VOL. 9. NO.032 NNNNN5050505050SATURDAY, MARCH 15, 2014

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

Front Page Comment

- See StoryOn Page 3

Who KilledChief Bola Ige,former Attorney-

General andMinister of

Justice? IGE

- See StoryOn Page 4

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

Voters’ Registration Exercise:

PDP Thugs OnRampage In Osun

We Are A Government On A Mission - Aregbesola

Osun PDP's plan orgy of violence

If the much talkedabout plan of the far frombeing People's Demo-cratic Party in the stateof Osun to perpetrateviolence as the electiondraws closer was real,then they better have are-think. If the muchtalked about plan of thefar from being People'sDemocratic Party in thestate of Osun to perpe-trate violence as the elec-tion draws closer was real,

then they better have are-think. To have a re-thinkis a necessity for Osun PDPbefore they embark on Rus-sian-roulette. Of course anyplan to, yet again, embark onwhat they are best knownfor; perpetration of violence,will be tantamount to

embarking on a danger-ous game with dire conse-quences for them.Likeformer President OlusegunObasanjo - employing ayoruba axiom in his letter lastmonth to President Jonathan- rightly said; "the person onwhose head coconut was

broken may not live tosavour the taste of itssweetness". Before it'stoo late for them it's bet-ter they make a U-turnfrom the journey they areplanning to embark onbecause this time aroundit won't be business asusual for them. Shouldthey go ahead to hatchtheir diabolical plan asthey did in 2007 then theymust also be ready to

continue on page5

2 OSUN DEFENDER Saturday, March 15, 2014News

By KEHINDE AYANTUNJI

By KAZEEM MOHAMMED

•The governor, State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola commissioning Ansar-U-Deen Elementary School while withhim, his deputy, Otunba (Mrs) Titi Laoye-Tomori (3rd left); Deputy Speaker, State of Osun House of Assembly,Honourable Akintunde Adegboye (right); state Commissioner for Women and Children Affairs, Mrs AdetounAdegboyega (2nd left) during the official commissioning of Ansar-U-Deen (AUD) Elementary School at Isale Osun,Osogbo, State of Osun, last Thursday. Photo: GBENGA ADENIYI.

Osun Lawmaker Weeps Over Yobe Pupils’ Killings•Assembly Writes Off Centenary Celebration

A lawmaker in the State of Osun House of Assembly,Honourable Dejo Osuolale, betrayed his emotionon Wednesday as he broke down in tears while

commenting on the recent killings of pupils in Yobe Stateby Boko Haram insurgents.

It would be recalled thatseveral students and staffof Federal Government GirlsCollege (FGGC) in Buni Yadi,Yobe State were killed bygunmen suspected to bemembers of Boko Haramterrorists a day to the recentCentenary Celebration bythe Federal Government.

The Speaker of theAssembly, HonourableNajeem Salaam, at theplenary session of theHouse in Osogbo onWednesday had askedmembers to comment on thenecessity or otherwise ofthe celebration and the levelof insecurity in the country.

When it was the turn ofOsuolale to comment, hebroke down and weptprofusely.

Overwelmed by emotion,the lawmaker, whorepresents Boripe/Boluwaduro constituencysaid: “I am sad that innocentchildren could just bewiped-off like that, yet thePresident did not care.”

It took the intervention ofthe Speaker to calm thelawmaker down and askedhim to have his seat.

Osuolale’s reactions,however, brought solemn

mood to the floor of theAssembly and took fewminutes to continue theproceedings.

Salaam said as parents,the killing of the innocentstudents was painful andbarbaric, wondering why

the Federal Governmentcould still go ahead with thecelebration, inspite of theincident.

“I understand why mycolleague broke down intears. That is exactly howanyone, who is a parent, willreact.

“The lives of this innocentstudents, who couldpossibly be our futureleaders, were cut short byBoko Haram insurgent.What then are we

celebrating?.“The situation in our

country today called forsober reflection, rather thancelebration.

“Do we need to celebratewhen we have myopicthinking, as to what we doin power and where nobodyis safe?

“It is so pathetic that aday to the celebration,innocent children wereslaughtered in a countrythat we have leaders,

security operatives, yet, westill went ahead with thecelebration,” Salaam added.

He then called on theFederal Government toensure that those behind thekillings are made to face thewrath of the law.

Other lawmakers,including Leke Ogunsola(Ayedire); Wasiu Adebayo(Olorunda); AjibolaAkinloye (Ila) and AbiodunAwolola (Egbedore), whoalso contributed to thediscussion, posited that thekillings of the students wereuncalled for.

Omisore’s Thugs Descend On APC Agents In Ile-Ife•Blast Man’s Face With Stone, Damage Car

THE steady peace in Ile-Ife for the past three yearswas on Wednesday truncated by suspected PeoplesDemocratic Party (PDP) thugs, believed to be loyal

to Senator Iyiola Omisore, a governorship aspirant on theparty’s platform.

The suspected thugsinvaded Okerewe Ward 2 inIfe-East Local GovernmentCouncil Area of the state onWednesday afternoon tosnatch the voters’registration materials, butwere said to have beenresisted by AllProgressives Congress(APC) agent at the unit.

The Ward Chairperson,Mrs Williams, was beatenup, seriously wounded,while her finger was alsomacheted.

Adewumi Adetola,

another APC agent, was alsomacheted on the head, while

the thugs blasted AbiodunWilliams’ face with stone.

Three of them werecurrently receivingtreatment at the ObafemiAwolowo UniversityTeaching Hospital Complex,(OAUTHC), Ile Ife as at the

time of filing this report..According to an

eyewitness, Mr SakaIbraheem, the suspectedthugs attempted to snatchthe registration materials atthe polling unit, which wasresisted by the party agentsand the people who queuedto register.

Ibraheem said: “the thugsstormed the unit and chasedpeople away with weaponsand made several efforts tocart-away the Direct DataCapturing machine, but metserious resistance from theresidents of the area, whowere waiting to beregistered”.

“When it was obviousthat they could not go awaywith the machine, they leftthe unit and few minuteslater, they reinforced againand descended on the APCagents by beating them and

using dangerous weaponsto attack them.”

Asking on the role playedby the security agents, thesource said the suspectedPDP thugs were larger innumber beyond what thetwo policemen and a CivilDefence Corp office at thepolling centre could curtail.

It was gathered that afterleaving the polling unit, thethugs moved to anotherAPC chieftain, Pa Lawal’shouse, at Mosalasi Lane,Itakogun, where his car wasdamaged

Pa Lawal is the father ofAlhaji Lawal Tajudeen, theExecutive Secretary of IfeEast Local GovernmentCouncil.

As at the time of fillingthis report, it could not beenconfirmed whether anyonehas been arrested inconnection with the attacks.•ABIODUN WILLIAMS •ADEWUMI ADETOLA

THE State of Osun chapter of the All ProgressivesCongress (APC) has brought to the attention of thegeneral public and Professor Attahiru Jega, the

Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC), the acts of thuggery and brigandage beingperpetrated by some leaders and agents of the PeoplesDemocratic Party (PDP) attacking registration centresand maiming agents and supporters of the party.

Registration Exercise: PDP Thugs On Rampage In Osun

This was contained in apress statement issued andsigned by the party Directorof Publicity, Research andStrategy, Barrister KunleOyatomi, on Thursday.

According to the APCspokesman, in Ife-East LocalGovernment Council Area,some PDP thugs movedround the entire registrationcentres and were attacking

everybody on sight.The thugs were in

Okerewe Wards 1 and 2,where APC party agentsand many of the partysupporters were wounded.

A number of the victimsof the PDP assaults havesince been rushed to thehospital for medicalattention.

“They particularly went

to 1, Mosalasi Lane,Itakogun Ile-Ife, where theyattacked the mother of theExecutive Secretary of Ife-East Local GovernmentCouncil and some otherpeople.

Oyatomi in the pressstatement identified thethugs as being: Attillery, AyoWasca, Fatai Ologede, AlhajiAkinsolugba, Bisi Elelede,Alhaja Silifa and Kako.

At Ward 4 of ObokunLocal Government CouncilArea, Ilase, PDP thugs werealso reported to havedisrupted the ongoingregistration, where oneBabatunde Olatunji was

attacked, because APCsupporters resisted anattempt by the PDP toregister under-ageregistrants.

In Atakunmosa-WestLocal Government CouncilArea, PDP thugs alsoattacked APC members.

As at press time, two ofthose attacked sustainedserious injuries and are nowhospitalized at Wesley GuildHospital, Ilesa.

The party in the statehowever, expressed itssurprise over the attitude ofthe law enforcement officersat the various scenes of theattacks, as they were

alleged to have looked theother way, while the PDPthugs perpetrated thedastardly act.

“It is surprising that thePolice, who are supposed tomaintain orderliness at theregistration centres, lookedthe other way, when ourmembers were beingattacked.

“It is clear that the PDP isdesperate at rigging

elections as elections arerigged before, during andafter. People’s votes andchoice must count. We urgeour members and generalpublic to resist PDPdesperation for a peacefulregistration exercise andalso appeal to Policeauthorities to be responsibleto their task,” Oyatomistressed.

Osun PDP’s Threat To PeaceEscalates: Kills One Of Its Own

•APC Alerts Police

THE State of Osun Commissioner of Police and othersecurity agencies in the state have been alerted bythe All Progressives Congress (APC) that the Peoples

Democratic Party’s (PDP) threat to peace in the state isescalating dangerously.

Within four days fromMonday to Thursday duringthe week, PDP thugs andkillers have maimed, injuredand murdered citizens of thestate in the party’s desperationto assume power throughviolence.

According to a statementissued on Thursday by theparty’s Director of Publicity,Research and Strategy,Barrister Kunle Oyatomi, theparty drew attention of thesecurity agencies to Wednesdaymurder of one of its ownmembers by the PDP at Gbodo,in Ile-Ife.

Reports reaching the APCSecretariat informed of thetragedy that resulted after aPDP meeting at Gbododegenerated into violenceduring which their own

partyman was killed.However, in an attempt to

divert attention from the crime,the PDP unleashed violence onthe father of Ife East LocalGovernment ExecutiveSecretary, Mr Tajudeen Lawal,vandalizing the old man’sproperty.

“On Wednesday, during theregistration exercise, the PDPstruck in several centresviolently disrupting theexercise and injuring severalsupporters of the APC andother citizens, who turned upin numbers to be registered forthe August gubernatorialelection.

“Some of the severelyinjured victims of the violencehad to be hospitalised.

The APC therefore, wantsthe security services to takevery seriously the increasingaudacity with which the PDPis operating violently in Osunand constituting itself into alawless and reckless army ofthugs bent on intimidating thepeople to support their party.

According to the APC,Osun citizens will not be cowedby PDP’s intimidation and thenotoriety for violence by oneof the PDP aspirants, whereone of its own members waskilled.

The APC therefore, urged itssupporters to remain firm andbe vigilant but peaceful and lawabiding, admonishing them nottake the law into their hands;but constantly report PDPlawlessness to the police andother security forces on handwhenever a threat to peaceoccurs.

3 News OSUN DEFENDER Saturday, March 15, 2014

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•(L-R) Professor Ayo Olukotun, Lead Speaker; Special Adviser to State of Osun Governor on Lands, Dr AyoadeOwoade and Otunba Lai Oyeduntan during a One-Day Stakeholders’ symposium, titled: ‘Osun Education Policy inPerspective; Issues, Challenges and Imperative”, organised by Osun Movement for peace in Osogbo last Wednesday.

Photo: GBENGA ADENIYI

By SHINA ABUBAKAR

Change Of NameI, formerly known as

A O F O L A J UMORADEKE ROSELINE,now wish to be known andaddressed as MRSA D E S A N M IMORADEKE. All formerdocuments remain valid.General public should takenote.

Osun School Restructuring ‘ll Produce Competent Youths - Laoye-TomoriBy SOLA JACOBS

THE ongoing restructuring of the education sectorin the State of Osun has been described as a systemaimed by the state governor, Ogbeni Rauf Adesoji

Aregbesola, to produce competent youths that willcontribute meaningfully to the development of the state inno distant future and be able to compete favourably withtheir counterparts from every part of the world.

Deputy Governor andCommissioner forEducation in the State ofOsun, Otunba (Mrs.) GraceTitilayo Laoye-Tomori,stated this in her keynoteaddress to participants at asymposium organized bythe government of the Stateof Osun to address thestate’s educationprogramme tagged:‘Symposium on OsunEducation Policy inPerspective: Issues’,Challenges and Imperatives.

Describing education asnot just an ordinary toolmeant for knowledgeacquisition, but amachinery, which will assistin the development of acomplete man and help himto contribute meaningfullyto his society, Mrs. Laoye-Tomori said the symposiumis in tandem with the open-door policy of the presentadministration in the Stateof Osun, which focuses onserving people of the statebetter.

According to her, thepresent administrationinherited a moribund schoolsystem on its assumption ofoffice in November 2010with virtually nothing onground to aid teaching andlearning in the state’s publicprimary and secondaryschools, teachers’ moralebeing at its lowest ebb, poorperformance of students atboth the internal and externalexaminations culminating inhaving only three percent ofsecondary schoolgraduates qualified foradmission into tertiaryinstitutions.

Otunba Laoye-Tomorisaid the number ofelementary school pupilswhich totalled 155,318 at theintroduction of the schoolfeeding programme of thepresent administration,OMEALS, on April 30, 2012has since risen to 252,793 asat December 2013, addingthat the programme gulpedbulk sum of money from thecoffers of the stategovernment on daily basisand had tremendouslyincreased elementaryschool enrolment in thestate.

She said N14.41 billionhas been committed into theconstruction of 39elementary schools, 14middle schools and 12 highschools across the state,while another N1.6 billionhas been expended onrenovation of dilapidatedstructures in schools,together with a sum of N2.5billion spent on thepurchase of schoolfurniture.

Otunba Laoye-Tomorisaid in an attempt to createa unified identity forelementary, middle and highschool pupils in the stateand to entrensh virtues ofOmoluabi among them, thestate government freelygave 750,000 schooluniforms to them, providedteaching aids in schoolswith N503 million andreleased a total sum of N856million as running andexamination grants toschools adding that OponImo (Tablet of Knowledge)has been freely given to

28,000 out of 32,000 pupils.Speaking on the

reduction of school fees inthe state-owned tertiaryinstitutions, the statedeputy governor saidUNIOSUN fee was reducedfrom N198,000 to N100,000,that of the state’s

Polytechnic reduced fromN42,000 to N25,000, whilethat of the state’s Collegesof Education was reducedfrom N28,000 to N20,000.

In his lecture, Dr. AyoadeOwoade, said the stategovernment’s aim was togive the best to people of

the state through the seriesof its programmes, mostimportantly in theeducation sector, addingthat the administration ofMr. Rauf Aregbesola is fullyfocussed on improving ontheir plights.

He stressed that the

administration will stop atnothing to better their lots,adding that theadministration is God-sent toimprove their lives.

Participants at thesymposium were drawn fromdifferent media housesacross the country.

US Pledges Support For Osun, Ekiti Elections

THE United States Government has pledged itssupport towards the conduct of a free, fair andcredible elections in Ekiti and Osun States in June

and August respectively.

According to the USConsular-General in Nigeria,Mr Jeffrey Hawkins, whovisited the All ProgressivesParty Secretariat in the Stateof Osun, the Americangovernment is interested inNigeria’s democraticprocess, hence itscommitment to ensuring freeand fair polls in the country.

He said the outcome ofEkiti and Osun electionswould have impact on thegeneral elections in 2015,hence, the United States hasa responsibility in assistingstakeholders in ensuringfree, fair and credible pollsin the country.

Hawkins, who wasaccompanied by otherofficers of the USgovernment, said he hadmet with the Police, INECand also civil societies in abid to ensure that all

stakeholders work towardsensuring hitch-freeelections in the states.

Earlier, the StateCommissioner forInformation and Strategy,Mr Sunday Akere hadhighlighted the relationshipbetween credible electionand good governance,disclosing the variousachievements of theGovernor Rauf Aregbesola-led administration in thestate.

He disclosed that thegovernor has delivered onhis electioneering campaignpromises, which were hingeon the six-point integralaction plan of the stategovernment.

Akere added that thecurrent administration in thestate believe that crediblepoll is the bedrock ofdemocracy, hence, it

resolved to provideenabling environment foreligible voters to voteaccording to theirconscience.

He added that theadministration and the APCbelieve in the principle ofone-man-one-vote andwould not compromise itsbelief, hence the need for theUS to reach out to otherstakeholders to helptowards the same objective.

Earlier in hispresentation, the APCInterim Chairman in thestate, Elder Biyi Adelowosought the assistance of theUS in the area of logisticsand manpower trainingtowards educatingelectorate and party officialson the importance ofcredible polls to democraticgovernance.

He added that anotherarea, where the party

Laoye-Tomori Appeals To INEC On Voters’ RegistrationBy SOLA JACOBS

DEPUTY Governor of the State of Osun, Otunba (Mrs.)Grace Titilayo Laoye- Tomori, has sent an appeal tothe Independent National Electoral Commission

(INEC) to address the teething problems associated withthe five-day voters’ registration exercise, whichcommenced in the state on Tuesday.

Otunba Laoye-Tomorigave this submission after

monitoring the exercisearound Osogbo andOlorunda Local GovernmentCouncil Areas in Osogbo,the state capital.

According to the deputygovernor; “many of ourpeople are finding it difficultto register because most ofthe machines sent to thestate by INEC for theexercise are faulty. I herebyappeal to leadership of theelectoral body to kindlyaddress this hiccup, so asto allow our people to make

maximum use of theopportunity.”

Appealing to people ofthe state to cooperate withthe electoral officials dratedto their areas for theexercise, Mrs. Laoye-Tomori said if total peace ismaintained, all the eligiblevoters in the State of Osuncould be registered withinthe stipulated period.

According to her, thosewho could not exchangetheir temporary voters’cards with permanent oneson or before last Sundayshould exercise patience,saying collection ofpermanent voters’ card willrecommence at theexpiration of the ongoingexercise.

The deputy governor

however appealed to allelegible voters in the Stateof Osun to turn out in theirlarge numbers and getthemselves registered in theexercise before it comes to aclose, so as to give themample opportunity to votefor candidates of theirchoice during the August 9,2014 governorship election.

Some of the people whobore their minds to thestate’s Deputy Governorexpressed their displeasureat the slow pace of theexercise and pledged theirsupport to all the electoralofficers handling theexercise in their area.

The five days exerciseends on Sunday the 16th ofMarch.

Aregbesola Advocates SustainableClean Environment

By SHINA ABUBAKAR

needed assistance, is in thetraining of observers toensure effective electionmonitoring, as well aspresence of internationalobservers in all the units inthe state.

The gathering wasattended by all partyexecutives in the state, theAttorney-General andCommissioner for Justice inthe State, Barrister WaleAfolabi and others toonumerous to mention.

GOVERNOR of the State of Osun, Ogbeni RaufAregbesola, has urged the people of the state tosupport the government and other organisations

responsible for environmental management in sustainingthe culture of clean and hygienic environment.

He stated that thedifference between animaland man is that man iscreated by God to be clean.

Governor Aregbesolaadmonished the peoplewhile speaking at a recent

event organised by a non-governmental organisation,Environ-Sanitation MattersInitiative at the LocalGovernment ServiceCommission Hall, Osogbo,State of Osun capital.

Aregbesola said it is theculture of Nigerians,especially Yoruba duringpre-independence era, toalways be neat, but thesituation turned around tenyears after independence.

He noted that cleanlinesspromotes healthy livingand healthy living moves anation forward, adding thatthe culture is the majorreason why hisadministration made it thefifth of its six-point integralaction plan to promotehealthy living.

He advocated theplanting of trees andflowers around and insidehomes with a view tobringing about fresh air thatwill improve good health.

Earlier in his address,Chairman of Environ-Sanitation MattersInitiative, Sanitarian Idowu

Korede said the mission ofthe organisation is tosupport the efforts of thestate government inensuring a cleanenvironment.

Korede also urgedNigerians to collaborate withgovernment at all levels inensuring a cleanenvironment.

Organisations andstakeholders, who havecontributed meaningfully tothe promotion of a cleanenvironment, who wererecipients of awarded at theprogramme included UniqFM Ilesa with the CorporateAmbassador’s Award,Honourable LawrenceBabatunde Ayeni; a Lagos-based lawmaker andEnvironmental HealthOfficials Association amongothers.

Speaking with newsmenafter receiving the award onbehalf of his Unique FM, thestation’s General Manager,Mr Opeyemi Fajemilehin,said the organisation will notrelent in its quest toenlighten and sensitise thepublic on the importanceclean environment.

Also speaking,Honourable Lawrence Ayenisaid the award was amotivation for him to domore, as he is keen in movingthe state forward under theleadership of Mr RaufAregbesola.

OSUN DEFENDER Saturday, March 15, 20144 News

Appointment Of Adesiyan As Minister Of Police Affairs, Insult On Yoruba People - COSEGBy ISMAEEL UTHMAN

THE recent appointment of Mr. Jelili Adesiyan byPresident Goodluck Jonathan as Police AffairsMinister has been described as an insult on Yoruba

people of South Western Nigeria and also an attempt toshield him and his cohorts from prosecution over the deathof the former Attorney-General of the Federation, ChiefBola Ige.

In a press release at theend of its monthly meeting,where the state of the nationwas thoroughly discussed,the Coalition of Oodua Self-determination Groups

(COSEG) signed by itsChairman and Secretary,Ifedayo Ogunlana andRasak Olokoba, describedthe appointment as anattempt to pervert thecourse of justice.

According to the group,the appointment of Mr. JeliliAdesiyan as minister is notonly an insult on the peopleof Yorubaland, but adisservice to the memory ofthe late Chief Bola Ige.

“A man who is an aide ofSenator Iyiola Omisore,known for violence andbrigandage cannot betrusted in such a position.

“He is still underinvestigation for the murderof Chief Bola Ige, yet he is aminister in-charge of agency

of governmentinvestigation, calls toquestion the anti-corruptioncrusade of the Jonathan-ledgovernment.’’

’’Continuing ‘’ we havenoted the hatred presidentJonathan has for ourpeople, that’s why analleged murderer could beappointed as Police Affairsminister.

COSEG equally blamesthe Senate for the hastymanner in which the allegedmurderer-nominee was

confirmed, even with stiffopposition from the threesenators from Osun State.

‘’We are confused howa man standing trial formurder could have scaledthe screening of thesecurity as well as that ofthe senate of the F ederalRepublic, if not that himself and his god father are up toa game’’.

“It is also very worrisomehow our security systemworks again, if an allegedmurderer that has a case in

Delegates’ List Does Not Represent Yoruba “First 11,” Groups SaySOME Yoruba groups on Wednesday said it is difficult

for anyone to prove that the region’s delegates to theNational Conference are the best the region can offer.

The final list, they said in apress release signed by repre-sentatives of each of the eightgroups, is a detour from theadvocacy being made from allquarters, especially the Yorubaroyal fathers, that the regionmust send its “First 11” to theconference, if it must maximisethe opportunities it present.

The groups and their respec-tive representatives were:Afenifere Renewal Group;Honourable OlawaleOshun, Oodua Foundation;Professor Banji Akintoye,Oodua Nationalist Coalition;Group Captain AdesojiAderemi (Rtd), Agbekoya Re-formed Society; Chief KunleOshodi, Oodua Peoples’ Con-

gress; Edward Olusola Ajayi,Atayese; Chief AdekunleOlaiya, Covenant Group; Dr.Kola Afolabi, and AfenifereYouth Forum; Dotun Atilade.

The statement, titled:“Southwest’s Confab Del-egates List: Is this our “First11”?”, described the final del-egate list published by the Fed-eral Government as a “gather-ing of the good, the bad, andthe ugly,” and said the contro-versies trailing the publishedlist “suggests that some del-egates were forced in againstthe wish of the people.”

“While we cannot speak onhow delegates from other eth-nic nationalities and interestgroups emerged, we owe the

Yoruba people a duty to pro-vide some insights about thedelegates from the South West.Not doing so, in our view, maybe misinterpreted as anendorsement of the process,”the statement said.

“We could have sent ourown list of delegates to theOffice of Secretary to the Gov-ernment of the Federation, butwe did not. We put the region’sinterest above any other con-siderations, in order to create aunited platform that will bestserve the aspirations of Yorubapeople. This decision seemedright, considering the advocacyfrom every quarter that the re-gion must send its “First 11”to the conference. This in-formed our decision to partici-pate at the Ishara Unity Meet-ing and also at the GrandYoruba Summit in Ibadan.”

“However, it is difficult forthose that masterminded thefinal list, or anyone for thatmatter, to prove that the listtruly represents Yoruba’s“First 11.” The “selection”process got so convoluted thatpeople who did not expresslyendorse the harmonised YorubaAgenda for 2014 National Con-ference made the delegateslist!”

“This is a worrisome devel-opment that gives some cre-dence to the rumour making therounds that the delegates to theNational Conference mighthave been selected for otherreasons at variance with theplan to restructure the coun-try and find lasting solutionsto our many problems. Shouldthis conference therefore fail tomeet the expectations of ourpeople; which is to attain true

federalism, let every Yorubason and daughter know wherethe betrayal emerged from. Weare still asking ourselves ifthere is truly an unspokenagenda that the president wantsto achieve by convoking thisconference and we would wishthe answer is negative. But themyriad controversies trailingthe published delegate list bythe Federal Government sug-gests that some delegates wereforced in against the wish ofthe people.”

“Certainly, there are somedelegates, whose credibilityand loyalty to the Yorubaagenda and the pursuit to re-structure Nigeria is unwaver-ing. There are also those whoare perceived, largely due totheir antecedents, as reaction-ary elements, who would ratherwant the retention of the sta-tus quo. We hope those in thelatter category can prove theirworth at this conference andput national interest above anyparochial interest.”

“However, we would like toremind all delegates of Yorubaextraction that the people ofthe region have set their mini-mum irreducible agenda for theoutcome of this conference, andit would be in the interest of allthat the agenda is fully pursuedand realised.”

“Finally, as a group that isirrevocably committed to truefreedom and development ofthe Yoruba people, we shallfocus on the opportunities thatthe conferencepresents and continue to workand press for the interest of ourpeople at the National Confer-ence, believing that delegates,no matter their platform,would see reason to seize thisgolden opportunity to changethe misfortune of the countryand put it on a path of themuch-required developmentand purposefulgovernance,” the group af-firmed.

Ex-Speaker Adejare In Voter’s Card MessBy SHINA ABUBAKAR

THE former Speaker of the State of Osun House ofAssembly, Honourable Adejare Bello, was recentlyinvolved in a messy affair, when some agents of oppo-

sition parties refused his attempt to make away with un-claimed permanent voters’ cards.

served that the process was

going on smoothly without anyhindrance since its commence-ment on Friday, but as the pro-cess drew to an end on Sun-day, desperation set in for themembers of the formerSpeaker’s party.

It was gathered that the to-tal number of registered votersin the ward was 600, however,as at Sunday afternoon, a littleover 200 had collected theircards.

When it was obvious thatother owners of the cardswould not appear before itsclosure, at about 11 to11:30am, the former Speakerapproached other party agentsat the Aranin Unit, which is hisvoting unit at Oloogun/Agbaakin Ward Three in Ede-North Local GovernmentCouncil Area to share the re-maining voters’ cards.

However, one MrMusbaudeen Adeniran, whosupervised the National Con-science Party (NCP) agent,

raised alarm, saying he wouldnot allow such arrangement,but would prefer that the cardsbe returned to the IndependentNational Electoral Commission(INEC) office as stipulated bythe Electoral Act.

The Speaker sought to knowhim more to have dared his re-quest on the cards, but the manstood his ground, insisting thatthe unclaimed cards must bereturned to the INEC office.

While the disagreement wasgoing on, some thugs allegedlyon the instruction of the formerSpeaker appeared, came to theunit, threatening to deal withthe NCP chieftain.

It took the intervention ofanti-riot policemen, who ar-rived the scene as the commo-tion was going on, arrestedsome of the hoodlums and pre-vented the situation from de-generating into full-blown cri-sis.

It would be recalled that asimilar situation unfolded at

court could scale throughsecurity screening. That’swhy we‘ve been unable tostop the carnage of BokoHaram in the North East ofthe country,” COSEGmaintained.

The group emphasisedthat: “The appointment ofMr Adesiyan is not onlymischievous, but alsoreckless, immoral, anti-people and a dangeroustrend in the politicaldevelopment andappointments in Nigeriabecause he who goes toequity must come with clean hands. “Theappointment of Mr.Adesiyan as Minister ofPolice Affairs is flawed.President Jonathan-ledgovernemnt cannotcontinue to scorn Bola Ige,a former Justice minister forthat matter”.

Finally, the group positedthat it will resist any attemptby the President, using theminister to rig theforthcoming governorshipelections in the State ofOsun, so as to protect thesanctity of the electoralprocess.

‘’We shall resist attemptby the Minister of Policefrom using the police to rigthe election of August 9thin the State of Osun. Thepeople of Osun should beallowed to choose theirgovernor freely comeAugust 9th; anything shortof that is an invitation toanarchy,” COSEGconcluded.

OSUN DEFENDER ob-

Eweta polling unit in IfelodunLocal Government CouncilArea, where some PDP mem-bers were alleged to have at-tempted to collect the cards byproxy, thereby resulting to vio-lence in the area.

Similarly, one agent of theNCP, Saka Belawu, had his fin-ger severed at Obate Unit 3;Ward 4, Isale Oba in Iwo LocalGovernment Council Area ofthe state.

It was gathered that PDPmembers at the area claimedthey did not recognise the pres-ence of the party, saying therewere only three partiesrecognised in the town.

According to the Director ofPublicity of the party, MrTaofeek Abiodun, the issuewould not be allowed to diethat way, particularly thosethat perpetrated the dastardlyact.

He added that the party isputting its facts together andwould ensure that it gets toidentify those that unleashedsuch terror on its member.

We Are A Government On A Mission - Aregbesola

By KEHINDE AYANTUNJI

•Promises To Rebuild Fakunle High School

THE Governor of the State of Osun, Ogbeni RaufAregbesola, had on Thursday doused tension on thecontroversy surrounding the demolition of Fakunle

Comprehensive High School, Osogbo, as he promises tobuild another school to be named after the school’s founder,Pa Fakunle.

Aregbesola announcedthe state governmentdecision on Thursdayduring the commissioning ofAnsar-U-Deen ElementaryModel School, Isale Osun,Osogbo, State of Osuncapital.

Aregbesola said: “It isnot because we don’t likeFakunle High School, thatwe are moving it andtransforming the place toanother thing, we likeFakunle and we love ourstate capital, which is whywe have decided to relocateFakunle and transform theplace.

“Fakunle will be relocatedto a place opposite OsogboCity Stadium with newstructure and be named asFakunle Unity High School,Osogbo,” Aregbesolastressed.

He said his administrationis on a mission to give thepresent and incominggenerations what it takes tobe the master of theenvironment, as the futureof the society.

“This is why ouradministration’s policies aredeeply rooted by passionand firmly backed by action.Education is the mosteffective means ofachieving needs.

“Education is importantand any one who does nothave education risks many

things. When I was young,no one could imagine thatthey were training me forthis leadership position.That is our vision for thisand yet unborngenerations.

“The greatest enemies ofhuman race and of the latesage, Chief ObafemiAwolowo are ignorance andpoverty. That is why wecannot neglect thedevelopment of this mostcritical sector by embarkingon infrastructural

development.The Ataoja of Osogbo,

Oba Jimon Olanipekun,lauded the stategovernment’s efforts inimproving the quality ofeducation in the state.

The monarch said: “Theschools were criminalhideouts in the past as aresult of the dilapidatedinfrastructure, wherecriminals always foundcomfort to smoke marijuanaand commit other atrocitiesin the night.

“When I was the LocalEducation Secretary, wetried all we could do. Wehired members of OduaPeoples Congress (OPC) tosecure the schools for us.They tried their best withoutany positive result, but withthis state-of-the-art

infrastructure, it will bepractically impossible forcriminals to hide here.”

He therefore, urged thepeople of the state toreciprocate by re-electingthe governor for a secondterm in office.

In her welcome address,the deputy governor, whodoubles as the StateCommissioner forEducation, Otunba (Mrs)Grace Laoye-Tomori, saidthe government will notrelent in providing qualityeducation, which shedescribed as part of the six-point integral action plan ofthe Aregbesola-ledadministration.

According to her, theongoing infrastructuraldevelopment in publicschools and the free meal

programme have increasedpublic school enrolment inan unprecedented manner.

For instance, Laoye-Tomori said, the new schoolbeing commissioned has750 pupils before and nowhas 984 pupils.

Speaking on theoccasion, the StateChairperson, Heads ofPrimary Schools, AlhajaSadiat Oladapo, said thegovernment, with thebuilding, has assisted theteachers and the pupils ingetting quality education.

Dignitaries at thecommissioning includedSenator Bayo Salami, AlhajiTunde Badmus, APC interimState Chairman, ElderAdebiyi Adelowo,Chairman, OsogboProgressive Union,Ambassador Rasak-Siyanbola among others

PUBLIC NOTICERIVERS OF LOVE CHRISTIAN CENTRE

This is to inform the general public that the above namedassociation has applied to the Corporate Affairs Commissionfor registration under part “C” of the Companies and AlliedMatters Act 1990.THE TRUSTEES ARE:1. Pastor Oluwafemi Ayodele Isaiah -

President2. Pastor (Mrs) Victorial Arinola Isaiah -Vice President3. Mrs Funmilola Adediji4. Pastor Victor Bajulaiye5. Ajagun Oladele Andrew -

SecretaryAIMS AND OBJECTIVES1. To preach the Gospel.Any objection to the registration should be forwarded to theRegistrar General, Corporate Affairs Commission, Plot 420,Tigris Crescent, Off Aguiyi Ironsi Street, Maitama, Abuja, within28 days of this publication.

5OSUN DEFENDER Saturday, March 15, 2014 News

Osun PDP's plan orgy of violencecontinued from pg1

OSUN DEFENDERPublisher – Moremi Publishing

House Ltd.

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

their madness, our peopleshould immediately report tothe security agents in the statewhom we trust will performtheir duty accordingly.

The law is there to dealwith anyone who is out toperpetrate violence. And weappeal to our security opera-tives not to compromise thepeace in the state. They mustdeal decisively with agentsof violence, and withoutmercy too. For the politicalthugs whom sponsors of vio-lence want to use to perpe-trate their planned heinousact, the advice by theHonourable Speaker of theHouse of Representatives,Aminu Tambuwal will suf-fice; "tell politicians whowant to use you for politicalthuggery to bring their chil-dren to lead it". Half a word,they say, is enough for thewise.

p

everse is the case.Whereasit's a known fact that the PDPisn't in the least popular in thestate (contrary to her claim ofpopularity), that it thinks ofnothing but violence when-ever elections approach in thestate sort of lends credence totwo facts; one, that it's not apopular party and two, it's farfrom being a democratic party.Of course it's basically fool-hardy for any popular partyand a self proclaimed demo-cratic party for that matter, torevel in unleashing violenceon the very people amongstwhom it claims popularity. Wefind this to be purely absurd.

The popularity of the incum-bent administration and itsparty isn't disputable due toits sterling performance. Ev-eryday the people of Osuncontinue to queue behind thegovernor of the state, OgbeniRauf Aregbesola for havingdemonstrated exemplary lead-ership. And these facts areknown to Osun PDP. Theyknow that the Osun electorateis for Ogbeni but not for them.

The eople are not ready towaste their votes as they havetasted two governments andthey know Twhichone hasgenuinely worked forthem.hus having performedwoefully for eight years, andas the time for another guber-natorial election draws nearerthe PDP knows it has no hopein the coming election. And asa desperate party this is whyit's planning to start unleash-ing violence as a way of ha-rassing and intimidating theelectorate. But it's importantto let the PDP know that itsvicious plan is dead on ar-rival as the security agents inthe state will not fold theirarms and watch anybody todisturb the peace that hasfound abode in the state ofOsun since the inception ofOgbeni's administration.

We will not advise the goodand peace loving people ofOsun to engage in violencewith PDP hooligans becausetwo people cannot be mad atthe same time. Thus wheneverthe PDP rascals and theirsponsors start or want to start

ace the dire consequencesof their actions. This is mosttrue and the Osun PDP cannotpretend not to understand themeaning of this witty saying.

And for them the conse-quences will be dire indeed.Thus let them not live with theerroneous impression thatthey will get away with mur-der this time as the case wasin 2007. Never!

It continues to bug the mindsof right thinking people whythe Osun PDP revels in per-petrating violence wheneverelection is approaching. Thisphilosophy of spilling theblood of innocent people inthe name of election is anach-ronistic, uncivilised, ungodlyand basically undemocratic.And it basically contradictsthe name the party answers.For any party that lays claimto being democratic as PDP'sname implies should steerclear of violence. It shouldhave nothing to do with vio-lence. But for Osun PDP the r

OSUN DEFENDER Saturday, March 15 , 20146 FEATURE

Driving Projects Through IGR In OsunPART of the 2014 budget agenda

presented by Governor RaufAregbesola is to drive the Internally

Generated Revenue (IGR) more criticallyin the fiscal year. The government plansto use innovative financing with adequatemeasure to provide necessary financesfor most of the developmental projectsand to focus clearly on public-privatepartnership initiatives, which is thepractice going round all over the world.This writer implores all ministries,departments and agencies to takecognizance of this government’s IGRagenda as the issue of internally generatedrevenue cannot be over-emphasizedunder the current fiscal situation in thecountry.

In recent times, there have beendiscordant views on the actual state ofthe Nigerian economy. Some people haveasked if Nigeria is broke, and someanalysts have argued that the recurringproblem with the monthly revenueallocation is a good testimony that allmight not be well with the nation’s fiscalhealth. Pundits are not persuaded by theposition of government officials and theinstitutions in charge of the nationaleconomy that the economy is resilientand very strong. Critics have pointed tothe frequent inability of government tomeet its fiscal commitments, includingpersistent shortfalls in revenue inflowsinto the Federation Account, culminatingin the inability of the various tiers ofgovernment to meet their budgetprojections.

The perpetual inability of states to tapinto available resources base throughimproving Internally Generated Revenue(IGR) is the hallmark of the fiscal policychallenge. In some states, there is anincreased level of awareness of taxationas a revenue earner beyond the traditionalsources of federal allocation, loans, bondsand public- private partnership. In manystates, however, taxation systems arechaotic, multiple in nature and devoid ofproper planning.

The issue of Internally GeneratedRevenue (IGR) has been dominatingcontemporary discourse. The Senate ofthe Federal Republic of Nigeria had urgedStates and Local Governments to enhancetheir IGR, as well as judiciously utilise itto improve their socio-economic statusand enhances development to benefit theirpeople. In a report entitled: “The LoomingDanger of Bankruptcy in States: The Needfor Fiscal Evaluation”, it was stated thatmost states depend fully on statutoryallocations from the Federation Accountand / or Excess Crude Account, at theexpense of Internally Generated Revenue(IGR). Presently due to high debt profileof the states, huge deductions are madefrom their monthly allocations, at source,thereby affecting their inability toprosecute developmental projects.

Internally Generated Revenue (IGR),in normal day-to-day parlance refers tothose revenue sources that are generatedsolely by the states and local governments.The provision of social assets and servicesto the people cannot be achieved withoutadequate revenue. It is, therefore,expedient that states and localgovernments are encouraged to expandtheir internally generated revenue basesto aid planning and execution of socialinfrastructure. The most outstandingimportance normally advanced byconstituted authority for levying taxes isthe generation of adequate revenue forthe financing of government activities.This importance is becoming morerelevant in the face of dwindling resourcesavailable to government. Therefore, thisbasic objective is normally expected tobe achieved in any tax system.

By A.S. ASAJU

•AREGBESOLA

On this issue of IGR, there are lessonsto be learnt from Lagos State in particular.In spite of widespread criticisms of theSecond Republic Administration ascorrupt, inept, insensitive andundisciplined, one government which, itwas generally agreed, was an exceptionto this characterization was that of LagosState under Alhaji Lateef Jakande. Thegovernment was systematic, determinedand most imaginative. This wasparticularly evident not only in the veryresourceful way the state’s revenue wasdramatically tripled within the short spaceof three years, but also in the range ofservices which the government set outto provide for the people.

When the Lagos State Governmentcame in 1979, it discovered that thesources of revenue being tapped in thestate had remained unchanged since 1967.They were personal income tax, otherstate taxes, licences and fines, feesearning and sales, rent on governmentproperties, interests and payments,reimbursement, revenue receivable fromthe Federal Government andmiscellaneous. No new sources ofrevenue were found by the militarygovernment that handed over to AlhajiJakande, although this was promised invarious budget speeches. The newsources of revenue introduced by theJakande administration included proceedsfrom state land, hotel license, poolsbetting licence, gaming houses andamusement machines, pools receipts,processing fees on layout plans, penalrents on illegal structures and land registrytransactions. These new sources ofrevenue were attributed to only two ofthe measures taken since the governmenttook over on October 1979. These were

the review of land policy and the liftingof ban on pools betting. But there wereother sources of revenue, which wereonly indirectly reflected in the budget. Forexample, the government decided that theLagos State Development and PropertyCorporation would charge commercialrents on all its properties in medium andlow density areas. In this connection, thegovernment took Victoria Island, Ikoyi,Apapa GRA and Ikeja GRA and other lowdensity areas out of the Rent ControlEdict, thus leaving the economic forcesof supply and demand to determine therents in those areas- all geared towardsproviding entirely new sources of revenuefor the state government. The search fornew sources of revenue wascomplemented by a considerableimprovement in the quality of incomefrom existing sources. Transaction inland became the second major source ofinternal revenue in Lagos State and thefastest growing.

A research conducted in Kogi Stateshowed that over the years, the state hasmade tremendous effort towardsenhancing her Internally GeneratedRevenue (IGR), but the efforts haveended up in absolute failure because therevenue generated instead of getting tothe state government purse had gone intoprivate pockets. Identified problems inthis respect include inability to quicklyand accurately produce a list of self-employed citizens who evade tax forprompt action to be taken against them;inability to quickly and accurately producea list of vehicle owners whose vehicleparticulars and driving licences haveexpired; error in the computation of PAYEresulting in some employees beingovertaxed and others under taxed; errorin the computation of direct tax for self-employed citizens; errors in the

computation of total revenue generatedat the area office; lack of proper auditingstandard manual system making retrievalof records for proper assessment a verytedious task; delay in the remittance ofthe generated revenue to the state treasuryand absence of centralized repository fordata. In view of these, the researchproposed automated internally generatedrevenue processing system as the bestoption for eliminating all the leakages inthe revenue collection and managementprocess.

In a survey on Internally GeneratedRevenue (IGR) conducted in 2009, Lagosand Sokoto were the leading states inrelative fiscal independence measured byinternally generated revenue as apercentage of total revenue. WhereasLagos position has been in the publicdomain for years, the traditionalassumption that either Kano, Rivers andDelta is second to Lagos has no empiricalbasis. The success story of LagosInternally Generated Revenue (IGR) wasso profound that the Minister of FederalCapital Territory, Bala Muhammed ledsenior management staff of the ministryto understudy Lagos State in trafficmanagement, environmentalbeautification, Internally GeneratedRevenue and Public Private Partnership(PPP) policies. However, the drive forenhanced internally generated revenue hasmade many states in the country toembark on an aggressive and desperatemeasures to this end by employing taxconsultants to compliment or evenoutsource the functions of the existingstate board of internal revenue.

In 2012, Ondo State’s IGR wasprojected to hit N10 billion. The state’surban renewal project was linked toeconomic development. Ogun State,during the period, got its IGR to hitN21.08 billion. Lagos IGR increased froma monthly average of N18.9 billion in2008 to N29 billion in 2012 amounting toan average yearly growth of 10.7 percentover the five-year period. This accountedfor over 65 percent of the total revenueof the state. This development furtherreflected the stable nature of the state’sfiscal revenue which has continued to relymore on IGR rather than revenue receiptsfrom the Federal Government subject toexternal shocks and dictates of oil pricesin the international market. Lagos focusesmore on IGR by consolidating on allsources of taxation with a view toproviding developmental programmes forthe state. The secret is ensuring that allrevenue agencies of government performat their optimum to make sure thatongoing projects of the state governmentare successfully completed as scheduled.

During the same time (2012), EkitiState internally generated revenue wasN617 million monthly. This, accordingto Governor Fayemi was due to tapingthe potentials of the Information andCommunication Technology sector.Hitherto, the state IGR was a paltry N109million. However, the adoption of internetconnectivity yielded unquantifiabledividends through blockage of revenueleakages.

For the State of Osun, the governmentraised the state’s IGR from N300 millionto N1.6 billion monthly. There is no doubtthat the new IGR would assist the stateto empower more indigenes of the state.Now, the government’s vision in the stateis to generate N10 billion monthly. Thisis a challenge to ministries, departmentsand agencies.

•Prof. Asaju writes from the FederalUniversity of Technology, Akure(FUTA).

OSUN DEFENDER Saturday, March 15, 2014 7 PHOTOTALKCommissioning Of AUD Elementary School, Isale-Osun, Osogbo, State Of Osun, LastThursday.

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

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

8 OSUN DEFENDER Saturday, March 15, 2014PHOTOTALK

•(L-R) Deputy Governor, State of Osun, Otunba (Mrs) Grace Titi Laoye-Tomori; Governor Rauf Aregbesola and the Ataoja of Osogbo, Oba Jimoh Olanipekun.

Commissioning Of AUD Elementary School, Isale-Osun, Osogbo, State Of Osun, LastThursday. Photo: GBENGA ADENIYI

•(L-R) Chairman, O’ School, State of Osun, Otunba Lai Oyeduntan; Chief of Staff to State of Osun Governor, Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola and Deputy Speaker, State House ofAssembly, Honourable Akintunde Adegboye, during the programme.

•Ogbeni Aregbesola (2nd right); Laoye-Tomori (3rd left); Chairman, State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Prince Felix Awofisayo (left); first headmistress of theschool, Mrs Yahaya Ibironke (right); second headmistress of the school, Mrs Bola Ajala (right) and other dignitaries and pupils, during the commissioning of Ansar-U-Deen(AUD) Elementary School at Isale-Osun, Osogbo, State of Osun.

9OSUN DEFENDER Saturday, March 15, 2014 PHOTOTALK

•A cross section of pupils during the programme.

•Pupils Cultural troop from AUD displaying at the event.

Commissioning Of AUD Elementary School, Isale-Osun, Osogbo, State Of Osun, LastThursday. Photo: GBENGA ADENIYI

•Governor Aregbesola acknowledging cheers from the pupils.

•A cross section of dignitaries at the programme.

10 OSUN DEFENDER Saturday, March 15, 2014 PHOTOTALKCommissioning Of AUD Elementary School, Isale-Osun, Osogbo, State Of Osun,Last Thursday.

•Front view of AUD Elementary School, Isale-Osun, Osogbo.

•The school play-ground.

•Another set of children playing facilities in the school’s play-ground.

11 OSUN DEFENDER Saturday, March 15, 2014

The Power Of Passion And The Spirit Of The WarriorUNTIL you hear the Scotsmanplay

the bagpipes in the early morningmist of the Scottish highlands,

you have heard nothing. Until you hearthe Irish maiden sing ‘’O Danny Boy’’ onthe lush green fields of the Emerald Isle,you know nothing.

Until you hear the Welshman sing‘’Men of Harlech’’ in the beautiful valleysof Pontypool and Pontyprid, you haveheard nothing. Until you see the Englishrose blossom and bloom in early springand you hear the British Grenadiers sing“God Save The Queen’’, you have seennothing. Until you see the ‘’Change of theLight Brigade’’ and witness the courage of‘’the famous 600'’, you know nothing.

Until you see the Zulu warrior dancehis battle dance on the hills of Isandlwanaand Rorke’s Drift, you know nothing.Until you hear the Ashanti and the Yorubasing songs of praise to the Living God,you have heard nothing. Until you see theFrenchman sing ‘’La Marseillaise’’ and‘’Je Ne Regrette Rien’’, you knownothing.

Until you see brave men fight, sufferand die for a noble and just cause, youknow nothing. Until you hear the cries,see the tears, read the words and feel thepain of a wounded, tormented and brokensoul, you have seen nothing. Until youfeel the passion of the wounded Messiahon the cross at Calvary, you knownothing.

All these unseen things inspire. Theystir the spirit and move the soul. Theybreath and bleed passion. They arepassion itself. And passion is the essenceof life. It is the food of the compassionateand the sensitive spirit. It is the fuel ofnoble and courageous souls. It is the stuffof which gods and immortals are made. Itis our passport to posterity- our key tofuture glory. Yet nothing and no-oneepitomises the power of passion morethan the spirit of the warrior.

The warrior is noble and strong. Hisresolve is firm and his commitment is total.His is to kill, to shed blood and to bekilled. His is to die for his king and for aworthy cause. His is to protect and laydown his life for his faith, his nation, hispeople and his loved ones.

What manner of men are these, whosespirit speak of such valour and nobility?Consider the ancient Spartans and theRoman warriors of old. Consider thefearsome Vikings, who believed that it wasa curse to die a peaceful death and thatthe only way to heaven was to dieviolently and heroically in fearsome battle.Consider the greatest of all warriors thatever lived, the noble and gallant Achilles.

Consider Alexander the Great, whoconquered the world with his sword.Consider King David, the greatest of allthe kings of Israel, who was a man ofblood and war and yet whom God soloved and who loved God more than anyother.

Consider David’s “strongmen” whostood with him through thick and thin andwho fought for and protected him to thevery end. Consider their gallant captain,the mighty Joab and the others, Abishai,Asahel, Eleazer, the Tachomonite,Shammah, Benaiah, Eliam, Igal and Uriahthe Hittite.

These were David’s ‘’strongmen’’: allgreat and valient men of war, whosecourage was legendary and whose loyaltyto their God and their King wasunflinching and unquestionable.

Consider Shaka the Zulu, Beowulf theNordic king and William Wallace, theliberator of Scotland. Consider King

Henry V of England, who routed theFrench at the battle of Agincourt, eventhough he was outnumbered by three mento one.

Consider Julius Caesar, who came, whosaw and who conquered. Consider thegreat Heracles, who was a descendant ofthe mighty Hercules himself. ConsiderSpartacus, who turned slaves into men.Consider Samson, who slew a troop withthe jaw bone of an ass and yet who fell atthe touch of a woman.

Consider Gideon, who slew theMidianites, Jeptha who sacrificed his owndaughter, Joshua who brought down thewalls of Jericho and Jehu, who drove hischariot like a madman, who slew thewitch-Queen Jezebel and who fulfilledprophesy by ensuring that the dogs ateher flesh and licked her blood in the fieldsof Jezreel.

Consider those that laid down theirlives for our great and noble faith: Paul ofTarsus, the greatest of all the apostles,who brought the glorious gospel of ourLord Jesus Christ to the gentiles and tothe wider world.

Peter the disciple, who became the rockon whom the Church of God was built.Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses,Samuel, Stephen, Isaiah, Elijah, Daniel,John and all the other disciples andprophets of old.

For martyrs and heroes that lived anddied for God are also gallant warriors, whofeared not death and who stood firm tothe end in defence of their faith.

Consider George Washington, who ledhis troops into battle and whose battle crywas “victory or death”. Consider thecharge of the Light Brigade, the sheercourage and discipline of the famous 600,at the battle of Balaclava in the fields ofthe Crimea.

Consider General Lee at the battle ofGettysberg, Oliver Cromwell at the battleof Nasby, Horatio Nelson at the battle ofTrafalgar and King Leonides, with hisgallant ‘’300'’, at the battle ofThermopalye. Consider Generals Marshal,Patton, Eisenhower, Rommel and

MacArthur in the great battles of theSecond World war. Consider the ‘’BlackScorpion’’, General Benjamin Adekunle,with his 3rd Marine Commando at theBattle of Ore. Consider OlusegunObasanjo in the battle for Owerri.Consider Murtala Mohammed in theliberation of Benin City.

Consider Zhukov at the siege ofLeningrad and his courageous exploits atthe battle of Moscow. Consider BernardMontgomery, with his fearless ‘’DesertRats’’, at the battle of Alamein, Charles DeGaulle at the siege of Paris and ChiangKai-Shek in the war against Japan.Consider Attila the Hun, Ghengis Khan,Peter the Great, Richard the Lionheart,Salahudeen the Compassionate,Katsumoto the Samurai, Hannibal ofCarthage and Hector of Troy.

Consider our gallant amazons andfemale warriors of old- Boudica of EastAnglia, Joan D’Arc of France, Elizabeth 1of England, Amina of Zaria, Moremi of Ife,Golda Meir of the State Of Israel, MargretThatcher of Great Britain, Indira Ghandi ofIndia, Queen Idia of Benin, Benazir Bhuttoof Pakistan, Queen Esther of the Medesand Persians, Cleopatra of the Blue Nileand Egypt and Yaa Asantewaa of theAshanti Kingdom.

Consider Generals Foche and Hague atthe battle of the Somme. Consider GeorgeArmstrong Custer at the battle of theLittle Big Horn, the Duke of Wellington atthe battle of Waterloo and NapoleanBonaparte, in his full glory and power, atthe battle of Marengo.

Consider Aragorn of Gondor, who wonthe battle for Middle Earth and who brokethe power of the ring. Consider Cyrus ofPersia, whose compassion knew nobounds and who allowed Nehemiah torebuild the walls of Jerusalem. ConsiderLancelot of the Round Table, the mosthandsome and courageous of all KingArthur’s knights, who was unbeatable inbattle and who captured the heart of thequeen.

Consider Aslan, the great Lion ofNarnia, whose roar filled the land, whosepower drove away the winter and whocrushed the white witch in battle.

Consider Maximus Decimus Meridius,Commander of the Armies of the Northand General of the Felix Legions, whofought with strength and honour, whoslew the wicked Emperor and whodelivered the City of Rome.

Consider Uthman Dan Fodio, whospread his faith with zeal and valour andwho built a formidable empire. ConsiderColonel Robert Gould Shaw and theexploits of his ‘’all black’’ 54thMassachusetts regiment at the battle forFort Wagner. Consider GeneralMohammadu Buhari at the war in Chadwhen he drove the enemy from ourborders and almost took the City ofNdjamena. Consider Brigadier Halilu Akiluwho crushed the Maitatsine and whosaved the ancient City of Kano. ConsiderGeneral Fajuyi, who laid down his life forhis brother. Consider Colonel IsaMohammed, who secured our easternborders and who threw the Camerouniansout of the Bakassi Peninsular.

Had these great men and women all notstood their ground and had they all notplayed their roles in our collective history,where would the world be today? Theysacrificed their today, so that we mayhave our tomorrow.

They lived and died for the sake ofothers and asked for only one thing inreturn: that their names should liveforever and that we should never forgettheir noble deeds and their worthysacrifices.

And we must not forget, nay we darenot forget, for as Martin Luther King oncesaid: “If a man is not ready to die forsomething, then he is not worthy of livingfor anything”. The warrior is prepared todie for his cause. That is what makes himso noble and that is why he will alwayshave a special place in our hearts.

May the spirit of the warrior andselfless courage fill us all and, like the truewarriors that we are meant to be, when theangel of death comes, may the Lord giveus the strength and boldness to look athim fearlessly in the face and treat himwith the contempt and disdain that hedeserves; knowing that he has lost hissting and that, by the power of ChristJesus, he has been conquered andcrushed.

When the dark angel comes, as comehe must for us all, let us be men and let usdie a good death, not cringing and cryinglike puppies, but like true warriors,fighting to the bitter end. For it is neverfor the warrior to ask the why: it is onlyfor the warrior to do or die. The warriordoes not vanish into the night. Thewarrior will not go down without afight. Permit me to end this contributionwith the following counsel. Courage is thegreatest of all the virtues and it is the bestdefence. Regardless of whateverchallenges we may face today, like thewarrior, we must show courage. We muststay the course, steel our hearts, fortifyour faith, shed our fears and march on inthe strength and power of the Lord. Wemust stand firm, refuse to bow, refuse toflinch and we must defy the enemy. Wemust stand and we must fight. We mustensure that the good in our land prevailsover the evil and that the light overcomesthe darkness. That is our hope and that isthe challenge before every self-respectingNigerian today; to scale the obstacles inour land and to bring hope to thehopeless, the vulnerable, the weak, thepoor, the deprived and the lessprivilaged. That is what warriors are meantto do and my prayer is that the Lordgrants each and every one of us theprescence of mind and the fortitude to doit. May God bless and defend our nation.

By FEMI FANI-KAYODE

•FANI-KAYODE

FEATURE

OSUN DEFENDER Saturday, March 15, 201412 FEATURE

Aregbesola: The Pillar Of Sports In OsunEZEDIUNO FRANCIS and

OLAYINKA OLAWOLE spoke with theGeneral Manager of the Osun StateSports Council, Mr. Akin Adio, on thechallenges and success of the sportscouncil under the administration ofOgbeni Rauf Aregbesola.

OSDF: What are thechallenges faced by theOsun State Sports

Council?ADIO: Well, frankly speaking, it

has been success upon success allthrough. To attain success, you haveto work really hard, and which wehave been doing for some time underthe administration of Ogbeni RaufAregbesola.

Though it hasn’t been easy toachieve success, one of our secrets isgoing around the nooks and cranniesof the state to search for talents,which we nurture and make themvery useful to the state and thecountry as a whole. We went toabout 10 national sports competitionlast year and we did very well.

Some of the competitions we wentto are the National Sports Festival(Eko 2012), where we came backwith 13 medals; the first time in manyyears.

We also went to the NationalWeightlifting Championship in Uyo,the National Schools Sports Game inIlorin and also recently, the NationalYouth Games Abuja. All thesesuccesses wouldn’t have come topass without the supports andunderstanding of the best governor inNigeria, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola. Hehas indeed helped us a lot, bothfinancially and morally and we hopeto gain a lot from his Experiences astime goes on.

OSDF: Talking about theNational Sports Festival comingup this year in Cross River State,do you think it is right for theNSC to make it an open one?

ADIO: Well, when the HonourableMinister of Sports, Mallam BolajiAbdullah announced that the NationalSports Festival would be made anopen one after the Eko 2012 games,I was one of those that supported theidea. I supported it because it wouldmake the competition morecompetitive and we are bound to getmore sponsors because of the bignames that would want to participate.

Imagine the likes of BlessingOkagbare, Tosin Oke and the restparticipating at the Calabar Games in2014.

OSDF: How prepared is theOsun Team ahead of the NationalSports Festival in Cross RiverState this year?

ADIO: We have everything inplace for our team to prepare andperform very well for the CrossRivers Games. If you go around thestadium now, you will see most of ourathletes preparing everyday, as they

get their monthly allowances duly.I must also confirm to you that the

last National Sports Festival held inLagos, we came back with 13Medals. I can’t even remember thelast time we came back with suchamount of medals. It simply showsthat with proper organisation andsupport from the governor, as he didin 2012 we can go really far in the2014 Games and also we discoveredsome great talents during the NationalYouth Games in Abuja recently andwe have continued to groom them forthe National Sports Festival and othercompetitions.

So without any hesitations, I thinkwe are fully prepared for the Gamesin Cross River State.

OSDF: The’ WALK TO LIVEEXERCISE’ is an initiative ofGovernor Ogbeni RaufAregbesola. What are the gains ofthe monthly exercise?

ADIO: The Walk To Live Exerciseis the best thing that could havehappened to any sport Lovingpersonality in the state. It startedalmost two years ago and it hasmoved to almost every localgovernment council area in the state.

Interestingly, it is very good forsports development in the state andalso we have been able to achieveour main aim, which is longevity andfitness of the body system as a whole.Ever since we started the Walk Tolive, the ill health of people in theState of Osun has reduced drastically.

Therefore, we must also commendMr. Governor for this wonderfulinnovation.

OSDF: Looking around theOsogbo Township Stadium, Idiscovered that there has been alot of development going on,when is this job going to becompleted?

ADIO: Mr. Governor has given adeadline to the construction companyhandling the stadium to complete it inApril of this year or quit.

We know what is at stake and wehope to continue working hard withthe management of the stadium, sothat things can move the way wewant. As you can see, the stadium,when completed, would be a world-class stadium and all sportingactivities would be held there; likeweightlifting, athletics and thegovernor had also ordered that theAstro Turf should be used on thepitch, instead of the natural grassbecause of proper maintenance.

OSDF: Recently, the Presidentof Nigeria Olympic Committee,Engineer Sani Ndanusa,

complained that Football isalways given priority ahead ofother sports, what are you puttingin place as the General Managerof the State Sports Council tomake sure that other sports do notsuffer at the expense of Football?

ADIO: You are right, but thishappens all over the world and whenI came in as the General Manager ofthe Osun State Sports Council, I metnothing on ground.

Over the years I have tried as muchas possible to make sure that othersports do not suffer.

Last year, the governor gave us thego ahead to host the PANAMATaekwando Competition that waswon by Osun. We also performedvery well at the National WeightliftingCompetition in Uyo, unlike before,when we didn’t participate in othergames.

We also went to the Southwest U-18 Basketball Competition in Akure,where we performed very well.

Also, we have participated in manycompetitions recently especiallyathletics, volleyball, handball and soon. So with the governor’s support,we have been able to touch a lot ofsports, apart from football and we

hope to do more this year.OSDF: Lastly sir, the State of

Osun has two teams playing inthe Nigerian League: Prime FCand Osun Babes, what are theirchances this upcoming season?

ADIO: For the first time in thehistory of the State of Osun, we havea team playing in the Nigerian FemalePremier League. We did qualify lastyear with eleven other teams and wehope to surprise Mr. Governor bywinning the female league because thegovernor has really supported us andwe have to pay him back in a veryspecial way and the girls are indeedready to do that.

Prime FC was currently acquiredby the State Government of Osun andever since then, they have neverlooked back.

The governor follows the team as ifit is shis child and with such support,the team has no choice but to makethe governor happy by gainingpromotion this season to the eliteleague. This is because the governorgave them full support both morallyand financially.

I think the two teams should dowell because we signed qualityplayers for the season.

•ADIO

13 OSUN DEFENDER Saturday, March 15, 2014IN RETROSPECT

A Memorable Quote From A PDPAspirant In The State Of Osun

“Recently, Chief Bola Ige cameon radio here (Osogbo the state

capital), to insult me and myfamily. THAT IS THE LAST

TIME HE WOULDINSULT ME. He was

beaten yesterday. The people ofIle-Ife beat him up and he wascrying like a baby, as they re-

moved his cap and glasses. If ithad been at a

political gathering, he will bedead by now..... In fact, what thepeople wanted to do was morethan removing his glasses and

cap....” -IYIOLA OMISORE.

•Culled from Vanguard Newspaper.

14 OSUN DEFENDER Saturday, March 15, 2014

Job Vacancies In Nigeria

You can subscribe to Job Vacancies in Nigeria, Jobs in Nigeria via your e-mail: www.recentnigerianjobs.com

Current Jobs in Nigeria in an ICT Company.

We are a well established and fast growing ICT Company offering wide range of ICT products and services. Weare expanding our operations and strengthening our workforce by offering opportunity to qualified and suitablecandidates in the following positions:

Job Title: Human Resource / Admin Executives

QualificationsCandidates must possess a minimum first degree in relevant discipline with a minimum of second class upperdivision/ upper credit.Minimum of 2 years relevant working experience in any reputable organization(s).Candidates must be computer literateCandidates must be below 30 yearsPossession of professional qualifications in relevant fields will be an advantage.Qualities and SkillsGood communication skillAbility to interpret employment legislation, policies and agreements.Good presentation and negotiation skill.Sound analytical mind, high integrity and good interpersonal skills.Ability to manage and prioritize work. Job Title: Marketing Manager

QualificationsCandidate must possess a minimum of first degree in relevant discipline with a minimum of second class upperdivision; upper creditMembership of relevant profession institute will be an advantageMinimum of 6 years relevant working experience in reputable organization(s)Candidate must be computer literate with proficiency in relevant applicationsQualities and SkillsCandidate must be highly creative and work with Director of Sales in marketing development & strategiesAbility to manage internal and external marketing communication and agency relationshipsGood communication and interpersonal skillGood organizing planning and coordinating sidleAbility to maintain information in err efficient wayGood understanding of Brand management and positioningAbility to coordinate big events and showsVery good knowledge of the social media platform and ability to use this media to drive sales Job Title: Service Delivery Manager

RequirementsCandidate must possess a minimum of first degree in relevant discipline with a minimum of second class upperdivision /upper credit.Must have at least 10 years cognate experience in Support Environment with Customer Engineer ExperienceExperience in Service Management and SupportMust have managed at least 5 support engineersMust be ITIL CertifiedQualities and Skills:Candidate must have the ability to lead, drive and manage the inside operations with the organization tocontinuously provide dedicated support and resource to drive efficiency and customer focused resultsGood communication anti interpersonal skills, with the ability to motivate and drive a team of people.Good organizing, planning and coordinating skills.Strong analytical and reporting skillsSound knowledge of performance managementAbility to maintain information in an efficient mannerGood knowledge of contract negotiation/supplier management. Job Title: Sales Executives

Qualifications;Candidates must possess a minimum of first degree in relevant discipline with a minimum of second class upperdivision/ upper credit.Minimum of 2 years relevant working experience in any reputable ICT organization(s).Candidate must be computer literate.Candidates must be below 30 yearsQualities and SkillsGood communication and interpersonal skill a. RifledStrong analytical skillsGood marketing/selling skillsJob Title: Sales Executives

Qualifications;Candidates must possess a minimum of first degree in relevant discipline with a minimum of second class upperdivision/ upper credit.Minimum of 2 years relevant working experience in any reputable ICT organization(s).Candidate must be computer literate.Candidates must be below 30 yearsQualities and SkillsGood communication and interpersonal skill a. RifledStrong analytical skillsGood marketing/selling skills Job Title: Credit Control Executive

QualificationsCandidates must possess a minimum of first degree in relevant discipline with a minimum of second class upperdivision/ upper creditMembership of relevant professional institute will be an advantage.Minimum of 4 years relevant working experience in reputable organization(s).Candidate must be computer literate with ability to use accounting packages.Qualities and SkillsGood analytical and reporting skillsGood understanding of financial management, legal and regulatory framework treasury operations.Good communication and leadership skillsMust be strategic in approach and have sound knowledge of performance management Job Title: Accounts Executives

QualificationsCandidates must possess a minimum of first degree in relevant discipline with a minimum of second class upperdivision/ upper creditProfessional qualification such as ACA ACCA will be an advantageMinimum of 1 year relevant working experience in any reputable organization(s)Candidate must be computer literate with ability to use accounting packagesCandidate must be below 30 years of ageQualities and Skills;Sound analytical mindGood understanding of financial accounting.Good communicationGood knowledge of Accounting software like Sage, Microsoft DynamicsExcellent interpersonal working relation Job Title: Support EngineersLocation: Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, OwerriQualificationsCandidates must possess a minimum first degree in Electrical Engineering/ Computer EngineeringComputer Science with a minimum of second class upper division/ upper creditCandidate must possess relevant professional certificationsMinimum of 2 years relevant working experience in reputable organization(s)Qualities and Skills:Sound analytical mindExpected to have planning, scheduling and maintenance abilityGood communicationAbility to trouble shoot and resolve computer problems Job Title: Audit ExecutiveQualificationsCandidates must possess a minimum of first degree/Higher National Diploma in relevant discipline with aminimum of second class upper division/ upper credit.Professional qualification such as ACA, ACCA will be an advantageMinimum of 2 years relevant working experience in any reputable organization(s)Candidate must be computer literate with ability to use accounting packagesCandidate must be below 30 years of ageQualities and Skills:Good analytical and investigative skillsGood understanding of financial accounting end auditingAbility to work under tight reporting deadlineGood CommunicationGood organizing, planning and coordinating skills Job Title: Sales PromotersLocation: Lagos, Abuja, Port-Harcourt, Enugu, Owerri

Qualifications;

Candidates must possess a minimum OND in relevant discipline with a minimum of upper credit.Candidates with SSCE (Senior Secondary School Certificate) are eligible to apply but must have obtained at least6 credits including English and Mathematics.Minimum of 1 year relevant working experience (preferably in business of mobile phones) in arty reputableorganization,Candidate must be computer literate.Candidates must be below 30 yearsQualities and Skills;Good communication skillsGood selling skillsGood marketing abilityResult orientedStrong analytical skills Job Title: Admin Assistant

Qualifications;Candidates must possess a minimum of SSCE (Senior Secondary School Certificate)Candidates must be below 30 yearsQualities and Skills;Good communication (oral & written) and interpersonal skillResult orientedEnergetic and physically fitAbility to work as a team Job Title: Store Assistants (Loaders)

Qualifications;Candidates must possess a minimum of SSCE (Senior Secondary School Certificate).Candidates must be below 30 yearsQualities and Skills;Good communication (oral & written) and interpersonal skillEnergetic and physicality fitAbility to work as a team

Method of ApplicationInterested and qualified candidates should email CVs to: recruit.worldclass@gmail.com . All applications mustbe properly titled with the position applied.

Application Deadline 25th March, 2014—————————————————————————————-Job Vacancies in Nigeria at Stellar Constructions LimitedStellar Constructions Limited - An Engineering Construction Company, having multiple projects across Lagosand other parts of Nigeria seek Applications for Employment in the following positions:

Location: Lagos

Job Title: Quantity SurveyorQualificationHND minimum of 5 to 8 years experience in the field of Multi-story Building projects/Townships and Billingexperience, should be well versed in AUTOCAD & MS Office.

Job Title: SurveyorQualificationHND/B.Sc Minimum of 5 to 8 years experience in the field of Multi-story Building projects & Townships.Must have experience to work with survey equipments such as Total Station and site construction supervision.

Job Title: ElectricianQualificationTrade Test I, II, III or Diploma.Minimum of 5 to 8 years experience in construction Industry.9.) Mechanic FitterQualificationTrade Test I, II Ill Minimum of 5 to 8 years experience in construction Industry.

Job Title: Office SecretaryQualificationHND/B.Sc Minimum 5 to 7 years experience as office secretary.Should be proficient in spoken & written English to handle correspondence with various parties.Job Title: MEP EngineerQualificationHND/B.Sc Minimum of 5 to 8 years experience in Multi-story Budding Projects & Township Development, wellversed in AUTOCAD & MS Office.

Job Title: Electrical SupervisorQualificationHND/B.Sc. Minimum of 5 to 8 years experience of Managing construction machinery such as hoist, overheadcranes, Electrification of Multi story building & Township Development.Knowledge of frequency convertors and Electronics control is a must.

Job Title: Mechanical SupervisorQualificationHND/B.Sc Minimum of 5 to 8 years experience of Managing construction machinery such as hoist overheadcranes, Concrete Pump, Mixers etc. Plumbing/Pipeline work at Multi story.Building/Township experience will be an added advantage.

Job Title: Business Development OfficerQualificationB.Sc (Civil) Minimum 10-15 years experience in construction Industry.

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Application Deadline 25th March, 2014 —————————————————————————————Graduate Assistance Programme for Gombe State Indigenes (http://www.quanteq.com/jdfgradup)Jewel Development Foundation (JDF) is organizing a Graduate Assistance Programme (GradUP) in Gombe whereunemployed graduates who are indigenes of Gombe State would be given the opportunity to participate inintensive training for eight weeks and be equipped with technical skills,hard and soft skills in ICT and entrepreneurship. This would be followed by a three-month internship with hands-on experience and on-the-job training in reputable partner organizations.

Job Titile: Graduate Assistance ProgrammeLocation: GombeJob Description:The training which would entail instructor-led and hands-on sessions would cover:

Computer BasicsDesktop PublishingDocument ManagementProblem Solving SkillsProject ManagementEntrepreneurship SkillsEmployability SkillsCommunication SkillsBasic Network AdministrationMicrosoft Office Productivity toolsDatabase AdministrationRequirementsApplications are hereby requested from unemployed graduates who are indigenes of Gombe State with a minimumof B.Sc/HND and have completed the NYSC Scheme.

Method of ApplicationInterested applicants should fill an online application form and upload their CVs at: www.quanteq.com/jdfgradupon or before Thursday, 20th March, 2014.

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Application Deadline 20th March, 2014—————————————————————————————

15 OSUN DEFENDER Saturday, March 15, 2014

State Of Osun Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, Delivered A Lecture At ICPC MaidenProgramme On Good Governance Forum, At ICPC Auditorium, Abuja, Last Tuesday.

•The governor, State of Osun/Guest Speaker, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola (middle); Chairman, Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Mr.Ekpo Nta (left) and Commandant, Nigeria Security and Civil- Defence Corps, Dr. Ade Abolurin (right), during the First 2014 Independent Corrupt Practices and Other RelatedOffences Commission (ICPC) Good Governance Forum at ICPC Auditorium, Abuja last Tuesday.

•The governor, State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola (middle); his Ekiti and Ogun states’ counterparts, Dr. Kayode Fayemi (left) and Senator Ibikunle Amosun, at AwolowoHouse, Osun Lodge, Abuja, after a meeting last Wednesday.

At Governors’ Meeting Held At Awolowo House, Osun Lodge, Abuja, Last Wednesday.

PHOTOTALK

SATURDAY, MARCH 15, 2014

THE Professor Attahiru Jega-ledIndependent National ElectoralCommission (INEC) has

assured Nigerians that the forthcominggubernatorial elections in Ekiti and Osunstates would be better than whattranspired in Anambra State last year.

The INEC helmsman interacted withthe press in Lagos recently, where heassured Nigerians that, the body isputting everything together to ensurethat proper elections are conducted.

According to the renownedprofessor of Political Science, theprogramme, which started with theexchange of temporary voter’s register(TVR) with the permanent voter register(PVR) will terminate with the electionin Ekiti and Osun States in July andAugust respectively.

By every standard, the exercisecannot be said to be a huge success, asclaimed by the electoral body. The turn-out was impressive, as both stategovernments declared penultimateFriday as public holiday to enablevoters to exchange their cards.

In the State of Osun, the InterimNational Chairman of the AllProgressives Congress (APC) was notimpressed because not all those whoregistered and voted in 2011 could gettheir PVR because their names couldnot be found on the INEC list.

In the words of Akande “thecollection of the cards was marred withirregularities and fraud, whichunderscored INEC’s inefficiency andincompetence.”

According to the former Governorof the State of Osun, he was compelledto voice out his feelings because thatwas the way INEC smuggled-in100,000 names into the voters’ registerin Ondo State and used it to rigelection. He concluded by saying thathe owed it a duty to alert the nationbecause it would amount to a disserviceif such information is not put forward.

In addition to the fundamentalobservation made by Akande, othershave noted that their names were foundin places other than where theyregistered. If such people do not voteon election day because of the reasonthat they have been placed far awayfrom their homes, would that notamount to being disenfranchised?

A lot of Nigerians are worriedbecause they believe that for anycredible election to take place, it startswith a proper voters’ register.

Responding to sundry issues recently,in Lagos, Jega alluded to the fact thatwhat people referred to asdisenfranchisement by INEC, as in thecase of Anambra State, was not true.In his assessment, it was “technical”disenfranchisement, because votersfailed to use the window of opportunity

Need For Vigilance

AUDACIOUSEXPLOIT

withMURTALA AGBOOLA

TEL: 0806-119-7897E-mail: murtalamuag@yahoo.com

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

opened to individual registered votersand political parties during theverification exercise. Voters and thepolitical parties, according to the formerVice-Chancellor of Bayeero University,Kano (BUK) ought to have come upto ascertain whether indeed theirnames were actually there in the votersregister.

He went further to stress the fact thatthe electoral body has leant from theAnambra challenges and, very readyto improve upon on it starting from,Ekiti and Osun states, so that by 2015,everything would have been properlyput in place.

On logistics, he accepted the fact thatINEC could do better, but the bodytoo was hamstrung in certain areas. Thesmooth-talking professor argued thatin some states, it was discovered thattransport magnates with fleet of buses,which could be easily hired, eitherbelong to one political party or have

•JEGA

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

sympathy for another.It is my personal view, however, that

everything should not be left to INECalone. As responsible citizens, weshould play our part. We shouldregister especially the window offerednow by the on-going registration fornew registrants. We should also closelymonitor the activities of INEC toensure that the needful is done topromote a free, fair and credibleelection in these two states, which serveas a precursor to the 2015 generalelections.

The media and the security havebeen playing invaluable roles in the pastand need to continue. The media needto examine how the electoral body isgoing about its statutory duty andreport accordingly. According to Jega,the media may have blown out ofproportion what happened in AnambraState. This is so because whattranspired in Anambra affected only

two wards out of the over 300 wardsin the 21 local government council areasin the state.

My quick response to Jega is that badnews spreads faster, hence INECshould develop thick skin toaccommodate more. I am happy he didnot say the media reported fiction.

To the security agents, a lot isexpected from them also. The tranquilityand the serene atmosphere in the sleepytown of Inisa, in Odo-Otin LocalGovernment Council Area wasshattered recently when HonourableTunji Oyelade was killed by peoplesuspected to be political assassins.

Oyelade, alias “Abinchi” was,according to news, murdered by someunscrupulous elements lurking aroundhis house. As Abinchi was returning tohis house on penultimate Wednesday,he was pounced at arid shot at closerange. His people summoned courageto take him to Ladoke AkintolaUniversity Teaching Hospital,(LAUTECH) Osogbo, where he gaveup the ghost less than forty eight hourslater.

Some of us thought that we havecrossed the rubicon of politicalassassinations in this country. While wecommiserate with His Royal Highness,Oba Joseph Oyedele Fasikun II,Olunisa of Inisa and the people of thetown, we admonish the security agentsto try to unravel the criminals behindthe dastardly act.

Nigeria has had enough politicalkillings and that we do not need moreto achieve our political ambitions.

By now, we should be in the era ofputting on the table our plans and visionfor the people that would convince themto vote for us. The security agents areenjoined to live up to expectation andit is my fervent wish that they can easilyaccomplish that given the securityinfrastructure laid down by theGovernor of the State of Osun, OgbeniRauf Aregbesola.

Since the inception of theadministration of Aregbesola’sgovernment, he has ensured that thereis peace for every law-abiding citizensto go about his or her lawful duty.

The security outfit, Swift ActionSquad (SAS) was put in place to ensurethat criminals are put in check.

Indigenes of the State of Osun havereally enjoyed relative peace comparedwith what transpired in the immediatepast. There should be robust exchangeof ideas by individual candidates andpolitical parties, rather than pursuingpolitical opponents with matchetes andrifles. The society would be better off ifwe elect responsible leaders, who willbe responsive and accountable. This isthe hallmark of democracy, which weare practising