogbeni to go back to the drawing board to tackle the decay from the roots rather than surface-scratching it as the usual practice of old employed by past regimes.

    After one and half years of painstaking planning and brainstorming, Ogbeni seems to have come up with radical solutions to education in the state.

    The revolutionary process which, much more all-inclusive in outlook, is currently unfolding, going through what can be described as a test running. A cursory look at these new plans and policies reveal somewhat innovative strategies spiced with renascent programmes, which are a reminder of the colonial education heritage in Nigeria.

    Let’s attempt to capture the new education agenda of Ogbeni’s government one at a time.

    First is his idea of a physical structure of a place of learning called school. Aregbesola reminisced that in the 60s through to 80s the finest and edifying buildings in towns and cities were school buildings and so beautiful were they that even a blocked head would want to go to school merely seeing the architectural exterior of a school building.

    Against this backdrop, Aregbesola conceived of a school building that will be an architectural masterpiece as a model school befitting the great people of his state. A sample of this model, which is one of 21 such buildings that will dot the states within the next 18 months, now stands splendidly in the capital.

    In addition, his government is also building 100 elementary schools and 50 middle schools. That explains the physical structure.

    At this junctures, a peep into the mind of Ogbeni is necessary in order to verify the authenticity of the motive behind the promised re-engineering of education in his state. His intention was informed by his sincere commitment to bequeath a lasting legacy in the state of his birth.

    His words: “We are laying a solid foundation for their future – a future of freedom, a future of prosperity, a future of security…The rich will be allowed to pursue their choice of education for their wards but public schools will be put in the best possible shape for others and our people will have real choice.”

    This budding seed sowed in this sector is so fundamentally irresistible to warrant accolades from the Senate Committee on Education which visited Osun few weeks ago in the performance of its oversight function.

    The high power delegation, which was led by distinguished and indefatigable Senator Uche Chukwumerije openly, commended the efforts of the governor for his landmark achievements in education, and at the same time calling on other state governors to borrow a leave from what Aregbesola is doing in the education sector in his state.

    He and some of his colleagues, including the wife of the former Governor of Lagos State, Senator Oluremi Tinubu; Professor Olusola Adeyeye, Senator Atiku Bagudu and others paid a courtesy visit to Osun as part of their oversight functions. Seeing the reforms on-going in the state’s education sector, Senator Chukwumerije said: “The states and the country owed Governor Aregbesola a lot of gratitude for promptly laying a formidable foundation for education in the state. I will like to use this opportunity to advise other states irrespective of your political affiliation. You must drop your ego and learn from the people oriented projects and programmes of Governor Aregbesola.”

    Indeed, with what he has achieved so far, we would be safe to conclude that a new dawn is unfolding in education sector in the State of the Virtuous.

     

    • Owolabi is of the Bureau of Communications and Strategy, Office of the Governor, State of Osun.

     

  • Path to agric revolution

    Path to agric revolution

    For some years, the growth of the agricultural sector has been stunted by paucity of funds, crude implements, lack of government support and land tenure system. These have triggered food insecurity. But the Lagos State government is set to reverse the trend by boosting farming and food production through the building of farm estates and settlements across the state. DANIEL ESSIET reports.

     

    The agricultural sector plays an important role in Lagos State’s economic development. The sector does not just provide rural employment and uplift rural incomes, it also ensures food security. But food supplies to the state is short of what is required.

    The Commissioner for Agriculture and Cooperatives, Prince Gbolahan Lawal, said aggregate food supplied internally was less than 10 per cent of total consumption. In addition, national demand for agricultural produce is expanding rapidly and there are many niches the state can exploit, given its natural advantages. Lawal said the state was poised to raise the bar to 25 per cent in the next five years through its various projects.

    To this end, the state has intensified farming activities in areas where it has comparative, ecological and socio-economic advantages. These areas, he stated, include fisheries, livestock, vegetable production, as well as agro-processing, with emphasis on rice and cassava. He said marketing and the whole value chain would also be given attention. Thus, the state is pursuing the strategy of building farm estates and settlements across major farming communities, he said.

    Through the estates, the government envisions a transformation from fragmented and small-scale farms to integrated, clustered and large-scale agri-businesses. Key agricultural commodities covered under the farm scheme are: rice, vegetable, poultry, piggery and aquaculture.

    By using farm estates, Lawal said the state was moving towards a model which is not only inclusive but anchored on market-centricity, economies of scale and value chain integration of the various factors involved in the production of the commodities.

    He said farmers using the estates would benefit from extension services and inputs, such as seedlings, fertilisers and pesticides, adding that the government was making efforts to develop critical infrastructure, such as roads in aquaculture zones. This is to support the private sector’s investment in operating infrastructure, such as processing plants, grow-out farms and hatcheries, he noted.

    He observed that the absence of farm-to-market chains was the primary obstacle inhibiting agri-business takeoff. For this reason, he said the government was working to allow farm-to-market chains to operate efficiently.

     

    Agriculture Youth Empowerment Scheme (AGRIC-YES) Estate

     

    The Agriculture Youth Empowerment Scheme is at Araga Farm Settlement in Epe Local Government Area. Through the scheme, the state is attracting young men to farming. One hundred youths were drawn and housed within the estate. They were trained for 18 months in crops and live stock production.

    Dormitories are available for new intakes while the programme offers resources, hands-on training, and technical assistance on sustainable practices. These include production, processing, business principles, and marketing of farm-raised products, such as rams, chickens and vegetables.

    During their training, the young farmers raise rams, poultry, fish and vegetables. Farmer-trainees are expected to operate independently after the 18 months of training.

    Also, the programme is training the students to: produce building materials for green houses, improve soil fertility, develop irrigation, manage pests/weeds and promote marketing. As a result, Lagosians can now access hot and sweet pepper and pumpkin green.

    The reason for adopting the strategy, Lawal explained, was to reduce dependency on the government for employment, create and sustain new jobs and reduce frustration among young people. With the average age of farmers increasing and the sector facing skills shortage, he said it was important for the industry to attract and retain young people.

    Lawal said the programme has completed two cycles of training, internship and settlement with 100 youths each during the review period. He said the first batch of youths that graduated in December 2010, are about to settle in newly-built 100-unit two-bedroom flats at the farm settlement fashioned after the Israeli-type – Kibbutz.

    They trainees will be empowered with loans to establish their farms, payable within five years. The products from the scheme include over 1,500 crates of eggs daily, 32,000 broilers monthly, 18 tonnes of fresh fish per cycle and about 160 tonnes of cabbage, water melon, cucumber, pepper and assorted leafy vegetable which being marketed in the state.

    The settlement, Lawal said, is a highly diversified system.

    The Head of Training and Course Officer, Vegetables, Agric-Yes Training Institute, Mr Anjolaiya Hakeem, said the aim of the scheme was to breed a new generation of agro-entrepreneurs in poultry, fish farming, bee-keeping and an-all season vegetable farming cycle.

    “Since this programme started in 2009, we have trained about 300 youths and we are in the fourth batch. We train them in poultry farming, crop farming, fish farming, meat production and so on. We get our students through advertisements in the media. After that, we conduct a test for them, we usually take 36 females and 64 males for each batch, makin 100 students for a session,” he said.

    He said after the training, the participants are divided into co-operatives and each group would be given N100 million to execute its agricultural venture.

    “Apart from the N100 million, the participants are also given accommodation where they can live with their families.We also have a fully automated layer pen. We can’t even meet the demand of the market now,” he said, adding that at the estate, there is a hatchery where hens lay eggs. The eggs are collected and incubated until they begin to hatch in about 20 days. The chicks live in large grow-out houses.”

    A lady trainee and leader of G2 group under the programme, Miss Esther Akintelu, sees her future in agriculture. She made the switch in career after graduating with a degree in Public Administration. She is keen on developing her skills, knowledge and experience to advance her career in the industry.

    Oladuran Oloude, leader of G1, is a graduate of Civil Engineering. Growing up on a farm settlement gave him an understanding of the business administration side of agric enterprise, as well as the daily demands of the businesses. He and his colleagues are learning vegetable production, using plasticulture plots under the green house.

    One of the resident instructors, Mr Vascular Olusola, said the young farmers need to have the mindset of entrepreneurs to succeed and enjoy farming and the independence that comes with it.

    Mr Johnson Oluwashola, the Project Officer, Ram Ranch, said the institute has about 1,500 rams. He said the rams were brought in when they were five months old, adding that though they were not involved in the breeding of the rams, the institute would soon embark on breeding at the ranch. Johnson said the success recorded at the farm was due to the state government’s investment in agriculture to create jobs and enhance food security.

     

    Ikorodu Fish Farm Estate

     

    Established on a 34-hectare parcel of land at Odogunyan, Ikorodu, the estate is producing an average of 10,000 tonnes of fresh fish per annum. A technology demonstration centre, comprising 50,000 juvenile/cycle fish hatchery and 300- kilogramme fish capacity, a processing unit has been built.

    A fish farmer in the estate, Mrs Bolaji Dania, said the government has helped farmers a lot by assisting them with feeds, adding that the government provided the needed information to farmers on how to improve their farms.

    Mrs Dania said: “I am proud of the government, because it has made things easy for farmers like us. Being on this estate to farm, has helped me in getting access to information from the government.Government also subsidises some of the products for us and I was even opportuned to get a loan from the World Bank through the assistance of the government.

    “I started fish farming with three ponds on one plot five years ago, now I have 18 ponds on three plots of land. People come with big trucks to buy fish and we sell them as fingerlings. We really need more people to go into fish farming in Lagos State because we can’t satisfy those that come to buy. Sometimes, they buy seven to eight thousand tonnes and we can’t meet that demand here.”

     

    Ketu-Ereyun fish farm estate

     

    Another initiative of the government is the proposed Ketu-Ereyun Fish Farm Estate. It will be sited on a 60-hectare land on the Itoikin-Epe Road. This was conceptualised as a follow-up to the Ikorodu Fish Farm Estate. In the same manner, it has been divided into 482 plots for allocation to interested and qualified members of the public. Like the Ikorodu Fish Farm, the Ketu-Ereyun Fish Farm also has capacity for 10,000 tonnes but with additional supporting facilities like hatcheries, processing and marketing centres.The estate is expected to produce about 4.685 million tonnes of fresh fish annually when fully established.

     

    Rice-for-job farm Settlement

     

    Rice-for-Job is located on about 200 hectares of land in Itoikin, Epe and Ikoga in Badagry. The settlement has a modern rice processing and milling centre at Imota. The programme was launched in 2008 to create jobs for the unemployed; strengthen local capacity for rice production; achieve a production target of 1,600 tonnes of paddy per annum and facilitate access to rice processing equipment.

    The programme has positively impacted 180 farmers within the last three years. The farmers produced about 180 tonness of rice, which re still far off from the consumption target of 540,000 tonnes per annum for Lagos alone.

    The officer in charge of the programme in the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Mr Akinola Oyebola, said the programme has created remunerative economic opportunities for young people in agriculture and built the skills they need to take advantage of these opportunities. He said the programme has given them the skills and confidence to run profitable farms or start businesses which would make upstanding citizens and community leaders of tomorrow.

    One of the beneficiaries of the project, Mr Adeniyi Ayino, said the programme has helped him a lot, adding that now he could operate a tractor very well and work perfectly as a rice farmer. “It is an interesting programme, it is a good opportunity for youths today and because we want to participate in the solution in ensuring food security in Lagos state that is why some of us go into agriculture,” he said.

     

    Imota rice processing Mill

     

    The establishment of this plant has created the first integrated rice company in Nigeria and enabled farmers to share in the value captured in the downstream segment. The company will guarantee a minimum income to farmers. Shedding more light on the rice mill, a consultant to the Lagos State government on rice project, Dr Oluwarotimi Fashola, said the mill was built with Korean technology to the highest operational standards to process 20,000 tonnes of paddy rice per annum. Operating optimally, the rice mill is estimated to produce between 350,000 and 400,000 bags of rice yearly, he said.

    The primary goal of the project, he said, is to reduce dependence on imported rice and also create jobs and wealth for the people. The mill processes 2.5 tonnes of paddy rice which consist of huller, de-stoner polisher, grader, colour sorter and automated bagging and weighing bridge, per hour.

    The following are inclusive in the package: 10-tonne soaking tank, a set of per-boiler and steamer, 15- tonne capacity drier and 60-tonne silo attached to the factory. The factory was built with two other structure for paddy rice storage of 10,000 tonnes capacity and finished rice store cum office space.The complex has 600KVA generator, an industrial borehole and two sets of water tanks; a steel over head tank of 55,000 litres capacity and sets of ground plastic tanks with a total capacity of 45,000 litres. The mill with optimum operating capacity can process up to 20,000 tonnes yearly and is estimated to generate at least 50,000 jobs. Apart from the whole grain table rice, the following by-products are also money earners: broken rice, used for rice pudding, tuwo; ground rice and rice flour. Rice ban – highly sort after for livestock feeds, oil extract and the cosmetic industry.

    Fashola said rice processed at the mill are far better than polished rice that are in the market because of its nutritious value. He said the mill has three main buildings. The first is where the raw paddy rice brought from the farm is kept, then to main building where the rice is processed and finally to the store room where it is stored before it is dispatched to the market.

    According to him, “We produce 2.5 tonnes per hour and an approximate 15,000 to 20,000 tonnes per annum.”

    On the type of rice processed at the mill, Fashola said: “Eko rice is a special brand of rice which is FARO 44 or FARO 52. We use this type of grain of rice for uniformity and that helps in monitoring the standard we produce. We specialise in par-boiled rice. We supply our rice to the government within the ministry and within the Alausa axis”.

    Farmers at the settlements will soon reduce post-harvest losses, increase income, and access post-harvest facilities with the rice processing plant which has become operational. The plant is a fulfillment of farmers’ dream of a facility that houses all the equipment for successful rice production. The project aims to improve the efficiency of rice production, storage, drying, and processing to reduce post-harvest losses and improve the quality of rice grains for human consumption. With all the equipment ready for operation, the farmers are optimistic that the facility will assist them to increase not only their income but also the attainment of self-sufficiency in rice production for the state.

     

    High quality cassava flour factory

     

    The Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives will be setting up a 1,000 metric tonne high quality cassava processing factory in Imota. When fully operational, the cassava factory will directly and indirectly engage over 500 people. This venture is in line with the Federal Government’s plan to reduce the nation’s dependence on imported wheat.

     

    Erikodo poultry estate

     

    The Erikorodo Poultry Estate, Ikorodu, is one of the five farm estates in various parts of the state to bring about self-sufficiency in chicken production.The poultry estate, has 10,000-bird capacity mechanised broiler house, 2,000 birds per day processing capacity plant and 1.5t per hour feed mill.

    Speaking with reporters, the Principal Agric Officer, Mr Idris Abideen, said the estate has a feed mill, a processing plant. He said occupants of the estate are expected to build chicken farms where the chicks are raised. He disclosed that broiler chickens are bred, especially for meatiness, quick growth, and weight gain. They are bred for excessive weight gain, especially in their breasts and thighs. The chicks live in the growing-out houses for about six weeks. At six weeks, the chicks usually weigh about 4 lb (1.8 kg), and are ready for slaughter. When the chickens are old enough for slaughter, Abideen said they are taken to the processing plant.

    At the processing plant, workers take the birds and hang them by their feet on a conveyor belt. In a typical process, the birds on the conveyor are first passed through a vat of electrified salt water called a stun cabinet. The mild electrical current in the water stuns or paralyses the birds. The birds’ carcasses hang until all the blood has drained.

     

    Pig farming estate

     

    The Lagos State Government has two pig farm estates – the Oke-Aro Pig Farm Estate and the Gberigbe Pig Farm Estate – located on a 80-hectare of land. The goal is for 1,200 pig farmers to nurture a total pig population of over 88,000.

     

    Vegetable farm settlements

     

    The state government is adopting the vegetable farming estate initiatives, similar in concept to fish and pig farming programmes. To this end, about 80 hectares of land have been designated as vegetable farms in three different locations – Igbodu (50 hectares), Iyaafin (20 hectares) and Araga (five hectares).

    Farm settlements are created as a stable place for farmers to live, grow crops and possibly raise animals.

    Farm estate provide standard residential and processing facilities for farmers.

     

  • Ondo: Hope after ACN Broom Revolution

    Ondo: Hope after ACN Broom Revolution

    The crowd surged, music blared and loud speakers shook the scenes. Thoughtful messages were delivered with zeal and venom. In Ikare-Akoko where the first major rally by the party took place, the massive crowd that turned out was unprecedented but not unexpected, considering the ever-rising acceptability of the ACN in the troubled state in particular.

    The heavens opened up just about the time the rally was about to start, but it could not dampen the spirits of ACN supporters who were eager to hear from their party leaders and their gubernatorial candidate for the October 20 election, Mr Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN).

    Free-flowing messages of hope and promises of a new day spurred a wind of change that swept through the campaign arena that Tuesday. Suddenly, it seemed like a re-enactment of the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) days of the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, when politics was the core of people’s existence. Reminiscent of the crowd-pulling rallies of those times, the ACN rallies from Ikare to Ondo town and finally Ore, signaled the re-birth of the political activism for which the South-west is traditionally known.

    If the three Senatorial districts expected a huge turnout for the ACN rallies, it is debatable if they were ever prepared for the massive crowd of fanatic followers and the attendant carnival of songs.

    The leadership of the party did not disappoint it followers. They handed out crisp political messages to their teeming party members. The rallying cry was the need to vote out the inept government of the incumbent Governor Olusegun Mimiko. The leaders not only demanded votes but justified why Mimiko needed to be kicked out with votes.

    On the podium in each of the rallies podium were political heavy-weights. Chief Bisi Akande, the party’s national chairman; Chief Tayo Alasoadura; the man of the moment, Akeredolu; Senator Borofice, Wale Akinterinwa, Lai Mohammed, Governor of the State of Osun, Rauf Aregbesola; the party’s national leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and several front liners of the party across the country stepped out to be counted.

    The widely-acclaimed ‘Political General’, Asiwaju Tinubu led the onslaught against Mimiko and his Labour Party. But first, he educated the followers about why the ACN is a better alternative. Speaker after speaker took Mimiko to the cleaners and challenged the people of Ondo to embrace the new dawn being ushered in by the ACN. The rendition of political songs preceded most comments and the crowd responded in appreciation.

    Like Siamese twins, Asiwaju Tinubu and Ogbeni Aregbesola threw the crowd into political ecstasy each time they spoke, delivering ‘upper-cuts’ on Mimiko, especially why Mimiko and his party must be voted out of the state Government House. The central message was that if in three and half years and with all the billions of naira received by Mimiko government, Ondo remains a glorified state with snail-pace development, then the electorate need not be told to do the right thing – vote Mimiko out on election day.

    “One hospital, dilapidated roads, massive employment will cease to be your lot if you vote Mimiko out of power,” Tinubu said. He did not stop there as he exposed Janus-faced Mimiko as an ingrate, a modern-day serial political betrayer and one individual who cannot be trusted. Revelations about how Mimiko rode into power, the promises he made and broke, and the funds that secured his victory among others came in torrents.” The best way you can judge Mimiko and settle this score is to get into that voting booth and thumbprint for the party of the broom…”, added Tinubu.

    Mimiko was practically on trial and the crowd listened with rapt attention. The crowd was never disappointed nor tired of such messages. The rallies also showcased the performing governors ACN-controlled states and the push to have Ondo join the Southwest integration train for accelerated development.

    Ondo, it was said, was found missing in the train towards integration which is already in motion in the country. The candidate himself, Akeredolu engaged the crowd. He marshaled arguments to convince Ondo people that it was time for service and that he was a better alternative. His message of renewal, progressive change and massive employment went down well with the mammoth crowd.

    It was another spectacle at Ore, the last stop for the senatorial district rallies of the party. It was, for Labour party and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), a clear notice that the political battleline had been drawn. The crowd that turned out to embrace the party was massive in every respect.

    What seemed at first like a carnival turned out a political rally of note, with thought-provoking pointed political messages. Ore turned out the biggest recruiting ground for the ACN ahead of the October 20 poll. As the Ore campaign wound down, the ACN and its followers were more than convinced that they had a good song to sing after the October 20 election in the state.

    Today, as the October 20 moment of decision beckons, Ondo people appear eager to reap the fruits of people-oriented governance that ACN is known for.

  • Mimiko’s profligacy and ACN’s broom revolution

    Mimiko’s profligacy and ACN’s broom revolution

    The recent mammoth crowd of the diehard supporters of Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN at Ikare-Akoko, Ondo and Ore venues for the party’s campaign train to sell the candidature of Barrister Rotimi Akeredolu’s gubernatorial ambition signifies one thing-CHANGE. The pendulum of political power is about to swing in the acclaimed Sunshine State, away from Mimiko’s Labour Party to the ACN. But why? That is the million naira question. The answer, I dare say, is not farfetched to the long-suffering indigenes and those who care to pay an unbiased visit to Ondo State.

    In spite of the media hoopla that has trailed the phantom achievements of the incumbent governor, Dr.Olusegun Mimiko, the bare facts on ground point to the gross lack of value for the whopping sum of N660 billion he has so far collected on behalf of the oil-rich state from the Federation Account. Add this to the N38 billion the Dr Olusegun Agagu-led administration left in the state’s coffers and the N20 billion so far advanced from the N50 billion borrowed from the Capital Market and the picture of wanton waste seems complete. Almost.

    Simply put, Ondo people have been short changed in the socio-economic spectrum of the vast country. The bitter truth is that the current administration has not justified the state’s huge economic potentials for three and a half years. Come October 20, 2012, the good people of Ondo State, South-West Nigeria, will have the great opportunity to file out to the polls and make a choice of the man who would pilot their affairs for another four years. It would be a monumental disaster to pitch tent with the LP that has pauparised them, handing out tokens such as boreholes and market stalls in the name of development.

    As the much-respected ACN national party leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has rightly pointed out, Mimiko has “failed to deliver on roads, education, health care, water and job creation.” The rural communities are groaning, stewed in utter negligence by a governor who, at inception, boasted that he needed only one term to wave the magic wand of true transformation. Therefore, he” lacks the credibility to seek continuity in office.”

    Taken sectorially, Governor Mimiko has a lot of questions to answer. Let us begin with the critical issue of infrastructure which should be the engine room to catalyse any meaningful industrial revolution. First, there is the huge N65 billion OSOPADEC Fund meant for the opening up of the oil-producing but largely neglected Ilaje Community and other Riverine areas now a subject of investigation by the EFCC. Many roads across the length and breadth of the state are decrepit. Amongst these are the failed road dualisation projects of Ondo, Arakale and the five-kilometre stretch in Owo town. The promised Igbokoda township road from Ugbo junction to the jetty is left unfulfilled. So is the N178 million reportedly spent for a 90 -metre Owo-Ogbese road.

    In a similar vein, is the criminal neglect of adequate water supply both in the urban and rural areas. The multi-million naira Owena Dam project at Ondo is still comatose. The promised water project in Akure remains a pip-dream even as the governor has metaphorically asked the people to drink the wasteful water fountain!

    Honestly, were these roads and water projects similarly neglected at the rural and urban areas in good shape, the dream of the founding fathers to make Ondo State an industrial hub for the entire country would have long seen the light of day. It has arguably become the raw materials base of several much-needed minerals and agricultural materials any state would require for sustainable economic development. These would inadvertently elicit job and wealth creation. Name them, limestone, shale, gypsum, silica sand and bitumen are all waiting to be tapped. So also are cocoa, cassava, kolanut, cashew, cowpea and coffee. Others include cash crops and food crops such as rubber, oil palm, timber, soya beans, plantain and yams, all of which could be cultivated on an industrial scale. Unfortunately, Mimiko’s self-serving administration never thought in this direction.

     

    Ajanaku is director of Media and Publicity, Akeredolu

    Campaign Organisation.

     

  • Ticking clock of revolution

    Ticking clock of revolution

    SIR: I no longer have time for theories, neither do I have time to criticise President Jonathan which has become the past-time of most of us. Though Jonathan sure has his own share of the blame for where we are at present, it is the graveyard peace that we still enjoy that allows for Jonathan’s or any other public officer’s criticism at that.

    The revolt in Libya did not start in a day, neither, in my opinion, was it a revolt against Ghadafi. It was a revolt against the greed of the ruling class, which Ghadafi represented – the kind of greed that thrives unabashedly in surplus amidst wants and grueling poverty. This is the kind we currently experience in Nigeria, made far worse by the arrogance of the ruling class which believes that Nigerians are too timid to take their destiny in their hands.

    This arrogance makes them look like gods and the rest of us slaves who must lose our dignity in kneeling to lick from the floor the crumbs that fall from their tables. This arrogance has so blinded them that whatever they ‘generously’ dole out to us from our commonwealth is considered a favour for which we must grovel and beg. Even now, our hands drip blood from the wounds of yesteryears and the present, while they shrink in fear of the wounds of coming years.

    There is a saying that humans are to be valued while things are to be used. Unfortunately, the Nigerian ruling class value things they are to use and use humans they are to value and love. Houses and cars are of more value to them than humans. In their eyes, there is no drop of mercy. Their hearts and conscience are seared. Our existence or death draws no joy or pity from them. After all, we are all just statistics: more than 70% living below the poverty line, 23.9 percent unemployment rate etc.

    Statistics we are and statistics we remain while they continue in their acquisitive nature.

    What Nigerian politicians forget is that the poor man with no dignity has got nothing to lose. It is the rich who build empires and if the empires crumble, definitely their health and hearts crumble with them. The man who has for years been pressed down will someday find his voice and stand to his feet from his master’s table with his wounded and bloodied hands to demand justice. In the words of Martin Luther King Jnr: “Oppressed people cannot remain oppressed forever. The yearning for freedom eventually manifests itself…Something within has reminded him of his birthright of freedom, and something without has reminded him that it can be gained.”

    Professor Femi Osofisan’s book “Red is the Freedom Road” best describes the situation. The poor man with bloodied hands has felt ceaseless pain from the soles of his master’s shoes so much so that pain now has its gains for him: it hardens and makes him heartless like his master. The mental picture of a heartless man (men) demanding freedom can be sickening to the point of vomit for the lily-livered.

    Freedom will sure be gained, but not without pain. As for the already dehumanised poor man, he has felt and mastered pain, but the spoilt rich man and his kids will feel it more and probably never survive it.

    • ‘Dimeji Daniels

    Ado-Ekiti.

     

  • Anambra 2014: It is Anambra North or revolution, says Rep

    Anambra 2014: It is Anambra North or revolution, says Rep

    The member representing Ogbaru Federal Constituency, Hon Afam Ogene, yesterday vowed to lead a civil disobedience march if Anambra North senatorial zone is not allowed to produce the next governor in 2014.

    Addressing political actors in a monitored media talk show in Awka, Ogene said he would do whatever it will take to fight the injustice against the people of Anambra North.

    According to him: ‘’I will lead a civil disobedience  in this state to fight the injustice of denying us from Anambra North an opportunity to govern our state after all the appeals.

    “Equity and fairness demand that somebody from Anambra North be given a fair chance of governing this state.”

    He added: ‘’Political offices must go round. It will be absurd for two political zones to continue to enjoy what belongs to the three zones of the state.

    “Anambra is 21 years old now and time has come for somebody from Anambra North to be Governor of Anambra state.

    The legislator also said: ‘’No Anambra North citizen will take the Deputy Governorship position from anybody.

    “We are serious about our agitation to govern Anambra state come 2014 and we are not kidding.”

  • Piercing the fog of revolution

    Piercing the fog of revolution

    WHAT’S happening on the ground in Cairo and Benghazi appears to be a case of political opportunism – no, not by Mitt Romney, though there was some of that on Thursday – but by Salafist Islamic extremists who are unhappy with the success the more moderate Islamist and secularist parties in Egypt and Libya have had in building political support.

    We’re still in what I like to call the “fog of revolution” in both countries, where it’s hard to know for sure what’s happening and who benefits, so my reporting comes with a basic caveat. But based on conversations with sources who were on the streets Tuesday in the midst of the Cairo demonstration, and who have been following events in Libya closely, it’s possible to pierce the fog a bit and offer some basic analysis:

    First, the situation in Cairo: The Arabic banners of the protesters moving toward the US Embassy identified them as members of the Nour Party and the Asala Party, the two leading Salafist groups that have competed in the Egyptian elections. The Salafists, whose name connotes respect for the Islamic “ancestors” of the Prophet Muhammad’s time, are more conservative and less pragmatic than the Muslim Brotherhood that is now ruling Egypt.

    An analyst who was in the midst of that crowd Tuesday told me he thinks the Salafist demonstrators were using the pretext of a supposedly anti-Islamic American film to send two messages: the first was obviously anti-Americanism, which is potent in today’s Egypt; the second and more interesting message was a challenge by the Salafists to their rivals in the Muslim Brotherhood government of President Mohammed Morsi.

    As is so often the case in revolutions, the Cairo uproar appears to be partly a case of radicals wanting to undermine a more moderate governing party. The Salafist demonstrators’ threat was augmented by violent hooligans, who are often described as soccer fans but increasingly are inflammatory anarchists.

    A similar process of post-revolutionary jockeying is going on in Libya, and it tragically led to the death Tuesday of Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans. The Salafists’ assault on the US Consulate in Benghazi at first appeared to be a “copycat” attack like the one in Cairo, but US officials said it may have been planned by extremists linked to al-Qa’ida. They were augmented by a well-armed Islamic militia. Their anger, again, is mixed between a baseline anti-Americanism (sadly, always a draw in the region) and a challenge to Prime Minister Abdurrahim el-Keib and the secularist parties that are the backbone of the new Libyan government.

    Does America have an interest in the internal fights taking place in these countries still quaking from the Arab uprisings? Yes, of course it does, especially when US embassies are targets of protesters and American diplomats get killed in the crossfire. But this isn’t really about America: It’s about different factions battling for power in a fluid political situation.

    Unfortunately, the seizure of the US embassy in Tehran in 1979 is an apt parallel. That was the work of a group of extremist Iranian “students” who were unhappy that the post-revolutionary government of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini wasn’t proving radical enough. They captured the revolution when they seized the embassy. The lesson of that disaster is that local security authorities must quickly restore order – and if they can’t or won’t, then Americans must move out of harm’s way.

    Also worrisome is the link between Salafists (whose posters disturbingly appear in Cairo neighbourhoods near Heliopolis populated by members of the military) and the more violently “takfiri” wing, which believes it’s permissible to kill apostate Muslims, and has links with al-Qa’ida. The takfiris hate the ruling Muslim Brotherhood, if that’s any consolation.

    The delicate political balance in Egypt and Libya makes the blunderbuss campaign rhetoric of Romney, the Republican presidential candidate, especially unfortunate. His comments make this crisis more “about America” than it needs to be.

    Let’s return to the main trigger for these events: It’s the success of the tolerably non-extremist (I won’t say “moderate”) governments in Egypt and Libya in consolidating power, and the anger of the more radical Salafists at this success. Morsi, for example, has just won pledges of billions in financial support from Saudi Arabia and Qatar. The Gulf Arabs are making a bet that over the next year, Morsi can stabilise Egypt and get the economy moving again. Despite Wednesday’s tragic events, the US should make the same bet.

     

    Source: The Australian