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Tag: vote

  • Ondo indigenes in Osun urged to vote for Aregbesola

    Ondo indigenes in Osun urged to vote for Aregbesola

    The indigenes of Ondo State resident in Osun State have been charged to come out enmasse and vote  for  Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola in his re-election bid as  governor in the August 9  governorship poll.

    Hon. Ifedayo Sunday Abegunde, representing the Akure North and South Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, gave the charge after a tour of 30 local governments by the Oranmiyan Sunshine Movement to rally support of all Ondo indigenes residing in the state for Aregbesola’s re-election.

    Abegunde said he could foresee Aregbesola winning the election because he had done alot for the state.

    He said: “Aregbesola has given a sence of belonging to  every Ondo indigene within the state through his innovative policies and programmes.

    He reminded them of their numerical strenght, therefore, saying their votes are very important in the coming election.

    Also, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress in Ondo State and co-ordinator, Oranmiyan Sunshine Movement, Hon. Saka Yussuf Ogunleye, said Aregbesola’s popularity confirmed that he performed creditably.

    Ogunleye, who noted that despite the low Internal Generated Revenue (IGR) of the state compared to Ondo State where he comes from, Aregbesola has achieved more than Governor Olusegun Mimiko.

  • ‘Osun ‘ll vote for continuity’

    ‘Osun ‘ll vote for continuity’

    Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola spoke with reporters in Osogbo, the state capital, on his administration, the Ekiti governorship election and preparations for the August 9 poll in the State of the Living Springs. Excerpts:

    The governorship election will hold in Osun State next month. How can the APC  avert what happened during the Ekiti poll?

    A genuine democrat must be willing and ready to embrace defeat as he or she will embrace victory, provided the election is transparent, credible, free and fair. The real issue is not about you as a candidate, but the quality of the electoral process. Once the quality is good and high, whatever the people say is the final because they are the ultimate decider of who represents or govern them. Democratic choices is expected to be correct, good and right, but it is not always that the choice is good, correct and right. Long before I assumed this office, I prepared so well for the office in a way that, going by the normal run, I should not be working as hard as I am working now for re-election. I am one of the politicians that from day one began my campaign. From the day I entered this office, I started my campaign. How many governors walk the streets with their citizens? I have been doing that since the first month in office. How many governors creates interactive forum in Nigeria before me? There is none. I was the first governor that devoted close to 10 hours of continuous engagement on a quarterly basis with the citizens.

    The ‘Ogbeni Till Day Break’ is a worldwide engagement because we take feedbacks from social media. Hardly is there any community in this state that I have not touched personally. In terms of physical and social services, this is the first government that will say that there is no household, be it the PDP, be it the APC and others, that our programme has not reached, there is none. I feed 300,000 pupils every school day at the cost of N3.6 billion a year, I have been doing it since 2012 and I have spent N7.2 billion on that. The students consume 15,000 whole chicken every week and it is served twice. They consume 300,000 eggs every week, one egg a week. They consume 400 tons of fish every week. They consume 35 herds of cattle every week. We gave close to N600 million to the poultry farmers and also the fish farmers.

    Also, 1000 new farmers who we raised to produce cocoyam are in this, close to 500  ‘O’Yes  cadets’ are equally empowered to outtake the cocoyam and give to the vendors. Also, tens of thousands are equally engaged providing different items. From this alone, close to one million people are directly impacted from just one programme, ‘O’meal’. We have the second batch of O’Yes cadets, the first batch of 20,000 had gone, the 2nd batch of 20,000 is on and they are from homes. They work two or three days a week and they have the entire days of week left for them to see what they can do with their hands and earn a living because they are taught entrepreneurial training but they earn N10,000 monthly as cadets. On this scheme alone, this administration has spent N9 billion. I tell people what this type of scheme means for national government. You can’t say I don’t have 18 friends who I can give half a billion naira contract to, whether they do it or not, I would have still given it. But, the maximum amount of that investment that will stay here will be less than 50 per cent, yes, you will have the project here but there would still be capital flight because we are talking about direct impact on the economy.  O’Yes have changed the paradigm; 100 per cent of that N9 billion is in this economy.

    The programme has huge economic benefit to the state. Every O ‘Yes cadet has a smart card and the issue of anyone handling or tampering with their money does not arise. We are one of the few government that develops a meaningful programme for elderly citizens care. We are not into a blanket social welfare scheme for the elderly, we have a package that did an extensive survey of citizens that are 65 years and above, we have them in our database. We now identified those among them that are without any support, that is the first time any government will so do in Nigeria. We engaged a consultant, who is a professor of gerontology in OAU, Ile-Ife . He developed the programme they used and without sentiment or parochialism, they got elderly citizens that lack support, we called them critically vulnerable people who are aged but have nobody to care for them. If we did not discover them, nobody will know such people exist in Nigeria because they are waiting to die because they lack everything. We identified 1,800 of such people state wide.

    The selection was purely based on their conditions, not primodial sentiment. We didn’t do the selection anyway, Professor Ogunbameru of OAU administered everything, gave us the list and the addresses. We have been giving them N10,000 monthly since 2012.Your question is if am bothered about Ekiti, I don’t even think about it. As a loyal APC member, I was disturbed. But, as a head of  a government that has worked so well with the people, I don’t even see the effect. I look at my engagement with the people, the products of my government, which has not left any home unaffected positively, and I said if election is about acceptance, popularity and impact you have made on the people, we are waiting for what the dictate of democracy would be. In a credible, transparent, free and fair election, Rauf Aregbesola does not have any worry at all about what people will say about his administration.

     Is your administration in good terms with four critical sectors, namely teachers, civil servants, okada riders and students?

    Let us start with the students. When we came in, students were given a bursary of N3,000 and they won’t even get the bursary on time and it was full of scam. They brought it to me to sign and I said why do I have to sign N3,000 for anybody? We raised the bursary to N10,000 flat. For medical and law students N20,000 while our indigenes in the Law School get N100,000. I don’t see how such students will hate us. I can’t see it. Whoever now hates us has something else against us not for the fact that we have not done the needful. The increase wasn’t solicited; we did it out of our own understanding of the reality of what the students are going through. There was clamor for the reduction of fees. We reduced the fees from a huge amount to something that is comparably affordable. Also, we have been investing in developing the institutions much more than any administration has done in the history of this state.

    For okada riders, they have no problem with us. They may want us to do things for them as we have done to some other groups, but it not as if they said, compared to others, these are the problems. The roads here are appreciated even by those who used legs. Has any government succeeded in constructing 200 kilometres of road in all the nooks and crannies of the state? There is no part of this state that we have not constructed a new road and it is not just any road, but roads with concrete drainage, with stone base and kick asphaltic cover and above all, when I get to campaign grounds, I say our roads have tribal marks. We now have special roads. When we complete some of them, they will be tourism attraction and centres on their own. The road we are building in Gbogan, people will be coming to look at it, mark my words. That road you see, Gbongan/Akoda Road will be a tourism attraction because it is not an ordinary road because its a road that took me time to conceive and design and we are taking our time to develop it. We also want to tell the world that the black man is a human being. I have two major objectives on earth. One is to help in the process of eliminating poverty because I hate poverty. I wasn’t born poor, but I feel bad to see people in destitution. Two is that I don’t like how blacks are in the world today. As long as I live, I must be part of the process that will give the black man a good reckoning where they are because sadly, we are in the lowest part of civilisation. I have been everywhere in the World, except the continent of Australia, and in everywhere in the world, the most depressing portion of it is inhabitated by blacks. These are the two issues that motivate me.

    What about civil servants?

    Before our advent, the civil servants never knew that salary could be paid before the end of the month. For seven and half year, salaries were never paid here before the end of the month. But, from when I assumed office, we changed that. Before the year ended when I assumed office, I paid 10 per cent of their basic as the 13th month salary and paid December salary before the end of the year.

    The civil servants were dazed. Since that day up until December 2013, I pay salary on or before the 25th of every month. But, as from January 2014, we ran into trouble which we explained to everybody six months before then. In July 2013, the Federal Government began a squeeze. They said 400,000 barrel of crude oil is being stolen everyday. We didn’t know the problem was coming. Instead of collecting N4.6 billion, they gave this government N2.6 billion, 40 per cent slashed. We thought it will be temporary because, after that month, they said the stolen crude has reduced to 200,000 barrel per day. When the oil being lost reduced, would you still expect a 40 per cent cut? From that July to now, the maximum allocation this state has ever received is N3.2 billion, which was in November 2013. I am not making up anything, simply saying the truth. Now ask me how was I able to pay up until December 2013? My people are called osomalo. They are very deft in the management of money and I took this from them. I had been saving through the ‘Omoluwabi Conservation Fund’ in which 10 per cent of all allocation must just go and rest. So, I had money in reserve, which was a build-up from my refusal to form cabinet for 10 months. I had the money. Whereas my income fell to N2.6billion at the lowest and N3.4billion at the highest for a month, my statutory expenditures, which are expenditures that I have no control on, once we have agreed on it, for instance salary, pension and they are N3.6 billion every month, I have no power over it. I can’t say no Iam not paying, Between July and December, I augmented my income with N5.4 billion.  All in the hope that this thing will go, it didn’t go. It has not gone as we speak, it is even worse. Before, when you get your allocation, you will cash it by the 15th of every month, that is why they are paying salaries on the 15th of the month before we came in.To make up the deficit in what I received and what I must pay, I spent extra N5.4 billion. However, I told you earlier that I gave 10 per cent of basic salary for 13th month salary; the second year I gave 25 per cent; the third year I gave 50 per cent; the fourth year, I gave 100 per cent. So, December of 2013, I gave every worker in the employment of Osun 100 per cent of their basic salary as extra income, which I paid before the end of the year. Why should any worker say I am not friendly with them?  Before, workers here were given their leave allowances enbloc at the end of the year, I told them this is unresonable because we don’t go on leave at the same time. So, choose when you want your leave allowance to be paid. Is it at your birthday or the anniversary of your employment into the service. So, whenever you summit your birthday, your leave allowance will be credited to you. I don’t know if any other government in Nigeria that does that. Two, go and visit the secretariat and see what we have made of their work enviroment.  So, if these are things that should motivate workers, I stand tall and proud because I have done my best. As we speak, we have not collected June allocation. They might not give us June allocation until the end of August. But, we will pay our workers, already we have pay June. I am happy to tell you that majority of our civil servants see and appreciate what we are doing. You can to the secretariat and see what we are doing. We increased the car loan by 400 per cent; we increased housing loans by 100 per cent. For 36 out of 43 months we have been paying regularly, let’s even assume that there is a problem of delayed payments now, I cannot believe all the workers will be against us because I have done my best. If the demonstration of interest of workers in their remuneration and allowances counts and with what we have done, I don’t think they will be against us.

    I read the advert they published and I laughed because it indicted them. They wrote that my income was N2.8 billion and this is what I have to pay, N3.4billion and pegged it with state and local governments. There is no way I can touch the local government account because it is separate and distinct. I can only give policy statements on that.

    What about teachers?

    Our teachers in the state are now very well motivated such that you cannot distinguished between our them and bank workers. When you see a teacher in Osun before you know. They are so depressed, unmotivated and absence of facilities. Our teachers now appear corporate and well-motivated. This is the first government that will say that you don’t need to buy textbooks for your children in the high school, Opon Imo and its targeted at 150,000 students. It is a high school a library of 53 textbooks.

    Are you prepared for a possible lockdown of the state, few days to the election?

    You see, I came here from the street and it is easy for me to go back to the street. My real home is on the street. Whoever will hold me on the street will try. I laugh when they talk about me because they don’t know I am from the street.

    What is your perception about the term stomach infrastructure?

    To those people who are the elite and are therefore separated from the people, this term may make a new meaning. I am a product of the popular forces, the people. I am part and parcel of them. I emanated from them. Iam a product of their struggles. What is now known as stomach infrastructure is what we know as interaction, engagement, living with the people and meeting their aspirations and needs. That is what we have been doing from the very beginning of this administration; I feed their children every day meal.

    My administration does not suffer alienation from the people. It is one and same with the people and that is the basis of our confidence in their ever ready support at all times.

    Is there any aspect of the state that you think you have not touched?

    There is no trade, commercial or social group in the state of Osun that we have not impacted.  There is no aspect. Apart from Lagos, we are the only state government that has an emergency call center but has been made dysfunctional because the federal government just refused to give us short code to make it work. It has been ready for the past 13 to 18 months ago. If that centre had been activated, we acquired a helicopter that will get to the farthest place of this state in 15 minutes to attend to emergency issues. It won’t cost the federal government a dime but to just direct the NCC to allow us use their 122 line. I wrote to the president that emergency does not know political parties, what we don’t want is needless death because of absence of emergency services and the state of the art facilities is still lying down there fallow.

  • A vote for equality

    A vote for equality

    The Gender Mainstreaming Office of the University of Ibadan (UI) has sensitised freshers on the institution’s gender policy to create a gender-friendly campus. HAMMED HAMZAT (300-Level Educational Management) and DAMOPE GBADEGESIN report.

    Over 200 students of the University of Ibadan (UI) participated in the two-day workshop organised by the institution’s Gender Mainstreaming Office last week.

    The event, with the theme: Developing a gender sensitive place for learning and research on campus, was held in the First Bank Building at the Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry and in Large Lecture Theatre at the Faculty of Social Sciences.

    The workshop enabled participants to study the school environment and apply gender-based arguments to promote human dignity in their daily activities on campus.

    The Vice-Chancellor, Prof Isaac Adewole, represented by the Dean of Students’ Affairs, Prof Akinola Alada, in his message, urged the freshers to explore opportunities provided by the event to study the campus.

    Alada urged the participants not to relent in reporting challenges they face on campus, noting that the office of the VC was open to students to volunteer information on how to improve on the gender policy.

    The Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Prof Sanya Arinola, said the gender policy of the university sought to promote equal opportunity for both male and female students. Culturally, she said, women are not given the chance to be heard but “women who have come out to speak out against this inequality should be applauded”. There is no need for confrontation or aggressiveness before a woman should be given chance in the society, Prof Arinola said.

    The coordinator of the Gender Mainstreaming Office, Dr Stella Odebode, urged the freshers to develop gender sensitive habits that would involve mutual care and consideration for the progress of both genders in the university community.

    Prof Janice Olawoye of the Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry, and Dr Alero Akeredolu of the Faculty of Law, who were spoke at the workshop, emphasised basic concepts of gender equality and sexual harassment.

    Prof Olawoye said gender equality must be socially determined, maintained, enforced and learned, noting that no human was born with specific role. “It is safe to say what men and women are important to human development,”Prof he said.

    Gender inequality should be discouraged, said Dr Akeredolu.

    Other facilitators at the programme were Dr Demola Lewis of Department of Linguistics and Dr Chinyere Ukpokolo of the Department of Archaeology and Anthropology. Dr Lewis called for balance in participation and benefits for male and female according to their needs. The don noted that the workshop was borne out of creating a gender-friendly campus.

    Dr Ukpokolo noted that sexual harassment was a threat to the education development in the country, urging students to report harassment between 24 and 72 hours such incident happens. “It will be treated with utmost confidentiality,” she said.

    Present at the workshop were the Dean, Faculty of the Social Sciences, Prof Olawale Ogunkola, his counterpart in in Law, Prof Oluyemisi Bamgbose, Grand Liaison Officer, Macarthur Foundation Prof Oderinde, Deputy Registrar, Dr Stella Soola, and the Coordinator, UI Youth Friendly Center, Mrs Olukemi Akinyemi.

     

  • ‘Let prisoners vote for their leaders’

    A Non Governmental Organisation, Legal Defence and Assistance Project (LEDAP) has filed a suit seeking to compel the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to allow prisoners vote during elections.

    A statement in Abuja by the National Coordinator of LEDAP, Chino Obiagwu, called for the registration of every Nigerian prisoner above the age of 18, adding that they have the right to vote and to participate freely in the government of Nigeria.

    LEDAP filed a suit at the Federal High Court Abuja, pursuant to Section 14 (2) (c) of the Constitution, Section 12 (1) of the Electoral Act, 2010 (as amended) and Article 13 of the African charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

    LEDAP further seeks an order of the court to compel INEC to register the names of all prisoners in Nigeria in the voters’ register.

    The suit also urges INEC to set up voting units in all prisons and detention centres, provide polling centers and facilities to enable registered prisoners to vote in 2015 and in subsequent elections.

    The case is before Justice Abdu Kafarati of Court 2, and is adjourned till October for hearing.

    The statement reads: “LEDAP is passionate about the cause of prisoners because they seem to be one of the most marginalised groups in Nigeria.

    “LEDAP’s insistence on their right to vote is premised on the fact that the policies and laws made by elected leaders and government affect their daily lives and there is no constitutional/other legislative restriction prohibiting them from voting; yet no effort has been made by the government/INEC to avail them their right to vote.

    “LEDAP is glad that it is no longer a lone voice in this cause; commends Prof. Odinkalu and the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) for the courage to speak up and call upon other public right defenders to do same. LEDAP wishes to state categorically that it firmly stood for and on ‘Prisoners’ Right to Vote! Let them vote.”

  • Activists vote against social ills at summit

    It was summit like no other. Activists of various nomenclatures, united by one spirit, gathered to think out possible solutions for the growing insecurity and other knotty problems besetting the nation, in particular, and its people.

    The parley was initiated as part of the activities marking the United Nations (UN) Day of indigenous communities which began in New York on August 9, 1994, in recognition of the plight of the indigenous peoples across the world.

    This year’s event, which was held in Lagos last Friday, was at the instance of the Green Peoples Environmental Network (GREPNET), Southern Nigerian Ethnic Nationality Alliance (SONENA), O’odua Nationalist Coalition (ONAC) and the Coalition of Nigerian Civil Right Groups (CONRIG). Several representatives of ethnic groups from across the country, including members of the United Middle Belt Youth Congress (UMBYC), were at the event.

    Every participant was unsparing in condemnation of the avoidable troubles that have held the nation on the brink of collapse. In a joint statement, the organisers urged Nigerians to reject politicians with any link with the violent Islamic group, Boko Haram, in the coming elections. Over 100 representatives of ethnic groups across the country attended the summit.

    Comrade Wale Adeoye, who represented journalists at the summit, declared the event open, saying: “It is time we stopped postponing the evil days. Our leaders at all levels must show genuine seriousness at tackling the various problems that have dehumanised our people for so long.”

    The groups restated the call for a national dialogue and the restructuring of Nigeria, maintaining that without them, there would be no end to the cycle of violence that had held the nation by the jugular since 1960.

    The groups said: “We regret that the crisis in the Magreb region – the violent Islamic re-insurgence – has led to displacement of peoples in the Northern hemisphere, leading to the invasion of our territories by violent groups. The displacement has resorted in violent clashes, senseless killings and rape of our women and children, and the forceful take-over of our territories by non-state actors who are in possession of weapons of death. This has led to increase in violent crimes, rape of women and minors, cultural imperialism and displacement of locals from their ancestral homelands. This has made lives more difficult and unbearable for indigenous peoples.”

    The groups said that “as 2015 presidential election draws near, we assert our full support only for a presidential candidate that will restructure Nigerian and guarantee ethnic self-determination. Any candidate that does not support full control of resources by the communities that produce them must be opposed with all our strength.”

    The groups stated further: “We condemn in strong terms, the current realignment of political forces which has not taken into consideration the interests of indigenous peoples, but has been tailored only to promote the wishes and aspirations of the Northern caliphate against the genuine interest of the indigenous communities.”

    They said that Hausa-Fulani political groups are only interested in sustaining their self-serving interests, adding that the violent Boko Haram had become a “political scare-crow” for them.

    “The responses of the Northern caliphate to the series of bombings have been that of cold complicity,” they contended.

  • A vote for chastity

    The term “virginity” has returned to be the discourse in certain circles. Coming in an age when obnoxious words reign supreme, of course, it could not have come at a better time.

    Nowadays, it is hard to define who is a virgin in the real meaning of the word. The general meaning of the word “virgin” refers to a girl who keeps her chastity. Such a girl can be said not to have slept with the opposite sex at the time of being called a virgin.

    However, people believe that such a girl is scarce in today’s world. Much emphasis is not placed on male virginity because the gender does not have hymen. The attention is on women.

    According to an online statistics, 95 per cent of Nigerian teenagers cannot boast of being virgins. In an era where premarital and casual sex abound, girls who are as young as 14 have started experimenting with the forbidden fruit, causing an upsurge in teen pregnancies and abortions. Such act has also resulted in psychological breakdowns with the rejection of unwanted children.

    There are many factors that contribute to the sexual decadence in our society. It should be noted that the mass media, which has, over the years, served as a source of socialisation, also has its negative effect on the society and the people. The media’s portrayal of sexual images to an already vulnerable audience has helped to increase the level of decadence.

    Corporate advertisers are particularly guilty of this; bits of sensuality are infused into every advert they place or show on television. Even when it is not necessary, they employ skimpily dressed girls to advertise their products, passing a wrong message to the audience.

    Peer pressure is also a factor. Teenagers, who do not indulge in the practice, are seen as greenhorns by their peers, who have had the experience. In order not to be the butt of jokes among their friends, some teenagers make wrong decisions.

    Today’s forms of entertainment are also to blame. Songs with weird lyrics are the favourites of the young. Some of them would say: “We only love the beat; we don’t practise the message”. But, in reality, the songs are like radioactive wastes; they slowly destroy whoever listens to them. There is no way a 14-year-old girl would listen to songs, such as Lay on me, without having certain thoughts.

    Some people have argued that virginity is not important in this globalisation age, claiming that in the olden days, girls married relatively early as soon as they reached puberty. Such early marriages, they argued, kept promiscuity at bay.

    However, times and civilisation have changed the practice. Nowadays, the first 20 years of any girl are spent in the classroom. But, by that age, her features would have developed. It is reasonable for an unmarried 25-year -old woman to be sexually active.

    It is so bad that many teenagers know some things about sex, which their parents probably might never know. A newspaper cartoon was circulated sometime ago, where a man was seen telling his teenage son that it was time for sex education. The boy answered: “Sure, what part do you want to know, daddy?”

    Everyone has a reason for making certain decisions but it would be advantageous if such decisions are not based on external influence. Abstinence is the surest way of preventing sexually-transmitted diseases. The slogan “abstinence is the best method to prevent diseases” attests to this fact.

    My advice to teenagers and the youth is that they must abstain from premarital sex. And those who are still chaste, should maintain this status. We must not allow ourselves to be the butt of jokes in the society.

    There is a Yoruba adage that says anything that is protected doesn’t lose its value. We must not be deceived by the argument that virginity is an outdated value. It is not; it is a value we must nurture to ensure our society is free of decadence.

     

    Adebisi, 300-Level Language Arts, UI

     

  • Governors’ handling of security vote

    If there ever be a time the security of West Africa is threatened to its foundation, it is this period when activities of kidnappers and extremist sect are not being checked adequately by governments in the region.

    Nigeria is not left. In the northern and southern parts of the country, criminals operate freely, making the regions ungovernable to constituted authorities. This, to many Nigerians, has been a headache largely borne by the Federal Government.

    However, the question that rarely comes to mind is what states do with the security vote being released to the troubled states by the Federal Government is meant to prevent criminals from carrying out their nefarious activities. Each state takes its own share of the funds.

    But what are they using the money for when crimes still persist? Are the funds being siphoned and diverted to private accounts or are they being used for the security of our leaders’ personal houses? These questions need to be answered by those concerned.

    A few months ago, Kano State Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso said security vote had become a conduit through which many governors steal money from their states.

    In the Southsouth and the Southeast, armed robbery and kidnapping are the order of the day. Vaults of banks and other financial institutions in the areas have been bombed by armed bandits camouflaging as militants. Other atrocities being committed by these armed groups is pipeline vandalism, especially in the oil-producing communities.

    According to reports, Edo State politicians now live in fear as most of them now move around in convoy of armed police men for fear of being kidnapped. Where is the security vote being given to the state? There is no doubt that governors in the South-south and the Southeast need to do more in terms of security.

    In the northern states, Boko Haram activity is taking its toll on most of the state, especially Yobe and Borno. These two state have been the epicenter of unbridle terrorism being perpetrated by men, who believed western education is sinful. They used locally-made Improvise Explosive Device (IED) to kill innocent people in their numbers.

    In Niger State, the government has put measures in place to forestall breakdown of law and order. The Hausa/Fulani governors should come together in assisting one another in the area of security. The Northeast states where Boko Haram activities have ravaged should be helped out by Northern Governors’ Forum by ensuring that their security votes are voted to maintain peace and stability in the region.

    In the Southwest, armed robbery is the order of the day. There is no doubt that from Ondo to Ekiti, Ogun to Lagos and Oyo, dynamite-welding bandits terrorise banks and residents. While security operatives seem helpless, there is a ray of hope from Oyo State where government has frustrated the activities of the men of the underworld with the creation of joint security patrol codenamed “Operation Burst”.

    I should be stated that the Federal Government has a very important role to play in maintaining peace in the country to attract foreign investors, let it do all takes to ensure that all states of the federation account for the security vote released to them by also complementing its efforts.

    Also, the citizens have their own role to play to ensure that public office holders are accountable for misappropriation of public funds. We must ensure that anyone caught should face the wrath of the law of the federal republic.

  • Southeast governors vote N28m for Ekwueme’s 80th birthday

    Southeast governors vote N28m for Ekwueme’s 80th birthday

    Governors of the Southeast have raised N28 million to celebrate the 80th birthday of former Vice President Alex Ekwueme.

    The climax of the celebration, which started in Abuja, is billed for tomorrow. It will take place at the Okpara Square in Enugu.

    Former Senate President Ken Nnamani, who is the chairman of the organising committee, told reporters in Enugu yesterday that the Igbo are rolling out the drums for Ekwueme.

    He said the celebration will cut across the political divide as the stature of Ekwueme deserves a national honour.

    According to him, it is not only when one is dead that his achievements are celebrated and he is honoured.

    “For the first time, the five governors of the Southeast are honouring a great son of Ndigbo, alive,” Nnamani said.

    Former chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo, said Ekwueme deserved to be celebrated because of his enormous contributions to the political development of Nigeria.

    He recalled that Ekwueme was the brain behind the present six geo-political zones, which is being considered to be entrenched in the Constitution.

    Nwodo also recalled the role of Ekwueme in stopping General Sani Abacha from transmutting from military to civilian leadership.

    “He went from there to form the largest party in Africa which brought both the conservatives and progressives under one umbrella,” Nwodo said.

    According to him, Ekwueme’s dream of taking Nigeria to a greater height could not be actualised because he was denied the opportunity at the last hour.

    “Despite these setbacks, Ekwueme remains the man to be celebrated. Ndigbo will celebrate him with grand cultural fanfare,” Nwodo added.

    At the media event were other members of the organising committee including former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Chief Agunwa Anaekwe; former Minister for Education, Prof. Chinwe Obaji; Sen. Nnamdi Eriobuna; Mr. Ken Emecheta, Mr. Jerry Ene and Mrs. Nmutaka Okpara.

  • ‘Go and vote for Akeredolu’

    The Abia State Chairman of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Chief Egwuatu Egbulefu, has urged Ondo State indigenes in the state and other states to return home and vote for the party’s governorship candidate in Ondo State, Mr. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu (SAN) on Saturday.

    Egbulefu said Akeredolu has the pedigree and experience to transform Ondo State, if voted to power.

    He said all ACN states are developing, adding that Ondo State residents would regret if they fail to vote for Akeredolu in the Saturday’s election.

    He advised Ondo State indigenes to “go home and participate truly to elect Akeredolu as the governor”.

    Egbulefu added: “Let Ondo State join other states governed by the ACN in the Southwest. All of Western states, except Ondo, are governed by the ACN. How can you, therefore, leave this state in the hands of the Labour Party (LP), when the people are not deriving anything from the Olusegun Mimiko-led administration? The time has come to send away the LP and plant Akeredolu of the ACN for good governance.”

    Through the party’s Organising Secretary, Mr Paul Chukwuezi, the ACN Chairman advised Ondo State residents that no sacrifice is too much to have a progressive administration in the state.

  • Akeredolu to Ilaje, Akoko: vote wisely

    Akeredolu to Ilaje, Akoko: vote wisely

    The standard bearer of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in Saturday’s poll, Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN), has promised to alleviate the plight of the oil-producing communities in Ilaje and Ijaw.

    He urged them to vote wisely by voting for him on Saturday, assuring that an ACN administration would not disappoint them.

    Akeredolu and his running mate, Dr. Paul Akintelure, were in Igbokoda, the headquarters of the Ilaje nation on Saturday. Alighting from a chopper, he was besieged by a crowd of party supporters who had waited for his campaign train since noon. The ACN candidate was accompanied by Dr. Jibayo Adeyeye, Wale Akinterinwa, Segun Olulade and Wale Akintimehin. They were welcomed to the campaign grounds by the leaders of the party in the area, Chief Wale Omojuwa, Nimbe Tause, Adebambo Odowo, Olu Mekuleyi and Lucky Ayedatiwa

    Ilaje is the home of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate, Chief Olusola Oke. The ACN rally coincided with the PDP rally in Akure, which was attended by President Goodluck Jonathan and party leaders.

    At the rally, ACN supporters complained that their members in the coastal areas were not mobilised by the party chairman in the local government, urging the standard bearer to repeat the rally in the riverine communities because the party has a reservoir of goodwill in the locality.

    After addressing the Igbokoda rally, Akeredolu visited the palace of the Olugbo of Ugboland, Oba Frederick Akinruntan, to pay homage and explain his mission in the community to the traditional ruler, his chiefs and the people. The paramount ruler wished him success. He urged politicians to show tolerance and promote peace.

    Tause, who welcomed the ACN leaders to the campaign, assured Akeredolu of bloc votes. He said: “Iroko is already afraid. He is planning to rig the election. We will not allow him.”

    Odowo also said the Labour Party (LP) was jittery. He said: “Five Yoruba states are already cooperating under the umbrella of the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo in the Southwest. Ondo cannot be different. Ilaje cannot vote for Papa Deceiving Party. Umbrella is necessary for the rain, but it cannot withstand a storm. We will sweep them away with our brooms.”

    Ayedatiwa said Ilaje looked forward to 2013 as a year of change and joy. He appealed to those in the LP and PDP to join the ark of salvation.

    Akintimehin said: “Akeredolu has conducted an analysis here in Ilaje. He knows the plight of the Ilaje. He will not misrule us. Let us go to our units and convince those still in the LP and PDP to vote for the ACN.”

    Mekuleyi said Governor Olusegun Mimiko has misused the oil money derived from Ilaje, adding that normalcy will be restored by the ACN government. He said:” Where is our oil money? ACN will develop Ilaje and our roads will be built. What we need to do is to vote for ACN and police our votes.”

    Akeredolu urged the Ilaje to vote wisely. He lamented the under-development of the oil-producing communities, stressing that they had laboured under the Labour Party in vain. He enjoined them to avoid violence whenever they are provoked by suspected LP thugs, assuring that victory is at hand.

    At Oka-Akoko, the crowd rejoiced on sighting Akeredolu, who was ushered to the podium by the governorship aspirants who had stepped down for him, including Prof. Ajayi Boroffice, Dr. Jayeola Ajatta and Dr. Segun Abraham. Before addressing the rally, the ACN candidate visited the palace of the Olubaka of Oka, Oba Adebori Adeleye. Community chiefs and elders prayed for him after he explained his mission. He promised to turn around the state by fighting the infrastructure battle.

    At the rally were Mr. Gboyega Adefarati, Mrs. Ogedengbe, Mrs. Ronke Ojo, Ambassador Yusuf, Tope Babaleye, a lawyer, Boye Ologbese, and Bola Ilori. Akinterinwa, who introduced the leaders, hailed the dedication of Prof. Boroffice to the party’s cause.

    He reminded the people about the position of Mimiko on how the governorship slot should be filled, saying since he has advocated one term, he should spend a term in office.

    Abraham also said the governor does not deserve the vote of the Akoko, having insisted that former governors Adebayo Adefarati and Olusegun Agagu should not have a second term.

    He added: “Aketi has come with a good news for Akokoland. Come out on October 20 to chase Mimiko out of power with your votes.”

    Ajatta said: “I am happy because of this crowd. Akeredolu has come with good tidings. Vote for him so that Ondo State can have a responsible government as they have it in Edo, Lagos, Ekiti, Oyo, Ogun and Osun states.”

    Ilori, an indigene of Ondo Kingdom, said: “I am from Ondo Kingdom. If those of us from Ondo say we are tired of Mimiko, what should Akoko people do? I saw Akoko roads and felt ashamed of Mimiko. I apologise to you all. Akeredolu will put smiles on your faces.”

    Mrs. Ojo said: “Women are the largest voters. Let us vote for Akeredolu and defend our votes. He is the messiah.”

    Boroffice told his kinsmen that he is still in the Senate, contrary to the lies being peddled by LP that his position has been declared vacant. He said: “I am still in the Senate, but Mimiko will not be in Alagbaka again. Do not forget our deal. I have a prize for the unit, ward and local government that gives the highest votes to Akeredolu and I know that Akoko Southwest will get the prize.”

    Akintelure said: “ I have come to relay a message from God to you at Oka. Aketi will perform wonders in Akokoland. Reject Mimiko in Akoko as we have done in Ikaleland. Mimiko said it would be business as usual. We reject that for Akokoland”.

    Akeredolu said: “This crowd is not my doing. It is not because I am good. It is the handiwork of God. Let us thank God, sing praises unto the Lord and rejoice in Him. Where we are going, we are already there. ACN will rule Ondo State.”