Osun Defender Online Version of June 4, 2021

FRIDAY, JUNE 04 - THURSDAY, JUNE 10, 2021 VOL 16 NO 20

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PREVIEW

‘The Rauf I know’ is an account of the sacrifice Ogbeni made before, during, and after his tenure as Governor of the State of Osun. A legacy and platform which subsequent administrations will no doubt find easy to build upon. A sacrifice that if not made, will for years to come leave governance at the mercy of the reactionaries while the progressives take the back seat

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Controversies In UNIOSUN Teaching Hospital •CMD: I Was Not Queried How Residents, Police Foiled 2 Bank Raids In Ikire, Apomu •7 Killed, Several Injured

Transportation, Insecurity, Cause Of Hike In Foodstuffs’ Prices – Dealers

Ago, •A Bag2 Weeks Of Rice That Was Sold At N24,000 Now Costs N26,500

• A Bag Of Garri, Sold At

N10,000 Two Weeks Ago Is Now N15,000 Ismaeel Uthman

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OCAL security operatives and men of the Nigeria Police Force successfully foiled an attempt by dare-devil armed robbers to raid two different commercial banks in Ikire and Apomu of

Irewole and Isokan Local Government Council areas respectively on Wednesday evening.

But the foiled operations were not without casualties on the sides of both the Police and •Continued on page 7

Page 2

•Selective Overtime Allowances Payment Bursts Bubbles

SEE EDITORIAL ON PAGE 3

FOOD ITEMS MARKET PRICE INDEX RICE

2 WEEKS AGO N 750

BEANS (OLOYIN)

N 900

BEANS (WHITE)

N 750

N 800

GARRI

N 400

N 500

A TUBER OF YAM

N 600/700

N 1,000

YAM FLOUR (WHITE)

N 250

N 350

N 300/400

N 400/500

(BLACK)

AT PRESENT N 800/850

N 1,000/1,100

#EndSARS Protests Embolden Criminals To Attack Police – Olokode, Osun CP Page 2

We’re Out To Consolidate Progressive Legacy – TOP

Page 5

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News

Controversies In UNIOSUN Teaching Hospital Ismaeel Uthman

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SUN State University Teaching Hospital (UNIOSUNTH), formerly known as Ladoke Akintola University of Technology Teaching Hospital, is in the eye of the storm, following the discovery of a reported ‘illegitimate’ payment of Overtime Allowances to some selected staff members of the hospital.

The overtime allowance, according to sources in the Ministry of Finance and UNIOSUNTH, had been cancelled since 2016 by the State Government, during the regime of the hospital’s existence as Ladoke Akintola University of Technology Teaching Hospital (LAUTECHTH).

But some workers of the UNIOSUNTH allegedly manipulated the government and continued to collect the overtime allowances till it was discovered in March this year.

Findings by OSUN DEFENDER revealed that some workers in the office of the Chief Medical Director and others in Accounts, Audit, Environment, Store were beneficiaries of the overtime payment.

It was gathered that the Overtime allowances were always prepared with monthly salaries of the workers, against the established practice that it should be paid based on the hours spent by each of the workers on the extra time spent at work.

Sources in the UNIOSUNTH confided in the medium that some of senior staff members, who are not entitled to the overtime allowances were also benefiting from it.

Investigations revealed that a consultancy firm, Chams, engaged by the government for automated salary payment of the state’s workers, discovered the anomalies while screening the UNIOSUNTH’s salary in March.

According to sources, the overtime allowances payment gulped over N4million monthly.

It was said that the overtime allowances became regularised in 2017 for the beneficiaries as they collected it with their salaries.

The medium gathered that the AuditorGeneral of the state, Mr. Folorunsho Adesina, has issued a query to the Chief Medical Director of the UNIOSUNTH, Prof.

Peter Olaitan, to explain

•(L-R) Alhaji Azeez Adesiji, Deputy Chairman, Osun All Progressives Congress (APC), Rev. Adelowo Adebiyi, Chairman, The Osun Progressives (TOP), Hon. Rasaq Sanisile, State Secretary, APC, Mr. Gbenga Akano, Esq, Former Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Adelani Baderinwa, former Special Adviser on Commerce, Cooperative and Empowerment, Com. Gbenga Awosode and former Commissioner for Youths, Sports and Special Needs, Mr. Biyi Odunlade, during a press conference organised

by TOP in Osogbo, on Tuesday.

Photo: Olushola Aderinto

why and how it was possible for the workers to manipulate the hospital to fix and be collecting the overtime allowances years after it had been stopped.

The query, according to the sources, was issued on Thursday, May 27, 2021.

One of the sources said: “There is controver-

sy over payment of overtime allowance to some people here (UNIOSUNTH). What we knew was that payment of overtime had been stopped by the government in 2016, due to the poor financial status of the state.

“We did not know some people were collecting it until it was discovered in March this

year. How the beneficiaries of the overtime allowance were able to continue collecting the money till 2021 is what we don’t know. We heard it was Chams that discovered the matter.”

Another source said: “The overtime allowances issue is what could be described as ‘top secret’, because even now,

after the fraud has been discovered, the people involved are still covering the matter. They don’t want us to know.

But there is nothing like secret in a public workplace.

“It is true that the State Government directed that payment of overtime allowances be stopped in 2016, and this

#EndSARS Protests Embolden Criminals To Attack Police Olokode spoke on Tues- against officers and men of – Olokode, Osun CP day while featuring on a the force.

Kazeem Badmus

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HE Commissioner of Police in the State of Osun, Mr. Olawale Olokode has said that the #EndSARS protests that took place last year was responsi-

ble for the current attacks on policemen and police facilities across the country.

According to Olokode, the #EndSARS protests emboldened hoodlums and other criminals to attack police formations in the country.

Current Affairs programme of Osun State Broadcasting Corporation (OSBC).

The Police Commissioner said: “There is a kind of hatred for the Police, and many false reports and allegations had been levelled

Symbol’s Quote

“Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.

Everyone should be sensitive to and watchful of developments around them, especially matters that should be of security concern”

“Some bad members of the public are now emboldened to face any uniformed agents, be it military or police, irrespective, whether they are carrying arms or not.”

He however cautioned those with a mindset of attacking the Police to desist, stating that police officers will not fold their arms anymore.

He said: “The action of these hoodlums is at the expense of their lives because the Inspector-General of Police has given a directive that police officers should also protect their own lives when under attack.

“Look at the #EndSARS saga when people confronted the Police, killed and destroyed police facilities.

“Those that want to attack or vent their anger on the Police should think twice now because officers have been instructed to protect their lives as their lives are also important too.

“The IG has also said we should not fold our arms and be killed by attacking hoodlums.”

Olokode said police stations, barracks and offices have been fortified and that security architecture had also been strengthened and increased in the state.

people continued to pay themselves up till 2021 before Chams discovered it. I think it is a caucus matter. You could only have benefitted if you belong to the caucus.

“When Chams discovered the illegitimate payment of the overtime allowances in March, it came to the attention of the UNIOSUNTH Accountant, Mr. Banji Ajiteru, who reportedly stated that he did not know anything about it.

“The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance has also been informed and she categorically stated that overtime allowances had been stopped in 2016.”

“Overtime allowances are meant for junior workers but some people on levels 13, 14 and 15 were found to be collecting the allowances.

Some workers that are on leave were even being paid overtime allowances. That is nothing but fraud.”

However, one of the beneficiaries of the overtime allowance, who prayed not to be named, stated that the allowances are legitimate and deserving, just as he said it was never stopped by the government.

According to him, the beneficiaries of the allowance could not pay themselves, noting that a supervisor or a head of department in the UNIOSUNTH would only recommend a worker to be paid overtime allowance because of the nature of his (the worker’s) job.

He added that payment of the allowances is subject to the approval of the CMD, even as he stated that some of them were being underpaid.

The worker said: “There is nothing like fraud in the overtime allowances payment. It is legitimate and those of us that are collecting the allowances deserve them.

“I need to establish a fact that as at the time the allowances were said to have been stopped, UNIOSUNTH was LAUTECHTH, which was enjoying autonomy.

“The fact that the Government of the State of Osun directed the stoppage of overtime allowances payment for the state workers does not mean it was binding on the LAUTECHTH, because we enjoyed autonomy and belonged to two states.

“Another issue is that some of us work on weekends, some others work till midnight in the hos•Continued on page 7

PEOPLE FIRST

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BY JAMES ASHIPA

Between Insecurity And The Return Of Tolling Hobbesian State Of Nature “We must at every

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ROWD pleasing populism defying as it often does commonsense never lasts. By now, the tolling of roads should have entrenched in the fiscal landscape as a matter of course. Belatedly, after twists and turns detrimental to infrastructure building and maintenance, the acceptance of tolling is back.

The Federal Government is resolute that tolling will return to the highways after their concessioning. Seventy-five companies have already submitted concessioning bids for twelve highways under the first phase of the Highway Development Management Initiative (HDMI).

This is a welcome policy thrust which should be carried out with the utmost transparency.

Those who have reservations should be encouraged to use with the cooperation of the relevant agencies the Freedom of

point dispel the illusion that government has limitless funds, no government has.”

Information Act. A proper tolling system must have the interests of the consumer and safety at its core.

The concessioner must accept legal liability for the consequences of inadequate maintenance leading to injury or death in line with international best practices.

We are in full alignment with the policy thrust. We must at every point dispel the illusion that government has limitless funds, no government has. Paying for services is the only way we can bridge our excruciating infrastructure deficit. This is a first step on the right lines.

Rising Commodities Prices

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PART from the official statistics, it is clear that purchasing power is now constantly been eroded because of escalating food prices. With so many under, unemployed and marginalised something has to be done. The usual suspects we already know: dislocation to the agro - economy due to rising insecurity, the infrastructure deficit, antediluvian farming practices, paucity of capital and so forth.

The government will do well to accept the depth of the crises in order to tackle it. In the first instance, the President has already indicated a greater intensity in the war against insecurity and this is to be welcomed.

Other structural dysfunctions must be tackled at the root. For example, the country must consider at State and local government level revitalisation of the rural roads scheme associated with the Babangida military

government. Without the construction of rural roads, commodities will continue to perish due to lack of storage facilities thereby providing a disincentive to output.

Furthermore, we really must put together commodity exchanges to modulate prices, build up emergency buffers and ensure minimum guaranteed farm gate prices to the farmers. Commodity exchanges (then known as Boards) were very effective tools in the 1950s, they were vital in modernising agriculture and in transiting subsistence farmers into commercial farming. Finally, we have to rework the financing model for agriculture.

In this intolerable situation, governments must work out immediate, short, medium and long term solutions. The social structure is too fragile at the moment to withstand the current level of food price inflation.

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HAPTER II Section 14 (2)(b) of disease to other parts of the country and the Nigerian 1999 Constitution has become replicated into various variprovides that “the security and ants such as banditry, insurgency et al. It welfare of the people shall be the prima- is almost a Frankenstein Monster threatry purpose of government” and to fur- ening the peace of our dear country. In ther put the centrality of security in the the North-West, FCT and North Central, front burner, the ruling All Progressives students of secondary and tertiary instiCongress (APC), in addition to fighting tutions are being freely kidnapped and against corruption and improving the either released on payment of ransoms economy, added the provision of secu- or killed thus forcing the closure of most rity to Nigerians amongst its cardinal educational institutions in those parts. programmes.

The South-East is almost in conflagraHowever, our existential reality to- tion as a result of the daily burning of day is that insecurity is on the rise and correctional centres, police stations and criminal elements have almost over- INEC offices, as well as the killing of sewhelmed our security agencies by be- curity personnel. The activities of noning so audacious and bold in their evil state actors and separatist movements, machinations and operations; thus (ESN, IPOB, MASSOB, OPC, PANDEV, making Nigeria to be sliding into the and ACF), are becoming rife in every Hobbesian state of nature, where life nooks and crannies of our country, as was nasty, brutish and short. there are calls for a rearrangement of Unlike in the past when one could the country. The state of insecurity in travel to any location Nigeria is accompaat any time under “In the face of the height- nied with unpleaspeaceful and serene ened insecurity in Niger- ant consequences conditions, the situalike high food prices tion today has taken ia, several suggestions as farmer/herder a deadly and dan- have been made on how clashes keep escalatgerous dimension as ing; adverse effect on people now embark to restore lasting peace in educational develon rigorous prayer the country ” opment as foreign and fasting before research fellows are embarking on any journey so as not to no longer enthusiastic to visit the counbecome victims of kidnapping, banditry try; dwindling foreign direct investment and other criminal activities. Back then, (FDI) due to reluctant investors who are it was common practice to travel by scared of losing their investments etc. ‘night flight’, which was a popular euIn the face of heightened insecurity in phemism that meant travelling by night Nigeria, several suggestions have been bus and also it was such fun to travel made on how to restore lasting peace in

by Katsina State Transport Authority the country. One of such solutions is the (KSTA) buses from Kaduna to Katsina increasing call for a national dialogue in the company of ordinary Nigerians on security. Following the murder of his who were always unassuming, loving senior security adviser (Rtd. AIG Chris and accommodating.

Dega), the Benue State Governor, SamuSadly, terrorism that started in the el Ortom reiterated his call for a national North-East has spread like a cancerous security conference to discuss the insecurity in the country just as other high profile political office holders have also clamoured for dialogue on the way forward.

Publisher – Moremi Publishing Another suggestion House Ltd. being canvassed to tackle Deputy Editor – Ismaeel Uthman insecurity in Nigeria is to (0805-121-2204) strive to answer the quesProduc on Editor – Petkola Taiwo Ibitowa tion by Professor DudReporter – Yusuf Oketola ley Seers about what is Reporter – Kazeem Badmus happening to inequality, Photo Journalist – Olushola Aderinto poverty and unemployComputer Graphics – Zainab Olalere ment in the affirmative so OSUN DEFENDER is published by Moremi Publishing as to erase her current unenviable title of the ‘povHouse Limited, Promise Point Building, Opposite Guarantee Trust Bank (GTB), Gbogan Road Osogbo, erty capital’ of the world because she has a large State of Osun retinue of unemployed ISSN : 0794 – 8050 youth and people living Telephone : 0805-121-2204 below the poverty line.

Website : www.osundefender.com/index.php e–mail : osundefender@yahoo.com •Read full article on osundefenderbank@gmail.com www.osundefender.com All Correspondence to the above email Addresses.

•Ashipa James Olashupo Osogbo, State of Osun OSUN DEFENDER IS NOT AFFLIATED WITH ANY OTHER NEWSPAPER, ashipaj@gmail.com, MAGAZINE OR ANY PUBLICATION WHATSOVER ashipaj@yahoo.com

OSUN DEFENDER

FRIDAY, JUNE 04 - THURSDAY, JUNE 10, 2021

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News

Omoluabi Principle, A Guiding Philosophy Of OAU - Ogunbodede Yusuf Oketola

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HE Vice-Chancellor of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Prof.

Eyitope Ogunbodede, has said the guiding philosophy of the institution set by its founders emphasised the Omoluabi (moral integrity) principles.

Ogunbodede said this in an interview with newsmen on Tuesday, in preparation towards the 60th Year Celebrations of the establishment of the institution, which commence on June 6, 2021.

The Vice-Chancellor said: “The guiding philosophy of the university set by its founders emphasised the Omoluabi (moral integrity) principles, which entail hard work, integrity, public spiritedness, and an honour code. OAU, also referred to as ‘Great Ife’, has in its 60-year existence, lived up to this expectation. Also, a core value of OAU is the defence of the rights of individuals and groups in the society.

“The motto of the university is ‘For Learning and Culture’. Education is seen as the dominant tool for the development of society. The mission of the university is to nurture a teaching and learning community; advance frontiers of knowledge; engender a sense of selfless public service; promote cultural adaptability and add value to African culture.

“The university strives to ensure that our graduates meet not only the employment requirements of the nation and the world at large, but also the challenges of

principles higher than mere self-interest and self-fulfilment in a rapidly-changing technological world”.

Ogunbodede noted that OAU is a comprehensive public institution established in 1961, by the regional government of Western Nigeria, as a conventional university that places a premium on teaching, research and community service.

He said: “The university which commenced classes in October 1962, as the University of Ife, was renamed Obafemi Awolowo University on May 12, 1987, in honour of Chief Obafemi Awolowo, who lived between 1909 and 1987, and the first Premier of the Western Region of Nigeria, and one of the founding fathers of the institution. The take-off site was the campus of the defunct Nigerian College of Science and Technology, Ibadan, and the university is at present situated on a vast expanse of land totalling 11,861 hectares in IleIfe, State of Osun in the South-West of Nigeria.

“The visionary founders set out to establish a university that would be unique in a number of ways; they dreamt of a university of the highest standard and of worldwide repute in the Western Region of Nigeria.

“Fired by the nationalist spirit of the age and the fervor deriving from newly-won political independence, they conceived of a university that would not be a mere colonial ivory-tower, but rather a true African university both in form and in substance.

“The university start-

•Members of Standup for Women Society, State of Osun Chapter, in a group photograph after their inauguration, held at NUJ Press Centre, Osogbo, recently. ed the first Faculty of Pharmacy in West Africa, the first Department of Chemical Engineering, the first Technology Production and Development Unit and the first campus Intranet/Internet facility in the country.

“The arts and the sciences were given adequate space to co-mingle with ease, so that a graduate of the sciences could feel at home in the world of the liberal arts, and in the same manner, the arts graduates could pick their way through our increasingly scientific and technological world.

“The idea was to make the products of the institution emerge as well-rounded educated people with a capacity for adapting to change.”

In addition, the Vice-

Chancellor asserted that the university in recent years has achieved rapid growth and development, particularly in the areas of academic programmes, research, staff training, and infrastructural development and staff/students’ welfare.

He disclosed that all the 93 academic programmes in the university are currently accredited by the National Universities Commission (NUC), making OAU one of the few universities with 100 per cent accreditation of its pro-

The Aberration In Osun Political Office Distribution By Salinsile Kazeem Badmus

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HE Caretaker Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the State of Osun, Hon. Rasaq Salinsile, has said that it is an aberration for the Governor and the Party Chairman to come from the same

State Constituency, as it is being witnessed in the party now.

Salinsile said what is happening in the party does not conform to the laws of equity and fair political arrangement.

He stated this on Tuesday while answering questions from newsmen in Osogbo,

Aregbesola Revived Dead Progressives’ Tendencies In Osun Ismaeel Uthman

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ROGRESSIVES’ tendencies were dead in the State of Osun, hitherto the arrival of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola into the political arena of present-day State of Osun.

Aregbesola’s decision to throw his cap into the then murky waters of Osun politics in 2004 gathered the remnants of the progressives and revived the already dead structures.

Mr. Dayo Olanipekun, made the assertion in “THE RAUF I KNOW”, a book to be

presented to the public tomorrow in celebration of Aregbesola’s 64th Birthday, in Ilesa, State of Osun.

Olanipekun, in the preface to the book, said Aregbesola chose to contest governorship in Osun, his place of birth, for the desired liberation from the reactionaries and the conservatives.

The journalist author, who works with Osun State Broadcasting Corporation (OSBC), said Aregbesola gave his all for the progressive liberation of the enclave called Osun and almost paid the supreme price

to liberate the state from the shackles of poverty, lack, hunger and unemployment.

He said: “What must

grammes; noting that the lockdown and ravaging effects of the COVID-19 pandemic also caused OAU to put in place the necessary machinery to facilitate the deployment of appropriate technology for online teaching in the university.

not be lost is the fact that were Rauf to decide running for governorship in Lagos State, with the claim to come from Ar-

egbesola family of Ikorodu or Epe, he would have served before the Babatunde Raji Fasola administration.

“He however chose Osun, his place of birth, for the desired liberation from the reactionaries and the conservatives.”

According to him, “The Rauf I know” is an account of the sacrifice Ogbeni made before, during, and after his tenure as Governor of the State of Osun. A legacy and platform which subsequent administrations will no doubt find easy to build upon. A sacri•Continued on page 7

capital of the State of Osun.

The APC Secretary said the party needs to be strengthened by correcting the identified anomalies for effective management.

He affirmed his readiness to transform and strengthen the APC if elected as Chairman of the party in the upcoming State Congress of the party.

Salinsile said he had been seeking for the chairmanship position since 2014.

He said: “Nobody is positioning me for chairmanship. I have been seeking the position since 2014 and I know this is the time. I have what it takes to transform and strengthen the party if elected has the Chairman.

“The incumbent Governor and the party Chairman are from the same state constituency and it is an abnormality.

For equity sake, we have to spread offices and I know people will speak through their votes”.

FRIDAY, JUNE 04 - THURSDAY, JUNE 10, 2021

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News

We’re Out To Consolidate Progressive Legacy – TOP Kazeem Badmus

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EMBERS of ‘The Osun Progressives’ (TOP), have said that the group was formed within the All Progressives Congress (APC) to consolidate and perpetuate the progressive legacy in the State of Osun.

Saying that TOP is not a splinter group, the APC members said they are out to strengthen the party and deepen democracy through restoration of internal democracy in the party.

Led by their Chairman, Reverend Adelowo Adebiyi, the TOP members who include Caretaker Secretary of the APC, Hon. Rasaq Salinsile and Deputy Chairman of the party (East), Alhaji Azeez Adesiji, stated this at a Press Conference held on Tuesday in Osogbo, capital of the State of Osun.

Addressing the press, Adebiyi said: “Let me state it very clear again that our mission is not to weaken the party but to strengthen it. Our objectives are noble, our motives pure. Whoever identifies with these objectives is free to join us.

“The mission of ‘The Osun Progressives’ is: “To Consolidate progressive legacy from 2010 to now. Rising from the ashes of 2003 eclipse, progressive administration emerged on November 27, 2010 and is on the third term.

We are going to work hard to ensure the consolidation and perpetuation of this legacy.

“To strengthen the party structure from the polling booth through the wards to the local governments and state level. Every cadre of the party will be energised and positioned to participate in policy making and governance

process through idea sharing, opinions and meaningful contributions and the members will be mobilised for victory in all elections.

“To deepen democracy through restoration of internal democracy in the party such that every elective office in the party or elective executive and legislative positions at the ward, local government, state and national levels of government will be democratically determined, thereby eliminating imposition in any form.

This will make the party dynamic, inclusive and vibrant.”

Explaining why the APC members decided to form TOP, Adebiyi said they needed to intervene in the party’s management because it was doomed for failure if necessary action is not taken to redeem the situation.

Adebiyi said: “The reality of the state of af-

fairs in APC today is not heart-warming, as the structure is weak and the leadership seems overwhelmed with its management. There are no regular meetings at whatever level, where opinions, views and ideas could be aggregated while members are fragmented with unsynthesised outlook towards party ideals.

“It is clear now that Osun APC is being run arbitrarily with the rule of the thumb as dictatorial tendencies of the party leadership has put several members off, to the extent of their becoming nonchalant towards the party.

“As at today, without internal cohesion and commitment to party ideals, the APC may need more than ordinary efforts to win elections in the state. This, regrettably, was the pattern with the AD before it lost power in the state to PDP which sent

the state to darkness for more than seven years.

That tragedy and affliction must be avoided by all means, hence the emergence of TOP. “It is rather sad that party elders and stakeholders put on a nonchalant attitude towards redeeming this unacceptable state of affairs in APC, a clear danger which could have debilitating effects on our electoral fortune.

“Members of the Osun Progressives (TOP) having watched these developments felt it is incumbent on them to redeem the near ugly situation before it is too late. This compelled the formation of the Caucus.

“It is TOP’s considered opinion that the Progressives APC platform, having been in government since 2010, should have matured to the point of democratic invincibility and be consolidating by now.

“It is also TOP’s view that rather than the uncoordinated and divisive way party affairs are run, there is the need to ensure greater democratic participation of members so as to sustain their continued interest in and commitment to the party.

“It is quite amusing that a caucus expected to find solutions to problems in APC are the ones creating further problems by their acts of omission or commission.

“It is therefore laughable and repugnant to good reasoning that Agba Osun; a caucus of hand-picked group of people, unknown to APC statutes, would arrogate power of suspension to itself when it ought to interrogate the problems and find solutions to such problems. How will malicious actions breed genuine reconciliation?”

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Ahuudhu Billahi mina Shaytooni Rrojeem, Bismillaahi Rrahmaani Rraheem In the name of Allah, We thank Him, we appreciate Him, we seek from Him strength of faith.

Whoever Allah guides is in the path to true guidance.

May Allah’s peace and blessings be upon the soul of Prophet Muhammad.

Almighty Allah says in the Quraan: Hold unto the path of Allah, and do not segregate The Prophet also underscores the beauty of this Islamic unity when he says: “A Muslim in a good re-

Religion “Verily, Allah has decreed certain things as obligatory, do not hesitate to do them, and has set limits to certain things, do not exceed the limits, and has prohibited certain things, steer clear of them, and has kept quiet about certain things not that Allah has forgotten, but has made such merciful for you, so, don’t research into them.”

When we have left what Allah has made clear about Islam and we decide to follow leaders of sects or sundry scholars, we welcome disunity and infighting gains momentum.

The Almighty has warned elsewhere in the Quraan: “This is My Path (Islam), hold unto it, do not hold unto sects lest

JUMATSERMON By Imaam Oluwatoyin ImaamOluwatoyin Yusuf

lationship with a fellow Muslim is the similitude of layers of bricks, one strengthening the other.

Having nomenclature for the purpose of identification is not new in Islam. It started with Muhaajiruun, those who migrated with the Prophet from Makkah to Madeenah, and Al Ansaar, those who received the migrants in Madeenah and accepted Islam. The unity between the Muhaajruun and the Ansaariy pointed and still points to the fact that unity epitomizes strength. They accommodated each other, they married from among each other, they prayed and worked together despite the fact that they were from very different backgrounds. Makkah from which Muhaajiruun came was populated by pagans while Madeenah where AnsaarIy lived was inhabited majorly by Jews and Christians. Yet, the unity of worship and purpose in Islam brought them together.

When we were growing up, we knew societies such as Ansarudeen, Nawairudeen, Anwaarul Islaam, Ahmadiyyah and much later, Mubaarakah. Muslim Students’ Society of Nigeria activities were restricted to institutions of higher education, where members did a lot to change the plight and status of Muslims from that of second-class undergraduates to the same level with their non Muslim counterparts.

Children from Ansarudeen or Nawairudeen homes would attend Arabic schools founded and funded by Islahudeen for instance, and there were no grudges. Mosques were for Muslims not for members of a particular society. For several years, I observed Jum’at services at Ansaarudeen Mosque while I belong to Mubaarakah. Nobody scolded me for that, not even in the least, my Mallams.

Today, however, we have Muslims only when we complete forms or we are in the midst of non-Muslims. When Muslims come together these days, they do not see one another as brothers. They are not Muslims or they do not refer to each other as Muslims. Today, our brothers no longer hold fast unto the faith or five pillars of Islam, rather we hold unto sects: Tableeghi, Salafy, Soofiy, Ahlu Sunnah, MSSN, etc. Surprisingly, the societies of old, the Ansarudeen, Nawairudeen etc still maintain sanctity of Islam and sanity thereto

Whither Unity Among Contemporary Muslims? attached.

Members of different sects are hoisting high the banners of their founders and leaders and folding those of Islam. We now separate mosques, we choose which Imam to follow. We see the path to Aljanat from the perspective of the leaders of our sect or the book they have written and not by the Quran and the traditions of the Prophet.

Once, an Arab went to the Prophet Muhammad and asked him: “Oh! Messenger of Allah, if I complete my daily prayers and I fast in Ramadan and steer clear of what has been prohibited and stick to that which has been sanctioned, will I make it to Aljanah?” The Prophet said, “Yes”.

This hadeeth no longer seems to have any relevance. Muslims now refer to one another as Kuffaar (non-believers) because they belong to different sects. To these brothers and sisters, the length of our beards and trousers, the colour, length and thickness of our women’s veils, the cap we don, the length of our rosary, the hours we spend at ‘ Saawi’, the length and firmness of our turban now determine who will make it to Aljanah.

An Egyptian academic observes, “We hold unto beards and veils. We have forgotten the Prophet’s large-heartedness, sense of forgiveness, and strength of character.”

The Prophet is reported to have said that whoever refers to a fellow as a Kaafir without any proof of Kufr, such a statement returns to him. Even when Allah is clear about some issues, we still have “scholars who dig and research further” to give their own opinions to their adherents. This is in sharp contrast to what the Prophet has said:

you disintegrate...”

Muslims are fast falling apart. Those who know, those who are seen as scholarly are harsh in their approaches to Da’wah and correcting people. Instead of using soft appeal, they rain curses and abuses on fellow Muslims because of ideological differences; ideologies outside the five pillars of Islam and the Articles of Faith.

How do you call a man who prays regularly and fasts Ramadhan, a Kaafir, simply because he barely puts a cap? How do you refer to a fellow Muslim as an extremist simply because he keeps beards? How do you refer to a fellow Muslim a mushrik because he bends to respect elders? And how do you call a Muslim a fundamentalist because he keeps his trousers above the ankles? Are we turning ourselves to Secretary of Allah when He doesn’t deserve any?

What does it take from us or cost us to hold unto what Allah has made clear about Islam to unite clear and steer clear of divisive tendencies and elements? Islam is a beautiful religion and its beauty lies in the unity of Muslims, which gives them strength. As long as we pray regularly together, fast during the month of Ramadan and distance ourselves from Allah’s prohibitions, we are brothers.

We don’t have to probe into each other’s covert doings. Doing so will result in saying what we do not know about the person, and consequently fall into backbiting, which Allah has likened to cannibalism: “ ...stay clear of shrouded issues for part of it is a sin, do not backbite and do not probe into each other’s doing as to give false information, Or who among you would consume the flesh of their dead brother?...”

May Allah accept our ibaadah. May He make us firm in His path.

Wa sola Allaah ala sayyidna Muhammad, wa ala Ahalihi,wa as’haabihi aj’maiin.Subhaana robbie,robbil izzati amma yaifuun.

•Oluwatoyin Yusuf Imaam, OSBC Muslim Community.

News

Transportation, Insecurity, Cause Of Hike In Foodstuffs’ Prices – Dealers Yusuf Oketola

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ESIDENTS of the State of Osun have bemoaned the persistent hike in prices of foodstuffs in the state.

OSUN DEFENDER visited different markets in the state yesterday to know the current prices of food items such as rice, beans, gari and others.

Some of the markets visited include: Oroki Market at Alekuwodo and Igbonna Market in Osogbo, Obada Market, Iree in Boripe Local Government area and Oja Tuntun in Ile-Ife. Some of the foodstuffs dealers who spoke with OSUN DEFENDER said the persistent hike in prices of food items is not unconnected with the spate of insecurity in the country, high

costs of transportation and scarcity of commodities due to poor weather and other fallouts from insecurity.

According to the foodstuffs sellers, numerous security checkpoints on major highways where security operatives exploit them, low production rate and payment of taxes to federal, state and local governments were also responsible for the hike in the prices of food items.

A yam seller at Igbonna Market, Alhaja Basirat Ogundare, said the major reason for the escalating rise in yam price is due to the present season.

Ogundare said: “There have been lots of changes in the prices of yam, especially in the last two weeks due to the present season. Yam is out of

season. The excuse that our suppliers are giving is that the prices are being inflated as the stock is reducing from their warehouses.

“In the last two weeks, a tuber of yam was sold at the rate of N600, N700, and

•Foodstuffs in display.

even N1,000. There is scarcity of yam where we are getting it due to low rate of production and also the hike in transportation costs is now alarming. We are spending more on transporting our goods from where we get them to

the market.

Also, a rice dealer, Mr. Mubarak Akanbi, said a bag of rice was sold at N23, 500 in the last two weeks while it costs a sum of N24,500 now.

Akanbi said the fluctuation in rice price is as a result of

persistent clashes between the personnel of the Nigeria Customs and smugglers.

According to a resident of Ile-Ife, Mrs. Titilayo Alawode, a bag of rice was sold at the rate of N24,000 in the last two weeks while it was being sold at N26,500 at present in the city.

She said a bag of gari was sold at N10,000 two weeks ago but is now being sold at N15,000, which is also applicable to all other food items.

In Iree town, a congo of rice was N750 two weeks ago but is now sold at N850 while a congo of beans (Oloyin) has been increased to N1,000 from N900.

A congo of gari is now being sold at N500 as against N400.

•Additional report by Idris Idowu & Olaitan Eledahun

PEOPLE FIRST

News

FRIDAY, JUNE 04 - THURSDAY, JUNE 10, 2021

7

How Residents, Police Foiled 2 Bank Raids In Ikire, Apomu •Continued from front page civilians.

Two policemen, ASP Osho Oluranti, Inspector Lekan Olalere, two Special Constabularies, Oladeni Olalekan and Oyedeji Muyideen, were shot dead in the process.

Also, three residents, Toheeb Oyebola, Temilorun Adebiyi and Segun Olamoyero were shot dead when the residents confronted the armed robbers.

OSUN DEFENDER gathered that the armed robbers, numbering about 35, stormed the towns around 5:30pm in five different vehicles.

They reportedly attacked Ikire Divisional Police Headquarters and the Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC) pinned down at Ikoyi-Osun with several explosive devices and several gunshots in a bid to subdue the capacity of the Police before proceeding to rob First Bank, Ikire and Access Bank, Apomu respectively.

It was gathered that the armed robbers blew the metal detective device at Access Bank, Apomu with explosive device and shot a mobile policeman at the premises of the bank.

Also, a staff of the First Bank in Ikire was also shot by the armed robbers before blowing the access point of the building.

Findings by the medium revealed that the armed robbers divided themselves into three teams to attack the banks and the Ikire Police Divisional Headquarters simultaneously.

Sources in Apomu told OSUN DEFENDER that residents of Oke-Ola, where the Access Bank was located in Apomu, confronted the armed robbers five minutes after their arrival at the bank.

It was gathered that the residents started hurling stones and other items they could lay their hands on at the men of the underworld.

In the process, the armed robbers were distracted and resorted to shooting the residents in order to get leeway of escape.

Three of the residents were killed, while so many others reportedly sustained gunshot injuries.

OSUN DEFENDER gathered that the armed robbers in Apomu called for reinforcement from their colleagues at Ikire, which put their operations in disarray.

One of the armed robbers who reportedly ran out of ammunition was held by a resident of Access Bank area before he was rescued by his colleagues who came from Ikire.

A victim of the robbery operations, Mr. Jelili Akinsola, said the armed robbers hijacked his vehicle at gunpoint at OjaAle, Ikire.

Akinsola, who spoke on Rave FM’s Frank Talk Programme yesterday said: “Around 5:30-6:00pm yesterday (Wednesday), I was driving my wife and two children to Sabo in Ikire. When we got to First Bank, at the Oja-Ale roundabout, we saw a young man standing, he held a sack. He told me to stop and come down from the car. He threatened to shoot me. I got down from the car immediately.

“There was another car coming from Sabo, the man turned and started running after the car.

That was how we were able to escape from the scene to a nearby house.

We started hearing gunshots after that. My car was taken away by the armed robbers. But when I went to the police station to report, I saw the car there.”

A resident of Apomu, who prayed not to be named said: “Apomu residents were the one that confronted the armed robbers. My blood brother, Olusegun Olamoyero was part of those who confronted them and was shot by the robbers. He died of the gunshot later at night, and we have buried him.

“The robbery and police invasion was done at the same time. The armed robbers divided themselves into three groups to carry out the operations.

“The same time the armed robbers were robbing Access Bank at OkeOla, Apomu, they were

also attacking the Police Station and First Bank in Ikire.

“Residents of Apomu came out to block the road at Oke-Ola so that the bandits who were attempting to rob Access Bank won’t have a way to pass. Had it been that the OPC helped the residents, they would have captured those armed robbers because as at that time, some of the robbers didn’t have bullets in their guns again.

“The robbers in Apomu called their people in Ikire to come to their aid. One of the armed robbers was held hostage by a resident, but when his colleagues from Ikire came, they shot the Apomu indigene in the leg and recued their man.

“One of the armed robbers was even shot by one of the residents. The armed robber did not die but he was shot again by his colleagues and he died instantly. They took his corpse away. That was how they were able to escape. They escaped through Araromi Owu road.”

OSUN DEFENDER gathered that the policemen, comprising Prompt Response Unit (PRU), CP’s Surveillance team, IRT Operatives, STS, 39 PMF, JTF and local security operatives engaged the armed robbers when they were fleeing the community.

A press release by the Police Public Relations Officer, Osun Command, Mrs. Yemisi Opalola, indicates that the armed robbers fled into the bush with gunshot wounds, abandoning two of the operational vehicles they came with.

Opalola said the corpses of the victims of the failed bank raids have been deposited at Oluyoro Catholic Hospital morgue, Apomu.

The Commissioner of Police, Mr. Wale Olokode,

•Olokode,

Osun CP

led other security personnel to the scenes of the failed bank raids on hearing about the incident.

Olokode, who spoke on a radio programme yesterday, said policemen were still in the bush to apprehend the fleeing armed robbers, promising that the Police would ensure that they were all arrested and prosecuted.

He urged members of the public not to be disturbed by the security skirmishes, saying that Osun is relatively peaceful.

The Chairman of the Police Community Relations Committee (PCRC) in Ikire, Mr. Adegbite

pital. Some spend extra hours at work because of the nature of our job. Is it fair to be collecting same salaries with the people that close by 4pm and do not work on weekends?

“Overtime allowances are just to compensate us for the extra hours and sacrifices we make on the job. That is a normal practice everywhere; it is even stipulated in our conditions of service.”

When contacted, the Chief Medical Director of UNIOSUNTH, Prof.

Peter Olaitan said: “The true position of things is that I was not queried.

The Office of the Auditor-General wanted to know what was happening on overtime allowances.

“When UNIOSUNTH was LAUTECHTH, owned by both Osun and Oyo states, overtime had always been what was being paid to some

to escape through OrileOwu road.

“They parked their vehicles and ran into the bush.

So we were not able to apprehend them. The civilians in Apomu resisted.

All of them got up and started throwing stones and bottles at them. But at Ikire, nobody was able to dare them due to the kind of riffles they carried. The sounds of their guns were terrible. Even they fired into the Akire Palace gate and the ammunition penetrated into the palace.

“As at now, lkire is very calm, people are going about their normal businesses.”

#EndSARS Protests Embolden...

•Continued from page 4 fice that if not made, will for years to come leave governance at the mer-

CMD: I Was Not Queried •Continued from page 2

Adedokun, said: “When these armed robbers came, they started shooting sporadically. As they attacked First Bank in Ikire, they were at the same time attacking Access Bank in Apomu.

They also attacked the Police Headquarters in Ikire.

“We cannot ascertain whether they were coming from Ibadan or Gbongan ends. The attack was an unexpected one. We just finished our security meeting at Ikire and we were about to disperse when it happened. But at Apomu, the people resisted and the armed robbers had

workers.

“But when the joint ownership was dissolved and UNIOSUNTH came into being, we were alerted that overtime payment had been stopped across the entire Osun Civil Service and that we should stop the payment, and we stopped in March.

“The argument is whatever affects the civil servants in the state should affect the UNIOSUNTH workers.”

cy of the reactionaries while the progressives take the back seat.

“Why the book The Rauf I Know? The book was conceived in appreciation of the man, Rauf Aregbesola, who revived the already dead progressives’ tendencies in State of Osun in the year 2004, following his decision to throw his cap into the then murky waters of Osun politics.

“I consider Ogbeni as a man who gave his all for the progressive liberation of the enclave called Osun where he almost paid the supreme price to liberate the State from the shackles of poverty, lack, hunger

and unemployment.

“The passion to imitate and bequeath the legacies of his role model, the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, which in my judgment and others not given to frivolities, he successfully achieved in Osun, again prompted my thought on the book.”

CHANGE OF NAME DADA LEKAN SAMUEL That I was formerly known and addressed as DADA OLALEKAN SAMUEL now wish to be known and addressed as DADA LEKAN S A M U E L . All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

ISSN : 0794 - 8050

FRIDAY, JUNE 04 - THURSDAY, JUNE 10, 2021

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BDULRAUF Adesoji Aregbesola, the Minister of Internal Affairs is an enigma with a knack for attracting youths and maintaining a devoted followership. Since his days as the chief mass mobiliser in Alimosho-Lagos, Works Commissioner in Lagos State, berthing in the State of Osun with his ‘governance unusual’ and current station, his work and charisma entice many and, of course, attracts antagonists. He has a Mandela sense of history, a Magafuli streak of stubbornness and audacious courage.

Even within the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, he does not back down from a fight he thinks is inevitable. During the February 2019 presidential campaign rally in Ogun State, he described then Governor Ibikunle Amosun and his followers as hypocrites, “staying indoors and fighting the home from outside”. When in February 2021, a former State of Osun Deputy Governor and his followers joined the APC, Aregbesola advised the party against admitting “suspects, murderers (and) character assassinators”.

On Africa Day, May 25, 2021, Aregbesola’s allies held a virtual conference to mark his 64th Birthday, which fell on that date. The theme was: “Africa: Interrogating the Leadership Question.”

Odia Ofeimun, poet, political scientist and public intellectual who was the Lead Discussant, built a solid theoretical foundation for the conference. He argued that the old order saw leadership as whoever was on top of the pie; a charismatic and messianic leadership with what Ali Mazrui called a monarchical tendency. Under such leadership, he said, criticism sounds like treason.

Olutayo Charles Adesina, a professor of History said Africans must move beyond leaders that are focused on welfare issues like provision of roads and hospitals to those that can take them to the moon. The type of leaders the continent needs, he argued, is those that would release the human possibilities, create vitality and provide a “grand strategy” I found Professor Adesina’s hypothesis that the peoples’ welfare should not be the primary aim of leadership, farcical. People belong to a state primarily for welfare and security. Provide the people bread and water, clothes on their backs, shelter from rain and sun and where to rest their aching bones, healthcare and education for their children; and you can lead them to any path you want.

Hunger and poverty are not reasonable; they drive the people to desperation and revolt.

To expect a hungry person to be reasonable, patriotic and part of a transformation agenda is illusory. Even if a leader is a messiah and is taking the people to heaven, they will prefer to eat on earth before embarking on the journey to the transformative heaven otherwise, such a leader will face revolt.

Hafsat Olaronke Abiola-Costello, civil rights activist and founder of the Kudirat Intiative for Democracy, KIND, argued that Aregbesola’s simplicity, sense of duty, hardwork, courage and propeople tendencies, make him a model leader. In laying the basis for her submission, she gave two examples of outstanding Nigerians in the United States: First, Dr. Oluyinka Olutoye, who achieved a rare medical feat by successfully operating and removing a tumour from an unborn child. Second, Tanitoluwa Adewumi, who, while living in a homeless shelter in 2019 at age 8, won the New York State Chess Championship.

These cases, she argued, show that the problem in Africa is not primarily leadership, but that Africans are not meant to realise their potentials in the continent. She said while it seems that the 55 countries of Africa are not working, it is more the global economic system that has chained them.

She added that leaders like Thomas Sankara, Patrice Lumumba and Sylvanus Olympio, who try to give true leadership, are quickly murdered. To her, Africa is not going to have the leaders it de-

News Omoluabi Principle, A Guiding Philosophy Of OAU - Ogunbodede

VOL. 16 NO 20 www.osundefender.com, email: osundefenderbank@gmail.com

PERSPECTIVES

By Owei Lakemfa

Aregbesola And Africa’s Problematic Search For Leadership serves unless we can protect them.

Abiola-Costello posited that as long as good leaders in Africa are expected to be like the Japanese Kamikaze suicide pilots, it cannot get the needed leadership. She quoted a report by the Soros Foundation, which showed that Africa is a net exporter of capital; giving the developed world $50 billion annually. Africans, she argued, would need to democratise the war to end the unequal exchange between them and the developed world.

She gave the example of the Democratic Republic of Congo, which given its exploited natural resources like supplying 80 per-cent of world coltan – which is the essential ingredient for mak-

ing cell phones – should be one of the richest countries in the world, is actually one of the poorest countries. She said if the buyers of African resources can steal, rather than create a market for them, they will continue to ruin the continent, instigate wars and insecurity.

To develop and produce good leadership, Africa, she concluded, must be able to protect its resources, markets and leaders.

Anthony Kila, Professor of Strategy and Development, argued that political leadership must be able to protect the citizens from internal and external danger and guide them beyond where they are today, to a better tomorrow. He said any political leadership that cannot do this is a failed

“A leader is that person who by virtue of his knowledge, experience and position, sees farther than those he is directing, shepherding or leading”

STRIKER

one. Technology, he said, has changed the world so much that people cannot be governed in the old way.

Ogaga Ifowodo, Ph.D., lawyer and poet, said Aregbesola is celebrated because, apart from providing welfare and infrastructural development as Governor of the State of Osun, he also provided quality education partly with the provision of Tablets of Knowledge (Opon Imo).

Nigeria, he said, is a warped federation, with a huge bureaucracy through which its resources are wasted. Good leaders, he argued, should literarily be able to make bricks without straw.

Those who worked with Aregbesola in the State of Osun, like the Deputy Governor, Grace Titilayo Laoye-Ponle; Alhaji Razak Ayobami; and Senator Surajudeen Ajibola Basiru; spoke glowingly of his leadership style and achievements.

Aregbesola, who prefers to be called Ogbeni (Mister in Yoruba), began his response by praying for the repose of the souls of the late Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant-General Ibrahim Attahiru and the ten other officers who, on May 21, 2021, lost their lives in an air crash in the line of duty. He posited that power, which he relates to leadership, is, basically, responsibility.

To him, a leader is that person who by virtue of his knowledge, experience and position, sees farther than those he is directing, shepherding or leading. Leadership, he said, is the opportunity to offer vision and capacity to lead a people or community to a better future. He said that listening to people greatly helped him in all the leadership positions he has held.

When asked if he would be contesting the 2023 Presidential Elections, Aregbesola said he has no response to such a question, as he belongs to a group of focused and serious politicians: “We do not just jump up to contest. I have never done so.”

Culled from Vangaurd Newspaper.

Striker is not the opinion of the Columnist featured above

Not By Force Alone

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Page 4

ETIRED Lieutenant General Tukur Yusuf Buratai was appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari as Chief of Army Staff in July 2015 and was relieved of that position in January 2021, after much public outcry for overstaying in a position in which his achievements fell short of public expectations as Nigeria’s insecurity challenges continued to escalate.

After his pressured departure and strange compensation with ambassadorial appointment, along with co-service chiefs, he was quoted as saying Nigeria’s insecurity challenges (Boko Haram terrorism especially) cannot be overcome in 20 years. This perplexing perspective by a man who had the grace of extended stay in a position where he was the one looked upon to solve the problem annoyed many and drew understandable flood of criticisms. Asides the criticisms, perhaps we should simmer down and carefully give his irritating views a sober and intelligent thought.

Banditry, kidnapping, secessionist clamours and terrorism don’t grow to existential threat in any nation overnight; they are the fruits of a history of governance failures that occasion economic distress, social injustice, oppression and widespread animosity.

Without tackling the root of the problems, violently trimming the branches

in loathing of the bitter fruits is an exercise in futility. The 20 years timeline of Buratai may even turn out to be an underestimation of our years of tribulation.

President Muhammadu Buhari, whose recent shoot-at-sight order to AK47 bearers in the Nigerian bushes came to nothing, again on June 1, 2021 said that he would shock arsonists, killers and agitators. Having watched almost helplessly as Nigeria suffers for more than a year under devastating violent crimes, perhaps the government, led by the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, needs to pause and face the truth - the root of the problem. Narendra Mordi said, “Good governance is not fire-fighting or crisismanagement. Instead of opting for adhoc solutions, the need of the hour is to tackle the root cause of the problem.”

Democracy and good governance, which delivers peace and prosperity, is not achieved by force alone. Dutiful uphold of the Rule of Law demands firm punishment of crimes against the law but it presupposes creating humane conditions for rational beings to find obedience of law ordinary; it demands that equal rights and justice be guaranteed. Without this, no punishment or deterrence invented has ever been harsh enough to prevent the commission of

crimes and disobedience of the law. A longsuffering people yoked with a load of injustice that threaten their humanity, and thereby feel alienated and down already, will fear no fall; and that is not a good station for the citizen of any nation. As Albert Einstein said, “If people are good (only) because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed.” Without fear of punishment and with no expectation of reward anymore, we are worse by far.

No doubt, there is the clear and present need for the armed forces and the justice system to deal decisively with perpetrators of crimes and insecurity. To get it right, however, there is what is known as short-, medium- and long-term strategies. The economy, education, health, employment, productivity, infrastructure, energy, transportation system, housing situation of the country, not to mention its governance and federating structure, cannot remain as they are without visible efforts at remedy and we hope to overcome our problems with utter force. You cannot, for instance, be threatening force against agents of insecurity, while ignoring striking lecturers and judicial workers in the midst of glaring and unnecessarily humongous cost of governance and unrelenting “authority stealing.”

Inspiring leadership, dialogue, consultations, concessions and restructuring has as much place as force in returning Nigeria to normalcy.

Osun DEFENDER is published by Moremi Publishing House Limited, Promise Point Building, Opposite Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB), Gbongan Road, Osogbo, State of Osun.

All correspondence to the Deputy Editor, ISMAEEL UTHMAN, Telephone: 0805-121-2204, usmanismail001@yahoo.com. ISSN: 0794-8050.

Website: www.osundefender.com Email: osundefenderbank@gmail.com, osundefemder@yahoo.com