Osun Defender PDF Version Of March 30, 2018

Osun 2018: 176 Days To Go!

The Race And The Runners - PAGE 1 0

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VOL. 013. NO.12

ISSN: 0794-8050

N100

General Hospitals’ Doctors, Their Sharp Practices Against Pregnant Women • Chief Consultant Reacts PAGE 3

Scandal I n Osun Sport s Council

• Athletes Shortchanged?

• Officials Deny Allegations

•Dr Rafiu Isamotu, Osun Commissioner for Health.

MAGAZINE Osun 2018: The Electoral Calculus

Distribution Of Votes As An I ndication Of Things To Come Pages 5&6

NEWS

Osun's Debts Productive, Regenerative, Says Expert PAGE 3

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FRIDAY MARCH 30 - THURSDAY APRIL 4, 2018

Scandal I n Osun Sports Council

• Athletes Shortchanged? • Officials Deny Allegations

By Kehinde Ayantunji The quality of performance of athletes in the State of Osun Sport Council over a decade is abysmally low, a situation which could not totally be separated from the high level of inherent corruption in the system over the years.

The council is more of a training g ro und fo r athletes who would later dump the state for others w here they believe their potentials could be better utilised and their dreams realised rather than stake it for their state of birth.

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inv estig atio ns rev ealed that co rruptio n in the sp o rt council is sy stem atically lo fty among all the officials in the council as w ell as the

co aches of g am es involved in the scandal.

With the inauguration of Go v erno r Rauf A r e g b e s o l a ’ s ad m inistratio n in late 2010, there w as enthusiasm among sport lovers that a new dawn is being birthed in the state w hile athletes w ere ho peful that the era of misappropriation would totally be over.

Ho w ev er, the enthusiasm w as sho rt-

lived as officials in the sports council allegedly co ntinued w ith their inhum an act of shortchanging athletes at the 2012 National Sport Festival preliminaries that was held in Ado-Ekiti but fo r the protest of so me athletes w hich eventually fo rced the o fficials to release full payment for the sp o rts m en and women engaged.

In a bid to enhance performance among for their own use athletes, an insid er said , the state em p lo y s perfo rm ing athletes and sometimes athletes or/ and coaches based o n co ntractual ag reem ent and such

athletes or/ and coaches are placed under certain am o unt o f m o ney o n monthly basis.

How ever, the coaches in collabo ration w ith other corruptible officials in the State’ s sp o rts co uncil are alleg ed diverting such funds for their own use.

Findings revealed that the co aches so metimes lo o k fo r und erag ed players or novice at times w ho do no t m erit the app o intm ent and o ffer them peanuts, share the remaining money or even lo o k fo r their clo se relatio ns to sig n the release o f such fund s while it is in reality shared

•Governor, State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, (5th left); Chairman of Joint Tax Board, Mr Tunde Fowler (4th left); Executive Secretary of the Board, Mr Oseni Elamah, (5th right); Special Adviser to the Governor on Tax Matters, Barrister Gbenga Akano (4th right), Chairman Osun Joint Tax Board, Mr Bisi Ali (3rd left); Commissioner for Finance, Mr Bola Oyebamiji (3rd right), and others, during a visit by the crew of the Federal Inland Revenue Service to Governor Aregbesola before the declaration of the 140th Quarterly Meeting of the Joint Tax Board in Osogbo on Monday.

amongst them.

It was gathered that in so m e cases, the ad m inistrativ e department do push the coaches to be involved in the scandals as they await kickbacks fro m ev ery assignment that involves money and if a coach is not on good terms with them , he m ay no t be fielded to attend any competition.

Find ing s further revealed that recently, the state female football team officials shocked the team p lay ers w hen they refused to p ay the o utstand ing salaries w hich had been lo ng released by the state government.

The state government had before owed the team three m o nths salaries sp anning N o v em ber, December and January, and when the money was ev entually released in January after the last season, the money w as no t p aid , only fo r the players to be paid for the month of February alone.

The medium gathered from a source close to the team that the money was w ithheld by the team officials to pave w ay for some of the players who were part of the team last seaso n but w o uld be d ro p ped so that their share of the fund w ould not be accounted for and the others who are still in the team’s service may be paid eventually.

It w as gathered that abo ut eight o r m o re

Complaints Hit I NEC CVR

By Solomon Adeniyi Several complaints have trailed the Continuous V oters’ Registration in the state of Osun since the resumption of the exercise this January, as potential voters across different registration areas grumble over the attitudes of the commission’s officials.

So m e p rosp ectiv e voters have complained that o fficials o ften abandon their duty post when they visit the centres to register, close before the o fficial w orking ho urs and so m etim es g iv e excuses of no nav ailability o f p o w er sup p ly to run their equipment.

Among the areas w here co m p laints are m o st p rev alent includ e; O lo rund a, O so g bo , Eg bed o re, Ife Central, Ilesa West and Ifelodun local government council areas of the state.

W hen O SUN DEFEND ER v isited the O lo rund a and O so g bo INEC offices in the state capital, it w as observed that no o ne w as at the o ffice seeking to be reg istered and the medium was told that the exercise has been put on

ho ld and w ill resum e next month.

Ho w ev er, the Administrative Secretary of the Commission in the state, Barrister Ademusere said, “ There are no long q ueues any m o re. W hen w e started, people turned out massively and it affected the smooth operation, but later w hen w e no ticed this and created ad d itio nal centres, thereafter, the teeming numbers reduced. “ The issue on working during public holidays is that there are rules before the co m m encem ent o f this exercise, w hich clearly state that public ho liday s, as w ell as, w eekend s are no t included as days we are to w ork. The rules can’t be changed. Anyone who wants to register should find time as every voter

w o uld be reg istered before the electio n” , he assured.

He hinted that the co m m ission is w ell p rep ared fo r the fo rthcoming election in the state as they hav e beg un to receive no nsensitiv e m aterials, cap acity build ing training s for their staff m em bers and area registration of where its staff members w ould be deployed, adding that the commission has further g o ne to bring new sophisticated equipment

•NIYI ALUKO, Oranmiyan Group Coordinator

which has been tested and certified to be better than w hat was previously on g ro und w ith so m e upgraded features.

He enjo ined citiz ens raising concerns about the collection of their PVCs to rem ain calm as the printing w ill commence after the second phase of the co ntinuo us v o ters registration is concluded.

He said : “ W hat is av ailable no w is the Temporary voters Cards.

As from the 20th of May to 2nd o f June, the perm anent Vo ters card w ill be printed an every reg istered p erso n w ill have access to it. They should stay calm. We are only waiting for the final phase of the Continuous Vo ters’ Reg istratio n assig nm ent w hich w ill start from April 11th to 16th as so o n as w e co nclud e that, w e w ill begin the printing of the cards” .

Sp eaking on the d ev elo p ment, the co o rd inato r of O ranm iy an Group , Mr Niyi Aluko on w hether he

is satisfied w ith the w ay IN EC has p erfo rm ed abo ut the reg istratio n said , “ thing s are improving over the years.

We no w hav e an electro nic sy stem o f v o ting .

They hav e im p ro v ed o n w hat w e used to have. If you are conversant w ith w hat is go ing o n in the media, one sho uld unarguably give them kudos that they hav e fared w ell. The hitches experienced is som ething that w ill be perfected over the years.

This is a new thing we are em bracing, it is an inno v ation that is subjected to errors which will be corrected as time goes on, perfection to me is no t a day jo b, as w e proceed w e will get used to the system and all those human errors w ould be corrected.”

He said large turnout is d ue to the lev el o f aw areness em barked upon by different groups in the state including the Oranmiyan group and the fact that the electorates are becom ing m o re politically socialised.

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p lay ers w ere d ro p p ed w hile those that are still w ith the team have not been paid but w ere given the sum of N5000 each to take care o f their immediate needs.

When contacted for his reactio n, the state FA secretary, Mr A m ao A bay o m i denied the kno w led ge of any shenanigan going on in the team, saying no player is being owed any salary, adding that if anyone is being owed the FA would hav e g o tten a w ritten report to that effect and initiate a p ro p er inv estig atio n into the matter.

He, however, disclosed that the FA is no t in charge of sorting players issues but to organise and reg ister team s fo r co m p etitio ns w ith the national body.

The D irecto r of Co aches at the council, D aini D airo , in his reaction disclosed that no contract o r perfo rm ing athlete is shortchanged by the sp o rts co uncil but because each g am e is short staffed, the coaches so m etim es used the money of a player to pay tw o or three p lay ers w hich is alw ays at their own discretion.

He said , tho ug h the p lay ers are underp aid co m p ared to their colleagues in other states, as he ad ded that an athlete gets N12000 while a co ach g ets N 15000, w hich he admitted is a m eag re sum , but the co aches still divid e the m o ney am ong tw o o r three athletes.

He ad d ed that all athletes under contracts with the sports council are engaged based on merit and there is nothing as e n g a g i n g underperforming athletes so as to shortchange them.

So me o f the athletes w ho sp oke und er ano ny m ity co nfirm ed that they hav e nev er receiv ed N 12000 since they have been engaged by the sp o rt council, saying their salaries range betw een N 3000, N 4000 and N6000 monthly.

When they were asked w hether the m o ney is paid into their account, they responded that they are paid directly by cash and are alw ay s threatened to be dropped if they d iscuss such outside the council.

Recently , the state government approved a cash reward for the state contingent to the youths spo rt festival w ho w on m ed als but find ing s show ed that the officials o f the sp o rt co uncil is holding unto the money and has refused to host the co ntingent no r give them their due.

FRIDAY MARCH 30 - THURSDAY APRIL 4, 2018

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General Hospitals’ Doctors, Their Sharp Practices Against Pregnant Women • Chief Consultant Reacts

By Ismaeel Uthman

A llegations of sharp practices against doctors and matrons in General Hospital, A subiaro, Osogbo, State of O sun and some other government hospitals in the state are becoming a reccurring decimal, making people to lose confidence in the personnels there and the medical services rendered.

Commonly, the doctors are being accused o f lackadaisical attitude to patients in the hospital, as they w ere alleg ed that instead of g iv ing them (p atients) d ue m ed ical attention, the doctors refer p atients to their o w n various private hospitals for treatment.

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gathered that the referral of patients by the doctors at Asubiaro to their private hospitals for treatment has become a ‘ norm’ to enrich themselves at the expense o f the m ed ical and financial conditions of the patients.

Som e of the med ical personnels at the hospital, according to reports, were alleged ly w o rking to sabotage the efforts of the government at providing quality healthcare delivery and other services to the people of the state.

Recent findings by the m ed ium have rev ealed that this unprofessional conduct of the doctors at the ho sp ital is m o re prominent at the antenatal section of the hospital.

It w as gathered that pregnant women do spend three to five hours before being attended to by the doctors and matrons at the hospital.

The medium learnt that some of the doctors and matrons are in the habit of subjecting the pregnant w o m en to inhum an treatment, a situation that frustrate some of them to leave the hospital without medical attention.

Some pregnant women, w ho spoke w ith O SUN DEFEN DER on condition of anonymity, accused the doctors of negligence and no nchalant attitude for their health status, alleging sabotage, sw indling and unethical conducts.

A cco rd ing to the pregnant women, some of the doctors attending to pregnant women usually g iv e them d rug s they claim to be anti-malaria, whereas, the drugs tighten pelvic muscles so that such woman in labour would not be able to deliver on her own.

The p regnant w omen alleged further that the doctors w ould thereafter inject the pregnant woman to make her weak so as to scare her and her relatives.

As a result, many of the p reg nant w o m en w ho to o k the d rug and are unable to deliver on their own would be referred to the private hospitals of the d o ctors fo r caesarean sectio n w ith a unifo rm amount of N150, 000.

One of them said: “ We are antenatal patients at the general ho sp ital, A subiaro in O so g bo .

D o ctors attend ing to

pregnant w o men in the hospital usually give us drugs claiming it is antim alaria d rug s. These d rug s w o rk fo r the tightening of the vagina so that the woman would not be able to deliver the baby on her ow n. This is done in conjunction with some matrons at the hospital. “ When the w oman in labour is unable to deliver as a result of the nono pening of the vagina, they will tell the patient that they want to help her by referring her to a doctor. They will warn her no t to tell the gatem en w here she is going to if asked. “ To the surprise of the patient, the doctor would turn out to be the same doctor attending to them at Asubiaro hospital and then tell her that she needs Caesarian Sectio n (CS) which will cost her N150, 000 naira.”

The pregnant w oman added that, some of the doctors involved in these ug ly p ractices boast o f their ‘ co nnectio n w ith security ag ents and as such they co uld no t be arrested.

A cco rd ing to the pregnant women, some of the priv ate ho sp itals which the affected doctors alleged ly refer their victims to include, Atoke Ho sp ital, Ig bo na area, Oasis of Grace Hospital beside Ota-Efun Garage and O so g bo Sp ecial Hospital, Oke Baale, all in Osogbo.

They challenged anyone to v isit the p riv ate ho sp itals listed and interv iew each o f the antenatal patients there on the circumstances that led them to the hospitals.

They stated that as

Aregbesola government is working to protect lives of w omen in the state, the doctors and matrons at A subiaro ho sp ital are sabotaging his efforts. “ If any w o m an d elivered at A subiaro hospital, it must have been that the head of the baby was already out before she got to the hospital” , one of them stated.

Our reporter recalled a case of a pregnant woman

state Co mmissioner for Health, Dr Rafiu Isamotu said the state government w o uld lo ok into the allegations.

Reacting to the alleg atio ns, the A cting Chief Consultant of the hospital, Dr Ola Ibigbami, said, “ I do not think that is true” , say ing , “ so m e people might want to spoil the name of the people that work here” .

Ibigbami said it is illegal

•Continued on page 14

•Picture capturing the happenings at Igbona Market, Osogbo on Tuesday in preparation for the Easter celebration.

Photo: GBENGA ADENIYI

Osun's Debts Productive, Regenerative, Says Expert

By Solomon Adeniyi

There has been confusion over a report by the Fiscal Responsibility Commission, FRC disclosing that the South west states at the end of 2016 owed debts well in excess of 50 per cent of their annual revenues.

The rep o rt placed Osun state second among states w ith the hig hest d ebt to g ro ss rev enue with 539.25 per cent.

Not surprisingly, this has raised a firestorm in the state of Osun, as the go vernorship election is 176 days away.

In reactio n, Mr So la

Adeoti Felicitates With Christians At Easter The Secretary to the State Government of Osun, A lhaji M oshood Olalekan A deoti, has felicitated with Christians across the State and the country at large on this year’ s Easter festival, calling on all, irrespective of religious beliefs, to emulate all the virtues of Christ in their daily activities.

This was contained in a statem ent issued and sig ned by the senio r political functionary and All Progressive Congress (A PC) chieftain in the state and made available to new smen in Osogbo, the state capital.

Alhaji Adeoti enjoined all and sund ry o n the need to be pious and live above board, with a view to making Nigeria a better place for everyone to live and enjoy.

A ccording to him, for the nation to mo v e up from its current economic and political state, it’s the resp onsibility o f all N ig erians to emulate w hat the Lo rd Jesus Christ lived and died for

who was referred to Atoke Hospital located at Baba O m ig bo d un’ s ho use junction, Ow ode-Igbona Area, Osogbo last year.

The pregnant w oman said she was referred to the Atoke Hospital from Asubiaro where she had been having her antennal and she d eliv ered her baby g irl thro ug h caesarean section and she was billed N150, 000.

W hen contacted , the

for any d octor to refer patient at general hospital to any private hospital, explaining that a patient could only be referred to hig her o r sp ecialist ho sp ital w ith referral letter.

He called on any patient that has fallen victim of such illegal practice to come forward and provide the referral letter, the name of the ho spital and the nam e o f the d o cto r o r health worker that made the referral .

d uring his brief and p urp oseful so journ o n earth.

He stated that the time has co me fo r ev ery one living in the country to stop heaping blames on members of the political class for all the nation’ s w o es and re-exam ine their ways of life and seek ways on how to make the country a better place for all. “ The time has come for all to re-exam ine o ur ways and seek for ways of m aking the co untry a better place for all, instead of heaping all the blames on only the political actors fo r the num ero us challeng es facing the nation,” he stressed.

Fasure, the Med ia A d v iser to Go v erno r Rauf A reg beso la described as meaningless the d ebt revenue ratio by the FRC , say ing d ebt p ro file sho uld be co m p ared to the to tal worth and no t income as presented by the FRC. He add ed : “ The lo an sho uld be examined in relation with the purpose it w as meant to serv e.

Let’ s say y o u w ant to take a mortgage to build a house and your income is N50,000 in a mo nth, does it mean you will ask for N100,000 ? You w ill ask fo r at least N 1m which is barely enough to build a tw o bed ro o m apartment which is 2000 per cent of your inco me’’ Fasure noted that these lo ans w ere used fo r hum an and inf rastruc ture d evelo pm ents and are therefore commendable investment for future.

Justifying the bo rro w ing , the A dministrative Manager of the state branch of the C harted Institute o f Bankers o f N ig eria, C IBN , Yinka A njo us described the debt of the state as need ful and a reproductive one needed to p ut the state o n a

development path.

He said : “ In p ublic finance, o nce there is d eficit in the m o ney generated , a state must borrow. A lso , when ends are many and means are few , the d ifference between the tw o will be bo rro w ing . Whether a state likes it or not it must bo rro w if it w ants to achieve its set go als. In Nigeria, if a state claims it is no t in d ebt, it has do ne nothing. A lso, if a state claim s it is p ro secuting p ro jects without borrowing, such a state is being eco no m ical w ith the truth. What you borrow on w ill determine if it is need ful or not.” “ W e can all see that Osun has bo rro w ed fo r p ro d uctive p urp o ses w hich are seen in the brid ges and m o to rable ro ad s they are co nstructing am o ng others which are meant to g iv e us return o n investment in the future.

It is reproductive because whether we like it or not, the go o d ro ad s, stable electricity, schoo ls, and ho spitals amo ng o thers will recoup. A lso , it is an anticipatory revenue. “ The state has been em barking o n fed eral g o v ernm ent p ro jects w hich is also o f ro bust importance to the state, whether the FG likes it or not, it must pay back the state, the peo ple o f the state can be rest assured

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that the d ebt w o uld be paid back. These are not the kind of debt that can’t be p aid . The state has o nce fo und itself enmeshed in this before A regbesola took over the mantle of leadership. He had to repurchase the loan” .

A njo us noted that the inf rastruc tu ral d evelo pment bo rro wed for, were sacrosanct with the situation on ground as the road s, electricity, ho spitals, w ater, amo ng o thers w o uld attract potential investors to the state, assuring the people o f the state that the physical infrastructure will definitely pay itself off.

O n the need fo r m o rato rium or renegotiation of the debt, he said: “ There should be bo th m o rato rium and reneg o tiatio n. A state should be wary of w here it gets its mo ney fro m.

The bo rrowing must be w ell nego tiated to the extent that it will be given moratorium as well as a room fo r renegotiation in case the need arises. I w ant to ad v ise the government to approach institutio ns w ith z ero interest rate such as the Islamic bank for bond s, as interest kills borrowing” .

He laud ed the g o v erno r fo r the bo ld step, adding that the debt o w ed w as to the ad vantage of successive administratio ns.

PAGE

4 For a party whose second name is impunity; one that bl ed N igeria f or whole of 16 years, it was an unexpected surprise – hopefully an initial first step – towards the long journey to restitution:

PDP's Apology

‘

“I hereby, as the National Chairman, do admit that the PDP made a lot of mistakes; we are humans, not spirits and the ability to admit is key in moving forward…

“W e admit that we have made several mistakes; we have passed through all our chal l enges and have acq uired the experience no other party can boast of.

W e were sanctioned by Nigerians at the polls in 2015; let me use this opportunity to apologise for our past mistakes.

“It is the honest thing to do, a legacy to transfer to our children; we cannot continue l ike that. W hen we make mistakes, we should come out boldly to the people and apologise”.

That was Uche Secondus, N ational Chairman of the Peoples D emocratic Party (PDP) at a public forum early this week.

Nearly three years into the hangover of its electoral shellacking, it is heartwarming that the party that plunged the country into the moral and socioeconomic abyss from which it is only now slowly recovering is finally coming to terms with the need to apologise to N igerians. That is if one ignores the

True, Nigerians may be prone to amnesia. However, the wounds inflicted by the PDP are not only still deep but certainly too fresh for any mealy-mouthed apology, no matter how elegantly couched.

superficiality of the apology, the subtle attempt to parry away responsibilities for the most sordid legacy – and the dubious play at semantics.

Is this a genuine act of contrition or is this just part of the electoral calculation?

Is the party genuinely repudiating the impunity, the maladministration and corruption for which it is now famously known? And apology for what?

On the first, it is difficult not to see the so-called apology as part of its electoral calculation. W ith the 2019 elections barely a year from now, it seems understandable that the party would seek to launch itself back into reckoning if not necessarily into the hearts of Nigerians. M oreover, after surviving a bruising internecine schism

True, N igerians may b e prone to amnesia. However, the wounds inflicted by the PD P are not only still deep but certainly too fresh for any mealy-mouthed apol ogy, no matter how el egantl y couched.

The Bill Gates Discourse

Intellectual honesty is important, this is why it is important to state that the philanthropist and entrepreneur, Bill Gates in no way attacked the economic policies of the federal government. What he did was to have made a cautionary observation about balanced and sustainable development. This is old hat really, the debate has been ongoing since the 1960 sixties about development models and the critical issue of “growth without development “.

This is also an issue in the State of Osun. The A regbesola government has incontrovertibly made path-breaking forward gains in constructing the built environment. The physical infrastructures wil l attract investments which will generate employment, widen the tax base and lead to sustainab le development. In the light of the ongoing interpretation of what Bill Gates said, it has to b e pointed out that f rom the onset, A regbesola has, as it were, rhymed the hardware with the software. The advance thrust in the physical infrastructure has gone hand-in-glove

with investments in human capital development.

A n often cited example is the free school meals program involving over 200,000 school pupils, which has increased enrolment in the schools, provided nutritional value and upliftment and crucially lifted agricultural production, thereby

‘ ’

The widely acknowledged social intervention programmes of the state government of Osun like the OYES, O’Ambulance, OREAP, O’Clean and Agba Osun among others have been solid investments in human capital development along the lines advocated by Bill Gate. elevating leaving standards in the rural economy.

This is an excel l ent demonstration of al l

encompassing sustainable development.

I ndiscipline I n Schools, Need For Drastic Action In v iew o f lack o f indiscipline among so me stud ents in seco nd ary schools in Osun State and other part of the country, in spite o f the effo rts o f government, there is need fo r go vernment to , as a m atter of utm o st im p o rtance take m o re drastic action, w ith a view to checking such cases.

A situation w hereby a second ary scho ol student w ill continue to abuse a teacher and as w ell confront him or her openly is unacceptable and this p o rtray to tal lack o f ind iscipline and unruly behavior on the part of the students.

I w ould like to suggest the o v erhauling and restructuring o f o ur ed ucatio n po licy by the g o v ernm ent and o ther

stakeho ld ers in the ed ucatio n secto r as this measure w ill tend to curb the excess of students to some extent.

It is in my view that the free ed ucatio n p o licy

ad o pted by so m e state go vernments acro ss the co untry is no lo ng er feasible, as stud ents believe that since they are no t p ay ing fo r their ed ucatio n, they hav e nothing to lose, fo rgetting that they are toying w ith their future.

If scho o l fees are intro duced in seco nd ary schools, it w ould enhance the standard of ed ucation, as parents and guardians w o uld be co mmitted to ed ucate their w ard s o n

ho w to behav e w ell in schools and the so ciety at large, w hile the majority of the stud ents w o uld also have senses o f belonging.

Experiences have show n that w hen you have a level of commitment in terms of pay ments o f fees to the education of your children,

’

that tore right through its middle, a sound bite like the one coming from Secondus would appear necessary to court some attention.

On the second, with the way it has been carrying on, it is hard to see the old leopard change its spots anytime soon.

Third – and this is tragic – is that the PDP leader refers to the affliction of 16 years – more appropriately a crime against the people – as a “mistake”. W e consider it an

abuse of the word.

y o u w ill hav e w ay s o f co ntinuo usly ed ucating y o ur child ren and monito ring their d ay-to d ay activ ities, w hich w o uld in turn guarantee d iscip line am o ng the students.

Besides, the authorities in the ed ucatio n secto r must be serio us and firm, by ensuring that any student w ho misbehave is summarily suspend ed o r g iv en im m ed iate expulsion as this w ill serve as deterrent to others.

I have to also suggest that go vernment sho uld intro d uce an effectiv e o rientatio n cam p aig n, am o ng the p arents guardians and students so as to keep them informed o n the im po rtance o f educatio n to their future.

•SUNDAY OBALODU, Ilesa, State f Osun

By the way, where does the apology start from? From the do-or-die politics that the party enthroned– a variant of which became the garrison politics of the PD P Southwest? Is it the legacy of electoral fraud – the flagrant disdain for orderl y democratic processes under w hich names of w inners of party primaries are substituted with those who did not even contest as was the case in Rivers?

Do we recall the case of Edo, Ondo, Osun and Ekiti gubernatorial elections in which winners in the elections were returned as l osers until the courts stepped in to do justice?

W hat ab out the l egacy of underdevelopment? How can anyone begin to talk of an apology for the mindboggl ing heist perpetrated by party hierarchs under which governance was reduced to a b azaar w ithout f irst admitting that crimes were committed against the people if only as a first step into the long journey to full restitution?

Surely, Nigerians recognise genuine contrition when they see one. This socalled apology, aside falling short, makes a mockery of the word. After serially gang-raping the country for 16 years, the least citizens expects is that the party would take deliberate and practical steps to purge itself of its ignoble past. O nly then will N igerians begin to take it seriously.

A cross the board in the State of Osun, human capital development has matched the development of the physical infrastructure. A ccess to primary health care for example has widened and so has the structured investments in that and allied sectors. The widel y acknowl edged social intervention programmes of the state government like the OYES, O’A mbulance, OREA P, O’Clean and A gba Osun among others have been solid investments in human capital development. Like the free school meals programmes, the social intervention thrusts of the A regbesola government have become the framework for similar federal government intervention programmes, proving yet again that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

W e therefore commend the example set in the State of O sun where the Bill G ates question was anticipated and the puzzle readily unravelled.

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MAGAZI NE FRIDAY MARCH 30 - THURSDAY APRIL 4, 2018

Osun 2018: 176 Days To Go!

How Governorship Election May Shape Up

Below, OSUN DEFENDER’s Data Analyst, DAMILOLA OJENIKE looks at the state of play and configuration of voting data in recent elections in order to work out the permutations as we approach the political parties’ primaries slated for July.

T h e accompanying chart sho w s the 2014 go verno rship e l e c t i o n resul ts by senato rial districts.

Ju d g i n g fro m this, it show s that the A PC l ead s c o m f o rta b l y in tw o out of the three senato rial districts w ith a good marg in. The tw o d istricts are the Osun W est and Osun Central.

The facto rs resp o n sib le fo r this, acco rd ing to finding s, includ e the popularity of the party among the teemi ng p o p ulac e in the stated districts, their affinity for progressive

tenets since the birth of politicking in the So uth-W est reg io n and the popularity of the candidate in the election.

It is also pertinent to mention the religious bias of the electorates, prior to the 2007 governorship election, the then Governor, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola and his deputy were both Christians and the clamo ur fo r a Muslim ticket w as a d ominant request before the p o ll.

A no ther v ari ab le w hich the electorates did not bother about is the senato rial district where the candidate in the e l e c t i o n originated from.

The 2014 election w as also d etermi ned b y the antecedents of the incumbent as w ell as the exp ectatio ns o f the electorates if

the same party is given the chance to continue to steer the ship of lead ership i n the state.

Performance in the first term is a yardstick that co mp ell ed the electorates to stick out thei r necks fo r continuity ev en in the face of intim id atio n fro m the then PDP-led F e d e r a l Government.

The third senatorial district is almost equally shared with the APC winning by a slim majority. It won the base of the APC candidate, w hile the PDP candidate also won in his ho mestead .

The marg i nal d ifference betw een the two leading parties is less than 1%, considering that the APC w on in 6 out of the 10 local governments in the district. This projection goes well for a d efinitiv e comp etitio n than the other senatorial districts.

In conclusion, the past is gone, the present is here and the future is just what we can predict with our present w o rk. The p ast is no t a sure determinant for the future but gives an add ed ground and po ints in a d irectio n. The A PC w o n the last election and won it well by winning in all the senatorial elections. How else can you win well. 3/ 3 – excellent.

But like I would say, Statistics are like mini -skirts, they d o no t rev eal ev ery thi ng , instead are used fo r projections and predictions for the future after giving us a hint into what is likely to happen. Moreover the variables are not the same and the quality of candidates that both parties w ould present and how acceptable such candidates w ould be for the electorates.

Besides, there is a likely to be a chang e in the attitud e o f the electo rates tow ard s the parties, as well as their candidates.

•Continued on page 6

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Osun 2018: How

•Continued from page 5

MAGAZINE

FRIDAY MARCH 30 - THURSDAY APRIL 4, 2018

Governorship Election May Shape Up

Osun West Senatorial Election 2015 & 2017 Bye- Election The acco mp any ing chart shows the result of the same elec tio n separated by two years. It show s that in just tw o years the balance of power chang ed stro ng ly to another party. It magnifies that PDP had an increasing positive votes o f ab o ut 22% o f the district. This is massively reflec ted in tw o main towns: Ede North and Ede South.

The implication of this is ch ang e remains a constant phenomenon in life and time (in years) is a major tool for change. If in just two years, a leading party could lose its power, then a lot of things can hap p en in fo ur y ears.

Many of the attributes of chang e may be the p o litical A sp irants, political party, Results/ works of the incumbent political party, etc. This

Osun West Senatorial District is one of the zones in the state that hav e in the p ast d etermined the o utco me o f electio ns, but the July 7, 2017 Senatorial bye-election in the zo ne, sequel to the death o f Senator Isiaka Adeleke was a clear d igressio n fro m the established patter of voting in the district.

The district is kno w n to be progressive-minded owing to the succ ess that had b een reco rded during the days o f

also warns that the charge of the shift in power might be temporary

eno ug h fo r the next co ming elections. Many attributed it to the

Lessons From Osun West Bye-election Alliance for Democracy, Action Co ngress, Action Co ngress of N ig erian and no w the A ll Progressives Congress (A PC), particularly in Iwo, Egbedo re, Ejigbo, Ayedire, Irewole, Isokan, amo ng o thers as against the Peo p les Demo cratic Party (PDP), but the pattern o f the 2017 bye-election was an hurdle

for the APC to cross.

Some of the factors that may determine the success o f the ruling party in the zone during the September 22 governorship election are acceptability of the cand id ate, m o bilizatio n mac hineries p ut in p lace, develo pmental projects of the incumbent in the zone.

death of the former Senato r and used this elec tio n as a comp ensatio n fo r him and his family.

Death is alw ays a key fac to r in politics. There was a sy mp athy v o te to w ard s the A d eleke’ s. the result would have been c lo sely rep licated had A d emola A d eleke (the w inner) ran und er A cco rd .

Vitally, there was a marked v o ter ap athy amo ng st APC voters. These tw o sig n ificant facto rs w ill certainly no t be replicated in the g o v ern o rship electio n on September 22 2018.

Ho w ever, d evelo p mental projects in both rural and urban centers in the zo ne abo und; such projects range from school infrastructu re, ro ad infrastructure, so c ial interventio n p ro gram mes among others. To complement this, a party will have to choose an acceptable candidate and p ut in p lace an effective electoral machines that would mo bilize massively fo r the party which would dictate how the election would shape up.

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COMMUNITY

FRIDAY MARCH 30 - THURSDAY APRIL 4, 2018

Ede North Area Council I nstalls 500KVA Transformer To Community It was a colourful atmosphere during the weekend, as the Executive Secretary, Ede North A rea Council of the State of Osun, Comrade M ikail Uthman installed a 500KV A transformer to A were Community, Owode Ede.

The pro vision of the transformer follow ed the request by the community to the council boss after years of darkness in the area.

Co m m issio ning the transformer, Uthman said the move was imperative o w ing to the fact that residents of the area had w itnessed y ears of d arkness, say ing the gesture w as part of the p rio rity of his ad m inistratio n to find lasting solutio ns to the plight of the people in the area of electricity and their other welfare.

According to him, this w as because, his ad m inistratio n und erstand s the co nnection betw een adequate pow er supply and the economic growth of the people dw elling in the community. “ There is no gainsaying in the fact that the issue of electricity in o ur community has been an ep ilep tic one. A lo t o f businesses have folded up, many people have left the community only because o f the unstable p o w er supply. This is why we are co m m itted to hit the ground running. “ It’s a dream come true for the people of A w ere co m m unity after witnessing many years of darkness. I have made a promise to the community that I will do everything in my power to improve the standard of living in the society and to p rov id e so lution to any challenges.”

Commending Governor Rauf A regbeso la fo r initiating the Lo cal G o v e r n m e n t Parliam entary Sy stem w hich helps in bringing government closer to the p eo p le, Uthm an said w ithout the g overnor’ s support the gesture might not have come.

The council boss then lauded m embers o f his cabinet, staff members and other stakeholders w ho have made the project a reality , urging them to continue to support his administration.

Speaking at the event, the Co m m issio ner fo r Local Go vernm ent and Chieftaincy A ffairs, Barrister Kolap o A lim i lauded the council boss for his commitment and quick response to the demand of the peop le, say ing, the gesture w as an evidence that the All Progressives Co ng ress (A PC) is a responsible one.

He said the ad m inistratio n of A reg beso la has alw ay s been co m m itted to the plight of the people, but for the paucity of fund, saying, despite that, the g o v ernm ent has been committed to the welfare of the people within the lim ited av ailable resources.

Also, the APC leader in Ed e, A lhaji Sule A lao tasked the people of the community to reciprocate the gesture through their votes for the A PC with a v iew to ensuring co ntinuity of d ev elo p m ental

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OR F CE LE A SP SA

programmes and projects in the council and state in general.

One of the Community Leaders w ho spoke at the p ro g ram m e, Mr

Oloruntoyin said the rate at w hich the council boss responded to the demand o f the co mm unity w as unprecedented, saying the g esture w as w ell

ap p reciated by the residents.

He then assured that the people of the community have been convinced that the ad m inistratio n is

co ncerned w ith the welfare of the people, as several efforts have been m ad e to other w ellm eaning ind iv id ual without result.

•Osun Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Kolapo Alimi (2nd right);’Executive Secretary, Ede North Area Council, Mikail Uthman (middle); a Personal Assistant to the state governor, Olateju Olohungbebe (2nd left) and other personalities at the commissioning of a 500KVA transformer donated to Awere Community, Owode by the area council.

I wo West LCDA Embarks On Developmental Projects In its resolve to resuscitating the standard of living and the economic development of the people, Hon. Ezekiel A dedibu-led administration in Iwo W est Local Council Development Area (LCDA ), has embarked on series of developmental projects in the council.

A cco rd ing to a statement by the Head of So cial Develo pment o f the co uncil, Mr Jo hn A dew uyi, the first in line is the first phase of the extensiv e g rad ing o f earth roads in the co uncil area.

A cco rding to him, the ro ad s start fro m Id i-

A raba, passing thro ugh A w uje, Bale, Eleko Mag uno la, Olo si, A w o Kekere, Olo y an-O ke, O lukehinsi, Olo y an C o o perative, Muniare and term inating at A gberire, the seat of the Lo cal Go v ernm ent Secretariat.

The statem ent no ted that since the completion of the road, the economic stand ard of the people in the various communities has m o v ed to w ard s a positive d irection.

It ad d ed that in ad d itio n to this, the co uncil’ s secretariat co mp lex is no w easily accessible to bo th the workers and the teeming m em bers of the community.

The statem ent read

further, “ The seco nd developmental task is the co mm encement o f the construction of the ultram o d ern To w n Hall in A g berire, as the co mpletio n o f this hall would be of great use to bo th the Lo cal Go v ernm ent and the community at large. “ With these and many m o re p ro jects to be executed in the nearest future, we can boldly say that good times are here indeed” , it read.

Boripe North LCDA Boss Pledges More Development Chairman, Boripe N orth Local Council D evel opment A rea, (LCD A ), Prince A deb ol a A dejumo has promised the people of the council area the commitment of his administration to social

and infrastructural development of the area.

A d ejum o , d uring a Reverend Father Gabriel C hurch Thanksg iv ing A d eniyi, counselled the Pro g ram m e at new council leadership to Saint Patrick Catholic fear Go d and alw ay s C hurch, O ro ruw o follow his path, saying no recently so licited the matter how d ifficult any support of the traditional challeng e, they w o uld rulers, relig io us overcome it if they stand community and political by God. He said they sho uld leaders towards bringing more d evelopment to the consider the opportunity to serve their people as area. g race o f Go d o ut o f The C hairm an said d esp ite p aucity of funds, the state Governo r, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola and the All Progressive Congress are determined to bring the desired d evelopment to the p eo p le at the grassroo ts.

A cco rd ing to A dejumo, in no d istant time, his administration will justify the mandate g iv en to him and his cabinet members by the people of the council.

In his serm o n, the Presid ing O v erseer,

tho usand s and urg ed them to always see power and resource as trust that belong to the people.

Adeniyi however urged the new lead ership to strive hard in developing the co uncil to leav e a worthy legacy that would be remembered by the yet unborn generation.

Also, the Olororuwo of O ro ruw o , O ba Quamarudeen A deyanju co ng ratulated the Chairman and his cabinet o n their success at the polls and urged them not

to forget their promises, just as he assured them the support of the traditional rulers in the LCDA. O ther elected parliamentarians of the co uncil are, Ho n.

Akinyemi Joseph, Vice Chairman; Hon. Adeniji Gbenga Jacob, Leader of the Ho use; Ho n.

Fo lo runso Babatund e Abiodun, Deputy Leader; Hon. A debiyi Babatunde Kolawole, Hon. A bd ulsalam A keem Ademola and Hon. Bello Azeez Adeleke.

•Chairman, Boripe North LCDA, Honourable Bola Adejumo (4th right) and other personalities during the thanksgiving service at Saint Patrick Catholic Church, Orooruwo.

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THE SOCIAL REGISTER

FRIDAY MARCH 30 - THURSDAY APRIL 4, 2018

THE SOCIAL REGISTER

OSUNDEFENDER

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9

A Cocktail Of Recent Happenings Lions Club DG Visits Osun, Commissions Osun NUJ Honours Late Member, Nathaniel Abimbola With Memmorial Lecture Oyelude, Ogunade Build A Legacy Projects I n Osogbo, I gbajo New Family Tree

By Israel Afolabi

•The Lions Club DG and members of the club at the commissioning of one of the projects in Osogbo

By Jimmy Adams The Lions Club International last week inaugurated a motorised borehole at O ke-O ja community of Igbajo to alleviate the suffering of the residents of the area.

The District Governor of the club, A siwaju A yobola who was on tour of the regions 8 and 9 of the association commi ssioned the l egacy project executed by the O sun New Era Lions Club under the leadership of Oluomo Sunday A kere.

He urged the community to assume ownership of the project and ensured that it can sustained to completely eradicate suffering among the teeming women and children in the area.

A ccording to him, the Lions Club is dedicated to delivering on its Lions year projects which includes Sight, environment, diabetes, cancer and feeding the hungry.

H e charged i ndi genes of the community to join the club in a bid to serve humanity.

Earlier in the day, the club visited

the O wa of Igbajo, O b a A def emi Fashade to pay homage and inaugurated him as honourary member of the club.

In hi s response, the monarch commended the club for deeming it fit to site the project in the community,

saying it would go a long way to serve the people of the area and alleviate the suffering for portable water supply.

He also seek for the establishment of a branch of the association in the town for

indigenes to have access to it.

A l so respondi ng on behal f of the benef iting community, the Obaala of

Igbajo, Chief Lekan Osho disclosed that

the project was timely, especially as the popul ati on of the comm uni ty is increasing as a result of the presence of a hi gher i nstituti on with students population.

He said the project would go a long way to solve the problems of water scarcity in the part of the town, especially during the dry season.

H e then assured the club that the community would ensure that the project is properly taken care of and utilised effectively.

In his address, Oluomo Sunday A kere disclosed that the project is a testimony of the club’ s integrity to deliver on its promi ses, sayi ng he has pl edged to deliver on all the projects for the Lions year 2018.

The District Governor also met with all the eleven clubs in the region to interact on the challenges and prospect facing the association and the opportuniti es available in the state.

This is just as some other projects were commissioned in O sogbo.

The Speaker, O sun House of Assembly, D r N ajeem Salam has advised yo uths in the country to shun the syndrome of cutting corners to making mo ney fo r the sake of development of the country.

D r Salaam gave this advice on Thursday during his keynote address at the first N athaniel A b imbo la M emorial lecture held at N UJ press centre O sogbo.

D r Salaam who w as re pre sented b y H on. Le ke O g unsol a, the H ouse committee chairman on Health de scribe d l ate N athaniel A b imb ola as a se rio us journalist who handles his work diligently.

He said, the late journalist left a good legacy that would not be forgotten in the pen profe ssion and he urg ed others to emulate his good manners.

According to him, “ I want yo uths to shun quick -rich syndrome and have it in mind to do things right always, until all hav e a mind set for the nation to move forward”, he added.

He wants the youths to do the needful and say the truth in all things for the society to grow. H e, however, promised that the state assembly will •President, Customary Court of Appeal, Justice Gloria Oladoke (left) in a discussion with the wife of Late Nathaniel Abimbola, Mrs Olufunke while her continue to support the family children watch. of the late journalist.

He advised journalists to of N igerian political system”, In his welcome address, the emulate the late sage, Chief gave some suggestions for state chairman of N UJ O sun O bafemi A wolowo, Chief the way forward and gave council, Com rade A biodun Samuel A kintola, D r kudos to N igerians who have O lalere appreciated all the N namd i A zik we and S ir strug gl ed and are still dignitaries who were part of Tafaw a Bale wa who all struggling for the oneness of the gathering. contributed well to the pen N igeria.

H e de scribe d the late profe ssion and nation’ s H e urged the upcoming journalist as a “ workaholic development. youths to upholds the unity journalist” who discharges his M e anw hile, the gue st of N ige ria and defe nd its duty well. lecturer at the occasion, Prof According to him, “ we need democracy while faulting the M ojeed Alabi who is also a 1999 constitution of N igeria to do something about our described journalism as the me mbe r, H ouse of as a maj or snag in the we lfare as situations m ay the occasion, D r Kunle O lajide, most informed profession in who is the Secretary-G eneral, Representative, Abuja in his nation’s development. demand”. the world. lecture: “Current challenges However, the chairman of Yo rub a C ouncil o f Elde rs

•The groom, Mutairu Olalekan, greeting the family of the bride, during the engagement programme.

By Jimmy Adams It was a day of joy between the family of Oyelude and Ogunade, when their children tie the nuptial knot. The event kickstarted with the engagement program me at O gunade resident around O taEfun Area, the state capital of the State of Osun.

A f ter the engagem ent, the

Nikkah programme commenced, and the cleric advised the couple to be loyal. He commits their marriage into the hand of God, he also charged them to cultivate the idea of showing each other love.

He advised the groom to always make her wife happy, and advised the bride never to say no to his husband whenever he needs her attention.

“He said, the late journalist left a good legacy that would not be forgotten in the pen profession and he urged others to emulate his good manners.”

•The groom and his bride in a joyous mood after the engagement

OUR SOCIAL REGISTER IS OPEN FOR YOUR SOCIAL ACTIVITIES TO BE MADE PUBLIC

•A cross section of Lions Club members.

•(L-R) Osun Commissioner for Information, Mr Lani Baderinwa; Representative of Speaker, Osun House of Assembly, Honourable Leke Ogunsola; Chairman of the Occasion, Dr Kunle Olajide and Member, Federal House of Representative, Honourable Mojeed Alabi.

•A cross section of journalists and other dignitaries at the programme.

Spaces are available for your anniversaries such as weddings, house-warming and chieftaincy title ceremonies among others for your take. To take advantage of this, you can reach out to Murtala, 08023280935, Kazeem 08062207954 and Nike on 07032594744 Let the public know what you are doing.

FRIDAY MARCH 30 - THURSDAY APRIL 4, 2018

POLITICS

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10

With 176 days to go into the election on September 22nd, the preliminaries and the heats for the main race has surreptitiously started. Starting from this week, we will be doing ongoing reviews of the purported contestants, even though none of them has formally declared.

I siaka Adegboyega Oyetola ( APC) H e has no t to ld any one he is in the race, nevertheless, the name of the Chief of Staff of the State of Osun is a recurring decimal. Perhaps it’s because he has a technocratic ring (as in the case of Fashola and Ambode). So, the temptation is irresistible. The toga of co ntinuity reso nates aro und the personality of the Suave and urbane, Iragbiji born technocrat. In his favour, he doesn’t come with the sort of baggage with which a professional rabble-rousing politician is associated.

Adegboyega Oyetola, is the Chief of Staff to the Governor, State of Osun. A man of many parts with vast experience in p o litic s, b usiness and p u b lic administration; he is a man of deep conviction and a religious devout who has progressed in his endeavours by the grace of God, dint of hard w ork and uncompromising stand on integrity.

He has been described by Governor Rauf Aregbesola as a major pillar behind his administration for his cool and calm demeanour and the wisdom with w hich he has handled staff relations and other sensitive matters of the state.

He was born on September 29, 1954, in Iragbiji, Boripe Local Government Area of Osun. He attended Ifeoluwa Grammar School in Osogbo for his secondary school education w hich he completed in 1972.

H e p ro ceed ed to the p restig i o us University of Lagos where he bagged a Bachelor of Science honours degree in Insu rance in 1978. H e cap p ed his illustrious education pedigree with a Master of Business A d ministratio n (MBA ) in 1990 at the same University of Lagos, Akoka, Lagos.

H e had his mand ato ry o ne y ear National Youth Service between 1978 and 1979, at Potiskum, the capital city of present day Yobe State, where he lectured at the Staff Training Centre.

In 1980, he joined Leadway Assurance Company Limited as A rea Manager, and w orked there till 1987. He took another step by taking his expertise to Crusad er Insurance Co mp any Limited as Underwriting Manager between 1987 and 1990. He moved again in 1990 to A lliance and General Insurance as Technical Controller and served in that capacity until 1991.

H ow ev er, he too k a g iant step in 1991 b y establishing his own Company, Silvertrust Insurance Brokers Limited. He was the Managing Director since its founding until his appointment as Chief of Staff in 2011.

His other forays in business include Executive Vice-Chairman, Paragon Group of Companies which has interest in Oil and Gas, Mining and Real Estate since 2005 until 2011. He w as also Chairman of Ebony Properties Limited. He had been a Director of Pyramid Securities Limited, until 2011, among other business interests, before his appointment as Chief of Staff.

Adegboyega Oyetola is a pronounced Technocrat as w ell as a progressiv e po litician. He w as a founding member of Alliance for Democracy (AD) and has been a chieftain of the party through its metamorphosis to Action Congress (AC), Action Co ng ress o f N ig eria (A CN ) and no w A ll Progressives Congress (A PC). He has assisted the party nationally, particularly in the State of Osun.

He is an effective grassroots mobiliser.

For his public service and philanthropic acts, he has received an array of honours and awards. These include: 1.

Distinguished Merit Aw ard by his alma mater, Ifeoluwa Grammar School, Osogbo, February 2014; 2.

The Guardian Award for Exceptional Chief of Staff in the Federation 2017; 3.

Distinguished Award of Excellence in Public

The Race & The Runners

Prince (Dr) Ayoade Adewopo On The Starting Block For The PDP

Administration by Nigeria Union of Journalists, Osun State Council, August 2015; 4.

Lead ership A w ard fo r O utstand ing Performance by the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), Osogbo Branch, March 2016; 5.

A w ard o f Excellence b y O sun State University, College of Law, Ifetedo, January 2016; 6.

A w ard of Excellence as ICON of Good Governance by Netw ork of Non-Governmental Organisation (NETNOS) State of Osun Branch.

November, 2017; 7.

A w ard for Exemp lary and Exceptio nal Support and Fellow of Osun State College of Technology, Esa Oke, January 2017; 8.

Grand Patron of the Local Government Chapel of Osun State NUJ, November 2016; 9.

Lead ership A w ard b y Internati o nal Association of Lions Club, District 404B2, Nigeria, February 2016; 10. N A O SS-N HQ A w ard o f Excellence in Administration and Good Governance, May 2016; 11. A w ard o f Excellenc e in Pu b lic Administration by Rotary Club of Osogbo, Rotary International, July 2016; 12. Meritorious Award by NA OSS, Obafemi Awolowo University Chapter, February 2017; 13. African Students Union Parliament (ASUP), Pan-African Distinguished Leadership Honour as Icon of Nation Building in Nigeria 2018.

Mr. Oyetola is an Associate Member, Chattered Insurance Institute in London and Nigeria. He is also a member of the Nigeria Institute of Management (NIM).

Oyetola is a Socialite, Philanthropist and a lover and promoter of A rts. He is a member of the prestigious Ikoyi Club. He is married with children.

A group known as Ileri-Oluwa has started massive political mobilisation for him, even though he is yet to officially declare his governorship ambition.

Prince (Dr) A yo ad e A d ew o po , is a reno w ned Global Trade and Corporate Governance Counsel, President of Johnson A dedoja A dewopo Foundation and Convener o f A yo mbo Revolutio n Mo v em ent fo r the 2018 O sun go verno rship electio n. He is o ne of the g o v erno rship asp irants und er the platform o f the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). He hails from Ile-Ife, in Osun East Senatorial District of the state.

A y o ad e A d ew o p o is a leg al practitioner. He hold s a Doctorate Degree in Jurisp ud ence fro m the Ind iana Univ ersity , Ind iana, a Po stg rad uate Diploma in International Tax Law from Ro bert Kennedy College (University of Wales), Zurich-Switzerland and a Higher N atio nal Dip lo m a in Business A d ministratio n and Management from The Polytechnic Ibad an, Nigeria.

Born o n the 20th December, 1972 to Prince Johnson A dedoja A dewopo, a scion of the popular Ogboru Royal Family of IleIfe and Princess Dorcas A dewopo (Nee Lao ye) a retired teacher and the first daughter of the Late Timi of Ede, HRH Oba John A detoyese Laoye.

Prince A d ew o p o is a licensed law practitioner in the USA and also a Solicitor in England & Wales. Prince A dewopo also has the rig ht to p ractice law in the European Union and Canada. He currently w o rks as a sp ecialist o n Co rpo rate Go vernance, Glo bal Trad e Financing and A nti-Mo ney Laundering matters in Nigeria.

Previo usly, Prince A dewopo wo rked with The Hong Kong Equal Opportunities Commission, as an A ssociate with the law firm of Ice Miller LLP, as the Senior Global O p eratio ns C o unsel fo r The Sco tt’ s Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE: SMG) and as the Vice President & A ssistant General Counsel (A mericas) for Ingerso ll-Rand (NYSE: IR).

Betw een 2004 and 2006, Prince A d ew o po serv ed as Secretary, V ice President and President of the Marion County Bar A ssociation (Indianapolis, Indiana). During the same period, he was also appo inted as a Member of the Marion County Public Defender Board of Directors.

He is a frequent speaker on Corporate Governance issues, A nti Mo ney Laund ering, Glo bal Sourcing, International Trade and Global Investments.

A yoad e A dewopo served as a campaign leader for the Obama 2008 and 2012 Presidential campaigns. He has also served as a special advisor and counsel to several foreign government entities and several multinatio nal co rpo ratio ns o n d iv erse transactio ns, including commodity hedging, mergers, acquisitions, global or cross-border joint ventures, trade financing, global security issues, global trade ethics and compliance policies.

A philanthropist of note, Prince A dew opo claimed to have impacted the lives of Osun indigenes greatly thro ugh the Johnson A dedoja A dewopo Foundation (JA A F), a fo undation that is currently catering for the need s of indigenes in various areas, includ ing higher ed ucatio n scho larship s, hum an cap ital and infrastructural development projects.

Prince A yo ad e A d ew opo is the recipient of the prestigious Great Ife Stud ents’ Union Leadership in Excellence A ward , 2017. The last recipient o f this aw ard was Chief Gani Fawehinmi in 1988. Prince A dew opo stands out among his contempo raries. He demo nstrates keen and transparent interest in the poor and down trodden.

A y o ad e A d ew o p o is hap p ily m arried w ith child ren.

With his political slogan, Ayombo o!!! A dewopo has begun consultation and mobilization of stakeholders for the actualization of his governorship ambition, regardless of the crisis within the PDP and agitation for zo ning.

•Next week, we look at incumbent SSG, Alhaji Moshood Adeoti of the APC and Iyiola Omisore of PDP.

FRIDAY MARCH 30 - THURSDAY APRIL 4, 2018

Aftermath Of PDP Congress:

By Shina Abubakar The crises in the O sun chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) seems to be far from being over even with the conclusion of the party’s ward congresses and the conducted congress of the party over the weekend.

The N atio nal Secretariat of the party had g iv en the state chapter the go-ahead to co nclud e its w ard congresses and to conduct state co ng ress to elect executives into the State W o rking Co m m ittee, with a view to preparing the p arty fo r the f o r t h c o m i n g governorship election in the state.

As a state High Court in Ejig bo threw an injunction before it o ut asking the party to go and settle their differences at home, the party’s national head quarters g av e the directive to proceed w ith the process and the Soji Adagunodo faction w ent ahead w ith the p rocess that eventually produced wards, local governments and state executiv e committees for the party.

In his inaugural speech after his election, Mr Soji A d ag uno d o d isclo sed that the National Working Com m ittee’ s stance o n ensuring that justice and fairness is given priority is the breakthroug h to peace and progress in the

state branch of the party.

He disclosed that he is com mitted to ensuring that the party upholds the tenets of d em ocracy to ensure that the peace it is enjoying now is sustained.

He extended hands of fello w ship to o ther contestants in the election, saying the task to develop the party in the state is a task for all and sundry.

However, 24 hours after the co nd uct o f the congress, the leader of the other factio n, D r. Bayo Fafo rijin stated o n his facebook page that it is certain that his factio n would leave the party to continue the pursuit for the governorship ambition of Senator Iyiola Omisore o n a y et to be nam ed platform.

However, w hen he was co ntacted , he said the co ng ress that w as held o v er the w eekend w as illegal, as it violates the constitution and timetable set fo r it. He said the congress was supposed to be held on Tuesday but was moved backward to Sund ay w hich resulted into shutting out his

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Omisore’s Faction Threatens To Leave

group.

He added that his group w o uld w ait fo r the reactio n o f the p arty ’ s

N atio nal W o rking Co m m ittee to either validate or invalidate the congress.

He quickly added that if it validates the congress, then his faction would be left with no option than to

leav e the p arty in p ursuance of their asp iratio ns so mew here else.

Face Your Crisis, Stop Hallucinating, Osun APC Tells PDP A ll Progressives Congress in the state of Osun has told the Peoples Democratic Party to face its crisesridden party sort out themselves and stop hallucinating on how to ‘wrestle’ power from the ruling party. himself or herself and ask

The ruling APC said a party that cannot conduct ordinary wards congresses in unity cannot stand in the way of the progressive APC. A cco rd ing to a statement by the party’s D irecto r o f Publicity , Research and Strateg y, Kunle Oyatomi, in the last three years or so, the PDP has embroiled in fractional leadership crisis, fighting over who should control the party , w hich has generated into having two secretariats up till now. “ They are unserious and can’t rule over the good people of Osun who have been enjoying dividends of democracy over seven years now. “ Osun cannot afford to make a w rong decision because that w ill be inv iting the evil that is w aiting in the w ings to d estro y the g lorio us achievements that Osun has seen since 2010. “ Every citizen of the state should look around

this vital question: is this Osun I used to know when the PDP was in power? “ Wonderful citizens of O sun, let us take y o u through the memory lane and ask resid ents o f Osogbo in particular the follo w ing questio ns: is O so g bo lo o king better today than it was betw een 2003 and 2010? “ If you can honestly say yes, then the party which made the city better is the o ne to trust, no t the ‘ O jelus’ in PD P w ho allowed the city to rot and became a death trap as the season changed. “ The resid ents o f Osogbo would not forget the ‘ Gbo nm i’ , w here ev ery tim e it rained , residents o f the area suffered devastating losses of hum an lives and the destruction of properties. “ You should not forget that for the seven and half years that the PDP was in power in the state, it abandoned ‘Gbonmi’ and became complicit in the

disasters that regularly happened there and other areas of ‘ Omiyale’. “ W hat abo ut A lekuw o do ?, the p arty further asked , ‘ d o yo u appreciate the beauty and the feel o f that area o f Osogbo? So is Olaiya and the recently commissioned W o rkers Driv e lo o k better? “ Talk about ‘Omigade’ area. You remember how hopelessly abandoned that area w as? It w as so inaccessible, ev en m o to rcy clists (o kad a) refused to ply roads in that area. “ That was the ugliness of Osogbo during the PDP regime. But today, how does Omigade look like? It has beco me a cho ice residential area where the property premium is very attractive. “ That’s the beauty of the Aregbesola’s approach to governance, ‘according to the APC, adding, ‘those w ho hav e ey es to see, brains to think and a conscience to w ork w ith w ill ado re the revolutionary changes that have taken place in Osun, especially in Osogbo. “ There are many more

places like O mig ade in Osog bo that have been resto red fro m their m iserable co nd ition to places of choice in the state capital. “ They includ e O ld Garag e, O fated o , A w o suru and Eley ele.

You, good people of Osun, the governor and his party that brought about this transformation are now inv olv ed in a p o litical transition. “ The PDP says it wants to come back to pow er.

Does your conscience tell you that that party is an alternative to APC?’ , the party asked. “ Can y o u in g o o d conscience prefer a party that left the state to rot; that allowed flood to claim lives and properties and that p ractically squandered the resources of the state to return to p o w er and d o w o rst things? “ God forbid” , the APC proclaimed’, adding that ‘those who are clamouring for a reversal of the success and progress that Osun has made under the APC government, led by Rauf Aregbesola are worst than the devil itself.

The I mperative Of A Viable Civil Service

By Diran Fashesin In 1976, w hen the then Head o f State, General Murtala Mohammed, thought that the civ il serv ice had beco me a behemoth, he took drastic actions w hich eroded the core values of the civil service, esp ecially , d ilig ence, hard w o rk, commitment to d uties, trustw orthiness, accountability, transparency and security of tenure. The consequences w ere that the Civ il Serv ice becam e unstable and attractive to corruption of need, corruption of greed and grand corruption as w ell as m ental slav ery .

The w o es w ere co mp o und ed by the refo rm s o f Pro f.

Dotun Philips in 1988, und er the Military Presid ent, General Ibrahim Badamo si Babangid a (IBB). Sanity w as slightly restored to the civil service by General Sanni Abacha through the Chief Allison A yid a reforms o f 1995.

Despite the perceived maladies and inadequacies of the Civil Service, it is statutory and w ill continue to be relevant in government and governance, in every part of the w o rld.

When Nig erians w ere eager to see President Muhammadu Buhari’ s cabinet, he told them that “ Civil Servants w ere doing the real job, that ministers w ere just ceremonio us and noise- makers” . Since November, 2015, they have justified the assertion. In the w ords of Senator Abiola Ajimobi “ no government can succeed without the support of the Civil Service bureaucracy” . It must be appreciated that

the Nigerian civil service is a replica of the British White Hall, because it w as inherited fro m o ur fo rm er Co lo nial m asters.

It w as d esig ned fo r a co nserv ativ e p rim e m inisterial (parliamentary) system o f government and for an evasive, fantastically cocooned British mo narchy, d ue to the fear o f d o minatio n by the hig hly qualified techno crats w ho w ere g rad uates o f Cambridge and Oxford Universities, and allow ed to jo in the elitist British Civil Service.

It is no t just happenstance that the

p erio d w hen N ig eria p ractised the co nserv ativ e and co st- effectiv e parliamentary system of go vernment, combined w ith the equally conservative British mo d el Civil Service, has been d escribed as the g o ld en era o f go o d go vernance. It w as the perio d Chief Obafemi Aw olow o laid the foundation for mod ern governance in the pace-setting W estern Reg io n as Prem ier, w ith numerous accomplishments in all facets of human end eavours. The feats, even after over 60 years, have remained indelible and reference point globally. This w as attested to by Dr. Tunji Olao pa, w ho remarked “ that the Chief Aw olow o/ Ad ebo Mo del of administration in the d efunct Western Region o f Nigeria is yet to be replicated anyw here in the w orld” .

In contrast, since 1979, w hen Nigeria ado pted the America-styled Presidential System o f government, w hich thrives on lobby and patronage in Spoils System of government that is expensive, explorative and requires a lot of competences, it has attracted highly qualified and competent professionals into politics and government as ag ainst the p rep o nd erance o f professional politicians, w ith mod erate

intellectual capacity in the First Republic.

In the face o f this d y nam ism in government and governance, the Nigerian Civ il Serv ice is still expected to be ano ny m o us, co nserv ativ e, neutral, apo litical and impersonal, even w ith its abund ant highly cerebral, skilled and intellectual personnel. It is no doubt, a repo sito ry o f kno w led ge, experience, exposure and information.

So, to an average new breed po litician, especially since the ad vent of the Fourth Republic in 1999, the civil service is perceived to be d o cile, inco mpetent, ineffective, inefficient and incapable of driving developmental d emocracy and good governance.

It is therefo re, very easy to assume that the civil service is inconsequential and that the reso urces co m m itted to its maintenance is a colossal loss, that the population is infinitesimal, especially with the global eco nomic depression, natio nal recessio n and sub-natio nal financial distress. We must also emphasise that the civil servants are the core of the mid dle class, w ho buy the goods and services of the businesses and engage the artisans (the m asses). So , w hen they are p aid , industries dispose off their goods, keep on

business and engage mo re peo ple to curtail the menace o f unemployment.

Whereas, it is expected to be apolitical and non-partisan, but in actual fact, it is multi-p artisan, because all po litical parties that have w o n electio ns, and formed government at all levels, have alw ays left elements of their tendencies, in the service after the expiration of their respective tenure.

There is no do ubt, therefore, that the pro fessional enviro nment o f the civil serv ants is hig hly p o liticised and polarised w ith patronage and lobby, god fatherism, nepotism and favouritism. So, the problem is no t in the size o r the reso urces co m m itted to their remunerations, either active or passive; the real problem is the re-alignment of the ethics of the inherited British Civil Service w ith the American Presidential System of Government. It is a case of the White Hall versus the White Ho use. “ We must rem em ber the ad v ice o f A braham Campbell, that “ any nation that allow s its civil service to falter w ill fail” .

The challeng es o f d emo cratic g o v ernance in N ig eria are p o o r lead ership and flaw ed lead ership selectio n pro cess, po litical instability, po verty , po litical vio lence, electio n rigging, reso urce allocation, corruption, w eak political parties, w eak institutions, medio crity, high co st o f governance, p o licy d isco ntinuity , p o o r p o licy fo rmulatio n and executio n, bud get ind iscipline, delay preparation and late appro val o f budgets. We must all be advised that the ultimate goal of a viable civil service is to raise the quality o f services d elivered to the po pulatio n, sup p o rt eco no m ic and so cial development, enhance the capacity to carry out core government function i.e rev enue g eneratio n, financial management, perso nnel management, policy formulation and implementation.

This, to my mind, is the imperative.

• D iran Fashesin (diranfashesin 25 @ gmail.com) writes from Osogbo.

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FRIDAY MARCH 30 - THURSDAY APRIL 4, 2018

UNI OSUN Workers Suspend Strike After Assembly's I ntervention

By Israel Afolabi The striking workers of the Osun State University have called off their strike action following the intervention of the State House of A ssembly.

The Chairman o f the N o n-A cad em ic Staff Unio ns (N A SU), Mr Isaiah Fay em i, to ld journalists in Osogbo , on Tuesd ay, that the jo int unio ns d ecid ed to suspend the strike actions after the intervention of the state parliament.

The striking w o rkers had o n March 5 em barked on an ind efinite strike, d em and ing the immed iate payment o f earned allo w ances, w ithd raw al o f the new conditions of service for lack of the union’s input and reinstatement of staff members purpo rted to have been removed from the payro ll.

The suspension of the strike falls w ithin the ultimatum given by the g o v erning co uncil fo r them to resume, o r face the consequences of ‘nowork, no-pay’ policy.

The Reg istrar and Secretary to the Council, Mr Gafar Shittu, had w arned that all no n-

teaching staff members on strike should resume w o rk o n o r befo re the 10th A pril, 2018, “ failing which the extant rules of the Univ ersity w ill apply” The management had directed that a register of attend ance be ad m inistered in ev ery College and departments fo r no n-teaching staff members who are willing to resum e w o rk immediately, saying that any non-acad emic staff w ho failed to return to work on or before A pril 10 w o uld no lo nger be paid.

Shittu, how ever, said that the co uncil had ag reed d uring its emergency meeting o n Mo nd ay that the N300 m illio n balance o f the 2014/ 2015 Earned A llo w ance w o uld be p aid in instalm ents at N10 million per month beginning from A pril 30.

Meanw hile, the State Ho use of A ssembly has set up an ad ho c

•Professor Labo Popoola, UNIOSUN VC committee co mprising of 15 members to look into the crisis ro cking the university and as w ell stud y the account of the institutio n in the last three years.

Sp eaker o f the State A ssem bly , Dr N ajeem Salam w ho briefed journalists at the end of the closed d oor meeting w ith the p arties in the crisis on Tuesday at the

State House of A ssembly Co mplex, d irected that the co m m ittee m ust repo rt back to the House in the next two weeks.

The Sp eaker, at the meeting had recalled the previous meeting w here the unio n lead ers explained their demands, saying the joint meeting w as to enable the management explain its own side of the story.

Enigmatic Akanbi Modern (if I may use this word) Osun, Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Imo etc and to some extent, modern democratic Nigeria, could be safely said to be as a result of the sagacity of this leader, A siwaju Bola A hmed Tinubu.

A s we celebrate his birthday this week, Ay e Kooto canno t but say something.

Even a voluminous book will not be enough to write on the enigma called A kanbi Bolanle A hmed Tinubu, with the epithet: Omo olodo ide, (the prodigy w ith a mo rtar mad e o f bro nze). He has d efined w hat lead ership ought to be. It may be safe to conclude that Bola is the major issue in contemporary Nigeria’s political landscape because w hen it co mes to the politics of Tinubu, you cannot be on the fence: you either love or hate him. A s governor of metropolitan Lagos, he bestrode the landscape of western Nigeria’s politics such that he became a kingmaker of sorts, even long after leaving office.

Bola Tinubu was born on 29 March 1952 in Lagos to the illustrious Tinubu family. He attended St. John’s Primary School, A roloya, Lagos and Children’s Home Scho ol in Ibadan. In 1975, Bola left Nigeria for the United States of A merica in search of the proverbial Go ld en Fleece w ith a heart brim m ing w ith unrelenting d eterminatio n to achieve his visio ns.

There he studied first at Richard J. Daley College in Chicago, Illinois and then at Chicago State University.

He graduated in 1979 w ith a Bachelo r of Science degree in A ccounting. Tinubu wo rked for A merican co mpanies A rthur A ndersen, Delo itte, Haskins, & Sells, and GTE Services Co rpo ratio n. W hen he returned to Nigeria in 1983, he jo ined Mo bil Oil Nigeria, becoming an executive of the company. In 1992, he w as elected to the N ig erian Senate representing the Lagos West constituency in the shortlived Nigerian Third Republic.

In 1993, after the results of the presidential elections were annulled, Tinubu became a found ing member o f the p ro -d em o cracy g ro up called N atio nal Demo cratic Coalition (NA DECO). In 1998, after the death of military dictator Sani A bacha, he returned to Nigeria to heed a call for all Nigerians to join in the National Reconciliation and Development. During the 1999 electio ns, Bola Tinubu was a protégé of A lliance for Democracy (A D) leaders A braham A desanya and A yo A d ebanjo . He w on the A D primaries for the Lagos State gubernatorial elections and later was elected Executive Governo r of Lagos State. During his eig ht-y ear p erio d in o ffice, he mad e larg e inv estments in ed ucatio n as w ell as new ro ad construction, required to meet the needs of the fastgrow ing population o f the state.

A ccording to him, “ it is good to maintain peace at all time, that is why we are all here to find lasting so lutio n to the crisis betw een manag ement and staff of the institutio n. “ A s a matter of fact, the House can intervene in a crisis and reso lv e the w ho le matter once” , he added.

In their separate explanatio ns, the Vicechancellor of UNIOSUN, Professo r Labo Po poo la expressed delight at the interv entio n o f the A ssembly, ad d ing that the effort is a step on the right direction.

Chairman o f Nigeria Labo ur Congress (NLC) in the state, C o m rad e Jacob A dekomi and the chairm an, Jo int A ctio n C o m m ittee (JA C ), Mr O lalekan A d eo ti appreciated the House of A ssem bly fo r the step taken to reso lve the crises.

In o ne o f the earlier meeting lead ing to the reso lutio n o f the crisis, the Chairman SSA NU/ Jo int A ctio n Committee (JA C), C o mrad e A d iat Olalekan explained some

of the issues in contention as w ell as efforts mad e to prevent the strike.

Their g riev ances, according to him, have to do w ith fund ing and the need fo r review o f the university establishment law s, p ro m o tio n, up g rad ing and conversion as well as the need to rev iew career structure among others.

He also stated that no rmal p ro ced ure w as jettiso ned in the appo intment of pro vo st fo r co lleg es in the university.

The unio n lead ers alleged that out of eight p ro v o st so ap p o inted only one is an indigene of Osun.

A ccording to him, “ the v ice-chancello r w as m isapp ro p riating the university fund , emplo ying his families and friend s to the university and engaging unqualified staff into the system” .

They however decried the situation that led to the strike just as they acknowledged the ability o f the p arliam ent to reso lve the problem.

Truth Of The Matter with

AYEKOOTO ayoakinola444@gmail.com

•TINUBU Tinubu received several awards: Best Governo r in Nigeria for Y2000 by the Nigerian-Belgian Chamber of Commerce; Y2002 Best Practices Prize in improving the living environment, aw arded by the Fed eral Ministry of Works and the UN Habitat Group; Y2000 Best Computerized Government in Nigeria A ward by the Computer A ssociation of Nigeria. Tinubu is married to Oluremi Tinubu, the current Senator of central Lagos State. His youngest daughter, A bibat Tinubu, graduated from a Music college in Boston, Massachusetts, US in 2013.

Describing him as the lead er o f mo d ern progressivism in Nigeria may not be far from being correct. His political sagacity, coupled with his natural ability to assemble egg-heads in whatever he does and wherever he found himself made his path to cross with those who would steer the ship of stateho od,

God chooses those leaders Himself and gives them all needed human and material resources to implement His wish for the destiny of such nation. Asiwaju is unarguably one of such.

ev en till d ate: V ice-Presid ent Yem i O sinbajo , Governor Rauf A regbesola, Information Minister Lai Mohammed, Joint Tax Board Chairman and Executive Chairman o f the Fed eral Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) Tund e Fowler, among others too numerous to list passed through Tinubu. A fter several shots at the Presid ency, Mo hammad u Buhari p ro bably later learned that cro ssing path w ith the Jagaban will inevitably bring Mother Luck to him. That has become history tod ay. A popular fable surrounds him, w hich is that no one go es to Tinubu in tears comes out of his home without a smile.

Neglect him to yo ur peril. A sk fo rmer d eputy g o v erno rs Fem i Ped ro , C hief Mrs Ko fo w o ro la Bucknor-A kerele, and A d ebisi So san as well as p o litical jugg ernauts o f y estery ears Musiliu Obanikoro, Chief Bode George, late Ganiyu Daodu, late Funso Williams, former Works Minister A d eseye Ogunlewe, and fo rmer Ondo Governo r Olusegun Mimiko and a few o thers. Even the Ebo ra Ow u, former President Obasanjo received lashes from him at the courts when the fo rmer withheld Lagos funds on accounts o f new LCDA s.

Today the fates of those who choose to ignore the leadership of A siwaju such as APC national Chairman John Od igie Oyegun and that o f Ond o Governo r A rakunrin Rotimi A keredolu hang on the balance.

The hands of the clock is turning to wards him as President Muhammadu Buhari seems to be “ seeing the lig ht” as to w hy he sho uld no t betray his benefactor.

A s a mortal, he has his ow n faults. But the goo d in him has almo st eclipsed those faults. He has also suffered loss o f a scion in Jid e Tinubu. May Go d assuage the loss. A men.

Whenever I think about the octo pus hands of this enigma, I always have it in my mind that, take or leave it, at any point in the history of any natio n, fate or Go d has alw ay s mad e it p o ssible fo r certain ind ivid uals to give directions. Go d cho oses those lead ers Himself and gives them all needed human and material resources to implement His w ish for the destiny of such nation. A siwaju is unarguably one of them.

A s A siwaju marks another milestone, we wish him a very long life and prosperity.

FRIDAY MARCH 30 - THURSDAY APRIL 4, 2018

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Psychiatrist Attributes Stress To Lifestyle And Behaviour A psychiatrist has opined that there are many factors in the life of an average human being that can cause stress, ad ding that it is a natural reaction as the body tries to deal with any negative pressure placed on or around it.

The psychiatrist, Dr. Ore Olagunju stated this d u ring a health sensitisation workshop organised for ministers, w orkers and members of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, House of Glory Z one, Oshogbo recently.

While delivering a paper titled: “ I FEEL STRESSED, Signs, Causes and H o w to d eal w ith stress” , the physician noted that factors like work d ead l ines, financial tro u b les, co ng ested traffic, and at times arguments could cause stress.

A cco rd ing to hi m, “ stress can b eco m e a p ro b l em w hen these pressures become overwhelming, and in some cases, can be a precursor to anxiety disorders and depression. “ Thankfully , stress is v ery manageable, and a little stress can even help a person to perform better.

This is often seen in students w hen stud y ing fo r examinatio ns o r in athletes as they p rep are fo r any sporting competition. “ There are many ways to deal with stress, and sim p le techniq ues practiced frequently can really help” .

While explaining what stress was, Olagunju hinted that it can be defined as a respo nse of the b od y to any demand placed on it w hich can be influenced b y bo th external and internal factors.

Examp les o f external facto rs include: w o rk, relationship s and finances. Internal factors such as health, hunger and amount of sleep can affect ho w p eo p le d eal w ith situatio ns in w hich they mig ht o therw ise hav e d ealt w ith competently. “ In other words, stress is a normal human experience and can be useful

With FRANCIS EZEDIUNO

w hen d ealing w ith d emand ing situations” .

He explained that the body deals w ith acute stress b y releasing chemicals that tell the body that it is in danger, and therefore activates the flight or fight response.

This response according to him “ is a survival mechanism that prepares the body to face danger and changes seen d uring this response include increased heart rate, rapid breathing, d ry m o uth and sw eating . This response does not have any long-term effects on the body, and often can help in dealing w ith stressors. Stress, in many instances, can be useful, and help the p erso n d eal w ith the demands placed on them, by making them mo re alert, energ ised , and attuned to external cues. “ However, long term exposure to stress, and the exposure of the body to high levels of hormones, such as cortisol and adrenaline, can lead to increased vulnerability to illnesses, such as d epression, obesity, heart disease” .

He maintained that the symptoms of stress can vary between different

individuals, saying, the most common sy mp to ms inc lud es sleep d istu rb ances, m uscle tensio n, irritab ility , anxiety , d ep ressio n, tired ness, lack o f mo tiv atio n, difficulty concentrating, change in eating habits, increased use of alcohol or other drugs, unhealthy eating and decreased level of exercise, adding that the symptoms in turn, affect how people deal with the events that cause stress, thereby worsening the stress.

While discussing on the causes of stress, Dr. O lagunju related that certain life situations were more likely to predispose a person to experience stress.

H e revealed that surv eys hav e found out that mothers who worked full time had the highest stress levels in the populations surveyed and other situations that could lead to stress w ere financial p ressu res, unemployment, w ork stress, lower education, social isolation, conflict, p erso nal/ famil y illness, and relationship problems. “ The loss of a job may be view ed as a disaster that affects feelings and behaviour. A lternatively, it may be

viewed as an opportunity to move on to something better. The manner in which this event is view ed explains the different responses that people have to the same event. Other factors such as perso nality and previo us experience also influence how the event is perceived. Another factor that leads to stress is a mismatch between the exp erience and the resources available to cope with it. Losing a job, fo r example, mig ht b e a difficult ev ent, b ut if a p erso n is hav ing difficulties w ith a relatio nship in addition to this, then they might not have the support to get through a d ifficult p erio d, emotionally and financially” . “ Dealing w ith stress b y using v ario us techni q ues, su ch as monitoring and challenging the way you think about events and solving y o ur p ro b lems i n a struc tured manner. In addition to this exercising, cutting dow n on drug and alcohol use, and doing things you enjoy can help in coping with stress” .

He however warned that in cases w here sev ere stress lead s to depression or anxiety, medications such as anti-depressants might have a role to play.

It would be best to consult your local doctor in such cases, as they will be able to advise you on the suitability of medication, or to direct you to an appropriate professional, Olagunju advised.

Highlight of the programme w as the screening for HIV, blood pressure measu rement and H ep ati tis B screening for members.

One of the technicians w ho w as p art o f the team emp hasiz ed the impo rtance o f the screening and noted that it was important to know ones status.

She noted that the HIV screening did not mean that they were living a life of immorality and the negative results that many got did not mean that they should also go ahead and lead a careless life but it was done as a ty p e o f p rec autio nary and awareness campaign.

She also explained, knowing ones status in terms of HIV and Hepatitis B will go a long way in determining the health co nditio n as H IV and Hepatitis B were both viral conditions w hich w hen left untreated co uld result in the death of the patients but if treated the patient could lead a normal healthy life. “ High blood pressure is a silent killer w hich does not respect age, gender or social status. It could be hereditary of environmentally linked, so it is ad v isab le to hav e b lo o d pressure check every now and then preferably at 2 weeks interval. “ Many people have dropped dead sud d enly and w e attrib ute it to spiritual factors but a cursory w ill later revealed the cause of the death as a result of complications due to high blood pressure. There are no specific symptoms for it but it always result in stroke, heart failure, arterial blockage, paralysis and lastly death if no t p ro p erly d iag no sed and treated” .

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NEWS

FRIDAY MARCH 30 - THURSDAY APRIL 4, 2018

Osun Organises 34th Edition Of Free Train Service For Easter Holiday Makers A s Christians all over the world celebrate Easter, the Government of Osun has again announced its 2018 Easter free train service to ease transportation of holiday makers.

It is the 34th editio n of the pro vision of free train

serv ice fro m Lag o s to O so g bo as the

go vernment o f Og beni Rauf A reg beso la co m m enced the provision of the service to its citiz ens fro m 2011 shortly after assumption of office.

A statem ent by the C o m missio ner fo r Ind ustries, C o mm erce and C o o p eratives, Mr. Ism ail A lag bad a, exp lained that the government is happy to

have come this far in the pro vision o f the service that m akes life m o re co m fo rtable fo r the citizens o f O sun and other states. “ We are happy as we ag ain this y ear 2018, organise for o ur peo ple free train service for the 2018 Easter celebratio n.

This is the 34th editio n and it is gratifying to note that several millio ns o f peo ple have benefitted fro m this g esture,” A lagbada said.

The statem ent explained that the free train wo uld move from the usual Id d o Train Terminus in Lag o s by 10:00am on Friday March

30, 2018 and arriv e Oso gbo , the Osun state capital at 6pm same day.

The train’ s return journey, acco rding to the statement, would take off from the Nelson Mandela Freed o m Park Train Station, Oso gbo at 10am on Monday A pril 2, 2018 and arrive Lago s Id d o Terminus at 6pm.

W hile urging Easter holiday makers to make m aximum use o f the o p p o rtunity , the co m missio ner said p asseng ers alo ng the Lag o s-O g un-Oy o to Osun routes would have opportunities to join the train at designated train stations.

Osun Deputy Gov. Charges NBC To Hasten Boundary Resolution •A cross section of OYES-Tech trainees at the commencement of an assessment test organised by RLG Adulawo Technology Company at Osogbo Grammar School, Osogbo on Tuesday.

Heads Roll As LAUTECH VC, Others Sacked Over Audit Report Indictment Heads have begun to roll at the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomosho, over the report of an Audit Firm, KPM G, as the Governing Council of the University on Tuesday sacked the Vice Chancellor, Professor Adeniyi Gbadegesin and other Principal Officers of the university.

Other affected principal o fficers are, M r. J. A .

Agboola, Registrar ; Prince A .B.C. Olagunju, Bursar and M r. I.O . A jala, Librarian.

The Univ ersity Management staff w ere asked to p ro ceed o n immediate leave follow ing their ind ictment in the report.

The KPM G w as co m m issio ned by the g o v ernm ent o f the tw o o w ner states, Osun and Oyo to carry out the audit o f the finances o f the university fo llo w ing the incessant crises rocking the institution.

It w as gathered that the University Management

staff w ere asked to proceed o n im m ed iate leav e because they w ere indicted by the KPMG Reports and for their failure to curb the incessant strike by the labo ur unio ns in the

University The Vice Chancello r, Pro f. G bad eg esin w as appointed by the Oyo and Osun Go verno rs in 2011 after the then controversial V ice Chancello r, Pro f Olarenw aju Nassar w as sacked.

Ho w ev er, Pro f Isaac Adeyemi, the mo st senior Professor of the University and a fo rm er V ice Chancello r o f the Bells

Doctors At Asubiaro •Continued from page 3 He said: “ We need to educate our people. They should know that we have Prim ary Health Centre, Secondary Health Centre and Tertiary Health Centre. If there is so m ething the health workers cannot do at the Primary health centre, they w ill send you to a

co m p rehensiv e health centre. “ W hen y ou g et to co m p rehensiv e health centre w here y ou find doctors and nurses, they will send you to a higher place like a state hospital, a state hospital can refer to state sp ecialist hospital and a state sp ecialist hospital can refer to either

Osun APC Felicitates With Tinubu At 66

The A ll Progressives Congress (A PC) in the State of Osun has felicitated with its national leader, A siwaju Bola A hmed Tinubu on his 66th birthday celebration.

A cco rd ing to a co ngratulato ry message signed by the Chairman, Prince A d eg bo y eg a Famo dun, the party said fo r a person o f his age and calibre and capacity to be at the helm of affairs of the ruling party in the co untry in this testy p erio d o f N ig eria’ s histo ry , is no m ean achievement.

The m essag e read : “ Starting from 1999 when he w as a much younger perso n in charge o f the most impo rtant state in Nigeria - Lagos, A siwaju has started to d istinguish himself as a pacesetter and a unique achiever.

University o f Technology has been appo inted as the A cting Vice Chancello r, w hile Ven Olusegun Ojo, the mo st senio r Dep uty Reg istrar and a fo rmer Reg istrar o f A d eleke University Ed e has been ap p o inted as A cting Registrar.

Mrs Oyew unmi w ill act as the Librarian w hile Mr A gbolade w ill act as the Bursar.

“ Fo r eig ht years, betw een 1999 and 2007, he set Lag o s o n a p ro g ressiv e ag end a which has not faltered till today. He left a heritage w hich w as unique, and he ensured that tho se who succeeded him were not only the right peo ple, but also individuals with fo resight and energy to excel. “ The excellence o f Lag o s to d ay is the heritag e o f Tinubu, whichever way one looks at it. “ A s a fig hter, he upturned the applecart w hen he fo ug ht the Federal Government to a halt under the Olusegun

Obasanjo regime. He did no t o nly succeed ed in m aintaining Lag o s, under his governo rship, he piloted the ship of the state successfully in spite o f Fed eral Go vernment illegal withholding of the allo cation d ue to Lagos. “ C o m e 2014, he shep herd the establishm ent o f a coalition that fo r the first tim e in the histo ry o f N ig eria, d efeated the sitting government in an electio n. “ A ll of these are ethical and m o m ento us achievements, deserved for prodigies. “ A siwaju, the Jagaban Borgu, we celebrate you o n y o ur birthd ay fo r reaso ns p ro ud ly mentio ned abo ve” , the message read.

a teaching ho sp ital in Osogbo here or outside Osogbo. “ To refer a p atient requires a referral letter. A referral letter is a legal document. referral is not a wrong thing. If a patient is referred from Asubiaro to Wesley Hospital and the ambulance driver goes to somewhere else, there will not be a letter to cover it. “ The allegation has not been substantiated. We have not been able to see someone who says Mr A is resp o nsible fo r the conduct. The few cases we had in the p ast w ere inv estig ated and the p eo p le inv o lv ed w ere dealt with. The allegation is no t som ething w e should continue to discuss if the p eo p le inv o lv ed canno t p ro d uce the referral letter or mention the nam e o f the health workers involved. “ Yo u can challeng e somebody that he referred a patient, and the response will be where is the referral letter? Let the p eo p le m aking the alleg atio n co m e up w ith referral letter and if they cannot, they sho uld be able to point to the doctor that referred them. We have means to deal with that.”

D eputy G overnor of the State of O sun,M rs Titilayo Laoye-Tomori has appealed to the National Boundary Commission to expedite action on the final determination of Ondo/Osun interstate boundary issue in order to make room for perpetual peace and progress in the disputed areas.

Mrs Lao y eTomori,w ho is also the Chairperson of the State Bo und ary Committee mad e the ap p eal in Akure when she led the State delegation to the N atio nal Bo und ary Commission convened Stakeholders Meeting on the boundary issue.

Speaking on behalf of the Deputy Governor, Secretary to the State Go v ernment, A lhaji Mo sho o d A d eo ti lamented that the b o u nd ary issue had ling ered f o r so lo ng d esp ite the fact that v ario us Technical Committees had earlier been set up to address it.

While reporting that the Benin-Owena River Basi n A utho rity had issued a Quit Notice to occupants of some of the disputed border areas, Mrs. Lao y e-To mo ri ap p ealed to all stakehold ers to avo id actions that could cause the breakdow n of law and order, stating that development can only thri v e in a p eac eful environment.

The State Dep uty Governor then appealed to the Joint Caretaker Committee members to co ntinue w ith their responsibilities of day to day management of the disputed border areas.

The Director-General, National Boundary, Dr. M. A hmad w ho had earl ier b riefed the meeting o n p ro g ress made so far, promised that the Commission will so o n p ut fo rw ard its views on various actions to be taken towards the co ncl usio n o f the boundary resolution.

Dr A hmad then ad v ised the Jo int Caretaker Committee to continue to discharge its mand ate d ilig ently p end i ng the f inal d eterminatio n o f the boundary issue.

Earlier in his welcome ad d ress, the ho sting Deputy Governo r, Mr A jay i A g b o o la had reg retted that d if ferenc es in the p ercep tio n o f the interstate boundary had created undue tension and bad blood between the border communities of the two sister states.

In a co mmuniq ué issued at the end of the meeting signed by the two Deputy Governors and the Director-General of NBC, the Stakeholders resolved that, “ the two States shall endeavour to jointly provide identified basic amenities for the w ell b eing o f the inhab itants o f the disputed settlements to g iv e them a sense o f b elo ng ing to b o th states” .

It w ould be recalled that the initial disputed settlements b etw een Osun and Ondo States were the border villages o f A larere, So ko to , Tem id ire and Arow ojobe w hich w ere, reportedly, put under the administration of a Po l ice So le Administration in 1989 by the then Governments of Ondo and Oyo States.

Meanw hile, it has been resolved that the next Joint Meeting o f Officials of the two states on the boundary issue w ould b e held in the State of Osun before the end of this year.

FRIDAY MARCH 30 - THURSDAY APRIL 4, 2018

CRIME

OSUNDEFENDER www.osundefender.org

15

Report All Crimes To The Police, DPO Advises

By Murtala Agboola Nigerians have been advised to report all crimes to the police and be prepared to assist the police in its prosecution.

The call w as mad e by the Div isio nal Po lice Officer (DPO) of A taoja Police Division, Oso gbo, Mr. Clement A gbemoroti at the monthly meeting of the Po lice C o mm unity Relatio ns C o m m ittee (PC RC) at the Po lice Station recently.

A g bem o ro ti, a superintendent of Po lice (SP) recalled a crim e rep o rt m ad e by the representative of Eleyele C o m munity o f O g o O luw a und er the division, where the house o f a m em ber o f the community w as burgled w hen the husband and wife were away to their places of w ork.

A mo ng the valuables carted aw ay w ere television set, radio and a d eco d er o f startimes digital satellite television.

The police chief said , the theft was reported at the A taoja Police Division and the repo rt was made av ailable to the head office of startimes at OkeFia. “ The burg lar w as arrested w hen attempt w as mad e to recharge after exhausting the subscrip tio n o n the decoder. “ He w as taken to Dug be Po lice Statio n from where the police at A tao ja w ere invited to take o ver” .

He hinted that the police, was preparing to charge the man to co urt.

The p o lice chief therefore stressed the fact that all crimes must be reported to the police so that the victim would not beco me the villain.

He said , if crimes are no t incid ented , if the sto len go o d s are reco vered , the o w ner cannot retrieve them.

The DPO also narrated an accident at A yegbaju

market, Old Governor’s o ffice recently, where a Pasto r d riv ing a SUV killed a school boy.

He told the gathering that he w as there to pacify the father of the deceased boy with o ther sympathisers not to take the law into their hands.

A g bem o ro ti said he was pushed around in an attempt to calm frayed

to be extra-v igilant because so m e m o to rcy clists co m e aro und fro m neighbo uring to w ns to p erp etrate crimes. He therefore asked people to watchout for motorcycle rid ers w ho leave and

arrive at to their residential areas as early as 5am.

Mo st of them , acco rding to him, co me around to steal valuables and dispossess people of their property.

Court Remands Man Over Allege Stealing, Defrauding Cooperative Money

By Abdullahi Omotayo A n O sun State M agistrate Court has remanded in prison, one M ichael Ona Orohu, 46, over alleged stealing and def rauding a group, Food and A griculture Development Foundation (FA DEF) of

N2.5m.

The charge sheet read in the court disclosed that the accused perso n o n N o v em ber 14, 2017 at abo ut 09:00hrs at Heritage Bank in Osogbo, d id steal cash sum o f N 2.5m p ro p erty o f FA DEF, thereby co m mitting an o ffence contrary to section 383(1) and p unishable und er sectio n 390(9) o f the Criminal Co d e C ap 34 Vol. II Laws of Osun State of Nigeria.

It also stated that the susp ect had on November 22, same year at A lleluy ah Estate, forged a Bank of Industry term loan document with intent to defraud FA DEF and thereby committed an o ffence co ntrary to sectio n 465 and punishable under section 467 of the Criminal Code Cap 34 Vo l. II Law s o f Osun State of Nigeria.

The co unsel to the accused perso n, Barrister A maechi Ngwu prayed the co urt to grant the accused perso n bail in most liberal terms as the accused p erso n w as ready to provide reliable sureties.

He informed the court that the accused is said to be the presid ent o f the co o p erativ e and the matter before the court is a co o p erativ e g ro up matter which is currently being settled.

The police prosecutor,

Inspecto r Fato ba Temito pe o bjected the bail applicatio n o n the

By Mariam Bello The O sun state Police Command, on Tuesday arraigned a 31-year-old-man, Oladimeji A beeb before an Osogbo M agistrate Court over alleged stealing.

accused perso n carted aw ay o ne infinix ho t 4 pho ne, one iPad pho ne, o ne co o king cy lind er, food stuff, o ne purse and also the sum of N5,000.

Fag bo y inbo further said that all the property v alued N 150,000 belo nging to the victim.

He submitted that the accused p erso n co m m itted an o ffence co ntrary to and p unishable und er sections 516, 390 (9) of the Criminal Cod e Cap 411 (1), Vol.11 laws of Osun

ground that the suspect w o uld jum p bail co nsidering the amount of mo ney invo lved.

Fato ba added that the accused p erso n sp ent over 20 days at the police custody because he could no t pro v id e reliable sureties.

He further d isclo sed that the accused person is hav ing a p end ing petition filed against him at the State CID, in view of w hich he prayed the co urt to d eny the bail application.

Presiding magistrate, F.A . Sodamad e ordered

the rem and o f the accused person in prison custody until he answers the p resent p end ing petitio n against him at the State CID. The magistrate thereby ad jo urned the case till A pril 9, 2018.

•The Deputy Governor, State of Osun, Mrs Grace Titilayo Laoye-Tomori (middle) and members of the Sport Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) in the state during their courtesy visit to the deputy governor recently.

Two Persons I n Prison Over Alleged Robbery I n Osun

By Mariam Bello The Police in O sun on M onday, M arch 26, 2018 has arraigned two men Kehinde M ichael, 63 and A deola Yisa, 58, before a M agistrate Court in O sogbo over

alleged armed robbery.

The suspects have been rem and ed in p riso n custody.

The suspects appeared before the court on a fourcount charge bothering on felony, conspiracy and armed robbery.

Police Arraigns 31- Year -Old Man Over Alleged Stealing The p ro secuto r, Insp ecto r Fag bo y inbo A biodun disclosed that the accused person broke the asbestos ceiling and entered the house of one Reverend A dekunle Jo shua w ith intent to commit felony.

He informed the court that the accused person committed the offence on the 31st day of December, 2017 at about 9:30pm at Dad a Estate area, in Osogbo.

He said that the

nerves and had to restrain himself when his attem pts to p acify the father o f the d eceased boy failed.

The chairm an o f the PC RC, Hig h Chief Gbad ebo A d ey em o stated that residents have

State of Nigeria, 2003.

The accused p erso n plead ed not guilty to the three-co unt charg e preferred against him.

Defence counsel, Mr. Okobe Najite applied for the bail o f the accused in most liberal terms.

The Mag istrate, Mr Tund e Bad mus granted the accused person bail in the sum of N100,000 with one surety in the same sum.

He said , the surety must resid e w ithin the co urt jurisd ictio n and p ro d uce ev id ence o f three-year tax payments.

He thereby adjourned the case till 24th of A pril for hearing.

The p rosecuto r, Insp ecto r Mustap ha Tajud een said the d uo committed the offence on December 13, 2017 at Aduramigba area, IdoOsun in Osogbo.

He added that the duo arm ed themselves w ith g uns and d ang ero us weapons and robbed one Olufemi A yoade of his Toyota Corolla with REG number AAA 405 BV He exp lained further that the suspects received nine stolen Toyota Cam ry , four To y o ta Corolla cars, tw o Honda A ccord cars, one Honda CRV and one suzuki car from Kehinde Badmus, Adeleke Timothy, Akoodu Femi Rufus and A d enle O luso la Babatunde.

He also told the court that the o ffences are contrary to section of 6(b) and punishable und er section 1(1), (2)(a)(b) of the robbery and fire A rm s laws of the Federation of Nigeria and section 516 of the criminal code cap 34 volume 11.laws of Osun State 2002.

The p lea o f the

defendants were not taken and they w ere rep resented by their co unsel Mr Tunbo sun Oladipo.

The Mag istrate, F.A Sodamade ordered that

the suspects should be remanded in Ilesha prison custody.

She then adjourned the case to March, 28 for mention at court 3 in Osogbo.

Court Sentences 22-Year-OldMan For Housebreaking

By Mariam Bello A Magistrate Court in Osogbo, Osun State has

sentenced Sipianu Umar to a year and six months imprisonment for burglary and malicious damage

of an aluminum window frame valued N15,000.

Sip ianu, w ho w as belongs to Obi Omonah. co nfro nted w ith tw o He explained that the co unt charg e bothering offence is contrary to and o n housebreaking and punishable under section m alicio us d am ag e, 411 and 451 o f the pleaded guilty. crim inal co d e cap 34 The p rosecuto r, volume 11.laws of Osun Insp ecto r Fag boy inbo State 2002.

A biodun told the co urt Counsel to be accused that the accused person person, Mr Okobe Najite committed the offence on p ray ed the co urt to March 12, at about 3.30 temper justice w ith mercy pm at A yetoro Layout, in sentencing his client Dada Estate in Osogbo.

The Mag istrate, Mr Fag boy inbo said the O luseg un A y ilara defendant broke into the thereby sentenced house of the complainant, Sipianu to one year Obi Omonah with intent imprisonment on count to commit felony. o ne w ith o p tio ns o f He stressed further that N15,000 and six months the suspect malicio usly imprisonment on count d am ag ed alum inum tw o w ith o p tio ns o f w ind o w fram e w hich N10,000.

CRI ME

Court Sentences 22- Year- Old- Man For Housebreaking .

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THE SI XTH MOST VI SI TED W EBSI TE I N NI GERI A

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P. 15

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FRIDAY MARCH 30 - THURSDAY APRIL 4, 2018

KANMI ADEMILUYI states that Yorubas' are losing their once vaunted positions across all endeavours; this has to be confronted.

Capital I n Yorubaland At A Time Of Transition It has now become the conventional wisdom that the Yoruba are losing their once vaunted positions across all endeavours. This is most poignant in view of our current economic dire straits and a demographic time bomb in commerce and industries. It has been a long time coming. Its effects are hard ly hid d en, massiv e y o uth unemployment goes hand in glove with unfair labour practices. A guess estimate is that not up to 10% of those w ho hav e finished N YSC i n the Southwest are guaranteed of any form of sustainable employment.

It is strange that the Southwest is so hard hit. A perusal of the “ Red Book of West Africa” first published in 1925 and now sadly out of print, presents a solid excursion into economic history’, this magnificent w ork is a testimony of just how far ahead the Yorubas were. They were dominant in every profession and in commerce, their entrepreneurial imprints and nifty commercial savvy implanted right across West Africa. Mainly operating outside of the established Anglo-Saxon banking framework [or more precisely lo cked o ut o f it], they used and mo d ernised ind i g eno us w ay s o f raising credit. With the exception of the Gold Coast [Ghana] and Sierra Leone there w ere no o ther co mp arab le o utb ursts of entrep reneurship in co lo nial A f rica. Ev en in tho se countries, the contributions of the Yoruba were prominent and resonate till today.

In the sorry state we are in today, the issue o f w hat w ent w ro ng is interwoven with what is to be done.

Lamentations won’t help either. It has been observed in some quarters that the Yoruba have been relegated from the front line, “ It is therefore very imp erativ e that w e re- inv ent ourselves” .

All very well and good but where is the beef? No roadmap is presented here as to the way forward or out of the quagmire. A ll very pious good intentions. It is very sensible though to hearken to the w ise counsel of the Italian poet and philosopher Dante

OSUNDEFENDERwww.osundefender.com

Observations

‘

The fault of course lies not just in the debilitating consequences of the post first republic quasifederalism, it lies in the leadership of the Yoruba race.

’

Alighieri, that, “ The road to hell is p av ed w ith g o o d i ntentio ns” .

Sanctimonious sermons and homilies from the bully pulpit are not going to provide the urgently needed solutions.

In addition, there is really no need to reinvent the wheel as we hearken to the call to “ re-invent ourselves “ .

The fault of course lies not just in the debilitating consequences of the post first republic quasi-federalism, it lies in the leadership of the Yoruba race. A key element here is that after the euphoria over the marginal gains of the ind ig enisatio n exercise in the 1970s, the political establishment and the economic elite in the Southwest took their eyes completely off the ball.

The issue of both social and economic capital w as no longer on the front burner and dangerously the value of land and p rop erties in the Lag os metropolis in particular, was mistaken as the key assessment and interpretation of capital. Hand-ing lo v e, the co nseq uences o f the deprivation of economic value and the

seizure of title through Obasanjo’ s Land Use Act was not taking seriously at all. Unfortunately , there is an intrinsic link connecting the absence of title w ith p o verty. If w e seek to examine the structure of rural poverty and the continuing undermining of the rural economy in the Southwest today, we must re-examine the consequences of the land use act.

The structure o f cap ital in the Southwest must also be re-examined.

Regional integration and integrative mechanisms such as the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria are very laudable; nevertheless, the issue of capital is decisive. The pivotal figures in Yo rub a l and w ho d ro v e the modernisation process were keenly aw are o f this. N atio nal and Agbonmagbe banks as well as later on, the Co o p erativ e Bank and the Development finance providers came into being in response to a vital need.

This is that with the erosion of the communal ways of credit aggregation, there must be an alternative to the Anglo-Saxon banking system which w as larg ely clo sed to indigeno us entrepreneurs. Where it was available, its shortermism was a debilitating bugbear.

That the competitiveness of the entrepreneurial class in Yoruba land has been eroded is understandable.

The paucity of long term finance since the hey d ay o f the lo ng - term development institutions is painfully

o bv io us. Whatev er it stands for, today’s Odua Corporation cannot be equated w ith the Western Nigeria Develo pment Co rp oratio n or The Western Nigeria Finance Corporation.

Merc ifully , the o ng o ing recapitalisation of Odua will help it to regain its competitiveness, mission and sense of direction.

The so lution how ever, is in the direction of putting together a massive DAWN investment Bank, which will incorporate aspects of a private equity initiative to act as the provider of long term capital in Yoruba land working in tandem w ith the pension funds as providers of capital for infrastructure financing, prioritizing agro-industrials and renew ab le energ y . The develo pment of renew able energy through private-public partnerships v ital and pro vid ers of lo ng-term capital is a vital ingredient. Depending on fossils and feed stock from the N ig er Delta w ill b e suici d al.

A griculture has to be modernized, mo v i ng fro m sub sistenc e to commercial farming. There is no need to reinvent the wheel here; it has been done before with positive results. We must bring back the efficacies of the past, such as - minimum guaranteed farm gate prices [which ensures risk stab ility , p ro v i d es a hed g e and elevates living standards in the rural economy], Commodities boards and exchanges [to ensure the provision of storage facilities and coordination of marketing] Cooperatives (so deeply rooted in Yoruba culture) in tandem.

These initi ativ es w ill ind uce emp l o y ment g enerating co ttag e industries amongst other structures.

The vital goal will not just be food selfsufficiency in the regio n, b ut an initiative to turn Yoruba land into an ag ro ind ustrial exp o rting p o w er house.

We must completely repudiate the destructive effects of the Structural Adjustments Program. The specter of the paucity of social and economic capital haunts Yoruba land today and is a break on sustainable development, it must be confronted.

•KANMI ADEMILUYI. writes from Osogbo.

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