VOL. 9. NO.070 NNNNN 505 05 05 05 0THURSDAY, JUNE 12, 2014

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Front Page Comment Who KilledChief Bola Ige,former Attorney-

General andMinister of

Justice? IGE

•The governor, State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola (arrowed on top of a bus), acknowledging cheers from the mammoth crowd, during his re-election mega rally in Ila/Ifedayo/Boluwaduro Federal Constituency at Ila Township Stadium, Ila-Orangun on Tuesday.

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•3 PDP Thugs Arrested With Weapons At Venue

Tumultuous Crowd AtIla APC Mega Rally

2014 Aregbesola’s Re-election Bid:

Ahead August 9, Aregbesola Picks Laoye-Tomori As Running Mate

NAPTIP Centre: A com-mendable approval

The recent ap-proval given by theever forward lookingGovernor of the stateof Osun, Ogbeni RaufAregbesola for theestablishment of Na-tional Agency for theprohibition of Trafficin Persons (NAPTIP)in the state is quitepatriotic and deservescommendation.

The centre, whichMr. Governor prefersto be established inEjigbo town due to thehistory of constant mi-gration of the

people of the an-cient town toneighbouring coun-tries, will make theagency to live up to itsresponsibilities of

checking incidentsof non-profitablemigration of peoplefrom the state tonearby countries insearch of greenerpastures.

It needs be men-tioned that one ofthe challenges facingour society andwhich

Continue on pg5

2 OSUN DEFENDER Thursday, June 12, 2014News

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•State of Osun All Progressives Congress (APC) Interim Chairman, Elder Lowo Adebiyi (with mic), addressing an ecstatic crowd during the 2014governorship mega rally in Ila-Orangun on Tuesday.

By KEHINDE AYANTUNJI

2014 Aregbesola’s Re-election Bid: Tumultuous Crowd At Ila APC Mega Rally•3 PDP Thugs Arrested With Weapons At Venue

THE ancient town of Ila-Orangun, on Tuesday,witnessed unprecedented crowd in any electoralcontest as the campaign train of the Governor Rauf

Aregbesola moved to Ila/Ifedayo/Boluwaduro FederalConstituency.

The rally was adjudged tohave recorded highest crowedin the political history of Ila-Orangun and its environs.

Interim National Chairmanof All Progressive Congress(APC), Chief Bisi Akande andChairman, AregbesolaCampaign Committee, SenatorOlusola Adeyeye, attested tothe history-breaking crowd.

Akande said: “I was born inthis community and I have beenliving here, I have neverwitnessed such crowd in thepolitical history of Ila. This isreally an unusual man, unusualgovernment, and genuinely, theman of the people”

Adeyeye said he wasamazed with the crowd. “Ialmost burst into tears of joy. Iwas discussing with thegovernor just now that thiscrowd was beyond humanpower. It is really God’sintervention and signal of clearwinning in the August 9election.”

An octogenarian, PaAyorinde Odusina, who is now86 years old, said he saw asimilar crowd during Chief BolaIge’s era in 1979, where peopleabandoned their means oflivelihood and patiently waitedfor the governor.

As early as 9.00am, beforethe arrival of the governor,those who were heading tofarm returned home to hearfrom the governor, while thetraders wore different brandedcloths of Aregbesola andholding brooms, the symbol ofthe party.

Various groups andsupporters of Aregbesolawelcomed the governor at thePalace of Orangun of Ila, ObaAbdul-Wahaab OyedotunBibire, to pay homage to thefirst class monarch alongsideother traditional rulers fromOra, Oke-Ila, Otan, Iresi,Igbajo, Oke-Irun, Ajaba amongothers.

The Orangun of Ila, in hispalace, commended thegovernor for the massivetransformation of the state,which, according to him, isunprecedented in the State ofOsun.

Oba Oyedotun said: “Thetraditional rulers in the federalconstituency are comfortablewith the performance of thegovernor. The state iswitnessing unprecedentedinfrastructural development.Osogbo is now a city of pride.Our hospitals have improvedin service delivery. We are goingto support the governor for hissecond term. This progressmust continue.

“Some years back, they werecomplaining that Ikirun to Ilaroad was not possible toreconstruct, but nowAregbesola has constructed theroad. His administration is thegovernment of the people andwe are duty-bound to supporthim”.

The crowd, after the royalhomage, followed the governorto Ila City Stadium, which wasalready filled to capacity. Hewas accompanied by the FirstLady, Alhaja SherifatAregbesola, the DeputyGovernor, Otunba (Mrs)Grace Laoye-Tomori and othermembers of the State ExecutiveCouncil.

Speaking at the rally,Aregbesola doused tension onthe incident that happened inEkiti, where police killed a

supporter of GovernorKayode Fayemi, saying it wasa ploy to intimidate thesupporters of APC andencouraged them to votemassively for APC andprotect their votes.

He promised the people ofthe federal constituency to domore and ensure equal

distribution of social services inthe state.

Aregbesola assured thepeople that his administrationwill assist in power supplythrough ongoing powerdistribution project fromOsogbo to Ikirun and Ila.

According to him, hisadministration is building threemodel schools in Ila and has sofar, distributed over 2,000Tablets of Knowledge, while14,249 children are benefitingfrom school feeding programme.

The governor added that hisadministration has built two

modern health centres inAyetoro, Igbajo and Oke-Ola,Ila-Orangun.

“The previousadministration neverremembered aged people butthank God, in this federalconstituency alone, we havespent N18 million on theirmonthly welfare stipend,”Aregbesola said.

He urged the people not toexercise any fear and enjoinedthem to vote for him in August9 governorship election.

Eagle-eyed members of theAPC and security operativesarrested three political

hoodlums suspected to be PDPmembers at the Ila APCcampaign venue.

They were arrested withguns and machets at theentrance of Ila City Stadiumwhile the campaign was stillon.

The thugs, whose nameswere not known as at the timeof filing this report, reportedlycame into the venue in a mini-bus, popularly called Koropewith ammunitions.

It was in the course ofdistributing the offensiveweapons that they were sightedby vigilant members of APC,

Osun 2014: Osun Electorate Comment On Aregbesola’s Programmes

THIS is the third week running and the second termre-election campaign train of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesolais growing bigger by the day from the kick-off, which

took off on Tuesday 27th May, 2014 at the GovernmentTechnical College, Ilode, Ile-Ife.

No doubt, the open fieldground opposite the house ofChief Abdulkareem AdebisiAkande, the Interim NationalChairman of the AllProgressive Congress (APC)in Ila-Orangun was full tocapacity and bubbling for theturn of Ila-Ifedayo-Boluwaduro FederalConstituency arm of the megarally.

As usual, the venue for themega-rally was full to the brim,as party faithful of the APC,supporters of Ogbeni RaufAregbesola and peace-lovingcitizens of the State of Osuncame out in their thousands tosee and hear their symbolspeak to them.

In the same vein, inanticipation of the next fouryears of Ogbeni RaufAregbesola and what hadhappened in the last three anda half years, party stalwartsin Ila, Ifedayo and Boluwadurolocal governments and alsosupporters bared their minds.

Kalejaye Akande from Ila-Orangun was full ofappreciation for thegovernment of Ogbeni RaufAregbesola.

Pa Akande, who is in hisearly 70’s, stated that he wassatisfied with theadministration on twogrounds. The first being the‘Agba Osun’ scheme and therenovation of the StateHospital, Ila-Orangun.

Akande stated that it wasonly a man, who had the love

of the people at heart and whoalso cared for them that wouldthink of taking care of the aged.

He mentioned that theNigerian society was one thatdoes not take care of its old onesand for somebody somewhereto think to the extent ofinitiating a state welfareprogramme to take care of theaged, it was a novelachievement.

Also, in the area of healthmanagement, he gave thegovernor another thumb-up forembarking on the renovation ofthe State Hospital, Ila-Orangun,which had made it possible forpeople within its catchment areato benefit from its services.

Mrs. Florence Aina was ofthe opinion that Ogbeni RaufAregbesola had worked in thelast three and half years and hedidn’t really need muchintroduction because his workhad already done that for him.

She maintained that all thegood government policies andprogrammes were tailor-made tomeet the needs of the people ofthe state and these had attractedpeople from within and outsidethe state to key into the goodthings happening in the state.

She attributed all the negativeevents occurring in some partsof the state now to themachinations of elements in thecamp of the opposition andadded that they were onlygrandstanding because God hadordained Abdulrauf Aregbesolaas governor for a second term.

Kehinde Adigboluja noted

that the APC campaign strategywas unparalleled in that theydivided the state into its ninefederal constituencies andthereby aiming to get at everynook and cranny of the state.

“It would make the megacampaign rally to get at what itwas aimed at and achievevictory for the governor at thepolls, come August 9th.”

He stated that the hand ofOgbeni’s administration wasfelt everywhere in the state anda continuity for the next fouryears would make the state toprogress and appreciate.

Professor Olakunle LawalOloki stated that he wanted toidentify with theadministration of Ogbeni RaufAregbesola because his featshad been recognised worldwideeven from his base in theUnited States of America.

“In terms of moderninfrastructural development,refurbishing and revamping ofthe educational sector throughO’School, giving people a newlease of life, empowerment ofyouths through OYES,transforming and turningaround the state economicallyand increasing the purchasingpower of people in the state ismonumental and he needs oursupport to complete what hehad begun,” he added.

He explained that it wasbecause of these records thathe had decided to relocate tothe State of Osun in order forhim to contribute his ownquota to meaningfuldevelopment in the state.

While stressing that onegood turn deserves another, theacademic called on all eligiblevoters in the state to come outand vote enmasse for OgbeniRauf Aregbesola on Saturday,

August 9th, 2014.He cautioned the people to

be wary of politicians, whowere out to buy voters’ cardsfrom them and selling cheapkerosene, advising them thatthe cards was their right togood government which shouldbe guarded jealously.

He stressed that there wasno need for Ogbeni Aregbesolato blow his own trumpetbecause the works were thereto boast for him and they

would stand as a testament forhim in posterity.

All respondents howeverdeclared their support for thegovernor and wished him wellin his bid to recapture Bola IgeHouse after August, 2014.

One of the highlight of themega rally in Ila-Orangun wasthe hip-hop performance byOlatunji Kazeem, a student ofAtaoja School of Science,Osogbo.

who quickly alerted thesecurity operatives.

It was gathered that the thugswere four in number, but oneof them was able to escape andmixed up with the crowd.

The thugs weresubsequently whisked awayby the security operatives onground.

Il-Orangun is the hometownof the interim APC NationalChairman, Chief Bisi Akande.

It would be recalled that thestate chapter of APC had earlierraised series of alarms on theplots of the PDP to causeviolence in the state and killpeople in the name of politicalambition.

By FRANCIS EZEDIUNO

Aregbesola Mourns Second RepublicFederal Lawmaker, Pa Katayeyanjue

THE governor of the State of Osun, Ogbeni RaufAregbesola, has described as a big loss, the death ofone of the foremost political leaders in the state, Alhaji

Lateef Katayeyanjue.

Alhaji Katayeyanjue passedon on Thursday June 10 at theLadoke Akintola UniversityTeaching Hospital(LAUTHEC), Osogbo.

Aregbesola, in a statementby the Director, Bureau ofCommunications and Strategy,Office of the Governor, Mr.Semiu Okanlawon, said the exitof the leading light ofprogressive politics has robbedthe state of a man of immensewisdom and political sagacity.

The governor said: AlhajiKatayeyanjue demonstratedhis commitment to servinghumanity when he was theNational President of Anwar-ul-Islam of Nigeria.

The statement said inter alia:“Alhaji Lateef Katayeyanjue’sdemise is for us a sadoccurrence.

“A true religious, politicaland community leader, aconsistent progressive, AlhajiKatayeyanjue, during his

lifetime, astutely served Godand led a life worthy ofemulation.

“As a member of the Houseof Representatives in theSecond Republic, AlhajiKatayeyanjue gave his best toNigeria.

“He supervised one of themost prominent and vibrantIslamic organisations in Nigeria,Anwar-ul Islam.

The history of the Islamicmovement Iwo, Osun andNigeria will be incompletewithout generous mention ofthe late Katayeyanjue.

“On behalf of myself, myfamily and the people of Osun,I communicate our heart-feltcondolences to the immediateand extended family membersof the departed, the entireAnwar Islamic Movement, aswell as the people of Iwoland.

“May Almighty Allah grantBaba Aljana Firdaus,” GovernorAregbesola said.

3 News OSUN DEFENDER Thursday, June 12, 2014

By KAZEEM MOHAMMED

•The governor, State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola (middle in white); an Osogbo community leader, Alhaji SuleDaodu (by Governor’s immediate left-side); chieftain, All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Bayo Salami (3rdleft); Deputy Speaker, State House of Assembly of Osun, Hon Akintunde Adegboye (5th right) and other APC stalwarts,during the appreciation and endorsement ceremony for Aregbesola’s Second Term in office by Osogbo Community atNelson Mandela Freedom Park, Osogbo, State of Osun, last Monday.

Osun Election ’ ll Be Peaceful - Osun SSG•Warns Fraudsters To Stay Away

THE people of Iwo Federal Constituency have beencalled upon to come out en mass to vote and protecttheir votes from electoral fraudsters in the coming

August 9, 2014 gubernatorial election.

The Secretary to theGovernment of the State ofOsun (SSG), Alhaji MoshoodAdeoti, made this call at thekick-off of the re-electioncampaign of the governor forthe Iwo Federal Constituency.

Among those present at therally were the member of theHouse of Representativesrepresenting the area, Mr.Ghafar Amere; Commissionerfor Women Affairs, MofolakeAdegboyega, Director, Bureauof Communications andStrategy in the Office of theGovernor, Mr. SemiuOkanlawon, Special Adviser tothe Governor on Health, Dr.Rafiu Isamotu, Assistant Chiefof Staff, Honourable MudashirToogun, member of the House

of Assembly, Honourable‘Bola Akinloye and a host ofothers

The constituencycomprises Iwo, Ola Oluwa andAyedire Local GovernmentCouncil Areas of the state.

Adeoti said the governmentof Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesolawould leave no stone unturnedin making sure that the August9th election in the state wasviolent-free.

The Osun governmentscribe said the people of thestate were well-informed aboutthe choice that would benefitthem and so they would doeverything within their powersto prevent any politician fromdubiously upturning their

electoral choice. “The people of Osun are

ready for election. We have toldthem not only to troop out tovote but also to stay at thepolling booths and ensure theirvotes are properly counted,recorded and announced.

“This time round, therewon’t be chance for anyone torig or stuff the ballot boxes.

“Our people are ready tovote. They know the leaderwho loves them and they areready to support him. Thepeople will come out en masse,vote and protect their votes.

“Our party, the All PeoplesCongress (APC), abhorsviolence. People of the stateare peace-loving and they willconduct themselves peacefully,as they always do before,during and after the election,”Adeoti said.

The member of the House

of Representativesrepresenting the constituency,Honourable Ghafar Amere, saidthe election was going toconfirm the good work ofOgbeni Aregbesola.

He called on the people ofthe constituency to come outas they used to do and vote forthe second term bid ofAregbesola.

Addressing the gathering,Director, Bureau ofCommunications and Strategyin the Office of the Governor,Mr. Semiu Okanlawon, notedthat the achievements ofAregbesola in the past three anda half years spoke volumes ofthe governor’s people focusedpolicies.

Okanlawon averred that thegovernor’s achievements in allfacets were more than enoughcampaign for the governor.

“The past three to fouryears have been eventful forthis state and the people.

“It is evidently clear thatAregbesola’s government hastransformed the statepositively beyond theimagination of the people.

“Our people can also beartestimony to the fact that thegovernment is workingassiduously to take the stateto an enviable height.

“It therefore expected thatour people will also vote forthe continuity of these goodworks,” Okanlawon said.

The State Commissioner forWomen Affairs, Mrs. FolakeAdegboyega, called on womento come out and supportAregbesola government in orderfor the good programmes tocontinue.

Adegboyega warned thewomen against selling theirvoters’ cards for whateveramount, as this would amountto mortgaging their future.

The commissioner warnedthe women folk that theyshould gird their loins for the

election, as they have moreroles to play both at home, aswell as at the polling booths toperform their civic duty

Also speaking on theoccasion, a member of theHouse of Assembly from thearea, Honourable BolaAkinloye, assured partyfaithful that the legislature hadfound it most convenient towork with Aregbesola becauseof the capacities of the policiesto change the fortunes of thestate.

“The experience of thelawmakers in the state in thelast three years and a half hasshown that when you have afocused executive, thelegislature too will have nochoice to ensure that it backssuch policies with adequatelegislative supports.

“Aregbesola is a committedleader, whose main objective isthe happiness of the people,”he said.

Ekiti Killing: Hold SamboResponsible – Osun APCTHE All Progressives Congress (APC) in the State of

Osun has stated that the killing by police of itssupporters in Ekiti on Sunday is the actualisation of

Vice President Mohammed Sambo’s promise to go to war inEkiti and Osun states in order to snatch political power inthe states.

On Sunday, while Sambowas still in Ekiti, the Federalpolice opened a war againstAPC supporters, killing oneperson and injuring severalpeople.

This callous and barbaricaction of the police mobile unit,under the command of aBayelsa-born officer, oneGabriel Selekere, signifies theFederal Government openingof a second war front in theWestern part of the country, inaddition to the war againstBoko Haram in the North.

According to the APC, theAdo Ekiti killing of APCsupporters kick off the PDP’splan to employ maximum forceto steal political power in partsof the West by force.

Condemning the action as‘savage and premeditated,’ theAPC said that Vice PresidentSambo should be heldaccountable for the dangerousdimension that the politicalprocess pre-2015 presidentialelection has taken.

‘Sambo was in Ekiti’, tomake good his war promise tofight and take power in Ekiti,’the APC said, adding that ‘it isa pity that this architect of avice president is ignorant ofhistory’.

‘In all the history ofNigeria’s politics, no federalleader has survived a ‘war’

against Yoruba people.‘Tafawa Balewa did not live

to tell the story of his ‘war’against Obafemi Awolowo andthe West. He fell in 1966.

‘Then, Sani Abacha, whowasted many Nigerian lives,himself died fighting againstMoshood Abiola and theYoruba people of the West.

‘In an attempt to establish afirm grip over the West inparticular and Nigeria ingeneral, Shehu Shagari faked a‘landslide electoral victory’ in1983. Then a ‘gunslide’followed, as predicted byGeneral Theophilus Danjuma.The President was lucky tosurvive it but he lost power.

‘The APC wants to make itclear that the PDP can onlycome to power in Ekiti andOsun states, swimming in theblood of Yoruba people. Butthere will be terribleconsequences much greaterthan those of the war againstBoko Haram. The country canunravel’, the APC said.

The APC thereforecautioned the President and hisdeputy that the police is notestablished to kill citizens butto protect them.

‘If this incident continues,it will spell doom for theJonathan presidency and thewhole country’, the party said.

Osun Lawmakers Confident Of Aregbesola’s Victory

LAWMAKERS in the State Assembly of Osun haveexpressed confidence that the performance ofGovernor Rauf Aregbesola and the supports he is

receiving during his campaigns have shown that he wouldwin August 9 governorship election in the state.

Honourables TimothyOwoeye of Ilesa West StateConstituency; AjiboyeAdemola of Ila StateConstituency; OlanrewajuMoroof of IrewoleConstituency; Dejo Osuolale ofBoripe/Boluwaduro StateConstituency; SamsonFafiyebi of ObokunConstituency and KamilOyedele of Orolu/IrepodunState constituency made theobservations in Ila-Orangun onTuesday during GovernorAregbesola’s second termcampaign in Ila/Boluwaduro/Ifedayo Federal Constituency.

The lawmakers saidAregbesola has won the heartsof the electorate of Osunthrough his achievements in allsectors of governance in thestate.

In his own, Ajiboye notedthat he was not surprised bythe supports that Aregbesolais receiving across the state,saying: “I will only besurprised if the supports arenot coming”.

Also, Olanrewaju said thesupports that have beenreceived in the previouscampaigns in Ile-Ife, Ikire andthe one held in Ila-Orangunhave shown that the majoropposition party, PeoplesDemocratic Party (PDP) isnowhere in the state.

According to him, people ofOsun have enjoyedAregbesola’s administrationinterms of free education, freehealth services among otherswithin the last three and halfyears of the administration.

He said that givingAregbesola another four yearsopportunity of serving thestate would place the state ona progressive path and make ita reference point to other statesof the country.

While speaking, Owoeye,who is the Leader of the House,stressed that it has alreadybeen established that thepeople of Osun recognise andappreciate the efforts ofAregbesola to transform thestate.

He noted that what is nextfor the people of the state is tovote massively for Aregbesolaand defend their votes, with aview to preventing rigging.

The lawmaker noted that bydoing this, the governor wouldhave the mandate of the peopleto rule the state for anotherfour years to conclude all hisdevelopmental programmes hehas embarked upon.

Honourable Osuolale saidthere is no cause for the peopleto entertain any fear onwhether Aregbesola would winthe August 9 election or not,saying his performance hasgiven him edge ahead of others.

He noted that any attemptto rig the election, either by thePDP or any other party, wouldbe resisted by the people ofthe state, who have seen theneed for the development of thestate to continue.

In his own submission,Fafiyebi noted that no federalpower would work in Osun,as the people are alreadysensitised and are aware of theneed to do everything possibleto re-elect Aregbesola forsecond term.

He noted that apart fromwhat the governor has been ableto achieve interms ofdevelopment, God has already

sealed his return as governor.“We will not say because

God has ordained the secondterm of Aregbesola, we willstand and be looking. We willdo everything possible todefend our votes, because weknow that the PDP has no othertarget other than to rig election,”he added.

I Never Collected Money From Anybody ToDestabilize Osun PDP - Adeleke

FIRST civilian governor of the State of Osun, SenatorIsiaka Adeleke, has refuted an allegation that he(Adeleke) collected money from the All Progressives

Congress to destabilize the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)during his recent governorship aspiration in the state.

The senator who swore witha copy of the Holy Quran atthe re-election mega rally forGovernor Rauf Aregbesola inIla-Orangun last Tuesday saidhe needed not collect moneyfrom anybody or individualbefore he could make up hismind.

He said it was out ofconviction that he left the PDPfor the APC.

It would be recalled thatHonourable Adejare Bello,former Speaker of the Houseof Assembly, who is now therunning mate to the PDPgovernorship candidate in

Osun, Senator Iyiola Omisore,was reported in some nationaldailies to have accused Adelekeof collecting money from theAPC to destabilize the PDPin the state.

In the former governor’swords: “I am not hungry and Iam not overfed. I am a muslimand Adejare is a muslim. I amswearing before this ecstaticcrowd with a copy of the HolyQuran that I never collectedmoney from anybody orindividual before I made up mymind to quit the PDP andjoined the APC.

“I am happy that Adejare

Bello is also a muslim. He canas well swear that I really tookthe money he was talkingabout.

“Adejare was also reportedto have boasted that he is morepopular than me in Edeland. Ileave my response to thisreckless statement till when themen shall be separated from theboys during the August 9governorship election in Osun.”

He recalled that he had oncompassionate ground, paid theschool fees of Bello when hewas in school on severaloccasions.

Adeleke said, with the hugecrowd at Aregbesola’s rallies, hewas convinced that theincumbent governor would havean easy ride to victory.

He enjoined the electoratevote for Aregbesola and toprotect their votes on August9, the day of the governorshipelection.

OSUN DEFENDER Thursday, June 12, 20144 News

By FRANCIS EZEDIUNO

By SHINA ABUBAKAR

•The Onirun of Oke-Irun, Oba Isaac Adetunlurese (2nd left), presenting keys of four campaign vehicles bought byPresident, JMI Investment Limited, Otunba Olabisi Oladitan (left), to the governor, State of Osun, Ogbeni RaufAregbesola (right) and other dignitaries, during the handing over at the Onirun’s Palace, Oke-Irun, State of Osun,recently.

Change Of NameI, formerly known

and addressed as MISSAWE FOLUKECOMFORT, now wishto be known andaddressed as MRSADEWUYI FOLUKECOMFORT. All formerdocuments remain valid.General public shouldtake note.

Traditional Rulers Endorse Aregbesola For Second Term

TRADITIONAL rulers across the State of Osunhave been commended for standing behind thetruth leading to a positive transformation of

the state and giving the state a new look.Governor of the State of

Osun, Mr. Rauf AdesojiAregbesola, dropped thishint on Monday whileaddressing traditionalrulers at a luncheon, tooffer special prayer for theState of Osun and toendorse GovernorAregbesola for a secondterm in office beyond2014, organized bytraditional rulers across theOsun Central SenatorialDistrict held in Osogbo, thestate capital.

Governor Aregbesola,who ascribed traditionalstool as a revered oneamong the Yoruba-speaking communities,described the occasion asan acceptance of hisa d m i n i s t r a t i o n ’ sprogrammes, saying thepresence of the royal

fathers portends that thecurrent administration inthe State of Osun hadreignite people’s passion ingovernment, adding that hewas expecting similarprogrammes from othersenatorial districts in thestate.

Speaking on therumoured N350 billion loanbeing spread in somesections of the media thathis government hadcollected, therebyimpoverishing the state,Governor Aregbesola saidthe allegation was a blatantlie, which must not bebelieved by all right-thinking persons becauseaside from the fact that nobank could offer suchloan, the presenteconomic status of the

state cannot service suchhuge loan.

Justifying the claim thathis administration stand inrespect of loanacquisition, the stategovernor said nogovernment all over theworld can succeedwithout loans, adding thathis government actuallyaccessed some loanfacilities but they wereones that are reasonableand could be servicedwithin the ambit of thestate resources.

Describing the state’seconomic sector as onethat would witness apositive transformation inno distant future once allthe ongoing projects arecompleted, GovernorAregbesola said theongoing Gbonganinterchange will be acynosure to all eyes andwould generate hugeeconomic potentials forthe state at its completion.

He thereafter

appreciated the traditionalrulers for their love to hisadministration, with apledge that hisadministration will stop atnothing to make Osogbo,the state capital, a modelto other state capitalsacross the nation.

Earlier in his address,Chairman of Osun CentralTraditional Rulers, theOrangun of Ila, ObaAbdulwahab Adedotun,described GovernorAregbesola as ahardworking governor thathas weathered the storm togive the State of Osun anew and befitting look,which has placed Osun inthe centre of the nation asa model of development.

The Akirun of Ikirun,Oba Abdul-Rauf Adedeji,said the traditional rulerscame to thank thegovernor on behalf of theirsubjects for the people-oriented programmes thatthe present administrationhas executed in the state,

especially in Osogbo, thestate capital.

Describing GovernorAregbesola as God-sent tothe State of Osun, ObaAdedeji stressed that thisis the first time that thestate is witnessing positivetransformation since itscreation in 1991, addingthat the wise thing thatshould be done by peopleof the state is to re-electGovernor Aregbesola foranother four-year term,come August 9 this year.

In the words of theOlokuku of Okuku, ObaSamuel Oyebode, thetraditional rulersunanimously endorsedGovernor Aregbesola forthe August 9 gubernatorialelection, which wouldspeak success for thestate, as the governorwould be given a newterm of four years, whilethe Olunisa of Inisa prayedfor the success of thegovernor at the poll comeAugust this year.

In their separateaddresses, the Orangun ofOke-Ila, Onigbajo ofIgbajo and Olufon ofIfon-Orolu said GovernorAregbesola has provedthat government could berun in an atmosphere ofpeace in Africa being anequitable government witha view to takingdevelopment to all

sections of the state, eithernear or far to Osogbo, thestate capital, adding that allthe stories about the era ofthe late sage, Chief ObafemiAwolowo, is beingwitnessed in the state.

Also speaking at theevent, Chairman of the AllProgressives Congress(APC) CampaignCommittee and senatorrepresenting Osun CentralSenatorial District,Professor OlusolaAdeyeye, said GovernorAregbesola hastransformed the State ofOsun to a world class stategoing by the array ofd e v e l o p m e n t a lprogrammes spread acrossthe length and breadth ofthe state.

In his vote of thanks,the Aragbiji of Iragbiji, ObaAbdul-Rasheed Olabomi,said while many leaderswere seen writing theirnames on papers,Governor Aregbesola hassuccessfully written hisname on the minds of thepeople of the State of Osunand will remain alive inthem for a very long timeto come.

Highpoint of the eventwas the presentation of awhite horse, which is amark of victory in Yorubaland, to GovernorAregbesola

Osun 2014: Group Alerts Security Agents, INEC OnPurchase Of Voters’ Cards

THE Ogbeni Aregbesola Door-to-Door CampaignOrganisation (OD2D) has called on the police andother security agencies to, as a matter of necessity

and urgency, take serious action on the reported cases ofillegal mass possession of voters’ cards by someindividuals.

OD2D urged the securityagencies to act urgently onthe illegal possession ofvoters’ cards, which hasbecome rampant in the statein the interest of free, fairand credible governorshipelection.

The OD2D also called on

the Independent NationalElectoral Commission(INEC) to investigate thematter and unravel wherethose involved were gettingthe cards from and whatpurpose they were amassingthem for.

The group expressedconcern that there werereported cases of voters’cards purchase, andsurreptitious obtainment ofvoters’ cards fromunsuspecting voters bysome unscrupulouspoliticians, who haveconsciously engaged in itfor some time now.

According to thecampaign organization, theillegal possession of thevoters’ cards was notunconnected with the

coming gubernatorialelection in the state.

The OD2D said it waspertinent to alert the INEC,as the umpire in the electoralcontest on the rate at whichsome individuals were beencaught with many voters’cards across the state.

It noted that seriousactions must be taken by theconcerned securityauthorities and the INEC, soas to give all stakeholders asense of safety for a free,fair and credible election,come August 9, 2014.

“The OD2D team quicklybrings to the fore, the caseof a woman by name Mrs.Alice Gbadebo, who wascaught with many voters’cards at Ibokun in ObokunLocal Government CouncilArea of the state onThursday 5th of June, 2014and was handed over to thepolice.

“However, it wassurprising to hear that ratherthan arraigning the allegedelectoral offender in the

court, it was said that shewas transferred to the policeheadquarters in Osogbo,where the Commissioner ofPolice allegedly seized thevoters’ cards found on her,when she gave the excusethat she was holding themon behalf of her family,” thegroup alleged.

“As much as OD2Dwould have appreciated theseeming humanisticposition of the police bosson the matter, it pricks themind if it was not informedby interference by the PoliceAffairs Minister, Alhaji JeliliAdesiyan, has beensuspected all the while.

“The OD2D suspicion,like many other concernedpeople of Osun, was fuelledfurther by the fact that manyothers caught in the pasthave not been handled theway an offender would beexpected to be handled.

“For instance, two casesof voters’ cards purchase bya group of politicians in thename of Omoilu Foundationwere reported to the policein Ikirun sometimes ago but

were dismissed as merespeculations by thesecurity agents and theculprits were allowed to goscot-free,” it added.

The campaignorganisation noted thatexperts have assumed thatthe buy-over and oracquiring of voters’ cardsby unscrupulouspoliticians may not beunconnected with attemptto tamper with the voters’register and have negativeeffect on the cominggubernatorial election in thestate.

“This is why the OD2Dwishes to stress the needfor security agencies andINEC to take more seriouslythe cases involving themultiple cards holding bysome politicians andobtaining-by-trick of voterscards from unsuspectingvoters.

“A repeat of Anambraelection situation should beavoided and all hands mustbe on deck to have acredible election on August9, 2014 and subsequentones,” the group submitted.

Ahead August 9,Aregbesola Picks Laoye-Tomori As Running Mate

By SHINA ABUBAKAR

GOVERNOR of the State of Osun, Ogbeni RaufAdesoji Aregbesola, on Monday laid to rest rumourmaking the rounds that his deputy, Otunba (Mrs)

Grace Titilayo Laoye-Tomori, would be dropped in thesecond term bid in office ahead of the August 9gubernatorial election in the state.

Addressing the people ofOsogbo at a programme

organized by the people toshow their appreciation tothe governor and to endorsehim for re-election for a newterm of four years, GovernorAregbesola said he hadsubmitted the nominationform of Mrs. Laoye-Tomorito the Independent NationalElectoral Commission(INEC) as his running matein the election last Thursday.

The governor said hisappreciation for the love andunalloyed support hisadministration has receivedfrom the people of Osogbotill date, coupled with theunbroken loyalty of Mrs.Laoye-Tomori necessitatedher choice.

Also presenting Mrs.Laoye-Tomori as his runningmate in the August 9gubernatorial election totraditional rulers at aluncheon organized bytraditional rulers in the OsunCentral Senatorial District topray and endorse GovernorAregbesola for second termin office, the governor saidno one changes activemember of a winning team atthe middle of a contest.

Aregbesola however,called on all and sundry tosupport his administrationby casting their votes for theAll Progressives Congress(APC) come August 9, 2014.

5 OSUN DEFENDER Thursday, June 12, 2014

NAPTIP Centre: A commendable approval successive governmentsespecially in the state of Osunhave not seriously addressed orpaid much attention to, is themigration of people toneighbouring countries due totheir belief that life is better inthose worlds and that theirchances of making it in thoseplaces are higher than stayinghere. But of course this is anerroneous belief.

It's an erroneous belief be-cause experience have shownthat majority of such migrants whowent to these countries likeGhana, Republic of Benin, IvoryCoast etc for this purpose hardlyachieve their aim as more oftenthan not they return home emptyhanded. After spending severalyears in those countries for ma-jority of them there is alwaysnothing to show for their long stay

there.

Thus for majority of them it's al-ways a case of double jeopardy.Double jeopardy in the sense that;one, they failed to achieve the pur-pose behind their migration andtwo, by the time they return homeintegrating themselves back intotheir aboriginal society becomesa big challenge which may evenprove insurmountable for them forthe rest of their lives. Most of themdon't have a home to return to;they are homeless even as theirage groups and colleagues they leftbehind by the time they traveledare already living in their ownhouses.

From the foregoing we can seehow pathetic the case of majorityof these migrants can be. But thereis a fundamental question to askhere; can we really blame ourpeople who engage in this non-profitable venture? For us the an-

swer is No.

The answer is 'No' becauselack of good governments foryears is mainly attributable to thistrend. When people lose the hopeof making headway at home dueto bad governments; govern-ments that have failed to providethe enabling environment forpeople's survival then the next al-ternative people think of is tomove out perhaps the grass isgreener at the other side of thewall. Thus lack of confidence ingovernment, lack of opportunitiesat home do - more often than not- push people out in pursuit ofwhat isn't lost.

And this is why as we yearn forgood governance in this countrywe must appreciate the one thathas found abode in the state ofOsun under Aregbesola. There issurely no alternative to good andresponsible government such as

the one we now have in the state.Good governance no doubt fast-tracks development as it attracts in-vestors and also encouragespeople to stay at home to also con-tribute their own quota towards thedevelopment of their home states.

With what presently obtains inthe state - good government - webelieve that traffic in persons willdrastically reduce because whenpeople are comfortable at home,then there will be no reason forthem to want to migrate elsewherefor a better life.

Thus we commend the approvalby Ogbeni Aregbesola for the es-tablishment of this centre and morecommendable is the fact that it's thestate government that will foot thebill.

Nelson Mandela Freedom Park: Well-deserved Honour

THANK you for keepingthe good work alive. LikeAregbesola, your

medium is keeping faith withits avowed mandate ofpromoting the tenets ofdemocratic ideals through theentrenchment of the virtues ofprogressive governance.

I find in your medium amost reliable ally I can entrustwith the message of truth I havefor the generality of ourpeople. Your auspicious role inthe past, most especiallyduring the struggle for thereclamation of the people’sstolen mandate, has provenyou tested and trusted.

Now that another round ofstruggle is fast-approaching,the gubernatorial elections forour state, we can work togetherall over again to appeal to thesensibility of our people, so asto gear them up towardsmaking the one and only wisestchoice:

That choice is voting for thecandidate of the progressiveparty, the All ProgressivesCongress (APC) in the contest– Ogbeni Rauf AdesojiAregbesola. Like yourmedium, OSUN DEFENDERNewspaper, the governor’snew work has started for some

OSUN DEFENDERPublisher – Moremi Publishing

House Ltd.

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Editor – Kayode Agbaje (0803-388-0205)

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OSUN DEFENDER is published by Moremi Publishing HouseLimited, Promise Point Building, Opposite Guarantee 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

time now.The good work is still very

much in progress and it is timewe reenact the mandate to carryon with the god work with ourmandate – our vote. I find inyour widely-read and highly-reputable newspaper – OSUNDEFENDER, an ampleavenue to air my opinions onthe running and operations ofthe Rauf Aregbesolaadministration in the State ofOsun; especially on crusading

his reelection as the time ofelection approaches. I am surethat through your medium, thetarget audience would bereached with mycommendation, admonition,persuasion and entreaties.

The area I find irresistibleto focus on this time around isthe beautification cum urbanrenewal programme of theadministration. For some timenow, we have all witnessed thenew look worn by our entire

state via the dramatictransformation brought aboutby the instrumentality of theState of Osun Urban RenewalProgramme (O’RENEWAL).

Firstly, I intend to laud theefforts of our governor, OgbeniRauf Adesoji Aregbesola in thevarious ongoing projects in thestate; most especially, themassive road projects, theschools infrastructure projects,the agricultural revolution, andparticularly, the Urban

Renewal projects. At last, wein the State of Osun can beatour chest and feel confidentthat we have safe, beautiful andbefitting abode. We owesincere appreciation toAregbesola for taking this boldstep.

The State of Osun UrbanRenewal Project, known forshort as O’RENEWAL is aproject aimed at giving faceliftto our towns and cities andbringing them up to the

standards of today’s urbancentres. In this regard, nineselected major towns in thestate chosen on the basis oftheir centrality in theirrespective federalconstituencies are mapped forrebuilding and upgrade infeatures and amenities. Thesecities include Osogbo, the statecapital, Ikirun, Ila Orangun,Ejigbo, Iwo, Ede, Ilesa, Ile Ifeand Ikire. More towns shall becovered by the effort in furtherphases of the project in thefuture.

With this step,development is decentralized;as it is spread large and wideacross the state. The sage steptaken by the government of thestate in holding wideconsultations with communitymembers and stakeholders iswell-conceived and highlycommendable.

While I cannot but tongue-lash the critics of thisadministration; I enjoin all andsundry to give their rallyingsupport to the administrationin order to ensure that successis attained in all itsprogrammes and projects. I betthat we shall all be better for itin a non-distant future time.

•SEGUN ADEROJU,Lagere, Ile-Ife, State of Osun.

Continued from pg1

OSUN DEFENDER Thursday, June 12, 20146 FEATURE

Aregbesola’s Campaign: Sending JittersDown The Spines Of Opposition Candi-date

“WE shall have to create leaders, who embodyvirtues we can respect, who have moral andethical principles we can applaud withenthusiasm that enables us to rally supportfor them based on confidence and trust. Wewill have to demand high standards and giveconsistence, loyal support to those who meritit.” The late orator, Martin Luther King Jrstated this on June 11, 1967 during one of hiscampaigns on good leadership and nationbuilding.

No doubt, Governor Rauf Aregbesola of theState of Osun has the highest number ofsupporters, both within and outside thepolitical geography of the state, amongst othercandidates contesting for gubernatorial electionin the state. That submission is owned tomyriad of political and professional bodiesthat have openly adopted the governor tocontest the August 09, 2014 governorshipelection for a second term. The mammoth andthrilling crowds that always welcome andaccompany Aregbesola’s convoy on everyoccasion in the state tells the story. Nocandidate has genuine and mammothsupporting crowd like Aregbesola, said theDirector, Ogbeni Aregbesola Door-to-DoorCampaign Group (OD2D), Mr SegunOmoworare

A political analyst, Mr Ajasegun Aluko, inan interview with OSUN DEFENDER onTuesday said Aregbesola’s popularity andwarm reception of his second term ambition isa direct result of the long overdue change hebrought to the state through his six integralaction plan; Banish Poverty; Banish Hunger,Banish Unemployment, Promote FunctionalEducation, Restore Healthy Leaving, andEnhance Communal Peace and Progress.According to Aluko, Aregbesola is a harbingerof change, development, transformation andpeace in the state, saying that Osun has neverbeen touched positively by any governmentlike the present administration. He said thepeople of the state are willing, withenthusiasm, to entrust Aregbesola with powerfor another four years, going by what he calledstartling transformation of the state in just aterm.

Aregbesola, in his usual white-to-matchdress, stormed Ila-Orangun, the headquartersof Boluwaduro, Ifedayo and Ila FederalConstituency on Tuesday to further seeksupport of the people for his re-election,through a campaign rally. Aregbesola is alwaysdrunk of massive crowd. He is always excitedwhen seeing an exhilarating crowd receivinghim to an event, according to observation. Itwas a colossal, awe-inspiring and tumultuous

crowd that welcomed Governor RaufAregbesola to Ila-Orangun, in the event of hisre-election campaign rally held at the Ilastadium, located along Osun State College ofEducation, Ila road.

The dynamic crowd had been persistent inhailing and praise-singing Aregbesola on hisentry in to the town right from its boundary.The crowd was formed by commercialmotorcyclists, who drove acrobatically to leadthe governor’s convoy to the town, politicaland campaign groups, supporters and loyalistsof the governor. It was a scenario that gaveclear indication of the extent of the governor’spopularity, which was sufficient to sendjitters down the spines of the all candidatescontesting the election with Aregbesola, acandidate of All Progressives Congress (APC).Aregbesola’s people danced, trekked andjogged the distance down the road with hisconvoy to the Orangun of Ila’s palace, ObaAbdul Wahab Kayode Oyedotun, where thegovernor paid homage on the frontlinemonarch in company of Senator IsiakaAdeleke. All the roads leading to the palaceand the campaign ground were filled withheavy traffic jam, forcing commuters toabandon their vehicles and taking to riddingOkada or take to walking.

The doubling of security size at theOrangun’s palace to checkmate influx ofmammoth Aregbesola supporters, who hadstormed the palace entrance, with a view toentering with the governor, becameinsignificant, as they thronged on the gate assoon as it was thrown open for the governor’sconvoy.

Oba Oyedotun showered royal blessings onAregbesola, who he described as a performinggovernor that has brought change anddevelopment to the state.

From the Orangun’s palace, it tookAregbesola’s convoy more than one hour toget to Chief Bisi Akande’s house. Aregbesolapaid courtesy call on the most prudent andeconomic governor of 1999-2003 politicaldispensation and the interim NationalChairman of the APC, Chief Akande. ChiefAkande assured the governor of victory in thecoming election, just as he urged him tocontinue prioritizing the needs of the peopleand the development of the state. ChiefAkande’s house was besieged by Aregbesolaand the APC supporters, who were restless infollowing the two great politicians to thecampaign ground. Aregbesola’s arrival at the

campaign ground ignited the anxious gathering,as people were more than excited to have thegovernor in their midst. Aregbesola’ssupporters were chanting series of politicalslogans and singing victory promising songs toshow their resolve for the governor’s secondterm. Aregbesola stormed the campaign groundwith Chief Bisi Akande.

Vehicles were parked on both side of theroad covering about two kilometres to thecampaign ground.

The mammoth crowd at the Boluwaduro,Ifedayo and Ila Federal Constituency was notunforeseen; reason being that the area hostsprogressive politicians and traditional rulers.Ila-Orangun is ever known to be progressive.The fore and present traditional rulers of theancient town were said to have pitched theirtents with the progressives for a long periodof time. The Orangun of Oke-Ila, ObaAdedokun Abolarin was also said to beprogressive. Professor Sola Adeyeye, thesenator representing Osun Central SenatorialDistrict at the National Assembly is fromIfedayo Local Government Council Area.Adeyeye is the Chairman, AregbesolaCampaign Committee in the state. Theconstituency also has Sunday Akere, the StateCommissioner for Information and Strategy,who is the Chairman of the APC CampaignCommittee in the constituency. The APCState Secretary, Prince Gboyega Famoodun isalso from the constituency. It would be anaberration to experience something less thanthe massive turnout of people at the rally.

Chief Akande, while speaking at the megarally, described the APC as an agent of change,saying that the party has successfullytransformed the state through series ofdevelopmental projects of Aregbesola. Theseptuagenarian politician urged the people tovote for Aregbesola once again.

Speaking at the rally, the deputy governorof the state, Mrs Titilayo-Laoye Tomori urgedthe electorate to vote for the continuity ofgood governance, urging them to cast theirvotes for Aregbesola. She stated that the seriesof empowerment and developmentalprogrammes of the present administrationshould not be allowed to vanish, hence theneed to re-elect Aregbesola for thesustainability and continuity of theprogrammes.

APC chairman in the state, Elder AdelowoAdebiyi, lauded Aregbesola’s achievements,particularly in education, roads, infrastructureand economic development. Adelowo said thatAregbesola has fulfilled all his campaignpromises in 2007, promising that the people

would enjoy him more than before if they re-elect for another four years.

Senator Isiaka Adeleke, at the rally,described the PDP as a forbidden fruit for thepeople who do not want the state to go backto its dark era of underdevelopment. Hedispelled the rumour that he collected moneyfrom the APC leaders to distabilise the PDPbefore defecting to the APC, saying that hewholeheartedly joined the party for thedevelopment of the state, as the PDP was notready to move the state forward. Adeleketongue-lashed the deputy governorshipcandidate of the PDP, Adejare Bello, whoalleged that the first executive governor of thestate was bought over by the APC leaders.Adeleke urged the people to vote forAregbesola come August 9, 2014 election forthem to witness more developmental projectsand transformation.

A prominent PDP chieftain in Ila-Orangunis the current Chairman, Federal RoadMaintenance Agency (FERMA), Engineer JideAdeniji, who was allegedly empowered by thePresidency to fund the PDP in the state anddismantle the APC’s structures in Ila. If theinsinuation is true on the FERMA chairman,then he needs to be superhuman to even darecarry out his assignment. It was observed thatPDP has been relegated beyond expectation inhis domain and the people were more thanready to vote for Aregbesola and resist anyattempt to rig or manipulate the electionresults. Without mincing word, the APC andAregbesola’s supporters have the grip of theIla Federal Constituency and their structureare enough to secure victory for Aregbesola inthe area in the coming election.

The turnout of the people at the rally wasan attestation that Aregbesola’s administrationis the creation of God and that of the people,who wanted a leader that embodies virtuesthey can respect, moral and ethical principlesthey can applaud with enthusiasm. Thepeople are no doubt, supporting Aregbesolabased on their confidence and trust they havein him that Osun would be another Eldoradoin his second term. However, Aregbesolaneeds to design another captivatingdevelopmental programme or further polishhis unfading Six-point Integral Action Plan tomeet the expectation of the people after his re-election, because the electorate will have todemand high standards and give consistence,loyal support to those who merit it.

By ISMAEEL UTHMAN

•State of Osun governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, addressing the crowd at the mage rally in Ila-Orangun last Tuesday. Beside him is Senator Isiaka Adeleke.

OSUN DEFENDER Thursday, June 12, 2014 7

8 OSUN DEFENDER Thursday, June 12, 2014PHOTOTALK

•(L-R) First civilian governor of Osun, Alhaji Isiaka Adeleke and Governor Aregbesola, addressing the crowd, during his re-election campaign in Ila/Ifedayo/BoluwaduroFederal Constituency in Ila-Orangun on Tuesday

•

•(L-R) The deputy governor, State of Osun, Otunba (Mrs) Grace Titi Laoye-Tomori; the Orangun of Ila, Oba Abdulwahab Oyedotun; the governor, State of Osun, Ogbeni RaufAregbesola and the Orangun of Oke-Ila, Oba Adedokun Abolarin, when the governor paid homage to the monarchs on his way to the venue of the campaign last Tuesday in Ila-Orangun.

All Progressives Congress (APC) 2014 Governorship Campaign At Ila Stadium, Ila-Orangun, State Of Osun, Last Tuesday. Photo: GBENGA ADENIYI, SHOLA ADERINTO AND JESUDOYIN ABRAHAM.

9OSUN DEFENDER Thursday, June 12, 2014 PHOTOTALK

•

•

•Some of the public school pupils struggling to catch a glimpse of Aregbesola

All Progressives Congress (APC) 2014 Governorship Campaign At Ila Stadium, Ila-Orangun, State Of Osun, Last Tuesday. Photo: GBENGA ADENIYI, SHOLA ADERINTO AND JESUDOYIN ABRAHAM.

•Alhaja Ayo Omidiran; Speaker, State of Osun House of Assembly, Honourable Najeem Salaam; Senator Jide Omoworare and State of Osun Interim APC Secretary, PrinceGboyega Famodun at the campaign in Ila-Orangun last Tuesday.

10 OSUN DEFENDER Thursday, June 12, 2014PHOTOTALK

•

All Progressives Congress (APC) 2014 Governorship Campaign At Ila Stadium,Ila-Orangun, State Of Osun, Last Tuesday. Photo: GBENGA ADENIYI, SHOLA ADERINTO AND JESUDOYIN

ABRAHAM.

•

•(L-R) Senator Sola Adeyeye, representing Osun Central Senatorial District; State of Osun Deputy Governor, Otunba (Mrs) Grace Titi Laoye-Tomori; Senator Isiaka Adeleke;All Progressives Congress (APC) Interim National Chairman, Chief Bisi Akande; Osun State Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola and his wife, Sherifat, during the 2014governorship campaign in Ila-Orangun on Tuesday.

•State of Osun Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola (on top of a mini-bus) acknowledging cheers from the crowd during the 2014 Governorship Campaign in Ila-Orangun onTuesday.

11 OSUN DEFENDER Thursday, June 12, 2014INTERVIEW

‘I Have Come To Realise That The Essence Of Living And HoldingPolitical Office Is To Serve The People’ – Hon. Sikiru Ayedun

Hon Adetona Sikiru Ayedun is the Commissioner for Home Affairs, Culture and Tourism in the State of Osun,the Osun.gov.ng team met with him recently and he had a lot to share about his experiences so far holding hisoffice and also his thoughts on the future of projects in the State. Find excerpts below…

Can we know you Sir?My name is Omo’ba Adetona Sikiru

Ayedun. I’m in my late forties, an indigene ofthe ancient City of Ile-Ife, State of Osun,Nigeria.

I graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree fromthe prestigious University of Ife (nowObafemi Awolowo University) in 1992, andacquired a Masters’ Degree in PublicAdministration in 1996. In 2002, I obtainedanother Masters’ Degree in TransportManagement from Olabisi OnabanjoUniversity. I am a Chartered Member of theInstitute of Logistics and Transport Studies,which qualifies me as a Logistic Specialist. Iworked in the sub-sector of the Maritimeindustry with SAPID Agencies Limited, anorganisation into shipping, freight forwardingand bonded ware-housing. After spending tenyears in that firm, I became the ManagingDirector.

As an activist, I was a member of StudentUnion Representatives’ Council and theWelfare Officer of the Students’ UnionGovernment of Obafemi Awolowo University,Ile-Ife, Nigeria, which prepared me for politicsand governance. As a politician, I was amember of SDP and Secretary of Moore Ward,now in Ife East LGA. I was appointed asInformation Officer to the first Speaker of theOsun State House of Assembly, (who is nowthe Attorney-General and Commissioner forJustice of the State) before Gen. Sani Abachasacked the Second Republic of the country.

While growing my career in the maritimeindustry as a Chartered logistics and maritimepractitioner, I was still involved however, inpolitical activities, though silently, before Ireturned to fore-front of political partyactivities in 2010, to vie for the of FederalHouse of Representatives ticket under theAction Congress of Nigeria platform, whichnot successful.

I was appointed as the HonourableCommissioner for Home Affairs, Culture andTourism in the State of Osun in August 2011.

Can you compare the performance of yourministry before you began heading it to itsperformance now?

Where we are today as a Ministry is quiteincomparable to where we met the Ministrywhen we came into government in 2010.

But before going into details, let me explainthe responsibilities of this Ministry in linewith the vision and mission of thisadministration. The core responsibilities ofthe Ministry of Home Affairs, Culture andTourism, is to boost the economic and socialstandard of the State through tourismdevelopment and culture promotion in; sustaincapacity building for tourism sub-sector of theeconomy; revive historical spots and buildingsfor cultural relaxation and educational tours;and to use renaissance of culture, the rebirthof tourism and the reconstruction of societalcultural values for revenue generation, jobcreation, positive wealth evolution and ruraldevelopment. We are committed to makingthis a reality and this is why we work so hard.

Mr. Governor is ensuring infrastructuraldevelopment is ongoing in all nooks andcrannies of the State. This has allowedeconomic stakeholders, tourists and cultureenthusiasts move easily around the State ofOsun.

We have renovated our cultural sites suchas the Osun Osogbo World Heritage atOsogbo; Oke Agbomiregun at Oke-Itase; OpaOranmiyan Shrine at Arubidi; OduduwaHouse at Oduduwa Street, all in Ile-Ife. Olumirin Waterfall at Erin-Ijesa is beenworked upon. Our hospitality sector is alsogrowing because we know that for tourism todevelop, you have to successfully work onthree areas; you must have good roads, athriving hospitality industry and extraordinarysecurity. These are the things the stategovernment is really working on.

If you have gone round the State, you willsee the level of influx of hotels, guest houses,restaurants, leisure joints and so on. We areupgrading the standard of our hotels and weare working on the hygiene of all eateries. Onthe issue of security; we are working roundthe clock to make sure we have a peaceful andaccommodating environment. We are alsoworking on our fire services, and a cleanerenvironment through periodic monitoring.

These are the things that complimenttourism development and culture promotion.Most of these things were not in place when

we came into office, and between then andnow; we have gone far in putting them inplace.

Sir, can you mention some things youhave done to change the Ministry?

A lot has been done to change the face ofthe Ministry. We have restructured the entireministry to prepare it for great changes ahead.We have renovated part of our office buildingand erected replica of some of our artefacts;we have trained and retrained our staffers,especially the professionals among them toenhance their skills and abilities for optimalperformance.

Also, we have set in motion modality thatwill ensure monitoring of services and securityof our hospitality industry which is growingat a faster rate than ever before; we haveimproved our pilgrimage services, which hasearned us commendation from home andabroad.

We have procured and installed modern fireprotection and fighting equipment for our firestations.

We have also introduced the officialcelebration of more festivals, across the townsin the State of Osun. We have set a newagenda for the promotion of our culture andthe development of tourism that we believewill positively change our fortune in thenearest future.

Tourism is a big industry in the World,what are you doing to improve this industryin the State?

Tourism is a big sell and fortunately, we areendowed naturally with all it takes to explore,and invest in tourism for the welfare andwealth of our nation. The government of theState of Osun is investing close to N5.7billionin tourism. Our investment target isN5.7billion, and this is such a huge sum totake out of State fund or revenue, so what weare doing is entering into public-privatepartnership with serious-minded investors.This is the trend across the globe and we aremoving with the 21st century.

How many tourist spots do we have in theState and what are the plans of government toupgrade or improve the infrastructure?

There are sixty-two historical andmonumental sites also referred to as touristsites spread across the six zones in the Stateof Osun. The six zones are: Osogbo, Ilesa, Ife,Iwo, Ede and Ikirun. Incidentally, six of thesehave been upgraded and improved upon. Plansare on ground to do the same to othersdepending on funds available and as soon asother plans enumerated earlier become areality.

Ekiti State has turned Ikogosi WarmSprings into a major hospitality spot in thecountry. What are the plans of the State to dothe same with our tourist spots?

In the State of Osun, we have a similar

attraction, the Olumirin Waterfalls. This is amajor eco-tourism site with which the State ofOsun is naturally gifted. According to acustodian of the fall, the site was discoveredby Akinla, a grand-daughter of Oduduwa, theProgenitor of the Yoruba, through her huntersin 1140AD, during her migration from Ile-Ife.

Before the advent of the presentgovernment in the State of Osun, tourists andexcursionists usually found it extremelydifficult to ascend the next fall as they wouldcrawl, fall and rise. However, when OgbeniAdesoji Rauf Aragbesola, the ExecutiveGovernor of the State of Osun came on board,he approved the commencement of thedevelopment of the hitherto moribund naturalsite, thereby breaking the age long jinx. Thishas therefore made it easier for the touristsand researchers to ascend the next fall withease. The premises of the Olumirin Waterfallshas equally been landscaped with beautifulflowers, ornamentals shrubs and many culturalwaterproofed banners, strategically installedalong the fall sides. The seven-layer waterfall,besides being a veritable tourists’ site, alsoserves as a mountaineering exercise forsporting enthusiasts.

Your Ministry is in charge of HomeAffairs and Culture too? What does thisentail?

The ministry is actually called Ministry ofHome Affairs, Culture and Tourism. I thinkwe have dealt with the Culture and Tourismresponsibilities aspect of the Ministry. Leftuntouched is the Home Affairs, which is in thetwo folds. Through Home Affairs, we areresponsible for Fire Services in the State. Theother responsibility has to do with thereligious pilgrimages to the holy lands. Wehave the Christian and Muslim pilgrimageboards with the sole responsibility to register,collate and administer the prospectivepilgrimage to holy lands.

We have had three sessions of these for thetwo holy lands, and it has been verysuccessful. The government of Saudi Arabiacommended us at the last outing and gave adinner in honour of State of Osun pilgrims. Infact, people from other states are now comingto us to fly to the holy lands because of theway we package our programmes, and thelevel of welfare we exhibit.

We owe this success and honour to theamiable Governor of the State, Ogbeni AdesojiRauf Aregbesola. He is been our pillar ofsupport.

How much is the state targeting fromTourism, where are we in line with the targetand what are you doing to meet and surpassthis target?

In addition to what I explained earlier onthe investment target of N5.7billion and theinvestment strategy of public-privatepartnership, we envisaged that with the

investment, we are looking at influx of touristin the state, to any part of the State, we needa lot of facilities to cope with the influx,which we are already experiencing, and we areworking to meet up.

Part of what we are doing to meet up withthe target and surpass it; are in three folds;One, we are upgrading our hotels and ingeneral the hospitality business within theState of Osun. This implies that if anyonewants to build a hotel, you must meet thestandard we have set. Even after you are donewith your construction, your services are stillunder the scrutiny of the State, so with this,we all know there are standard rules andregulations to be followed in attending toguests, securing the lives and property of theguests in ho, and also in terms of culinaryservices provided. We are working aroundthese.

There are no recreation parks like IbadanAmusement Park. Is there any plan for thatin the State, knowing it is a source of revenuegeneration for the State?

Yes, there is a well-structured plan onground. The old railway station is beingrenovated and transformed into a modern parkserving as a railway station, a recreation parkand an amusement park to serve as atransportation hub, event centre and touristsite respectively.

We have invested heavily on thetransportation and recreation part of it; andvery soon, the on-going work on theamusement park will be concluded and it willbe opened to the public. By the way, the parkis been named after the great icon of AfricaLeadership and Governance; Dr. NelsonMandela.

Pilgrimage is also under your purview andOsun’s performance, like you mentioned, hasbeen excellent since this administration cameon board, what made the difference?

First, is the concern and commitment of theExecutive Governor of the State of Osun;Ogbeni Adesoji Rauf Aregbesola, he has beenthe pillar of support for the past threepilgrimage sessions we have had. Number twois the experience and expertise of our staff atthe two pilgrimage boards, and those weworked with at home and in Saudi Arabia andIsrael. Third is the comportment of ourpilgrimages.

People are saying government should stopfunding pilgrimage, what is your own view,sir?

No, I do not think government should stopfunding pilgrimage. Rather, they should seekfor more funds to increase participation.These pilgrimages are beneficial to our people;it helps in fulfilling spiritual or religiousinjunction and help in widening their spiritualknowledge. Hence, positively improve theirspiritual life and moral status. The eventualeffect is that the society gets better for it.

Elections are some months away, what isyour opinion about Ogbeni’s re-election?

Ogbeni Adesoji Rauf Aregbesola hasperformed credibly well over same period oftime, compared with all the past governorsand sole administrators in the state. He startedby stating his plans for the State, he hasexecuted many of these plans and this isvisible to everyone, hence his re-election,Insha Allah, is more certain than hisopponents. These opponents cannot point toany tangible contribution to people’s welfareand needs, in whatever capacity, they haveworked.

His re-election will sustain good democraticgovernance, economic development, broadenprosperity, justice, equality, moral purpose,and humanity all of which are symbolspersonified in what Mr Governor, representsin our state.

What has your experience been so far inpolitics?

I have come to realise that the essence ofliving and holding political office is to servethe people. The vocation affords you theopportunity to be in charge of resources anddeploy it to the benefit of mankind. Anythingcontrary to this is apolitical. Though, it has itsown dirty aspect; the good out-ways it.However, it is always good to get trained forit and better to be strategic about one’sinvolvement in politics. That is what helps usstand out among the politicians in this terrain.

•AYEDUN

OSUN DEFENDER Thursday, June 12, 201412 FEATURE

Ikire Mega Rally: Leading The Pack To Power AgainWHEN the All Progressives

Congress (APC) campaigntrain berthed in Ikire for the

Irewole/Isokan/Ayedaade FederalConstituency mega rally for the re-election of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola foranother term of office, the sleepy townwitnessed influx of most influentialpersons and political juggernauts from thestate and for over seven hours, Ikire was abeehive of political activities.

Major streets in the town were incarnival mood, as various groups in thecommunity formed their own circles ofmusic and dances as local musiciansentertained youths and the elderly, whocould not bulldoze their ways to the rallyground at Saint John’s Elementary Schoolin the heart of the community.

It was really difficult for an ordinaryperson to walk his or her way through theover five-kilometre stretch of road, wherepeople and vehicles competed for space,hence, those who intended to witness theentire programme abandoned theirvehicles and walked in the scorching sunto the venue to await the arrival ofGovernor Rauf Aregbesola.

As early as 10.00am, party loyalists hadbegun trooping to the venue, inanticipation to welcoming party leadersfrom across the state, who, later throngedthe venue to show solidarity for thegovernor’s re-election bid. The Kobo-Sango junction end of the road was jam-packed with traffic, as vehicles could onlymaneuver their ways through to thevenue.

The venue of the rally was filled tocapacity at about 12.00noon, as severalgroups were competing for recognition,while dressed in various uniforms. Onentering the town, one could easilyobserve that a particular Ankara waschosen for the rally, as youths, elders,men and women dressed in the same Aso-Ebi.

From hilly Oja-Ale section of the town,photographers could have the best sureof having a shot capable of winning themawards, as one could see swamps of headwalking to and from the venue. What ishowever unique about the scene was thevariation of colours generated by thedresses of the various groups competingfor recognition, with various inscriptionssuch as: ‘Aregbesola Leekan Si’, ‘KoDuro Soke’, ‘Let the Good WorkContinue’, etc.

The two ways leading to the venue ofthe rally were blocked by human trafficand security operatives had daunting taskcontrolling vehicular movement,particularly to pave way for the governor,who was the focus of the entire crowd atthe venue.

Like the a popular Yoruba proverb thatone does not enter into a communitywithout paying homage to the leaders ofthe town, Governor Rauf Aregbesola,accompanied by the golden boy of Edepolitics, Senator Isiaka Adeleke, drovestraight into the palace of Akire of Ikire topay homage and sought his blessingsahead of addressing the teeming crowd atthe venue and to have a hitch-free rallywithin his community.

A Hausa resident at Sabo area of thetown, Mallam Abbas Sodiq, whilespeaking with OSUN DEFENDER,described the event at phenomenon.According to him, for over seven years hehas been living in the community, he hasnever witnessed such influx of people tothe community and wished the trendcontinues because it was good for hisbusiness.

Although, one needed not be told thatthe Federal Constituency CampaignCommittee, headed by Elder PeterBabalola, put a lot into organising such a

huge event, as the venue of the rally wasrancor-free and made politicking aninteresting game for all to be part of.Particularly, as young, old, men andwomen, traders and artisans united toshow a resounding support for thegovernor, who, they said impacted on theinfrastructural development of theircommunities significantly.

The Executive Secretary of IrewoleLocal Government Council Area, whospoke on behalf of others in the federalconstituency, Honourable Soji Ajayi,disclosed that the people of the threecouncil areas constituting theconstituency were in support of thegovernor’s re-election bid, saying theywould vote and defend their votes duringthe poll.

According to him, the support thepeople showed the governor was due tohis vision and mission to make the areaand the state as a whole an Eldorado forall citizenry and residents.

As Governor Rauf Aregbesola arrivedthe venue, swamps of brooms weredancing in the air, welcoming thegovernor into the rally, who wasaccompanied by some national partyleaders.

Addressing the crowd, Aregbesola saidhis administration has been able to bringgood governance to bear through hisdevelopmental programmes and policies.

He said his administration has begun theelectrification project, which has been themajor problem of the people in the area forlong, stressing that the project is beingrun from Ile-Ife to the area.

“We are aware that one of the majorproblems of this area is electricity. Wehave started the electrification project andwe are running it from Ife to Orile-Owu,Ikire and others. Although, we haveprovided transformers, we will alsoprovide more transformers.

“Also, we are working massively onyour water project and if we cannot finishit during the first term, we will finish itduring our second term. We are committedto the progress of our state and progressof the nation, whereas those in PDP aresimply committed to themselves alone.They are selfish and avaricious. “We havenothing at all to do with them and wemust make sure that we get rid of themcompletely through votes,” he said.

In his welcome address, the formerChief of Staff to the Governor duringOlagunsoye Oyinlola’s administration andcurrent Chairman Local GovernmentService Commission in the state, ElderPeter Babalola, assured the APCchieftains in attendance that the people ofIrewole, Isokan and Ayedade arestrongly behind the governor as a resultof his performance. He said Aregbesolahas raised the bar of governance withinfrastructure renewal, functional

education and rural development andempowerment of the youths.

According to him: “The road to OrileOwu, Araromi Owu, Mokore, which noone had ever thought will be graded, talkless of reconstruction, we thank Godtoday, the road has been tarred by thegovernor and our people in the city andrural areas are very comfortable with theperformance of the governor”.

“They have no supporter again in Ikire.Their leader here in Ikire, Lere Oyewumi,who was struggling to become the deputygovernorship candidate of PDP, lost hispolling unit in 2011 and would also lose itthis time around.

“During their own time when we wereserving together, they failed woefully inservice delivery and I wonder what theywant to tell the people. They left roadundone, school feeding was moreexpensive with less quality butAregbesola is now providing nutritionalmeals for the pupils in an unprecedentedmanner,” Bablola said.

From all that transpired at the rally andif crowd at the rally would translate tovictory, it is certain that Governor RaufAregbesola would have an easy ride backto the Government House with a landslidemargin.

By SHINA ABUBAKAR

•(L-R) Speaker, State of Osun House of Assembly, Honourable Najeem Salaam; first governor in the State of Osun, Senator IsiakaAdeleke; Governor, State of Osun, Ogebni Rauf Aregbesola and his wife, Sherifat, at the Ikire Mega Rally.

•A mammoth crowd during the campaign.

13 OSUN DEFENDER Thursday, June 12, 2014FEATURE

Aregbesola Takes CampaignTrain To Ila-Orangun With A BangLast Tuesday, the seat of government in the State of Osun was moved to Ila-Orangun, where the train

of the Mega Rally was held. All the machinery of government were in Ila-Orangun. OSUN DE-FENDER was there to report on the huge turnout, the colourful event and how Aregbesola wasreceived in the ancient town.

THE Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola re-election mega campaign rally lastTuesday shifted to Ila Federal

Constituency of the State of Osun, the hometown of the Interim National Chairman ofthe All Progressives Congress (APC) andformer governor of the state, ChiefAbdulkareem Adebisi Akande andcoincidentally, the venue was the open fieldopposite his country home along Ora-Igbomina road in the ancient town.

On entering the town from either Ikirunor Oke-Ila axis, one would easily notice thatthe ancient town was indeed a beehive ofactivities politically in the state. Thesuccess of the rally was not unconnectedfrom the huge success recorded from thetwo previous rallies at Ile-Ife and Ikirefederal constituencies respectively. Thecampaign committee for the federalconstituency, headed by the HonourableCommissioner for Information and Strategy,Mr Sunday Akere, started preparation forthe rally as soon as the committee wasinaugurated.

First on its assignment, after the formationof sub-committees, was consultation withstakeholders in Ifedayo, Ila and BoluwaduroLocal Government Council areas, includingreligious groups, transport unions,monarchs and trade groups. It was asurprise to hear the groups listing thevarious achievements of the administrationwithin the time frame in office and were alleager to support the successful conduct ofthe rally, as well as ensure his re-electionsuccess by August 9.

As early as 9.00am, the venue was fullyready and people started filtering into thevenue like it would not be as enormous asthe previous rallies. However, the uniquething about the arrangement of the rally wasthe manner several groups trooped into the

venue in unique coloured and inscribed poloshirts that eventually made the venue moreof a colour display festival than a politicalrally.

First among such groups to arrive thevenue in colourful manner were the TrumpetGroup, De Young Mandate group,Oranmiyan Support Group, Ifedayo Womenin Politics, ARA Sisters, OranmiyanDrummers, Osun Positive Force, RaufGrassroots Movement, Ayekooto Groupamong many others.

Party loyalists defied the scorching sunto stand on the field to watch Juju Maestro,Sir Shina Peters perform before the arrivalof Mr Governor, who first paid courtesy callto the Orangun of Ila, Oba Wahab Adedotun(Bibire I) to pay homage to the traditionalruler, who the governor revered a lot forstaying by the truth since 2007.

All the major routes leading to the venueof the rally were decorated with APC flags,with buildings and structure bearing theposters of the governor, while market womenand traders abandoned their wares to catcha glimpse of the governor and hisentourage, while school children refused toreturn home after school hours to see thegovernor too.

By 1.00pm, the venue was filled tocapacity, while other people were troopingin from various areas of the federalconstituency, with residents of Ila, the hosttown ensuring that the other communitiesdid not beat them to the game; mobilisingevery minute from door-to-door to show thegovernor that Ila-Orangun is the home townof the number one man in the party. Theover 50 canopies set at the venue were

occupied by supporters, yet many could notfind a place to sit and had to take a stand forover eight hours that the rally lasted.

It was difficult understanding how theparty mobilised its supporters within thefederal constituency in such a manner thatthey stood the roughness of the sun from10.00am till the very end of the programme,a move that always act as motivation forthe governor, who find solace in the supporthe enjoyed from the electorate. Thegovernor specifically expressed hisappreciation for the understanding thepeople showed him through their resilientand belief in him to take Osun to great height.

The party campaign committee keepsimproving from one rally to another. Aunique feature at the Ila-Orangun rally wasthe sumptuous use of the broom, the symbolof the party, by virtually everyone at thevenue. Even market women displayed thebroom elegantly, as the governor drovethrough the busy Oja-Oba Market to thevenue amidst traffic build up.

Similarly, unlike the two previous rallies,members of the state parliament graced theoccasion in their numbers, as their roll callcompleted the entire 26 members dressed ina green Ankara chosen for the event.

Like in every other federal constituency,as the governor arrived at about 3:45pm,the venue was thrown into ecstasy, assupporters wielded their brooms in the airfor about three minutes that the governormoved around in his vehicle,acknowledging cheers from the crowd at thevenue, while the disc jockey welcomed thegovernor with the ‘stand up for thechampion’ track by Dbanj and Fuji maestro,King Saheed Osupa entertaining theaudience as well, announcing the triumphalentry of Governor Rauf Aregbesola, referredto as Oranmiyan to the venue.

Vigilance groups from the three localgovernment council areas too were involvedalong with the regular security outfits tomaintain order in and around the venue,particularly the hectic vehicular movementfrom the Ikirun axis of the town. Unlike inthe previous mega rallies, where starmusician such as Tony Tetulah, LKT andothers were the star major hip hop musicians,the Ila edition produced Kazeem Adetunjifrom Ataoja School of Science Osogbo asthe star musician of the day. Similarly, thefamous Ajobiewe and the veteran IyaAladuke were at the venue to add glamourto the rally.

Speakers after speakers at the rallyhinged their reasons seeking a re-electionfor the governor on his developmentalprojects across the state. The State DeputyGovernor, who was appearing for the firsttime at the Ila-Orangun rally, said theadministration has no plan to sack workersas being peddled around by members of theopposition, who, according to her, havenothing to use to seek the peoples’ mandate,having wasted over seven years in the helmsof affairs of the state.

What is however intriguing about themega rallies is the loyalty displayed by theteeming supporters of the party and itsmembers across the federal constituenciesin the state, as well as members of the partyin standing by the governor no matter thenature event that their presence is sought.

An aspirant of the Peoples DemocraticParty (PDP) in the state once said in anational daily that Governor RaufAregbesola is today the best politicalmobilizer in the country. This assertion isfurther re-enforced by the by the level ofsupport he enjoys from the teeming massesof the state and the level of turnoutwitnessed at the three federalconstituencies’ mega rallies do far.

By SHINA ABUBAKAR

•State of Osun Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola acknowledging cheers from his admirers at Ila-Orangun mega rally last Tuesday.

14 OSUN DEFENDER Thursday, June 12, 2014

Mega Rally: When Aregbesola Threw Ila-Orangun Into Festive Mood

IT was indeed a political gathering,but what was witnessed in Ila-Orangun on Tuesday at the mega

campaign rally of the second term bidof Governor Rauf Aregbesola wentbeyond campaign, as the entire ancienttown was thrown into a festive mood.

The ancient town, where the interimNational Chairman of the All ProgressiveCongress (APC), Chief Bisi Akandehails from was brought into a standstilldue to the number of crowd; politiciansand non-politicians that witnessed theoccasion.

As early as 9:00am, lovers andsympathisers of Aregbesola, who is theAPC governorship candidate for theAugust 9 election, had started troopinginto the town to identify with him andhis party.

Perhaps, because the day fixed forthe campaign coincided with the marketday of the town, there was a long hold-up of vehicles from the entry point ofthe town to Ila City Stadium, where theevent was eventually held.

From Ikirun to Iree to Eripa to Otan-Ayegbaju and finally to Ila-Orangun,commercial motorcyclists, popularlycalled Okada riders and APC supportersin branded vehicles had stationedthemselves at strategic positions waitingto accompany Aregbesola to IlaOrangun town with fanfare.

His entrance into the town wasgreeted with rousing welcome, asmotorists abandoned their vehicles andtraders abandoned their goods, pickedup brooms and wielded it in appreciationof the governor. Okada riders alsoabandoned their businesses and joined

his convoy to be part of the campaign.Traffic wardens and Federal Road

Safety Corps (FRSC) officials hadhectic time controlling traffic before thegovernor could have his way to payhomage to the Orangun of Ila, ObaWahab Oyedotun.

At the palace, Oba Oyedotun assuredthat the people of Ila FederalConstituency would reciprocate thedevelopment that the governor hadbrought to the area through their voteson August 9.

He stated that the governor’s effortsto transform the state are well-noticedand would not go unappreciated.

After leaving the palace, the governorheaded straight to the venue of thecampaign, where he was again cheeredby people on the streets, who picked uptheir brooms and wielded it at him.

His arrival to the venue of theprogramme was another glamorousscene entirely, as the mammoth crowdof his broom-wielding supporterswelcomed him with ecstasy.

Before the arrival of the governor, hip-hop artistes, Nollywood actors andactresses, local drummers andentertainers and popular Fuji musicians,likw Saheed Osupa have been onstandby entertaining the mammothcrowd of APC members andsympathisers, which still continued whenhe arrived.

While security operatives were atalert, the air surveillance was also notleft out.

Addressing the joyful crowd,

Aregbesola said his quest for re-electionwas aimed at completing thedevelopmental projects he had startedand embarked new ones.

According to him, the elementaryschool children are not only being fedwith nutritious meals, 2,240 food vendorshave been employed in the Ila/Ifedayo/Boluwaduro constituency to preparemeals for the kids, while new modelschools are being constructed in thearea.

He also said that apart from the factthat free uniforms were distributed topupils, 2,000 Opon Imo have so far beendistributed in the constituency.

The governor also added that N10,000was paid to each of the students of higherinstitutions, who are eligible to bursary,as against the N3,000 being paid beforethe advent of his administration.

Aregbesola further added that so far,N18 million had been paid to elderlycitizens in the constituency, while flood-prone streams in the area have beendredged.

He then hinted that the water andelectrification projects in the area havebeen started, saying that the projectwould be completed, while additionalones would be started.

While speaking, Chief Bisi Akandedescribed Aregbesola as a uniqueperson, who is sent to place Osun on apath of progress and development.

He noted that all the programmes ofAregbesola’s administration seemedimpossible, but he has been able todemonstrate that there is the hand ofGod in his leadership.

In his own address at the event, the

first Executive Governor of the state,Alhaji Isiaka Adeleke, said, theperformance of Aregbesola has madehim popular and acceptable to the peopleof the state.

He stated that the August 9 electionwould confirm his popularity and thepopularity of his party, APC over that ofthe PDP and its candidate.

The former governor, who was alsoan aspirant under the PDP beforedefecting to APC, said that he left hisformer party having found out that thosein the party are only interested in theirselfish agenda and ready to kill anybodyin the name of politics.

He said he did not receive moneyfrom anybody to join APC, saying: “Idon’t need to collect money fromanybody before joining a party. I’m notrich, but I am not hungry.”

The state deputy governor, MrsTitilayo Laoye-Tomori urged the peopleto disregard those that are telling liesagainst Aregbesola, with a view tocurrying favour from the people.

The speakers then called on thepeople to vote for Aregbesola for asecond term in appreciation of hisdevelopmental programmes and policiesand defend their votes.

Among those at the campaign wereAregbesola’s wife, Sherifat; Speaker ofthe state House of Assembly, HonourableNajeem Salaam and other members ofthe House; members of the stateexecutive council; Professor MojeedAlabi, Senator Bayo Salami, Alhaji FataiDiekola, Senator Sola Adeyeye andSenator Babajide Omoworare amongothers.

By KAZEEM MOHAMMED

FEATURE

•Jubilant crowd welcoming Governor Rauf Aregbesola to Ila-Orangun last Tuesday.

15 OSUN DEFENDER Thursday, June 12, 2014 PHOTOTALK

•A cross section of APC supporters at the rally.

•Some of the Aregbesola admirers and supporters hanging around to listen to his speech on the occasion.

All Progressives Congress (APC) 2014 Governorship Campaign At Ila Stadium, Ila-Orangun, State Of Osun, Last Tuesday. Photo: GBENGA ADENIYI, SHOLA ADERINTO AND JESUDOYIN ABRAHAM.

TUESDAY, JUNE 12, 2014

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

By ADE OLUGBOTEMIIT is generally believedthat the custodians of

ourcommonwealth should

make a way by which theless-privileged will haveaccess to functionaleducation and have otherbasic needs of life met liketheir counterparts fromwell-to-do families. This hasbecome necessary for so manyreasons, ranging from the need tohave an egalitarian society, to meetingthe global expectation of having peoplethat will be free from ignorance andnaivety. Apart from these, those whodo not go to school stand the risk ofbecoming threats to those who arewell enlightened, and the burden ofinactivity will far outweigh the error ofcommission that prompted the need ofeducation for all to be overlooked.

There is nothing happening at themoment to suggest that the FederalGovernment has any plans to makefunctional education available for theNigerian citizens. The falling standardof education seems not to bother ourpolicy makers, possibly because theirchildren have the option of sourcingthe luxury of education outside theshores of the Federal Republic ofNigeria.

Our policy on education appears toouncoordinated, and therefore short ofthe standard comparable with thoseattainable in most developing nationsof the world. That is why it hasbecome almost impossible to explorejob prospects that abound in mostcountries of the world that give highpremium to quality.

Educational institutions owned byprivate individuals are known to be tooexpensive for prospective studentsfrom poor backgrounds; enrollingwards in them is thus something ofclass distinction than distinctive questfor excellence that is the hallmark ofmeaningful progression in life. Thosewho take their children there are sureof job placements after graduation,irrespective of the manner ofcertificates they come out with. Thatis why performance standard keepsdwindling in our national life sincemost public and private offices aremanned by products that are not wellgroomed for challenges to besurmounted, whereas the bestmaterials from public schools are inwanderers’ world looking foropportunities that are at best mirages.

There are respites for ourunemployed graduates, in that theycan live outside the world of ignorancethat is exclusively reserved for theilliterates and unlearned. They candecipher through their rationaldifferentiation instincts that make themknow what is right and what is wrong.They can also voyage into the worldof the unknown to navigate foropportunities that will alleviate theirproblem of joblessness. Some of them

have even broken through theirlimitations to outclass the so-calledchildren of the movers and shakers.This feat may soon become impossibleif the current trend of outrageous feesincrease in our federal universities isnot checkmated.

Recently, parents and students whohave banked on the low-fee regime inthe Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife suddenly learnt that the amountspayable per annum to attain varyingfirst degrees have gone upastronomically. One of the concernedparents expressed serious concernabout the level of insensitivity beingexhibited by the policy makers of thatwell-acknowledged most beautifulcampus in Africa through unwarrantedincrease in the payable fees by over200% of the original fees. One of theprotesting students, who was seenweeping profusely, said he sponsors

himself in the university because hismother could not send him to school,as she manages to fend for his otherfour siblings since over eight yearsago, when their father died after manyyears of protracted illness that drainedtheir living resources.

Curiosity propelled furtherinvestigation, and the discovery wasquite alarming. Obafemi AwolowoUniversity has in her so many self-sponsored students, who take time outto do menial jobs in order to put bodiesand souls together and also to meetthe financial obligations that mightarise from time to time. Many of thosestudents in this category that werecontacted appeared hopeless becausethere is no way they can devote moretime for jobs to fill the new gapscreated and still be able to performwell in their academics out of the littletime that will now be available for

rigorous and ever-demandingacademic pursuits. They thushave the option of dropping outof school, or forge ahead andpass out with low General PointAverage (GPA).

None of the two options aboveis good to be desired due to theoverall implications; or what is

the essence of embarking onsomething that will eventually bringhalf joy, half sorrow? That is why itbecomes necessary for the authoritiesconcerned to urgently do something,and that urgently too. The FederalGovernment, the university authority,the Parents’ Association, and theAlumni Association; all must cometogether to stop this aberration thatmay likely jeopardise the future ofmany innocent youths. Nigeria iscurrently having too much to grapplewith, and we all must do everything toavoid anything that may aggravate it.All stakeholders must realise thateducation is part of socialresponsibilities expected to be fulfilledat any point in time in any country. Ibelieve Nigeria cannot be anexception.

This may be one shot on the leg toomany for President GoodluckJonathan, who has many thingsneeding his rapt attention at themoment. The security situation in thecountry is enough to face than to addmore to it. There was once a similarsituation in the State of Osun beforewhen the students of the state-owneduniversity were made to payexorbitant fees. The current governorshowed unequalled understanding byslashing the fees payable then byalmost half. Parents and Students ofUNIOSUN will forever be grateful toGovernor Aregbesola for not beingadamant, despite the fact that the statelacked the financial muscle to caterfor so many needs calling for attentionat that time. Governor Aregbesolashould therefore lend Mr President theneeded counsel that will save thecountry from educationalembarrassment that will certainly notbe to the best interest of the country.

There may be epileptic powersupply, our transportation system mayremain a conduit pipe to siphon ourresources, agricultural revolution mayremain a mirage, and the quest forindustrialization may remain a paperwork promise; we may continue toendure these as we are alreadysmarting in until we are able to use ourvoting power and right to vote a non-performing government at the centreout of office, the overall effect of afrustrated Fellow on our national lifemay be too grave to grapple with.Boko Haram resulted from unbridledmalfeasances of many years; I hopethe menace that may result fromimminent drop-out syndrome will betackled now, so that we all do not getconsumed by the time-bomb that isbegging for timely detonation.OSUN DEFENDER is published by Moremi Publishing House Limited, Promise Point Building, Opposite Guaranty Trust Bank GTB, Gbongan Road, Osogbo, State of Osun. All correspondence

to the 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.

High Fees Regime InOur Federal Institutions

•JONATHAN