VOL. 9. NO.033 NNNNN5050505050TUESDAY, MARCH 18, 2014

www.osundefender.org THE 6TH MOST-VISITED NEWSPAPER WEBSITE IN NIGERIA

- See StoryOn Page 3

Front Page Comment

- See StoryOn Page 2

Who KilledChief Bola Ige,former Attorney-

General andMinister of

Justice? IGE

•The Speaker, House of Representatives, Rt. Honourable Aminu Tambuwal (2nd right); Governor, State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola (2nd left); President, Nigerian Instituteof Quantity Surveyors (NIQS), Mr Murtala Aliyu (centre); Member, House of Representatives, Honourable Kamil Ajibola (left); President, Africa Association of Quantity Surveyors,Michael Frimpong (right) and other dignitaries, during a two-day International Workshop of the Institute at Leisure Spring Hotels, Osogbo, State of Osun, last Saturday.

How FERMA Boss DisruptedOsun Voters’ Registration

Omisore May Lose PDP Gov Ticket As Adeleke Obtains Form

Jega: When courage is keyIf courage is aboutstanding up to one’sconvictions, surely,Jega-led IndependentNational ElectoralCommission, (INEC),would need plenty of itin the coming months. Itis the least the commis-sion can do to salvageits battered integrity inthe aftermath of the

botched Delta senato-rial by-election ofOctober 2, andAnambra gubernatorialelection of November16, last year. With thegubernatorial electionsof Ekiti and Osun statesslated for the year

. r,

there is no question that theintegrity of the commissionwill again be sorely tested;so also will its technical andmanagerial competence betasked to its utmostlimits.We appreciate – andthe point continues to bemade – that there is aworld of

difference betweenthe Maurice Iwu-led INEC andJega’s. Unlike theformer whichclaimed it could dono wrong, the latterhas been known toadmit to mistakeswhen made.

contnue from pg5

2OSUN DEFENDER Tuesday, March 18, 2014

If you have a story or advert for us, contact 08033927286, 08033880205, 08061197897, 08023191891.

News

By ISMAEEL UTHMAN

•(L-R) Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) Chairman, State of Osun Chapter, Dr Anthony Onipede; Osun Movementfor Peace Coordinator, Comrade Temidayo Bankole and Deputy Governor, State of Osun, Otunba (Mrs) Titi Laoye-Tomori, during the one-day stakeholders’ symposium, titled: ‘Osun Education Policy in Perspective: Issues, Chal-lenges and Imperatives’, organized by Osun Movement for Peace in Osogbo recently. Photo: GBENGA ADENIYI.

How FERMA Boss Disrupted Osun Voters’ Registration

THE Federal Road Maintenance Agency, aFederal Government-owned outfit, has beenaccused of violently disrupting the voters’

registration exercise in the State of Osun.According to reports

from Ila-Orangun, thechairman of the agency, DrJide Adeniji, was allegedlyseen, storming Isedo Ward05 at Saint MathewPrimary School with ateam of anti-riotpolicemen and soldiers (allin uniform), firing shotsinto the air.

After scaringprospective voters away,the FERMA team

proceeded to destroyplastic chairs being usedby INEC officials in thecharacteristic of PDPviolent operations.

It would be recalled thatsince when the voters’registration exercisestarted on March 12,several violent incidentsinvolving maiming andkilling of civilians,including destruction ofproperty have been

recorded.The APC had

complained to the securityagencies about theseviolent incidents, which italleged were instigated bythe PDP.

It also accused theparty of acting with

audacious impunity andappearing to get awaywith it.

A case in point,according to the party,was the disgraceful showof recklessness in Ila-Orangun last Sunday,where the FERMA’s

chairman, was seen witha newly-appointedminister from Lagos,intimidating citizens bydriving menacinglythrough the streets of theancient town.

The APC therefore,called the attention of all

Nigerians and the world towhat it described as ‘veryominous signs of chaosand mayhem,’ which italleges the PDP plans tounleash before, during andafter the August election,if the security agenciesallowed them.

Correct All Irregularities– Osun APC Tells INECTHE All Progressives Congress in the State of Osun

has protested to the Independent National ElectoralCommission (INEC) over irregularities observed in

the voter’s registration exercise, which it observed coulddiscredit the whole process.

The party therefore,called on INEC to effectchanges in those areas,which the party iscomplaining about.

According to the APC,hundreds of voters in Ile-Ife,the base of one of PDP’sgovernorship aspirantshave their faces deliberatelyblurred in the voter’s cards,especially at Moore, Ojaja toOpa in Ife-Central LocalGovernment council area.

In a statement by theparty’s Director of Publicity,Research and Strategy,Barrister Kunle Oyatomi,made available to the press,the APC expressed shockthat the INEC could issuesuch a card that made itimpossible for the registeredvoters to be faciallyidentified or identifiable forany purpose whatsoever.

This, according to theAPC, is an open avenue tomanipulate the votes, by

faking numbers throughunidentifiable voters’ cards.

The party thereforecalled on INEC to rectify thesituation quickly and saveits integrity, which is beingtested to the limits by thosewho want to use INECfacilities to rig.

My Father’s Killers Will Never Know Peace - Muyiwa IgeBy ISMAEEL UTHMAN

THE Commissioner for Lands and PhysicalPlanning and Urban Development in the Stateof Osun, Mr Muyiwa Ige, has stated that the

killers of his father, the former Attorney-Generalof the Federal and Minister of Justice, Chief BolaIge, would never escape God’s punishment.

According to Ige, thekillers of his late fathercould not escape from thewrath of God, saying thatGod will deal with them atthe appropriate time.

Speaking with OSUNDEFENDER in an

interview on Wednesdayin Osogbo, the statecapital, Ige said the killingof the great politicianwould forever be fresh inthe memory of the familymembers.

Ige stated this just as he

decried a statementcredited to a chieftain ofthe Peoples DemocraticParty (PDP) Mr DiranOdeyemi, who said thatSenator Iyiola Omisoresponsored the education ofthe commissioner abroad.

According to Ige,Odeyemi and Omisore arepathological liars, whoneed to check theirconsciences, saying: “Inever knew Omisorebefore. How would aformer governor, that my

father was, not afford tocater for my education.”

He said the killers of hislate father would notknow peace till they jointhe Cicero in the grave,stressing that the ghost ofthe late sage wouldcontinue to haunt and hurtall those who knew abouthis assassination.

The commissionermaintained that though,killers of Ige still moveround the streets up tilldate, but they would never

escape from the wrath ofGod that is awaiting them.

Ige lamented that thefree movement of thekillers of his father was atrauma and a frustration onthe family members, evenas he said that the familyhas left the killers to Godfor divine judgment.

He recalled that his latefather was assaulted in Ile-Ife few days to his killingat the Palace of Ooni ofIfe, where he presentedStaff of Office to themonarch some 20 yearsbefore his assassination.

The commissioner said:“Bola Ige did not killhimself. Ige did notorganise the ceremonywhere he was assaulted inIle-Ife by himself. He didnot assault himself in Ile-Ife, but some people didthat to him.”

Lamenting the gruesomemanner at which his fatherwas killed, Muyiwa statedthat Ige’s killing wouldnever go off the memoryof those who knew him.

‘Osun APC Won’t Allow Porous Voters’ Register’By KEHINDE AYANTUNJI

A chieftain of All Progressives Congress (APC)in the State of Osun, Pharmacist MusiliudeenAdekilekun, has called on the Independent

National Electoral Commission (INEC) to correctthe numerous irregularities noticed in the voters’register in the state.

He stated that the APCand the people of the statewill not accept porousvoters’ register that maynot guarantee credible, freeand fear election in thestate.

Adekilekun also urgedthe people of the state touse the opportunity of theongoing continuousvoters’ registration toconfirm their registrationstatus and advise those thatare now 18 years toregister and participate inAugust 9 governorshipelection in the state.

The APC chieftaintasked INEC in Ede onThursday during asensitisation meeting withthe party stakeholdersfrom Ede/Ejigbo/EgbedoreFederal Constituency heldat his residence in Ede.

He also discouragedAPC members fromelectoral violence thatcould derail the peace ofthe state and ignore anyform of provocation fromopposition parties in thestate.

According to him: “ Ourparty has noticed someirregularities in the voters’registration list circulatedto political parties beforethe distribution ofPermanent Voters’ Cards(PVC). We have a situationwhere some names weremissed out, while someappeared more than fourtimes. These areirregularities that are verydifficult to ignore.

“INEC must rise up tothe task and produce acredible voters’ list. Thisis very important in any

electoral process, as wedon’t want the Anambrasituation to repeat itself inOsun, where agubernatorial candidate’sname, his father and othermembers of the family aremissing on the list. Thismust not be repeated inOsun.”

He noted that shouldINEC succeed in Osunand Ekiti gubernatorialelections, the commission

will secure the confidenceof Nigerians ahead of the2015 general elections.

Adekilekun, whocounselled the partyleaders and members atthe meeting, stressed theneed for vigilance andmobilising support for thestate governor, OgbeniRauf Aregbesola, tocontinue the giant stridesand steady development inthe state.

He commended thegovernor for peacefulcoexistence, provision offunctional education andmassive infrastructuraldevelopment in the state.

Stakeholders at themeeting included the APCchairmen, WomenLeaders, Youth Leaders inthe four local governmentcouncil areas in the federalconstituency.

Osun To Begin Enumeration Of Cocoa Trees SoonBy FRANCIS EZEDIUNO

THE State of Osun Commissioner forAgriculture and Food Security, HonourableWale Adedoyin, has commended Governor

Rauf Aregbesola on his various agriculturalprogrammes, aimed at providing abundant food inthe state.

He gave thecommendation in Osogboduring a stakeholdersmeeting with thecommittee on enumerationof cocoa trees, which wasexpected to commence onthe 18th March, across the

state.The commissioner

stated that the enumerationexercise of cocoa treesbecame necessary, so as toreplace the oldunproductive trees withnew ones, with a view tomaintaining the massive

production of cocoa.Adedoyin then called for

absolute commitmentfrom the stakeholders inthe production of cocoaand give necessary supportto the enumerationexercise, so as to achievethe goal.

Responding on behalf ofthe stakeholders, thePatron of All FarmersAssociation of Nigeria (AFAN), Osun Chapter,Chief Bola Otunla, thankedthe state government forsupporting agriculture in

all ramifications, whilepromising that all handswould be on deck for asuccessful enumerationexercise.

Present at the meetingwere the PermanentSecretary, Ministry ofAgriculture and FoodSecurity, Mr.SundayOdediran, AFANSecretary, HonourableIbrahim Oyewale,Directors in the ministryand other importantdignitaries.

3 News OSUN DEFENDER Tuesday, March 18, 2014

•Some members of the State of Osun House of Assembly Committee on Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs ontour at Ife-Central Local Government Council Area, State of Osun, recently.

By ISMAEEL UTHMAN

Omisore May Lose PDP Gov Ticket As Adeleke Obtains Form•PDP Elders Back Adeleke

DESPITE his dominance and attempt to crush hisopponents so far in the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) in the State of Osun, embattled Senator Iyiola

Omisore might likely lose the governorship ticket of theparty to Senator Isiaka Adeleke, according to reports.

Adeleke, the first Executive Governor of the state, had onWednesday shown his intentionin contesting the August 9, 2014governorship election under thePDP, as he obtained thegovernorship ticket form at theparty secretariat.

Until last Wednesday, Adeleke

was the least expected personto pick the governorship ticketform, because he had distancedhimself from the party’s contestand the crises that gripped thePDP in the state.

OSUN DEFENDER gatheredthat Adeleke’s sudden interest onthe PDP governorship ticketwas stimulated by majority ofthe elders of the PDP, whopreferred Adeleke’s candidacy tothat of Omisore for politicalreasons.

According to feelers in thePDP, the elders held a meetingon Tuesday at Adeleke’s countryhome in Ede, where theydiscussed extensively on the

prospect of the party before andafter the governorship election.

At the meeting, the sourcesstated that the elders franticallyopposed Omisore’s candidatureon the ground that he could notpull a spirited poll in thegovernorship election,considering the popularity ofGovernor Rauf Aregbesola.

The sources disclosed that thePDP elders complained bitterlyabout what they described as

‘battered integrity andcredibility’ of Omisore, whoseambition and actions havefrustrated some leaders of PDPout of the party.

It was learnt that the eldersconcluded at the meeting thatanybody who will contest theelection under the PDP must bea Muslim from Osun WestSenatorial District, with a viewto breaking the Muslim votes forAregbesola.

The medium gathered thatthe PDP elders considered thatOmisore should he become thegovernor, he would be tooarrogant to control by the party

leaders and that he would onlyempower his faction of the partyto the detriment of othermembers.

However, the party eldersresolved to choose Adeleke andsupport him to contest thegovernorship election because,among other PDP chieftains, heenjoins a little credibility andthat he has goodwill among thepeople of the state.

Adeleke’s interest has beenheating up the polity within thePDP, as Omisore’s faction hassuddenly become jittery with thelatest development.

Osun Holds High School MarathonBy KAZEEM MOHAMMED

GOVERNMENT of the State of Osun, has said that itwould do everything possible to identify talents insporting activities among the Elementary, Middle and

High Schools pupils in the state and groom them.

The Special Adviser to theGovernor on Youths, Sportsand Special Needs, ComradeBiyi Odunlade stated this onFriday at a press conference,intimating the public of thestate government preparationfor the maiden Osun HighSchool Mini-Marathon 2014 inpartnership with JadesCommunications.

He stated that apart fromdiscovering talents among thehigh school students, thecompetition is also aimed atshowcasing some of the roadnetworks constructed byGovernor Rauf Aregbesola’sadministration.

He said: “It has often beenstated that this administrationwould do everything possiblefor the development of sportsand in turn bring about increasein productivity.

The essence of thecompetition is to discovertalents in the high schoolswithin the state and catch themyoung for grooming.

“Since marathons arealways competed on well-tarred road networks, the Osunhigh school marathon thatwould be viewed live to bothlocal and international audiencevia satelite television, promisesto showcase the execellent roadinfrastructure put in place byAregbesola’s administration,”he said.

Odunlade however hintedthat so far 700 students from300 high schools haveindicated willingness toparticipate in the competition.

Noting that the marathonwould be tentatively held inApril, he disclosed that thecompetition would start fromthe State Secretariat, Abere andterminate at the TechnicalCollege, along Iwo road,Osogbo.

Winners of the competition,according to him, would gohome with a total of N1millioncash, ranging fron 1st prize,N300,000; 2nd prize,

N200,000; 3rd prize,N100,000; 1st FemaleMarathoner, N100,000; whilethe 4th to 15th position willgo home with N25,000 each.

He noted that thegovernment is partnering witha number of key players in theorganised private sector within

and outside Osun for thecompetition, saying that EvansPublishing, GMT Hotels,BASCON Engineering,EcoBank Plc, Lafarge PlcSterling Bank among othershave identified with the projectand indicated interest to pickup sponsorship of thecompetition in differentcategories.

The governor’s aide alsohinted that sponsorship isopened in platinum categoryfor N7.5million, gold categoryfor N5million, silver category

for N2.5 million and nominalcategory for N1 million.

Beyond the private sector,Odunlade however solicitedthe support of indigenes andresidents of the state for thesuccessful hosting of thecompetition.

While speaking, therepresentative of JadesCommunications, Mr BoladeAdesokan, commended thegovernor for his commitmentto sports, especially among theschool children, in an effort tobring out the best in them.

NASS Members Condemn Violence, Corruption In NigeriaBy KEHINDE AYANTUNJI

SENATOR Mudashir Husein, representing Osun Westin the Senate, has condemned persistent violence inthe Northern part of Nigeria, describing it as crime

against humanity.Husein said violence,

maining and killing have no rootin Islam and wondered whysome people are hiding underreligion to perpetrate violencein the northern part of thecountry and killing hundreds ofinnocent people.

The federal lawmaker ex-pressed concern while speak-ing at the 30th Anniversary ofCentre for Islamic and ArabicStudies, Konda, Ilobu,Irepodun Local GovernmentCouncil Area in the State ofOsun.

According to him: “Islamrepresents peace, progress anddevelopment and for true Mus-lims, it is very sad that somepeople are justifying their crimewith propagation of Islam.This is not correct and it shouldbe condemned in totality.

“Terrorism is a crimeagainst Muslims, Christiansand against Nigerian populace,therefore, as Muslims, we mustbe good examples in the soci-ety and continue to pray toGod to halt the Boko Haraminsurgence in the North.”

Also, Honourable LasunYusuf, representing Osogbo/Olorunda/Irepodun/ Orolu inthe Federal House of Repre-sentative, who was alsohonoured during the anniver-sary, expressed concern on thehigh level of corruption in thenation’s political system.

He said Nigeria is not beingadministered in a transparentmanner by the executive armof the government, which hasderailed development in allramifications.

On the reduction of federalallocations to the states sincelast year, Husein said it wasregrettable that the governmentcannot ascertain the actual rev-enue being generated by theNigeria National PetroleumCorporation (NNPC).

He said: “In the NationalAssembly, we have conductedseveral investigations on the

downstream sector and it wasdiscovered that the corporationoperates different accounts,which made it very difficult toactually determine the revenueof the corporation.

“We have made several rec-ommendations on how tosanitise the sector, but it hasnot been implemented as ex-pected, but we hope it will notaffect this year’s budget. Theyhave presented a reliable rev-enue base for the budget andwe hope it will work as pro-jected, but the situation is dis-couraging,” Husein said.

He however commended thegiant strides of the State ofOsun governor, Ogbeni RaufAregbesola in sustaining freeeducation, free meals in publicschools, OYES programme and

Osun: INEC Sues For PeaceAs Election Approaches

THE Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) has called on stakeholders in the State of Osunpolitical scene to shun violence during the

forthcoming gubernatorial election, as it commencesdistribution of voters’ cards.

Court Remands ManIn Prison Over Rape

By SHINA ABUBAKAR

A 49-year-old man, Adedoja Lateef, has been ordered tobe remanded in prison custody by an OsogboMagistrate’s Court for allegedly raping of an 11-

year-old girl in Ifetedo, headquarters of Ife-South Local Gov-

The State ResidentElectoral Commissioner, MrRufus Akeju, made the callrecently in Osogbo, the statecapital, while fieldingquestions on the issuance ofvoters’ cards.

Akeju stated that thecommission has zero-tolerancefor violence, and thereforecalled on politicians and partysupporters to make peace theirwatchword before, during andafter the election.

In his words: “Where thereis violence, there is nodemocracy, and this is whypeace must be allowed to reignfor the election to be free andfair.”

He then advised politiciansto educate their supporters onhow to vote in order to reducethe number of void votes, evenas he warned against all formsof electoral misconduct.

Akeju reiterated thatdemocratic government isnormally through the ballotbox, allowing the electorate tochoose whoever they wanted tolead them.

On voters’ cards, Akejuurged the people to followprocedure, stressing that thosewho lost their cards could stillcome with a nationallyrecognised identity card foridentification.

By FRANCIS EZEDIUNO

ernment Council Area of theState of Osun.

The police prosecutor, In-spector Wilson Mereti in-formed the court that the ac-cused committed the offenceon February 21, 2014 at about4:30pm, at Ologini Village,Ifetedo.

Mereti said the accusedperson, who lived in the sameneighbourhood with the vic-tim, lured her into his roomunder the guise of sendingher an errand.

After luring her into hisroom, the accused unlawfullyhad sexual intercourse withthe victim.

The cat was however letout of the bag after the girlcried home and reported theincident to her mother.

The offence, according tothe prosecutor, was contraryto and punishable under Sec-tion 31(1)(2) of the Child’sRight Law of Osun 2007.

The accused, AdedojaLateef, however, pleaded notguilty to the one-countcharge of having unlawfulcanal knowledge of a minorslammed against him.

Presiding magistrate,Chief Magistrate AdebayoLasisi then ordered that theaccused be remanded in IlesaPrison custody, while he di-rected the defence counsel,Barrister Bose Dada to file aformal bail application onbehalf of her client.

The case was thereforeadjourned till April 2, 2014 formention.

massive infrastructural devel-opment, despite the financialchallenges, as a result of thedecline in the monthly federalallocation.

Husein therefore, urged thepeople of the state to justifythe performance of the gover-nor through the ballot by re-electing him in the August 9governorship election.

Earlier, the founder and pro-prietor of the InstitutionSheikh Hasim Igbayilola, whowas represented by AlhajiWahaab Ademola Falowo, wel-comed dignitaries to the occa-sion and admonished the se-lected awardees to emulate thegood deeds of the late AlhajiYussuf Sanni, who was thebrain behind the establishmentof the institution.

INFORMATION reaching the All Progressive Congress inthe state of Osun has it that the Peoples DemocraticParty, had again created a situation of mayhem at several

registration centres in Ikire in Irewole Local GovernmentCouncil Area of the state.

The PDP thugs were reportedto have invaded several centresSunday morning with guns andcharms, creating such bedlamsuch that prospective voters’registrants fled the registrationcentres.

For the upteenth time, theAPC has drawn the attention ofsecurity forces and general publicto the situation of chaos andviolence which the PDP is

orchestrating in order tomanipulate the voting processby making as many as APCsupporters as possible unable toregister to vote.

The APC in a statement bythe party’s spokesperson, Barr.Kunle Oyatomi, in Osogbo, saidthat the purpose the PDP wasdoing this was to reduce as far asthey could, the overwhelmingmajority of supports which the

APC commands in the state asa result of marvelous work ofGovernor Rauf Aregbesola whichhas changed not only the livesof the people, but it istransforming the environmentof Osun as it has never beenknown before.

However, it is heartening tonote that in the Ikire incidents,the police intervened andarrested some of the thugs whowere brought to Osogbo, thestate capital.

The APC therefore, calledon its supporters and the securityforces not to allow the PDP tocreate mayhem in the statebecause that is their purpose inthe days, weeks and monthspreceding the election and after.

PDP Thugs Invade RegistrationCentres In Ikire

4 OSUN DEFENDER Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Jega: When courage is key Last week for

instance, INEC

chairman Prof

Attahiru Jega would

again admit to the

mistakes in the

Anambra election

while receiving the

visiting Nether-lands Ambassadorto Nigeria, JohnC.M Groffen inhis Abuja officelast week.

According to Jega,“What happened inAnambra State wasunfortunate and itwill not in any wayrepresent what willhappen in 2015.We learnt addi-tional lessonsfrom it and we are

factoring it in ourpreparations for2015. We will havetwo governorshipelections this yearand we are doing allpossible to ensurethey are conductedsmoothly, freely andfairly. We havemapped out detailedplans from previouselections”.The reassurancesshould offer somecomfort. Although,the difficult timesare such that admit tono complacency,Nigerians wouldcertainly do right togive the commissionthe benefit of thedoubt. But then, theissue really is thepreparedness of thecommission to

conduct crediblepolls this year and in2015

Based on the weightof evidence from theDelta and Anambrapolls, the least thatcould be said is that alot more needs to bedone by the commis-sion to attain ameasure of credibil-ity that could trulyinspire Nigerians. InDelta senatorial by-election, we saw acommission typi-cally hamstrung bythe weight of logisti-cal challenges to thepoint of renderingthe process a farce.As for the chicanerydescribed asAnambra gubernato-rial poll, the exercisestands apart in elec-

toral gerrymander-ing. Everything –from the display ofvoters register, tothe actual conductof the electionturned out to beeverything that acredible exerciseshould not be – acase of artful ma-nipulation of pro-cess to deliver apredeterminedoutcome.The revelation ofcriminal collusionbetween powerfulofficials of state andfifth columnistswithin the commis-sion should natu-rally give the com-mission somethingto chew upon.

On Proposed Osun Area CouncilsI intend to lend my voice to

the proposed creation of localgovernment councils in theState of Osun. You will agreewith me that this issue is oneof the burning issues of ourtime; and as such, should notbe handled with levity.

Researches have revealedthat as at 1991, when thepresent-day State of Osun wascarved out of the old Oyo State,the parent state was havingforty-two local governmentcouncil areas. Out of thoseforty-two council areas, theemerging Osun took twenty-two local councils, while theremaining twenty went toOyo.

Within the space of sixyears, i.e. 1991 and 1996, thenumber of local governmentcouncil areas in Osun hadincreased from twenty-two tothirty. At the return todemocratic governance in 1999,exigencies which are wellknown to us all compelled anarea office to be created inModakeke, thus bringing thenumber of council areas in thestate to thirty one. Thisstructure operates till date.

Permit me to dwell a little

longer on the path of historyby reminiscing that there aresome of these council areas inthe present-day State of Osun,which are yet to shed off thetouch and outlook left behindby the colonial administrators.The attendant result is thatthese council areas have becomeso big that governing themleaves little or no benefit in realterms to their residents. The

solution to thiscumbersomeness inadministration, therefore, isfurther breakdown into smalleradministrative units, with aview to bringing governmentcloser to the people.

We heard a lot of noise onsimilar issue in nearby LagosState during the years of formerPresident Olusegun Obasanjoin office. At the end of it all,the state triumphed, partly

because it thrred the path ofdue legislative process to seethrough the creation of the areacouncils. I commend theintellectual effort that wentinto it, knowing full well thatthe State of Osun today istowing much the same path.

As at the time of making thisletter, it is no longer news thatthe State of Osun LocalGovernment Area CouncilCreation Bill 2013 is pending

passage into an Act before thestate parliament. It is alsotrusted that the author, thegovernor and his cabinetmembers, must have doneexcellent work that wouldstand the state and its people agood stead in the proposal. Ialso have no doubt that thepeople’s legislature wouldconsummate the work bypassing the laws that would beoperational in the best interest

OSUN DEFENDERPublisher – Moremi Publishing

House Ltd.

Managing Editor – Kola Olabisi(0803-392-7286)

Editor – Kayode Agbaje (0803-388-0205)

Lagos Editor – Kola Odepeju(08023191891)

Production Editor – Pet-Kola Taiwo Ibitowa

Senior Reporter – Sola JacobsSenior Reporter – Kazeem Mohammed

Reporter – Shina AbubakarReporter – Ismaeel UthmanReporter – Niyi OlasindeReporter – Kehinde AyantunjiReporter – Francis Chukwuma

Photographer – Oluwagbemiga AdeniyiPhotographer – Olushola Aderinto

Admin. Manager – Murtala Agboola

Computer Operator – Saheed AfolabiComputer Operator – Mary AkintolaAssistant Computer Operator – Lukman Oseni

OSUN DEFENDER is published by Moremi Publishing HouseLimited, Promise Point Building, Opposite Guaranty Trust BankGTB, Gbongan Road, Osogbo, State of Osun.All correspondence to the above mail address.ISSN: 0794-8050Telephone: 0803-392-7286, 08033880205Website: www.osundefender.com/index.phpe-mail: osundefender@yahoo.com

Now to the elec-tions in Ekiti andOsun, agreed, bothelections, in thewake of earlierfailures, offer thebest chance for thecommission toredeem itself,considering alsothat both would bepointers to thepossibilities in2015. However,contrary to whatsome have ban-died, the twoelections cannotbe an exercise totest run the pre-paredness of thecommission forthe general elec-tions anymore thanthe voters in thetwo states can bereduced to experi-mental guinea-pigs.

INEC just have to bedetermined to get itright – this time.The time to begin workis therefore now. As itis, the commission hasjust about enough timeto update and clean upthe voters’ register. Asfor the logistical chal-lenges, we see nothingthat careful planningand attention to detailscannot surmount. Ofcourse, we expect theparties to cooperatewith the commission inthe coming months inthe area of voter educa-tion. However, in thefinal count, the buck ofthe process stops at thecommission’s deskhence the challenge forINEC to always standup to what is right asthe situation is boundto be testy in themonths ahead.

Continued from pg1

of our state; both for todayand the future.

I find it most unnecessaryfor me to dabble intopredicting the number of suchcouncils as would be necessaryto create; or where to locatethem. I only wish that theadministration would put inplace proper orientation priorthe announcement of thecouncils to sensitize our peopleinto accepting the creations asthey are. After all, localcouncils cannot be created forevery town and village. Peopleshould therefore begin to seethe creations not as especialfavour for the communitieswhere the headquarters aresited.

It is only in that way thatwe would be helping in buildingthe State of Osun that wouldalign with the dreams of ourfounding fathers. We should alleschew every tendency thatcould lead to chaos andviolence. Growth,development and progressthrive only where there ispeaceful cooperation. MayGod bless our state.

•ABAYOMI OLUSEGUN,Iwo, State of Osun.

55555555

FinanceOSUN DEFENDER Tuesday, March 18, 2014

High Expectations; Rekindled Hope (VI)

This edition is the final in the series that had for some time now been givingconsideration to the year 2014 Appropriation Bill, which currently undergoes"surgical operation" snowballing into its assent by the State of Osun House ofAssembly. Starting with the earlier mixed-up part in the Education sub-sector of thestate, NIYI OLASINDE uncovers expectations from the people in the remainingsub-sectors of the economy of the State of Osun.

2014 Budget Of Growth, Enhancement And Development

•Build-up To Approaching Polls

•The governor, State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, commissioning Ansar-U-Deen Elementary School, while with him, his deputy, Otunba (Mrs) Titi Laoye-Tomori (3rd left);Deputy Speaker, State of Osun House of Assembly, Honourable Akintunde Adegboye (right); State Commissioner for Women and Children Affairs, Mrs Adetoun Adegboyega (2nd

left) during the official commissioning of the school at Isale Osun, Osogbo, State of Osun, last Thursday.

6 OSUN DEFENDER Tuesday, March 18, 2014MAGAZINE

High Expectations; Rekindled Hope (VI)

Contiuned from page 5

Contiuned on page 11

· Continued from Tuesday, March 4, 2014.· Education, Science And TechnologyTHIS aspect of the administration of Ogbeni Rauf Adesoji

Aregbesola deserves much of critical focus, since it provedall along that Education sub-sector is one of the principalspecialties of the administration. To this end, OSUNDEFENDER Magazine has devoted much space and timeto its detailed spotlight in series of our editions in the pastyears. It is not as if we are giving up of this effort; but weintend not to overbeat it. So, we shall make mention ofsome of the giant strides recorded in the sub-sector beforeexpressing desires and expectations for the year 2014. As asub-sector of the Social Services Sector of our economy,the importance of education to the socio-economic andindustrial development of any nation cannot beoveremphasized. It is against this background that theadministration of Ogbeni Aregbesola has remained resoluteon the promotion of functional education in the state. Thegovernor continually recounted how a timely discoverywas made by his team that the educational infrastructuresin our schools were in worrisome state upon theirassumption of office in late 2010. In order to rightly andaccurately assess the level of decay in our educationalsystem, the Government of the State quickly held a two-day education summit with the theme: “Resolving theEducation Crisis in Osun State: Bridging Analysis andImplementation Gaps” at the Osun State University(UNIOSUN) in February 2011. The summit was to becomeone of the most prominent and decisive giant strides takenby the Aregbesola administration. To put the record straight,it came as the first ever in the annals of education summitsin the state! By that singular intervention, the incumbentadministration demonstrated its unwavering resolve totackle head-on the spate of neglect and rot that hadbedeviled the education industry in the state. Also by it,the Government Unusual took the bull by the horns torestructure and reconstruct amenities and infrastructure inthe education sector of the state; in order to restore qualityand promote functional education at all levels in the state.

Apart from the Free Education Programme at the Primaryand Secondary levels, the Aregbesola administration in thestate has made remarkable achievements in the educationalsub-sector. An instance of this is the rebranding,repackaging and transformation brought to bear on theHome-Grown School Feeding Programme; an old programmeof the Yar’Adua / Oyinlola years; which has beenresuscitated and rechristened Osun Elementary School FreeFeeding Programme (O’ Meal). With the reorganization andresuscitation of the programme, all the pupils in primariesone to four in public schools in the State of Osun are nowcovered under the free feeding programme which offersthem wide assortments of highly nutritious meals duringthe school hours. Even meals that are not served in routinemenu in conventional practice, like quality chocolate, milk,eggs and chicken are on the list of regular menu of the

feeding programme.OSUN DEFENDER Magazine wishes to pause here

and reflect briefly in passing the extent of internationalacceptance and recognition which the State of Osun;through the O’ Meal programme has garnered unto itself.On January 22, 2014, the Governor of the state and granddesigner cum prime mover behind all the innovationpackages currently ongoing in the state, Ogbeni RaufAregbesola was in the European nation of the UnitedKingdom on the invitation of the higher legislative chambersof that Queen’s country, the House of Lords, to enlighten,brief and teach the parliamentarians on the nitty-gritty andworkings of the O’ Meal programme, which has turned itinto a bundle of wonders in the state. It is no longer newsthe vibrant and ground-shaking standing ovation thegovernor was accorded at the event. Through that feat,Ogbeni Aregbesola has done us proud as a people as thefirst-ever governor in Nigeria; even in Black Africa to be soesteemed and honoured to be summoned to lend knowledgeto the White World, usually looked upon for originatinginnovations in virtually all areas of human endeavour,education inclusive. This feat came to the shame,confounding and stupefaction of detractors who seenothing good in virtually all the good gestures of theAregbesola administration, especially in the Education sub-sector. More wonders are still expected to unfold duringthe current year.

In addition, the poor condition of infrastructure in publicschools in the state is already being radically reversed.Towards this end, the first phase of the construction ofNew Model 100 Elementary Schools, 50 Middle and 20 HighSchools is in top gear. The fiscal year 2012 witnessedmassive reconstruction and rehabilitation of the dilapidatedschool buildings inherited by the administration of the dayfrom the inept administration of Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola.This, the governor noted, is in consonance with the team’sdetermination to raise the standard of education in our dearstate.

It is in a bid to arrest the spate of perennial acute shortageof teachers in our schools and concomitantly ensuringeffective teaching and learning activities in schools thatthe incumbent administration has embarked on massiverecruitment and selection processes for qualified, quality,competent and experienced teachers for engagement at ourPrimary and Secondary levels. This step, apart from beinga necessity to compensate for the ravaging neglect of thepast; became necessary to take adequate and abundantcare of the exploding enrolment figures in schools, followingthe introduction of a true, functional and qualitativeeducation at those levels. Specifically, various selectionexercises have so far been conducted by the State UniversalBasic Education Board (SUBEB) and the State Post-PrimaryTeaching Service Establishment and Pensions Commission(TESEPC), involving various numbers of candidatessuccessfully absorbed into the teaching service of the state.Following the large number of retirees in the state’s teaching

service at the end of the 2012 fiscal year; arrangementswere put in place in year 2013 to get a huge number ofteachers employed in replacement for the retired ones. Thisplan saw the light of day as the year witnessed massiverecruitment and selection of teachers at those levels ofeducation. With proper inauguration of appropriate boardsin particular, provision of required number and quality ofteaching personnel has begun to receive greater attentionin the past year. In this direction, greater attention isanticipated to come this year.

In addition to these numbers of teachers engaged,selection has also been made for competent and qualifiedteachers among the volunteer cadets of the popular OsunYouth Empowerment Scheme (OYES) and those hithertoemployed by the Parents-Teachers’ Association (PTA).According to plan, the process of recruitment of teachers,which had been on, and was billed for completion withinthe first quarter of 2012, is intended to be a continuousprocess. What this implies is that even during the NewYear, another batch of massive recruitment and selection ofteachers is expected to be carried out for existing andcontinuously-opening vacancies in the elementary andsecondary rungs of the education ladder.

Also in the area of education, the governor noted that itwas in his administration’s bid to ameliorating the sufferingof parents, guardians and students that reduction waseffected in the exorbitant fees being charged by theauthorities of the Osun State University (UNIOSUN). Asimilar gesture was extended to all other tertiary institutionsowned by the state. These include the Osun StatePolytechnic (OSPOLY), Iree; the Osun State College ofTechnology (OSCOTECH), Esa-Oke; the Osun State Collegeof Education (OSCOED), Ilesa; and the Osun State Collegeof Education (OSCOED) , Ila-Orangun.

The Government of the State, the governor declared,had abrogated all forms of charges in our public schools.To achieve effectiveness in teaching and learning, theexamination and running grants being released quarterlyby the government to the public secondary schools in thestate have been increased by over 300 per cent. It waspromised that the Aregbesola administration shall continueto give the deserved attention to the welfare of teachers in2012. This promise was redeemed all through the year,during the year 2013 as well and this shall surely continuethrough the New Year, 2014, judging by the level ofrecognition being currently accorded to teachers and theteaching profession. It is placed on record how in the year2012 teachers in the high echelon in the state were elevatedto the exalted status of Permanent Secretary, with thedesignation of Tutors General.

Facts on ground have also revealed that within the shortperiod of the incumbent administration of Rauf Aregbesolain office, the State Library Board had received the full

•Aerial view of AUD Elementary School, Isale-Osun, Osogbo, State of Osun, commissioned by Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, last Thursday.

7 OSUN DEFENDER Tuesday, March 18, 2014

8 OSUN DEFENDER Tuesday, March 18, 2014 PHOTOTALKNigerian Association Of Patent And Proprietary Medicine Dealers, Osun Chapter,Endorsed Governor Rauf Aregbesola For Second Term In Office At Nelson MandelaFreedom Park, Osogbo, State Of Osun, Last Thursday. Photo: GBENGA ADENIYI.

•(R-L) Chief of Staff to State of Osun Governor, Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola and Engineer Sola Oladepo on the occasion.

•State of Osun Commissioner for Health, Dr (Mrs) Temitope Ilori (right); her counter-part from Commerce,Industries, Cooperatives and Empowerment, Mr JayeobaAlagbada (middle) and other dignitaries at the programme..

•Traditional rulers and chiefs at the event.

•A cross section of NAPPMD members on the occasion.

9 OSUN DEFENDER Tuesday, March 18, 2014PHOTOTALKOne-Day Stakeholders’ Symposium With The Theme: ‘Osun Education Policy InPerspective: Issues, Challenges And Imperatives’, Organized By Osun Movement ForPeace In Osogbo Recently. Photo: GBENGA ADENIYI.

•(L-R) Veteran journalist, Pastor Segun Babatope; Lead Speaker, Professor Ayo Olukotun; Special Adviser to State of Osun Governor on Lands, Dr Ayoade Owoade and O’ SchoolChairman in the State of Osun, Otunba Lai Oyeduntan on the occasion.

•A cross section of journalists at the programme.

•Some of the dignitaries at the event.

10 OSUN DEFENDER Tuesday, March 18, 2014MAGAZINE

High Expectations; Rekindled Hope (VI)Contiuned from page 6

Contiuned on page 11

•AREGBESOLA •LAOYE-TOMORI

attention of government, particularly in the provision ofconducive working environment; a situation which haspositively impacted on its services to the reading public.The governor constantly promises that the State LibraryBoard would continue to receive quality support from theState Government of Osun in 2012 and years ahead.

Ogbeni Aregbesola also promises his administration’sresolve to revive the State Scholarship Board. This promisehas been redeemed in years 2012, 2013; and shall beconsolidated in years ahead. Under the auspices of thescholarship board, assistance is given to deserving,outstanding but indigent (financially challenged) studentsof the state’s origin to obtain higher education at home andabroad. Since the governor has already rolled out the Stateof Osun Schools’ Calisthenics Programme, alongside theinauguration of Ewa Ipinle Osun, it is certain that he shallsoon be forthcoming in the fulfillment of his promise togive revival to the old boys’ and girls’ associations andvoluntary clubs in all primary and secondary schools forleadership training and team spirit building. As a matter offact, the inaugurated Omoluabi Boys and Girls’ Club in ourpublic schools in the State of Osun; viz-a-vis theenthronement of the Omoluabi concept in al spheres of lifeof the state shall soon attract the focus of OSUNDEFENDER Magazine.

Last year, it was in full realization of the vibrant role andthe auspicious place of Education sub-sector of the SocialServices Sector to the socio-economic life and politicalemancipation of the State of Osun and the liberation of thepeople that the incumbent administration accorded to it atotal allocation of N13.7 Billion or 18.8 per cent of its totalcapital budget; though that initial budgetary provision lateron got reviewed upwardly, following the consideration ofthe State of Osun House of Assembly.

· Home Affairs, Culture and TourismANOTHR vital sub-sector where the incumbent

administration in the state is making remarkable waves, HomeAffairs, Culture and Tourism is expected to contributesignificantly to the growth and development of the state inthe current year 2014; most especially in the area of boostingthe Internally-Generated Revenue (IGR) base. In the areaof Home Affairs, Culture and Tourism, it is placed on recordthat the incumbent administration has accomplished a lot.In fairness to the ousted administration of Prince Oyinlola,the popular and internationally revered Osun Grove gotlisted as an international tourist centre by the UNESCO. Inaddition, the same UNESCO approved the siting of theCentre for Black Culture and International Understandingat Osogbo. But the level of development being witnessedin this sub-sector under the incumbent administrationoutstrips these. The pilgrimages of Christians and Muslimsto the Holy Lands of Jerusalem and Mecca in Israel andSaudi Arabia respectively for about four consecutive yearsrunning now have recorded huge successes. All hiccupsand bottlenecks usually encountered in the course of thesepilgrimages in the past have been remedied. Also, to easepilgrimage operations, aid smooth lifting and return andreduce the chances of corruption to the barest minimum,membership of Christian Pilgrims’ Welfare Board and

Muslim Pilgrims’ Welfare Board is no longer on permanentbasis. The pilgrims now have smooth sail to and fro theHoly Lands annually. To the pride of all, no pilgrim hasbrought tarnishment to the image of the state during thisperiod.

Concerning the Centre for Black Culture and InternationalUnderstanding, the incumbent administration is providinga far better brand of administration for the centre; inaccordance to the specifications spelt out in the Act ofParliament establishing the centre. Unlike the sit-tight livechairmanship toga hitherto worn by Prince Oyinlola, thestipulations of the law spelt it out clearly that the chairmanof the centre’s board shall be the sitting governor or anyother such person he so appoints to do the job! Today, thechairman of the Board of the centre is no less a personalitythan the highly-reputed academic icon and world renownedNobel Laureate in Literature, Professor Wole Soyinka.Readers are reminded the demeaning utterances publiclyuttered by Oyinlola against this culture giant at the time ofthe approval of the centre.

The State of Osun is rich in cultural and traditionalfestivals. Some major ones annually celebrated are theinternational Osun Festival in Osogbo; the Olojo Festivalin Ile Ife; the Iwude Ijesa Cultura Festival in Ilesa; the OdunSango and Ipedi in Ede; and so on and so forth. Also thestate is so replete with cultural sites and tourist centresthat the state has come to be referred to as “Haven of Cultureand Tourism”. Our numerous cultural cum tourist centresin the state have been receiving radical face-lift in the handof the present administration. Going by what happened sofar with the Osun Grove in Osogbo, the Grove has beenwidened to accommodate more and more of the teemingcrowd that converge on it on a yearly pilgrimage; withprovisions made for pavilions and car parks. The same handof assistance has been stretched out to the site of ErinIjesa Waterfalls; likewise all other locations in the state.With this development, the State of Osun is fast finding itsfoothold as rallying-point in the area of culture in Nigeriaand yonder.

The consecutive visits of contingents from the State ofOsun to Cuba in the West Indies are a worthwhile effortthat deserves our commendation. During the course of theoutgone year 2013, contingents of the state embarked onrounds of tour to the Caribbean country to fully appreciateand get acclimatized to the culture and traditions of ourparts of the African traditions as it is being practiced there.With these rounds of visits, it is expected that our delegateswill come to the realization that people from other parts ofthe globe appreciate our culture more than we do, asindigenous owners. Also, the visits are expected to beavenues for cultural integration and development in ourculture and tourism industry. As the first quarter of theNew Year 2014 is fast moving to its grinding halt, theexpectation is high in informed quarters that the first batchof this year’s contingents would soon take off to this greatCaribbean country where cultural values and relics arehighly upheld.

The Aregbesola administration has also scored anotherfirst in the recognition it has so far accorded Africantraditional religion practitioners in the state. Before thistime, the situation on ground was that of according

recognition only to the Christian and Muslim bodies; whilethe believers of traditional doctrines were placed at a placeof obscurity. Today, however, due to the large-heartednessof Ogbeni Aregbesola, the traditional worshippers havebeen allowed free practice of their religious doctrines,observance of their festivals and formation of their ownbody; just like the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN)and the Islamic counterpart.

· Information and StrategyINFORMATION is life! We now move forward to give

consideration to the numerous achievements of theadministration and its many strengths over the previousadministration in the state in the remaining sectors; startingwith the Information and Strategy Sub-Sector. In the yearspreceding the advent of the incumbent administration tothe reins of power, little or nothing significant took place inthis vital public relations sub-sector. The overhaul of theOsun State Broadcasting Corporation (OSBC) Radio andTelevision, Ile Awiye, Oke Baale, Osogbo; that of New DawnTelevision (NDTV), Ibokun; and that of the OSBC, OrisunFM, Ile Ife; claimed to have been brought up to obtainablestandards globally by the ousted administration ended upin a farce, as nothing on ground – not even their programmebroadcast, commercials, news and other activities justifiedthe huge monetary and capital outlay claimed to have beeninvested into them. The Reality Television Service (RTS),Iwo was worst-hit by the sharp practices of thatadministration. Let it be emphasized in passing that mostof the equipment procured into practically all the state-owned media houses in that dark era was either obsolete orsubstandard; while some were never delivered before oustercame the way of that administration. In all, most contractsawarded for procurement of equipment and materials inthose days were awarded to incompetent hands on thebases of their patronage of the People’s Democratic Party(PDP); being bootlickers and cronies to the powers-that-be; and desire to make some segment of the societyinordinately rich.

As mentioned in the last paragraph, the case of the RealityTelevision Service (RTS) in those days made it worst hit.The media station located in Iwo is a legacy of thehelmsmanship of late Chief Bola Ige as governor of the oldOyo State. Bola Ige started the project as a satellite stationto the Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State (BCOS); buthe could not complete it due to sudden change ingovernment which put paid to his administration in October1983. Consequent to this, the project was abandoned formore than twenty years before its revamping came duringthe Oyinlola administration. In fairness to thatadministration, it was it that revisited the project.Unfortunately, it did not carry it to a logical conclusion orcompletion; even though it had all the resources requiredso to do at its disposal. The same ugly fate which befell allother phantom projects and programmes in that era befellthe RTS project. In what looks as a deliberate attempt atcovering tracks, fire gutted the structure sometime towardthe tail end of that administration. Instead of facingrehabilitation efforts head-on, the administration started avehement propaganda campaign; trading blames for the

11 OSUN DEFENDER Tuesday, March 18, 2014 MAGAZINE

High Expectations; Rekindled Hope (VI)

Continued from page 7

Continued on page 12

Continued from page 7

fire incident and pointing accusing fingers at theopposition for it!

We are not out to bore readers with details of those uglyspectacles of those days. But instances must always becited, if only for the purpose of reference-making. If thosecontracts at the Reality Television Service had beenfaithfully executed; probably the fire incident could havebeen averted; and probably too, whatever legacies theOyinlola administration had there would have beenpreserved for the incoming administration to build on.Candidly speaking, the Aregbesola administration met theInformation and Strategy Sub-Sector of the State of Osunbare and void.

The monthly audience-participation programme of theOyinlola administration, tagged Gbagede Oro (People’sForum) was simply a propaganda project, aimed not onlyto overbloat, embellish and exaggerate the scarceachievements of the administration; but also to crack jokesin clown-like manner and to derogate the opposition. Asidethis, the entire communication and publicity package ofthe Oyinlola years was propaganda-channelled. Therumour mongering apparatus of those days appears tosubsist till date. The countless number of damaging rumourspeddled round town regarding the incumbent governor,his administration and their programme package speakvolumes that testifies to this indication. Little wonder whythat administration could not accomplish much for the state.A government that busied its time with rumours andpropaganda could hardly be in the right frame and shape togenerate ideas and policies that could propel developmentfor a state like ours,

Today, in the State of Osun, the story has changed. Theaudience-participation programme of the incumbentadministration is devoid of the teleguided and stage-managed form its similar counterpart assumed in the daysof the immediate past administration. Ogbeni Till Daybreak,the brainchild of the incumbent administration is betterpackaged and has tolerances for a pool of diverse opinions.Lucidly put, the incumbent administration in the state is farmore receptive to criticisms and insults in the true spirit ofOmoluabi. The likes of questions being featured at thequarterly Ogbeni Till Daybreak testify to this. Withunruffled calm, the governor responds to all manners ofquestions. The manner of disposition with which theadministration managed the situations involving somelibelous reports carried by some national daily newspapersin the land is a proof of this. During the time of someadministration, the reporters of that kind of anti-governmentreports could have been blacklisted, witch-hunted or evensent to their early graves. The amicable resolution of thesedifferences shows the government of the day as one withhuman face, listening ear and large heart. To cap it all, theaudience-participation programme of the incumbentadministration, branded Ogbeni Till Daybreak is held farbetween, depicting an administration that is serious-mindedand busier with more serious tasks than holding town/citygossips. In the past, Gbagede Oro was held as often asonce in a month. At its inception, the incumbentadministration held its own live audience participationprogramme only on occasions; with the first-ever of itsseries held on the occasion of its 100th day in office. It wasmuch later when the towns and cities had become repletewith daunting achievements that it became more frequently

held. Even then, the programme is held on quarterly basis.The wastefulness of holding such programmes at frequentintervals, especially by a government led by a conservativeparty of the stock of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP)is killing enough to snuff life out of a state.

The quarterly-held Ministerial Press Briefing held at theinstance of the State of Osun Ministry of Information andStrategy is another effective tool wielded to bridge likelycommunication gap that could arise between thegovernment and the governed. The last edition of the pressconference, which featured the commissioners of allministries, some general managers of parastatals and seniorspecial assistants to the governor has done well todemystify the activities of government and guided rightthe perception and mindset of the generality of the people.Apart from this, the State Executive meetings are no longeras far-between as they used to be during the Oyinlola years.The total number of State Executive meetings held duringthe entire Oyinlola years is put between fifty and seventy;whereas the administration of the day makes it a point ofduty to meet weekly in order to discuss and pool ideastogether to move the wheel of development and progressof the state forward in an accelerated fashion. On occasionswhen those meetings are not held, there must be some otherimportant businesses of government preoccupying thegovernor and his cabinet. For example, sometime duringthe outgone year, the governor and his cabinet took timeoff during the period slated for the normal State Executivemeeting to pay an unscheduled visit to the sites of somecompleted/ongoing projects in the state, especially, withinOsogbo, the state capital. There is no time when the StateCommissioner for Information, Honourable Sunday Akerewould not brief the people on the outcome of thedeliberations of the State Executive Meeting.

Never in the prodigal fashion of profligates did adevelopment come up last year (2013); when theadministration of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola rolled out anotherpublic-interaction programme, rotated round the ninefederal constituencies in the state on periodical fashion.The programme, christened Gbangba D’Ekun has so farfeatured about seven editions. It is another brainchild ofthe State of Osun Ministry of Information and Strategy.First and foremost, the forum is grassroots-oriented. Whatthis implies is that it is meant to catch the fancy of thepeople of various localities at their respective bases withouthaving to undergo the rigors and trauma of having to bemoved to a central and often too rowdy location. Theimportance of this factor cannot be wholly underscored ina piece of write-up. Psychologists and sociologists havetested it and results have proved it beyond doubts thatpeople perform and operate better within the confines oftheir natural habitats. People therefore feel free to unfoldtheir minds within the confines of their natural habitats.The frequency at which the programmes are held is alsoone of its strengths. In the space of less than one calendaryear into its introduction, the programme has recordednothing less than seven outings. The outings, as they haveproven are not bad at all. What we discovered from thefrequency is that problem, challenges and difficulties arebrought to the attention of policy makers before they loomlarger of become an albatross which would be damn toodifficult to surmount. Time and again, new problems ariseas the society moves ahead. Being a dynamic structure,

the only permanent feature of the human society is change.Fora of the nature of Gbangba D‘ekun get the governmentand the governed better prepared to cope with changes asthey arise and even before they arise. One other greatstrength of the Gbangba D’ekun programme is its rotationalvalue. The seven episodes that we have witnessed wereheld in seven different federal constituencies in the state.The programme which kick-started sometime in mid-2013 atIwo / Ayedire / Ola Oluwa have successfully moved throughsuch constituencies as Ife; Ilesa / Atakunmosa; Ila / Ifedayo/ Boluwaduro; Boripe / Ifelodun / Odo Otin; Ede / Egbedore/ Ejigbo; and most recently, Ayedaade / Irewole / Isokan.The mobile nature of the programme makes the people feelcherished and valued; and that it is not only when theirthumb-prints are needed that politicians rove round to enlisttheir support. The Aregbesola administration has proven itbeyond reasonable doubts that politicians could still belooked up to with trust and confidence. The tradition oflooking at politicians with fear, doubt and uncertainty hasbeen reversed. Also through its rotational nature, theprogramme has afforded our men and women at the helm ofaffairs the opportunity of having first-hand inspection ofsituation and assessment of pace of work in each respectivearea under coverage. Lots could be read in papers andreports; but nothing is as real and close to real life as whatwe see and feel. Most lasting in the experiences is the factthat the governor and his entourage are also involved inthe trip. They pass the same road, breath the air and so area part-and-parcel of what the residents of those areasexperience. This is good for good responsible andresponsive governance. Though we have said it already incovert terms, the people are bound to believe more whatthey hear “from the horse’s mouth” as the saying goes.That is why they are offered through the auspices ofGbangba D’ekun the opportunity of clarifying facts anddebunking unfounded tales and rumors through theirrapport live and direct with the governor and his team.

This New Year again, as the first quarter unwinds to itsfull length, people look forward with rapt expectations tothe unveiling of the first in the series of the programme forthe year; especially to serve the effectual purpose ofclearing the dust over certain crucial state issues over whichrumors have gathered since the last episode.

Concerning the state-owned media houses, there hasbeen huge investment by the State Government of Osun tothe media houses to boost their effectiveness, sufficiencyand productivity in terms of education, publicenlightenment and information dissemination concerninghappenings globally and the various activities ofgovernment. The Osun State Broadcasting Corporation(OSBC) Radio and Television, Oke Baale, Osogbo haswitnessed massive overhaul and rehabilitation which hasbrought about lots of improvement on their scope ofoperation, news contents and telecast. The New DawnTelevision (NDTV), Ibokun has also been improved insimilar vein. The same is true of the Osun State BroadcastingCorporation, Orisun FM, Ile Ife. These media houses havebeen lifted up to the level of standards obtainable elsewherein the world. We intend to add in passing that the incumbentadministration has the plan in the pipeline to commenceanother media station; a radio station named OmoluabiFM. According to the State commissioner of Information

•The governor, State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola (arrowed), acknowledging cheers from his admirers on his arrival to commission the completed Ansar-U-Deen (AUD)Elementary School at Isale-Osun, Osogbo, State of Osun, last Thursday.

OSUN DEFENDER Tuesday, March 18, 2014 MAGAZINE 12

High Expectations; Rekindled Hope (VI)

Continued from page 11

•(L-R) State of Osun Commissioners; Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Barrister Kolapo Alimi; Finance, Dr Wale Bolorunduro and Specia Duties, Barrister AjibolaBashiru, during the budget presentation.

and Strategy, Honourable Sunday Akere, the station,which shall be totally committed to transmitting in the Yorubalanguage and its various dialects shall soon commencetransmission, undoubtedly, in the New Year 2014.Theactualization of this is forming part and parcel of the people’sexpectations for the year.

The first transformation witnessed by the RealityTelevision Service (RTS), Iwo was that of change innomenclature and broadening in ifs scope of operation.Immediately on assumption of office, the Aregbesolaadministration changed the name of this outfit to RealityRadiovision, Iwo. The implication of this is that the station’sactivities are no longer to be confined to television telecast,but there is going to be a sort of broadening to includeradio broadcast. In pursuance of this, the station has beenreinvigorated tor the two purposes with huge capital outlay.The reconstruction of parts of the station which weredevastated by the inferno of the Oyinlola years earliermentioned above has been carried out. Also, gadgets andequipment that were missing have been replaced. Othermaterials and equipment which procurement contract workshad been awarded but which were abandoned have beensupplied. Other materials and equipment which had notbeen awarded or provided for have been supplied; whileshipment of a great deal of materials and equipment for thesmooth operation of the station is being currently awaited.During the course of the year 2013,, the test-broadcast ofthe Reality Radiovision, Iwo’s Radio segment, brandedOdidere FM 96.3 Frequency commenced. This hint was firstdropped no less person than the State of OsunCommissioner for Information and Strategy, HonourableSunday Akere. Expectations are high that the current yearshall launch the new station – Odidere FM – forward tomake it not only effectively transmitting but also transformit into a household favourite.

Before drawing the curtains on the activities of this sectorand its performances in the past thirty months vis-a-vis therot of the previous seven-and-a-half years, we need tomention the plan in the offing to make some of the stationsspecialized stations. These stations include the New DawnTelevision, Ibokun; which is intended to telecast issuespurely in the field of Education; while the OSBC OrisunFM, Ile Ife is intended to broadcast issues relating purelyto Culture and Agriculture. These giant strides present thesummary of events and activities in the Information andStrategy segment of life of the state in the last thirty-sixmonths or thereabouts.

· Social Integration and Inter-GovernmentalAffairs

IN the area of Social Integration and Intergovernmentalaffairs, lots have been achieved in the State of Osun in thespace of the last thirty-six months. Prior to the advent ofthe incumbent administration, nothing remarkable wasknown of the state in terms of its relations with other statesin the South-West geopolitical zone and the Nigerian stateas a whole. Upon the assumption of office of the Aregbesolaadministration in November 2010, the administration sparedno time to rebrand the state, which had hitherto been knownas the State of the Living Spring into the State of theVirtuous, that is, Ipinle Omoluabi where the age-longvirtues of hardwork, industry, enterprise, discipline, honesty

and integrity are being upheld through a process of culturalreorientation. These virtues, which are the sterling qualitiesfor which our forebears were renowned, had becomegradually eroded in our culture, in our body politics and inpractically all spheres of life. The virtues are now beingrevived through the concerted efforts of the administrationof Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola.

Apart from change of slogan, there are other components

of the rebranding efforts of the incumbent administrationin the State of Osun. These include the introduction of ananthem tor the state, a brand-new logo/crest; a brand-newflag; and brand-new colours. The New Osun Anthems ishere cited preferably in t Yoruba indigenous language:

1. Ise Wa Fun ’le Wa 2. Igbagbo Wa Ni Pe Fun Ile Ibi Wa B’a Ti B’eru L’a B’omo K’a gbe E Ga; K’a Gbe E Ga K’a a S’ise; K’a S’ise K’a Gbe E Ga F’aye Ri K’a S’ise K’a Jo La

3. Isokan A T’ominira 4. Omo Oodua Dide Ni K’e Je Ka a Ma a Le”pa Bo Si Ipo Eto Re Tesiwaju; F’opo Ire Iwo Ni; Imole At’ohun T’o Dara Gbogbo Adulawo

Last in the aspect of rebranding is the name of the state.Hitherto, the State had been referred to simply as OsunState of Nigeria. A new bill to the effect of modifying thename of the state was forwarded by the governor to theState House of Assembly for passing into law. Thus, theBill for the change in name of the state from Osun State intothe State of Osun was passed into law about mid-2012.From that date, Osun State metamorphosed into “The Stateof Osun, Federal Republic of Nigeria”.

Apart from these, the State of Osun Building in Abujahad been almost abandoned before the administration ofOgbeni Rauf Aregbesola came on board in November 2010.As revealed by the governor while responding to questionsfielded by a cross-section of journalists at the last episodeof his live audience-participation programme, the State ofOsun Building Complex in Abuja was as at that date closeto its completion.

Also in the area of integration, Ogbeni Aregbesola hassince his inauguration been committed to the issue of socio-cultural and economic integration within the South-Westgeopolitical zone of Nigeria. The issue of regionalintegration is one of the basis on which critics anddetractors have been at daggers drawn against GovernorAregbesola. Our view on OSUN DEFENDER Magazinecrew is that those who go against regional integration ofthe South-West are enemies of progress. Better put, theycomprise those who had misused their chances in publicpositions and offices; and who detest the sight of othersoutstripping them in performances and achievements. Inthe line of regional integration therefore, GovernorAregbesola has been the vanguard. We wish himastonishing success in his bid to attain socio-economicemancipation for our region through regional integration.

Beyond the borders of the state and those of the South-West Region, the governor is in collaboration with hiscounterparts in the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) toidentify and condole with people of other states of thefederation, especially those befallen with griefs and

disasters. This gesture was demonstrated when OgbeniAregbesola joined others to visit the crisis-ravaged BornoState with material and monetary donations. This gestureexemplifies the doctrine of the Scriptures of being one’sbrother’s keeper.

The gesture of the administration of Ogbeni in theevacuation of the indigenes of the state from the war-tornCote d’Ivoire gladdened the heart. The gesture did not stopwith mere evacuation, the administration also went furtherto settle the evacuated people and provided them withabundant supply of food items and other essentialmaterials. This shows that the Government Unusual isextraordinarily caring.

Similarly, following the post-election crisis that trailedthe 2011 Presidential Polls in certain parts of the country,,the Government of the State of Osun under the control ofOgbeni facilitated the evacuation of the state's indigenesresident in Bauchi State for the purpose of safety. Theunfortunate killing of two members of the National YouthService Corps (NYSC) who were indigenes of the state drewgreat concern, grief and sympathy from government. Theway the government identified with the bereaved familiesand the Gbongan community on account of the lossdemonstrated an administration with great human feelings.

On the whole, the administration of Ogbeni RaufAregbesola has been a unifying force in the present socio-economic and political terrain of the country. Judging bythe number of markets currently under construction in thestate capital, the coast is radically becoming clear forrestoring the state and its capital in particular to its old loststatus as the commercial hub of the South-West. It is hopedthat by the time the administration is through with all itslaudable projects, the State of Osun shall have beencompletely transformed into a land of unity, plenty,prosperity, peace and prosperity. These laudable goals areattainable.

Continued on page 13

13 OSUN DEFENDER Tuesday, March 18, 2014MAGAZINE

High Expectations; Rekindled Hope (VI)•Local Government, Chieftaincy Affairs and Community

Development

IN the Local Government, Chieftaincy Affairs andCommunity Development is our next point of call. This sib-sector witnessed utter debasement and degradation duringthe period of the fiery siege unleashed on the state by theerstwhile administration in the state. First and foremost,we have, in earlier parts of this series of this edition, seenhow countless number of illegal deductions wasindiscriminately made from the monthly statutory allocationof the thirty local government councils and the Ife EastArea Office during that inglorious reign.

We also mentioned how local government councils wererelegated to a position of mere existence since they couldnot function in the true context within the statutoryprovisions laid out for them as the third tier of governmentin Nigeria. During the days of Oyinlola and his party, thePeople’s Democratic Party (PDP), it became forbidden forlocal government councils in the state to tar roads or toexecute other tangible projects that are vital and that we allknow cold impact the lives of people at the grassrootsmeaningfully. By this sad trend, the monthly statutoryallocation accruing to government at the third tier in thestate from the Federation Accounts became target for randypoliticians in the name of executing a number of projectscentrally at the state level. At the end of the day, noparticular project which the administration claimed to havecommitted the monies so deducted to was carried to alogical conclusion. We shall now take a look at some few ofsuch phantom projects and programmes.

It was the practice during the Oyinlola years fordependants, cronies, sycophants, bootlickers and partyfaithful of the People’s Democratic Party to adorn thepremises of local government council secretariats all overthe state at month-ends; especially on pay-days to collectsalaries for services not rendered. These unearned salariescaused the payroll of council areas in the state to overbloat;thus leaving the councils practically unable to executemeaningful capital projects for the ultimate benefit of thegenerality of the people in their domains. So the localgovernment councils merely existed as money machines tosatisfy the lustful desires of the categories of peoplehighlighted above.

At the inception of the multi-campus Osun StateUniversity (UNIOSUN) in 2005/2006, it was too glaring evento the Oyinlola administration that his administration couldscarcely afford the means to finance and sustain a citadelof that grandeur; more so, simultaneously with the burdenof Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH),Ogbomoso, which it had to co-fund with its partner OyoState. Oyinlola’s next available option was to turn to localgovernment for compulsory imposition of levies which weredeductible from source upon the arrival of the monthlystatutory allocation from the Federation Accounts at thecentre. At the beginning, the fraction deducted was 10 percent. Later it was reduced to 5 per cent monthly. Such werelocal government councils in the state plundered, indefiance of voices of dissent raised by patriots anddiplomats against the unconventional practice. The ruling

party, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) itself could notintervene; obviously because the practice had becomestock-in-trade for it anywhere it held sway. Clearly, thepractice was seen as the easiest way of making cheap moneyto dole out to its numerous cronies and hangers-on.

Another area where local government councils in thestate became victims of compulsory deductions from theirmonthly statutory allocation from the Federation Accountswas the compulsory N1 Million deduction from the monthlystatutory allocation coming to each o the thirty localgovernment councils and the Ife East Area Office inconnection with the Songhai Programme. These deductionswere made for a period of rime more than a year. Theimplication, as OSUN DEFENDER Magazine pointed outcontinuously in those days is that in every month, theadministration made from this particular heading ofdeductions alone a cool sum of N31 Million! Readers areleft to sum the deductions up for a year and a half in orderto actually determine the huge plunder made out of thelocal government accounts in the state during the People’sDemocratic Party (PDP)-led Oyinlola administration.

One measure employed by Oyinlola in order to getthrough with his heinous agenda with the local governmentcouncils in his days as governor was that he do manipulatedhis party’s (People’s Democratic Party-PDP) that hesucceeded in getting a bunch of scarcely educatednominees to clinch tickets into the councils as chairmenand councilors. He ensured this to ascertain that whoeveremerges would not be able to hold his own or raise questionsconcerning any order or directive issued out to him whilein office. That explains why the local government politicalfunctionaries in Oyinlola’s days were all prefects and mostlypuppets.

Here we are. In today’s State of Osun, the localgovernment councils are functioning with full capacity;even so, more than at any point of time since theirestablishment. The first thing Aregbesola did upon hisassumption of office was to abolish all forms of deductionsfrom their monthly statutory allocation accruing from theFederation Accounts. This was done to enable thegovernment at the grassroots dispense good democraticgovernance to the people at that level; and to do so to fullcapacity. Evidences to this abounds all around us today;and they subsist in forms of good motorable roads, potablewater provision, environmental sanitation, agriculture,employment generation and youth empowerment, goodmedical/health delivery services, distribution of freeinsecticide treated mosquito nets, to mention just a few.

So far in the State of Osun, elections could not be heldinto local government councils. This is no fault of thegovernment of the day; but attributable to continuous suitsfiled by the opposition against government. First, it wasagainst the composition of Caretaker Committees at thatlevel. We are all living witnesses to the way that case ended.Today, the case filed by the opposition to challenge theconstitution of the State of Osun Independent ElectoralCommission (OSSIEC) has been botched. We now have afully constituted OSSIEC in place. There are high prospectsto holding free, fair and credible local government pollsanytime during the next year. What we intend to bring outis that these continuous litigations have caused elections

not to be held in the state.

Upon the assumption of office of Ogbeni Aregbesola,he embraced the illegitimate chairmen and local councilshe met on ground; in spite of their illegitimacy! This waseven against the backdrop that the Oyinlola had earlierdefied a court injunction ordering those council chairmenand members to quit office. Aregbesola stayed in with thoseillegal office holders till their ouster came most naturally.Aregbesola assumed office on Saturday, November 27,2010; the illegitimate council “prefects” of Oyinlola yearswere ousted, like their grand contriver, on Friday, December17, 2010, via the justice dispensed through the judgmentdelivered by the apex court of the land, the Supreme Courtof Nigeria.

It has become as clear as the dawning day today thatfundamentally, peace and tranquility came to have footholdin the State of Osun as soon as the Aregbesolaadministration came on board. Prior to the emergence ofthe administration, tension was high. The state was hot.Insecurity and uncertainty filled the air. Like the BiblicalHouse which divides against itself that will not stand; theruling party of the day was the cause of the whole tension.The contention for governorship ticket within the People’sDemocratic Party (PDP) ahead of the proposed 2011Gubernatorial Elections was enough to snuff life out of thestate and bring its entire people into extinction. Thankgoodness, that election never saw the light of day. Itbecame most unnecessary as the earlier-held one (2007Polls) got upheld for the right candidate in a sudden twistof miracle. Those developments marked the genesis of thetrend of progress which we enjoy; relish and savour; andcelebrate today.

Lastly, there had been all likelihood to suggest that beforethe horizons lighten for the next year 2014, there shall havebeen created for the State of Osun not less than additionaltwenty-seven (27) local government council areas; therebyhastening the pace of progress and development andbringing the government closer to the people. It thereforeremains the greatest expectation for the year that theGovernment of the state shall soon, through theinstrumentality of the State House of Assembly roll out thenames of the newly-created local council developmentauthorities (LCDAs). More than that, we, the people expectthat with the inauguration of the State of Osun IndependentElectoral Commission (OSSIEC); the administration at thehelm of affairs would go the long way to conduct localgovernment elections so as to liberalize governance themore and democratize government at all levels ofgovernance. We are fearless that the batches of electionsthis year would serve as true test of our effectiveness andimpact in governance. We serve as mouthpiece to thegovernment of the day to state that on the bases of thesenumerous achievements here underscored and such othersin progress, we do not fear the ballot. In view of this, theyear ahead shall translate to continuity in good governancefor our dear state.

•Concluded.

Continued from page 12

•Some of the pupils of AUD Elementary School in one of their classrooms.

OSUN DEFENDER Tuesday, March 18, 2014 14FOR THE RECORDS

Text Of A Keynote Address Delivered By The Deputy Governor/Commissioner For EducationState Of Osun, Iyaafin Grace Titi Laoye-Tomori, At The State Media Summit Held At ‘Ideal-Nest’Hotel, Osogbo, On March 12, 2014.

PROTOCOL:MEDIA SUMMITINTRODUCTION

IT gives me great pleasure to welcomeyou all to this unique event of anorganised Media Summit, wherein

content analysis of government activitiesi.e. programmes, policy statements, goalsand objectives, etc, are presented to thepublic for their appraisal and objectivescrutiny. This is in tandem withAregbesola’s administration open-doorpolicy, built on the tenets of democracy,good governance and accountability. ChiefObafemi Awolowo pioneered free primaryeducation in Nigeria in the Western Region,and this policy gave the people from theSouthwestern part of Nigeria a headstart inlife above their counterparts from otherparts of the country. Nor is this all. Severalthousands Nigerians would not have goneto school but for the free education policyof the Awolowo era. Through this samepolicy, the middle class social stratum wascreated, which bred the elite class of thethen Western Region. At the cultural level,the mass majority of the people in theWestern Region became more refined, andreceptive to other socio-cultural elementsof other climes. However, it is pertinent tonote that embedded in this education policyis the underpining philosophy of thedevelopment of the total man.

For instance, while addressing theNigerian Union of Teachers in 1947, ChiefObafemi Awolowo described education as“the process of physical and mental culture,whereby a man’s personality is developedto the fullest.” In 1993, as if to elucidatefurther the need for the development of ourhuman resource, the Director-General ofUNESCO, Dr. Frederico Major, whileaddressing the International Commission onEducation for the 21st Century in 1993,pointed out that “Education is not onlyinstilling knowledge, but awakening theenormous creative potential that lies withineach one of us, enabling us to develop toour fullest potential and better contributeto the societies in which we live.”

In the same vein, the education policy ofthe Aregbesola-led administration in thestate of Osun, is to produce students whocan compete effectively and performexcellently like their counterparts inadvanced countries of the world. Osuneducation policy seeks to empower theyouths to be roundly relevant in meetingthe challenges of their immediateenvironment and the society at large. Thisis the thrust of the education policy of Osun.

As the Commissioner of Education in thestate of Osun, it is within the purview of myofficial responsibility to present theAregbesola-led administration’s EducationPolicy, and explain, where necessary, someof the definitive interventions ofgovernment in the education sector.

For the records, we inherited a moribundEducation Sector from the immediate pastgovernment. Public school buildings weredilapidated, instructional materials andteaching consumables such as chalk, board-dusters, other teaching materials andresources that could aid learning such aslesson notes were non-existent. Teachers’morale was at its lowest ebb as they neitherwere motivated nor assured of a bettertomorrow in their chosen career. Studentswere not only disoriented, they weredisinterested. The statistics tell it all;showing poor and abysmal performance ofstudents of the State of Osun in bothinternal and external examinations. Indeed,only 3%, (representing a minisculepercentage) of products of our publicschools system used to move on to the nextphase of their anticipated education plan.However, I am happy to inform you thatwithin three years of our administration,records show that 43% of our students nowqualifies to matriculate in any university.Notwithstanding, the state packagedintervention still goes on, indeed, a totaloverhaul.

The underpinning philosophy of the

Osun Education Policy is to produce complete and totally rounded persons whowill not only excel academically, but morallytoo. In addition, they would possessrelevant skills that could competefavourably, at the international fora andamong the comity of nations. However, theaforementioned could only be madepossible if certain infrastructural facilitiesare in place.

Hence, one of the first initiatives of theAregbesola-led administration uponassumption of office was the convening ofthe Osun Education Summit within the first100 days. The Summit was an eye opener asthe deliberations and findings, including thepreliminary work carried out by theorganizing committee revealed the sorrystate in which we have been plunged intoand the enormity of the rescue work to bedone. The communique issued at the endof the Summit has since become the roadmap for the education sector in the state ofOsun. And the following are the specificpolicy initiatives aimed at redressing theanomally in the education sector.

O’MealsOSUN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

FEEDING AND HEALTH PROGRAMME(O’MEALS)

As part of the effort of the AregbesolaAdministration to promote functionaleducation in the State of Osun, it embracedthe school feeding programme in line withthe recommendation of the UN. Thus thegovernment makes the students the centrestage in this respect, particularly, their well-being and fitness for learning. A well-fedpupil is likely to more attentive in class thanhis/her counterpart on an empty stomach.

Consequently, Aregbesola-ledadministration in the State of Osun reviewedthe old school feeding programme known

as Home Grown inherited from the previousadministration. The government came upwith a re-branded, re-invigorated, and valueadded content programme, which wechristened as O’Meals (Osun ElementarySchool Feeding and Health Programme)

This newly repackaged programme wasre-launched in the State on 30th April 2012with pupils in primaries 1-3 of the 1378 publicprimary schools resulting in the feeding of155,318 pupils with one meal a day.

Interestingly, we witnessed a geometricleap in school enrolment and unprecedentedimprovement in attendance and retentionrecords of the pupils within 3 weeks of theintroduction of the O’Meals. Enrolment figure short to 194,253. Encouraged by theastronomical increase in enrolment, thegovernment extended the programme toprimary 4 pupils in the Public ElementarySchools in the State, bringing the figure ofpupils being fed daily to 252,793 byDecember 2012. As at the beginning of thisacademic session the figure has since risento over 300,000 pupils being fed daily. It isimportant to note that as free educationattracted people to school in the days ofAwolowo, so also has the free schoolfeeding programme attracted kids to school.It is instructive to note that 38,935 pupilswho later enroled, may never see the wallsof public schools, but for the free meals.

According to the data presented by theNigeria National Bureau of Statistics, asupdated in December, 2013, the State ofOsun has the highest increase in the figureof public primary school pupils’ enrolmentin the country to date. The success ofO’Meal programme has receivedsuperlative accolades from both within andoutside the country.

O’School

Our intervention at revamping theinfrastructure in the Education sub-sectorof the economy is glaring. The state-of-theart schools are being completed andcommissioned. We have successfullymoved the pupils/students away fromdilapidated buildings to a more conduciveenviroment for teaching and learning. Thesestate of the art schools have modernfacilities such as adequate toilets, exam hall,large classrooms etc. For instance, eachelementary school is designed toaccommodate about 1000 pupils, unlike theprevious population of less than 200students. It has twenty five well-ventilated,spacious, learning conducive classrooms,equipped with requisite furniture andfittings. The implication is that children willnever be over-crowded in any oneclassroom. The school has one largeExamination Hall, which makes centralmonitoring of examinations possible. Otherfacilities include 16 modern toilets, two well-equipped laboratories, one Audio-visualroom, staff room, Headmaster’s room,Assistant Headmaster’s room, one Diningroom, recreational facilities and footballfield, which make Physical Educationpossible and stress free. There isuninterrupted supply of pipe borne water;with a back-up supply from a bore hole sunkwithin the school premises. For effectivemaintenance of the structure, a well-trainedFacility Manager is attached to theseschools. This is to ensure that the buildingis well maintained and that the Headmastersand Teachers concentrate on teaching andmoulding the characters of the pupils undertheir care and protection. The school is wellfenced for effective security and accesscontrol. This reduces the burden of teacherson security issues. These buildings will rivalany of such school buildings in anyadvanced economies of the world.

Presently, the government has committeda whooping sum of N14.41billion to theo’school project. To date, we have built 13Elementary schools, 14 Middle schools, and12 High schools, which translates to 1724classrooms. In addition, a sum of N1.6billionis being expended on renovations ofschools that we will not rebuilt outright.

In the same vein, we have spent a sumtotal of N2.5 billion for the purchase of150,000 beffiting furniture for 300,000 pupils/students in the puplic schools. Theimplication is that pupils and students willnot be crowded into a small room withoutadequate sitting arrangement, which isnecessary for conducive learningenvironment.

THE NEW SCHOOL UNIFORM –O’UNIFORM

The central rule in group dynamics isidentical similarity. A Student who for onereason or another could not be providedwith school uniforms like his peers is likelyto be easily distracted, and thus put thegoal of functional education in jeopardy.Thus, the introduction of unified schooluniforms is part of efforts by the StateGovernment of Osun to create a uniqueidentity for our students and promote ourculture. This innovation is also expected toensure uniformity and engender deep senseof belonging in public primary andsecondary school pupils/students.

For clarity, I wish to reiterate that noaspect of the new school uniform isdesigned or intended to be offensive in anyway because the sensibilities of all religiousfaiths in our state and our culture have beenduly considered in its conception anddesign.

For the production of the new uniforms,a garment factory known as OmoluabiGarment Factory has been established inOsogbo for the supply of complete set ofuniforms for all categories of students. Thefactory has produced Uniforms for 750,000(seven hundred and fifty thousand)students in the Public schools, which weredistributed free to all students. However,

•LAOYE-TOMORI

Osun Education Policy Will Breed World-class Leaders

Continued on page 15

15OSUN DEFENDER Tuesday, March 18, 2014 FOR THE RECORDS

parents and guardians are to provideuniforms for their wards subsequently. Todate, we have spent N900million on theSchool Uniform project.

Meanwhile, one of the possitive falloutsof Standardised school uniforms is thecreation of jobs for the hitherto jobless onesamongst us. At the Omoluabi GarmentsFactory, the biggest of its type in the wholeof West Africa, designers, tailors and alliedartisans, now have gainful employment. Inaddition, the fabric traders, who formedthemselves into cooperatives now supplythe school uniforms to interested parentsof guardians of the pupils/students in thepublic schools at sales point established inall local governments in the state.

EDUCATION INSTRUCTIONALMATERIALS: -

To promote functional teaching andlearning in schools, the AregbesolaAdministration has committed a whoppingsum of five hundred and three million naira(N503million) for the provision ofinstructional materials, Home Economicsequipment, science equipment and teachingkits for public primary and secondaryschools in the state.

Unlike what obtains in the past, we havemoved from the use of blackboards andchalks to white synthetic boards with penin our state of the arts school buildings.This has modernity written all over it.

RUNNING/EXAMINATION GRANTSToday, I am happy to say that if we take a

cursory look at our education sector in thestate of Osun, it is crystal clear thatsomething akin to a silent revolution hastaken place within the system. Our approachhas been holistic as we began with theoverhaul of the day-to-day running andadministration of the public schools.Governor Aregbesola removed the financialburden of public school administration fromthe Parents Teachers Association (PTA),while retaining the association to functionin advisory and collaborative capacities. Wepay a sum total of N131,630,966.60 per termfor the primary school, while the secondaryschools receives N142,483,000.00 per termas Running/Exam grants. Per annum for theElementary schools is N394,892,899.80, whilePer annum for the Middle and High Schoolis N427,449,000 respectively.

In effect, we spend a sum total ofN84,000=00 on each elementary schoolpupil (because He/She is fed daily withnutritious meal through O’Mealsprogramme. Also, we spend N30,000=00 oneach of our students in the Middle and Highschool per term. As things stands now,children are no longer asked to bring chalk,brooms, excercise books etc from home.

WAEC FeesThis government pays WAEC fee and

charges for every final year student in thepublic school in Osun. During the 2012-2013session, we payN324745,150=00 as WAECfees. For this year alone, we have paid asum total of N400million (four hundredmillion naira) as WAEC fees and chargesfor the final year students in the State ofOsun. This is to further democratiseeducation in the state of Osun, and make itaccessible to all and sundry. Students arenow confident that they would write theirexams since all expensex are paid by thegovernment, unlike what happens before,when selected few staudents benefited fromgovernment. The financial burden is furtherremoved from parents.

SPONSORSHIP OF OSUN STATEUNIVERSITY (UNIOSUN) MEDICALSTUDENTS TO UKRAINE

It is no longer news that some medicalstudents from 300 to 500 levels of the OsunState University (UNIOSUN) got stagnatedin their academic activities as they couldnot proceed to the clinical classes. This wasdue to the fact that there was no TeachingHospital with adequate facilities to cater fortheir needs.

In the wisdom of Mr. Governor and inorder not to abort the vision and dreams ofthe affected students, the state governmentsponsored the transfer of the affected 98students to Karazin University in Kharkiv,Ukraine to continue and complete their

academic programme. The cost of trainingand maintaining the students in Ukraine inthe first year, excluding other miscellaneousexpenses is one hundred and fifty-fivemillion, nine hundred and forty-twothousand, and six hundred naira (N155,942,600.00). All the 98 students are now fullysettled in the institution.

OPON-IMOThe need to develop an efficient

‘knowledge based economy’ and theimportance of a knowledge-based societyare increasingly being mentioned in globaldiscourse. Indeed, it is the preferred choiceamong myriads of state development policyoptions. In consonance with global bestpractice, this administration has takenconcrete steps towards ensuring that ourstudents become ICT compliant, both forlearning and self development. Towards thisend, the Aregbesola-led administration hasconcluded arrangement to distributeComputer tablets (Opon-Imo) to studentsin all the High Schools (SSS) in the State.

The tablet is preloaded with lesson noteson seventeen (17) subjects offered bystudents in the West African Senior SchoolCertificate Examinations (WASSCE) andNECO SSCE. Besides, seven extra-curricularsubjects such as Sexuality Education, CivicEducation, Yoruba History, Ifa TraditionalReligion, Computer Education andEntrepreneurship Education, and TwelveThousand Yoruba Proverbs are alsoincluded. Opon-imo is an indigenousComputer Programmed Instruction (CPI)with locally produced content and designedfor the Nigerian secondary educationsystem.

Embedded in the Computer Tablet areover 40,000 past examination questionsspanning a period of ten years, for (private)practice, 63 e-textbooks; covering 17subjects’ areas that students do register forin external examinations. In addition, it has51 audio tutorials installed as study aid.

Without doubt, this initiative is a silver-bullet means of democratising access tolearning materials, ever undertaken by anygovernment in Nigeria. This is anotherlandmark achievement by the Aregbesola-led administration which is novel andunprecedented in the annals of Educationnot only in Nigeria but in the World at large.This initiative will definitely aid teachingand learning and would improve the generalperformance of the students in the State ofOsun.

The tablet makes teaching and learningexciting to teachers and the learners. The63 books in the e-library section of the tabletremoves the burden of prohibitive cost ofconventional textbooks and afford thestudents unfettered access to knowledgenecessary to learn and prepare adequatelyfor internal and external examinationsincluding the Unified Tertiary MatriculationExaminations (UTME). The Opon-Imoinitiative has proven to be cost effective.Whereas the purchase of physicaltextbooks for the students would have costabout N9.6billion, the option of Opon-Imohas saved the state gobvernment anestimated sum of N8.4billion as it has onlycost government a sum of N1.2billion toprocure 150,000 tablets of Opon-Imo for thehigh school students.

DOWNWARD REVIEW OF SCHOOLFEES IN STATE-OWNED TERTIARYINSTITUTIONS

Government has reduced fees payable inthe state-owned tertiary institutions across-board. Government slashed Colleges ofEducation fees from N28,000 to N20,000.Polythecnics got theirs cut from N42,000 toN25,000. Also, Osun State University cuttheir fees for law and medical students fromN195,000 to N100,000. For those in Sciences,their fees came down from N155,000 toN75,000 while Others had theirs cut fromN130,000 to N75,000.

Non-Discriminatory Regime of School

FeesThe Osun State University is the first

state university in Nigeria where studentsare not discriminated against on the basisof school fees. For the government ofAregbesola, the indigene and non-indigenedivide does not exist. All students are thesame in the eyes of the AregbesolaAdministration. The same principle applieto Awolowo free primary education policy.

RECRUITMENT, PROMOTION,TRAININGS, PROMPT PAYMENT OFSALARY AND PENSION.

Invariable, government was concernedabout the competence profile andprofessional delivery capacity of ourteachers; therefore, Aregbesola initiatedcompetence-driven policy, culminating in thecompulsory training and re-training ofteachers of all cadres in the state employ.To shore-up the commitment and moral fibrebase of the ranks and files of teachers inthe state, Mr Governor approved thepromotion, training and recruitment of newteachers for innovative teaching/learningin public schools. To this end, over twothousand teachers of public secondaryschools were trained by Osun StateUniversity (UNIOSUN) in year 2012. Seriesof training programmes has been scheduledfor public school teachers in the year 2013.

As we speak, our administration hasemployed 10,407 teachers in all categoriesof schools. We now have a total number of12,715 teachers in Elementary schools and7,848 teachers in the Middle and Highschools. This is 54.8 per cent more than thenumber of teachers we inherited inNovember 2010.

Prompt Payment of Salary and PensionWe pay monthly salary and pension of

our Elementary school teachers to the tuneof N1, 402,520,773 =00 (N1.4billion). Whileteachers in the Middle and High schoolsreceives N945million per month as salaryand pension. The cost implication perannum is N44.9billion. we pay this hugeamount of money and still recruits moreteachers because we know the importanceand relevance of teachers. We met a hordeof poorly motivated teachers when we cameinto the saddle of government. Today weare happy the story has changed. Ourteachers are happy, and the students areexcited.

OUR PROJECTIONS ANDEXPECTATIONS

We are aware that many of ourprogrammes are in their gestation period.However, it is expected that in another fiveyears, the kids that are current beneficiariesand or, participants in the pioneerprogrammes of the nascent education policyinitiative of Aregbesola would be the leadinglights in the country academically. Whereas,Awolowo’s free education policy broughthigher literacy level, and a people withmoderately liberal world veiw, which helpedin no small measure in ensuring religioustolerance, accommodation of opposingviews and diseenting voice(s) within thesociety. Aregbesola’s education policy willproduce intellectual giants that wouldgalvanise the critical mass of the people fordevelopment.

Pa Awolowo did not have the privilegeof Computer Tablet, yet he didi what he hadto do, and the result is glaring for any oneto see. Now, Aregbesola has introducedICT, and the education sector is now beingdriven by cut edge technology. The futureimplication can only be glorious. In anotherten years, an Osun young man whobgenefited from our education policy willstand shoulder high anywhere in the world.

Just like in the days of the sage,Awolowo, the free education policy hadspecific impact, which gave the southwestpeople a headstart above the other regionsin Nigeria, the same way, the Aregbesolaeducation policy will give Osun youth aheadstart above thier peers in the country,in the next five years on. And like ithappened in the days of the sage, I will notbe supprise when parents bring their wardfrom other states to attend schools in Osun.

I thank you for your audience.Osun a dara

•LAOYE-TOMORI

Osun Education Policy Will Breed World-class LeadersContinued from page 14

TUESDAY, MARCH 18, 2014

www.osundefender.org t

By ADE OLUGBOTEMIWE are hardlyknown withenigmatic values

that names symbolize inwestern arenas. It is alsouncommon to haveidentification similitude withinanimate objects like stoneor wood, and if we must goanimate, such animals withwhich we bear identity musthave some attributes that epitomizebravery or piety as of tiger, eagle, orbetter still peacock. Names are givento us in this part of the world particularlyfor identification, and the christeningprocess is not without strict adherenceto certain value system that depictsorigin and lineage. That is probably theonly way we can say we are better thanthose white men who consider blackpeople as fundamentally inferior incolour and creed.

Name or title, to us carries asignificance, which cannot beunderestimated. That is the wisdombehind the adage: “the affinal attributesand peculiarities of the home frontdetermine what name a child is given”.Those that go for one sobriquet or theother also consider societal values forthe fear of castigation and ostracism.Nobody will identify with anything thatmay engender denigration; it isabsolutely antithetical to our nature andevolutionary attributes. Countries of theworld have also had the reason at onetime or the other to opt for new identity,possibly upon realising that somethingfundamentally is wrong with the former.

The State of Osun, or Osun Statemay appear the same to many, but thereis inherent difference that is known onlyto discerning minds. That may lookambiguous, but definitely not so withthe state of the living spring and the stateof the virtuous. The state of the livingspring is a sobriquet fashioned from thename of the state or some places withinthe state, where water emerges fromthe ground. Those who coined the stateof the living spring for Osun knew best,but if it was because of river Osun, itwas a wrong coinage, because RiverOsun does not originate from this state;and if it was because of some placeswhere water emerges from the ground,it was a misnomer because none of thesaid springs was face-lifted to theenviable standard in terms of utilityvalue.

We now have Osun as a State of theVirtuous; courtesy of Ogbeni RaufAdesoji Aregbesola. The Websterdictionary simply defines being virtuousas full of virtue, having excellent moralcharacter; with synonyms as good,righteous. Virtue on the other hand isdefined as a particular manifestation ofmoral excellence in a person; anadmirable quality, in accordance withmoral principles; conformity of

behaviour or thought with the structureof morality. This definition simply placesa burden of target on the governmentand the governed. There are goals toset and to achieve. This keepseverybody on his or her toes forcorporate aims and objectives to be runfor and be achieved.

Government must run its business ina transparent manner, so as to convincethe people that the sacrifices they aremaking worth the while. The governedon the other hand must be law abidingand strive to fulfill their obligations soas to have moral justification tochallenge government when performingbelow expectation. All parties must beseen to be up and doing, showing keeninterest and making sure that systemicdynamics are properly positioned forremarkable progress to be made.Creed of progress must be well guidedto ensure that set goals are not onlyachieved but also that they are

surpassed in standard and composition;as we are all aware that the task ofnation building is never lopsidedlyaccomplished.

Virtues are tools of progress anddevelopment for those who value them.People may know virtues, but theknowledge of virtues may turndysfunctional, if their essence is nottranslated into concrete benefits. Thisis where we must begin to ask ourselvesquestions about where our orchestratedvirtues have taken us. Fortunately, theregime that invented the new slogan forthe state is still in power. This is thereforethe right time for a meaningfulassessment of what many people havefound difficult to come to terms with.We must be able to engage in theprocess of self-examination and seehow far we have gone in the process ofbeing virtue-compliant. It is when we

are able to do unbiased self-examination that we may knowwhat actually went wrong andwhether we have learnt anylesson(s) in the evolutionaryrejuvenation

As government and thegoverned, what virtues can wesay we are exhibiting now

different from what used to be ourexperience in the state? Honest answerto this question will enable us do self-assessment in line with the dictum thatcharity begins at home. Investigationshows that those who are not at homewith the recent changes in the State ofOsun are a few elites, who aredissatisfied with the paradigm shift inthe mode of running governmentbusiness. They are of the opinion thatthe administration of Ogbeni Aregbesolaintroduced some policies that reducethe amount of money at their disposal.It is not that their disposable incomehas reduced; their grouse is just that thevolume of money to play around withhas dwindled. Project monitoring andevaluation, and the accompanyingquality control by government agencies,in line with government policies, havereduced their influence on projecthandlers, who before now were alwaysat their mercy as project supervisors.

We need to appreciate those whoquickly adjusted into new mind sets inline with Aregbesola’s missionstatement, which has driven decorumand moderation that current paucity offunds demands. Government mayintend to execute programmes, but it isfull cooperation from all stake holdersthat will make this vision to come tofruition. Virtues have broughtendurance instinct to all segments of oursociety. That is key in our quest to moveto the next level; it then behovesgovernment to reciprocate by buildingon the confidence people now have withmore projects that are need-compliant.

Our virtues must be matured to thelevel whereby we are firmly persistent,and unable to be swayed. Ourconstancy and stability must enable usto be rational in assessing situations,and differentiate between what bringstemporary relief and long-term painsand agony on one hand, and whatbrings temporary discomfort and longterm dehumanization and frustration onthe other. We may choose to live anillusory life, which only ensures fake andtemporary emotional satisfaction; on thelong run, nobody will tell us of the agonywe suffer because we shall thoroughlyfeel its adversity. We must thereforeendure the pang of the inevitabletransition, so that all of us may sharethe glory of really belonging to the Stateof the Virtuous. Those who arethrowing baits at us now will only laughto our scorn after they have plunderedtheir booties to their own satisfaction.

OSUN DEFENDER is published by Moremi Publishing House Limited, Promise Point Building, Opposite Guaranty Trust Bank GTB, Gbongan Road, Osogbo, State of Osun. All correspondenceto the Managing Editor, KOLA OLABISI, Telephone: 08033927286 (kolaolabisi@yahoo.com); Editor, KAYODE AGBAJE, Telephone: 0803-388-0205, E-mail: osundefender@yahoo.com,kayodeagbaje@yahoo.com. ISSN: 0794-8050.Website: www.osundefender.org.

The Virtuous And Their Virtues“Virtues are tools of progress and

development for those who value them.People may know virtues, but theknowledge of virtues may turndysfunctional, if their essence is nottranslated into concrete benefits. This iswhere we must begin to ask ourselvesquestions about where our orchestratedvirtues have taken us. Fortunately, theregime that invented the new slogan forthe state is still in power. This is thereforethe right time for a meaningfulassessment of what many people havefound difficult to come to terms with. Wemust be able to engage in the process ofself-examination and see how far wehave gone in the process of being virtue-compliant.”