Osun Residents, Group Demand Transparency On Boreholes

Kazeem Badmus

RESIDENTS of the State of Osun have demanded accountability on the construc on of boreholes across the 332 Wards in the state by Governor Ademola Adeleke.

The residents asked Adeleke to tell the general public the amount expended on the project.

This is just as a civil society group, Centre for Social Jus ce and Public Protec on (CSJPP), commended Adeleke for priori sing the welfare of the ci zens of the state, just as it charged the Governor to come out in details on the financial implica ons of the project.

There had been insinua ons that each of the

Succour As Govt. Provides Transformers For Communities

Kazeem Badmus

THE government of the State of Osun has provided succour for two communies who had been living in darkness for years.

Addressing their plight, the government procured two 500KVA transformers for the Peace Community, Ede Road in Ede North local government and Oke Eran community, Ilobu Irepodun local government.

The gesture, according to the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Rural Development and Community Affairs, Mr Richard Oyegbami, was part of Governor Ademola Adeleke’s efforts to light up every part of the State.

Oyegbami while inspec ng the installa on of the transformers on Tuesday, said Adeleke knows the importance of regular power supply to the growth of small businesses which is the bedrock of any form of economic development.

While appealing to the communi es to make proper use of the transformers, Oyegbami assured that the gesture will be extended to other communies soon.

Reac ng, a commu- nity leader at Oke Eran, Mr Olasupo Abdulasisi, who lamented that the community had been in darkness for more than eight years, appreciated Adeleke for coming to their aid. boreholes was awarded at a sum of N14m.

But the Spokesperson of the Governor, Rasheed Olawale, described the claim as false, no ng that each borehole cost far less than the amount insinuated.

According to him, full details of the cost of the project would be made available during the ‘Ipade Imole’, an interacve accountability platform of the state government. He noted that at the Ipade Imole, civil society, the media and all stakeholders will have sufficient me to read, appraise and ques on projects and policies of the Adeleke’s administra on.

The medium noted that the Ipade Imole which was scheduled to hold last month’s ending didn’t come up with no explana on from the state government as of the me of filling this report.

However, the state government on Monday, announced the distribuon of power genera ng sets to power the bore- holes. The distribu on of the generators triggered reac ons from members of the public, as some of them joined the call for transparency on the project.

In interview with OSUN DEFENDER yesterday, the Secretary of Centre for Social Jusce and Public Protecon (CSJPP), Comrade Naheem Olaore, said there are many things yet unknown about the project.

According to Olaore, apart from the contract amount, the state government needs to explain who will be responsible for fueling and maintaining the generator, no ng that it is necessary for the benefi ng residents to know what they are in for.

Olaore said: “We want to commend Governor Adeleke for running a people-centred government so far. We will like to ask to enjoin the Governor to be more transparent, especially on the borehole project. The governor should come out in details on the financial implica ons and how the procured generators will be fueled and maintained.”

In his comment, a resident of Owode-Ede area of the state, Samuel Olabiyi, berated the state government on the borehole project, saying it was shrouded in secrecy.

Olabiyi noted that the government has not come out clean on the amount expended on the project, saying that is not expected from a Governor that rode on the peoples votes to power.

He said: “This borehole project is done in secrecy and it is not encouraging. How will the government claim to have done a project months ago without giving a proper account of it?

“We don’t know how much was expended on the boreholes. There was a rumour that each of the boreholes cost N14m and ll now, the government has not come up with the actual figure of the contract sum.”

In her view, Mrs Mariam Ademola, a member of Peoples Welfare League, Osogbo, said procurement of generators to power the boreholes was not ideal, especially with the hike in price of fuel.

Ademola noted that the sustainability of the project was not guaranteed especially with reports from some quarters that some of the boreholes were not funconing.

“I don’t think the state government had a deep thought before deciding on buying generators to power the boreholes. Who will be responsible for buying the fuel needed for the generators?

“Also, I have my fear for the overall maintenance of the project. We all know people’s a tude to maintaining government proper es and before you know it, some of the boreholes will be abandoned,” she said.

Albino Mulls Suicide Over Stigmatization, Poor Treatment From Father

Ismaeel

Uthman

•Mother Kicked Out Of House, Children Suffer Deprivation

the children and completely neglected them.

‘

THE sun and society are hos le to the albinos’, said Prof. Anezionwu Okoro, a dermatologist at University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu, in his ar cle tled ‘Albinism in Nigeria. A clinical and social study’. The statement summarises the agony and challenges of people with albinism in Nigeria.

Apart from the fact that albinos called afin in Yorubaland had to contend with health-related challenge, they also have to developed thick skin and emo onal balance to weed off inferiority complex as a result of s gma sa on and social discrimina on from some members of the public.

For Mariam Yusuf, a 13year-old female albino in Ilobu, Irepodun local government of the State of Osun, the sun and society are not hos le to her, her biological father could be described as epitome of hos lity against an albino. Mariam is currently undergoing trauma for being an albino, and this had made her to contemplate oncommi ng suicide.

The society, in her case is even helpful and providing support for an albino. But her father, Mr Yusuf is the harbinger of sorrow, discrimina on, s gma saon and unpleasant experience in her life. Mariam is not alone in the challenge, her nine-year old sister, Alimat Yusuf, was also suffering same fate. It is a case of total rejec on from their father. They are ba ling against discrimina on, stereotypes and psychological issues.

Mariam, in an emo on laden voice while speaking with OSUN DEFENDER, said her father rejected both Alimat and her because they are albinos. According to her, their father ejected their mother from his house a er the birth of Alimat. His excuse, according to Mariam, was that albinism doesn’t run in their family, as none of his rela ves never had an albino.

She said: “My dad has been behaving badly to me. He does not even associate with me because I am an albino. My dad has refused to take any responsibility on me and my sister, Alimat, because he believes we are not his children. He claims he is not the one who gave birth to me because there has never been any albino in his lineage.

“My dad is ashamed of me and my sister. He doesn’t want people to see him with us. If any of his friends come to look for him, he won’t allow us to get close to him. It is that bad. It got to a point I wanted to commit suicide. The trauma was too much for me to bear. My dad has been trea ng me badly because I’m an albino.

“My sister and I have been surviving on our own. I hawk fufu for people, and some mes they give me six or four raps of fufu with N200. Some mes, we would have fufu but there won’t be any soup to eat it. There was a me we ate fufu with just groundnut oil. That’s how we have been surviving.

“Some mes, I would go to construc on site uninvited just to work as labourer for me to get money to eat. My face wasn’t like this before. The sunburns and other dark spots on my face showed up when I was hawking fufu and working at construc on sites.

“My mum has always been struggling to cater for us. She works as a labourer too. There was a me she had an accident and it became serious challenge for us. I am red of this suffering. I didn’t create myself.”

Mariam appealed to well meaning members of the public to come to their aid.

Her mum, Mrs Yusuf, could not complete a sentence without tears dropping from her eyes. She was full of emo on.

She told OSUN DEFENDER that her first child is not an albino, but could not ques on God for the two albinos given to her. Mrs Yusuf said she is a pious woman who doesn’t engage in infidelity.

According to the mother of three, her husband was a ‘normal person’ un l she gave birth to her second child, Mariam, who turn out to be an albino.

She said: “I got married to my husband in a normal way. My first child is not an albino. It is my second child, Mariam who is an albino; and that’s where all the problems started. He believes I cheated on him, and that is why I gave birth to an albino. He said no one in his family has ever had an albino. He refused to take responsibility on the child and even told the child to her face that he is not her father.

“However, the situa on became worse when I gave birth to our third child, Alimat who is also an albino. That is when he kicked us out of the house in the middle of the night. An aged woman accommodated us in the middle of the night. We spent four days at her house. On the fourth day, my husband called the grandma’s son and threatened him, so the grandma had no choice than to send us out of her house.

“Since then, it has been really hard for me and my children to survive because their father has completely neglected us.

“The problem started in 2010 when I gave birth to Mariam, but it got worse in 2014 with Alima’s. I was s ll carrying my youngest child, Alimat when their father angrily kicked us out. He claimed that there has never been anybody living with albinism in his family. He even used to say that a woman without a male child doesn’t deserve a place in her husband’s house. Consequently, he refused to take responsibility for

“I work as a labourer at construc on sites with my daughters. Some mes, I would collect payment in advance so that my children could eat. I even tried to withdraw my eldest child, who is now a Chrisan, from school because I couldn’t afford to sponsor her. It is a teacher in Osogbo that volunteered to sponsor her educa on. She just gained admission, but I haven’t been able to pay her school fees or provide her with accommoda on.”

Nine-year-old Alimat had already felt the pains of being an albino. In her conversa on with OSUN DEFENDER, she affirmed that her dad has never taken any responsibility on her because she is an albino. “It is only my mother that has been taken care of us; paying our school fees. My daddy has not been paying our school fees”, she declared.

Asked if she would go back to her father, Alimat said: “I can’t go back to our father because he has maltreated my mother.”

At her tender age, Alimat, a Primary 2 pupil, has been hawking fufu in Ilobu. “My mother is the only person bearing all the responsibility. She makes fufu and I help her to hawk. We are staying at our maternal grandfather’s house at Akinnu’s compound in Ilobu. I want people to help us”, she appealed.

Explaining how a family could come about an albino, a lecturer in the Department of Physiology, College of Health Sciences, Osun State University, Mr Damilare Adeyemi, defined albinism as a gene c condi on or informa on that could be transferred from one genera on to the other.

Albinism, according to Adeyemi, is characterised by lack of pigment that is responsible for coloura on of the skin, hair and usually eyes.

He stated: “Albinism occurs as a result of defect to some of the genes that are responsible for the coloura on of these parts of the body. For instance, there is a protein or hormone responsible for the blackness of our skin, hair and other superficial parts of the body called Melanin. In albinism, there is either reduc on or total absence of melanin producon. Hormones or proteins are produced by genes in their specific cells meant for the produc on. Therefore, there could be a defect in the genes of the cells that are producing this substance, melanin, responsible for black coloura on of the body.

“So summarily, albinism is a gene c defect that might have existed in the heritable informa on of the family (from first genera on ll the present generaon) or a defect that occurs along the way of living which could be influenced by some of the factors I men oned above.

“Meanwhile, many condi ons or lifestyle pracces/exposure could result to this gene defect. Exposure to muta ng agents, toxins, chemicals, radia on and many other unknown factors could damage the genes present in the cells that are producing this hormone thereby compromising its func ons.”

Adeyemi explained further, “If a family that has no history of albinism born an albino, they should check themselves, where they are living, what they are eating, the water they are drinking. Their lifestyle, generally, could influence gene c altera ons but it’s not something that happens in the immediate. It would be something that has been occurring persistently over a period of me and eventually form gene c condi on.

“In fact, let me add this, as a researcher, we have come across situa ons whereby the requisite hormones/proteins needed for body func ons would be produced but there wouldn’t be enough receptors that would bind to it for readily usage. So, no one should blame or s gma ze anyone living with such condi ons.”