VOL. 9. NO.046 NNNNN 505 05 05 05 0THURSDAY, APRIL 17, 2014

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Front Page Comment Who KilledChief Bola Ige,former Attorney-

General andMinister of

Justice? IGE

Osun Denies Obtaining N117bn Loan

•The governor, State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola (on top of his SUV), acknowledging cheers from his supporters, during the commissioning of 15 Ilesa township roads inthe state on Tuesday.

Aregbesola Talks Tough•Says, PDP, Omisore, Adesiyan AreToo Small To Rig Osun Election•As He Commissions 15 Township Roads In Ilesa

Osun Technology Villagethinking of the symbol of

an alternative perspective.When Independent News-papers Limited (INL), pub-lishers of the Independenttitles described him as such,they knew what they weresaying. The alternative per-spective is about making apeople competitive;

Out of Engineer RaufAregbesola’s State ofOsun there is always

s o m e t h i n gtrailblazing. In setting theagenda through a list ofinitiatives, the symbol ofgood governance in theState of Osun neverstops preparing thepeople for a better tomor-row.

Tomorrow is key in the

it is about preparing themfor tomorrow’s vastly differ-ent world. Initiatives such asthe Opon Imo, the knowl-edge tablet attest to this. Keyalso is the coming into be-ing of the state’s technologyvillage. The reason for de-veloping the village fits ininto Aregbesola’s overallstrategy.

The symbol believesvery much in jobs creat-ing development. Thisis in contradiction tothe prevailing growthwithout development;for example the garmentfactory earlier set up inthe state testifies to thispolicy thrust. Now fullyoperational, thefactorysupplies uni-forms to the publicschools system.

Continue on pg5

2 OSUN DEFENDER Thursday, April 17, 2014News

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•(L-R) Deputy Governor, State of Osun, Otunba (Mrs) Grace Titi Laoye-Tomori, with Christian Association of Nigeria(CAN) Chairman in the State of Osun, Reverend Elisha Ogundiya, during the Inter-Denominational Servicecommemorating end of the year 2014 Easter Lenten season at State of Osun Government House, Osogbo, last Sunday.

Photo: GBENGA ADENIYI.

By KAZEEM MOHAMMED

By ISMAEEL UTHMAN

Osun Gov Poll: PDP’s Violence ‘llBe Resisted - Osun Speaker

THE Speaker of the State of Osun House of Assembly,Honourable Najeem Salaam, has said that any attemptto perpetrate violence in the August 9 governorship

election in the state would be massively resisted.He spoke in Ejigbo, his

hometown, on Saturday shortlyafter participating in the AllProgressive Congress (APC)governorship primary electionin his Ejemu, Ward 4, EjigboLocal Government.

The incumbent governor,Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola,unanimously emerged thecandidate of the party throughthe primary election.

Saying that the exercise wasanother testimony that thepeople of the state love OgbeniAregbesola, Salam stressed thatit was also an indication thatthere is no amount of effort bythe opposition that couldprevent the people fromexercising their voting rights.

Reacting to the insistence ofthe opposition PDP to takeover government by all means,he described the insistence as amere dream, just as he noted thatthere is no amount of force,intimidation or harassment thatcan take the love the peoplehave for Aregbesola away.

The speaker who alsodescribed the comment of theNational Chairman of the PDP,Adamu Mu’azu, that it is adifficult task to unseatAregbesola as realistic, said,“whoever wants to come withviolence will be resisted with allthe legal capacity that we have.

“Some people are stilldreaming that they will takeover and I’m sure that from theirslumber, we will wake them upin August 9.

“There is no amount of force,intimidation or harassment thatcan take the love the people

have for Aregbesola away.“They are busy bodies that

do not have anything to do,other than to spread rumoursand lies.

“In a free and fair election,there is nobody to challenge usin Osun, as we are fully onground, but we are entertaininga fear because of the activitiesof the Minister of State forPolice Affairs who hails fromOsun.

“If they can attack a formergovernor within their party, wemust be careful, as it showsthey want power at all cost,even when people don’t wantthem”, he said.

Salaam then urged thesecurity operatives not to bepartisan, but provide peacefulenvironment for the people tohave free and fair election.

Also speaking, a member ofthe Senate, representing OsunWest Senatiorial District,Senator Mudashir Husain,maintained that the partywould ensure that the electionis peaceful, free and fair.

In their remarks, somemembers of the state House ofAssembly also said theAssembly would resist anyform of violence that anypolitician or individual mightwant to unleash on theelectorate in the forthcominggubernatorial election in thestate.

They opined that theelection would be one man, onevote, as the people of the statehave been enlightened on howto exercising their franchise.

National Insecurity Demands Non-partisan Approach – Soyinka•Monarchs Commend Aregbesola On Peace

NOBEL Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, has said thatwhat Nigeria needs in the face of series of challengesfacing her are competence and seriousness, apparently

from the leaders of the country.Soyinka stated this just as he

said the national insecurityrequires a non-partisanapproach, as it is not a partisansituation.

He stated this on Monday atthe opening of a three-day All-Comers Colloquium with thetheme, “FundamentalImperatives of Cohabitation,Faith and Secularism”, held at theCentre for Black Culture andInternational Understanding(CBCIU).

According to Soyinka, who isthe chairman of the CBCIU,national insecurity is not apolitical matter, but a serioussecurity challenge that has eatendeep into the fabric of the nation.

Soyinka said: “Nigeria needscompetence, seriousness and notprayer. There should be non-partisan approach to the nationalinsecurity. It is strictly a securitymatter. It is time we recognizethe fact that what is happeningis not unique to Nigeria and nota partisan situation.

“All political parties mustaccept the fact that insecurity isnot a political matter. Theyshould stop the barrage ofattacks on each other. I had saidit some years back that Nigeriais at war. What we are witnessing

is a war situation and not apartisanship situation.

“We are in a war; and it isinternal war. It needs nonpartisan approach. We cannotcontinue to play politics withinsecurity. Every day; everyhour, is precarious for everyoneof us. Nobody should feelunconcerned. Even if we are notendangered, we need to feel forthose that are falling victims ofthe insecurity”.

The Nobel Laureate said it istime the religious leadersintervene in the challengesfacing the country and in politicsin general term.

“Religious leaders need tointervene in the crisis andparticipate in politics. Theyplay significant role in thesociety. We need them morethan ever in this situation”,Soyinka said.

Speaking on the need tounderstand the secularismnature of the country, Soyinkasaid every individual mustrespect the differences in thefaiths of another.

He charged national leadersand parents to preach unity totheir children, saying thechildren needed to be taughttolerance right from childhood.

Soyinka said: “Childrenshould be allowed to see eachothers as human beings by theirattitude; faith and team spirit.God will never forgive anyonethat denies the children theopportunity to relate with eachother as fellow Nigerians andhuman beings.

“Children should not bedistinguished by their sartorialspectrum. It is fundamentallyand morally wrong. Poisoningthe minds of the children withreligion or faith is barbaric.Children must be trained thatthey have equal right with oneanother. Schools should beallowed to unify faiths.

“There should be acomparative religious coursethat will teach theunderstanding; the tenet and theimperative of religions. Thechildren minds are beingpoisoned. The Boko Harammenace is as a result of thepoisoned minds of the children.

“The Almajiris and many ofthe Boko Haram soldiers are theset of people that their mindshad been steadily poisonedwhen they were children. Weneed to let the children knowthat faith should not dividethem”, he stressed.

Soyinka suggestedmandatory and compulsorysubject of Comparative Religionto be taught in all school acrossthe country, where history,philosophy and practice of thedifferent religion would be

instilled into growing childrenof this generation.

Speaking at the event, theOlokuku of Okuku, Oba AbioyeOluronke who spoke on behalfof other traditional rulers at theprogramme, described thecolloquium as a right step in theright direction.

Oluronke said the traditionalrulers were embittered with thereligious misunderstandinggoing on across the country,pleading with religious leadersto embrace peace and preachtolerance and accommodation.

He, however, commendedGovernor Rauf Aregbesola forhis impartial treatment on allreligions, and his undying spiritto maintain and sustain thepeace and oneness of the statein the face of religion andpolitical differences.

The monarch saidAregbesola has demonstrated apeace-loving attitude when herefused to take revenge onpoliticians that made him wentthrough hell when he wasstruggling to retrieve his stolenmandate in court.

In his opening remarks, theDirector of the CBCIU, Dr WaleAdeniran, said the colloquiumwas conveyed as a result of thedeep concern that the centre hason the peaceful cohabitation inthe state and Nigeria at large.

Adeniran said it would beirresponsible for the CBCIU tofold its arm in the face ofreligious misunderstanding,saying all hands must be on deckto fight the religious crisisheadlong.

Aregbesola Talks Tough•Says, PDP, Omisore, Adesiyan Are Too Small To Rig Osun Election •As He Commissions15 Township Roads In Ilesa By KEHINDE AYANTUNJI

THE entire Ilesa community was on Tuesday agog overthe commissioning of 29 kilometres of township roads.The entire city went into jubilation, cheering the

governor from Omiru junction to Ibala in Ilesa.The governor inspected the

29 kilometre roads amidstmammoth crowd beforereturning to Ibala CommunityPrimary School for thecommissioning.

His admirers were troopingout from every corner towelcome the governor, old andyoung ones were rushing to havea glimpse of the governor.

Governor Aregbesola,apparently exited with thesuccessful completion of theroads, assured the people ofprotection before and after theAugust 9 election, saying: “Itwill be practically impossible forthe Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) or their agents to fomentany trouble in any part of thestate”.

He warned those who areplanning to use federal might torig Osun election, cautioningthat such groups or individualswill have themselves to blame.

Aregbesola cautioned that hisadministration has the capacityto humble any trouble makerthrough the instrumentality ofthe law.

He said: “The time ofbrigandage, violence and electionrigging in the state has gone forgood, who so ever that makessuch an attempt will surelyregret it, this is the seventh year

that my mother and I werechased out of Ilesa because ofelection and such trend willmeet serious resistance; theywill be dealt with beyond theirimagination.

“They picked the mostviolent candidate among themto intimidate our people, thattime has gone; they saidsomeone is Minister of PoliceAffairs; another is Minster ofDefence, thousands of themcannot unseat me because it isby the grace of God and thesupport of the people.

“Out of the PDP aspirants,Omisore is the least competentbut because of his criminalrecords and tendency, theybelieve he is capable ofunleashing terror on our people.He lost his ward in the lastelection, his town andcompound rejected him in thelast election, so Omisore is ofwhat value before theelectorate? “ Aregbesola asked.

“He lost woefully in theelection and failed to challengethe election in court, nowcrying wolf against the stateINEC Resident ElectoralCommissioner without anyevidence to prove that anymanipulation existed during thelast election. We are watching,if INEC will succumb to their

baseless and ridiculoussentiments “

He called on the people to bevigilant and exercise no fear aheadof the gubernatorial election,saying the ongoing good workwill not be truncated.

The governor said thecommission of the roads wouldbe extended to other six zones inthe state and commended thepeople for their support.

He said there is no town orcommunity in the state that hasnot benefited from the roadproject and other infrastructuraldevelopment in the last threeyears which was a completedeparture from the PDPadministration “which tenurewas characterised with violent,hunger and poverty”.

The selected roads are ToshoObembe-General Hospital, OkeOpo Community, Irojo - Sabo

Junction, Ilerin/Leventist -Obokun Avenue, Lejoka AbiolaImon Junctions, Omo OlupeStreet and Old Omieran road.

Others are Isokun- Osogbo,Ibala Idooko junction, Idookojunction, Oladokun Ibironke,Oke- Omiru and Otekunrin road.

Special Adviser to theGovernor on Works andTransport, Engr OladepoAmuda, said since assumptionof office of the governor, he hasbeen giving serious attention toroads and infrastructure acrossthe cities and town in the state.

He said the total cost of theroads is N3.7 billion.

According to him, the roadtransformation is evident thatthe state has virtually become amass construction site with theregular construction andrehabilitation of roads across thestate.

Oba Adekunle Aromanlaran,the Owa-Obokun of Ijesaland,said Aregbesola has broughtunprecedented development toIjesaland and the state at large,adding that the people ofIjesaland are strongly behindthe governor.

He urged the governor tocarefully look at the variouscommunities’ requests for localgovernment to preventcommunal crisis and not alsoforget the welfare of thetraditional rulers especially onmobility.

Also, Mr Olalekan Salami,Chairman, National Union ofRoad Transport Workers(NURTW), Group 4,commended the governor for theconstruction of Ilesa townshiproads which, according to him,will aid commercial activities.

The venue of the event,Community Primary School,Ibala Road, Ilesa, became a

beehive of activities as severalentertainment groups andindividuals added to fun-filledatmosphere of the event.

Ijesas from home and abroadwere sighted exchangingpleasantries with one anotherand guests from other townsfrom the state and beyond.

Different society groups andindividuals in Ijesaland throngedthe venue to pay specialhomage to the Owa-Obokun ofIjesaland in commemoration ofthe landmark achievements ofroads that were commissioned.

When the governor got to theoccasion, security operativeshad a hectic time in controllingAregbesola's admirers whomilled round him as ants do tosugar.

Both literate and illiterateparents were praying forAregbesola for transformingIlesa in terms of provision ofinfrastructural facilities.

3 News OSUN DEFENDER Thursday, April 17, 2014

•A sea of heads during the All Progressive Congress (APC) Governorship Primary Nomination Election at Nelson Mandela Freedom Park,Osogbo, State of Osun last Saturday. Photo: GBENGA ADENIYI.

By KEHINDE AYANTUNJI

Iwo Standstill As APC Adopts Aregbesola For Second Term

THE ancient town of Iwo stood still for several hourson Friday as members of the All ProgressivesCongress (APC) in Iwo gathered with one voice to

endorse the governor, State of Osun, Ogbeni RaufAregbesola, for second term.

The playing ground ofDC Elementary School,Araromi, venue for theprogramme, was filled tocapacity, as members andfollowers of the party in

their several thousandsgathered to express theirappreciation to thegovernor.

Speaking at the event, theEkerin of Iwoland, Otunba

Bayo Aremu, said thatAregbesola’s achievementin the last three and a halfyears is unprecedented andenough to earn him secondterm.

He said: “Aregbesola’sgovernment isincomparable. Noadministration in the historyof Osun has performed asmuch as he has done, as hehas transformed not only

Iwoland, but the whole ofOsun.

“For Aregesola to pick theSecretary to the StateGovernment, theCommissioner for Womenand Children Affairs amongothers from our land showsthat he is a man that lovesour dear town so much andhe should be supported torule beyond 2014.

“I have been out of Iwo

for many years, but I havedecided to come back homehaving heard of thewonderful transformationthat the state is witnessingunder Ogbeni Aregbesola”,Aremu said.

Also speaking, theSecretary to the Stategovernment, AlhajiMoshood Adeoti, urged thepeople of Iwo and entirestate to continue to support

the government and theparty, saying that, it is onlythe APC that can move thestate and the countryforward.

Adeoti said: “Look at ourroads, look at the newschools he is building, a lotof our jobless youths arenow employed as a result ofthe OYES scheme put inplace by our governor andhe is feeding our elementaryschool pupils everyday.”

He subsequently moved amotion for the adoption ofAregbesola for second termand was seconded by AlhajiLiadi Ganiyu with a loudapplause from the teemingsupporters of the party.

In his response,Aregbesola expressed hisappreciation, as Iwo was thesecond town after Modakeketo openly adopt him for asecond term in office.

While promising hiscontinued delivery of goodgovernance to the people ofIwo and the entire state, thegovernor announced thatthe road from Papaboundary to Iwo will beconstructed anytime fromnow.

Aregbesola said: “Wepromised and we are fulfillingour promises because we arenot like the people who ruledthe state for seven and a halfyears before us withoutanything to show for it.

“At a time in this state,they were the occupants ofthe three tiers ofgovernment: the Federal,State and Localgovernments and theycouldn’t do anythingpositive for the state. Theyshould be ashamed.

“We should all begin totell ourselves that it is onlythe APC that can delivergood governance in thecountry; we should notleave the campaign topoliticians alone”, he noted.

The state helmsmanurged the people to ensurethat they keep their voters’card intact, so as to be ableto exercise their right asvoters.

Stop Blackmailing INEC - Osun APC Tells PDPTHE All Progressives Congress (APC) in the State of

Osun has cautioned the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) to stop its serial blackmail of the Independent

National Electoral Commission (INEC) that except theResident Electoral Commissioner in the state is replaced,the PDP will not consider the election result credible.

According to the APC, thestance was a blatant attemptby the PDP to corrupt theelectoral process by arm-twisting INEC to replace a manthe PDP has found impossibleto manipulate to do its biddingduring the August 9 polls.

In a statement issued by itsDirector of Publicity, Researchand Strategy, Barrister KunleOyatomi, in Osogbo onMonday, the APC said, it is thePDP itself that stalled the courtprocess which was attemptingto determine the truth orotherwise of that party’sallegation against the stateREC.

The APC called theattention of the public to whatit described as the truth of thematter which the attorney-general had earlier explained

that: “The truth here is thatduring the general elections inApril 2011, the PDPapproached the Federal HighCourt sitting in Osogbo in suitNo FHC/OS/26/2011 by wayof originating summons seekingfor the determination of 5 (five)issues all relating to thecompetence/legality or

otherwise of the REC,Ambassador Toyin Akeju, toconduct the April 2011 generalelections in the State of Osun.

“An order preventing theREC, State of Osun, fromconducting general elections inthe state was granted on the28th March, 2011, an order,which the INEC has appealedat the Court of Appeal, Akure.

“It is important toemphasize again that theinterlocutory orders granted bythe Federal High Court,Osogbo has been properlyappealed against, and thence

put the enforcement andfurther proceedings in the casein abeyance pending theoutcome of the appeal.

“Curiously, it was even thecounsel to the Plaintiff/nowRespondent (PDP), against allknown practices in law thatapproached the lower court forstay of proceeding. Thepractice which the courtdescribed as “curious andbizarre”, albeit, was grantedand the proceedings stayed”.

The party recalled that theINEC Chairman, ProfessorAttahiru Jega, has challenged

‘Why Osun LG Creation Is Still Pending’By KAZEEM MOHAMMED

THE State of Osun House of Assembly has explainedthat the delay in the passage of the bill for the creationof more local governments in the state was borne out of

the efforts to make the processes acceptable to all.Chairman, House Committee

on Local Government andChieftaincy Affairs, HonourableWasiu Adebayo, stated this on

Monday during a chat withOSUN DEFENDER in hisoffice in Osogbo, the statecapital.

He spoke just as he hintedthat more than 27 localgovernments would beapproved by the Assembly asagainst the proposition in thebill.

The lawmaker explained thatwhen the Assembly memberstoured the designatedheadquarters of the proposed

councils, it was discovered thatthere is need to amend whatwas brought before the housein terms of the number of newcouncils.

“When we went round tofeel the pulse of the people, wesee that there is need to amendwhat was brought before us andthat was what we are doingpresently.

“Some people were askingfor more outside what has beengiven to them, but they mustbe convinced why they cannotbe given more. What we aredoing now is to ensure that, atleast, the highest number ofpeople is satisfied with theprocesses.

“Definitely, we will havemore than 27 new councils asagainst the projection in the bill,but we must make sure thatcertain nerves are calm down,so that the exercise will beacceptable to all”, he said.

He further stressed that apartfrom the efforts to resolve allthe issues arising from theexercise, part of the thingshindering the process was thepaucity of fund for the conductof referendum as part of theprocesses required.

Adebayo noted that theAssembly was about roundingoff the consultations anddiscussions on the bill, insisting

the PDP to produce proof thatAkeju is compromised,otherwise he remains innocentof PDP’s allegation, noting thatthe PDP has not been able toprovide such evidence.

It noted that the PDPgovernorship candidate, IyiolaOmisore and his party’sinsistence on a false allegationagainst the REC was a pureblackmail and an attempt tocorrupt and manipulate theprocess to rig itself to power.

“This nonsense must stop,”the APC said.

that the council would be createdbefore the August 9 governorshipelection.

Urging the people to acceptthe councils and wherever theyare located in good faith, headded that there is no way everycommunity could beheadquarters.

He said that the new councilswould not be burden on theexisting one, as all the machineryhave been put in place to makethe council self-sustenance bytapping more potential forInternally Generated Revenue(IGR).

The lawmaker also stressedthat when the councils arecreated, they would be smallerin sizes and easier to finance,hence, bringing development tothe grassroots, as all the projectsbeing carried out would be easierto monitor.

He further noted that theparliamentary system ofgovernment being proposed inthe bill would reduce the cost ofgovernance and bring aboutcompetitiveness which will inturn ensure development.

“If this parliamentarysystem is eventually approved,it will reduce the expenses onpolitical functionaries and wewill have more money to executedevelopmental projects”, headded.

Soyinka Warns Nigerians On Religious WarBy ISMAEEL UTHMAN

THE Chairman, Centre for Black Culture andInternational Understanding (CBCIU), ProfessorWole Soyinka, has predicted that religious war is

looming in Nigeria.Soyinka who warned

Nigeria against fighting areligious war, said itsoutcome might bedevastating.

He spoke in Osogbo onSaturday at a pressconference to herald a three-day colloquium organizedby the Centre for BlackCulture and InternationalUnderstanding (CBCIU), incollaboration with the StateGovernment of Osun.

Soyinka who wasrepresented by a member of

the board, Professor WaleAdeniran, noted thatactivities in recent past inNigeria have pointed to thefact that religious war islooming in the country.

The Nobel Laureate said:“Religious crisis in Nigeriatoday is assuming adangerous dimension.

“The secularity of Nigeriais very clear, there is noambiguity about it. Shouldreligion be allowed to reallyhave impact on thegovernance? Religion

should not be brought intopublic governance.

“I pray this does nothappen because this maylead to disintegration ofNigeria as no nation in theworld has ever fought areligious war and remain thesame”.

Soyinka accusedNigerian leaders ofconsciously anddeliberately using religionto divide the country fortheir selfish interest.

The three dayscolloquium titled, AllComers colloquium with thetheme: “FundamentalImperatives ofCohabitation: Faith andSecularism” is expected to

bring Christians, Muslims,traditionalists to dialogueand discuss together onways of preventing religiouswar in the country.

Discussants at the eventinclude; Professor DawudNoibi who will speak onPrimordial Spirituality asAgent of Development; Mr.Modupe Oduyoye onReligion and Development;Dr. Abiodun Agboola onEquilibrium that Adjusts theWorld; Mr. MustaphaAdebayo Bello on Quest forPeace and Dr. MichaelAdekunle on Pluralism andAccommodation in aDemocratic Society amongothers.

OSUN DEFENDER Thursday, April 17, 20144 News

•A newly-asphalted road at Odunitan area, Osogbo, State of Osun under the government of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesolaas captured by our cameraman, ABRAHAM JESUDOYIN, few days ago.

By KEHINDE AYANTUNJI

By SHINA ABUBAKAR

‘No Compromise On Religion Neutrality’THE governor of the State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf

Aregbesola, has said that his administration wouldcontinue to sustain its religion neutrality as a

government and give equal attention to all religions in thestate.

He said, right to religionis a fundamental right ofevery citizen recognized bythe 1999 Constitution andUniversal Declaration onHuman Right, saying it iscriminal to discriminateagainst any individual onthe basis of religion.

The governor who spokeat the opening ceremony ofAll Comers’ Colloquium on“Fundamental Imperativesof Cohabitation, Faith andSecularism” at the Centre for

Black Culture andI n t e r n a t i o n a lunderstanding, Abere, Stateof Osun, said, religion mustnot be a parameter to valuehuman being.

According to him:“Accommodation andreligion tolerance areexemplary character ofYoruba, and we must at alltime recognize the right ofothers to religion. It is analienable right recognizeduniversally and that is why

this colloquium is important.“As government,

regardless of individual faithor religion, we shall continueto maintain religionneutrality, as those who areaccusing us of Islamisationor favouring a particularreligion are ignorant ormischievous.

“People must upholdtheir faith and not pickingoffence in what others aresaying; you must not lookdown on others becausethey do not share yourreligious belief.

Aregbesola whocondemned the bomb blastat Yanyan Motor Pack inAbuja by suspected BokoHaram sect, said suchgruesome attack is a treat to

Nigeria and against thedoctrine of any religion.

He urged the participantsat the colloquium and thepeople of the state to, at alltime, respect others’ faith,saying, religion must not bea tool of division, butstrength.

Chairman, Centre forBlack Culture andI n t e r n a t i o n a lUnderstanding, ProfessorWole Soyinka, expressedconcern over increasingreligion sentiment amongthe young generation andschool children, which, hedescribed, as a dangerousdimension.

He said the religion crisisin Nigeria is not about the

existence of God, rather aperception of religionsuperiority which hasterminated the lives of manyinnocent Nigerians.

He said: “The painfulaspect of the crisis is theinstigation of schoolchildren against each otherby making them to believethat a religion is superiorwhile other is inferior. Thesituation has degenerated

Osun Pledges To Immortalise Victims Of April 14 Poll

THE government of the State of Osun has assured therelations of all victims of the April 14, 2007governorship and House of Assembly elections in the

state that their death as a result of bravery would not be invain.

Speaking to reporters lastMonday on the occasion of the8th Anniversary of thebloodiest election in thehistory of the state, the StateCommissioner for Information& Strategy, Mr Sunday Akeresaid that everything possiblewould be done to immortalizethem as heroes and martyrs ofdemocracy.

He expressed hope that evenin death, the harmless youngmen that were killed at variouspolling units across the statewhile defending ballot boxesfrom being forcefully hijackedand carted away would not restuntil free, fair, credible andtransparent election isentrenched as the order of theday not only in Osun, but allover Nigeria.

It would be recalled thatabout twelve people lost theirlives in Ikirun, Igbajo, IlaOrangun, Ile-Ife, Ilesa and someother parts of the state duringthe poll, while trying to stoppolitical thugs from cartingaway their ballot cast forOgbeni Rauf Aregbesola at theelection.

Akere said, financialsupport, employmentopportunity and educationalscholarship have beenprovided to the families ofthose he described as fallenheroes, noting that no effortwould be spared to ensure thatthey are immortalized and theirnames written in gold.

He also used theopportunity to admonish the

people of the state to be waryof desperate politicians who arelurking around the corner againto deceive the people withmoney and materials in other

to keep them in perpetualpenury and underdevelopment.

He said the administrationof Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesolawould continue in its strive tomake life better for the peopleas it is presently doing andcontinuously build on theexisting peace and tranquillityprevailing in the state.

The commissioner warnedthose planning to take the state

back to an era of violence andinstability to steer clear ofOsun, as nothing would bespared to defend the life andproperties of all its citizens.

To those that suffered onemeasure of incarceration, harmand dislocation of economicactivities, he promised thatadequate compensation wouldbe given to them, as acommittee is working on the

financial details of the whitepaper on the Justice UwaifoTruth and ReconciliationCommission as accepted by thestate executive council.

He was optimistic that theAugust 9, 2014 gubernatorialelection in Osun would be morepeaceful and rancour-free thanthe April 2011 Elections, as theprinciple of one man one votewould be upheld.

Osun APC Primaries, A Reward For Aregbesola - GroupBy SHINA ABUBAKAR

A social organisation in the State of Osun, Movement forSocial Justice, has described the massive nomination ofGovernor Rauf Aregbesola by members of the All

Progressive Congress as its governorship candidate as a rewardfor serving the people faithfully.

A statement issued by thegroup’s coordinator, ComradeSulaiman Alabi, disclosed that for269,631 party members toendorse an incumbent governoras a candidate showed that hehas actually made them proud.

According to the group, APChas shown the masses of thestate that it is really committedto the welfare of the people bynominating a candidate capableof providing good governance forthe teeming populace of thestate.

It disclosed that from itsinvestigation across the state, theAPC candidate has virtuallytouched all spheres of lives ofthe people and impactedpositively on the state economy.

“Our concern as anorganisation is to ensure that ourpeople get their social rightsirrespective of the party ingovernment. We have been to allthe Senatorial Districts in thestate and have seen that thegovernment is working on ourobjectives.

“The school projects thegovernment embarked upon fromour point of view would

guarantee quality education thatcan empower the youthirrespective of their socialeconomic background.

“The schools at the threelevels are catalysts to learningamong the young children andcan be compared to anyone inthe most developed countries ofthe world. That is children socialrights and this government isdelivering it”, the statementreads.

Also, the group noted that ithas noticed that traders and

artisans have all benefited fromthe present administration, whilethose affected by the separationof building were compensatedfor their loss without muchpressure.

The group furthercommended the party forpresenting a candidate who iswell-prepared for the task ofgovernance

to the extent that when achild with a particularreligion is coming others willrun away. This is dangerousfor the system.

“The sense of differencemust be minimal, and schoolchildren must allowassociating with their peersand we must recognize thefact that every child hasreligion potential”, Soyinkasaid.

Aregbesola Preaches Religious Harmony

GOVERNOR of the State of Osun, Ogbeni RaufAregbesola, has called on the people of the state tojettison religious disunity and uphold love and peaceful

co-existence among one another.poverty and ensure peace,security and harmony which wewill continue to do as agovernment, but you, as religiousleaders, must continue to ensurethat your followers co-habit inpeace and unity at all times.

“Government will continueto work and collaborate withreligious leaders to ensure peacein the state, because hardship andinsecurity can only be eradicatedthrough cooperation, love andprayers”, the governor stated.

Aregbesola then urged thereligious leaders to help reduceviolence in the society, sayingone of the primary aims of his

administration was to ensure thatpeople continue to live in peaceand harmony.

Also speaking, Co-ordinatorof the Quick Impact InterventionProgramme(QUIP), Mr DeleOgundipe, highlighted thevarious governmentinterventions in Ife-Southespecially in agric sector, whichinclude RAMP projects going onin the area and womenempowerment programmesamong others.

In their separate remarks, thePresident, League of Imams andAlfas in Ife- South, Alhaji SoliuAlesinloye, as well as theChairman of the ChristianAssociation of Nigeria (CAN),Ife-South chapter, Pastor JohnOladimeji, expressedappreciation to the governor fortaking steps towards havingreligious harmony in the state.

Oladimeji said: “Since theinception of the presentadministration, the variousreligions in Ife-South have neverhad it so good in terms ofreligious harmony, as Muslimsand Christians which are the twomajor religions have been livingpeacefully since this governmentcame on board and that is whywe have decided to come andshow our appreciation to thegovernor.

Alhaji Soliu also saluted thegovernor’s courage and drivewhich has placed Osun on globalmap.

“Your various efforts to movethe state forward are very clearfor all to see and we pray thatAlmighty God will continue togrant you the strength andwisdom to move the stateforward beyond 2014”, Soliusaid.

The governor stated this lastThursday while grantingaudience to members of Leagueof Imams and Alfas andmembers of the ChristianAssociation of Nigeria (CAN)from Ife-South LocalGovernment who paid him acourtesy visit in Osogbo, thestate capital.

He said that it was only lovethat can stop violence, hatred,adding that, the prayers ofreligious leaders in the state couldonly be answered in anenvironment where there ispeace and harmony

He said: “The role ofgovernment is to alleviate

By KEHINDE AYANTUNJI

Osun Denies ObtainingN117bn Loan

By KAZEEM MOHAMMED

GOVERNMENT of the State of Osun has deniedobtaining a fresh N117 billion foreign loan.

The denial came on theheel of an alarm raised by aformer Head of Service(HOS), Mr.Segun Akinwusi,who is also a governorshipaspirant of the SocialDemocratic Party (SDP),that a fresh loan of $692.3(N117.69 billion) has beenobtained by the stategovernment through oneInnerlex Financing Group,with a tenor of 10 years at aconcessionary interest ratebeing negotiated for.

In a swift reaction, thestate Commissioner forFinance, Dr WaleBolorunduro who describedthe issue as a trivial andpedestrian matter, notdeserving of a seriousattention, challengedAkinwusi to come up withevidence that the loan was

drawn.“This issue of Innerlex

Financing Group with thepurported loan amount of692million dollars is herebydeclared in public domain asa trivial and pedestrianmatter, not deserving of aserious attention.

“The group wasintroduced by the SSG andwith referral from Ekiti. Theyargued that the minimumthey will support is 100million dollars. The lettergiven to them was a normalletter of request that doesnot amount to anycommitment or drawing.

“Those making theallegation should produceevidence that there was anoffer letter and that we drawthe funds. We didn’tproceed with them.

“An intention to use aseemingly opportunity oflong tenor to take out bondfacility of seven yearsshould not be misconstruedas loan disbursement. It isan “invitation to treat”. Ifopposition has evidencethat we drew the loan, letthem publish it”,Bolorunduro stated.

Boasting that the presentadministration has beenable to develop the state toa point of envy within andamong other states inNigeria, the commissionersaid that the government iscareful about how it commitsthe resources of the state,inspite the fact that the stateis seriously denied of themandatory federalallocation.

5 OSUN DEFENDER Thursday, April 10, 2017

Osun Technology VillageContinued from pg1

The same processwill soon seedurable anda f f o r d a b l et e l e p h o n ehandsets churnedout of thetechnology village.

Partnership be-tween the stategovernment and aChinese firm hasalready produced23,100 Opo Imocomputer tablets.Not just jobs arebeing created herebut there is also aprocess facilitat-ing transfer of

skills as well astechnology.

For thestate, it is a win-win situation. Jobsare being created,there is also asense of height-ened economicdevelopment andcrucially the tax-base is being wid-ened. There is ofcourse bound tobe a multiplier ef-fect arising out ofall of this.

This is becauseauxiliary indus-tries and commer-cial processes will

be brought into ef-fect.

More of coursewill have to bedone to sustainthe pace. Some ofwhich is notwithin the previewof the state gov-ernment. These in-clude a tariff re-gime to protectinfant industriesagainst unfair, of-ten subsidisedforeign competi-tion. ‘Dumping’ isthe correct tradeterm here.

Another area tolook at is ofcourse the supply

of power. This iskey as it will help tobring down the costof production.

The state govern-ment of course hasits own commercialpower initiative andshould be encour-aged to see itthrough.

The technologyvillage also offersan historical possi-bility for a forwardthrust based onlinkages producinga synergy. The syn-ergy possibilityhere is to link theunfolding develop-ments in the public

Osun LG Creation Is Commendable

I want to use thisopportunity to bearmy mind on the bill

for creation of additionallocal government councilareas presented by thegovernor of the State ofOsun, Ogbeni RaufAregbesola, to the StateHouse of Assembly forapproval.

There is no gainsayingthe fact that localgovernment is the closestto the people and anyadministration that deemsit fit to create more localgovernments should beseen as one that iscommitted to thedevelopment at thegrassroots.

I could recollect that aformer governor, ChiefBisi Akande, hadproposed to create

OSUN DEFENDERPublisher – Moremi Publishing

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

additional localgovernments before theexpiration of his tenure in2003 due to hiscommitment to thedevelopment at thegrassroots, butunfortunately, theadministration ofOlagunsoye Oyinlola

that came after himcancelled the wholeprocess.

However, now that thepresent administration ofAregbesola has soughtthe approval of the stateAssembly to createaddition 27 localgovernment council

areas, it must becommended.

Beside, there is theneed to implore the stateAssembly to showproactiveness in thepassage of the bill, so thatthe purpose for which itwas proposed can befulfilled.

I understand that thebill has passed its secondreading, but for thebenefit of the generality ofthe people, thelawmakers shouldexpedite action on it.

They should bear inmind the fact that peopleare anxiously waiting to

see the bill approved,because that is what theyhave been waiting for.

In considering the bill,however, the Assemblyshould not forget thatthere are grouses on thechoice of coverage andlocations of theproposed councils whichmust be addressedbefore passing the bill intolaw.

Also, the people ofOsun should accept thelocal governmentheadquarters whereverthey are located in goodfaith, and remember thatnot all towns will beheadquarters of thoselocal governments.

• I B R A H I MBADMUS, Ikirun,State of Osun.

schools sectorwith the technologyvillage.

By linking the schoolswith the technologyvillage, a skills-basededucational system canbe brought into play. Thiswill help to nurture thepupils to acquire thetechnological skills tocompete in the future.For in today’s worldpaper qualifications arenot enough. Today’sworld is skill driven. It istherefore the skillsacquired and not paperqualifications alone thatwill determine who is fitto get tomorrow’s jobs.

We must therefore,acknowledge the im-port of the technol-ogy village. Thegovernment of theState of Osun isonce again on theright lines here.What is needed forthe future is beingaddressed. The seedthat is been sownhere will bear greatfruit in the future.Here the great initia-tor of an alternativeperspective throughhis initiatives, theState of Osun is get-ting the peopleready to face the fu-ture.

OSUN DEFENDER Thursday, April 17, 20146 FEATURE

Osun Education Policy Reform

By PROF. A.S. ASAJU

IN his lecture delivered to the NigerianUnion of Teachers under the title“Education As A Means to National

Freedom” in 1974, the late sage – ChiefObafemi Awolowo, defined education as a“process of physical and mental culturewhereby a man’s personality is developedto the fullest” To Awolowo, “ a man whosepersonality is fully developed never fearsanything, he cringes not, and never feelsinferior to anyone no matter the colour,stature, or strength of such a one; he isself-reliant and will resist any form ofenslavement, he may be an employee or aservant, but he is a self-confident andcourageous servant who does his work withefficiency and probity, but with no thoughtof servitude”.

Campaigning for the 2007 governorshipelection in the state, Ogbeni Aregbesolagave what was called Six-Point IntegralAction plan. The education sub-headingof the pact promise “ to promote functionaleducation”. The “Vision” is “to eradicatethe frustration of youths caused byeducation that does not lead toemployment”. He promised “to provide freeeducation at all levels in the state, focuson functional education; education thatmakes one useful to himself and society;improve incentives to teachers and workwith the NUT to restore the dignity of theteaching profession; restructureadministration of school management andcreate Tutor- General (PermanentSecretary cadre) from among HeadTeachers in three Educational Districts;fix all collapsed educational infrastructurein all the schools; support with modernteaching aids and well- stocked libraries;ensure cooperation with parents andteachers to improve discipline andmorality; introduce non-partisancommunity- based governing boards for allschools; reduce number of students perclassroom immediately; introduce homedevelopment plans for teachers who wishto build houses in their home towns,through access to special mortgagepackages; promote mass adult literacy andnumeracy programmes; promote andsupport special programmes that givespecial attention to education of girls andwomen; establish institutions that impartlife-long skills for all, in and out of formalschooling; ensure that an Osun StateUniversity takes off on a sound footing andbecomes a first- class institution withlinkages to renowned universities in thedeveloped world, make every tertiaryinstitution in the state an independentdegree- awarding one; encourage use ofservices of retired, but not tired dons andadministrators, from reputable institutions.

The current Osun Education Policy wasbrewed at the Osun Education Summit,which held February 7-8, 2011, at theUniversity Auditorium, Osun StateUniversity, Osogbo. The summit, chaired byProf. Wole Soyinka, had the theme‘Resolving The Educational Crisis in OsunState: Bridging Analysis andImplementation Gaps’. It also had sub-themes viz: Resolving the Education Crisisin Osun State, Quality Assurance andCapacity Building, Role of Stakeholders,Early Childhood and Basic Education,Funding Approaches, CurriculumImplementation for Functional andEntrepreneurial Education and SpecialEducation and Language in Education:The policy emanated from the summit’scommuniqué and observations.

The summit established the followingchallenges as fuelling the crisis in educationthat necessitated the reforms: infrastructureneglect- basically in collapsed schoolstructures; crowded classrooms; poorfunding; teachers’ low morale; high fees intertiary institutions; low bursary rate andpoor performances of students in bothinternal and external examinations amongothers. These serious challenges, therefore,inspired counter strategies, starting with acomplete restructuring of educational

administration for a turn around.Since the critical success factor for any

reform is sound management and welfare,at the heart of the new education reforms isa restructured education administrationmodality. This involves creating specializedagencies to address key components inpublic schools management. To this end,the old Teaching Service Commission(TESCOM) was decentralized into threeEducation Districts, with territorialjurisdictions covering the three senatorialdistricts in the state.

Right from the onset, the governmentknew the change will generate controversy.So there were series of meetings with thestakeholders. Materials explaininggovernment’s position were produced anddistributed, while the Ministry of Educationcontinued to engage the public.

Under the new school policy, the primaryschool system gave way to the gradesystem with the former Primary 1-4 with theage range of 6-9 years merging into what isnow called Elementary School, in Grades 1-4. Primary 5 and 6 junior Secondary 1-3merged together to become Middle Schooland now to be known as Grades 5-9 withthe age range of 10-14 while the SeniorSecondary Students are grouped togetherin Grades 10-13, in what is now known asHigh School.

In the new policy, the elementary schoolswill have a minimum capacity of 900 pupilsin a purpose built state of the art school.Other features will be provision of schooluniforms, books and balanced diet meals.The schools were designed to be withinneighbourhoods for easy access for allpupils.

For the middle school, the maximumcapacity will be between 900-1000 students,with the provision of state of the arteducational infrastructure and catchment tobe between 2-3 kilometres, while the highschools will have a maximum capacity of3,000 students with hostel facilities.However, the curriculum did not change.Rather what changed were physicalinfrastructures and more conduciveenvironment.

The announcement of the policy wasgreeted with fierce opposition immediatelyit was announced. Though the governmentcould have anticipated some resistance, itprobably underestimated how organized theopposition will be. Questions were raisedabout the merging of students from differentschools and backgrounds under one roof,

the loss of identity especially for missionschools and the problems of how workablethe new model will be.

The government gave reasons forwanting to change the way public educationis being conducted in the state probablyforever. According to the government, thenew grade system is the global trend andapproach to modern education for effectiveteaching and learning. In adopting the gradesystem, pupils of the same age bracket aregrouped together with fewer students inclasses.

The government also claimed thatmultiplicity of schools had decayedinfrastructure over the years, leading to poorfunding, shortage of teachers andinefficiency. The new policy, thegovernment said, will reverse the rot andmake quality education available to allchildren without discrimination, makingpublic school comparable to the privateschools.

The government made some promises inthe new education policy. In movingstudents from different schools togetherunder the same roof, the governmentpromised to build 170 mega schoolsthroughout the state. While elementary willhave 100 school middle we have 50, while20 high schools will be built. These megabuildings will have laboratories, libraries,clean toilet facilities and ICT centres. Thesenew infrastructure will complement otherschools that would be upgraded toacceptable standards under thereclassification policy. The government alsopromised to feed all students in elementaryschools under what it called the O’Mealprogramme. About 3000 food vendors werecontracted throughout the state and thestudents followed a regime of nutritionalmeals. Under the reclassification, all publicschools in the state will be free whilegovernment will also supply books anduniforms to the students.

Osun deserves a comprehensive andholistic educational policy taking intoconsideration the fact that the state andpeople were part of the first revolutionaryeducational policy in Nigeria anchored bythe late sage- Chief Obafemi Awolowo andhis Action Group’s (AG) free primaryeducation policy, which started in the oldWestern Region in 1955.

Osun’s education policy underAregbesola seeks an integrative approachto the education of children and youth. Thisspans: education infrastructure; massivebuilding of new school structures to replacedilapidated ones, within the framework of

schools re-classification system;standardized school uniforms to rebrandOsun public schools as well as createemployment for designers, tailors and alliedartisians- the biggest of such employmentin West Africa; innovative teachingmaterials and learning aids; good nutritionto fully develop the physical and readinessof children for life – long learning theschools feeding system for the elementarycadre, in the first four years of school life;co-curriculum- physical education drills fora sound mind in a sound body; andeducational competitions in quiz anddebates; games and sports; technical andvocational education which caters fortraining and retraining , particularly outsideformal school walls with no age barriers,who can then set up their own micro-businesses to earn a living; entrepreneurialeducation as presently designed.

The above are the major pillars of Osuneducation policy but these cover the formaleducation school years from Age 6. The pre-school period, from birth to Age 6, comeswith a strong stress on parent- governmentcooperation and collaboration. For starters,the policy does not invest in nursery andother pre-school activities because thegovernment expects parents and guardiansto contribute their own quotas to preparingtheir children for school readiness.

Essentially, the policy is tailored towardsmaking the Osun public schools systemproduce the complete child, to become thecomplete youth and grow up to become thecomplete citizens to prepare the youths forgenerational change that will be technicallycompetent and economically motivated tobe ready made entrepreneurs that will notneed to roam the streets for jobs that arenot available.

It was a historic moment for Nigeria andAfrica on Wednesday, 22 January as the AllParty Parliamentary Group (APPG) in theHouse of Commons, London, UnitedKingdom commended the Osun ElementarySchool Feeding and Health programme as asuccessful model to be copied worldwide.Governor Aregbesola received loudapplause as he made statistical presentationbefore the parliamentary body during whichhe advocated the use of biometricregistration of beneficiaries of the HomeGrown School Feeding Programme World-Wide to guarantee transparency. He calledfor the adoption of the programme acrossNigeria to guarantee sustainable future withappropriate legislative backing andextension for the first nine years of

Continued on page 14

•An aerial view of Baptist Elementary Central School, Ilare, Ile-Ife, State of Osun, recently commissioned by Ogbeni RaufAregbesola.

OSUN DEFENDER Thursday, April 17, 2014 7

•Governor Rauf Aregbesola leading the State Executive members to inspect the 15 Ilesa Township Roads before the commissioning in the State of Osun on Tuesday

•Another commisssioned road in Ilesa

Commissioning Of 15 Selected Roads (29.71km) In Ilesa Township By GovernorRauf Aregbesola In Ilesa Last Tuesday.

PHOTOTALK

8 OSUN DEFENDER Thursday, April 17, 2014PHOTOTALK

•Governor Rauf Aregbesola acknowledging cheers from his supporters, during the commissioning of 15 Ilesa Township roads in the state on Tuesday.

•Governor Aregbesola leading the State Executive members to inspect the 15 Ilesa Township roads before the commissioning in the State of Osun on Tuesday.

Commissioning Of 15 Selected Roads (29.71km) In Ilesa Township By GovernorRauf Aregbesola In Ilesa Last Tuesday.

9OSUN DEFENDER Thursday, April 17, 2014 PHOTOTALK

•OSUN TRADITIONAL RULERS AT THE ROAD COMMISSIONING: The Oba Gabriel Adekunle Aromolaran, the Owa-Obokunland of Ijesaland (3rd right); the Akirun ofIkirun, Oba Olawale Adedeji II (4th right); Oba Abioye Oyebode, the Olokuku of Okukuland; Oba Oladunjoye Oyedele (5th left), the Olunisa of Inisaland; the Oloyan ofOyanland, Oba Kilani Adekeye, Oba Qudus Lamidi Oke, the Alayegun of Ode-Omuland; the Oloogi of Ogiland, Oba James Adeleke Orisakaye Akande III (Oba ti o kere); ObaAdeloye Ajibike, Oloja Igbodi, Igbodi-Ijesa, at the commissioning of 15 selected roads of 29.71km in Ilesa township by Governor Rauf Aregbesola last Tuesday.

•Another commisssioned road in Ilesa. INSET: Governor Aregbesola acknowledging cheers from his numerous admirers on the occasion.

Commissioning Of 15 Selected Roads (29.71km) In Ilesa Township By GovernorRauf Aregbesola In Ilesa Last Tuesday.

10 OSUN DEFENDER Thursday, April 17, 2014

•A cross section of delegates at the governorship primaries where Governor Rauf Aregbsola emerged the candidate of the All Progressive Congress, held at Nelson MandelaFreedom Park, Osogbo, State of Osun. Inset: Governor Aregbesola (2nd left) displaying his Certificate of Return, after his emergence as governorship candidate of the AllProgressives Congress (APC) through the party’s primaries election. With him are, Chairman, State of Osun APC Primary Nomination Committee, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai(left); Secretary of the Committee, Sir Emeka Akamukali (2nd right); member, Hajiya Ramatu Aliyu (right) and other dignitaries last Saturday.

•Another cross section of delegates at the governorship primaries where Governor Aregbsola emerged the candidate of the All Progressive Congress, held at NelsonMandela Freedom Park, Osogbo, State of Osun. Inset: (L-R) Former Federal Capital Territory Minister/Chairman, All Peoples Congress in Osun Governorship PrimariesElection, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai; Osun Deputy Governor, Mrs Titi Laoye-Tomori; Governor Aregbesola; interim State Chairman of the party, Elder Adelowo Adebiyii;member of the committee, Hajiya Haliyu, last Saturday.

More Pix On APC Congress And Governorship Primary Election In The State OfOsun Last Saturday. Photo: GBENGA ADENIYI.

11 OSUN DEFENDER Thursday, April 17, 2014FOR THE RECORDS

Remarks By The Governor Of The State Of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, At TheOfficial Commissioning Of 15 Selected Roads In Ilesa Township, Held At CommunityPrimary School, Ibala Road, Ilesa, On Tuesday April 15, 2014

On The Road AgainWE have come together again

to witness the completionof

another set of our roadinfrastructure development projects.Today’s ceremony is one of thoseevents that serve to reassure us as apeople that we remain firmly oncourse on the path of socio-economicdevelopment we have charted forourselves.

When we came aboard, we madea promise to our people toprogressively transform their conditionof living for the better. We have sincebeen driven by a passionate desire tofulfil that promise. As part of thatfulfilment, we made a commitment tochange the physical landscape ofOsun in a manner that will facilitateprogress and prosperity for ourpeople.

The development of our roadinfrastructure in the state is our chiefmeans of actualising this commitment.The reason for this is not far to seek;in our part of the world, roads aresimply the most important means oftransportation for humans andmaterials. There is also a linkagebetween roads and our health. Badroads cause accidents and travellingon bad roads makes one sick. Badroads also hinder physical interactionbetween people.

Unfortunately, this is the sameinfrastructure that has sufferedunspeakable neglect and under-development. However, since ourown desire as a government is thesocio-economic development of Osunand the well-being of our people, wehave devoted unparalleled attention tothe development and modernisation ofour road infrastructure.

Our road development plan isambitiously unprecedented in thehistory of the state. It covers townshiproads, intra and inter-city roads, aswell as inter-state roads. The extentof our commitment to changing theface of Osun through the constructionof modern road networks can be seenin the huge amount of roadconstruction going on simultaneouslyall over the state.

It would amount to no exaggerationfor us to re-state that Osun iscurrently a massive road constructionsite. We are constructing new roads,extending existing ones, andrehabilitating those that have gonebad.

We are deliberately concentratingon those roads that have very highimpact on the socio-economic livesand existence of our people. As Ispeak to you, road projects are goingon in the cities and towns spread allover Osun. Most of these roads are inadvanced stages of completion.

In Osogbo, a total of 21 townshiproads are being constructed orrehabilitated and have gulped N4.095billion. In Ede, 13 township roadshave been repaired through directlabour, at the cost ofN873,817,458.85. Most of themhave now been completed.

In the different FederalConstituencies in the state, 79kilometres of intra-city roads areunder construction and rehabilitation.Similarly, most of them are nowcompleted. In addition to the intra-city roads, 20 other roads traversingthe cities, and covering a total of294.27 kilometres, are also atadvanced stages of completion. Theyare worth N10.62 billion.

We are also constructing sixselected roads, covering more than74.1 kilometres, in the six geo-political zones of Osun. They cost thegovernment N17.5 billion. Weinherited eight road rehabilitationprojects of 144.29 kilometres fromthe previous administration which wehave almost completed.

There are of course four moregigantic road construction projectsthat we have embarked upon. Theseare: the reconstruction into a dual

carriageway of the 36.85-kilometreroad from Osogbo to Ila-Odo on thestate’s border with Kwara State; theGbongan-Orileowu-Ijebu-Igbo Road,which is also a dual carriageway.

The third is the construction of theOmoluabi Motorway, a dual-carriageroad from Akoda to GbonganJunction, with its Bisi AkandeTrumpet Interchange. Theconstruction was officially launchedon the 15th of June last year at thecost of N29.23 billion.

Of course, the Osogbo EastBypass Road is in the list of our majorroad construction undertaking. TheEast Bypass is a 17.5-kilometre roadthat will have a railway underpass atOfatedo, an interchange at Ataoja,and two bridges across the OsunRiver. The government is investingN14.5 billion in the project.

In continuation of our roaddevelopment plan for Osun, we havesince January last year embarkedupon the construction of 218kilometres of road in all of our localgovernments council areas, includingthe Area Office.

Because these road developmentprojects are aimed at achieving socio-economic development for Osun, we

have adequate consideration andcoverage for our rural areas. It is ourbelief that opening up the rural areasis of vital importance to the success ofour development programme,especially with agriculture in focus.

Our road projects in the rural areashave been so impressive that even theWorld Bank could not help noticing.The Bank accordingly gave itscommendation to our high-levelperformance in the Rural AccessMobility Programme (RAMP), andenlisted Osun for participation inRAMP II. This comes with theopportunity for the state to accessabout USD 79 million (N12.64billion) in World Bank/AFD credit.

Today’s commissioning is part ofthe township road developmentprojects for Ilesa. The 15 townshiproad rehabilitation works have beencompleted to the glory of God and forthe greater good of the people. Onthese roads, totalling 29.71km, wehave expended N3.7 billion.

I must let you know that these arenot just roads that catch the fancies ofgovernment officials or the onesleading to the homes of theirgirlfriends. These are the roads thatimpact most on the social andeconomic lives of the people. The ringroad for instance encircles the entiretown and it is now possible to enterand egress Ilesa without getting intothe centre of the town as was the casein the past.

Our dream indeed is to put everyroad in the best possible shape andmake driving on them a pleasure. Weare happy, however, that we havetaken the right steps and on course tothe destination.

We are convinced that the hugeamount we have committed into theseroad infrastructure projects is moneywell-spent. With what you arewitnessing, you can all testify to theprudent and judicious use to whichwe have deployed the resources ofthe state.

For us, governance is about makinga commitment to the people and goingall out to fulfil that commitment. It isthe only way to earn the trust andconfidence of the people in order forthem to continue to trust leaders withtheir sacred mandate.

As a responsible and progressivegovernment, we have committedourselves to the development andprogress of our people. We willremain true to our commitment andwe will stay on course for itsactualisation.

I thank you all for your warmreception.

Osun a dara!

•AREGBESOLA

OSUN DEFENDER Thursday, April 17, 201412 FEATURE

Osun State 2014: Beyond Political Noise-makingWRITING about the two major

candidates in the Augustgubernatorial elections in

Osun State is a daunting task for me,given one’s background. Theincumbent, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola,has known me since I was a boy. Anactivist and strong believer in socialjustice, Rauf, as he was known inthose days believes passionately in adeveloped human being as the toolwith which to change our socio-political space. As an undergraduate,one has had cause to also rally roundhim in a fight against social injustice,which he represented during a periodmany were afraid to stand up for theirrights due to economic reasons.

When a senior colleague, Mr. SegunBabatope, described me as a Yorubairredentist towards the 2003 generalelections in Lagos State, it was withan inner laughter Rauf immediatelycame to my mind. Ogbeni believes anemancipated Yoruba race is the lightout of the Dark Tunnel that theAfrican continent and indeed, Blackpeople in the Diaspora, have beenwaiting for. He will not give anythingin exchange for his Yorubanness. Hemight have picked Oranmiyan for hiscampaign theme, which to me, is like apledge to restore practical Yorubavalues, I suspect that Oodua wouldhave been his first choice, if theOodua Peoples Congress (OPC) hadnot been in existence.

But if kinship is to be measured byancestry, former Chairman, SenateCommittee on Appropriation, SenatorIyiola Omisore, should naturally be myuncle. An Ile Ife son, the former OsunState Deputy Governor is from theland where my ancestor left as areigning monarch to settle with hischiefs in Ijebu Ife upon a directive byIfa to do so. Olofin Ogbolu sleeps tilltomorrow in Okeliwo, where myparents were born. Beyond a possiblekinship, Omisore is a close friend andalmost a brother to a very specialEgbon, Senator Lekan Mustapha, whountil recently was representing OgunEast Senatorial District in the NationalAssembly as a Peoples DemocraticParty (PDP) lawmaker.

One’s knowledge about Omisore,beyond occasional discussions withMustapha, is limited. What remains inmy head are issues that revolvelargely around his tenure as deputy toformer Osun State Governor, ChiefBisi Akande, and the events leading tothe assassination of former Minister ofJustice and Attorney General of theFederation, Chief Bola Ige. Yes, acourt acquitted Omisore. But theevents of those heady days are issuesthat a sane mind will not readily throwaway as it is common knowledge thatwith proper connections, anything ispossible in Nigeria. What with themanner the old man, who was aserving minister at the time, wastreated in the palace of the Ooni ofIfe?

Moving on, I have had cause tocriticize some positions taken by thelate sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo,especially on the eve of the Nigeriancivil war. But Papa’s target to developYorubaland through Human CapitalDevelopment is an objective that anysane lover of these parts should adoptwithout batting an eyelid. Awolowoworked on infrastructure. But hispriority was the human being ahead ofany other consideration. Equip theman with knowledge almost from thecradle using Western education; makehealthcare services accessible to him;work towards ensuring that food isreadily available through developmentof agriculture; and endeavour to

encourage gainful employment wherehe can get daily bread with dignity forhis needs. These are issues whichvoters in Osun State should look atdispassionately towards this year’selection.

Both contenders for thegubernatorial seat should campaignwith records of what they haveoffered Osun State, either currently orin the past, along the lines laid downby Awolowo. For instance, Omisorebeing a past holder of such a verypowerful committee position in thesenate (Appropriation), whichapproximates almost 30 gubernatorialpositions, should tell us the projectsthat he facilitated for either OsunState or the South-West during histenure. Without approval from thiscommittee, there is no FederalGovernment project that can take off,or continue. It is the committee tolobby when you need any federalproject in any part of the country. It isthe Appropriation Committee of eitherthe Senate or House ofRepresentatives that will activate

funds for such a project.Of course, the projects one expects

Omisore to talk about should be in theareas of Education, Healthcareservices, Agriculture & RuralDevelopment and EmploymentGeneration. The Awolowo templateremains the scale upon which theYoruba regularly measureperformance by politicians in office. Itis not enough to claim one can do itbetter, the past remains a veritablemethod of measuring how the futurewill look like in a political contest.

It is also a waste of time canvassingthe ownership of multiple universitydegrees as proof that an office holderwill deliver if elected. Baba Kekere, Iam very sure, does not have a B.Sc.Yet, his four years in office asGovernor of Lagos State has alsoremained another standard scale formeasuring performance in office. Thisis more so when Omisore had servedas a deputy governor also. What didOsun State and its people benefit fromOmisore during his tenure as deputygovernor?

As a chairmanship aspirant underPDP platform in Ijebu East LocalGovernment, Ogun State in 2012, a

major item for me was free lunch forprimary school pupils. My campaignteam at the time also insisted weinclude free school uniforms.Aregbesola has already done this, andmore. A confident child, in a healthyschool environment being fed abalanced diet along with a contendedparent, who has no fear of school feesor what the child will eat and wear, isa sure guarantee for a solid socio-political and economic foundation inevery respect.

During my brief stay in the UnitedKingdom as a student, the attitude oftheir primary school pupils oftenamaze me. It is as if there is aninjection they give them in school,which set these children apart fromtheir peers in Nigeria. Confident andinnovative with little or no fear oftomorrow, the can-do-spirit in them isinfectious to the point of making youafraid. They see themselves asoffsprings of the state, thus havenothing to fear. Properly handled,Osun State seems set in this directionwith the policy about these kids.

With the current wave of anintolerant version of Christianity andIslam in Nigeria, Aregbesolaintervention on the side of AfricanTraditional Religion is a welcomedevelopment in a polity fearful of theinflux of Boko Haram elements. Buthis media aides need to inform thepublic more about the fact that allpublic schools in Osun State are 100per cent owned by governmentdespite the religious names attached tosuch. Yours truly was angry at somepoint that children of other faiths werebeing forced into schools belonging toothers, not knowing that theseinstitutions have for more than 30years been owned by the Osun StateGovernment, only that the nameswere retained.

Agriculture and self-employmenthave been given a facelift by theAregbesola administration. But in atypical Awo fashion, many may notobserve the linkage between the freeschool feeding programme and a boostin agriculture in the state. Thoseinvolved in animal husbandry in OsunState and its neighbours are currentlysmiling to the banks courtesy ofregular supplies to those feeding thechildren. Poultry farmers, who werealmost wrecked by a glut in themarket due to Boko Haram activities,are a joyful lot today.

In addition, newly-elected Presidentof the Nigeria Tailors Association,Otunba Wasiu Taiwo (WessyCreations), recently lamented inAbeokuta, Ogun State, that standardswere becoming a thing of the pastamong artisans in the country. But hesingled out the garment factoryproducing school uniforms in OsunState, Sam & Sarah, as a veritablesignal that Aregbesola wants arestoration of standards among tailors,confirming that the outfit trains youngpersons to become acceptable expertsin dress-making. This is very good.

Along with the foundation beinggiven the children concerning theireducation, the adoption of Afenifere’santhem, for me, is another signal thatan Evangelist of Yoruba values iscurrently at work in Osun State. Theanthem remains a sacred affirmationthat whosoever imbibes its words willforever work for the upliftment of his/her space in Yorubaland. I will stillwrite more about both candidates.But, for now, Aregbesola is it, untilOmisore is able to present thescorecard mentioned earlier.

By WALE ADEDAYO

•AREGBESOLA

“For instance, Omisore being a past holderof such a very powerful committee position inthe senate (Appropriation), whichapproximates almost 30 gubernatorialpositions, should tell us the projects that hefacilitated for either Osun State or the South-

13 OSUN DEFENDER Thursday, April 17, 2014

Espousing State Of Osun’s Government Unusual

IT does not matter from what part ofthe State of Osun you come from orin which part you reside; as long as it

is within the confines of its boundaries,government presence will get to you. Inmany other states in the country,governance usually revolves around thestate capital. But in the unusualgovernance style in the State of Osun,the government is pursuing thedevelopment of the state capital, the otherurban centres and the hinterlands side byside. The governments policy is thatdevelopment will be evenly spread outthroughout the state. Thus, developmentwill not just come, it will also come evenlythroughout the 30 local government areasas the State Government seems to bepursuing an even development strategyin the State.

The Ogbeni Rauf Aregesola-ledgovernment in the State appears poisedto spread development evenly across theState of Osun. Whether it is in the areaof road construction or construction ofschools and other infrastructure, the stategovernment operates a sort of what isgood for the goose is good for the ganderapproach in citing infrastructure. Forinstance, the state Government ispresently constructing over 280kilometres of road throughout the statespread out at approximately 10 kilometresper local government, Hon. AjibolaBashiru, the Commissioner for RuralIntegration and Special Duties argued thatprior to the coming of the Aregbesolaadministration, indigenes left thehinterlands in droves in search of greenerpasture in the urban centres.

He said the implication of the massiverural- urban drift was not justcommunities on the road to extinction butan impending population explosion in theurban centres with all the vices thataccompany such drift.

Bashiru, argued that the strategy ofspreading out development “is actuallyaimed at killing two birds with one stone.Apart from halting the rural – urbanmigration, which occurs when there islack of development in the rural areas,developing the hinterlands could reversethis trend and promote urban to ruralmigration. The urban – rural migrationwill thus ensure that the urban areas arenot congested and that there is not muchpressure on the infrastructure becausewhen the infrastructure in the urbancentres are the same with those in ruralareas, there will be no need for themigration.

“The circumstances of Osun peoplewill not allow us run a usual government.The difference between what is going onin the State of Osun and what is going onin some other states is that we went intogovernment prepared.

He said the policy strategies responsiblefor the developmental projects going onin Osun State are based on what ispopularly referred to as ‘The GreenBook’. ‘The Green Book’ is actually adocument entitled ‘People FriendlyGovernment: (Government that ExistSolely for the Welfare of the People)’ MyPact with the People of Osun State; Landof the Living Spring, written byAregbesola in 2005.

Bashiru said The Green Book is “thereference resource that the currentleadership follows. It provides a peek intothe development direction envisioned bythe governor and his team.”

In the document written two yearsbefore he was elected governor,Aregbesola regretted the prevailingsituation whereby the ruling class havenot improved on the security and welfareof the populace. He had written that “my

mission and ambition are to restore to thepeople, a state of peace, and opportunityfor progress and room for the pursuit ofprosperity in our time under a peoplefriendly government. I give you Six-PointIntegral Action Plan, to the intent that theyconstitute my articles of faith concerningwhich I want to be held accountable atany time during my stewardship.”

These action plans included: BanishPoverty; Banish Hunger; BanishUnemployment (Create work/wealth);Restore Healthy living; PromoteFunctional Education; and EnhanceCommunal Peace and Progress.

This Six-Point Integral Action Plan hassince become the economic andinfrastructural blueprint of the state, evenas they seem inter-looped. For instance,in embarking on the re-classification ofschools, the Government of the State ofOsun not only delivered functionaleducation but also generated employment.

According to Bashiru, “In February2011, the Education Summit held in thestate had revealed that only about 3% ofthe students from the state were qualifiedfor tertiary education. The reclassificationof schools is already yielding results asthe state has moved up the ladder fromnumber 34 to number 8 within three yearsof the Aregbesola-led government. 10,900 teachers have also been employedwithin the same period.”

The reclassification policy also led tothe introduction of uniform dress codefor all elementary, middle and high schoolstudents in state owned schools.However, with this has come employmentcreation as Sam & Sara Textile Company,has established one of the largest textileindustries in the sub region in the state. Ithas also employed about 3,000 tailors,indigenes of the State of Osun, thus

reducing unemployment. StateGovernment officials say that as a meansof achieving unemployment reduction,80% of labour force for all projects goingon in the state come from the state.

Under the new school system; the stateis targeting building 100 ElementarySchools, 50 Middle Schools and 20 HighSchools as first phase and is poised tocommit a whopping sum of N30billionto the school infrastructure upgrade underthis phase.

The High School will have facilitiessuch as boarding, staff quarters, standardlaboratories, food courts, standardsporting facilities, school hall of1000minimum sitting capacity and schoolmanagers for proper facility management.

As at last count, the state hascommitted a sum of N14.41billion intoschool construction of 39 elementaryschools, 14 middle schools and 12 highschools while a sum of N1.6billion wasexpended on renovation of dilapidated andreconstructed schools together with asum of N2.5billion spent on the purchaseof school furniture.

Incidentally, all these schools are builtto the same standard and specification.According to the State Government,building the schools to the samespecification not only ensures that thesame facilities are available in both theurban centres and rural areas, it alsoensures that construction cost are notinflated as all the materials are got fromthe same source.

Also in the process of engaging itsyouth population, the state governmentestablished the Osun YouthEmpowerment Scheme (O’YES).Adelewo Adewunmi, PermanentSecretary in the Ministry of RuralIntegration and Special Duties explainedthat O’YES was in response to theadministration’s promise of creating 20,000 jobs within its first 100 days in office.

“Nobody had ever done that but we did.”According to him the vacancies waswidely advertised in the newspapers andposters.

He said nothing was hidden about thescheme they were told that they will betrained in community and social works;they were told they will sweep streetsand cut vegetation by the side of the roadand that they will do all sorts of jobs.Incidentally, the scheme also exposed thelevel in the country.

State Government officials said the firstmajor challenge the administration facedwas when 250,000 applications werereceived for the 20,000 O’YES openings.“Mind you these applications were frompeople who had a minimum of OND andabove. We did not want to tale those withsecondary school certificate because wewant them to still struggle to further theireducation.

“We also had the challenge of selecting20, 000 out of the number of applications.So we had to select based on merit andbest practise. We also discovered thatthere was a difference between planningand implementation. We did not anticipatethat there was no place in Nigeria wherethat number of people could be broughttogether for three weeks to be trained.There is no facility in Nigeria that couldhold 20, 000 people for three weeks. Weknow because we contacted the militaryand the police. The best there was at thattime was for 5,000 people.

Finally we had to change our approachand posted them to their local governmentareas and gave them money for feedingand to commute themselves. Incidentally,this became a noble idea. It was interestingto see youths dressed in all white doingcommunity and social service,” andofficial of the State government said.

From the simple idea of engagingyouths in a productive venture rather thanleave them ideal and destructive since theysay “an ideal mind is the devilsworkshop”, O’YES has become arevenue machine for the State of Osun.

Today, the youths who underwent theO’YES training have become a reservoirfor the manpower needs of the state.15,000 of them have been employed.While 5,000 of them are employed asteachers and another 3,000 employed inthe civil service, the remaining are beenengaged in the private sector. Dr. WaleBoluwaduro, Commissioner for Financein the state also disclosed that anestimated N200 million enters theeconomy of the State of Osun everymonth through the O’YES.

An official in the governor’s office saidthe unusual governance in the state ofOsun is because “the administration ofOgbeni Rauf Aregbesola is determined toplay its role of giving meaning and purposeto the lives of the people.

“Our human development programmesare based on the provision of theconstitution that says the security andwelfare of the people shall be the primarypurpose of government . Osun has grownto be the 7th largest economy in thecountry from the 34th we met when wecame into office.

“We have rebranded the state by givingit an emblem and identity butunfortunately, some people think it iscontroversial, but it is not. This countryis not just Nigeria; it is the Federal republicof Nigeria. These four words areimportant. A federation is a setup in whichthe constituent units are autonomous. Itmay shock some people but up till thesecond military coup between 1967 and1970, all the states had their emblem,”the official said.

•Culled from DAILY INDEPENDENT

By CHUKWUDI NWEJE

•AREGBESOLA

FEATURE

14 OSUN DEFENDER Thursday, April 17, 2014FOR THE RECORDS

PDP Can’t Unseat Aregbesola - Osun SpeakerThe Speaker of the State of Osun House of Assembly, Honourable

Najeem Salaam, had a chat with journalists in Ejigbo, hishometown, shortly after participating in the last Saturdaygovernorship primary election of All Progressive Congress (APC).

He spoke on the primaries, the August 9 governorship poll andthe advantage the incumbent Governor Rauf Aregbesola hasabove other candidates. OSUNDEFENDERman, KAZEEMMOHAMMED, was there:

QUESTION: What can you say aboutthe governoship primaries just heldacross the state?

Salaam: The exercise, organised by theAPC in Osun is another testimony that thepeople of Osun love Aregbesola and showthat there is no amount of efforts of theopposition that can take the love of thepeople for him away.

The developmental programmes ofAregbesola tells the whole story and forthis, people can not even wait for August 9to come to cast their vote for somebodythey have tested and trusted.

What we did was quite different fromwhat other parties have been doing in thestate, as we did not stage-manage anybodyand we did not sponsor any alien from Oyo,Kwara and other states outside Osun. Thisis basically from the ward level, the grassrootand this tells us that people love Aregbesolafrom grassroot and they want him tocontinue. That is why they cast their votesenmasse for him.

Question: But the opposition PDP is stillinsisting that they will unseat thisgovernment?

Salaam: They are just dreaming and I amsure that from their slumber, we will wakethem up in August 9, which is the electionday. It is only those in perpetual blindnessthat can not see what is going on in Osun,but those that can see well will know noamount of force, intimidation or harassmentcan change the love the people have forAregbesola.

Question: The opposition are sayingthat for over three years now, yourgovernment has not commissionedreasonable number of projects, what is yourtake?

Salaam: I had said it earlier thatcommissioning of projects for some of thepast government is another means ofsiphoning public fund. Is it not true that weare constructing roads and buildingschools? Is it not true that we increased thecar and housing loans for civil servants? Isit not true that we have several projectscompleted and ongoing in the state? Everynook and crannies of the state, we havecompleted and ongoing roads. Whoever

that care to move round the state should doso independently and confirmed the impactthis government had made.

We are ready to be challengedobjectively as far as our achievements isconcern. The candidate of the other partythat is challenging us is an expired candidateand to tell you that he is an expiredcandidate, he cannot even withstand thecrisis within his party. They are just busybodies that do not have anything to doother than spreading rumours andfalsehood. If we want to be commissioning,we will be doing that from now till August 9,but what we are saying is that there is nosuch money to waste, because a lot of moneywould go into it. We are not saying we willnot commission some projects to proof themwrong, but we cannot commission all theprojects we are doing in Osun, because theyare too many.

Question: Some people allege that therating of Osun in education sector haddropped, what is your take?

Salaam: If you have your data correctly,you will see that in the whole country now,the school reclassification has facilitated thegrowth in the education system in Osun.The enrolment in our public schools hasincreased geometrically now and this tellyou that the system has improved in thestate. The use of Opon-Imo alone hasenriched the knowledge of our students andwhen they go to any examintaion now, youwill see the positive impact of what we havebeen able to put in place.

I am aware that the educational systemof Osun under this government has beenrated higher and it has become a toast of all,even in the United Nations. Don’t listen tothem, they will be spreading falshood, ratingus with their own measurement, but peoplethat are reasonable and know the meaningof education will tell you that we have madea lot of headways.

Question: Do you entertain any fear asregards the election, considering thealleged bringandage by the Minister ofState for Police Affairs?

Salaam: Free and fair election, there isnobody to challenge us in Osun, becausewe are fully on ground, but we are

entertaining some fear because of theinvolvement of the minister who hails fromthis state. The recent activities, where thefirst executive governor of this state wasattacked was a testimony. If they can dothis to themselves within their party, it is ared signal to the whole state and we need tobe careful. This people want power at allcost, even when the people don’t want themand this is our fear.

We are now cautioning that the FederalGovernment should not allow anybody tomisuse the office, because we know thatthe Omoluabi ethos that we are preachingis not in the system of these people.

It is not that we fear them, but what weare saying is that we do not want the issuethat happened during the Western Regionto repeat itself. We don’t want whathappened in 1965 that led to the event of1966 to start again from our region here.

Question: The national chairman of thePDP had said that it would be difficult tounseat Aregbesola, but the PDP candidateinsisted he is up to the task, what is your

take?Salaam: The national chairman of the

PDP, Mu’azu Aliu, has given an objectiveassessment because he knows that foranybody to challenges Aregbesola in Osun,it is going to be difficult. When he lattersaid it is possible, the implication is thatthey want to engage in violence, but we willresist that. We will use all the necessarylegal capacity that we have to resist whoeverwants to bring violence to Osun again.Violence has become a thing of the past inOsun and we will not welcome it again.

Question: What is your advise tosecurity operatives?

Salaam: We advise our securityoperatives not to be partisan, they have tobe up and doing and abide by the oathsthey swore to. They are to serve the publicinterest and public safety must be theirwatchwords and this must be their conccern.The election has to be monitoredindependently and they have to provideenvironment for us to have a free and fairelection in Osun.

Osun Education Policy ReformFEATURE

schooling. All the four speakers at theoccasion including Professor DonaldBundy, the Lead health and educationSpecialist of the World Bank; Mr. PeterRodrigues, the Chief of School Feeding andChronic Hunger Unit of the World FoodProgramme (WFP); Ms Boitshepo BibiGiyose of NEPAD and Professor JosephineKiamba, the Senior Technical Adviser of thePartnership for Child Development, ImperialCollege, London, lauded GovernorAregbesola for successfully implementingthe feeding programme despite thechallenging financial situation of the state.

According to UNESCO, basic educationdevelopment remains the most strategicarea of intervention for the development ofthe world’s future workforce, and moresofor developing nations like Nigeria. Thisexplains the focus of global developmentinstitutions in this education sub-sector.The reason for this is fairly easy tocomprehend; the foundational knowledgea citizen requires to pursue a literate and

informed life is acquired at the basiceducation level. So important is basiceducation that “The Achievement ofUniversal Primary Education by 2015” wasdrawn as the Number 2 MillenniumDevelopment Goal ‘. In truth, once a childacquired sound basic education, he/ she isbetter positioned to excel in further learningendeavours, be they vocational, tertiary orspecialized. Thus, in the face of limitedresources, one would expect this very criticalarea, within public education, to enjoy somepriority by any government determined tosecure the future of its people.

Literacy is the foundation on which anedifice of sound education may be securelybuilt. To cultivate courage, strength,knowledge, and a sense of spiritual values,education is a most potent weapon.Education, of course, does not mean mereliteracy – the mere ability to read and write.A man may be educated without beingliterate and a literate person may be veryignorant indeed. The education of everycitizen, to the limit of his ability, is afundamental right. To deny it or treat it as a

privilege is deprivation, and an assault onhuman dignity.

The cardinal aim of education is not toteach a man to read and write, to acquire aprofession, to master a vocation, or to beversed in the liberal arts. All these are onlymeans to the end of true education, whichis to help a man live a full, happy andtriumphant life. In other words, any systemof education which does not help a man tohave a healthy and sound body, an alertbrain is dangerous. Educationaldevelopment is imperative and urgent. Itmust be treated as a national emergency,second only to war. It must move with themomentum of a revolution. If we are to keepNigeria one- and harmoniously so, and if allsections of the national groups in Nigeriaare to have equal opportunity forcontributing to our high-level manpowerneeds, the yawning gulf in education mustbe closed without further delay.

An arrangement under which some areeducated and some are not is inhuman,unjust and in the long run anti-social. It givesthe educated an unfair advantage in

economic, political, and other socialactivities over their uneducated fellowcitizens. Apart from enhancing the socio-economic status of the individual,education, if it is the right type, also helpsto eradicate such negative processes assuperstition, fear, envy and hatred whichoften lead to strife and sometimes to thecommission of serious crimes. It is a truismto say that when, to a great extent, the mindis free from negative thoughts, and isdominated by positive thoughts, a man’sability to produce, and his chances to live afull and happy life, are at the same timeconsiderably enhanced.

A truly educated citizenry is one of themost formidable deterrents to dictatorships,oligarchy and feudal autocracy- secondly,an educated and healthy individual- with asound mind in a sound body- is thestrongest single factor in the rapideconomic and social advancement of anynation.

•Professor Asaju wrote in from FederalUniversity of Technology, Akure (FUTA).

•SALAAM

Continued from page 6

15 OSUN DEFENDER Thursday, April 17, 2014

THURSDAY, APRIL 17, 2014

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

In what amounted to sternwarning against any form ofelectoral heist, Governor RaufAregbesola of Osun Tuesdayevening said neither thePeoples Democratic Party, Po-lice Affairs Minister, Mr. JeliliAdesiyan nor the party’s can-didate on the August 9th gov-ernorship election, IyiolaOmisore, has the capacity to rigthe election.

Before Aregbesola dropped the warning, the en-tire Ilesa community had gone agog when the gover-nor commissioned 15 Ilesa township roads.

The governor, before the commissioning, inspectedthe newly constructed 15 roads in company of mam-moth crowd before returning to Ibala Community Pri-mary School for the commissioning.

Governor Aregbesola while speaking assured thepeople of protection before and after the August 9election saying " It will be practically impossible forPeoples Democratic Party (PDP) to forment any troublein any part of the state".

He warned those who are planning to use federalmight to rig Osun election saying such group or indi-viduals will face the wrath of the Osun people.

He said" The time of brigandage, violence and elec-tion rigging in the state has gone for good. Whoso-ever that makes such attempt will surely regret it. Thisis 7th year I was chased out of Ilesa because of elec-tion and such trend will meet serious resistance. Theywill be dealt with beyond their imagination."

Aregbesola reiterated that ?the extent of hisadministration’s commitment to changing the face ofOsun through the construction of modern road net-works can be seen in the huge amount of road con-structions going on simultaneously all over the state.

?He pointed out that the administration is deliber-ately concentrating on those roads that have veryhigh impact on the socio-economic lives and exist-ence of the people.

He also added that Osun road development plan isambitiously unprecedented in the history of the state,having covered township roads, intra and inter-cityroads, as well as inter-state roads.

According to the governor,? "In Osogbo, a total of 21 township roads

are being constructed or rehabilitated and havegulped N4.095 billion. In Ede, 13 township roads havebeen repaired through direct labour, at the cost ofN873,817,458.85. Most of them have now been com-pleted.

"In the different Federal Constituencies in the state,79 kilometres of intra-city roads are under construc-tion and rehabilitation. Similarly, most of them are nowcompleted. In addition to the intra-city roads, 20 otherroads traversing the cities, and covering a total of294.27 kilometres, are also at advanced stages ofcompletion. They are worth N10.62 billion.

"We are also constructing six selected roads, cov-ering more than 74.1 kilometres, in the six geo-politi-cal zones of Osun. They cost the government N17.5billion. We inherited eight road rehabilitation projectsof 144.29 kilometres from the previous administrationwhich we have almost completed," The governor toldthe gathering.

•AREGBESOLA

"?Today’s commissioning is partof the township road developmentprojects for Ilesa. The 15 townshiproad rehabilitation works have beencompleted to the glory of God andfor the greater good of the people.On these roads, totalling 29.71km,we have expended N3.7 billion". Thegovernor stressed.

He held that his administrationsdream is to put every road in thebest possible shape and make driv-

ing on them a pleasure, noting that the state hastaken the right steps and on course to the desti-nation.

The governor revealed that the huge amountcommitted into road infrastructure project ismoney well-spent, adding that the commission-ing of roads being witnessed. With what you arewitnessing, you can all testify to the prudentand judicious use to which we have deployedthe resources of the state.

Speaking earlier, the Special to the governoron Works, Engr. Sabitu Oladepo Amudah notedthat the 6-point Integral action plan of the gover-nor which revolves round the existence of man.

He stressed that the administration genuinelyfeels the pulse of the people and thus committedto attending to their legitimate needs?.

Amudah's said," I am happy to inform YourExcellency that all these fifteen roads with a totallength of 29.709 Km have been practically com-pleted about a year ago and had been put to usebefore this official commissioning.

"What we are witnessing in terms of quality isan attestation to the fact that RATCON Nig. Ltd.who is also working on the construction ofGbongan-Akoda Dualisation ?project will givethe state a high quality of standard and univer-sally accepted road". Amudah pointed out.

In his own address, the paramount ruler ofIjeshaland, the Owa Obokun of Ijeshaland, ObaDr. Adekunle Aromolaran on behalf of otherOba's commended the administration ofAregbesola for the giant stride he is taking inOsun.

"We are marveled by your doings because wehave not had it this good since the creation ofOsun, we traditional rulers, not only in Ijeshalandbut the whole of Osun gives you a ten over tenscorecard.

"Your administration has been able to accom-plish various transformational and developmen-tal projects within the available but meager re-sources through prudent management of fundand budget discipline". The monarch stressed

President of the Market Women Associationin Osun, Alhaja Awawu Asindemade, added freshdimensions to the various economic advantagesof the new roads network.

She said the new roads would enhance com-merce and reduce cases of laboring women expe-riencing complications.

She said, “The construction of these roads isfor the market men and women. We move fromone market to another market in different parts ofOsun. But whenever I think of the hitherto de-plorable states of roads, I oftentimes stay awayfrom visiting markets.

But now, with these new roads, traversing thelength and breadth of this state for commercialpurposes has become a pleasurable experience

Also, many laboring women who are takenthrough bad roads experience difficulties as aresult of bad roads. But now, the smooth roadscan guarantee save delivery of their babies whenthey go to hospitals on these smooth roads.

Aregbesola talks toughover electoral fraud;says PDP, Omisore,Adesiyan Can Not Rig MyElection

Aregbesola added that government has embarkedon the reconstruction into a dual carriageway of the36.85-kilometre road from Osogbo to Ila-Odo onthe state’s border with Kwara State; the Gbongan-Orileowu-Ijebu-Igbo Road, which is also a dual car-riageway.

He also added the construction of the OmoluabiMotorway, a dual-carriage road from Akoda toGbongan Junction, with its Bisi Akande Trumpet In-terchange at the cost of N29.23 billion.

"The Osogbo East Bypass Road is in the list of ourmajor road construction undertaking. The East By-pass is a 17.5-kilometre road that will have a railwayunderpass at Ofatedo, an interchange at Ataoja, andtwo bridges across the Osun River. The governmentis investing N14.5 billion in the project.