Osun Defender Online Version Of July 14, 2023

The Attempt To Wipe Out Institutional Memory

THE country as a whole is in dire straits, the new Federal Government imaginatively using all the available tools monetary and fiscal for a reboot.

A lot will depend on the performance of the state governments as sub-nationals and parliamentary time available to the State Houses

of Assembly to make their inputs is scarce. It beats the imagination that the State of Osun House of Assembly is allocating scarce parliamentary time to the repeal of the Act establishing for Osun a State Anthem, flag and Crest.

It reveals a totalitarian mindset in which mechanisms are used to airbrush the inconvenient out of the

picture and erase the institutional memory. We have in the use of such instruments a repudiation of not just historical evolution but of the democratic ethos of this and disturbingly of cultural mores.

The Act repealed represents a needed fundamental fight back to •Concluded on page 3

Five Months After, Applicants Express Concern On Imole Youth Corps

Kazeem Badmus

SOME residents of Osun State who applied for ‘Imole Youth Corps’, a newly floated youth empowerment scheme of Governor Ademola Adeleke’s administra on have expressed concerns over ‘silence’ on the scheme.

The applicants said the state government has remained silent on the scheme five months a er their applica ons.

According to the applicants in different interviews with OSUN DEFENDER during the week, the process of selec on and recruitment of eligible candidates among them should have begun by now.

They expressed worries that the recruitment process might have been hijacked by poli cians who might have confused the Governor to channel it through the party.

It would be recalled that Adeleke, on February 16, 2023, dissolved the Osun Youth Empowerment Scheme (OYES) and replaced it with Imole Youth Corps.

The state government in a circular signed by its Secretary, Mr. Teslim Igbalaye, said OYES was dissolved and replaced with Imole Youth Corps to restructure the agency for op mal performance.

The state government also urged residents to apply for the new programme through a free online applica on, which was made available in all the local governments, including Ife East Area Office.

However, five months a er, the Imole Youth Corps is yet to take off with no informaon from the state government.

Apparently worried by the delay in the recruitment process, some of the applicants urged the state government to speak up and provide informa on on the progress or challenge on the scheme.

One of the applicants, Bayo Adegoke, said he was hopeful of being engaged in the scheme, saying that he did not expect it would take this long before the scheme takes off

“I had thought the recruitment process would start in March, giving a month grace.

SPEAKER, Osun State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Wale Egbedun, has dismissed the report that the State Anthem has been discarded.

Egbedun said the anthem remains intact, explaining that it is the nomenclature that changed.

According to Egbedun in a statement by his Press Secretary, Tiamiyu Olaitan, yesterday, what changed in the anthem is just “State of Osun”, which was replaced by “Osun State” as proposed by a new bill.

“The Osun Anthem is not discarded; what changed is the nomenclature of the Anthem. The law which had State of Osun Anthem had been repealed. The propose bill reintorudce the Anthem as “Osun State Anthem.

“It is the same Anthem we have been singing; it has not been discarded.”

Ealier, the Speaker had in a statement personally signed by him said: “For the purpose of Educa on, I should make further clar-

•Continued on page 6

•The Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brigadier General Buba Marwa (Rted), presenting Award of Excellence to the Osun Commander of the Agency, Nnadi Chidi for their performance on drug demand reduction in the state, recently in Abuja

Ismaeel Uthman

Five Months After, Applicants Express Concern On Imole Youth Corps

•Continued from front page

I was hopeful I would be engaged and had already planned on the expected monthly s pend. I did not know it will take this long, and unfortunately, there is no informa on on when it is going to start yet” he said.

Another applicant, Seyi Gbadebo, tasked the state government not to allow the Imole Youth Corps shrouded in secrecy like the recruitment process done by the ousted administraon of former governor Adegboyega Oyetola on the teachers’ employment.

Gbadebo said: “I want to urge Governor Adeleke to be transparent on the Imole Youth Corps ma er. We don’t want it to be like that of the teachers’ recruitment done in secrecy by Oyetola. The Governor should give us informa on. We are in the dark.”

Miss Shukurat Odunola, a resident of Iree, who also applied for the scheme, urged the state government to speed up the process and select those they wanted to empower.

Odunola appealed to Adeleke not to poli cise the scheme, claiming that some poli cians were already gathering names to be submitted.

According to her, “The state government needs to fasttrack the process because it is taking too long and if care is not taken, the whole process might be hijacked by poli cians who have their candidates to fill the slots.”

A beneficiary of the OYES, Yusuff Abdulrahman, told OSUN DEFENDER that the state government rushed the dissolu on of the old scheme without having a proper succession plan in place.

Abdulrahman said the dissolu on was poli cal, sta ng that many of the OYES beneficiaries do not belong to any polical party.

He said: “The fact that the new scheme is yet to be fully on

Osun Govt. Threatens To Shut Private Schools Over Refusal To Renew Licence

Osun State Government has threatened to shut down some private schools over their refusal to renew their licences.

According to the government, the affected private schools have to pay their opera onal or renewal levies before the resumpon of 2023/2024 academic session coming up on September 7, 2023.

ground five months a er Governor Adeleke dissolved OYES shows that the government did not plan well before taking that decision.

“The Governor’s handlers did not advise him well on the OYES dissolu on and I believe it was poli -

cal. What they failed to understand was that many of us in OYES were not members of any poli cal party.

“The Governor ought to have done a thorough finding before dissolving OYES because at the end of the day, we are

all Osun indigenes and we never envisage our own Governor taking away our source of income.”

Reac ng, the Spokesperson to the Governor, Mallam Rasheed Olawale, said the recruitment process was ongoing, adding that it

will commence very soon.

“Governor Adeleke have not abadoned the Imole Youth Corps programme, he is fully commi ed to it. We are trying to put some structures in place, so I can tell the programme commence very soon.”

How Generator Fume Killed 4 OSPOLY Students In Iree

•Victims Were High On Drugs - Sources

RESIDENTS of Iree, the host community of Osun State Polytechnic, were thrown into mourning when four students of the ins tu on were announced dead at the early hour of Friday, July 7, 2023.

The deceased were said to have died a er inhaling generator fume while sleeping.

OSUN DEFENDER reliably gathered that two other students survived the generator fume incident a er they were rushed to hospital.

The incident occurred at Yakoyo, Estate area, Iree.

According to some students, the deceased with Na onal Diploma, Year I, Daily Part-Time students.

They were said to from the same family in Ilobu, Irepodun local government area

of the state, according to sources.

A close associate of the deceased who craved anonymity told OSUN DEFENDER on Wednesday that “The deceased were living in a three-bedroom flat. They were from the same family in Ilobu. They were DPT ND 1 students.

“On Thursday, July 6, the students were having matricula on party; and one of them had a birthday the following day which was Friday; so they were celebra ng everything together. They got drunk; four of them slept in a room while two of their friends slept in another room.

“They put on the generator and placed it inside the flat. I think the fume of the generator choked the four persons that slept in a room and they died; the other

two were rushed to the hospital.”

Asked how the neighbour got to know about the incident, the associate said: “The following morning, one of their friends that went to greet the birthday boy and he discovered the doors were locked from behind. He knocked severally but nobody responded; so he forced his way inside the flat and raised the alarm when he discovered that his friends were dead.”

Also, a member of the Osun Polytechnic Students Union Government who did not want his name in print said the deceased and two others were having an overnight pre-birthday and matriculaon party on Thursday, July 6, 2023 when the incident happened.

According to him, the vic ms had

go en intoxicated with hard drugs during the party and le their door open.

He said the fume of the generator they put on must have entered the room through the open door and got them suffocated.

The source said: Four persons actually died in the incident contrary to what was reported that it was two.

“What we discovered when we got to the scene of the incident was that they were already high on alcohol or drugs which did not allow them to perceive the generator fume.”

The medium gathered that one of the vic ms hospitalised was discharged on same day while the other one was discharged on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the names of the vic ms is yet to be unveiled at the me of filling this report.

The government, in a release signed by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Educa on, Mr. Murtala Jimoh, on Tuesday, warned private schools which are yet to pay or renew their opera onal licences to do so or face being shut down.

Jimoh said payment of or renewal of operaonal licence is a statutory mandate for the schools.

He advised the school owners to make the payment directly to the Ministry of Educa on at block F, Room 9, headquarters of the Osun Internal Revenue Service beside the State Secretariat or OIRS outsta ons across the State.

“School owners are hereby enjoined to renew their opera onal licences up to date before the resumpon of the 2023/2024 academic session that comes up on 7th September 2023.

“Failure to pay the levies will lead to closure of such schools as the payment is the statutory mandate to renew opera onal licences to schools”, he stated.

•Osun State Chairman of Accountability of Civil Society on Malaria Control, Immunization and Nutrition (ACOMIN), Ambassador Aremu Akinyele (middle), and partners during an Advocacy visit to the Director Pharmacies, Ministry of Health, Dr A. Adedeji on Wednesday

Photo Shola Aderinto

Yusuf Oketola

Yusuf Oketola

reinstate the ethos of a federal structure, the basis of which independence was fought for and granted.

Prior to the vegetative abrogation of the unambiguously federalist 1963 (Republican) Constitution by the military, the federating units all had their own insignia; they had their own Constitutions, Flags, Anthem and Crest. They were real federating units and the data is unambiguous that they performed very well, meeting and exceeding their targets. It was a productive era. The same is what applies in real federal systems such as the USA, Australia, Canada, Brazil and so forth.

A generation diversity must be acknowledged, indeed respected. You cannot repudiate culture and civilisation. For example, the anthem of the State of Osun replicates the anthem of the Western Region and has deep significance. The anthem echoes the renaissance brought into existence after the signing of the treaty of Kiriji which ended the civil war in Yoruba land. The Development Agenda For Western Nigeria (DAWN) has accepted it for use across the Western Region and it has been adopted in Ondo State. It must continue to resonate across the Western Region.

In the United States and elsewhere, the states have as insignia of their own such as “State Bird”, State this and that and in India regions adopt indigenous languages operating at par with English as official language.

Lagos is an example of a State with a Crest and an Anthem. Lagos led in wrestling away, many of the benefits of Federalism enjoyed by Osun and all states now, from the then centralising, military carry over Federal Government. Ogun State has an anthem and when Gbenga Daniel, a PDP Governor was there and the House of Assembly was majority PDP, being truly educated in mind and spirit, they didn’t make laws for the anthem or crest to be jettisoned.

It would have been a different case, if Osun, before

The Attempt To Wipe Out Institutional Memory

“Lagos is an example of a State with a Crest and an Anthem. Lagos led in wrestling away, many of the benefits of Federalism enjoyed by Osun and all states now, from the then centralising, military carry over Federal Government. Ogun State has an anthem and when Gbenga Daniel, a PDP Governor was there and the House of Assembly was majority PDP, being truly educated in mind and spirit, they didn’t make laws for the anthem or crest to be jettisoned”

Yoruba Anthem

Ise wa fun ile wa

Fun Ile Ibi Wa

Ka gbee ga

Ka gbee ga

Ka gbee ga fun aye

ri

Igbagbo wa ni pe

Bati beru la bomo

Ka sise

Ka sise

Ka sise ka jo la

Isokan ati ominira

Ni ke je ka maa lepa

Tesiwaju f opo ire

Ati ohun to dara

Omo Oodua dide

Bo si ipo eto re

Iwo ni imole

Gbogbo Adulawo

touched by Aregbesola with OYES, O- MEALS, OSCHOOL, O - Ambulance, Calisthenics, O- ROADS (Ona baba Ona), Agba Osun, etc and schools constructed, and the minds touched by the words of the “Yoruba Anthem” adapted for Osun, will surely keep AREGBE on top of their minds.

Aregbesola had an anthem, crest or flag different from the Federal Government and the government led by Aregbesola trashed them.

When positive, progressive, federating efforts are reversed, simply because of party affiliation and interests, it is a reflection of the depth the actors have sunk in poverty of character. The mind boggles as to where Osun House of Assembly found this mindset. This is about protecting cultural values and a political direction which has been beneficial and has nothing to do with an individual.

Nevertheless, an individual too cannot be airbrushed out of history. If

this is an attack on Rauf Aregbesola who was an astute and outstanding administrator, then it is ludicrous.

The families and minds

They will remember AREGBE as the Governor who built and lifted up humans and infrastructure through his people oriented programmes and projects.

OSUN DEFENDER

Publisher – Moremi Publishing House Ltd.

Deputy Editor – Ismaeel Uthman

Produc on Editor – Petkola Taiwo Ibitowa

Reporter – Yusuf Oketola

Reporter – Kazeem Badmus

Photo Journalist – Shola Aderinto

Computer Graphics – Zainab Olalere

They also won’t forget those who abandoned or reversed.

OSUN DEFENDER is published by Moremi Publishing House Limited, Promise Point Building, Opposite Guarantee Trust Bank (GTB), Gbogan Road Osogbo, State of Osun

ISSN : 0794-8050

Telephone : 0809-301-9152

Website : www.osundefender.com/index.php

e-mail : osundefender@yahoo.com osundefenderbank@gmail.com

All correspondence to the above email addresses.

In another four years, all of those in the House of Assembly whose first job was to drop the Osun anthem, would have been consigned to dustbins in the affairs of Osun as nonentities.

Those who seek greatness serve the people. Nonentities engage in the mundane.

How Hospitality Business, Tertiary Institutions Aid Drug Abuse, Dealings In Osun

On Monday, June 26, being the Interna onal Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, the Na onal Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), said drug abuse was on the increase and fast becoming a threat than an cipated among young people in Osun State.

YUSUF OKETOLA finds out what is responsible for the trend and why it is prevalent among the youths in this special report.

DRUG abuse has remained a major threat to the wellbeing of individual and society at large. The current prevalence of drug and substance abuse has plagued society, caused its members to lose self-consciousness and led to mental disorders, death, addic on and other hardship.

The World Health Organiza on (WHO) defines drug and substance abuse as the harmful use of psychoac ve substances such as alcohol and illicit drugs. WHO in its 2019 reports stated that more than 2.6 million people in the 10 to 24-year age bracket die yearly from drug and substance abuse.

In spite of the relevant laws prohibi ng drug abuse, many Nigerians, especially the youths, indulge in drugs and substances. Osun is not le out in the menace. A sizeable number of residents of the state are into drug abuse.

Findings by OSUN DEFENDER revealed that some certain factors are responsible for prevalence of the drug abuse. Among the factors are the increasing hospitality business in the state. The advent of night clubs, lounge and beer palours is major contributor to rising drug abuse cases. Also, the establishment of ter ary ins tu ons (both public and private) with large student popula on is part of the reasons why drug abuse is prevalent in the state.

Osun is one of the states in the South-West with highest numbers of Higher Ins tu ons, a factor contribu ng to the high usage of illicit drugs and substance by the youth popula on in the state.

Some of the commonly consumed drugs and substance are cannabis sa va, diazepam, tramadol, methamphetamine, rophynol, benazine, skushie, molly, codin, among others. The drug users, according to findings, are migra ng from consump on of cannabis sa va (Indian Hemp) to illicit foreign drugs. “Only the

•Motorcyclists, Drivers Serving As Middlemen Between Sellers, Buyers

•Osogbo, Ejigbo, Ilesa, Ede, Ikirun Major Blackspots - NDLEA

bike man, that’s all, it become very difficult to arrest the main dealers.

Osogbo, Ejigbo, Ilesa Ede, Ikirun Major Blackspots

However, the NDLEA has iden fied some major towns in the state where drug dealings are on the high side.

Some of the places, according to NDLEA Commander are Oja-Oba and Old garage in Osogbo, Ikirun motor park, Ikirun, Ilesa, Ede, Ejigbo, Iragbiji among other major towns.

locals, the poor and lily-liver guys consume Indian hemp, the big guys take imported drugs, said Kenny, a socialite. But in spite of this, the cul va on of Indian hemp by some farmers in Osun remains an illegal booming business.

Inves ga ons by the medium revealed that about five years ago, there were just three notable night clubs and Lounge in Osogbo, where guys hangout to have fun. However, about 15 exis ng night clubs and lounge are currently exis ng in the state capital and 71 altogether across the state.

The figure excludes hotels opera ng clubs and lounge separately.

OSUN DEFENDER visited some of the night clubs in Osogbo, Ife, Ilesa and Ikire and observed the use of illicit drugs among young people between age 17- to 30 years. At the clubs, it is usually a field day for the drug users.

According to findings, there are also some hostels in Iree, Ife, Ilesa, Osogbo where students engage in consump on of illicit drugs.

It was gathered that some of the students are dealers of the drugs and substance. “Majority of the students don’t take Indian hemp, they take tablet and capsule”, said a student of Osun State University who claimed to be aware of drug abuse among some students at Oke-Baale area of Osogbo.

OSUN DEFENDER is aware of several raids on some hostels across the state where students engaged in illicit drug consump on.

Speaking on the prevalence of drug abuse in the state, the state Commander of NDLEA, Nnadi Chidi, confirmed that hospitality business and increasing number of ter ary ins tu ons are responsible for the menace.

This just as he stated that some drug users consider those taking Indian hemp as inferior to them because they take foreign drugs which are more po-

tent.

Chidi said: “Lately, we realised that there are some certain dangerous drugs that are not here before in the last five years but they are now in circula on now. Osun has always been known for cul va on of cannabis sa va and even the cul va on is done by nonindigenes who come from outside to cul vate here because of the fer le land and forest reserves we have.

“They do their cul vaon here and take the drug out of the state. Over me, as they come here to culvate, the indigenes have started taking a clue from it. Although, they engage the indigenes for manual labour. The indigenes have also started learning the business and also venturing.

“The last destruc on we did at Owenna was owned by an indigene. The indigenes have started culva ng too to the level of resis ng those coming from outside by claiming owners of the land and collect money from them if they want to stay. That actually started and has become a norm now that they call it local cannabis, that’s the one that is cul vated here.

“Even on the street when you here local within the drug users, they mean our local cannabis. Most of the local users don’t even use it anymore. They now see you as inferior because you use the local cannabis. They prefer the one that come from Canada and other African countries like Ghana, they call it ‘Loud’, ‘Skunk’, ‘Colorado’.

“They prefer to take those one because they see them as more potent. Those ones are laced with other

drugs to make it stronger and effec ve and the effec veness is more dangerous than our local cannabis. They have set our local ones aside and prefer to take loud.

“Before now, it was just the local cannabis that was within circula on here that people actually abused. Now, they have graduated to other stronger drugs”

Commercial Motorcyclists, Drivers As Middlemen Between Sellers, Buyer

Findings by OSUN DEFENDER revealed that commercial motorcyclists known as Okada riders and some drivers are the middle men between the dealers and consumers of the illicit drugs. For the imported drugs, the agent(s) of the dealer in Lagos usually take it to motor park and send them as message through the commercial driver to Osun. According to sources, some of the agents and dealers have permanent drivers they use to convey the drugs.

For interstate, the dealers circulate the drugs with the use of Okada riders and intracity vehicle operators who have been engaged for such business.

According to the NDLEA Commander, the drug dealers are very smart and skepcal to have direct contact in their dealings so as to not get caught.

He said: “The drug dealers are very smart. They don’t want to get directly or have direct contact in their dealings. They are always skep cal and afraid that we can set them up.

“What they do is to recruit Okada riders. There is an arrest we made a month ago, we had an intelligence that a certain cannabis is coming from Lagos. Our officers then intercepted the driver at Gbongan. The driver was shocked to see it was cannabis they packed for him when we opened the package.

“He said he was given N5,000 to deliver the message and he has the number of the person. From there, we did control delivery. That means the driver will pretend as if he’s going to deliver the message.

“When he got to Osogbo with our officers, he called the receiver of the message, but the receiver didn’t come, he sent a bike man.

“When the bike man came, we arrested him and upon further inves ga on, we found out he has been having same dealing with the drug dealers for long through his phone. Till now, we couldn’t get the main suspect.

“There are a lot of bike men like him in town because it is faster and it shield the main dealers. They are now like baron who stay behind the scene and other people play. If you arrest the

He said: “Most mes I directed my officers to do general dislodgement by going to the black spots and sludge the joint and pull the shan es down so as to let them relocate.

“We have a way of interrup ng the business so that they won’t get too comfortable and we always arrest some suspects with exhibits. Oja-Oba, Old garage, Osogbo have always been a major place and it is because of louts that hang around there and some of the drivers use some of these drugs too.

“Our officers, almost every week, raid motor parks at Ikirun, Iragbiji and two places in Ede. They just go there randomly to dislodged, arrest and to disperse them.

“Then, Ode-Omu and Ilesa; Ilesa right now is becoming a major issue. There was a me we went to Ilesa garage and they even resisted, Ife axis too even in Ila. Iwo and Ejigbo.

“In fact, one of the major drug dealers in the state is in Ejigbo, they call him Baraka. We have arrested him and he is currently facing a trial. You know something about the hotspots, whenever you arrest the leader, whoever that depu se him takes over. It’s like hierarchy.

“But for cul va on, we have always been arres ng suspects in Ikire, Apomu, Owenna and Ila. But somemes now, they have moved to neighboring states”.

The NDLEA Commander however admonished parents and guardian in the state to look a er their children and prevent them against the use of illicit drugs. He urged all stakeholders in Osun to join hand with the agency in the fight against drug abuse.

“One of the major drug dealers in the state is in Ejigbo, they call him Baraka. We have arrested him and he is currently facing a trial. You know something about the hotspots, whenever you arrest the leader, whoever that deputise him takes over. It’s like hierarchy”

Aregbesola Canvasses Liberalisation Of Nigeria’s Electoral Laws

Kazeem Badmus

•Wants INEC’s Voters’ Register Linked with NIN Database For Credible Elections

FORMER

Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf

Aregbesola, has canvassed for the liberalisaon of Nigeria’s Electoral Laws to ensure that it will no longer be mandatory for a party to have na onal spread in all states of the federa on before it can be registered to par cipate in elec ons.

Aregbesola made the call just as he urged the Independent Na onal Electoral Commission (INEC) to link its voters’ register with the database of Na onal Iden fica on Number (NIN) to forestall the challenges of credibility and transparency in Nigeria’s electoral process.

The former governor of Osun State spoke on Tuesday while presen ng lead paper tled “Towards Free, Fair and Credible Elec ons,” at the 7th Interna onal Conference of the Professional Sta s cians Society of Nigeria (PSSN), held at the Nasarawa State University, Keffi, Nasarawa State.

Aregbesola, according to a statement signed by his Media Adviser, Mr Sola Fasure, said space must be created to a reasonable extent to give people room to express their aspira ons.

He noted that although, there will be extreme, un-

reasonable and unrealisable aspira ons, nevertheless, people should have expressions within reasonable limits.

The ex-minister said: “In Britain, a party founded in February 2015, Cannabis Is Safer Than Alcohol (CISTA) contested that year’s general elec on. Its sole manifesto was the legalisa on of cannabis. It had 6,885 votes across the country.

It contested the London Mayoral elec on on May 5, 2016 and finished ninth out of 12 candidates with 20,537 votes in the first round.

“There is also a Legalise Cannabis Australia founded in 1993 with the sole objecve of legalising cannabis for personal, medical and medicinal use. It has seven of its members elected across Australia.

“Though I’m not advoca ng for these ideologies and as bizarre as these may sound to us, the democra c importance of it is that the party represents the aspira ons and expecta ons of some people. There are a thousand and one other issues, including secession, expulsion of foreigners, aboli on of police and other law enforcement agencies on which par es are formed.

“This is the democra c essence. The space must be created to a reasonable extent to give people room for the expression of their aspira ons. Of course, there will be extreme, unreasonable and unrealisable aspira ons, nevertheless, they should have expressions within reasonable limits.

“The process of counting votes and colla on of results should be transparent and the rules should be followed, to eliminate anything that can detract from the integrity of the elec on. In many cases, the elec on

will be smooth, but problems erupt during coun ng and colla on.

“We should avoid the cynical statement ascribed to Joseph Stalin that those who vote decide nothing; those who count the votes decide everything.”

Speaking on linking INEC voters register with NIN database, the former minister said it will automa cally bring an end to the era of underage vo ng and mul ple registra ons.

The two-term governor of Osun noted that appropriate sta s cs were key to the entrenchment of ac-

countability; the first step to achieving development.

He further stated; “I am sugges ng a more seamless registra on system that will be con nuous and terminates only few weeks before the elec on, to allow for compila on and prin ng of cards. This registra on should be synced with the Na onal Iden fica on Number (NIN).

“It will automa cally eliminate underage voters and the possibility of mulple registra ons. More importantly, people should be able to do the registra on online, on their own, just

like most applica on processes we have today. They should only go to INEC office for biometric data capture and card collec on.

“The second factor in the electoral process is the delinea on of vo ng cons tuencies and polling units. This should be popula on-based. There is also always chaos on elec on day as voters will be running helter-skelter, trying to find their polling units. There should be a system of no fica on or personal checks to enable voters know the exact unit where they will be vo ng and avoid this confusion.

“Thirdly, it appears for most part that agents of the poli cal par es don’t know what to do on elecon day and at the polling units. INEC should endeavour to train them on what specific roles they will play in elec ons.

“Fourthly, the logiscs should be smooth and seamless. In many instances, vo ng officials will arrive late or without the materials or the machines may just start malfunconing. Elec ons should start and end on schedule. Many voters are eventually disenfranchised due to late commencement of vo ng.”

Obituary

Bolaji Akanfe Ola, October 15, 1938 to May 8, 2023

Wale Fatade

NOTHING prepared me for a terse WhatsApp message on the night of Monday, May 8. “Good evening sir. To God be the glory. My dad passed on early today.” Sent 12 minutes before 11pm, I didn’t see it un l a er 11pm. Kunle, his third son, was the bearer of this bad news.

“Wow. Baba Ola? Dead?” was the only response I managed. I know all mortals will die but Baba Ola, as we call him in our family, was not scheduled to die now. Yes, in my mind, like us all, we have a metable of death. And Bolaji Akanfe Ola was not supposed to go on the day he breathed his last. My wife and our children were in Iwo during the Easter period but we could not join my parents to worship at the First Olukotun Bapst Church then. Baba Ola o wa le, replied my mother when I lamented that I missed seeing him. I le it at that hoping to meet him when next both of us will be around. That will be no more.

It has taken me me to process his death. Psychologists speak of denial of reality as a stage in grieving and I guess I’ve not exited it yet. How do you celebrate a man who loomed large in our lives as children and now as adults? How do you write about a man with whom you know where you stand? You see, no prevarica on with him. He wears his heart on his sleeves and he did not care what you think or say about his views or posi on on issues. As I remarked to my friend and his Dawodu, Kayode, Baba belonged to us all. Yes, he was not for the Ola of Ile Oloya alone,

he was my father, our father, and the Ajibade Fatade family’s father as well. Of course his life transcended his immediate family, what with a career in the defunct NEPA before becoming a lawyer and his short-lived foray into poli cs in the ill-fated Babangida transi on of the early 1990s.

Our lives intertwined, and s ll do, with his children at different levels: Kayode and I are contemporaries, Kolade is effec vely my mother’s son and served as the best man in my wedding over two decades ago travelling all the way from Gusau, Zamfara State for the ceremony while Kunle is friendly with my own brother, Adeniyi; though his main pal in the family is Bolarinwa. Tunde, the doctor is in the mix too while Femi bonds with Deola my youngest sister as both are lawyers. Beyond this, however, Baba Ola loved our family to a

hilt. I remember with nostalgia our trips from Iwo to Lagos in his car, the first in 1993 as a final year undergraduate and how he insisted in dropping me off at the University of Lagos though it was not exactly on his route. He later told my father, “I wanted to be sure where that boy was going.” We took many trips together and Baba loved to speed even a er he had an accident that ended with his car becoming a scrap. The fighter in him survived that crash only to resume his racing exploits when the roads were not as famished as they are now. Formula One drivers should be happy they didn’t encounter him as he would have beaten them hands down un l he stopped driving.

But we know his special love was reserved for Deola, a lawyer like him. On visits to our house before Deola’s face became a rarity

due to marriage, Baba would insist on being served whatever he wanted by his learned friend. While my sister completed NYSC and was wai ng for a job, he waxed a brief for her at the Iwo High Court and he paid her. She shared how Baba saw her at the court one day and waited for her own case to come up just to watch her offering insights on the case a er the session ended. Not without adding transport money for his daughter. To Deola too was the highest adula on a er we presented him a portrait for his birthday celebra on organised by the children.

He loved debates and was highly polemical, the lawyer in him usually surfacing and he must have been a wonderful advocate in court. Omo mi, ma da baba e lohun he would always remark whenever we sparred with my own father over poli cal issues, usually on January 1 when he comes on his usual new year visit to our house. Though his poli cal career was attenuated, or maybe s llbirth, he never shied from expressing his views whenever we spoke. O en my view tallied with his and we poked fun endlessly at Mr. Fatade.

His devo on to family was never in doubt and we can only pray that God grants Mama Ola, his spouse of nearly six decades, strength to cope with Baba’s exit. She deserves credit too, staying married to a strong man like Baba is a lesson in tenacity and pa ence. God bless you Mama.

Requiescat In Pace, Bolaji Akanfe Ola. Fatade, a journalist, is commissioning editor with The Conversa on Africa h ps://theconversa on.com/africa

•Former Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola in a group photograph with Professional Statisticians Society of Nigeria (PSSN), at the 7th International Conference of the Association, held at Nasarawa State University, Keffi, Nasarawa State on Tuesday.

•”Through the changing scenes of life”

Stop Chasing Shadow, Ex-Osun APC Chairman Tells Oyetola’s IleriOluwa Group

Kazeem Badmus

FORMER Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun State, Revd. Lowo Adebiyi, has cau oned members of former governor Adegboyega Oyetola-led IleriOluwa group on what he described as ceaseless a empt to blackmail former minister of interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola.

Adebiyi urged the IleriOluwa members to stop chasing shadow, saying their ‘poisonous ac ons and behaviour’ destabilise the party and costed it electoral victories.

The former chairman was reac ng to reports by the IleriOluwa group that Governor Ademola Adeleke rewarded Aregbesola by nomina ng two former members of defunct The Osun Progressive (TOP) for commissioner posi on as a compensa on for suppor ng him during the elec on.

Adebiyi clarified that the nomina on of the two persons, Barr. Kolapo Alimi and Dr Biyi Odunlade, has nothing to do with Aregbesola, describing those linking him with the appointment as blackmailers.

Adebiyi in a statement made available to OSUN DEFENDER on Wednesday, said the Alimi and Odunlade’s nomina on was not connected with the defunct TOP or Aregbesola.

He explained that Alimi is a member of the Peoples Democra c Party (PDP) while it had also been speculated that Odunlade had joined PDP some months ago.

According to the former APC chairman, reports that they were “compensated” as being circulated in some quarters were baseless and untrue, describing it as a plot by the IleriOluwa group to further paint the former Minister of Interior and his loyalists black before ra onal members of the party.

He said: “We had for long no ced the wicked moves by the IleriOluwa gladiators to con nue their fruitless onslaught on Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola with the inten on of pain ng him black before well-meaning and ra onal leaders and members of the APC.

“But as they con nue

in their evident journey of poli cal perdi on, so is Aregbesola’s popularity soaring. We advise the IleoriOluwa gladiators to stop chasing shadow.”

The former APC chairman stated further:

“A lot of specula ons and deliberate misinforma on had been made by the electorally injured group, Ilerioluwa within our party, the APC, with a view to affix the reason for their self-imposed defeat on TOP.

“We of the defunct TOP had evidently rebuffed all the baseless and mindless poli cal accusa ons against us by those who had and are s ll making mess of the once upon a me viable APC in the state.

“We note that the sponsored report on the appointment of both Alimi and Dr Biyi Odunlade is another a empt of the failed mission to blackmail us.

“Hon. Biyi Odunlade was speculated to have joined PDP in not too distant past and it would

be recalled that TOP had been dissolved since last year, hence it may be an academic exercise to categorically state correctly his status poli cally.

“Of course, we can’t deny the fact that the two gentlemen were

TOP members, but we state in categorical terms that they must have earned their nomina ons by their merits and not on behalf of defunct TOP or as a “compensa on” as mischievously reported by the

pro-IleriOluwa caucus reporters.

“We reiterate that this is yet another opportunity for the poli cal loafers in Ilerioluwa group to attempt to blackmail defunct TOP mem-

bers and Aregbesola, and we are not in any doubt that they will con nue to agonise over their woeful but avoidable loss of the July 16, 2022 governorship and the 2023 general elec ons.”

Osun Anthem Not Discarded – Speaker

•Osun PDP Completes What Oyetola Started – Fasure

•Continued from page 1

ifica ons about the Osun State Anthem, Crest and Flag Bill 2023.

“The proposed law makes provision for the Osun Anthem and the anthem is contained in Schedule 1 of the proposed law;

“The proposed law recognises the Nigerian Na onal Flag and Coat of Arms as the only Flag and Crest to be used at all public spaces in the State;

“The proposed law seeks to revert the name of our State to its cons tuonal name - Osun State;

“The proposed law seeks to change the descrip ve name of our State’s Assembly to “Osun State House of Assembly”;

“The proposed law seeks to comply with a decision of the Federal High Court, which is yet to be set aside by our appellate court.

“Essen ally, the proposed Law is there to make the iden ty and insignia of Osun State be in tandem with the provisions of extant laws.”

Osun PDP Completes What Oyetola Started – Fasure

Reac ng to the repeal of the law on State Anthem, Crest and Coat of Arm, Media Adviser to former minister of interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, Mr Sola Fasure, said the Peoples Democra c Party (PDP) led government in the state is not solely responsible for the reversal of some of his principal’s legacies.

According to Fasure, former governor Adegboyega Oyetola, who Aregbesola handed power to, had started the destrucon of his predecessor’s legacies.

Fasure said Oyetola’s administra on reversed the school reclassifica on, single school uniform and parliamentary system for the local government administra on in the state.

The Media Adviser, who Spoke on Rave FM’s Frank Talk Programme in Osogbo, yesterday, stated that he was not surprised to see the PDP comple ng what Oyetola started.

He stated: The deconstruc on had actually begun with our successor’s (Oyetola) administra on, the same APC. What the PDP had done is the comple on of what successive APC administra on started.

“The desconsctruc-

on started when the last administra on started reversing educa on policies of Aregbesola’s administraon. And they went as far as taking pupil out of new schools and took them back to dilapidated schools without furniture, just to depopulate the school.

“Officials of that government even started the talks on ‘there is nothing like State of Osun’, but they did not have the liver to do what the PDP has done now. When an enemy stabs you on the chest, you wont be as pained as when a brother stabs you in the back

“What PDP has done is an opposi on, what the opposi on does is to downplay your achievement and amplifier your mistakes, and if possible to maximally deconstruct you.

“But of course by doing that, they are also defining their own administra on and let just see how that play well for them when they are ready for re-elecon.”

Osun APC are ba ling with witchcra

“It is a case of approbaon and reproba on. This people we are saying said they did not need him (Aregbesola), that he was not important in the poli cs of the state, that they can win elec on without him. And truth to that, when they cons tuted the elec on council, they didn’t include him and any of his followers then and when they contested the elec on they lost.

Presiden al Campaign Council in the state and they did not include him or any of his people. They contested the elec on and lost. They are now turn around to blame him, that they lost because he worked against them. You said you didn’t need somebody to win, and you later come around to say you lost because he worked against you. That is the defini on of witchcra

•Continued on page 7

Speaking on alleged collabora on of Aregbesola with Governor Ademola Adeleke for the July 16, 2022 governorship elec on, Fasure said members of the Oyetolaled Ilerioluwa camp of the

“A er that, Aregbesola reached out to them and they felt that they should work together, all the TOP tendency and parallel structure were dissolved so that they can work together for the general elecon. But their posi on was the same that they didn’t need him.

“They cons tuted the

“The truth is, Aregbesola has no poli cal rela onship or cooperaon with the PDP, it is not impossible that individual within his supporters would had collaborated with the PDP in one way or the other, but neither the defunct TOP nor Aregbesola had any relaonship absolutely with PDP.”

•Accountability of Civil Society on Malaria Control, Immunization and Nutrition (ACOMIN) Osun Chairman Ambassador Aremu Stephen Akinyele (middle), and partners at the Advocacy Visit on Drug Availability at Health Facilities to the Director Pharmacies, Ministry of Health, Dr A. Adedeji on Wednesday. Photo Shola Aderinto

•Egbedun

APC Crisis: Omisore Berates Lukman Over Continuous Attack On Him, Adamu

HE Na onal Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Iyiola Omisore, has de-

scribed the Na onal Vice Chairman, North-West of the party, Mallam Salihu Lukman, as a loose cannon and the ‘black sheep’ of the party.

Omisore, in an interview on Channels Television’s popular poli cal programme, Poli cs Today, on Tuesday, said Lukman likes to cry wolf where there is

none.

The APC scribe also denied the existence of some disgruntled members who want the Na onal Chairman of the party, Senator

Abdullahi Adamu, removed from its leadership.

It would be recalled that Lukman had at different occasions accused Omisore and Adamu of misappropri-

UNIOSUN Student Conspires With Boyfriend, Steals N1.5m From Online Lover

TYusuf Oketola Yusuf Oketola

A17-year-old student of Osun State University (UNIOSUN), Ikire Campus, Victory Ahiante, has been paraded by the state Police Command for allegedly conspiring with her boyfriend to steal a sum of N1.5m from her social media friend.

Ahiante was paraded alongside two other suspects involved in the case, Ayobami Ariyo (32) and Opeyemi Adeleke (24) at the State Police Command in Osogbo, on Tuesday.

This is just as Osun State University Management suspended Ahiante for her alleged involvement in the crime.

The Commissioner Of Police, Mr Kehinde Longe, during the press briefing, said Ahiante’s vic m reported the case on June 28, 2023 at Ikire Police Division

that.

According to Longe, the vic m complained that he met one Victory Ahiante on social media and started

cha ng, then he was invited to come to Osun from Lagos by her.

The CP stated that when the complainant arrived

Ikire, Ahiante lured him to her boyfriend’s house where he met some unscrupulous elements who a acked him and collected

1500 Residents Benefit From Osun Lawmaker’s Medical Outreach

Yusuf Oketola

NO fewer than 1500 residents of Olaoluwa local government area of Osun State benefited from the free eye medical outreach organised by the Deputy Chief Whip of the state House of Assembly, Hon. Biodun Ibrahim.

The programme, according to Ibrahim, will be a con nuous project, noting that it is in line with Governor Ademola Adeleke’s aim to expand quality healthcare to the people of the state.

He made this known yesterday while kickstar ng the programme at Medical Health Centre, Telemu.

The Deputy Chief Whip noted that the medical outreach was cogent to his people, saying many of them were facing eye challenges due to rural implicaons on their health.

He asserted that he is commi ed to the wellbeing of his cons tuents while promising that they should expect many goodies as dividend of democracy.

Ibrahim said: “Basically,

the arrangement for the program is as a result of what I have witnessed in the cons tuency. I was also prompted due to the fact that many of our people are facing different health challenges, especially eye problems due to the rural implica on on their health.

“In addi on, the project is promoted to compliment and in support of the line already created by Senator Ademola Adeleke which aims to expand quality health to the good people of Osun.

“This is going to be a

con nuous project which will be coming in batches, however, the kickoff targets 1500 beneficiaries and more in the subsequent me.

“My major expectaon at the end of this programme is seeing my people being healthy and as I have said earlier, it’s a con nuous project.”

his phone which they used to transfer the sum of N1.5m from his account.

Longe stressed that immediately the case was reported, police detec ves swung into ac on and arrested the suspects.

He stated that efforts were ongoing to arrest other culprits, adding that the suspects will be charged to court a er comple on of inves ga on.

Narra ng how the vicm was robbed, Ahiante said a er the facebook lover came to Ikire, she invited him to the same house where she resided with his boyfriend.

Ahiante explained that her boyfriend and his friends robbed the vic m of his phone and transferred over N1.5m out of his account.

“My boyfriend le the house to allow my WhatsApp friend to come in, a er few minutes, he returned with many guys, they beat him, stripped him naked, collected his phone and they claimed he wanted to rape me. Then they told me to leave the scene.”

When asked if she was aware that the sum of N1.5m was transferred out from the vic m’s account, Ahiante who claimed she was not aware, however, confessed that she received N40,000 from his boyfriend a er the incident.

a on and running the party like a garrison commander.

But Omisore denied the allega on, describing Lukman like a loose cannon.

He said: “What else do you want us to do to him – beat or kill him? When you listen to people like Lukman, you won’t know what is happening. This is your Lukman that doesn’t a end mee ngs. He is acting as a loose cannon.

“The NWC members are 25 and only one person, Lukman, has wri en so many le ers, which bothered on ignorance on his part. About two months ago, he came to apologise and held a press conference to say he wasn’t well informed about what he did. All he said were things done within the party. He never a ends party meetings.”

When asked if he was aware many APC supporters and NWC members wanted Adamu to be kicked out of the party, the former deputy governor of Osun State dismissed the report.

Omisore also berated those secretly backing or standing by Lukman’s philosophy, saying they are ‘cowards.’

“We are not aware of any. But know that they are cowards too. There are cowards everywhere. So, it is not impossible. But the point is that out of 25 members of the NWC, only one person is the ‘black sheep.’

“He is just used to doing the ran ngs. There is nothing special about it. This was somebody who came to apologise openly at a press conference. How can you take someone like that seriously?” he added

Court Jails 5 Over Land Dispute In Osogbo

Kofoworola Obisesan

AMagistrate Court, si ng in Osogbo, Osun State capital, has convicted five persons on a land dispute ma er.

The convict, Chief David Iyiola, Olaide Makinde (61), Lukuman Agboola (35), Prince Raji Popoola (62) and Rasaki Suleman (40), were jailed for forcefully entering a land at Amulegboro, Oke-Baale, Osogbo which belong to Adetunbi and Okunmuyibo family.

The convicts were also jailed for threatening the life of the complainants, Rasaki Adebayo and Waheed Adetunbi with dangerous weapon such as cutlasses and knives.

According to the charge sheet, the convict conducted themselves in

a manner likely to cause breach of peace by harassing and in mida ng Adebayo and Adetunbi, just as they were also charged for misdemeanor.

They were also charged and convicted for forcefully entering a land at Amulegboro, OkeBaale, Osogbo, which belong to one Akeem Agbaje.

The charge sheet made available to OSUN DEFENDER yesterday indicated that the accused persons commi ed the offence some mes in 2017 at Amulegboro, Oke-Baale, Osogbo.

The convicts pleaded not guilty to the charges when they were arraigned on March 16, 2021.

But the Magistrate, Mrs O.A Oloyade found

them guilty and convicted them on eight count charges.

Magistrate Oloyade sentenced them to 12 calendar months on each of the charges they were convicted on, just as he ordered that the jail term should run concurrently.

However, the magistrate gave them an opon of N20,000 fine to be paid by individual on each of the charges.

•Hon. Biodun Ibraheem interacting with a doctor during the programme.

WE have arrived at an age where ideology in governance and all -isms ma er less and the difference today is simply between those who care and those who do not care (about humanity). Yet, without humanitarian principles, on which the concept of democracy is based as the best form of government on earth to deliver the wishes and aspira ons of the majority, universal chaos is inevitable. Today, regional conflicts, anomy, wars, crime, banditry, terrorism, corrup on, etc are more predominant than during the so-called “cold war” era. The escape from sharp divides and contest between governance doctrines of those who love the people and those who don’t give a damn about them has not helped the world a single bit. Accordingly, in Nigeria today, we all seem to have been scammed into agreeing to the fact that subsidy on PMS in Nigeria is a scam that must go without any regards to how it should go, simply on account of the fact that sharp prac ces of oil marketers and smuggling of subsidized fuel across our borders have made con nuous subsidy on petrol unreasonable.

Capitalizing on this pedestrian mentality without interroga ng why and how we have failed to refine locally or man our borders - with billions of dollars commi ed, a very clever Senator Ahmed Bola Tinubu in his inaugural speech on the 29th May, 2023 as the 16th President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, pronounced, “the fuel subsidy is gone” and two days a er, 31st May, a new regime of subsidy removal commenced with Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) also known as fuel/petro started selling for N500 against the earlier N195 per litre.

Before the eventual subsidy removal, there were no examina on and queries on the state of our four refineries that produce no single drop of fuel while huge money is regularly injected into them tagged “Turn Around Maintenance” with their workers collec ng salaries and allowances every month for fuel not refined. It is a shame that Nigeria, a leading member of OPEC, could not have a func onal refinery for its local oil consump on. Rather than a declara on of state of emergency in the oil sector with processes ini ated to make people in charge accountable for na onal economic sabotage, and a holis c overhaul for effecveness of border controls with zero tolerance for corrup on, the easiest and most an -people, pro-elite, pro-foreign masters op on was adopted and because of parsan and primordial disposi ons rooted in ignorance, most ci zens are railroaded through vile propaganda into senseless and self immola ng acquiescence, resignaon or helpless agonizing and grumbling, presently, all of which will inevitably lead to a ghastly unraveling unless the regime retraces its step and embraces some social protec ons and social engineering that will allow it achieve its eli st ends but with a human face.

Of many possible op ons for ending the subsidy as soonest as possible in a way that punishes the guilty and makes

Activating Misery In The Midst Of Plenty

“When a government subsidies energy, it’s not playing to be a Father Chrismas to its citizens; it’s only shielding its citizens of pain and at the same time boosting the economy which will eventually translate into socio-economic upliftment and happiness of its people. It is a major social protection programme”

live easy for the innocent, the ruling elite couldn’t even contrive some possible and temporary logis c arrangement with the Dangote refinery, which had been commissioned, and the public made to believe it is almost ready for local fuel refining and supply. This, among many humanitarian op ons, was not considered by the new government but an offensive was launched on the people, especially the poor, with government allies in the media churning out blackmails and sen mental propaganda that focus only on one side of the story (subsidy is overdue for removal), appealing to people to persevere and make sacrifice with the new painful reality (the same of the same appeal since the age long “austerity measure”) while the ruling elite connue with their flamboyance – moving with fleets of convoys and appoin ng numerous aides with juicy salaries and allowances, junke ng around the world.

As against the seemly commenda on from some quarters praising President Tinubu for taking a bold step in removing fuel subsidy which the former President Buhari couldn’t do, we are now informed that Ex-President Buhari delayed fuel subsidy removal to allow APC win the 2023 general elec ons. Otherwise, protest against its removal would have made opposi ons win. This revela on alone reveals the low level of thinking of the ruling elite. In 2016, we were told the fuel ‘subsidy is gone’ when President Buhari regime jacked up the price of PMS from N87 to N145 which immediately catapulted infla on into double digit, depressed the economy and forced it into recession, ruining lives of many poor people who were already overburdened and trauma zed as a result of successive ruling elite neo-liberal policies. At that me, we were told the price of fuel would

“No government, globally, allows its citizens to bear full cost of energy especially as no economy can survive high cost of energy borne by the people. For productivity and economy stabilisation, over $1 trillion was spent on subsidy on fossil fuel consumption internationally in 2022. In 2022 alone, China subsidised energy with $130 billion and this year 2023, it will spend 5billion Euro to subsidize energy for its industrial output aside independent subsidy budgeted on housing and food”

come down once there is compe on among the marketers like it’s happening in the telecommunica on sector as if it’s same with energy.

The above situa on will again revisit us, as the price of petrol will keep increasing (never decreasing) as it is let loose to the vagaries of blind interna onal market forces. We may witness as high as N1,000 per litre even before end of the year! There is no date in sight for stable and improved electricity supply, the tariff is being proposed to be increased; the Naira has been let loose to find its values, and it’s on its way down too; and the funding of public ter ary educa on is about to be abandoned while selling an improbable and doomed-on-arrival students loans scheme. The implica on for knowledge and skills acquisi on, all imported goods and services, interna onal flights and others are clear, as well as consequent flare-up in criminality and insecurity that has already reached a grave propor on.

No government, globally, allows its cizens to bear full cost of energy especially as no economy can survive high cost of energy borne by the people. For produc vity and economy stabiliza on, over $1 trillion was spent on subsidy on fossil fuel consump on interna onally in 2022. In 2022 alone, China subsidized energy with $130 billion and this year 2023, it will spend 5billion Euro to subsidize energy for its industrial output aside independent subsidy budgeted on housing and food. When a government subsidies energy, it’s not playing to be a Father Charismas to its ci zens; it’s only shielding its ci zens of pain and at the same me boos ng the economy which will eventually translate into socioeconomic upli ment and happiness of its people. It is a major social protec on programme.

In Nigeria, the opposite is the case. If there is corrup on in the administra on and implementa on of subsidy of fuel, is decapita ng the common man’s head the an dote to that headache? Which area of our lives is not corrupt? Why should the poor be made to bear the brunt of the corrup on of the elite in oil sector? By far, the money stolen from government purse and the humongous cost of running an over bloated government (execu ve, legislature and government agencies) is far in excess

“As things stand, no amount of billions of naira deployed in palliatives or percentage increase in workers’ salaries could obliterate the pain inflicted on the people. How many people are workers placed on salaries? What becomes of non-salary earners – artisans, farmers, students, unemployed, etc?”

of the amount being used to subsidize petrol import that should never be imported in the first place but for the same government and elite corrup on! Will the Custom Service that is not able to stop smuggling hitherto now be able to stop smuggling when petrol becomes N700 in Cotonou, Lome and Cameroon; and when we raise it to N700 in Nigeria it gets to N1,000 equivalent out there, and we keep chasing the outside price because of smuggling that Custom cannot stop? What manner of governance sense is that?

Our economy is majorly informal with small scale business domina ng. What do you use to run this business in the absence of stable and affordable electricity? Petrol and diesel. Oil subsidy removal is like removing from the people the only important government interven on in their lives as it is almost the only area where government subsidies everybody. Now, people could not go to work every day again because of prohibi ve transport fare; there is infla on and high cost of living; companies are shutng down, small scale businesses are finding it difficult to survive. Dr. Femi Egbesola, the President of the Associa on of Small Business Owners of Nigeria (ASBON) has lamented that the hike in the pump price of fuel has led to a sharp drop in sales and produc on, decrease in liquidity as small businesses no longer running at profit level, resul ng to job losses and closure. According to Na onal Bureau of Sta s cs (NBS), these small scale businesses being threatened by fuel subsidy removal are critical to Nigeria’s economic development as they have contributed over 48% to the Naonal Gross Domes c Product (GDP) in the last seven years. How could a blessing we are endowed with – crude oil - be turned curse? Unfortunately, amidst this suffering and radical push of more people into the poverty index, the poor working people are stranded as tradi onal trade unions like NLC and TUC who used to organise and lead them to protest against such an evil policy have hibernated. As things stand, no amount of billions of naira deployed in pallia ves or percentage increase in workers’ salaries could obliterate the pain inflicted on the people. How many people are workers placed on salaries? What becomes of non-salary earners – ar sans, farmers, students, unemployed, etc? If the truth must be said, hunger, anger and frustra on are rapidly on the rise but are being bottled in the absence of leadership; they will definitely explode at a par cular stage as nothing can stand on nothing. Civil Society Coali ons must brace up to fill the vacuum created by the capitula on of tradi onal trade unions so as to be in charge when the bubble eventually bursts to avoid acephalous situa on that characterized #EndSARS Protests.