VOL. 8. NO.0151 N50THURSDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2013

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Front Page Comment

Opon Imo’s Global AcclaimWho Killed

Chief Bola Ige,former Attorney-

General andMinister of

Justice? IGE

•The governor, State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola (4th right) in the front); his deputy, Otunba (Mrs) Grace Laoye-Tomori (5th right); the Speaker, State of Osun House ofAssembly, Honourable Najeem Salaam (3rd right) in a group photograph with members of the State House of Assembly and some State Executive Council members, when thegovernor presented the executive bill on local government creation to the Assembly last Monday. Photo: GBENGA ADENIYI.

Osun APC Raises AlarmOver Threat To Peace

Aregbesola Presents Bill For Additional 27 LGs

Purposeful leadershiptriggers a creativetension thatseparates qualitythinking from thehumdrum and run-of-the-mill. Such qualitythinking has accountedfor the global acclaim of

opposition in the state,clearly out of its depth atthe sheer brilliance of theinnovation had instinc-tively tried to pooh-pooh itas wasteful, the observingglobe has wasted no timein lauding the innovation.That shows how antedilu

vian the oppositionthinking is; and how farremoved they are frompressing developmental

Opo Imo, the computertablet of learning that theRauf Aregbesolagovernment hasdesigned for secondaryschools in the State ofOsun.

Though the PeoplesDemocratic Party (PDP)

matters for a state thathas no choice but torace against time, if itis to roll back thesetbacks of the past.Continued on pg - 5

2 OSUN DEFENDER Thursday, December 19, 2013News

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•Beautification of streets by the State Government of Osun in preparation for Christmas celebration at Oke-Fia, Osogbo, the state capital of Osun.

Osun APC Raises Alarm Over Threat To PeaceTHE All Progressives Congress (APC) in the

State of Osun has raised alarm over thealleged plan by some politicians and their

agents to embark on serial destruction of bill boardsbelonging to politicians of the APC.

The party, in a statementissued by its Director ofPublicity, Kunle Oyatomi

alerted citizens of the stateto be vigilant and reportquickly to the police,

whenever they observethat criminals are trying topull down bill-boards ofthe APC.

According to thestatement, the allegedplan is aimed at provokingviolence through theunlawful act of destroying

APC advertisementbillboards across thestate.

The statement reads:“The armoured plan isaimed at provokingviolence through theunlawful act of destroyingAPC advertisement

billboards across thestate.

“Osun is peaceful andall politicians within thestate are better advisedto be civilized in theirapproach to politics, andremember that, onlycowards resort to

violence when they havelost the argument.”

“Osun is a State of theVirtuous, where onlyvirtuous sons anddaughters of the state canbe elected into office; notfrustrated people, whoseonly understanding ofpolitical engagement iscriminal acts of violence.

“The State of Osunhas moved forward asone of the mostpolitically-civilisedplaces in this countryand it will notaccommodate ortolerate uncivilisedacts like the one beingplanned by the axis ofevil.”

The partytherefore called onthe police in the stateto keep a close watchon criminal activitiesof these violence-prone politicians,whose only languageof persuasion isviolence.

It added: “Allpoliticians andpolitical parties in thestate have a duty toconduct themselvesresponsibly, nomatter theprovocation, so thatthe good image,which thisgovernment hasalready establishedand is attractinginvestors from allover the world, willnot be destroyed.

“The easiest wayto drive awayinvestors from Osunis to destroy thepeace throughviolence, but thegovernment and thesecurity forces willnot allow this.Everybody must beon the alert,”the APCadded.

Police, SSS Warn OSSIEC Against Undermining Voters’ WillBy ISMAEEL UTHMAN

THE Osun Independent ElectoralCommission (OSIEC) has been warnedagainst unholy and any act capable of

undermining the will of the people of the State ofOsun in the coming local government elections.

According to the Commissioner of Police,Osun Command, MrsDorothy Gimba, whogave the advice, suchmove might in thelong run lead to crisisthat will permanentlysoil the image of theelectoral body beforethe electorate.

According to apress statementsigned by the Head,Press and PublicityUnit of thecommission, MrBabatunde Fanawopo,the advice was givenduring a courtesy visitto the Commissionerof Police and theDirector of StateSecurity Service(SSS) in the state bythe OSIEC leadershipon Monday.

Gimba, whounderscored theimportance ofsecurity ine l e c t i o n e e r i n gprocess, said the taskbefore OSSIEC washumongous, highlytasking andemotional, urging thecommission to live upto the expectations ofthe people, who wantnothing, but a credible

election.The police

c o m m i s s i o n e rpromised to supportthe commission fullyin its bid to be anunbiased umpire inthe forthcoming localgovernment councilpolls in the state.

In his address, theState Director of theSSS, Mr JoshuaYakubu urged theOSSIEC not todisregard anyinformation on itsactivities, saying thatbeing sensitive andproactive oninformation couldcurtail the plan ofsome disgruntledpoliticians to createelectoral crisis in thestate.

Yakubu assured theelectoral body thatthe SSS would alwaysprovide informationthat will assist thecommission in thesmooth running of itsprogrammes, just ashe charged membersof the commission tofeel free to shareinformation that canassist in forestalling

any act that may lead tothe breakdown of lawand order in the statein relation to OSSIECactivities.

Responding, theOSSIEC chairman,Otunba SegunOladitan, said thec o m m i s s i o nunderstands theimportance of security

Encourage Yoruba Language In Schools - WritersBy FRANCIS EZEDIUNO

IN order to encourage the reading, speakingand teaching of Yoruba Language andLiterature, it has been recommended that the

use of Yoruba language must be encouraged inhomes, primary, secondary and tertiaryeducational institutions.

This was the view ofall the invitedspeakers, who werepresent at the formalbook launch and publicpresentation of theYoruba prose titled;‘Ko Sohun To Le’,written by Mrs. SanyaMary Olukemi held atthe Ikirun Town Hall,Ikirun on Saturday,December 14.

In his welcomeaddress on theoccasion, the Directorof SocialD e v e l o p m e n t ,Ifelodun LocalGovernment, PrinceAdebisi Popoola notedthat since the demise

of great Yoruba prosewriters like D. O.Fagunwa, D. F. Odunjoand ProfessorAkinwumi Ishola, whowrote excellentbooks, the trail hadgone cold.

He lamented thesituation where evenschools do not teachYoruba Language,parents do not speak itwith their children athome and it hasvirtually disappearedfrom the lips of theeducated class, unlikeother Nigerianlanguages.

He frowned at thesituation where

private schools struckout the teaching ofYoruba Language andLiterature, except ingovernment-ownedschools.

“Even pacifyingpraise singing inYoruba language hasfaded and in its place,parents and guardiansnow pacify theirchildren with biscuitsand sweets,” he added.

P o p o o l acommended theauthor for a job welldone in contributingher own quota, inmaking sure thatYoruba language doesnot go into extinction.

In her keynoteaddress, the author;Mrs. Sanya OlukemiMary disclosed thather love for thelanguage was hermotivating factor andthe whole idea was to

resuscitate thelanguage, culture andtraditions of theYoruba people.

She said: “We mustendure to uplift thelanguage and not allowthe importation ofother languages.”

She encouraged allparents to allow theirchildren to speak thelanguage and thatgovernments at alllevels must supportthe teaching of Yorubalanguage in theprimary andsecondary schools.

The guests at theprogramme, includingthe Nigerian Union ofTeachers (NUT)Chairman for IfelodunLocal GovernmentCouncil Area calledon the government tofacilitate theendorsement of thebook for consumptionin public schools.

in the smooth dischargeof its responsibilities,hence, the visits to thetwo security outfits in thestate.

Oladitan, whoexpressed how much thecommission cherishes theinvolvement of the police,SSS and other securityagencies in its activities,promised to be fair to allpolitical parties

that will beparticipating in theforthcoming localgovernment councilelection in the state.

He said being fair toall political parties andconducting a credibleelection was the onlyway to make the jobsof the security agentseasier, and also pleasethe electorate.

3 News OSUN DEFENDER Thursday, December 19, 2013

•State of Osun Commissioner for Commerce, Cooperatives and Empowerment, Mr Ismaila Alagbada; Commissionerfor Women and Children Affairs, Mrs Adetoun Adegboyega and Special Adviser to the Governor on Commerce,Cooperatives and Empowerment, Dr Olalekan Yinusa, during a courtesy visit by the Bristish Deputy HighCommissioner, Peter Carter to the governor,Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola at the Government House, Osogbo recently.

Photo: GBENGA ADENIYI.

By KAZEEM MOHAMMED

By KAZEEM MOHAMMED

Aregbesola Presents Bill For Additional 27 LGs

GOVERNOR of the State of Osun, OgbeniRauf Aregbesola has presented a bill beforethe State House of Assembly for a law on

the creation of additional 27 local government areasin the state.

Presenting the LocalGovernment Creation andAdministration Bill, 2013before the parliament onMonday, the governornoted that the creation ofmore council areas in thestate was aimed at bringinggovernance closer to thepeople at the grassrootslevel.

According to him,many of the existing localgovernment council areas,as presently constituted,are too large in size, asregards the area theycover, the size of theirworkforce, as well as thequality of representationneeded at the grassrootslevel.

The governor had earlierset up a committee, headedby the former Speaker ofthe state parliament,Professor Mojeed Alabi todesign modalities for thecreation of new councilareas in the state, the reportof which was being actedupon.

To ensure cost-effective, people-orientedand development-basedadministration at the locallevel, the bill, the governorsaid, also proposes toestablish a parliamentarysystem of government atthe local government level.

He said: “It is beyondcontention that the closestgovernment to the peopleshould be the localgovernment. Can we trulysay that the existing localgovernment system wehave in the State of Osunis a true reflection of thedesire of the citizens of thestate?

“The reality, as we havefound out, is that manylocal governments, aspresently constituted, aretoo large in size, as regardsthe area they cover; the sizeof workforce, as well asthe quality ofrepresentation needed atthe grassroots level.

“These have hinderedthe smooth running of ourlocal governments to theextent that they merelysurvive to pay salaries andnothing more. Thestatutory duties of the localgovernments have beenneglected so much thatpeople have actuallyforgotten their existencewithin their locality.

“This historic Bill, whenpassed into law, willprovide for theestablishment of additional27 local governmentcouncil areas in the state.The Bill expressly statesthat the 27 localgovernment areas arecreated in addition to the30 local governmentcouncil areas specified inthe Constitution of the

Federal Republic ofNigeria.

“One significant aspectof this Bill is that theexisting 30 localgovernments co-exist withthe newly-created ones.As a matter of fact,Section 3 of the Bill clearlyprovides that pending thepassage of an Act of theNational Assembly to listthem in the constitution asLocal Government CouncilAreas, the 27 new localgovernment council areasshall be 27 Local CouncilDevelopment Areas(LCDA), and be called‘Local Counties’ in thestate with the namesspecified in schedule II ofthe Bill.

“This provision clearlytakes care of confusionthat might have arisenshould there be acontroversy as to thestatus of the localgovernment, if the existingand the newly-createdLCDAs are lumpedtogether as 57 LocalGovernment Council Areasin the state.

“This Bill has someunique features that aremeant to make localgovernment administrationcost-effective, people-

oriented and development-based. To this end, the Billproposes to establish aparliamentary system ofgovernment at the localgovernment level.

“The implication of thisis that the Chairman andVice Chairman of theCouncil would be anelected councillors fromthe party having majorityseats in the council, withother relevant

qualifications.“It is our firm conviction

that this will inevitablyreduce cost ofgovernance; enhancequality of representation atthe grassroots level andensure smooth running ofthe local governmentadministration,” thegovernor stressed.

Aregbesola explainedthat this was because, theamount spent on over-

head and personnelalready gulps all thecouncil allocations,despite the acutepaucity of fundsavailable to localgovernments.

Section 17 of theBill, he said, furthercreates the Office ofthe CouncilManagers, who shallbe a civil servant andthe administrative

heads of the localgovernment councils.

Noting that the stategovernment has actedwithin the existing lawfor the creation of thenew councils,Aregbesola noted thatthe councils wouldbring the desireddevelopment to thepeople at thegrassroots.

...New Councils ‘ll Bring Rapid Development - Speaker

THE Speaker, State of Osun House of Assembly,Honourable Najeem Salaam has expressedoptimism that the proposed local government areas,

when eventually created would reduce the cost ofgovernance, increase the revenue profile and ensure thedesired development at the grassroots.

Receiving the bill fromthe state governor, OgbeniRauf Aregbesola for thecreation of additional 27local government councilareas in the state onMonday, Salaamregretted that the positivehistory that was oncemade by a formergovernor, Chief BisiAkande, but was“bungled by thereactionary forces, isbeing repeated”.

According to him, bynow, the state ought to beconsolidating on the gainsof the aborted councilscreated by Akande’sgovernment.

“Our governor is heretoday to repeat positivehistory that was oncemade by Chief BisiAkande, but was bungledby the reactionary forces.

“By now, we ought tobe consolidating on thegains of the abortedcouncils created byAkande’s government,but we were forced toopen a new page for thecreation of newdevelopment outposts atthe grassroots in our state.

“In our conversation

with the governor as aparliament, we learnt thatwith the creation of newcouncils, the cost ofgovernance would bereduced, the business asusual would be barredand our revenue profilewould be upped.

“Let one fact beestablished, all towns andcornubations in this statecannot be madeheadquarters of localgovernment council areasat the same time, but it ispossible to have all cities,towns, villages witnessu n p r e c e d e n t e ddevelopment at equalpace, provided wecollectively see thegovernment as our ownand refused to be led bythe nose,” Salaamstressed.

Adding that thegovernor has assured thatthe new councils wouldnot constitute burden onthe existing ones, he said,it would rather serve asplatform for effective,efficient and all-inclusivegovernance at thegrassroots.

The Speaker thenimplored the traditional

rulers, communityleaders, political andreligious leaders andleaders of thoughts tointerface between theirrespective subjects and

Aregbesola Receives ACBC Award,Calls For Visionary Leadership

GOVERNOR of the State of Osun, Ogbeni RaufAregbesola has again bagged the African andCaribbean Business Council (ACBC) Award for

Leadership.Receiving the award at

the 4th Annual Conferenceand Winter Award Dinner,organised by African andCaribbean BusinessCouncil, in Philadelphia,United States, the governorstated that the black nationmust promote rightconsciousness andleadership, driven by visionto take their rightful positionin the world.

According to him:”Mymodest achievements asgovernor in Osun areanchored squarely upon thevision I have for thetransformation of my state.This is facilitated by the factthat I passionately believethat it is possible to realisemy development vision.”

Aregbesola, who wasrepresented at the dinner bythe Director General, Officeof Economic Developmentand Partnerships (OEDP),Dr. Charles Akinola,expressed his appreciation

to the organisers of theaward, commending itscommitment to promotingtrade and investmentbetween Africa, theCaribbeans and the UnitedStates and bridging thecultural divide among themember countries.

“This is a most inspiringgesture that is certain tospur me to greaterachievements in mycapacity as the governor ofthe State of Osun, and inmy drive to better the lotsof my people,” he said.

The event, which wasattended by businessleaders, members of thediplomatic community andother dignitaries fromAfrica, the United Statesand other parts of theworld, was to celebrate andreward local and regionalleaders for theiroutstanding achievementsand contributions to theACBC mandate, especially,

in bringing Africa and theCaribbean businesscommunity on the worldstage, as equal and valuablepartners.

Also speaking at theevent, the Ambassador ofGuyana to the United States,H.E. Bayney Ram Karran,said: “Many of theharnessed opportunities forinvestments and businessdevelopments are only nowbeing realised with ongoingefforts to addresscompetitiveness issues.

“The conditions forinvestment are constantlyimproving and as a result,new investors can benefitfrom first mover status andchoose the most promisingprospects, while at the sametime, establishing long-termgrowth and profitability.”

The State of Osun has inrecent time been generatingapplause internationally andlocally, for itst r a n s f o r m a t i o n a ldevelopment initiatives, andcreation of an environmentthat is conducive toinvestments through tradeand partnerships.

By SHINA ABUBAKAR

the government on anyarea of declarationconsidered grey.

Expressing satisfactionwith the way the wheelof progress is grinding in

the state, the Speakerpromised that the billwould be givenaccelerated consideration,with a view to meeting theyearnings of the people.

OSUN DEFENDER Thursday, December 19, 20134 News

By ISMAEEL UTHMAN

We, MoremiPublishing HouseLimited, Publishers ofOsun DefenderNewspaper, do not demandor accept gifts orgratification to publisharticles or photographs,neither do our journalists.

Therefore, we implore younot to offer any to ourreporters. In the event thatany journalist from ourestablishment demandssuch, kindly incident thereport atosundefender@yahoo.comor 08033927286 and08033880205.

ETHICAL ISSUES?

•(L-R) Deputy British High Commissioner, Peter Carter in a handshake with Professor Wole Soyinka during acourtesy visit by Carter to the governor, State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola at the Government House, Osogborecently. Photo: GBENGA ADENIYI.

Aregbesola Represents Development And Integrity - Ex SpeakerBy KEHINDE AYANTUNJI

FORMER Speaker of the State of Osun House ofAssembly, Professor Mojeed Alabi on Mondaydescribed the state governor, Ogbeni Rauf

Aregbesola as the symbol of development, integrity andhonesty, who deserve the massive support of the people inthe state.

Professor Alabi statedthis as a Guest Lecturerduring the publicpresentation of OriadeLocal GovernmentCouncil Area Chapter ofDe Raufs, a volunteergroup promotingGovernor Aregbesola’sideology, held at thePalace Square, IpetuIjesa.

The former Speakersaid Aregbesola hasredefined governancefrom insolence todeliverance andcompetition of ideas thatcould develop the state.

He noted that “thosewho are yet to see whatthe governor is doing maybe suffering fromJaundice,” adding thatthe development ineducation, infrastructure,security and youth

employment isunprecedented.

Chairman of theoccasion and the firstCommissioner for Healthin the state, Dr OluwoleOnawumi described thegovernor as a genius inpractical economy who,according to him, isopenly committed to theprinciples of transparencyand honesty.

He urged De Raufs toemulate Aregbesola, bydirecting the tools of theirintelligence, probity,diligence and everyfinancial resource tosupport the governor inhis drive to banish hungerand poverty in the state.

Onawumi urged thegovernor to improve onthe governmentmonitoring machinery to

complete all roadprojects in the localgovernment council areaand hasten the creation ofthe proposed localgovernment in the councilarea.

Also speaking at theevent, the DirectorGeneral, De Raufs,Comrade Amitolu Shitustated that GovernorAregbesola is exceptionalin character and haspassion for thedevelopment of the state.

He said that all whatAregbesola is doing wasseen last in the era of

Chief Obafemi Awolowoand Chief Bola Ige,stressing that the zeal ofthe governor is motivatingthe group to double theirsupport for him.

Executive Secretary ofOriade LocalGovernment CouncilArea, in his remarksurged the people of thearea to unite and supportthe second term ambitionof the governor, whiledeclaring total support forDe Raufs.

In his address, thelawmaker representingOriade StateC o n s t i t u e n c y ,

Honourable MohammedIbrahim described thepublic presentation ashistoric; as it coincidedwith the same day thegovernor presented thelocal governmentcreation bill to the statelegislature.

He describedAregbesola as avisionary, bold anddisciplined leader, just ashe urged people toupdate their voters’registration to be able tovote massively for thegovernor in the 2014governorship election.

Highlights of the

occasion included thepresentation of a busdonated by the lawmakerand presentation ofcertificate to De Raufs inthe council area.

Dignitaries at the eventincluded traditional rulersin the council area; stateChairman, De RaufsComrade MusiliuOladimeji; Coordinator,De Raufs in the councilarea, Alhaja AliratOmobolanle; AbdulkabirAdebayo, and the APCWomen Leader in thecouncil area, Mrs JulianaAjewole, among others.

Security Tip In OsunThe government of the State of Osun has

procured special security numbers for use bypeople in distress.

The numbers are:08100000481, 08100000482, 08100000483,08100000484, 08100000485, 08100000486.

All the numbers became operational sinceAugust 17, 2012.

Please, note and call to assist Ogbeni RaufAregbesola, the elected governor of the StateOf Osun, in sustaining a peaceful and crime-freeenvironment.

- Management

Osun Govt Policy ‘llTransform Civil Service - HOS

By SHINA ABUBAKAR

THE recent recruitment of 337 fresh universitygraduates into the Civil Service of the State ofOsun has been described as a way of transforming

the Civil Service by Governor Rauf Aregbesola’sadministration.

This was disclosed bythe State Head ofService, Mr. OlayinkaOwoeye in his keynoteaddress at the openingceremony of a three-dayinduction workshop forthe new officers, held atthe Centre for BlackCulture and InternationalUnderstanding, Osogbo,the state capital.

The Head of Serviceobserved that the massiverecruitment that thegovernor embarkedupon has not onlyinjected fresh blood intothe system, but has alsohelped at tackling thegeneral menace of youthunemployment.

Owoeye appreciatedthe governor for hisbenevolence to the civilservice in the last threeyears in terms of bank-rolling direct trainingprogrammes, as well assponsoring variousd e v e l o p m e n t a lprofessional trainings forthe civil servants in thestate.

While reiterating thecurrent administration’scommitment to expandingthe frontiers ofknowledge throughconstant trainings, theHead of Service assertedthat there cannot be aneffective civil servicewhen training is relegatedto the background.

He then charged thenew officers to takemaximum advantage ofthe workshop in order tobe adequately equippedfor the challenges ahead.

In his welcomeaddress, the leader of thetraining team, ElderOlufemi Adelowokanappreciated the governorfor solving the age-longproblem of successionplan, which, according tohim, had always been asource of concern tosuccessive Heads ofService in the state.

Elder Adelowokancounselled the newofficers to learn theculture of hard work,dedication to duty, loyaltyto government andrendition of effectivesupport to theirsupervisors, so that theycan get to the top of theirchosen careers.

He further chargedthem to see self-development as anintegral part of theirduties, so that they do notlose trend with majordevelopments in theirchosen careers.

The workshopparticipants were madeup of 20 cadres ofofficers serving in 12agencies of governmentto which they had beenposted.

One of thebeneficiaries, MrAdeleke Kazeemdescribed the workshopas a positive gesture ofthe governor, aimed atensuring an effective civilservice, saying, theywould reciprocate thestate government gestureby applying all they havelearnt in their respectivefields.

Land Dispute: Court Frees Bricklayers Accused OfTrespass, Conspiracy

A State of Osun Magistrate Court, sittingin Ede has freed four bricklayers arrestedand arraigned at the court by the police over

a land dispute between Ede North Local GovernmentCouncil and Areja and Ayope families in Ede.

The bricklayers were: Wasiu Gbadebo (35), MutiuOladapo (35) HammedOjetade (27), andOmoniyi Adade (40).

Dismissing the threecount charges ofconspiracy, trespass andconduct likely to breachthe public peace onMonday, Magistrate F.IOlusade of the court,said the bricklayers werefound not guilty of thecharges.

Olusade dismissed thecase on the ground thatthere was no detailed

evidence from thecomplainants toprosecute the allegationsleveled against theaccused persons.

The magistrate statedthat there was need forjustice to prevail on thematter and that the truthneeded to be positionedaccordingly.

Olusade thereforestruck out the case,discharged and acquittedthe bricklayersaccordingly.

The accusedpersons werearrested on February6, 2013, whileerecting a structureon a part of thedisputed land locatedat Owode-Ede in EdeNorth LocalGovernment CouncilArea of the state andwere arraigned at thecourt on thefollowing day.

They were orderedto be remanded inprison custody by themagistrate, even asthey pleaded notguilty to the charges,but they werereleased on bail fewweeks later.

Counsel to theaccused persons, MrMathias Agboola hadduring the crosse x a m i n a t i o n ,prayed the court that

be struck out on theground that theplaintiff, Ede NorthLocal GovernmentCouncil Authority,had no fact tosubstantiate theallegations.

A g b o o l amaintained that theAyope and Arejafamilies were therightful owners ofthe disputed land onwhich thebricklayers werearrested.

Upholding thesubmission of thedefence counsel,the magistrate thendischarged andacquitted theaccused persons,following the failureof the plaintiff toprovide gazettes toprove to the courtits right onownership of theland.the matter should

5OSUN DEFENDER Thursday, December 19, 2013

O’RENEWAL Project: Long Overdue, Yet Deserving

KINDLY permitme a space inyour popular,

widely-read and highly-reputable newspaper –OSUN DEFENDER,to air my opinion on therunning and operationsof the Rauf Aregbesolaadministration in theState of Osun. I amsure that through yourmedium, the partiesconcerned would bereached with myadmonitions, pleas andcommendation.

Firstly, I intend to laudthe efforts of ourgovernor, OgbeniAregbesola, in thevarious ongoingprojects in the state;most especially, themassive road projects,the schoolsinfrastructural projects,the agriculturalrevolution, andparticularly, the UrbanRenewal projects. Atlast, we in the State of

Osun, can beat ourchests and feelconfident that we havesafe, beautiful andbefitting abode. Weowe our sincereappreciation toAregbesola for takingthis bold step.

The State of OsunUrban Renewal

Project, known for shortas O’RENEWAL is aproject aimed at givingfacelift to our towns andcities and bringingthem up to thestandards of today’surban centres. In thisregard, nine selectedmajor towns in the statechosen on the basis oftheir centrality in their

respective federalconstituencies aremapped out forrebuilding andupgrade in featuresand amenities.These cities includeOsogbo, the statecapital, Ikirun, Ila-Orangun, Ejigbo,Iwo, Ede, Ilesa, Ile-

Ife and Ikire. Moretowns shall becovered by the effortin further phases ofthe project in future.

With this step,development isdecentralized; as it isspread large andwide across thestate. The step takenby the government of

the state in holdingwide consultationswith communitymembers andstakeholders is well-conceived andh i g h l ycommendable.

While I cannot buttongue-lash thecritics of thisadministration; Ienjoin all and sundryto give their rallyingsupport to theadministration inorder to ensure thatsuccess is attainedin all its programmesand projects.

I bet that we shallall be better for it ina non-distant futuretime.

• W O L EODETUNDE, IsedoArea, Ila-Orangun,Ila LGA, State ofOsun.

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Opon Imo’s Global AcclaimThe World Summit Awards, a projectof the UN-backed International Centrefor New Media, Salzburg, Austria,which runs within the UN framework ofthe World Summit on the InformationSociety, picked Opon Imo as amongthe top four, from 461 entries all overthe world. Opon Imo also came outas No. 1 in its immediate category of“Innovation in e-learning and science.”

United NationsEducational, Scientific and CulturalOrganisation (UNESCO), another UNbody, has spoken of the device inglowing terms, adding that suchinnovations had opened an excitingvista for developing countries of Africaand Asia to leverage on technology toclose the educational gap betweenthem and the developed world; andalso empower their future citizens tobetter compete in an increasinglyglobalised world , now skewed againstthem. In an interestingparallel, which shows the Osuninnovation is

Continued from Pg -1. the future of mass and qualityeducation, Thailand too, a country inAsia famous for its rice paddies, haslaunched its own US $100, iPad-powered “One Tablet Per Child”programme, each tablet like OponImo containing e-books and alliededucational materials, to bedistributed to every primary school inthe country of 70 million people.

Unlike in Osun where thetablets are for senior high schools,Thailand’s tablets are for primaryschools, the biggest of such anexperiment in the world. Also, unlikeOsun where beneficiary pupils havethe privilege to take their Opon Imohome, the Thai kids can only makeuse of the tablets in school. Thatdifference alone underscores thecommitment of the Aregbesolaadministration to the education of itsyouths, despite being far poorer thanthe Thai government. It is athing of joy that the Osungovernment, as financially challengedas it is, has seen the value

of strategic investment in education. Itis even more heart-warming that inOpon Imo, it has hit on a technique ofultra-quality education, without rippingapart, thanks to technology, its ratherlean pocket.

That is therefore the OponImo spirit. The gadget might be awonder in itself because of its sheernovelty on these shores. But theplaudits will not endure until thebeneficiary pupils, from very early inthe day, hit on the restless but healthyintellectual curiosity that annexesscience and technological innovationsfor development.

Achieving success at thatlevel will the ultimate applause: forOsun, from its very own publicschools, would start producing futurescholars that can adapt science andtechnology to promote the localeconomy: in electric power,commerce, medicine, agriculture,engineering and other sectors.

On the government’s part, it

must ensure that the teachers undergotraining and retraining to master thisparadigm shift in pedagogy, and makethe most effective use of the new toolat their disposal.

The pupils too mustchallenge themselves to justify thegovernment’s investment in the OponImo project, despite fierce andcompeting demands by other pressingprogrammes and projects.

But the pupils will not bechallenged if the parents do not playtheir own parts. By investing in OponImo, the Aregbesola government hasrelieved parents of money they wouldotherwise have spent, buyingrecommended texts for the children.

It is therefore time to payback, and give their children thesupervision, support andencouragement. That way, the Osuncommunity will reap maximum benefitsfrom what many have called the OponImo educational revolution.

6 OSUN DEFENDER Thursday, December 19, 2013INTERVIEW

•BINUYO

Osun Assembly Is Efficient Than Ever - BinuyoThe lawmaker, representing Ife North

Constituency in the State of Osun Houseof Assembly, Honourable Ipoola Binuyo,who is the Chief Whip of the House saidthat the decorum in the presentAssembly is borne-out of the maturity ofthe current lawmakers.When our reporter, KAZEEM

MOHAMMED met him, he also spoke onthe impact of some of the policies of thestate government. Excerpts:-

OSDF: You had contestedfor

councillorship andnow

House of Assembly ofwhich capacity you are nowserving, why are youinterested in legislativeareas?

BINUYO: My interest inlegislation is prompted by thefact that representation has todo with your capability and Ibelieve as a lawyer andchartered arbitrator; that is thearea I can serve peoplewithout my name beingembellished. I am a principledperson, I don’t lie and being alegislator, I will be able toexpress my mind and tellpeople where I stand. As alegislator, I don’t controlallocation and I collect mysalary the way the salaries ofcivil servants are being paid.When you are the chairman ofa local government council, Idoubt if any council chairmanwould disclose the allocationhe collects per month,meaning that, when you are inthat position, you must beready to lie and there is noway you will lie and your namewill not be dented. I am notsaying executive is not good,but being the kind of personthat I am, I prefer to be alegislator.

Apart from that, when I wasin Obafemi AwolowoUniversity as anundergraduate, I was the classgovernor from 200 level tofinal year. At the Nigeria LawSchool, I was the OAUstudent coordinator for my setin 1999/2000. So, the interesthas been there for long.

OSDF: What is the secretbehind the decorum being enjoyedin the present Assembly, unlike inthe past?

BINUYO: The secret is that weare all matured people. In the lastAssembly, of which I was a member,we were 11 lawmakers from theopposition, while the PDP memberswere 15. Those of us in theopposition were more vocal, but themajority then would not want us tohave our way. In the presentAssembly, however, if there is anyissue, we would have resolved it atthe parliamentary before we go to thefloor, unlike in the last Assemblywhereby, we, from the oppositionwould have our meeting and thosefrom the PDP would have theirseparate meeting before going to thefloor. They would have agreed onwhat they wanted to impose on usand when they would raise it on thefloor, we would reject such thing andthat was why there was no decorum.

However, the fact that there is

decorum does not mean that we arerubber-stamps. If the truth need to betold, we would tell whoever that isconcerned. We don’t care whose oxis gored, whoever wants to bringback the pace at which developmentis going in Osun today would see theother side of the House, as we wouldtake all necessary action against suchperson. There must be justification forwhatever money that the governmentis spending and that is why we aremonitoring the activities of thegovernment closely.

OSDF: How will you considerthe efficiency of the last Assemblywith the one we have now,especially in the area oflegislation?

BINUYO: This Assembly is moreefficient. It is the bills that come to theHouse that will determine itsefficiency. The present governmentunder Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola ismore reasonable and determined towork and he has good programmes.It is those programmes that havebeen tailored towards the lawmakingprocess. For instance, there is noway you can see the kind ofdevelopment we are seeing in thestate today, if there is no law thatbacks it. Because of the quality ofservice Ogbeni has come to render,we have a lot of issues to deal with inthe House. We have a lot of bills toconsider and that has made thisAssembly to be busier.

OSDF: As a lawyer andlawmaker, how will you rate thepresent administration interms ofcompliance with the laws of thestate, especially, theAppropriation Law?

BINUYO: Ogbeni Aregbesola issomebody that respects the law somuch, maybe because he is a productof the law, who got to power throughcourt judgment. When you want totalk about budget compliance, thisadministration is far above the lastadministration. In the lastadministration, the budgetperformance was not up to 40 percent, but since inception, thisadministration performs above 100per cent. The present governmentperforms better that what is beingappropriated for, which is excellent,because all the programmesappropriated for are being executedto the letter. For instance, the lastadministration releases money foragriculture during raining season,when it would not be useful for thepurpose and they will end up usingthat money for their personalenrichment. The situation is totallydifferent in the present administration,because the right things are beingdone at the right time.

So, interms of compliance with thelaw of the land, this government isexcellent, unlike the lastadministration.

OSDF: Which programme ofthis government will you say

interests you most?BINUYO: There is no programme

of this government that does notinterest one. It only depends on howit touches one. Will you say thatemployment of 40,000 youths underOYES is not good, apart from themassive employment into the civilservice? I know how many peoplethat have been employed in myconstituency through me. Through mealone, not less than 40 people havebeen employed under thisadministration in my constituency, notto talk of those that didn’t go throughme. Do you also want to say that themassive road construction going on isnot important? They are not justconstructing roads; they areconstructing quality roads that canstand the test of time, unlike thesituation during the lastadministration, when theyconstructed sub-standard roads.See road networking going on inOsogbo, Ilesa, Iwo, Ejigbo, Ile-Ife and all the other towns in thestate. Will you say that the OponImo, Agba-Osun, O’Meal, and somany other developmentalprogrammes of this governmentdo not interest one? If I have myway, I would say that nobodyshould contest with OgbeniAregbesola for second term. Hehas done well and he should besupported.

OSDF: What about the claimsby the opposition party thatnothing reasonable has beenachieved by this government?

BINUYO: It is madness. Thedeaf can feel the impact of thegovernment by their sight. Doyou want to talk of the type of theschools he is building or themassive construction of roadsgoing on? There are manydevelopmental programmesgoing on everywhere. Infact,from Ipetumodu to Ode-Omu inmy constituency, work is goingon there. I believe that whoever isin his or her senses would knowthat Ogbeni is working. Ifanybody now says thatAregbesola is just grandstanding,that person should be taken outfor psychiatric treatment. In thehealth sector, agriculture,security, education, waterprovision, if we must be fair,Aregbesola has done well. Also

look at the massive work goingon at Ido-Osun Airport.

There is no aspect of his six-point integral action plan that hasnot been touched and if that is thecase, tell me what the opposition,be it PDP or whoever wants touse to campaign against Ogbeni.He does not waste money. I givekudos to Ogbeni and I doff my hatfor him.

OSDF: Which area ofdevelopment do you think thisgovernment should focus moreattention on?

BINUYO: I believe that thegovernor has not really exhaustedall his programmes in his Six-point Integral Action Plan. Westill need to do more on roadconstruction, health system,agriculture, railway, andeducation and even onemployment, because there is noarea that is not important.

OSDF: With the development,you have mentioned, what doyou see in the 2014governorship election in Osun?

BINUYO: If the INEC underthe leadership of ProfessorAttahiru Jega does notcompromise as they did inAnambra State and they allow thepeople of Osun to judge by theirvotes, Ogbeni will be surprisedthat the people love him and theywill show that by their votes.

Even when Aregbesola was stillstruggling to become thegovernor, people loved him andnow that he has shown the stuffhe is made of through hisdevelopmental programmes,people now love him the more.Any day, anytime, Aregbesola isin the minds of the people and forus to continue to enjoy him, wemust stand firmly and we mustnot allow anything to stop hisgood work.

OSDF: What is your messagefor the people of yourconstituency?

BINUYO: I want to thank thepeople of my constituency fortheir support so far, starting frompoliticians, voters and traditionalrulers and I promise that I willnever disappoint them in theassignment that they have givento me. I am here to representthem and I will continue torepresent them well.

7OSUN DEFENDER Thursday, December 19, 2013

8 OSUN DEFENDER Thursday, December 19, 2013PHOTOTALKState Of Osun Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, Presenting The Executive Bill OnLocal Governments Creation To The Speaker, State Of Osun House Of Assembly,Honourable Najeem Salaam, At The Chamber Of The House Last Monday.

Photo: GBENGA ADENIYI.

•Governor Aregbesola (right) presenting the bill to Honourable Salaam (left).

•(L-R) Secretary to the State Government of Osun, Alhaji Moshood Adeoti and thedeputy governor, State of Osun, Otunba (Mrs) Grace Titi Laoye-Tomori at the programme.

•(L-R) Special Adviser to State of Osun Governor on Youths, Sports and Special Needs, Comrade Biyi Odunlade; Special Adviser to the Governor on Local Government andChieftaincy Affairs, Honourable Bisi Odewumi and Special Adviser to the Governor on Home Affairs, Culture and Tourism, Mr Oladipo Soyode.

•(L-R) State of Osun Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Barrister WaleAfolabi and former Speaker, State of Osun House of Assembly, Professor MojeedAlabi.

9 OSUN DEFENDER Thursday, December 19, 2013

State Of Osun Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, Presenting The Executive Bill OnLocal Governments Creation To The Speaker, State Of Osun House Of Assembly,Honourable Najeem Salaam, At The Chamber Of The House Last Monday.

Photo: GBENGA ADENIYI.

•(L-R) Honourables Kamil Oyedele; Sijuade Adetilewa and Rasak Adeyemi during the presentation of the bill.

•(L-R) Special Adviser to State of Osun Governor on Agriculture and Food Security, Mr Festus Agunbiade; Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Security, Prince WaleAdedoyin and Special Adviser to the governor on Security, Barrister Adekunle Amos at the event.

•A cross section of members of the State House of Assembly Service Commission on the occasion.

PHOTOTALK

10 OSUN DEFENDER Thursday, December 19, 2013PHOTOTALK

•

•The governor, State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola (2nd left); Guest Lecturer and Interim National Publicity Secretary, All Progressives Congress (APC), Alhaji LaiMohammed (2nd right); Chairman of the occasion, Professor Wale Omole (left) and the Director-General, Awolowo Centre for Philosophy, Ideology and Good Governance,Professor Moses Makinde (right), during the public lecture organised by Awolowo Centre for Philosophy, Ideology and Good Governance to round-off activities markingGovernor Aregbesola’s third year in office.

Faces At The Maiden Edition Of Aregbesola Strategic Human Development PublicLecture, Held At Leisure Spring Hotel, Osogbo, State Of Osun, Recently.

Presentation Of An 18-Seater Bus To The All Progressives Congress (APC) In Ife-South Local Government Council Area, State Of Osun, Donated By Mr. Abdul-Lateef Adeosun, Recently in Ifetedo. Photo:JESUDOYIN ABRAHAM

•(L-R) The donor, Mr. Abdul-Lateef Adeosun; APC Women Leader, Ife-South Local Government Council Area, Alhaja Fausat Aderinlewo and an APC Leader in the councilarea, Elder Jonathan Ologbenla at the presentation of the bus.

11 OSUN DEFENDER Thursday, December 19, 2013FEATUREA lawyer Mr. Murtala Abdul-Rasheed writes on State of Osun Governor Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola’s achievements in the judicial section....

Aregbesola’s Giant Stride In Judicial SectorBY now, very few people, except of

course malicious politicalopponents, would refuse to

acknowledge that the incumbentgovernor of the State of Ogbeni RaufAregbesola is a man imbued with aclass when it comes to the issue ofleadership. However, I will leave hisaccomplishments for the state ingeneral terms for the chroniclers ofhistory, having decided to limit myselffor what he has impacted on theadministration of justice since heascended to office three years ago.

To impugn the insinuation that this isjust a routine hagiography of a popularpublic office holder, I would alsorefrain from making direct, positiveevaluative remarks but would leave itto the readers to draw their ownconclusions from the factual and well-documented performances of theOranmiyan.

My real intention for writing thispiece is to show how a ruler,convinced on his ideology andprincipled enough to make sacrificesfor their actualisation, can bring aboutfar-reaching changes.

I am a lawyer and being well-schooled in the philosophy that law isan instrument for positive socialchanges, I am always delightedwhenever I perceive that any person,body or institution is makingworthwhile contribution to help thecause of justice administration. Accordingly, I want to place it onrecord that I have been so excitedabout the remarkable landmarkachievements that Ogbeni Aregbesolahas made to overhaul justiceadministration in the state. Thegovernor had earlier promised that therevival of the justice sector would be asubset of his administration’s largerOsun Rebirth Project. He made thisvow in his campaign brochurepublished as the Green Book- Mypact with the people of Osun State,stating solemnly as follows: “Mygovernment will ensure speedy accessto justice by all individuals in OsunState, by reforming the courts systemand procedural rules, introducingalternative dispute resolution (ADR)mechanisms and free legal services.”

That vow now seems to have turnedprophetic! While space may notpermit wholesome recitation of thegovernor’s endeavours in this context,I would briefly mention those that Iregard most remarkable.

Now, let us move down to the factsand figures. Prior to his ascension tooffice, there were only 18 magistratesholding sway throughout the expansiveOsun state. Since the majority of thecases are invariably handled bymagistrates, Aregbesola felt theinadequacy this limited number ofjudicial officers foisted on the Judiciaryand its concomitant negative impact onefficient administration of justice, hetherefore, appointed additional 19magistrates to bring to 37 the numberof this cadre of judicial officers. Thegovernor also appointed 18 more statecounsel to boost the efficiency ofservice delivery at the state’s Ministryof Justice. He established the state’sCitizen’s Mediation Centre to settledisputes between citizens without theneed to resort to litigation and therebydecongest the courts. He did not stopthere; he appointed 309 presidentsand members of the customary courtsin the state to revive the court, whichhad become remarkably in-operationalbecause of lack of quorum and failingto meet the objectives for which it wasestablished.

Furthermore, to ensure that onlyquality persons are appointed into thejudicial service, the governor tinkeredwith the body charged with the issue ofappointment of judicial officers, theJudicial Service Commission. On June

9, last year, he appointed competent,fit and proper persons into OsunState Judicial Service Commission.

After the efforts to appoint a verybrilliant and erudite judge of OsunState extraction, Justice JosephOlubunmi Oyewole, proved abortive,Aregbesola adhered strictly to therecommendations of the NationalJudicial Council (NJC), whichculminated in the appointment of theunassuming and generally acceptablefirst female Chief Judge for the state.

To consolidate on all theseappointments, the governor also madea lot of investment on human capacitybuilding of judicial officers. Forexample, all legal practitioners in thegovernment of the state andmagistrates (which have becomeenlarged in size as noted above) weresponsored to this year’s AnnualGeneral Conference of the NigerianBar Association in Calabar. Theywere also sponsored to this year’sInternational Bar AssociationConference, which held in Boston,United States. All magistrates in thestate were also sponsored toMagistrates’ Association of NigeriaAnnual Conference, which held inLagos earlier this year, with the staterecording the largest number ofcontingent at the conference amongthe 36 states.

Besides, judges of superior courtare sponsored to overseas trainingperiodically to sharpen their skills andequip them with modern ideas onjustice delivery.

Aregbesola’s relationship with thebar has been excellent. All the fivebranches of the NBA in the state,namely Osogbo, Ikirun, Iwo, Ilesaand Ife, have, at one time or the other,become beneficiaries of the stategovernor’s largesse. For example, Atthe annual Sapara Williams Law weekof the NBA Ilesa which held onNovember 26. Ogbeni announced thedonation of three buses to the Ilesa,Ife and Iwo branches of NBA, whichdid not have buses of their own,unlike the remaining two otherbranches of Osogbo and Ikirin thathave.

Under the vibrant leadership ofOgbeni, the state’s legislature hasbeen proactive by passing many laws. These include Osun State AgencyFor the Control of HIV/AIDS (O-

SACA) Law, 2011; State of OsunSecurity Trust Fund Law, 2012; Stateof Osun Centre for Black Culture andInternational Understanding(Amendment) Law, 2012; State ofOsun Legitimacy (Repeal) Law,2012; State of Osun Anthem, Crestand Flag Law, 2012; State Of OsunDebt Management Office Law, 2012and The Osun Protection AgainstDomestic Violence Law, 2012.

In addition to these laws, there arealso many bills at different stages ofpassage at the state’s legislature; theseinclude justice-sector bills, such as theState of Osun Special Offences CourtBill, 2013.

In short, the legal/policy reforminitiatives of Aregbesola’sadministration cut across nine majorsectoral areas. These include (a)Public Finance Management;(b)Revenue Generation; (c)Educationand Human Capacity Development;(d) Urban Renewal and Environment;(e)Governance and Security; (f)Judicial Sector Reform; (g) Healthand Safety; (h) Agriculture and FoodSecurity and (i) Institutionalisation ofSocial Welfare Schemes.

An objective reader may ponder onwhy a governor who is not himself alawyer may embark on revolutionisingthe justice sector on such anexpansive and ambitious scale. But, Iam not surprised; having known thatthe governor is a beneficiary of acourageous and uncompromisingjudiciary, he will strive to fulfill on hispromise to make the society betterthat he met it.

Though he is an engineer,Aregbesola somehow understands thegreat importance a goodadministration of justice systemimplies for harmonious co-existence,progress and sustainabledevelopment. This is easily shown inthe way he handled the matter of hisgovernorship election debacle in hisstate.Having been cheatedof his mandate throughmassive election riggingin the last governorshipelection in the state, thegovernor urged all hisfollowers andsupporters not to takelaw into their handsthrough violence. He

•AREGBESOLA

assured them he wouldfollow the unpredictableand expensive procedureof litigation. What atorturous path thatproved to be!

For whopping three years, hefought a relentless legal battle,which would have exhausted thepatience of men of lesser steelyconstitution. To claim back hisstolen mandate, he called morethan 100 witnesses and tendered168 exhibits in his petitionbefore the Election PetitionsTribunal, to prove the allegationof mass rigging of the election.Eventually, the judgment cameon November 26, 2011, whenthe Court of Appeal declaredAregbesola the winner of theelection and ordered he shouldbe sworn-in the following day.

Furthermore, it is remarkablethat all the above quotedachievements of Ogbeni weredone for the Judiciary alonedespite the fact that Osun Stateis the smallest economy inNigeria. To make this objectiveand the larger dream realisable ofOsun Rebirth Project, thegovernor embarked on majordrive to increase phenomenallythe internally generated revenuesof the state. It is noteworthy thatas at 2009, Osun had a meagreGross Domestic Product (GDP)of N110 billion ($963 million)and internally generated revenue(IGR) of N320million monthly, but as of today, the state has anIGR of about N1.4 billion permonth, also, the state’s GDP isabout N738 billion.

Commenting on theperformance of Aregbesola afterthree years in office at the IlesaBar- organised Law week inhonour of ChristopherAlexander Sapara-Williams showcase session, the guest speakerand Commissioner for RegionalIntegration and Special Duties,Mr. Ajibola Bashiru, gave anoverview of the governor’sjustice sector initiatives asfollows: “Aregbesola has led anadministration to modernisegovernance; institutionalise goodgovernance practices; facilitateand support investment; improvesecurity and social welfare;promote public good and realisethe Six-point Integral ActionPlan of the Administration.

“Governmental institutions andpolicies become moremeaningful, achievable andsustainable when they areentrenched in the legalframework of society. Theimmense development beingwitnessed in various facets oflife in the State of Osun isfunctions of not only purposefulleadership, but clear re-engineering of different aspectsof the society including financial,legal, judicial and socialsectors.”

In conclusion, I would like tostate that the governor haserected a great foundation fordynamic and efficient justiceadministration which is solidenough to carry the weight ofsubsequent superstructure oflegal reforms. This exemplarylegacy would surely give him aplace in history.

•Abdul-Rasheed is a formerNational Publicity Secretary,Nigerian Bar Association. -Culled from THE NATION

12OSUN DEFENDER Thursday, December 19, 2013

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Superior communication and presentation skills.Excellent PC skills, including MS Office, Internet e.t.c.Job Title: Logistics OfficerLocation: LagosDescription To co-ordinate all pre-importation, documentation, clearing of products/goods.Qualifications and SkillsBachelor’s Degree (minimum of 2.2)/ HND (minimum of lower credit) in purchasing & supply, BusinessAdministration, Transportation or related field.A minimum of 4 years work experience in logistics or cargo transportation job.Experience/knowledge of clearing processes and Goods in transit management from the Port would be addedadvantageJob Title: Procurement OfficerLocation: LagosDescription To facilitate the process of purchase and procurement of all company goods and services in line with company’spolicy, at best market price and equality.Qualifications and SkillsBachelor’s Degree (minimum of 2.2)/ HND (minimum of lower credit) in purchasing & supply, BusinessAdministration, Transportation or related field.A minimum of 4 years work experience procurement of goods and services.Experience/knowledge of related product/materials/services peculiar to the Oil & Gas/bending/addictive businessand market location and best prices will be an advantages professional certificate in purchase & supply would beadded advantages.Job Title: Help Desk OfficerLocation: LagosDescription To render technical support for computer users by resolving, authorizing and managing users’ data information.Qualifications and SkillsBachelor’s Degree (minimum of 2.2)/ HND (minimum of lower credit) in Computer science/Engineering or relatedfieldA minimum of 3 years working experience in related field.Certificate in N+ and A+ will be advantage.Job Title: Personnel OfficerLocation: LagosDescription To co-ordinate and enforce policy compliance on staff documentation credential verification.Referee and Guarantor confirmation and organize training and seminars for staff career development.Learning and development: undertake training needs assessment, pre and post training evaluation, trainingimplementation and development programme execution/assessment.Qualifications and SkillsBachelor’s Degree (minimum of 2.2)/ HND (minimum of lower credit) in Sociology, psychology, Personnel Mgt,Social Science, Humanities or related field.A minimum of 3 years working experience in Human Resources/Personnel Mgt, Experience in Oil & Gas industrywill be added advantage.Hands on experience in learning and Development will enhance suitability of applicant.A member of the chartered institute of Personnel Mgt of Nigeria will be an advantage.An ability to interact successfully with individuals from a wide range of Professional and non-Professionalbackground.Job Title: Finance OfficerLocation: LagosDescriptionTo Planning/budgeting and controlling/monitoring, financially and general Resources Management: People,Monitoring, evaluation & reporting, carrying out Financial modeling & analysis, Mgt reporting, performanceevaluation & statutory reporting.Qualifications and SkillsBachelor’s Degree (minimum of 2.2)/ HND (minimum of lower credit) in finance/Accounting or any numerate field orACA/ACCA/CPA or other equivalent qualificationsA minimum of 4 years relevant work experience in a well developed and structured environment, leadership and MgtSkills and exposure to various aspects of finance and accounting.A broad knowledge and understanding of financial and Mgt accounting principles with proven high levelanalytical and interpretive abilities.Job Title: Operation ManagerLocation: Ogun - MoweDescriptionTo oversee the production process of the plant, coordinate and supervise all operation activities throughproduction.Quality Control and Packaging of final productsQualifications and SkillsBachelor’s Degree (Minimum of 2.2)/ HND (Minimum of lower Credit) in any field of Engineering, Chemistry,Industry Chemistry or related field requiredA minimum of 8 years production experience, especially in the Lubricant Plant/Oil & Gas Industry, A minimum of 4years progressive managerial experience in related field.How to ApplyInterested and qualified candidates should send soft copies of their application and Resumeto: hr.admin@chemtechgroupng.com

Or Submit hard copies to:

Chemtech Group of Companies;239, Ago Palace Way,Okota, Isolo,Lagos.

Application Deadline 17th January, 2014——————————————————

13 OSUN DEFENDER Thursday, December 19, 2013FEATURE

Aregbesola’s Discipline Committee In The State Of Osun:Timely Intervention At Humanising Public Education

Worse than issues bordering on poor quality service delivery; hinged on poor funding, poor provisionof infrastructure / superstructure and acute shortage of teaching personnel; other factors militated againstthe effective operation of public educational facilities in the State of Osun in years prior to the coming onboard of the incumbent administration. It was timely identification of these other debilitating factors andgetting the spate of attendant rot arrested head-on that prompted the Government Unusual to constitutea discipline committee to look into the crux of the matter and make recommendations as appropriate.NIYI OLASINDE writes on the Importance of the committee’s exertions and expectations from them.

THE fortunes of publiceducational institutions inNigeria have dwindled in recent

years; just as their privatecounterparts are finding a free dayin gaining prominence with apparentbid to outweigh, supplant and replacethem in prominence, relevance andimpact. This sad trend presents asharp deviation from the situation,which had long been entrenched inour culture and polity; where the roleof public educational institutions inquality service delivery, translatinginto production of high qualitymanpower output was overwhelmingand preponderant. In knownsituations in the past, some sub-sections of the country had comeunder series of administrations andregimes, both civil and military, underwhich education as an essential socialservice was provided free.

In the present-day South-Westgeopolitical zone of the country, theexperience in the early 1950s underthe rule of the defunct Action Group(AG), led by the late sage, ChiefObafemi Awolowo was that freequalitative and functional educationwas provided in order to facilitaterapid provision of the much-neededhuman capital, preparatory for anindependence nation. It was highlyeffective and the harvest was prolific.

Some decades later, preciselyduring the Second Republic,some states of the federation,which came under the rule of therule of Awolowo’s defunct UnityParty of Nigeria (UPN) alsoenjoyed this vital social serviceand others in the category ofhuman services free of charge. Allalong, there had been variationsof this free provision ofeducational services either as anationwide or sectionalphenomenon. Even under somemilitary regimes, some variationsof free, compulsory educationwere provided, with governmentfooting the bills. A case in handwas the Universal PrimaryEducation (UPE) programmeintroduces nationwide by themilitary administration of GeneralOlusegun Obasanjo (rtd.) in thelate 1970s.

During the glorious past timesunder review, all was well with oureducation system, to the extentthat we boldly assert that all theeminent sons and daughters whofunctioned hitherto as movers andshakers of the nation in varioussectors were products of the goodgestures packages into the free,qualitative and functionaleducational arrangements ofthose days.

Earliest harbingers of troublestarted to roar their ugly heads inthe earlier-mentioned late 1970s;when the military regime ofOlusegun Obasanjo, upon thepromptings of the time responded

swiftly by constituting disciplinecorps in schools. Under thatarrangement, military personnel,known in derogatory language as“zombie” were drafted mainly to ourpublic secondary schools to“enforce discipline”. Thereafter,military regimes in the country hadtaken their turns to institute variousmeasures, aimed majorly atstemming the tide of indiscipline,corruption and decadence, anobvious reflection of a depravedsociety – all to little or no avail.Examples are the War AgainstIndiscipline (WAI) of the mid-1980sand the War Against Indiscipline andCorruption (WAIC) of 1990s (underthe military regimes of GeneralMohammadu Buhari rtd; and lateGeneral Sani Abacha respectively).

The trend traced above had sodegenerated over the years thatdiscipline had nearly becomecompletely elusive and non-extant inour public schools. The mostunfortunate trend is the one whichbecame prevalent upon the claimedaligning of parts of the nation withthe mainstream politics at the centre,under the rule of the PeoplesDemocratic Party (PDP). The end-result has spelt catastrophe forvirtually all sectors of life in ournation; since the party and itsinstrumentality of governance wasall-out and hell-bent to sustainthrough fraud the vast “empire”which ir fraudulently acquired. Mostsadly, this sad trend took its ugly tollon our educational sector.

In the State of Osun, events duringthe fiery hostage of the immediatepast administration fared the statein such horrible stead that ourschools were debased, as theycondescended into training groundsfor political thugs, hoodlums andsocial miscreants. This was inobvious response to the kind ofoppressive leadership unleashed onthe state and its people by thePeoples Democratic Party (PDP).The rest is story! We are all awareof the ugly events of the time.Disheartening still was the spuriousefforts by the foisted administration;itself the grand author of deceit andconfusion; instituting a disciplinecorps!

Upon the assumption of office ofthe incumbent administration in thestate, the terrain in our publiceducational institutions waseverything far from desirable. As amatter of fact, all indications onground as pertains to them wererepelling factors for parents /guardians to have their wardsentrusted into these schools.

In the space of three years, theAregbesola administration hasturned the fortunes of publiceducation around to the chagrin andutter confound of distracters. Inbrazen and shameless reaction tothe rapid transformation witnessed;especially to futilize it, so that theadministration would not beoutstripping theirs in performance;the powers-that-be of yesteryearshave enlisted various untoward

measures and ploys, which includeco-opting of pupils / students ofpublic schools to cause crises.These orchestrated violence andcrises were contrived to capsize theship of progress roving the state’sschool system.

Instances of these crises includethose trailing various innovativepolicies and programmes rolled outso far by the Rauf Aregbesolaadministration. In all of it, thegovernment of the day has provenitself competent and equal to the taskby employing wide consultation ofstakeholders and embarking onmassive enlightenment programme.These prompt and proactivemeasures have gone far to quell theembers of disharmony fanned by thewicked enemies of the state and itsgood people.

The last and most recent joker isthe introduction of a committee ofexperts, commissioned to carry outdeep-rooted enquiry into the causes,depth and intensity of indiscipline,decadence and disorderly conductamong our school age children soas to fashion out modalities forcombating the spate. This measurewill go a long way not only inrestoring sanity to the sub-sector; butalso in reviving its long-lost glory.The time-tested efforts of thecommittee, chaired by Dr. IsiakaOwoade, it is hoped, shall soonmanifest into a potent tool in the handof our government and policymakers in moving our state forward.Really, Osun is moving.

•The governor, State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola (in Middle School uniform with fez cap), in the midst of a cross section ofpupils, during the official commissioning of Salvation Army Middle School, Alekuwodo, Osogbo and flag-off of the new schoolsystem (Re-classification) in the State of Osun, recently.

14 OSUN DEFENDER Thursday, December 19, 2013

A Memorable Quote From A PDPAspirant In The State Of Osun

“Recently, Chief Bola Igecame on radio here (Osogbothe state capital), to insult meand my family. THAT IS THELAST TIME HE WOULD IN-

SULT ME. He wasbeaten yesterday. The peopleof Ile-Ife beat him up and hewas crying like a baby, asthey removed his cap and

glasses. If it had been at a po-litical gathering, he will be

dead by now..... In fact, whatthe people wanted to do was

more than removing hisglasses and cap....” -IYIOLA

OMISORE. •Culled from Vanguard Newspaper.

IN RETROSPECT

15 OSUN DEFENDER Thursday, December 19, 2013 FEATURE

Giant Strides Continue In OsunLAST week, the media

reported the BritishDeputy High

Commissioner as saying that theState of Osun is a viabledestination for any investor, whois looking for a safe place to puthis money in Nigeria because,according to him, “the State ispeaceful”.

The High Commissioner didnot stop at that; he said, “withinthree years of his administration,what the government of OgbeniAregbesola has done in termsof infrastructural developmentand how the governor has beenattracting businesses andindustries is IMPRESSIVE,PRAISEWORTHY ANDBOASTFUL for FUTURE of thestate”, (emphasis mine).

For a country nowaccustomed to negative storiesfrom mischievous quarters,painting the State of Osun in themost unfavourable light, thisstatement from Mr. Peter Carter,Britain’s Deputy HighCommissioner in Nigeria shouldput the lie to the misinformationand disinformation fed to andpromoted by a section of themedia.

The reader will recall thatless than a month ago,some scary noises cameout of a religiousorganisation in the State ofOsun, warning of chaos ifthe governor’s educationreform agenda was notimmediately scrapped, anda return to status quoeffected. However, whatscares these religiouspeople in the educationpolicies of Ogbeni RaufAregbesola has beenapplauded by the BritishDeputy High Commissioner,who has this to say aboutstandardization of educationin Osun;

“The British Council,because of the GIANTSTRIDES made by theadministration in the area ofeducation, has trained over200 teachers in teachingEnglish language and thecouncil is also keen tocontinue the work it hasalready started in trainingmore teachers”.

The truth could not bemore clearly stated. What’sgoing on in the State ofOsun in virtually alldepartments is really andtruly “giant strides” indevelopment. However, avocal minority enamoured of

and sated by themiserableness of conditionsthat Ogbeni RaufAregbesola met, are gettingserious and sizeable mediaattention, as they hystericallydemand a return to the statusquo created by their PeopleDemocratic Party (PDP)friends.

These people live in thepast and they havepractically lost theirlegitimacy as “promoters ofthe good” for at each stageof the Aregbesola revolutionevery step taken by thegovernor was viciouslycondemned, his personmaligned and the Stateplaced in the dumps by theopposition party and theirsurrogate. In fact, manyrespectable citizens whowere misled to buy into thefalse stories coming out ofOsun got a sense that aradical Islamists hademerged in Osogbo whomust be checkmated.

That was some two yearsago. We had worked ashard as we could to changethe pathetic image whichthe PDP and their friendstried disingenuously to

create of the State of Osun.As you read this, thatstrainous effort is not over,because there are peoplein high and low places whohave a preference for liesand continue to buy into thefalasies that PDP and theirsurrogate tell about Osun.They keep the negativestories alive and they swearby their goddess of lies thatAregbesola is destroyingOsun.

Some people, awfullylimited in their perceptiveability, call that politics;blind, deaf andunenlightened politicsperhaps. When you sit backin the fraudulently acquiredopulence of your wealth totell senseless lies aboutyour own state, or you junketmedia houses with utterlyfalse stories about how thestate is being run, all for thepurpose of tarnishing theimage of the government inpower, in the long run youqualify to be described as aterrorist. You are in thebusiness of mentallyterrorizing your community.That is not politics; it iscrime!! But the good thing isthat these lies and thosewho take pleasure in

propagating them have notsucceeded even in foolingordinary people in the statewho see, hear, feel anddelight in the incredible levelof progress that the AllProgressives Congress(APC) government led byOgbeni Rauf Aragbesola,continues to make in Osun.

Every person, who deniesthe progress going on in theState of Osun is a criminal.But people who know whatis happening, whose sourceof information is not thepolitical illiteratesassembled in the oppositionparty, will tell you that thestate is making giant strides.And no less a personalitythan the British Deputy HighCommissioner has said justthat. Let the enemies ofprogress bow their heads inshame. They have eyes tosee what is going on in theircountry, but they deny whatthey see. However, theirdenial has changed nothingand will stop nothing.

Giant strides in Osuncontinue. The world isacknowledging it. Thepeople are delighting in it.The streets of our cities tellthe story. Business isbubbling. The pace ofcommercial activities in thelast three years has morethan doubled. There is nosingle family in Osun todaythat is not positively affectedby the giant strides which theOgbeni Rauf Aregbesola ledgovernment is taking. Thescare-mongering of theopposition, the lies of theirsurrogate, and the evilmachination of theirsupporters from distantlands cannot and will not beallowed to stop these giantstrides.

Finally, a word of warningand advice: Those whoseek to undo these giantstrides which the people ofOsun cherish should beprepared to face the wrathof the people. In Yorubaland,they should understand whatthat means. They shouldthink again in their own bestinterest.

•Barrister Oyatomi isthe Director of Publicity,Research andS t r a t e g y , A l lProgressives Congress(APC), State of Osun.

By KUNLE OYATOMI

TTHURSDAY 19TH DECEMBER, 2013

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

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

By ADE OLUGBOTEMI

�HE clamour for anew revenue-sharing formula has

gained currency morethan any topical issue thatis attracting seriousattention in our publicdiscourse. Actually,nobody would have takenagitators serious because weare used to incessantcondemnation of nearly all movesby constituted authorities, be itfederal, the state or the localgovernment. We havediscovered however that not allagitations are baseless after all.It therefore becomes inevitableto x-ray some concerns that havebeen expressed in the recentpast; so as to draw conclusionon the rationale behind thoseovert expressions

Presently, the FederalGovernment is controlling the lionshare of the revenue availableto take care of major businessesof government. Apart from this,the power to withhold whataccrue to other tiers ofgovernment is exclusively vestedin the government at the centre,in which case, governmentactivities other than those directlyconnected to the FederalGovernment can be made to gomoribund due to the paucity offund. People at the grassrootsare then made to suffer withoutmuch negative impact on thegovernment at the centre.

A quick reminder comes tomind from the rampancy ofproject abandonment that usuallycharacterises most ministriesand the agency of governmentat the federal level. An attempt totour major road projects beinghandled by various contractorswill only leave the monitors inserious despondency andbewilderment, because mostcontractors that register with theFederal Government will alwaysrely on party affiliation tocontemplate demobilizing fromsite because of the parody ofnational cake-sharing thatprompts them to collect hugesums of money for no workdone.

Anti-graft agencies areestablished and funded under thetutelage of the party at thecentre; although they areclaimed to come into existenceunder various enabling laws.That is why defaulters don’t feelperturbed whenever operativesof those agencies threaten tobring fraudsters to book.Prosecutions may take-off, butthey are never ended becauseof the permissive laxities that are

intentionally entrenched in theprocess of litigation. The accusedare either discharged afteracquittal for lack of substantialevidence, or cases areadjourned indefinitely untilpeople forget about them.

The people that are directlyaffected by successivedereliction appear powerless topursue their grievances to logicalconclusion, because of thedistances away from theirabodes. For a complainant toleave Ipoda Osun withoutassistance from anybody, andtravel to Abuja, because certaincontractors have chosen toabandon their road projects afterbeing mobilized substantially,such a person must be trulypatriotic. After all the rigours, theperson will not be able toinfluence anything and this willconstitute a discouragement forfuture attempts to seek redresson similar perniciousness.

Similar occurrences of projectabandonment can also be seenin federating units, but it is onlythose states that share partyaffiliations with the governmentat the centre that is also corruptthat get off the hooks of the anti-graft bodies. Human rightslawyers that feel concerned

about the ugly practice beingperpetrated often get frustratedalong the line because thepowers that be will always be outto circumvent unbiasedadministration of justice.

There are few instances ofprojects completion. Even at that,the jobs are shabbily done andquality control mechanism isaffected by centrifugal forcesthat remove the utility base ofsuch projects. No sooner aresuch projects completed andcommissioned than they beginto show signs of collapse. Vitalprojects will better be managedand supervised, if the partiesconcerned are involved withinreasonable proximity. Mostprojects that have their blessingsfrom the Federal Government arenot closely monitored and theirlongevities are equally badlyaffected.

Large concentration of fundsat the centre has made room forwanton profligacy that erodesvalue for money and derivativeutility. Most ministries,departments and agencies haveduplicated functions. Themultiplicity of functions has oftenbred inefficiency and resultantwastages of public funds.Directorates in these ministries,departments and agencies

constitute draining pipesin our economy, and thisis so because there is toomuch concentration ofpolicy formulation at thecentre. The resultant

laxities engender seriousproblems that do not allow forclear cut policy implementation.

All these problems havesurfaced severally in most criticalsectors of our economy becausefew people are managing vastresources that could have turnedout to be more beneficial to themasses that are largely situatedand found in the rural areas. Nowonder, we now resort to amonolithic mode of productionbecause agriculture that used toform the mainstay of oureconomy has been abandonedand is now at the mercy ofpeasant farmers that largelycultivate for subsistence anddemonetized guild.

Some states that have nodirect affiliation with the FederalGovernment, simply becausethey do not belong to the samepolitical party, now maximizetheir utility value, thereby holdingtheir destinies in their own handsand making remarkable impactson the lives of ordinary Nigerianswithin their jurisdiction. Healthyrivalry among these states hasmade it possible for them toembark on projects that havedirect positive bearing on thepeople that are mainly targetedas beneficiaries. If more fundsare made available to these fewstates that have chosen to tapfrom rare ingenuities to carve aniche capable of advancing thecause of citizenry, they willsurely become challengers tothose hiding under theretrogressive canopy of federalmight to constitute economiccatastrophe.

One gets niggled out by themanner in which wastages arecondoned at the centre, wherethe largest percentage of thenatural resources is retained, butwith little being done to evolvehuman capacity development. Itis in this light that I call for thescrapping of many of themalfunctioning and dysfunctionalministries, departments andagencies. With the earlierclamour for more concession offunds to the states and localgovernment acceded to, life willsurely become more bearable forordinary Nigerians.

Imperatives OfDevolution Of Power

“Presently, the Federal Government is controlling the lion

share of the revenue available to take care of major businesses

of government. Apart from this, the power to withhold what

accrue to other tiers of government is exclusively vested in

the government at the centre, in which case, government

activities other than those directly connected to the Federal

Government can be made to go moribund due to the paucity

of fund. People at the grassroots are then made to suffer

without much negative impact on the government at the

centre.”