VOL. 9. NO.113 NNNNN5050505050SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2014

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Front Page Comment

•(L-R) Secretary to the State Government of Osun, Alhaji Moshood Adeoti; State of Osun governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola; Chiefof Staff to State of Osun Governor, Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola and Deputy Governor, Otunba (Mrs) Grace Laoye-Tomori during the 8thDay Fidau for the late Chief Imam of Osogbaland and President-General, League of Imams and Alfas, South-West, Edo and Deltastates, at Osogbo City Stadium, Osogbo, State of Osun, last Wednesday. Photo: GBENGA ADENIYI.

- See StoryOn Page 2

- See StoryOn Page 4

How Accord Party Gov CandidateOwolade Voted For PDP

Revelation On Osun Governorship Election:

- Pg 3

- Pg 3

Aregbesola Flags Off Construction Of 225 Kilometre Roads•Says Agriculture Is The Magic Bullet For Osun Economy

Mutiny: Don’tKill Soldiers OfConscience, KillCorruption- Osun NGOs To FG

- Pg 4

Don’t BecomeA PoliticalNuisance - APCTells Osun PDP

Osun ParliamentAlerts OSSIECOn ReferendumFor New Councils

Weeks before theAugust 9th gubernato-rial elections which waswon by the pragmaticOgbeni RaufAregbesola of the APC,it was obvious we wereup against forces otherthan the people of Osunstate which naturallyshould be the determi-nant of

how the elections willswing. The Allprogressives Congress(APC) still smartingfrom its shocking defeatin the previous Ekitielections had literarilysworn it will lose Osunover its dead body. Themurderous villain fieldedby the Peoples Demo-cratic

The War Called The OsunElections; By Segun Tomori

Party (PDP), outrightlyunpopular with barely afew dozens of peopletrailing him at campaignshowever woretheconfidence of a Gover-nor-In-waiting. He they

didn’t care a hoot aboutthe people’s wish, allthat matters was the fullcompliment of theparaphernalia of Stateactivated by an

imperial Presidentthough utterly clueless,but desperate to addOsun to his conquest infurtherance of his still-born second term bid.So lo and behold, thedie was cast!I have notbeen emotionallyattached to any elec-tions in Nigeria as Iwas with the Osunelections,

maybe June 12, 1993Presidential electionspresumed to have beingwon by my President,M.K.O Abiola could bean exception.It wasn’t because I hadaffinity with anyone inOgbeni’s government orbecause I enjoyed anyform of patronage butbecause

Continue on pg5

2 OSUN DEFENDER Saturday, September 20, 2014News

•Ilare Elementary School in Ile-Ife constructed under the administration of Governor Rauf Aregbesola, as capturedby our cameraman, GBENGA ADENIYI, recently.

Adeleke Absents At Panel, SaysHe Was On Medical Trip Abroad

SENATOR Isiaka Adeleke on Wednesday failed toappear before the Panel of Enquiry On Disturbanceof Public Peace set up by the State Government of

Osun.Adeleke, who was billed

to open his case against theMinister of Police Affairs,Alhaji Jelili Adesiyan, hisaide, Sogo Agboola and thedefeated governorshipcandidate of the PeoplesDemocratic Party ( PDP) inthe August 9 governorshipelection, Senator IyiolaOmisore, on Wednesday,said he was on medical tripoutside the country.

The Chairman of thepanel, Justice MoshudAdeigbe, at the previoussitting of the commission,granted Adeleke leave toopen his case onWednesday August 17,2014, following a prayer byhis counsel, Mr Lekan

Olayiwola.When the case came up

at the resumption of thepanel on Wednesday,counsel to Adeleke, Mr.Ladoja Taiwo, informed thecommission that Adelekehad travelled abroad formedical check up and wasyet to return.

Adesiyan, Omisore andAgboola were also absent atthe panel sitting, just asthey were not representedby any lawyer.

Taiwo however, urged thepanel to adjourn the case forthe petitioner to appearbefore it.

Justice Adeigbesubsequently adjourned thematter to October 7, 2014,while warning that the case

would be struck out shouldthe petitioner fail to come forthe hearing of his case.

Meanwhile, the secretaryof the panel, Mr BisiBabalola, has urged thepeople of the state toapproach the commissionon any issue they haveagainst individuals,government or authority.

Babalola stated that thepeople are free to submittheir petitions in theprescribed form to thesecretary of the commissionat the state High Court, IlobuRoad, Osogbo.

He also debunked therumour that the commissionwas set up to witch-huntcertain individuals, sayingthat the commission was setup to foster peace, as oneof the integral action plansof the Ogbeni RaufA r e g b e s o l a - l e dadministration.

By ISMAEEL UTHMAN

Aregbesola Advocates Peace, Fear Of God•As Muslim Umma Hold Fidau For Late Ajisafe

By KEHINDE AYANTUNJI

THE Osogbo Township Stadium on Wednesdaywas filled to the brim as children, familymembers, well-wishers and people of Osun,

trooped out in thousands for the eight day Fidaufor the late President-General, League of Imamsand Alfas, South-West, Edo and Delta states.

It was a gathering ofUlamas, Islamic scholars,politicians and Muslimfaithful across the states inthe South-West includingEdo and Delta states, aspeople gathered to paytheir last respect to the lateChief Imam of Osogbo,Alhaji Mustapha Ajisafe.

The governor of theState of Osun, OgbeniRauf Aregbesola, thankedthe people of the state fortrooping out en masse forthe prayer programme heldin honour of the late cleric.

He charged clerics andothers present on theoccasion to continuewhere the late Ajisafestopped, noting that everyMuslim and non-Muslimsalike must be preachers ofpeace and unity, as the lateIslamic leader did whilealive.

According to him:“Death is inevitable.Everything has to do withGod. It is a must thatevery being must die. God

has used him for our state;we must all continuefrom this noble act of thedeparted.

“Osun has lost a greatprofessor of knowledge.May God grant him Al-jannah firdaus. May Godgrant the family and theentire state, the fortitudeto bear the loss. We musttake a cue from Baba’slove for peace and unityamong people of differentfaiths,” the governornoted.

Earlier in his sermon,the Chief Imam of Offa,Sheik MuhydeenSaliman, described deathas a necessary end for allhuman beings,irrespective of theirstatus.

He urged everyone atthe Fidau to desist at alltimes from acts that couldlead them astray, sayingthere is actually a betterlife in Aljanah thanwhatever the world couldpromise.

He said: “Whatever weare doing here on earth, wemust remember that thereis a better place for us inAljana. So while on earth,we must strive to obey theinstructions of Allah.

“We must also learn andpray to God to grant untous the spirit of forgiveness,humility, act of doing goodamong other attitudes,because these are theattributes of someoneseeking God’s mercy onthe day of resurrection.

Alhaji Ajisafe was bornin Arikalamu’s Compound,Owo-Ope area, Osogbo on5th May, 1927 to the familyof Pa Alhaji Tijani, whowas Ajanosi for Osogbo.

He started Quraniceducation under his fatherand completed it in 1937.He started learning Islamicand Arabic studies from AlfaBello Arikalamu, before hefinally proceeded forfurther studies in Ilorinunder the tutelage of SheikKamal-deen Al-Adabiyafrom 1937 to 1949.

The event was attendedby governor of Ogun State,who was represented byhis Chief of Staff,Professor GaniyuOlatunde, the Sultan ofSokoto, Alhaji Muhammad

Sahad Abubakarrepresented by ProfessorDaood Noibi, NationalMissioner of Ansarudeen,Imam AbdulRahamanAhmad among otherdignitaries.

NUJ Worries On LGAdministration In Nigeria

THE Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Zone -B,comprising South-West and Kwara states hasexpressed concern over the current spate of lack of

civil rule in the third tier of government in some states ofthe federation.

A statement signed bythe NUJ Vice President,Zone B, Dele Atunbi, inAkure, said the zone is ofthe opinion that lack ofdemocratic rule at the localgovernment level in ademocracy is not in the bestinterest of the country.

It said that thedevelopment is responsiblefor the stunted growth atthe grassroots level.

The NUJ posited that therunning of the affairs of thethird tier of governmentby unelected officers hasresulted into lack of fiscalpolicy and planning, whichare pivots of development.

It therefore, advocatedfor the democratisation ofthe third tier of governmentfor speedy development atthe local government level

for the people to enjoy moredividends of democracy.

The union said hand-picking of people to run theaffairs of local governmentwithout the legislative armat that level to check theexcesses of the executive,leads to lack of policyframework to drive thebudget of councils.

The union stressedfurther that the trend is thebane of developmentresulting into rural-urbandrift with the attendanteffects of urbanisation.

It advocated a deliberatepolicy to transform the ruralcommunities in the countrywith premium on harnessingthe economic potentials ofeach community for thegrowth of the country.

How Accord Party Gov Candidate Owolade Voted For PDPIN spite of parading himself as the gubernatorial

candidate of the Accord Party (AP) in the August 9,2014 gubernatorial election in the State of Osun,

Barrister Niyi Owolade has been gathered to have votedfor the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP),Mr. Iyiola Omisore, during the election.

OSUN DEFENDERgathered from anauthoritative source that allalong before the election,Owolade had been actingOmisore’s scripts,irrespective of whateverpolitical groups he belongsand receiving financial

support for all the roles hewas being used to play.

As a matter of fact, thesource stated, it wasOmisore’s idea that he(Owolade) first moved tothe Labour Party (LP),when he (Omisore) initiallyreasoned that some of the

disgruntled members of thePDP, who might not feelsatisfied with his emergenceas the PDP flag-bearer in thestate, might opt to join theLP.

However, things did notgo as planned, as anotherdecampee from the PDP,Alhaji Fatai Akinbade, whowas equally threatened outof the party, got to the LPbefore the duo of Omisoreand Owolade could startexecuting their plans tohijack the party for their sole

purpose of ensuring victoryfor Omisore at the poll.

Without even notifyingthe Accord Party nationalleadership, Owolade wasreported to have goneahead to print posters,informing the electorate ofhis ambition to vie for thegovernorship seat in thestate.

It would be recalled thattwo weeks to the August 9governorship election in thestate, when Owolade hadalready kick started his

electioneering campaign,the AP national leadershipannounced to the publicthat the party had nogovernor candidate for theOsun election. HowOwolade was then able tostill emerge the partycandidate was left to thepeople’s imagination.

While he was observed tobe criss-crossing the stateon his electioneeringcampaign, Owolade wasalso gathered to have beenpart of Omisore’s innercaucus, who decided onwho would get what,should Omisore get thepeople’s mandate at thepoll, while acommissionership positionhad been reserved for him.

To justify the closenessof the duo, the source calledthe medium’s attention tothe recent role played by

Owolade, who on Omisore’sorder, wrote a petition to theNational Judicial Council(NJC) to effect the removalof the former Chairman ofthe Governorship ElectionTribunal, Justice I. M. Bako.

Question on theelectorate lips when thenews of the petition brokewas: Why should the NJCgive audience to a candidatethat scored less that a voteper polling booth in anelection?

It was also a commonknowledge that Owoladeexhibited his ballot paperand announced openly athis polling unit that peopleshould bear him witnessthat he was casting his votefor the PDP.

It would be recalled thatOwolade scored only 385votes in the electionthroughout the state.

Revelation On Osun Governorship Election:

3 News OSUN DEFENDER Saturday, September 20, 2014

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By KAZEEM MOHAMMED

By FRANCIS EZEDIUNO

Osun Assembly Nods Creation Of Special Offences Court

THE State of Osun House of Assembly has givenits nod to the establishment of SpecialOffences Courts in the state.

This was just as the stateparliament, at its plenarysitting on Tuesday,considered the bill titled:“State of Osun SpecialOffences Court Bill 2014”and took the bill throughthe second reading.

The bill is seeking thecreation of special courtsto try environmentaloffences and such otheroffences, and otherconnected purposes,pursuant to the enactmentof the House.

Reading the policy trustof the bill, the Leader ofthe House, HonourableTimothy Owoeye, said thepurpose was to ensurespeedy administration ofjustice.

He also said if the bill ispassed into law and specialoffences court is created,it would bridge the gapcreated by regular courts.

Owoeye further arguedthat the establishment ofthe court would also

reduce the burden of workon regular courts, whilecalling for speedy passageof the bill into law.

The Deputy Speaker,Honourable Akintunde

Adegboye; HonourableKamardeen Akanbi (EdeNorth), Kamil Oyedele( O r o l u / I r e p o d u n ) ,Folorunsho Bamisayemi(Ife South) among otherssupported the quickconsideration and passageof the bill.

In their separatesubmissions, thelawmakers consented that

the bill could not have comeat a better time, saying thatthe bill would reduce crimerate in the state.

They further argued thatwhen the offencescovered by the bill arecommitted and theoffenders are summarilytried and punished, itwould serve as deterrent toothers and bring sanity to

the society.In his remark, the

Speaker, HonourableNajeem Salaam, said thatthe bill has set out thechecks and balances onwhoever that would behearing the cases arisingfrom special offences asspelt out by the rules andprocedure contained inthe bill.

He also noted that it isimportant for the statelegislature to work speedilyto ensure speedy passagedof the bill.

However, the Assemblyat the committee of whole,considered the bill andmade necessarycorrections from clausesone to 12 of the bill.

Osun Parliament Alerts OSSIEC OnReferendum For New Councils

By KAZEEM MOHAMMED

THE State of Osun House of Assembly hasdirected the State Independent ElectoralCommission (OSSIEC) to put finishing

touches to its preparation to conduct referendumfor the creation of additional local governmentcouncil areas in the state.

It gave the directivewhen the management ofthe commission appearedbefore the stateparliament at its plenarysitting in Osogbo onTuesday, saying theOSSIEC would soon becommissioned to carryout the referendum.

The state governor,Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola,had on December 16,2013, presented a bill

before the House for thecreation of additional 27local government councilareas in addition to theexisting 30 council areas.

The Speaker of theHouse, HonourableNajeem Salaam, directedthe commission chairmanto liaise with the HouseCommittee on LocalGovernment andChieftaincy Affairs on theconduct of the

referendum.Najeem also urged the

commission to give levelplay-ground for all thepolitical parties that wouldparticipate in theforthcoming localgovernment councilelection.

Speaking on thepreparation of thecommission, theChairman of thecommission, OtunbaSegun Oladitan, said thecommission was onlywaiting for the statelegislature to give itsdirective on the number ofLCDAs to conduct thereferendum.

He said staff of the

commission had visitedthe headquarters of theproposed LCDAs toascertain theirpreparedness.

According to him, thecommission hadconducted in-house andexternal training for itsstaff on the peaceful andaccurate conduct of thereferendum.

He further noted thatthe commission hadtravelled to neighbouringstates, where suchexercise had beenconducted, to learn fromtheir experiences.

On the conduct of thelocal governmentelections, Oladitan said thecommission was ready toconduct free and fairelection in the state.

Education Development‘ll Cut Across Osun - Dep Gov

THE Deputy Governor of the State of Osun, Otunba(Mrs) Titilayo Laoye-Tomori, has assured that everycommunity would benefit from the ongoing

educational development projects in the state.

Tomori also added thatthe state governmentwould take construction ofultra-modern schools to allthe council areas in thestate.

In her words:”OgbeniAregbesola has expressedhis resolve that he wouldstop at nothing to transformthe state and bring smilesto the faces of the people,with provision of socio-economic infrastructures.”

Tomori, who is also theState Commissioner forEducation, said thegovernment had completedan appreciable number ofprimary and secondaryschool projects in Osogboand other major townsacross the state.

She revealed that someof them would soon becompleted, while the nextphase would reach out toother parts of the state tofacilitate even developmentand quality education.

Tomori stated thatAregbesola’s administrationwas equally committed topersonnel development inthe education sector andwould not relent in trainingand retraining of teachersand non-teaching workers.

“This administration willdefinitely dish out dividendsof democracy to our people,who have shown to theworld that they appreciatewhat we are doing by votingmassively for the re-electionof Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola.

“We shall not relent inmaking our people happy. Asa caring government, thisadministration cannot affordto fail them. We will not failthem,” she added.

The educationcommissioner advised thepeople to continue to givetheir support to theadministration and assist thegovernment by fulfilling theirown share of responsibilityfor societal development.

Don’t Become A Political Nuisance - APC Tells Osun PDPBy ABOSEDE AKINPELU

THE All Progressives Congress (APC) in the Stateof Osun has advised the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) to stop constituting itself into the political

nuisance that it is fast becoming.The party was reacting to

the latest complaint by thePDP against theIndependent NationalElectoral Commission(INEC’s) decision to makethe exercise of ballotmaterials’ inspection byboth parties thorough andincontrovertible.

According to the PDP,this critical decision by INECwas allegedly influenced bythe APC. But the APCdenied any connection withthe INEC decision.

However, it accused thePDP of becoming paranoidover the personality ofAmbassador Rufus Akejuwho the PDP has beenpersecuting for over a yearnow by falsely accusing theman of bias for the APC,without producing a shredof evidence.Inspite of this,Prof Attahiru Jega went outof his way to pacify the PDPby easing Akeju off theconduct of the August 9election. After IyiolaOmisore and the PDP lost

that election, they blamedAkeju’s replacement, MrSegun Agbaje, for aiding theAPC to ‘rig’ the election.

Now that Akeju is back onhis job, the PDP is againaccusing the man of slowingdown the inspection ofballot materials’ process, toassist the APC.

The APC therefore,asked: “who will satisfy thePDP with Omisore’sdesperation to becomegovernor in the State ofOsun?”.

According to the APC: “itwould appear that even ifJega himself supervised theprocess, the PDP will stillaccuse him of bias. Thisattitude of the PDP has

become psychological andis getting out of control”,the APC added.

The APC therefore,advised the PDP that exceptthe process is thoroughand incontrovertible,justice cannot be served.

“It is therefore in theinterest of both parties, thatthe inspection exercise isnot only thorough, but itshould be seen to bethorough and which can’t

be manipulated”, the APCsaid.

“The decision to make theexercise thorough is certainlynot within the purview of thePDP or APC. It is theresponsibility of INEC, andthe PDP can’t teach thecommission its job.

“The PDP must allowreason to prevail, otherwiseit will be constituting itselfinto a political nuisance”, theAPC concluded.

Osun CJ Promises Judiciary’sCooperation With FRSC

THE Chief Judge (CJ) of the State of Osun,Honourable Justice Oyebola Adepele Ojo, hasreiterated judiciary’s support with Federal Road

Safety Commission (FRSC) towards proper adjudicationof traffic-related cases, in order to reduce road accidentsin the state.

The CJ stated this whileplaying host to the stateSector Commander ofFRSC, Mr HusainiMohammed, who paid hera courtesy visit at the StateHigh Court, Ilobu Road,Osogbo, the state capital.

She assured the FRSCboss of the state judiciary’sreadiness to continueworking in harmony withthe FRSC in order to curtailtraffic violation throughmobile and regular courts.

In his own address, theFRSC State SectorCommander appreciatedthe State of Osun Judiciary

for its support andcooperation, urging it not torelent in its efforts.

He noted that road usersin the state are law-abiding,saying that the level of trafficregulation compliance inOsun is about 70 per cent,which, according to him, is“commendable” comparedto some states in theNorthern part of the country.

He used the avenue toadvise motorists on thedanger of putting under-aged children in front ofcars, saying: “Surveyrevealed that under-agedchildren were more involvedin accidents last year.”

•The Chief Judge, State of Osun, Hon. Justice Oyebola Ojo (right), receiving the State Sector Commander of FRSC,Mr M. A. Husaini, in her office, last Wednesday.

OSUN DEFENDER Saturday, September 20, 20144 News

By FRANCIS EZEDIUNO

•Ikoyi road in Ilesa, State of Osun rehabilitated under the administration of Governor Rauf Aregbesola, as capturedby our cameraman, GBENGA ADENIYI, recently.

Mutiny: Don’t Kill Soldiers Of Conscience,Kill Corruption - Osun NGOs To FG

By ISMAEEL UTHMAN

THERE has been outrage over the death sentence passedon 12 soldiers convicted for mutiny by the NigeriaMilitary Court marshal on Tuesday.

Civil society groups andN o n - G o v e r n m e n t a lOrganizations in the State ofOsun have described the deathsentence as the most irrationalin the fight against terrorism andinsurgency facing Nigeria.

The soldiers, who protestedthe inefficient provision of armsand ammunitions andmisappropriation of fundsmeant for the soldiers fightingBoko Haram militants in BornoState, were court-marshalledand convicted on the account ofcriminal conspiracy amongother offences, which was saidto be inimical to military service.

The Committee for theDefence of Human Rights(CDHR) in the state onThursday said the killing of thesoldiers would demoralise therest of the soldiers and weakentheir morale on the fight againstthe Boko Haram insurgents.

The State Coordinator of theCDHR, Comrade AkinkunmiAsifat, appealed to the FederalGovernment and the NigerianArmy to reverse the deathsentence, saying the protest of

the convicted soldiers wasbased on the corruption thathas eaten deep into theNigerian Armed Forces.

The human rights groupmaintained that the FederalGovernment and Armyauthorities should “killcorruption and not the soldiersof conscience, who put theirlives on the line to protect thecitizens of the country.”

CDHR stated that the Armyauthority should investigatethe compromise of its seniorofficers in the fight against theinsurgency and themisappropriation of fundsmeant for the soldiers fightingthe Boko Haram.

Also, the State of Osunchapter of the Youths Initiativefor Global Peace condemnedthe death sentence of thesoldiers, calling on PresidentGoodluck Jonathan to interveneand secure freedom of thesoldiers.

The group argued thatkilling the soldiers, whosacrificed their enjoyment andpeace to combat the evils of

terrorism that has besieged thecountry, shouldn’t be the nextaction.

According to the coordinatorof the group, Mr. CharlesAdeyemi, in a statement onThursday in Osogbo, the statecapital, the decision of themilitary court martial toterminate the lives of the soldierswas inimical to the effective fightagainst terrorism.

Adeyemi said: “We believethat human is so valuable tohumanity and plead that thesoldiers’ lives should not beterminated because of theirmisconduct.

“We wish to remind theFederal Government and theSupreme Military Council thatNigeria as a country is goingthrough the worst period in theannals of our history, never havewe been faced with this kind ofsecurity challenges

“We urge the President, whois the Commander-in-chief ofthe Armed Forces and themilitary authority to reverse thisretrogressive judgment and focuson what could have motivatedthe soldiers’ action against theirG.O.C

“While we are not begging fortheir forgiveness, we demandthat those soldiers be given lesserpunishment and rehabilitated, for

it is not reasonable to destroythose that are destroying ourenemies.

“If young soldiers who madeup their mind to live and die forNigeria are put to death by themilitary council of the samecountry, what shall be done tosponsors and financiers of BookHaram and corrupt politicians,who siphon nation’s wealth inbroad daylight?”

The group also stated thatkilling the soldiers woulddiscourage the foot-men at thewar front against terrorism andthus give Book Haram the causeto jubilate, alleging that the deathsentence was a revenge from theG.O.C and not administrationof justice

Ebola: Osun Calls For Religious Leaders’ Support

THE State Government of Osun has called on religiousleaders across the state to brace up to the healthchallenges posed by the importation of the Ebola virus

into the country, in order to avert it from being spread in thestate.

Addressing participantsmade up of Islamic andChristians adherents andtraditionalists during thesensitization programme,organized by the committee, theState Commissioner forEnvironment and Sanitation,Professor OlubukolaOyawoye, advised them to beconscious of the pandemic byobserving personal hygiene atall times.

Oyawoye, whoacknowledged the roles religiousleaders play in the developmentof any society, said they shouldcomplement the effort of thestate government towardsmaking the state Ebola-free.

Emphasizing efficacy ofprayers, Oyawoye stressedthat citizens of the state shouldbe more prayerful, adding thatprompt reporting of cases ofobservable symptoms to healthofficials was of the utmostimportant.

The State Commissioner forHealth, Dr. (Mrs.) TemitopeIlori, while echoing a similarview, said the current epidemic,which had taken the center stagein the country and some otherAfrican countries, requiresadequate and consistentsensitization.

Ilori urged religious leaders toadequately sensitize theirpeople on the need for them tobe proactive and strengthenenvironmental health in theirimmediate domains.

The health commissionersaid though the state has notrecorded any case of Ebola sinceits outbreak in the country, thestate government, under theleadership of Ogbeni RaufAregbesola, inaugurated thecommittee saddled with theresponsibility to work on howto prevent the spread of thedisease in the state.

She urged the participantsand the entire people of the stateto be proactive in terms ofenvironmental hygiene since thedisease could easily betransmitted through the bodyfluid of an infected person

In his presentationtitled:”Ebola Virus infection andprevention,”Dr. Kayode

The state government,through its Committee on Ebola,set up to prevent the virus fromspreading into the state, said

religious leaders have vital rolesto play in ensuring that thedreaded disease did not rear itshead in the state.

Oguniyi, Director of PrimaryHealth Care and DiseaseControl in the State Ministryof Health, said there was needfor all and sundry to be up anddoing in terms of environmentalhygiene.

Oguniyi explained that EbolaHemorrhagic Fever was firstnoted in Zaire, currently, theDemocratic Republic of Congoin 1976, when the originaloutbreak was in a village nearthe Ebola River, after which thedisease was named.

He added that the virus wasidentified in person-to-personcontact transmission, stressingthat out of the 318 patientsdiagnosed with Ebola, 88percent died, saying that, sincethat time, there have beenmultiple outbreak of the virusin that country.

Oguniyi, who corroboratedthe two commissioners, alsolaid emphasis on the earliersymptoms of Ebola, whichaccording to him, typicallyinclude fever, severe headache,muscle pain, diarrhea, vomiting,abnormal pain among others.

He added that, thesymptoms may appearanywhere from 2 to 21 daysafter exposure to Ebola virus,saying, though 8-10 days ismost common.

He therefore charged peopleon the need for them to heed toabide by medical advise givento them in order not to fallvictim to the viral disease.

Responding to thesensitization programme, therepresentatives of the religiousgroups, Chief FolabaFagbongbe, ReverendTestimony Oriade, ChiefAtanda Awofisade Abegunsola,Chief Adifase of Ife, the NaibuImam of Osogbo among others,eulogized the state governmentfor organizing such anenlightenment programme,saying Aregbesola deservescommendation over his effortsat making the state habitable forall.

The highlight of the eventwas the demonstration of hand-washing led by theCommissioners of Environmentand Health, which was laterdemonstrated by one of theparticipants.

Court Jails Man Over Goat Theft

MAGISTRATE Olusola Aluko of an OsogboMagistrate’s Court has sentenced a 26-year-oldman to three years’ jail term for stealing a goat.

By SHINA ABUBAKAR

The charge sheet alleged thatthe suspect had in hispossession, a goat at Oba-Okein Olorunda Local GovernmentCouncil Area of the State ofOsun and could not give anaccount of how he got it.

According to the chargesheet, the offence is contraryto and punishable under section430(1) of the state criminal law2003.

The suspect, who was notrepresented by any counsel,had earlier pleaded guilty to thecharge levelled against him.

While briefing the court onthe details of the case, thePolice Prosecutor, InspectorIsiaka Ajadi, disclosed that theculprit was caught with thegoat by one Kazeem and hadbeen caught with goats beforethe current case in the court.

He added that the suspectwas arrested and during thecause of investigation, he wrotea confessional statement, butdid not state where the goatwas stolen.

The prosecutor furtherdisclosed that the goat couldnot be brought to court becauseit has been sold, as there wasno one to take care of it andtendered the N3000 in court asexhibit.

He, however, pleaded withthe court to temper justicewith mercy, saying he wouldnot repeat such act again, ifgiven a second chance.

Aregbesola Flags Off Construction Of 225 Kilometre Roads•Says Agriculture Is The Magic Bullet For Osun Economy

THE governor of the State of Osun, Ogbeni RaufAregbesola, on Thursday said that modernising Osunagricultural practices would be a magic bullet with

which his administration hopes to deal effectively with manyof the major social and economic problems currentlyconfronting the state.

The governor made thisdisclosure at the official launchof the Osun Rural MobilityProject and the flag-off of theconstruction of 225 kilometreroads in the state at Ira OpenSquare, off Ilesa-AkureExpressway.

The Rural Access andMobility Project (RAMP) is atool for rural transformation,which addresses the basic needsof transporting goods andservices in the rural areas.

Aregbesola pointed out thatwith the development ofagriculture, the festering cancerof hunger, unemployment,poverty and poor educationcould be dealt with.

He said: “Indispensable tothis agricultural revolutionprogramme, is accordingnecessary developmentattention, that had long beendenied our rural areas. Thiscrucially involves opening them

up by road.“Our effort in this area has

fortunately attracted theattention and assistance ofdevelopment partners, whohave been doing a lot to enhanceour road infrastructuredevelopment in the rural areasof Osun.

“These projects, supportedby the World Bank and FrenchDevelopment Agency, havegone a long way in furtheringour objective of linking our foodproduction centres in the ruralareas with their supply centresmainly located in the urbanareas, both within and outsidethe state,” the governor told thegathering.

He emphasised that for easeof administration and moreeffective implementation, the225-kilometre roads have beenorganised into four lots coveringfour different parts of the state.

The governor noted that the

first Lot is in Iwo region andcovers 58.74 kilometres, thesecond Lot in Ife region willcover 58.40 kilometres, addingthat the third Lot also in Iferegion, extends over 53.87kilometres, while the fourth willbe in Ilesa region, with 53.61kilometres of road.

Aregbesola stated that theRAMP road projects willgreatly enhance the areacoverage of the already massiveroad construction andrehabilitation exercise that hisadministration has embarkedupon.

The governor said: “Winninga second term in office is not anexcuse for indolence or for

relaxation. Indeed, it is anopportunity to accelerate thepace of work, so that we cancover as much ground as ishumanly possible within thetime available to us.

“It is an opportunity weintend to maximise for thedevelopment of Osun and thewell-being of our people. Indeed,for us, politics is over.Governance and developmentmust continue, even at a fasterrate than before.

“The mandate given to us isfor all the people, all ourcommunities and it covers everyinch of our soil. It is our ferventdesire to bring the blessing ofGod on all our people and make

our state the model ofresponsible leadership andpublic administration,” hestressed.

Speaking earlier, the SpecialAdviser to the Governor onRural and CommunityDevelopment, Mr. Kunle Ige,stated that the state governmenthas decided to embark on theconstruction of rural roads, in abid to improve the lives of therural people, who depend onfarming to earn a living.

He commended the efforts ofRAMP, saying its collaborationwith the state government ofOsun in the construction of ruralroads will go a long way inbanishing poverty, which is one

of the major goals of the presentadministration in the state.

Also, the NationalCoordinator of RAMP,Engineer Ubandoma Ularamu,said the official launch of OsunRAMP and ground-breakingceremony for thecommencement of the rural roadconstruction, is very significantbecause it will go a long way inalleviating poverty among therural people.

According to Ularama:“Today’s official launch ofconstruction and rehabilitationof 225km of road is veryremarkable and the FederalRAMP has also concludedarrangements on how to quicklycommence the next batch of300km roads in each of theRAMP states,” the RAMP bosssaid.

By KEHINDE AYANTUNJI

5OSUN DEFENDER Saturday, September 20, 2014 News

The War Called The Osun Elections; By Segun Tomori Continued frompg1I just couldn’t imagine my home State go back tothe disastrous “years of the locust”. I hadparticipated actively in the campaigns, interactedwith the people, felt their pulse and the story wasthe same – Osun has never had it so good, thepeople vowed to defend their votes by all meanspossible! From that moment I had made up mymind to give my all and put myself at harm’s wayif need be to ensure we form a bulwark ofresistance against the machinery of State to bedeployed to thwart the people’s wish.

When I was about to proceed on my journey toOsogbo, the Osun State Capital on Mondaypreceding the elections I prepared for the worst.Few associates privy to my trip advised stronglythat I removed any APC sourvenir from myluggage,any ID card that can associate me withthe party amongst other security tips. They wereright to be apprehensive, soldiers, officials of theDepartment of State Security(DSS) including thehooded ones,lorry loads of mobile policemen hadsince being deployed across the nook and crannyof Osun State. Bearing in mind the desperation oftheir paymasters, we knew they could stop andsearch vehicles and abduct anything synonymouswith APC, so I took all the precautions. I took offon the journey which in itself was dramatic.

As we got close to Oshogbo, a discussion ensuedin the bus and I found out I was not alone in theSave-Osun initiative. Most of the passengersshared the same sentiments with me and were alsonatives of the State. They spoke emotionally andfiercely about their determination to ensureAregbesola’s victory. Speaker after speaker reeledout programmes and interventions of the Governorthat has brought smiles to the faces of the people.They concluded he was the best thing to happento the State since its creation. The menacingapparatus of State then suffocating the enviromentwill not deter them, they thundered! “Ko si ohunti soja o se, a ma duro gboin gboin lati diboAregbe” they said in yoruba dialect meaning“there is nothing Soldiers can do, we will standfirmly to vote for Aregbe”. I thought to myself,we are about to witness mass resistance unequallyin our national history if anything go against thepeople’s will. Hopefully, the soldiers we met onthe various check-points didn’t stop and search,they just peeped through the bus windows andpassed us on. I heaved a sigh of relief when Iarrived Osogbo safely late in the evening.

I have attended rallies, mega-rallies , name it, butwhat I saw on Tuesday at the grand-finale of thecampaign was frightening. A stadium whosecapacity can’t be more than 60,000 almost caved

in due to pressure from an unprecedented mammothcrowd. Every space on the covered stands were over-filled, the main bowl of the Stadium was virtuallyunpassable. My associates and I had to holdourselves to navigate our way through the crowd, ittook us about an hour from the entrance of thestadium to find somewhere to perch! Yet thousandsmore extend to adjoining roads outside the stadium.It was the APC mega-rally and to say it wasawesomely mega is an understatement! We evenheard that the Lord of Aso-rock caught an instantmigraine seeing the magnitude of the rally! Theeffect of that was seen in the sealing off of thefreedom park that was supposed to host workersrally the next day by “hooded soldiers” They gotthe now familiar, albeit emergency “orders fromabove” to forcefully if need be halt the NigeriaLabour Congress (NLC) and its affiliatesendorsement rally for the Ogbeni.

Co-incidentally, Wednesday, 6th August was mybirthday but I was in no mood for celebrations ofany kind. I told my well-wishers, family and friendsthat you don’t clink glasses in a battle-front!Interestingly, one of my compatriots who was also amajor ‘battle-axe” and good friend’s birthday was8th August so I told him we’ll do a birthday plusvictory party on the 10th, a day after theelections,when we triumph at the polls. We knowwe had the people behind us, we never gave defeat athought! By Thursday, preparations had reachedfeverish pitch, the towns, hamlets and villages wasnow massively flowing with uniformed men of allhues and shades. Some DSS operatives came to therestaurant we were having dinner, Thursdayevening, apparently on surveillance mission. We gotthe message and we left in a jiffy! On our way to ourlocation, we noticed a car trailing us, so we had totake a decoy to a bar. As we turned to the bar, thecar also turned in another direction. Their missionstill remains a mystery. Thank God for littlemercies!

When we arrived our abode, we swung into actionto put finishing touches to our master-plan whichwas to run a co-ordinated and effective live broadcastof the elections on social and online media incollaboration with the APC situation room whichwas to start from Friday evening till theannouncement of the results on Sunday. This wasnecessary because leaking the plans of our deviousopponents was key to frustrate their riggingmachinery; announcing results online as we get itdirectly from our agents was also crucial to frustrateany manipulation at the collation level. By Fridayafternoon, I had to tactically separate from myfriends who then proceeded to a high securitylocation. The curfew was going to start around 5-6pm. By 4pm, I arrived at my own secure locationand quickly moved to set up. I surveyed theenviroment to assess the possible threat level. I saw

that it was negligible so I settled down for the taskahead.

By Friday evening we got intelligence report thatnotorius election rigger, Chris Uba was in town with aunit of 50 soldiers attached to him. We sent that outand made sure it went viral. Later that night,information about the arrest of our leaders ranging fromAPC Publicity Secretary, lai Mohammed, theAttorney-general Of Osun State, barr. Wale Afolabi,Tinubu’s Special Adviser on media, Mr Sunday are,Commissioner for Agric among others were swiftlypublicised with dispatch. The far-reaching effect of thenoise we made contributed in no small measure to therelease of most of those picked up by Saturdaymorning. We discovered by Saturday morning that fakesoldiers and policemen had surfaced in many locations.Their logo was a red ankara tied to their left hand.Quickly we activated our instant alert to ourpeople,through all means possible. That againthwarted efforts to manipulate the elections from thebeginning.

The elections started peacefully however in mostlocations with accreditation going on smoothly. Theonly snag was the continued harassment of APCleaders across the State. The case of the 1st CivilianGovernor of Osun State, Alhaji Isiaka Adeleke wasquite instructive. After failing to assasinate him over-night due to resistance by his security aides, he wastrailed from the polling unit to his mother’s residencewhere he went after accreditation. He escaped the siegeby the whisker after he was discreetly notified. Hecouldn’t come back to exercise his franchise. Theresults started trickling in by afternoon and the PDPdemolition squad sensing their rejection quicklyswitched to a plan B to disrupt the collation process.We instantly alerted the public about their norturnalmeeting and evil plot. What really helped the APCapart from the determination of the people was ouraccess to classified information. We were always a stepahead of them and that frustrated the election riggers.

I got an anonymous call from a patroitic police officeraround 8pm who claimed he was at a location atmodakeke and that results being collated was about tobe altered. You could detect the fear in his voice as heasked me to ensure his cover. He was an igbo officerdeployed from other states, he wasn’t familiar with theterrain but what was gratifying that there could still befew men of integrity in the corruption-ridden NigeriaPolice Force. In order to confirm the authenticity of hisStatement, I asked the Apapa Local GovernmentChairman who was with me to speak to him. Hesounded credible, he concluded. So I made some callsto the authorities and sent text message to our men toact immediately.

Before 11pm, we already had all the results and we hadwon, though unofficially. What sealed the deal for usand put paid to any manipulation the PDP had instock was the unexpected congratulation of Aregbesola

as the winner of the election around 9.40pm by theOoni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuade. Omisoreaccording to our sources had already informed Aso-rock that there was fighting in his home-town ofIle-Ife because according to him, the results wewere circulating were fake and he was actuallyleading in the “original” results. The Ooni swiftlydebunked that, not only congratulated theGovernor-elect, but also stated that nobody wasfighting in Ife! That took the sail out of the wind ofOmisore and his treacherous gang.

If we thought the threats have been subdued, wewere in for a shocker! The returning officer whosetask it is to announce the final result was underpressure to collect a whooping N1b and announceOmisore winner! They were ready to damn theconsequences and ask us to go to court. So we hadto practically go on our knees! I salute theindefatigable people of Osun State, they wereresolute, they stood like a rock, stayed on thestreets all through and formed a human shieldaround the collation centre. Then the returningofficer came in around 1.35pm. The results of allthe local governments were announced before 5am.Then we now witnessed dilly-dallying of thehighest order. It got to a point around 7am,anxious journalists and people started singingasking for the results. Lo and Behold, at about7.10am, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola was finallypronounced the winner!

There was instant jubilation across the nook andcranny of Oshogbo. Never in the history ofelections have I seen such spontaneous excitementpervade the landscape because of resultsannouncement. Within the twinkle of an eye, thewhole town went agog with people clutching theirbrooms- symbol of the Governor’s party,congratulating themselves, okada riders drivingmenacingly in such euphoric ecstasy and finally wecould say hurray! We won! We didn’t win anelection, we won a WAR with a stone like thebiblical david. Goliath came to battle with the bestarsenal at his disposal but we came with the will ofa determined people that vowed that never againshall they go the road of perdition they oncetrodded. Who says the voice of the people is notthe voice of God? Because ultimately the hand ofthe Almighty saved the day and gave us victory.Osun ti dara ooooooo.

Segun Tomori

OSUN DEFENDERPublisher – Moremi Publishing

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OSUN DEFENDER Saturday, September 20, 20146 INTERVIEW

•SALAAM

Aregbesola’s Second Term ‘ll BeBetter Than The First - Osun Speaker

Speaker of State of Osun House of Assembly, HonourableNajeem Salaam, in an interview with KAZEEMMOHAMMED, spoke on the August 9, 2014 governorshipelection, over-militarisation of elections and the successes ofthe Assembly. Excerpts:-

OSDF: Tell us your experience onthe August 9, 2014 governorshipelection in the State of Osun?

SALAAM: What happened on theeve of the election and prior to that daywere quite unfortunate. Like a week tothe election, the people of Osunwitnessed what we have not been usedto in the anal of elections in Osun. Wehad a situation whereby the whole ofthe state was militarised. We had heavydeployment of soldiers, fake and real,masked and unmasked fake and realSSS operatives, as well as policemen,fake and real, all in the name ofelection. The state was militarised tothe extent that the people across thestate were scared of going on with theirbusinesses. The experience was tooterrible.

On the eve of the election however,people were indiscriminately arrestedand molested without committing anyoffence. People were arrested in theirhouses, business places and relaxationcenters and detained. We had someinstances whereby they were tortured.The night before election day properwas a kind of war in Osun between theforces of the Federal Government andthe electorate of Osun and APCmembers. Because we envisaged that,considering what happened in Ekiti, ourparty members planned in such a waythat there was no way they could havearrested every leader of our party at thesame time, for they planned theirmovement.

At the end of the day, we thank Godthat the will of the people prevailed andwe eventually won the election, but Imust tell you, it was a terribleexperience that we have neverwitnessed in Osun.

OSDF: You are claiming that yourparty, APC members were harassed,but eventually your party won theelection, would you now say that theelection was free and fair?

SALAAM: The election process, Imean voting proper was free and fair,as people were not denied voting, butthe activities that surrounded theelection were not fair. They usedfederal forces to harass APC members,but because we have more than enoughsupport of our people to give us themandate, the harassment appeared as ifit did not happen. If the people werenot harassed, we could have garneredmore votes than what we had, becausethere are very large number of oursupporters, who could not go out tovote for fear of being arrested andmolested or even shot. In fact, the PDPwas inducing voters with money whilequeuing to vote, but at the end of theday, the will of God and the peopleeventually prevailed.

OSDF: Is there anydanger that this “overmilitarisation” ofelection poses toNigerian democracy?

SALAAM: It posesserious danger to ourdemocracy because itexposed the military mento politics more thannecessary. Due to thefact that the military arebeing used to get topower by all means, theymight also be thinking ofusing the same method,which could eventuallytruncate our democracy.The involvement of

military could lead to another coupd’état in our country, which we are notpraying for.

OSDF: The INEC Chairman,Professor Attahiru Jega recently saidmasked men and even over-militarisation would not be allowed in

the 2015 elections, can you take himfor his words?

SALAAM: I don’t know whetherJega is sincere with his statement and ifhe is sincere, it means that they havealso seen the danger we are foreseenthat over-militarisation might truncateour democracy. The other way round is

for us to think that maybe, they don’twant security to disturb them when ascript of their boss is being played in2015. Not until when the time comesthat we can determine their intention.But presently, I want to believe thatevery reasonable Nigerian would know

that militarisation ofelection is not good forour democracy. We willbe on the lookout on thenext script they want toplay in 2015. Even ifthey want to militarisethe 2015 generalelections, where willthey get the kind ofnumber they used inOsun, when electionswould be going on in allthe states of thefederation at the sametime.

The question is whenthey know that over-militarisation of electionis dangerous, why didthey use it in Ekiti and

Osun? Why did the decision not takenbefore the Osun and Ekiti elections,

Continued on page 7

OSUN DEFENDER Saturday, September 20, 2014 7 INTERVIEW

Continued from page 6

“If you see the vision of Aregbesola, you can see that fouryears cannot be enough for him. He is a man that wants towrite his own history and believe in transforming the society.He doesn’t believe in amassing wealth to himself. A personof his character cannot misuse his second term in officebecause, he hates betraying trust. He has also promised thathis second term would be better that the first term and weknow that he is a man of his words. Let us all be rest assurethat we have not seen anything, more development wouldcome in the second term of Aregbesola.”

•SALAAM

OSUN DEFENDER Saturday, September 20, 2014 7 INTERVIEW

used to, but when it is turned tostomach infrastructure, you wonderwhat is it about. PDP did not believe indeveloping any area, they only believein sharing rice, kerosene and moneyonly during the election to get people’svotes. When you talk about Osun, thePDP did not achieve their aim becausethe social infrastructures beingprovided by Governor Aregbesola areenough to ensure his return to power.So, people rejected the idea of stomachinfrastructure and they went for socialinfrastructure. I want to believe that thenumber of votes the PDP had was as aresult of their belief in stomachinfrastructure, as some people weregiven rice, beans, kerosene and money,but I must tell you that the overall resultof the election was as a result ofunprecedented development that hascome to Osun through Aregbesola.

OSDF: In the 2011 elections, yourparty, APC, swept all the elective posts,but considering the number of votesthat the PDP garnered in the August 9,2014 governorship poll, do you stillhave confidence that you can have thatkind of chance again?

SALAAM: There is no way they cangarner such votes again because ourpeople are not fools. Apart from thefact that people would want to vote aparty that has a performing governor,those that would contest that electionwould be people from the samelocalities. More so, the stability that wehave in Osun is uncommon and this hasbrought development, because if youlook at some other states, you will seelawmakers at either the state or nationallevel being at loggerheads with theexecutive. We don’t have that in Osunbecause we believe we are one familyand we are all interested in thedevelopment of the state. Peopleappreciate all these and the only timethey can appreciate this more is duringthe 2015 elections.

OSDF: The PDP has gone to tribunalnow, do you entertain any fear asregards that?

SALAAM: Very far from that! Whenyou go to court, you must have genuineevidence, which I know they don’thave. People came out freely and votedfor Governor Aregbesola. What theyare trying to do is to keep theirmembers, so that they don’t leavebefore 2015 election. It is a politicalstrategy that everybody is used to.

They know themselves that there isnothing in the petition and we want tobelieve that the judiciary will maintainits integrity and would not allow itselfto be used by any politician. All thetribunal members have their names andintegrity and they mustbe ready to protect it.They must beindependent and be fairand if this happens, onemust be rest-assuredthat there is no case forPDP, they are justcrying wolf. The votesare the genuine mandateof the people and thereis no point inentertaining any fear.

OSDF: There isalways this fear thatwhen a governor isreturned, there istendency of thatgovernor not toperform. Do you see

Continued from page 6

this coming?SALAAM: If you see the vision of

Aregbesola, you can see that four yearscannot be enough for him. He is a manthat wants to write his own history andbelieve in transforming the society. Hedoesn’t believe in amassing wealth tohimself. A person of his charactercannot misuse his second term in officebecause, he hates betraying trust. Hehas also promised that his second termwould be better that the first term andwe know that he is a man of his words.Let us all be rest assure that we havenot seen anything, more developmentwould come in the second term ofAregbesola.

OSDF: The tenure of the presentparliament of which you are theSpeaker would end in June 2015, what

are the things you are planning to do,like the important bills you are workingon and would intend to pass before thetenure ends?

SALAAM: We have so many billsthat are very important that we areworking on and we will want to passbefore this session ends. We have a billon urbanisation, primary healthcare, billagainst the roaming about of goats andthe rest. We also have a bill that has todo with dredging of sound and manyothers. We could have done most ofthem, but there is need for publichearing on some of the bills, so that wewill listen to the people and see howbest we can make the law to servethem. For us to have a public hearing,we need support from the executiveand we can all see that the state is

financially handicapped for now.We have a record of how many bill

have been passed by the former and thepresent Assemblies. The highest so farbefore we can were 29 bills passed bythe second Assembly, the last Assemblywas able to pass 21 bills, but as I amspeaking, we have passed 24 bills andwe still have about 17 bills pending,meaning that by the end of this session,we would have broken the records ofthe number of bills passed. These billsare the bills that touch lives of thepeople. We want to leave the legacythat would encourage subsequentAssemblies to want to do more.

OSDF: What is happening to thelocal government creation bill?

SALAAM: The bill will take-off anymoment from now. We suspended theaction on it before election because wedidn’t want to mix the election with areferendum, but now that the election isover, the referendum would take placeany moment from now and just fewdays after that, the local governmentwould be announced.

OSDF: Some people consider thisAssembly to be a rubber-stamp House,what is you reaction, just as we wantyou to tell us the secret behind thecurrent peace pervading in the House?

SALAAM: Why those people thinkthe way they do is because they don’tsee us fighting the executive. Whythere is peace between us is that thegovernor himself knows andappreciates the roles of separation ofpower theory. He gives room to theHouse to operate freely on its own.Except the fact that we don’t havefinancial autonomy, there is no otherthing that the governor interfere with inthe House. With these, why do we needto fight him? When we have issues, weaddress them and the executive listen toit, do we have to fight himunnecessarily? The purpose of ourbeing here is to work together to ensuredevelopment, and we are achieving thatbecause we are all interested indeveloping our state and not for ourpersonal selfish interest.

As to the peace reigning in theHouse, there will definitely be peace,when you have people who know whatthey are doing; professionals ofdifferent fields, matured men andleaders that are transparent. Greed isone of the things that cause crisiswhere you experience such, but I knowthat the leadership of Osun Assembly issincere in the little way it can. That isthe respect they give me because theyknow that I am an open person. Youhave crisis in some states becauseSpeakers in some of these states forgetthat they are just an honourablemember like others in the House and

when you begin to feelsuperior to yourcolleagues, there willdefinitely be crisis.Secondly, we havecredible leaders in ourparty that do not disturbthe peace in the House.Most of the places whereyou have crisis have to dowith power tussle in theparty and spread to theHouse, but we thank Godthat there is nothing likethat in Osun. Apart fromthat, prayer is the key tosuccess and that is whatwe have been doing.

Aregbesola’s Second Term ‘ll BeBetter Than The First - Osun Speaker

“If you see the vision of Aregbesola, you can see that fouryears cannot be enough for him. He is a man that wants towrite his own history and believe in transforming the society.He doesn’t believe in amassing wealth to himself. A personof his character cannot misuse his second term in officebecause, he hates betraying trust. He has also promised thathis second term would be better that the first term and weknow that he is a man of his words. Let us all be rest assurethat we have not seen anything, more development wouldcome in the second term of Aregbesola.”

•SALAAM

8 OSUN DEFENDER Saturday, September 20, 2014PHOTOTALKEighth Day Fidau For The Late Chief Imam Of Osogbaland And President-General,League Of Imams And Alfas, South-West, Edo And Delta States, At Osogbo CityStadium, Osogbo, State Of Osun, Last Wednesday. Photo: GBENGA ADENIYI.

•The governor, State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola (right) in a handshake with the President, Osogbo Progressive Union (OPU), Ambassador Razak Siyanbola, while otherdignitaries watch.

•(R-L) Deputy Speaker, State of Osun House of Assembly, Honourable Akintunde Adegboye; State All Progressive Congress (APC) Acting Chairman, Elder Lowo Adebiyi andHead of Market Women in the state, Mrs Awawu Asindemade.

•

•(L-R) Justice Bola Babalakin (rtd); Professor Daud Naibi; Comrade Amitolu Shittu and State of Osun Head of Service, Mr Sunday Owoeye at the event.

9 OSUN DEFENDER Saturday, September 20, 2014PHOTOTALK

Eighth Day Fidau For The Late Chief Imam Of Osogbaland And President-General,League Of Imams And Alfas, South-West, Edo And Delta States, At Osogbo CityStadium, Osogbo, State Of Osun, Last Wednesday. Photo: GBENGA ADENIYI.

•A cross section of traditional rulers at the event.

•A cross section of Islamic clerics during the programme.

•A cross section of guests at the programme.

OSUN DEFENDER Saturday, September 20, 2014

Eighth Day Fidau For The Late Chief Imam Of Osogbaland And President-General, League Of Imams And Alfas, South-West, Edo And Delta States, AtOsogbo City Stadium, Osogbo, State Of Osun, Last Wednesday. Photo: GBENGA ADENIYI.

•Governor Rauf Aregbesola (right), exchanging pleasantries with Islamic scholars, during the fidau.

•A cross section of Muslim faithful on the occasion.

•Some of the Christian clergymen at the event.

PHOTOTALK

11 OSUN DEFENDER Saturday, September 20, 2014FOR THE RECORDS

Address Delivered By The Governor Of The State Of Osun, Ogbeni RaufAregbesola, At The Ceremony To Mark The Official Kick-Off Of TheConstruction/Rehabilitation Of 225-Kilometre Rural Roads Under The SecondPhase Of Osun Rural Access Mobility Project (RAMP II), Held At Ira OpenSquare, Oriade Local Government, On Thursday September 17, 2014.

The Good Works Must ContinueProtocols,

IT is most pleasing for me topreside over this ceremony tomark the official kick-off of

the Osun Rural Access MobilityProject (RAMP II). This is oneproject that is very close to myheart as the head of governmentin Osun at this particular time inthe history of our dear state.

My special interest inRAMPstems from the fact that ithas to do with the roadinfrastructural development inthoseparts of our state that havereceived less attention but in direneed of it in road expansion andimprovement.

There is no gainsaying the factthat rural areas have generallysuffered a disproportionatelygreater degree of neglect ininfrastructural development overthe years. Indeed, this is partlyresponsible for the reverses andsetbacks that we haveexperienced in terms of oursocio-economic advancement.

In this respect, theimportantage-old business ofagriculture has particularly beenhit hard. This has culminated inthe progressive decline inagricultural production with direconsequences for our capacity tofeed our rapidly increasingpopulation.

It has had other equally seriousnegative ramifications inunemployment, masspoverty,decline in education andwidespread incidence of hungeramong many other ills with whichthe land had been pervaded. Onour assumption of office we sawthe problem in its all-ramifyingdimensions and we set abouttackling it as a matter of urgentpriority.

The major policy means weadopted in dealing with theseproblems is to revitalise ouragriculture and modernise it;hence our agricultural revolutionprogramme.

It is our belief that modernisingour agricultural practices wouldbe a magic bullet with which wecan deal effectively with many ofthe major social and economicproblems with which we wereconfronted.

With the development ofagriculture the festering cankerof hunger, unemployment,

poverty, and poor education canbe dealt with.However,indispensable to this agriculturalrevolution programme isaccording necessary developmentattention that had long beendenied to our rural areas.

This crucially involves openingthem up by road. This we havepursued with all the vigour andvitality that we can muster. Oureffort in this area has fortunatelyattracted the attention andassistance of developmentpartners who have been doing alot to enhance our roadinfrastructure development in therural areas of Osun.

The RAMP I – and now RAMPII – projects, ably supported bythe World Bank and FrenchDevelopment Agency, have gonea long way in furthering ourobjective of linking our foodproduction centres in the rural

areas with their supply centresmainly located in the urban areasboth within and outside the state.

Our prudence and impressiveperformance under the RAMP Imade it quite easy for ourdevelopment partners to chooseOsun as one of the four stateseligible for the RAMP II, whichwe are today formally kick-starting.

Under the RAMP II, there are500 kilometres of rural roads tofor construction andrehabilitation. But these will bedone in two phases. The firstphase of the RAMP, which we arecommencing today, will cover225 kilometres of rural roads.

The design and otherpreparations for the remaining275 kilometres will begin in amatter of short time from now,with the prospect of opening upeven more parts of our hitherto

neglected rural communities.For ease of administration and

more effective implementation,the 225-kilometre roads havebeen organised into four lotscovering four different parts ofthe state. The first (Lot 1) is inIwo region and covers58.74kilometres. The second(Lot2) is in Ife region and willcover58.40 kilometres. Thethird(Lot 3), also in Ife region,extends over 53.87kilometres.The fourth(Lot 4) will take placein Ilesha region and will cover53.61kilometres.

This RAMP II road projectswill greatly enhance the areacoverage of the already massiveroad construction andrehabilitation exercise that ouradministration has embarkedupon.

The significance of the RAMProads will be better appreciatedwhen the fact is considered thatabout 75 per cent of the totalroad network in Osun is actuallyrural roads. This is one of theways in which we want tocontinue to demonstrate ourunceasing commitment tocontinue with works ofdevelopment that we have beendoing.

For us, winning a second termof office is no excuse forindolence or for relaxation.Indeed, it is an opportunity toaccelerate the pace of work sothat we can cover as much groundas is humanly possible within thetime available to us.

It is an opportunity we intend tomaximise for the development ofOsun and the well-being of ourpeople.

Indeed, for us, politics is over.Governance and developmentmust continue, even at a fasterrate than before. The mandategiven to us is for all the people,all our communities and it coversevery inch of our soil. It is ourfervent desire to bring theblessing of God on all our peopleand make our state the model ofresponsible leadership and publicadministration.

I thank you all for listening.Osun a dara!

•AREGBESOLA

OSUN DEFENDER Saturday, September 20, 201412 FEATURE

The Late Sage, Chief ObafemiAwolowo Gave Us A Son; Rauf Aregbesola

•AWOLOWO •AREGBESOLA

IT is a truism to assert the fact thatthe late Sage, Chief ObafemiAwolowo of blessed memory gave

us a son; Rauf Aregbesola, when hebade this world a farewell. Meanwhile,Rauf Aregbesola, as people may think,might not necessarily mean a biologicalson of the late sage but can be admittedas one, without any fear ofcontradiction, having transparently seensome exceptional attributes of ChiefObafemi Awolowo in Rauf AdesojiAregbesola.

There is no doubting the fact thatAwolowo was one of the most cerebralof the great nationalists in Africa’scolonial and post-colonial history. Manywords and phrases have been used tocapture his essential greatness. He hasbeen ‘Titan’, ‘Legend’, ‘Sage’,‘Colossus’, ‘Awo, the Great’, Mystic’,‘Patriarch’, ‘Papa’, ‘Immortal Awo’,‘Nigeria’s man’ of 29th Century’ andeven ‘Eternal Spirit’. The man who theformer British Prime Minister, HaroldWilson said during Awo’s life time thathe (Awo) “could lead the UnitedStates or Britain, he came too soonfor Nigeria”.

The late Chief Obafemi Awolowo hasbeen the first outstanding individual andidealist among public figures in Nigeriaand on the continent of Africa. Hisknowledge was deep; so was hisconsciousness of events. His positivedirection of the mind for profferingsolutions to human problems wasunparalleled in the contemporary historyof Africa. Among his contemporariesand compares he stood out as a leaderwho has been able to combine activepolitical achievements with intellectualpursuits, as exemplified in his manyarticles and books, all of which areaddressed to contemporary politicalproblems of our society. As destiny hadit, some of his dreams remain unfulfilled,but as a matter of fact, many of thepolicies he advocated have become thereceived policies of the day.

Of Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola, ‘Thesymbol’ as popularly called by hisadmirers, is a man who simply wishesto be addressed as ‘Ogbeni’, in theavoidance of sentiment, has in him, thesterling qualities as the late legend. Heis a man of dedicating mind, humane,suave, articulate, sensational, focused,committed, high flyer and a visionaryleader. Rauf is simple and down-to earththat he can mix easily and effortlesslyin a crowd without attracting anyattention. He is a man who is very muchin tune with the yearnings of his people.Rauf Aregbesola is a true democrat, astrategist and restive activist, aneffective organizer and mobiliser, arigorous logician and neat thinker. Hisactions are full of reminiscences of thelate Matriarch. In many ways, Rauf likeAwolowo’s political enterprise can beanalyzed and understood withinGramsci’s theory of practical, political

action in the transformation of a society.However, Rauf in liken to late sage

comparatively and relatively is aperformer; in the area of educationwhich Obafemi Awolowo took as firstof his many priorities of all hisdevelopmental precedents during hisleadership of the Western Region, thefirst of its kinds was the free educationat all levels, which Rauf Aregbesola hasmaintained and sustained with theinclusion of other new educationalpolicies such as: O’meal, tablet ofknowledge (Opon Imo), re-classificationof schools, infrastructural developmentof public schools and educational policyof 9:3:4.

In the same vein, when one takes acritical assessment of ObafemiAwolowo in terms of infrastructuraldevelopment such as roads, bridges,Cocoa House and other developmentprojects that are numerous to mention,Ogbeni, in his developmental stridesalike, has done much on roadsrehabilitation and construction withstandard drainage works across thestate, as a channel for economic growthand development. As this will encouragefree accessibility of state to other townsand villages, so also, will make at easethe contribution of every person to theeconomy.

On security, Obafemi Awolowo’ssecurity measure on lives and propertiesof the citizens can be likened to RaufAregbesola’s efforts to curb the menace

of criminalities, corruptions and othersocial vices in Osun. He establishedRobot, SAS, empowered vigilantegroups, community policing etc. In thehistory of Osun as a federating state,she has never witnessed criminal-freeenvironment as we experience now. Allresidents of the state now sleep withtheir two eyes closed, business thrive insuch a peaceful environment which hashelped the socio-economic developmentof Osun.

“Health is wealth” was a regular sing-song of the late Chief ObafemiAwolowo during his life time. He tookno chances against ill-health of hispeople, as these witnessed freehealthcare services during his time asPremier of Western Nigeria. However,in order to complement the efforts ofthe late sage, Ogbeni could beunderstood to be singing the same songwith the late Patriarch. Besides his freehealthcare services delivery, he providesOsun Ambulances across the state forquick conveyance of accident victimsto hospitals for urgent attention, healthprogrammes and all other health facilitieson welfare of the people of Osun.

The late Awo had been making aclarion call before leaving this world tothe great beyond over the empowermentof the youths through employmentopportunities to reduce the idle mindsas known to be the devil’s workshops.Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, the ExecutiveGovernor, in his efforts, is seeing to havebeen yielding to the call by institutingmeaningful social and economicprogress through employment of 20,000job seekers under a programme called

(O’YES) or Osun Youth EmpowermentScheme.

During Awolowo’s democraticgovernance as the Premier of WesternNigeria, Nigeria experienced cocoapyramid. He provided the farmers withfarm inputs at a highly-subsidized rateto boost agricultural production. Theseagricultural outputs had a significantcontribution to Nigeria Gross DomesticProduct (GDP) as at that time. Thisgesture has been replicated by thispresent government under the leadershipof Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola. Osunfarmers in their various groups /associations have been severally helpedand assisted by the state governmentthrough a programme called (O’REAP)otherwise known as Osun RuralEnterprises and Agriculture Programme.

With these and all other initiated far-sighted projects and programmes ofrelevance and significance for thecitizens by the late Sage as Premier ofWestern Region, which have beenreplicated by Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola,the Executive Governor of the State ofOsun, who also in his giant step, hasresuscitated the railway transportationand has under construction, the localairport, building of international marketsand lots more, as his contributions tosocio-economic development of theState of Osun.

Like father, like son of same spirits intransforming a society.

•LAWAL wrote in from Ile-Ife,Osun, Nigeria.

By FOLARIN LAWAL

13 OSUN DEFENDER Saturday, September 20, 2014

Job Vacancies In Nigeria

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

Latest Jobs in a Cocoa Processing Factory in Akure, Ondo StatePlantation Industries Limited, a best in class cocoa processing factory in Akure requires outstandingand experienced professionals for immediate employment. We provide excellent careeropportunities for self- motivated, commercially oriented professionals with initiative and passionto succeed.

Job Title: Accounts OfficersLocation: Akure, Ondo StateRequirementFresh NCE, Polytechnic and University graduates in relevant disciplines are required to be trainedin AccountPayables, Receivables, General Ledger, Treasury and Inventory control.Qualification in Economics is desirable for Account Officers, Cognate experience of minimum of3 years in a reputable manufacturing company is important for all positions except Accountofficers where no experience is requiredRight candidates must be able to work efficiently in a team environment and have goodcommunication and interpersonal skills, as they have to work in operations as a team, and must bevery good at creative problem solving and be able to work with high level hardware and software.Good business skills and commercial awareness are a big virtues, as is the ability to motivate others.Deliver on-time, in-budget, to-specification and contribute to Food Safety and Business QualityManagement System Development are very important.Project management skills will become important after a few years of experience.Job Title: HVAC TechnicianLocation: Akure, Ondo StateJob Description:Assembles, installs, repairs and test industrial Chillers, Refrigerators, Heating, Ventilating and Airconditioning Equipment. Diagnoses malfunctioning systems, apparatus, and components. Locatethe cause of a breakdown and correct the problem.

Duties and Responsibilities:Ensure that HVAC activities meet the technical specifications and good practice.Keep temperatures in the processing, packing and finished goods storage sections withinspecifications.Take reasonable care of own health and safety and that of others in the workplace to avoidincidents.QualificationsDiploma, C&G, FTC and Degree in electrical or electronic engineering, with an emphasis oncourses that include control and instrumentation modules for Instrumentation and Control; C&G/FTC in Refrigeration and Air conditioning unit; and OND/HND/NCE/DEGREE in any SocialSciences for the position of Personnel Officers/Supervisors.Right candidates must be able to work efficiently in a team environment and have goodcommunication and interpersonal skills, as they have to work in operations as a team, and must bevery good at creative problem solving and be able to work with high level hardware and software.Good business skills and commercial awareness are a big virtues, as is the ability to motivate others.Deliver on-time, in-budget, to-specification and contribute to Food Safety and Business QualityManagement System Development are very important.Project management skills will become important after a few years of experience. Job Title: System Manager

Location: Akure, Ondo State

Job Description:System manager will plan, coordinate, and direct computer-related activities in the organization.The person will determine the information technology goals of the organization and are responsiblefor implementing computer systems to meet those goals.

Job Responsibilities:Evaluating user needs and system functionality and ensuring that ICT facilities meet these needs,contribute to organizational policy regarding quality standards and strategic planning, developingand implementing the ICT budget, obtaining competitive prices from suppliers to ensure costeffectiveness.Scheduling upgrades and security backups of hardware and software systems;Researching and adopting new applications for the smooth running of all ICT systems, includinganti-virus software, testing and modifying systems to ensure that that they operate reliably includingprint services and email provision at all times.Providing secure access to the network for remote users, securing data from internal and externalattack, implementing and managing security or integrity and backup procedures, and offering usersappropriate support and adviceProviding user training, support, advice and feedback; mentoring and training new ICT supportstaff and keep up to date with latest technologies and applications.Ensuring that software licensing laws are adhered to. Prevention of crisis situations, which mayinvolve complex technical hardware or software problems.Skills, Interests and Values.Analytical and problem solving; Organization, teamwork and time management, Interpersonal,communication, Management and leadership skills. Good understanding of Sage Evolution orsimilar ERP.

QualificationsDiploma, C&G, FTC and Degree in electrical or electronic engineering, with an emphasis oncourses that include control and instrumentation modules for Instrumentation and Control; C&G/FTC in Refrigeration and Air conditioning unit; and OND/HND/NCE/DEGREE in any SocialSciences for the position of Personnel Officers/Supervisors.Right candidates must be able to work efficiently in a team environment and have goodcommunication and interpersonal skills, as they have to work in operations as a team, and must bevery good at creative problem solving and be able to work with high level hardware and software.Good business skills and commercial awareness are a big virtues, as is the ability to motivate others.Deliver on-time, in-budget, to-specification and contribute to Food Safety and Business QualityManagement System Development are very important.Project management skills will become important after a few years of experience.Job Title: Instrumentation and Control Technician

Location: Akure, Ondo State

Job Description:An Instrumentation and Control Technician repairs, maintains, calibrates, adjusts and installsindustrial measuring and controlling instrumentation.This instrumentation makes sure that all machines in a plant are safe and running correctly. Theyregulate the water flow in equipment or check the air quality in a mine.The operation and safety of the plant relies on these instruments so the Instrumentation andControl Technician is very important as they constantly monitor and calibrate these instruments.Inspect and test operation of instruments and systems to diagnose faults using pneumatic, electricaland electronic testing devices and precision measuring instruments. Repair and adjust systemcomponents, such as sensors, transmitters and programmable logic controllers, or remove andreplace defective parts. Calibrate components and instruments according to manufacturers’specifications.Perform scheduled preventive maintenance work, test and write maintenance reports. Install andcontrol and measurement instruments on existing and new plant equipment and processes. Consultwith and advise process operators, and perform scheduled maintenance work and complete test andmaintenance test report. Observing safety in accordance to government and company standard.Instrumentation and Control Technicians work mainly indoors, on the plant floor and often incramped conditions.They may be required to stand for prolonged periods of time and be exposed to high noise, fumesand heat levels. Because this is such an important job, they must pay close attention to safety andmay be called out in emergencies. Constant learning will be required to keep up with new technology.

Skills, Interests and Values:Ability to consult manufacturers’ manuals, reading and interpreting circuit diagrams, blueprints andschematics to determine tests and maintenance procedures for instruments used for measuring andcontrolling flow, level, pressure, temperature, chemical composition and other variables inmanufacturing and processing.

QualificationsDiploma, C&G, FTC and Degree in electrical or electronic engineering, with an emphasis oncourses that include control and instrumentation modules for Instrumentation and Control; C&G/FTC in Refrigeration and Air conditioning unit; and OND/HND/NCE/DEGREE in any SocialSciences for the position of Personnel Officers/Supervisors.Right candidates must be able to work efficiently in a team environment and have goodcommunication and interpersonal skills, as they have to work in operations as a team, and must bevery good at creative problem solving and be able to work with high level hardware and software.Good business skills and commercial awareness are a big virtues, as is the ability to motivate others.Deliver on-time, in-budget, to-specification and contribute to Food Safety and Business QualityManagement System Development are very important.Project management skills will become important after a few years of experience.Job Title: Control and Instrumentation Superintendent

Location: Akure, Ondo State

Job Description:Control and instrumentation Superintendent plans, designs, develops, implements and managesequipment used for controlling and monitoring different engineering machinery, equipment andprocesses. Main responsibility will be to make sure that all the processes and tools are functional,efficient, and safe for users.

Skills, Interests and Values:Our Control and Instrumentation Engineers must have an excellent understanding of operationalprocesses and a good knowledge of programmable logic controllers (PLC), distributed controlsystems, supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA), and advanced process control (APC).High level skills in managing and operating Windows server and XP edition, Siemens S7 PLCHardware, Siemens step 7 software and programming, Siemens S7 safety Plc, Industrial Ethernetand TCP in IP Networks, ECS (FLS Automation process control system) and Proface HMI Displaysand Profibus DP Networks.QualificationsDiploma, C&G, FTC and Degree in electrical or electronic engineering, with an emphasis oncourses that include control and instrumentation modules for Instrumentation and Control; C&G/FTC in Refrigeration and Air conditioning unit; and OND/HND/NCE/DEGREE in any SocialSciences for the position of Personnel Officers/Supervisors.Right candidates must be able to work efficiently in a team environment and have goodcommunication and interpersonal skills, as they have to work in operations as a team, and must bevery good at creative problem solving and be able to work with high level hardware and software.Good business skills and commercial awareness are a big virtues, as is the ability to motivate others.Deliver on-time, in-budget, to-specification and contribute to Food Safety and Business QualityManagement System Development are very important.Project management skills will become important after a few years of experience.

How to ApplyInterested qualified candidates should forward their applications with C.V. stating position to thefollowing address:

The Advertiser,P.O. Box 2770,Apapa - Lagos

Or

The Advertiser,P.O. Box 2397,Akure-Ondo State

Application Deadline 30th September, 2014———————————————————————————————————————Medical Consultants Jobs at Abia State Ministry of HealthAbia State Civil Service Commission - Applications are invited from suitably qualified and experiencedcandidates to fill the vacant post of Medical Consultants in the Abia State Civil Service as underlisted:

Job Title: Consultant OphthalmologistLocation: AbiaQualification

Prospective Candidates must posses MBBS, plus Fellowship of the National and or West AfricaPost Graduate Medical College in relevant specialities.Job Title: Consultant ObstetricianLocation: AbiaQualification

Prospective Candidates must posses MBBS, plus Fellowship of the National and or West AfricaPost Graduate Medical College in relevant specialities.Job Title: Consultant PediatricianLocation: AbiaQualification

Prospective Candidates must posses MBBS, plus Fellowship of the National and or West AfricaPost Graduate Medical College in relevant specialities. Job Title: Consultant PhysicianLocation: AbiaQualification

Prospective Candidates must posses MBBS, plus Fellowship of the National and or West AfricaPost Graduate Medical College in relevant specialities. Job Title: Consultant SurgeonLocation: AbiaQualification

Prospective Candidates must posses MBBS, plus Fellowship of the National and or West AfricaPost Graduate Medical College in relevant specialities.Condition of ServiceAs applicable in all government Health Institutions.Method of ApplicationProspective Candidates should submit 12 copies of typed CV and application. Photocopies ofrelevant credentials including First School Leaving Certificate, Birth Certificate and LocalGovernment of Origin must also be attached.

Submission of ApplicationAll applications should be addressed to:

The Chairman,Civil Service Commission,Umuahia.

Application Deadline 30th September, 2014.

14 OSUN DEFENDER Saturday, September 20, 2014

The People’s Governor of the State of Osun, Ogbeni RaufAregbesola, has been re-elected to carry on for another term of fouryears.

Ogbeni Aregbesola recorded a resounding success in the just-concluded election.

The election shows that the Governor is well embraced by all thepeople of the State of the Virtuous.

In view of this, your popular grassroots tabloid, OSUN DEFENDERnewspaper, is doing a supplement to congratulate the People’sGovernor.

Individuals, corporate bodies, institutions and well-wishers can availthemselves with the pocket-friendly advert rate of OSUNDEFENDER newspaper.

Advert RateFull Page Colour - N150,000Full Page Black & White - N120,000Half Page Colour - N80,000Half Page Black & White - N70,000Quarter Page Colour - N50,000Quater Page Black & White - N40,000

- Management

Congratulations

Any of these phone lines can be contacted: 08033927286, 08033880205, 08061197897 and 08023191891

NEWS

If you were harassed, arrested, detained,assaulted by any suspected agents of thePeoples Democratic Party (PDP)whether in uniform or mufti, during theAugust 9, 2014 governorship election inthe State of Osun, visit our office,opposite Guarantee Trust Bank, Ogo-Oluwa, Osogbo, or call either of thesephone numbers – 08033927286 and08033880205.We are interested in your plight by

recording it for history.- Management

August 9, 2014 GovernorshipElection Victims

Court Remands Man In PrisonOver Reckless Driving

ONE Daniel Bafoe was arraigned before an OsogboMagistrate’s Court on Tuesday over reckless driving.

The charge sheet read inthe court disclosed that theaccused drove recklessly ona highway, which is contraryto and punishable undersec.28 of the RTA cap115vol.6 laws of Osun State2003.

It added that he drove ina dangerous manner, whichled to the death of sixunidentified people.

The charge sheet furtherread that the accusedperson caused seriousinjury on the body of ApehBoniface and other 13unidentified passengers.

The charge sheet furtherdisclosed that Danielcaused damage to oneToyota Hiace Hummer Bus,which value was put atabout N3.5million, the onlyproperty of Boniface, anoffence punishable underSection 451 of the statepanel code.

It also added that theaccused drove recklessly onthe public highway withoutan approved driver’slicence; he therebycommitted an offencecontrary to Section 7(1) ofRTA cap146 laws of OsunState.

The charge sheet furtherstated that the accusedcommitted the offence onJuly 28, 2014 at the Rain OilFilling Station, Ipetu-Ijesa,along Ilesa-AkureExpressway at about 11:20am, while he was the driver

in charge of one FordExplorer with registrationnumber LAGOS AKD 48AW.

Meanwhile, the accusedpleaded not guilty to thecharges levelled againsthim.

Defence counsel urgedthe court to grant his clientbail in most liberal terms,saying he would not jump

bail if granted and wouldprovide credible surety toguarantee his readiness toface trial.

Police prosecutor,Inspector Isiaka Ajadi, didnot oppose the bail soughtby the defence counsel.

The presiding magistrate,Mr Olusola Aluko, therebyurged the defence counselto present a formal bailapplication for his client andordered that the suspect beremanded in prison custody.

He then adjourned thematter till October 28,2014for hearing.

Man In Court Over Fraud

ONE Wale Adepoju , 38, was arraigned before an OsogboMagistrate’s Court last Friday over alleged case of

fraud.The charge sheet read in

the court disclosed that theaccused fraudulentobtained N35,000 from oneBunmi Badmus under thepretence to secure a roomapartment for her, which heknew to be false, an offencecontrary to Section 419 ofthe Criminal Code cap 34 vol.11 laws of Osun StateNigeria 2003.

The charge sheet alsoadded that the same person,on the same day, stole thesum of N35,000 from sameBunmi Badmus, an offencepunishable under Section390(9) of the state panelcode.

The charge sheet furtherdisclosed that the accusedcommitted the offence onMarch 8, 2014 at AlekuwodoArea of Osogbo, the State

of Osun capital, at about12.00noon.

Meanwhile, the accusedpleaded not guilty to thecharges preferred againsthim by the police.

Defence counsel, Mr.Francis, urged the court togrant his client bail in mostliberal terms, saying theoffence was bailable and hisclient should be given theprivilege.

Police prosecutor,Inspector Isiaka Ajadi,standing brief for SergeantElisha Olusegun, did notoppose the bail application.

Presiding magistrate, MrOlusola Aluko, granted thesuspect bail in the sum ofN20,000 and one surety inthe same sum beforeadjourning the case tillSeptember 28, 2014 formention.

By LATEEFAT ADEPOJU

By MARYAM AFOLABI

15 OSUN DEFENDER Saturday, September 20, 2014 PHOTOTALK

World Bank/French Development Agency Delegation Paid A CourtesyVisit To The State Of Osun Governor Rauf Aregbesola, At GovernmentHouse, Osogbo, Last Tuesday.

•The governor, State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola (right) with the Team Leader, World Bank/French Development Agency, Mr Mohammed Essakali, during courtesy visitto the governor at Government House, Osogbo, State of Osun, on Tuesday.

•Governor Aregbesola (centre); Essakali (2nd left); National Coordinator, Rural Access and Mobility Project (RAMP), Engineer Ubandoma Ularamu (2nd right); Chief of Staffto the Governor, Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola (left) and other dignitaries in a group photograph, during the courtesy visit.

www.osundefender.org THE 5TH MOST-VISITED NEWSPAPER WEBSITE IN NIGERIA

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

Still On Nigeria's Leadership

AUDACIOUSEXPLOIT

withMURTALA AGBOOLA

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

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2014

AS the general electionbeckons, this is the timefor the masses

(electorate) to assert theirpowerful asset, whichunfortunately they do not realize.

In democracy, the electorate arethe masters, while the people, whosolicit for their votes and occupypublic offices are the servants.

What this fundamentally meansis that the voters have the right toinstall (elect) and remove (recall)elected public officers.

Unfortunately in the past, riggingand manipulation of votes had madenonsense of this power, capabilityand relevance of voters might.

With the reforms going on nowin the Independent NationalElectoral Commission (INEC) thepower of the voters is beingrestored. The electorate thereforeneed to be aware of this power anduse it well for their own benefit.

This translates to the fact thatnobody, however mighty, powerfulor intelligent can hold powerwithout the contribution of thevoters.

The society continues toadvance, which comes up with itschallenges. It is for this reason thatwe need to get into authority,people who are either highly-endowed or have developedthemselves to cope with thechallenges of the current realities.We need leaders, who areproactive and can peep into theunseen world and make predictionof the future and how thechallenges that would come alongwith it would be tackled.

We can as well look at thepresent crop of leaders, who haveidentified societal challenges andhave proffered solutions to them.

Nigeria cannot continue to makedo with leaders, who are chosen orappointed on sentiments. Leadersthat are meant to fill geographicalquotas or chosen because theirpeople have been marginalized inthe past.

Our people need to be in tunewith current realities. The world isnow a global village and things arechanging fast, hence we cannotafford to stand aloof. Modernityhas come with challenges likeEbola, which we are fightingfrantically to contain. Fruit batshave been with us since timeimmemorial until it was alleged tobe responsible for Ebola Viral

Disease (EVD) in the Republic ofCongo.

One of the largestconcentrations of bats in Nigeriatoday is on the campus of one ofthe prestigious universities inAfrica, the Obafemi AwolowoUniversity (OAU), Ile-Ife. It hasnever caused any challenge, eitherto people living on the campus asstudents or workers. The EVD,which was brought into Nigeria bythe Liberian-American, LatePatrick Sawyer, has caused untoldhardships.

It is a credit to the Lagos Stategovernor, Mr Babatunde RajiFashola, who took proactive stepsto contain the spread of the viraldisease.

While one is notdiscountenancing the role of theFederal Ministry of Health, onemust be quick to admit the

invaluable role of Fashola.The Boko Haram insurgency

could have been nipped in the budif the federal authorities have beenproactive. Initially it wasconsidered as a local problem butby the time it went the whole hog,the country could not contain it.

As a Commander-In-Chief of theArmed Forces, President GoodluckJonathan ought to have assembledhis commanders to the warfront toconfront the terrorists. ThePresident not only failed to take theample opportunity but even doubtedthe Chibok school girls that werecaptured by the terrorists. Themaidens that were captured sinceApril 15th have been in the terroristsden.

Maybe, if the leadership had beenproactive and look beyond narrowconfines of office and theperquisite of office, something

tangible would have been achieved.The challenges of modern

society demand vision, focus,commitment and foresight on thepart of the leadership. We cannotcontinue to do the same thing everytime and expect to get differentresults.

The February, 2015 generalelection affords us ampleopportunity to elect leaders withideas and not people with means torule us. It is idea that rules theworld. The idea of TransformationAmbassadors of Nigeria (TAN)going about soliciting signaturesfrom the people to endorseJonathan is not only archaic but outof tune with current realities.

What Jonathan has done since heassumed the mantle of leadershipafter the demise of his late boss,Umaru Musa Yar’Adua shouldspeak for him. There is no reasonon earth why public funds shouldbe expended on organizing peopleto bring people together to endorsehim.

We need to progress and provideleadership for Africa and the Blackrace. We can only do that if we havethe right leadership. Incumbencyfactor could be an asset or liabilitydepending on how it is used.

If the leadership is right,everything will follow. Our leadersshould stop at being excuse-giversto charting ways for new things.Since July last year, the revenuedue to states has been slashed byforty per cent. Besides the lameexcuse given, nothing concrete hasbeen done to assuage the feelingsof the citizens that ought to havebenefitted from the projects thatwould have been established.

For purpose of argument, whathappens tomorrow, if there is nooil revenue again? This can happenif there is an alternative to oil orother countries are producing forour major importers? This is thetime for us to put on our thinkingcaps and ask our would-be leadersnext year what alternative measuresthey have in stock supposing theunexpected happens.

However, if we allow thisopportunity to slip by, then wewould have ourselves to blame.Maybe it is when there is no petro-dollar revenue again that we wouldrealize the economic misfortunefor Nigeria, the 6th world’s biggestproducer of crude oil to importrefined petroleum products.

•JONATHAN