VOL. 9. NO.117 NNNNN5050505050TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2014

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Front Page Comment

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•Secretary to the State Government of Osun, Alhaji Moshood Adeoti (left) and the state Commissioner for Women and Children Affairs,Mrs Mofolake Adegboyega (2nd right) deposing to their witness statements before the Osun Election Petition Tribunal in Osogbo lastThursday.

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Ekiti Crisis:

Osun APC Warns OfDangers Ahead

Osun Govt Assures Of Ebola-free Eid-El-kabir

Birthday: OsunAssembly SpeakerGreets MrsAregbesola,Diekola

Osun Tribunal AndIncompleteWitness EvidenceFor Prosecution

Ekiti Crisis: ARGDecries ‘DeliberateCollaboration’ B y Security Agencies

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Weeks before theAugust 9th gubernato-rial elections which waswon by the pragmaticOgbeni RaufAregbesola of theAPC, it was obviouswe were up againstforces other than thepeople of Osun statewhich naturally shouldbe the determinant of

how the elections willswing. The Allprogressives Congress(APC) still smartingfrom its shockingdefeat in the previousEkiti elections hadliterarily sworn it willlose Osun over itsdead body. Themurderous villainfielded by the PeoplesDemocratic

The War Called The OsunElections; By Segun Tomori

Party (PDP), outrightlyunpopular with barely a fewdozens of people trailing himat campaigns howeverworethe confidence of aGovernor-In-waiting. Hethey

didn’t care a hootabout the people’swish, all that matterswas the full compli-ment of the para-phernalia of Stateactivated by an

imperial Presidentthough utterly clueless,but desperate to addOsun to his conquestin furtherance of hisstill-born second termbid. So lo and behold,the die was cast!Ihave not been emo-tionally attached to anyelections in Nigeria asI was with the Osunelections,

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

Continue on pg5

2OSUN DEFENDER Tuesday, September 30, 2014 News

By KAZEEM MOHAMMED

•(L-R) Lawmaker representing Ede-North constituency in the State of Osun House of Assembly, Honourable KamardeenAkanbi; All Progressives Congress (APC) leaders, Alhaji Sule Alao and Prince Yele Alabi and the Special Adviser toOsun Governor on Education, Alhaja Latifat Giwa, when the lawmaker declared his second term ambition in Ede onSunday.

Ekiti Crisis: Osun APC Warns Of Dangers AheadALL Progressives Congress (APC) in the State of

Osun has warned the political class of seriousdangers ahead should the Peoples Democratic Party

(PDP) be allowed to trample on law and order, as the FederalGovernment appears to be allowing Ekiti State governor-elect, Mr Ayo Fayose, to do with impunity in the state.

In a strong-wordedreaction to reports thatFayose led thugs to beat upjudges handling casesrelated to his election, whichevent has resulted in theclosure of the state judiciaryindefinitely, the APC notedthat the event is a forebodingof the anarchy, which thePDP intends to create, not

only in the South-West, butalso across the country.

The APC contended thatif Fayose could desecratethe judiciary when he is notyet in power, nothing canstop him from committingmass murder right from themoment he is sworn in asgovernor.

“Ayo Fayose should be

closely watched because heappears to represent PDP’sgame plan of using the ruleof the jungle to capture andsustain itself in power.

“Fayose is possibly thearrowhead of that strategyin the South-West,” theAPC alleged.

“The fact that the FederalGovernment securityofficials stood by andwatched, while Fayose andhis rampaging horde ofthugs were beating upjudges and lawyers in thepremises of the hallowedchambers, is a clear

indication that the PDP-ledFederal Government iscomplicit. That is a badomen,” the APC said.

“Politicians should rallyand impress it on PresidentGoodluck Jonathan that ifthis judicial sacrilege in Ekitipresages his intention forseeking a second term inoffice, it could well be thebeginning of the end ofdemocracy and the rule oflaw in the country.

“It is therefore,imperative, not only thatFayose and his thugsshould be made

accountable, everythingshould be done to persuadePresident Jonathan that noFederal Government hassurvived creating anarchyin the South-West.

“The earlier this lesson islearnt by the Jonathanadministration, the better fordemocracy in Nigeria,” theAPC said.

According to the party,Fayose and his thugs arespurred by the intolerablelevel of impunity, which thePDP-led FederalGovernment has beenencouraging in the countryby allowing governmentofficials and securityagencies to get away withcleptocracy and bestialviolation of human rights,which have taken a turn forthe worst since the Ekiti andOsun elections.

“We are inclined tobelieve that thismurderously violentapproach to governancewill not be restricted to AyoFayose’s Ekiti, but will

dangerously creep to otherparts of the South-West, asvirtually all PDP’s currentleadership in this part ofNigeria, and their potentialgovernorship candidatesare in the mould of AyoFayose in their criminaldisregard for the rule of law,”the APC declared.

The party therefore,warned that if the rule of lawdisappears (as it is nowhappening in Ekiti State),justice will collapse andanarchy will follow and thePDP at the federal level willalso be held accountable.

“Nigeria does not deservethis tragic fate,” the APCsaid, adding that, “it is timecitizens of this country wakeup from their slumber beforecriminals like those beingbred by the PDP in Ekiti andelsewhere in the South-West region bring thishapless experiment ofdemocracy to a tragic end,”the APC concluded.

Osun Lawmaker Declares For Second Term

LAWMAKER representing Ede-North StateConstituency in the State of Osun House ofAssembly, Honourable Kamardeen Akanbi,

popularly called ‘Osun Agbeni,’ has declared hisambition to re-contest in the 2015 election underthe platform of All Progressives Congress (APC).

He made the declarationin Ede on Saturday, just ashe gave his stewarshipaccounts for the last threeyears in the Assembly.

Addressing the partysupporters, the lawmakerrecalled that within theperiod of his stay in theAssembly, he has been ableto give out interest-freeloans running to millions ofnaira to over 400beneficiaries.

He also said he has beenable to facilitate permanentemployment for 42indigenes of hisconstituency in the statecivil service, saying thesebeneficiaries includedoctors, teachers, nurses,drivers and clerks.

Akanbi further statedthat he has alsorecommended andinfluenced supply oftransformers to sixcommunities, as well asroad rehabilitation andconstruction in his

constituency.He also said he has

awarded scholarship to 11indigenes of hisconstituency for variousagricultural and vocationaltrainings at OoduaFarmers’ Academy, AISUArea of Ede.

Noting that there are alot more he has done forhis constituents, includingdistribution of economicmaterials like motorbikes,sewing machines, deepfreezers, farm sprayersamong others, Akanbistressed that he has beenusing his salaries andallowances to affect livespositively.

He then called forsupports of hisconstituents to achieve hissecond term ambition,saying, this would givehim the opportunity toaffect lives the more.

APC leaders, includingAlhaji Sule Alao, Mr JimohOlayemi, Prince Yele Alabi,

commended thelawmakers for his effortsin influencing severaldevelopmental projects inthe constituency.

They are optimistic thathis achievements areenough to guarantee therealisation of his secondterm ambition, just as theycharged him to do more.

In their separateadresses, the SpecialAdviser to the Governor

on Commerce,Cooperative andEmpowerment, DrOlalekan Yinusa and hisEducation counterpart,Alhaja Latifat Giwa,commended the people fortheir support for the stategovernment and thelawmaker.

Highlight of the eventwas the adoption of Akanbifor second term by someparty members.

Birthday: Osun Assembly SpeakerGreets Mrs Aregbesola, Diekola

THE Speaker of the State of Osun House ofAssembly, Honourable Najeem Salaam, haseulogized the virtue of the wife of the state

governor, Alhaja Sherifat Abidemi Aregbesola, asshe marked her birthday, describing her as a bridge-builder and a virtuous woman.

In a statement signed byhis Chief Press Secretary,Mr. Goke Butika, Salaamlauded Mrs. Aregbesolafor championing the causeof women and children,particularly the vulnerableones in the state, assertingthat her passion to assistthe needy has qualified herfor the medal of ‘MotherTheresa’s School ofHumanity’, if there is one.

X-raying the componentof her virtue, Salaamhinted that Mrs.Aregbesola’s unparalleledhumility and warmattitudinal disposition to allmanner of men andwomen across classboundaries were themagnetic variants thathave drawn genuine loveand respect to the firstfamily in Osun.

He then urged all wivesof political office holdersand powerful womenacross the country toborrow the model of Mrs.Aregbesola’s characterconcept, saying that shehas succeeded inprojecting what a goodmother and wife shouldlook like.

“I pray for long life ingood health for the motherof our dear State of Osunand wish her more yearsof active service towomanhood,” he stressed.

In a similardevelopment, the head of

the state parliament hasfelicitated with a chieftainof the ruling-AllProgressives Congress(APC) in the state, AlhajiFatai Oyedele Diekola, ashe marked his birthdaytoo, describing thepolitician as productive andskillful.

He saluted his courageduring the political strugglethat saw to the retrieval ofAregbesola’s mandate andhis five-star performanceon the political turf in therecently-concluded poll,where GovernorAregbesola was re-elected,praying that God giveshim longevity and goodhealth to further servehumanity.

Adesiyan In TroubleOver Illegal ‘Copter

Landing In Private School

MORE troubles have recently come the wayof the Minister for Police Affairs, AlhajiJelili Adesiyan, as owners of a popular

private secondary school in Ibadan, BodijaInternational School, have filed a petition againstthe Minister of Police Affairs, for illegal landing ofhelicopter in the premises of the school withoutapproval.

The petition indicatedthat the minister ’shelicopter illegally landedon the sports arena of theschool at 10:30a.m lastweek Sunday.

According to thepetition, the illegal landingcaused considerabledamage to underlyingdrainage pipes in theschool’s sports arena,which was undergoingmajor construction.

The petition signed bythe school’s lawyer,Olajumoke Ojo and Co,frowned at theunapproved landing,describing the minister’saction as “a trespass.”

“It has been brought to

our notice that yourhelicopter landed on theschool ground without theknowledge and consent ofthe school’s authorities.

“We hereby remind yousir that ours is a privateorganisation and landingthe helicopter on ourpremises withoutpermission constitutestrespass.

“As you can imagine,this action, if repeated,could disrupt educationalactivities and poseconsiderable danger, if theschool had been insession,” the petition read.

The late famous jurist,Kayode Eso, was thechairman, Governing

3 News OSUN DEFENDER Tuesday, September 30, 2014

By ISMAEEL UTHMAN

•Who is pushing who, human being or non-living thing? Photo: FACEBOOK

Osun Govt Assures Of Ebola-free Eid-El-kabirBy FRANCIS EZEDIUNO

AS this year’s Eid-el-kabir celebration approaches, theState of Osun Government has commenced steps toput in place screening centres in strategic motor parks

within the state, as a measure to prevent the spread of thedeadly Ebola Virus Disease, as an influx of people would beexpected.

This information was madeavailable to the public by theState of Osun Commissioner forHealth, Dr. (Mrs.) TemitopeIlori, during the Ebola VirusInfection Sensitisation for the

Joint National Association ofPeople With Disabilities(JONAPWD) at the StateGovernment secretariat, Abererecently.

The health commissioner

also encouraged relatives ofpeople that would be travellingback home for the festivity tobe vigilant and report anyunusual symptoms to the healthauthorities.

She revealed that motor parksthat were designated for suchscreening centres include Iwo,Ejigbo, Ikirun, Osogbo and Ede,where it is presumed that therewould be influx of people fromoutside Nigeria, especially theWest African sub-region.

She maintained that

JONAPWD member remain avital aspect of the society thatthe state government needs tocarry along because they areunique.

Meanwhile, the StateCommissioner for Environmentand Sanitation, Professor(Mrs.) Olubukola Oyawoye,has stated that the best solutionto the war on the Ebola VirusDisease currently ravaging someWest African countries iscleanliness.

She maintained that even

with the use of hand sanitizers,soap and water are still the bestmethod of keeping germs at bay.

Oyawoye stressed that themessage of cleanliness should bepreached by all, as there aredifferent types of diseases in thesociety.

Earlier, the Director ofPrimary Health and DiseaseControl in the State Ministryof Health, Dr. Kayode Oguniyi,in his enlightenment talk, tracedthe first outbreak of the diseasein 1976 to a Congo village, wherethe Ebola stream was located.

He revealed that the vectorwas the African fruit bats whichtransmits to other animals likegorillas and monkeys, who eatremnants of fruits, which wouldhave been eaten by these bats,hence the discouraging of bushmeat consumption, as one of thepreventive measures.

“The virus is found in allbody fluids like saliva, tears,urine, sweat, semen, faeces andvomitus and the incubationperiod is 2 through 21 days andpresentable symptoms includefever, headaches, cough, weakbody, diarrhoea and bloodoozing out of all the bodyopenings.”

Ogunniyi added that the

disease did not start fromNigeria but rather the first casewas imported from Liberia byone Patrick Sawyer.

He noted that of the 19suspected cases of the diseasein Nigeria, 7 died includingPatrick Sawyer and Dr.Adadevoh, while 12 recovered.

He therefore advised peopleto be very careful in the waythey handle corpses, stating thatthe World Health Organisationhas found out from researchthat in every 10 Ebola cases, 6-7 of them had contacts withcorpses of victims of thedisease.

“That was what informedthe government decision to stopinterstate conveying ofcorpses.”

He explained that beforeconveying of such corpses ifthere was need, proper autopsyresult should be obtained.

In clearing the air on how thedisease can be treated, Dr.Oguniyi stated that therecurrently exists no specifictreatment, as only symptomsthat were treated.

Representatives of theHealth Ministry andJONAPWD took turns todemonstrated proper handwashing techniques.

Akande’s Aide To Contest House Of Reps Election

INDICATIONS have emerged that a former Chief PressSecretary to former governor in the State of Osun, ChiefBisi Akande, Mr Adelani Baderinwa, is aspiring to be a

member of the Federal House of Representatives.

OPU Honours Indigenes

THE State Government of Osun has felicitated withOsogbo Progressive Union (OPU) on its 2014 awardsand honour celebration.

In a statement issued bythe State Commissioner forInformation and Strategy,Mr Sunday Akere, the stategovernment commended thepeople and residents of thetown for their candourduring the last governorshipelection in the state.

He noted Osogbo Orokipeople for theirsteadfastness andcommitment to theenthronement of goodgovernance anddevelopment in the state.

The statement disclosedthat Osogbo proved that itssupport for Governor RaufAregbesola and his partyduring the 2007 generalelections was not a ruse withthe repetition of theirunwavering support anddoggedness to ensuringthat the APC won August 9,2014 poll in the face ofbrazen assault, harassment,

intimidation, arrest anddetention by federal forces.

Similarly, the stategovernment felicitated withall distinguished awardeesparticularly, Chief LaiOyeduntan, ChairmanO’School and BarristerBasiru Ajibola,Commissioner for SpecialDuties and RegionalIntegration for the honourdone them by the O.P.U.

He commended the unionfor deeming it fit to honourthese eminent sons ofOsogbo, whose invaluablecontributions have assistedthe administration of theirprincipal , Ogbeni RaufAregbesola to achievemonumental feats duringhis first term, as members ofthe Omoluabi team.

Akere finally prayed forpeace to continue to reignin Osogbo and the State ofOsun in general.

Osun Pilgrims OrganisePrayers For Aregbesola,

Osun, Nigeria

PILGRIMS from the State of Osun, who are currentlyin holy land of Mecca, recently gathered to organisespecial prayers for the governor of the state, Ogbeni

Rauf Aregbesola, his immediate family, state and Nigeriaat large.

Speaking on behalf of thegovernor in Mecca, theState Commissioner forLocal Government andChieftaincy Affairs, BarristerKolapo Alimi, thankedpilgrims for deeming it fit toorganise the prayers asrequested by the governor.

He said the essence wasto thank Allah forsuccessful completion of hisfirst term in office and placethe second term before Godfor more resoundingachievements.

Earlier, Amir Hajj, AlhajiDhkrullahi Hassan, said theprayer coincided with thebirthday of governor’s wife,

Alhaja Serifat AbidemiAregbesola. He thereforeprayed for good health andlong life for the first lady.

Leading the recitation ofthe whole Quran, ChiefImam of Ijesa land, SheikIdris Muhammad Jamiu, saidwith Quran, all problems aresolved and prosperity willdefinitely follow.

He also assured thegovernor that all his goodintentions for the state willcome to reality. Pilgrims werehappy with enthusiasmduring the prayer, whilethanking the governor formaking life comfortable forthem.

Baderinwa, according toinformation at the disposal ofOSUN DEFENDER, iscurrently making moves tosecure the ticket of the AllProgressives Congress (APC)to contest the Ifelodun/Boripe/Odo-Otin FederalConstituency election.

It was learnt that somepolitical associates, friends andsupporters of Baderinwa werepushing for his candidature forthe 2015 general elections.

The Baderinwa supportersinclude commissioners,lawmakers in the State of OsunHouse of Assembly, SpecialAdvisers and Senior SpecialAssistants to the Governor,media practitioners, civilsocieties organisations, womenbodies, artisans and students.

OSUN DEFENDER alsogathered that Baderinwa’ssupporters, under the auspicesof Team Adelani Baderinwa,have voluntarily constituted fivecanvassers in each of the wardsin the three local governmentcouncil areas constituting thefederal constituency.

The aspirant’s supporterspremised their actions on theground that the Ikirun-bornpolitician deserves the APCticket to contest the FederalHouse of Representativeselection, having been a loyal,committed and financial memberof the party.

When contacted on Sunday,Baderinwa said he was beingtaken aware of the steps beingtaking by his supporters, but hewas yet to tell anybody he

would be contesting anyelective post.

According to Baderinwa, thepolitical activities of hissupporters are simply theirwish for him, saying that he hadbeen pleading with them forsome years before they decidedto take the recent action withoutconsulting him on the House ofRepresentatives’ ticket.

“I will make my decisionknown to the general public onthe Ifelodun/Boripe/Odo-OtinFederal Constituency electionticket after consultation. As atnow, I am yet to tell anybodyam vying for this or that,” hesaid.

Baderinwa, a formerchairman of Nigeria Union ofJournalists, Ekiti Council, is theSenior Special Assistant toGovernor Rauf Aregbesola onInformation and Strategy andDirector, Media Monitoring.He resigned from The SketchNewspaper to join Akande’sgovernment in 2000.

Ekiti Crisis: ARG Decries ‘Deliberate Collaboration’ By Security Agencies•Warns Against Mayhem In Yorubaland

THE Afenifere Renewal Group [ARG] has expressedconcerned that a needless and preventable violencehas degenerated into anarchy in Ekiti State.

In a statement issued on Sun-day by its Chairman, OlawaleOshun, the group said fromall indications, there is no jus-tification for why, within justone week, the state is transit-ing from a peaceful communityto that of chaos.

The ARG noted that thetwo sequential attacks on judi-cial officers were pernicious inintent because the first incidentought to have served as pre-monition for a non-partisansecurity agency to take chargeand arrest the situation.

“Not in any report did weread that the hoodlums at-tacked security officers.Rather, the attackswere targeted against unarmedcivilians and judicial officials,right in the presence of secu-rity operatives. These are clearindications of deliberate negli-gence, if not collaboration, bysecurity operatives,” the state-ment said.

“That a handful of hood-lums, clearly under manipula-tion, successfully halted judi-cial proceedings in a lawful andlegally-constituted court oflaw is appalling. It is a bare-faced signal that ‘might is right’and that hoodlums will now bethe dispenser of justice in acivilised society. These actsare blatant disregard of the ju-diciary and an assault on thecollective civility of all Yorubapeople.”

The group said: “Rumourhas been rife that desperatepoliticians, with the backing ofFederal Government, as part oftheir untoward plan to win

2015 presidential election byall means, are seeking any op-portunity to foment mayhemin the Southwest. The failuresof security operatives to nipthe courtroom crises in the budlend credence to this rumourand it shows a different signalfrom President Jonathan’s re-cently publicised commitmentto security at UN General As-sembly.”

“The ARG would liketo suggest that the resultinganarchy is a coded message thatwarns against reposing faith insecurity agencies, whose

reporting lines lie far awayfrom the constituent unit theyare serving; another poor indi-cation of the nation’s over-cen-tric unitary system.”

“The ARG would like to re-mind these desperadoes thattreacherous politicians havenever amounted to anythinggood in Yoruba land, whatevertheir short gain may be. Thisdisregard of a key element ofgovernance has no placein Yoruba land; it shall be up-rooted the same way previousattempts were resisted. Wewant to remind them that suchintimidation and violation ofRule of Law have always madethe Yoruba race stronger, result-ing in substantial gain for the

populace.”The ARG reiterated that, for

Nigeria to survive current be-setting crises, national institu-tions must remain truly na-tional, not only in structure,but also in operations. Theymust not become toothless orbe rendered ineffective at thewhim of those who may wishto deploy them for selfish pur-poses.

“ARG therefore calls on theActing Inspector General ofPolice, Suleiman Abba, to takeurgent steps to restore faith inthe Police by bringing all viola-tors of the peace of our peopleto justice, , while those are thecustodians of our judicial insti-tutions at this time must do allwithin their powers to protectthe sanctity of the temple ofjustice,” the group concluded.

4 OSUN DEFENDER Tuesday, September 30, 2014

The War Called The Osun Elections; By Segun Tomori

Continued frompg1

I just couldn’t imagine my home State go back to the disastrous “yearsof the locust”. I had participated actively in the campaigns,interacted with the people, felt their pulse and the story was thesame – Osun has never had it so good, the people vowed todefend their votes by all means possible! From that moment Ihad made up my mind to give my all and put myself at harm’sway if need be to ensure we form a bulwark of resistanceagainst the machinery of State to be deployed to thwart thepeople’s wish.

When I was about to proceed on my journey to Osogbo, theOsun State Capital on Monday preceding the elections Iprepared for the worst. Few associates privy to my trip advisedstrongly that I removed any APC sourvenir from myluggage,any ID card that can associate me with the partyamongst other security tips. They were right to be apprehensive,soldiers, officials of the Department of State Security(DSS)including the hooded ones,lorry loads of mobile policemenhad since being deployed across the nook and cranny of OsunState. Bearing in mind the desperation of their paymasters, weknew they could stop and search vehicles and abduct anythingsynonymous with APC, so I took all the precautions. I took offon the journey which in itself was dramatic.

As we got close to Oshogbo, a discussion ensued in the bus andI found out I was not alone in the Save-Osun initiative. Most ofthe passengers shared the same sentiments with me and werealso natives of the State. They spoke emotionally and fiercelyabout their determination to ensure Aregbesola’s victory. Speakerafter speaker reeled out programmes and interventions of theGovernor that has brought smiles to the faces of the people.They concluded he was the best thing to happen to the Statesince its creation. The menacing apparatus of State thensuffocating the enviroment will not deter them, they thundered!“Ko si ohun ti soja o se, a ma duro gboin gboin lati dibo Aregbe”they said in yoruba dialect meaning “there is nothing Soldierscan do, we will stand firmly to vote for Aregbe”. I thought tomyself, we are about to witness mass resistance unequally inour national history if anything go against the people’s will.Hopefully, the soldiers we met on the various check-points didn’tstop and search, they just peeped through the bus windows andpassed us on. I heaved a sigh of relief when I arrived Osogbosafely late in the evening.

I have attended rallies, mega-rallies , name it, but what I saw onTuesday at the grand-finale of the campaign was frightening. Astadium whose capacity can’t be more than 60,000 almost cavedin due to pressure from an unprecedented mammoth crowd. Everyspace on the covered stands were over-filled, the main bowl of theStadium was virtually unpassable. My associates and I had to holdourselves to navigate our way through the crowd, it took us aboutan hour from the entrance of the stadium to find somewhere toperch! Yet thousands more extend to adjoining roads outside thestadium. It was the APC mega-rally and to say it was awesomelymega is an understatement! We even heard that the Lord of Aso-rock caught an instant migraine seeing the magnitude of the rally!The effect of that was seen in the sealing off of the freedom parkthat was supposed to host workers rally the next day by “hoodedsoldiers” They got the now familiar, albeit emergency “ordersfrom above” to forcefully if need be halt the Nigeria LabourCongress (NLC) and its affiliates endorsement rally for the Ogbeni.

Co-incidentally, Wednesday, 6th August was my birthday but Iwas in no mood for celebrations of any kind. I told my well-wishers, family and friends that you don’t clink glasses in a battle-front! Interestingly, one of my compatriots who was also a major‘battle-axe” and good friend’s birthday was 8th August so I toldhim we’ll do a birthday plus victory party on the 10th, a day afterthe elections,when we triumph at the polls. We know we had thepeople behind us, we never gave defeat a thought! By Thursday,preparations had reached feverish pitch, the towns, hamlets andvillages was now massively flowing with uniformed men of allhues and shades. Some DSS operatives came to the restaurant wewere having dinner, Thursday evening, apparently on surveillancemission. We got the message and we left in a jiffy! On our wayto our location, we noticed a car trailing us, so we had to take adecoy to a bar. As we turned to the bar, the car also turned inanother direction. Their mission still remains a mystery. ThankGod for little mercies!

When we arrived our abode, we swung into action to put finishingtouches to our master-plan which was to run a co-ordinated andeffective live broadcast of the elections on social and online mediain collaboration with the APC situation room which was to startfrom Friday evening till the announcement of the results onSunday. This was necessary because leaking the plans of ourdevious opponents was key to frustrate their rigging machinery;announcing results online as we get it directly from our agents wasalso crucial to frustrate any manipulation at the collation level. ByFriday afternoon, I had to tactically separate from my friendswho then proceeded to a high security location. The curfew wasgoing to start around 5-6pm. By 4pm, I arrived at my own securelocation and quickly moved to set up. I surveyed the enviroment

to assess the possible threat level. I saw that it was negligible so Isettled down for the task ahead.

By Friday evening we got intelligence report that notorius electionrigger, Chris Uba was in town with a unit of 50 soldiers attached tohim. We sent that out and made sure it went viral. Later that night,information about the arrest of our leaders ranging from APC PublicitySecretary, lai Mohammed, the Attorney-general Of Osun State, barr.Wale Afolabi, Tinubu’s Special Adviser on media, Mr Sunday are,Commissioner for Agric among others were swiftly publicised withdispatch. The far-reaching effect of the noise we made contributedin no small measure to the release of most of those picked up bySaturday morning. We discovered by Saturday morning that fakesoldiers and policemen had surfaced in many locations. Their logowas a red ankara tied to their left hand. Quickly we activated ourinstant alert to our people,through all means possible. That againthwarted efforts to manipulate the elections from the beginning.

The elections started peacefully however in most locations withaccreditation going on smoothly. The only snag was the continuedharassment of APC leaders across the State. The case of the 1stCivilian Governor of Osun State, Alhaji Isiaka Adeleke was quiteinstructive. After failing to assasinate him over-night due to resistanceby his security aides, he was trailed from the polling unit to his mother’sresidence where he went after accreditation. He escaped the siegeby the whisker after he was discreetly notified. He couldn’t comeback to exercise his franchise. The results started trickling in byafternoon and the PDP demolition squad sensing their rejection quicklyswitched to a plan B to disrupt the collation process. We instantlyalerted the public about their norturnal meeting and evil plot. Whatreally helped the APC apart from the determination of the peoplewas our access to classified information. We were always a stepahead of them and that frustrated the election riggers.

I got an anonymous call from a patroitic police officer around 8pmwho claimed he was at a location at modakeke and that results beingcollated was about to be altered. You could detect the fear in his voiceas he asked me to ensure his cover. He was an igbo officer deployedfrom other states, he wasn’t familiar with the terrain but what wasgratifying that there could still be few men of integrity in thecorruption-ridden Nigeria Police Force. In order to confirm theauthenticity of his Statement, I asked the Apapa Local GovernmentChairman who was with me to speak to him. He sounded credible, heconcluded. So I made some calls to the authorities and sent textmessage to our men to act immediately.

Before 11pm, we already had all the results and we had won,though unofficially. What sealed the deal for us and put paid toany manipulation the PDP had in stock was the unexpectedcongratulation of Aregbesola as the winner of the election around9.40pm by the Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuade. Omisoreaccording to our sources had already informed Aso-rock that therewas fighting in his home-town of Ile-Ife because according tohim, the results we were circulating were fake and he was actuallyleading in the “original” results. The Ooni swiftly debunked that,not only congratulated the Governor-elect, but also stated thatnobody was fighting in Ife! That took the sail out of the wind ofOmisore and his treacherous gang.

If we thought the threats have been subdued, we were in for ashocker! The returning officer whose task it is to announce thefinal result was under pressure to collect a whooping N1b andannounce Omisore winner! They were ready to damn theconsequences and ask us to go to court. So we had to practicallygo on our knees! I salute the indefatigable people of Osun State,they were resolute, they stood like a rock, stayed on the streets allthrough and formed a human shield around the collation centre.Then the returning officer came in around 1.35pm. The results ofall the local governments were announced before 5am. Then wenow witnessed dilly-dallying of the highest order. It got to a pointaround 7am, anxious journalists and people started singing askingfor the results. Lo and Behold, at about 7.10am, Ogbeni RaufAregbesola was finally pronounced the winner!

There was instant jubilation across the nook and cranny of Oshogbo.Never in the history of elections have I seen such spontaneousexcitement pervade the landscape because of resultsannouncement. Within the twinkle of an eye, the whole town wentagog with people clutching their brooms- symbol of the Governor’sparty, congratulating themselves, okada riders driving menacinglyin such euphoric ecstasy and finally we could say hurray! Wewon! We didn’t win an election, we won a WAR with a stone likethe biblical david. Goliath came to battle with the best arsenal athis disposal but we came with the will of a determined people thatvowed that never again shall they go the road of perdition theyonce trodded. Who says the voice of the people is not the voice ofGod? Because ultimately the hand of the Almighty saved the dayand gave us victory. Osun ti dara ooooooo.

Segun Tomori

Jonathan And $9.3m Arms Purchase Scam

IT will be extremelydifficult, if notimpossible, for a

government that wearsregalia of corruption toabsolve itself of theseized $9.3 million by theSouth Africangovernment. Thereported lies that themoney was meant forarm purchase by theFederal Governmentobviously holds no water.

If that was actuallywhat the money wasmeant for, why couldn’tany of our securityagencies (Army, AirForce, Navy, Police etc)be represented? Whywas the National SecurityAdviser (NSA) notrepresented? How comeno Nigerian diplomat orgovernment official wasinvolved? Why the choiceof a private jet owned bythe President of the

Christians Association ofNigeria (CAN), PastorAyo Orisajafor.

I still need to ask: Whypurchasing black marketarms? Why just twounofficial governmentrepresentatives and anIsraeli arms dealer onboard? What if the arms

dealer refuses to deliverthe arms after paymentsince the transactionwould be done by cash?Was the money reallymeant for arms? If yes,who would use the armsand for what purpose? Isour government orPresident Jonathan notcovering something up?

As 2015 generalelections approach andpoliticians are gearing up,issues like this are notunexpected. Firstly, tohave enough money tobuy the votes andsecondly, to havesomething to fall back onshould they lose the

election.President Goodluck

Ebele Jonathangovernment is no doubtthe most corrupt (civilian)government I have everknown. The flimsyexcuse that arm purchaseembargo is placed onNigeria by the Westernnations holds no water. Is

OSUN DEFENDERPublisher – Moremi Publishing

House Ltd.

Managing Editor – Kola Olabisi(0803-392-7286)

Editor – Kayode Agbaje (0803-388-0205)

Lagos Editor – Kola Odepeju(08023191891)

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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

it the same America thatdonated warship toNigerian government thatwill refuse to sell arms forus, even when it is clearthat we are facingsecurity challenges?

Besides, when last didwe buy arms from theWest? I canauthoritatively establishthat our arms in the lastone decade werepurchased from theRussians. Do we haveproblems with theRussians too? GEJ mustcome out and giveNigerians satisfactoryanswers to the question ofthe Nigerian integrity inthe League of Nations,rather than doling outcash (bribe) to thelegislators. Nigeria will berescued soon from theselooters!

•JIDE AFOLABI,Jos.

5555

PoliticsGetting It Right With Opon Imo Intervention Initiative

In spite of the volume and quality of time and lengthy writings devoted to the Opon Imointervention initiative introduced by the incumbent administration, the fact still remains that itstands as one of the most controversial measures among all revolutionary instruments in theEducation Sub-sector of the state in modern time. NIYI OLASINDE revisits the numerousbenefits of the Tablet of Knowledge, as schools prepare to resume for yet another academicsession. The bold pace-setting step of pioneering this wonderful device for use in our publicschools, which had, for several years running, been relegated and reduced to bases for dissemi-nating ignorance, poverty and intellectual cum moral decay is through this piece applauded.

Rauf Revolution In The State Of Osun:

OSUN DEFENDER Tuesday, September 30, 2014

•A cross section of State of Osun High School students displaying their Opon Imo devices.

6 OSUN DEFENDER Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Getting It Right With Opon Imo Intervention InitiativeMAGAZINE

THE terrains of public education in theyears preceding the advent of the RaufAregbesola administration was far from

being attractive or alluring. This is true as allindications pointed to a situation of rot, decay,abandonment and devastation in the sub-sector;so much so that parents and guardians wererepelled with fear and disgust from committingtheir wards to the care and tutelage that thatcategory of schools dispensed. Needless to say,the only category of parents and guardians whowere left to the mercy of those schools werethose who due to certain limitations imposedby economy or other factors, had no alternativethan sending their wards there as a last resort.In other words the segment of the populace whogave patronage to those schools in those darkdays comprised those who looked up to Godand prayed ceaselessly for deliverance andrescue to come their way some day.

In our series last year and in years before,OSUN DEFENDER Magazine has devotedlengthy writing to the spate of rot and decaywhich the sub-sector witnessed during theperiod under reference. We therefore wouldnot have to subject our numerous readers tothe boredom, drudgery and monotony of havingto recast the ugly events of those years. Wealso have, time and time again given details ofthe poor score sheets of candidates of the statewho were produced through the ugly system inpublic examinations. In honest terms, theperformances were not only persistently poorbut also abysmally woeful and disheartening.In terms of enrolment figures, the statistics haddwindled drastically. In terms of schools’physical structures, materials, equipment andtextbooks, the scoring was simply nothing towrite home about. The quantity and quality ofteaching and non-teaching personnel in thoseschools had been another point of concern. Inmost cases, the teachers were not just there.Where they were present in some numbers, itwas not usually in the right quality. Recruitmentand selection exercises for teachers in thosedays were fraught with fraud and irregularities,hence, the teachers (so called) were mostlyengaged in an attempt to pacify political

hangers-on, cronies and boot-lickers.Since the coming on board of the Rauf

Aregbesola administration however, a wave ofchange, unprecedented and unimaginable –confounding to distracters has rippled thepublic education sub-sector of the state. In allramifications, the sub-sector has been virtuallyoverhauled. Apart from the free, functional andqualitative education package wielded by theadministration of Ogbeni Rauf AdesojiAregbesola in the State of the Virtuous, othercomponents of good service delivery, whichcould make learning much easier, attractive,effective and efficient have been put in place.Among the multiple “O” programmes initiatedby the Government Unusual, the educationindustry has taken a substantial number. We caneasily talk of the O’ Uniform programme underthe auspices of which the administrationdistributed school uniforms and badges free ofcharge to all students in public schools inaccordance with their levels; whetherelementary, middle or high school. Not onlythis, the O’ Meal programme ensures freefeeding of pupils in primary school classes oneto four on daily basis with nutritious and highlyenriched food varieties so as to enhance theirintellectual development and prepare themadequately for future challenges. The O’Calisthenics is a programme in physical cumaffective and psychomotor domains. Throughit, the government of the day has exposed thestudents, drawn mostly from the middle schoolrung of the educational ladder to moreproductive engagements of their time, talentsand latent potentials.

The O’ SCHOOLS intervention initiative isan area that is almost of exceeding importanceof all. This is so as no meaningful and impactfulteaching-learning process can take place inpoor physical environment. The State of OsunSchools Infrastructure DevelopmentCommittee, known for short as O’ SCHOOLSis out to effect the demolition of all existingdangerously dilapidating structures in all ourpublic schools and replacing such with modern,befitting and more durable ones that canfavourably compare with the demands of the

Twenty-First Century. We have discussedissues relating to this to detail in some of oureditions in the just-concluded year. We onlyneed to add in passing that “infrastructure” inthe context of O’ SCHOOLS mean a widevariety of components which include:

a) School buildings as designed andapproved;

b) External works as designed andapproved;

c) Landscaping as designed and approved;d) Furniture for students and staff;e) Library, laboratory and workshop

equipments;f) Sporting facilities; andg) Any other facility, structure and

equipment that may be considered necessaryfor effective teaching and learning in theschools.

Also, by the plan of the O’ SCHOOLSCommittee, we realize that the governmentintended at the initial stage to build and deliver:

· 100 elementary schools (2,100classrooms);

· 50 (62?) middle schools; and· 20 high schoolsIn view of limitations imposed by the

economic realities on ground, the first phaseof the programme could howeveraccommodate the minimum delivery of:

· 50 elementary schools;· 33 middle schools; and· Between 10 and 20 high schoolsAs at the end of last year, the statistics of

these schools which were almost ready forofficial commissioning and use was put at

about fifteen (15) elementary schools;thirteen (13) middle schools; and ten (10)

high schools. The figures are still counting, asthe programme is continuous through the lifeof the administration. Latter part of last yearand early this year marked the officialcommissioning of the first fruits of the O’SCHOOLS project and their delivery to theirrespective intended end-users.

First in this regard was the officialcommissioning of the Salvation Army Middle

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•Another set of enthusiatic public High School Students working with the Tablet of Knowledge.

7 OSUN DEFENDER Tuesday, September 30, 2014 MAGAZINE

Getting It Right With Opon Imo Intervention Initiative

School, located at the Oke Fia / Alekuwodoarea of Osogbo, the capital of the State of Osun.That was done in September 2013. Second wasthe commissioning in February of 2014 ofBaptist Central Elementary School, Ilare, Ile-Ife. Most recently during the month of March,another ultra-modern school building projectin the category of elementary school, theA.U.D. Government Elementary School, Isale-Agbara, Isale-Osun, Osogbo was officiallycommissioned. The list is still counting! Thisrate of completion has put wagging tonguesinto silence.

We have observed through the lifetime of theincumbent administration how our publicschools have flourished prolifically withmassive employment of trained, qualified,competent and highly experienced teachingpersonnel. We have also witnessed how theadministration has made the teachers in publicschools highly motivated by attendingpromptly to all their needs, not only in termsof salaries and fringe benefits, but also otherneeds bordering on entry and terminal pointsas well as elevation of high echelon personnelin the teaching profession to the exalted statusof Permanent Secretary. Hence we now havethree Tutors-General; one for each SenatorialDistrict of the state.

Central to the free education programme ofthe administration of the day is the free bookdistribution exercise embarked upon. By this,the sufferings of the masses have been alleviateda great deal through free distribution ofexercise. The climax of this is the introductionof the Tablet of Knowledge, known as OponImo. This device is one of the most laudableefforts of the Aregbesola administration in theEducation Sub-sector. The SchoolsReclassification Programme and SchoolsDiscipline Initiative are other effort made torevive the sector from the horrible state it wasin at the take-over time of the administration.We shall now swing forward to give conciseconsideration to Opon Imo and all that it entails.

When the newly-inaugurated administrationof Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola came out with the

idea of holding the first-ever State of OsunEducation Summit in February 2011, detractorswagged their tongues in outright condemnationof the programme which they considered assheer waste of time and resources. Today, thesummit has justified itself; as it has translatedto meaningful life-impacting transformation inthe Education Sub-sector of the state; mostespecially the public schools, to which thegovernment remains proprietor and financier.

We know for sure that quite a number ofinteresting packages has begun to be rolled outas aftermath of the summit, which was chairedby none less a personality like the academicgiant and famous Nobel Laurel, ProfessorWole Soyinka. Notable among such educationalrebranding efforts of the administration whichare wielding potent reforms in the educationindustry of the state owing to their purposefuland faithful implementation are the O’ Uniform,O’ SCHOOLS, O’ Meal and O’ Calisthenics; andsuch others as we have discussed above. Theparticular ground-shaking and epoch-makingentrant into the scene is the Tablet ofKnowledge, known popularly as Opon Imo.

THE Opon Imo initiative has come, likeits earlier-introduced counterparts todemystify school learning and make

public school learning more attractive; therebyrestoring its old-lost glory, honour, sanctity andrectitude. By virtue of the line-up of theseintervention efforts, it is no longer a dreadfulevent to send a child to public schools. On topof these attractive packages; education in ourpublic schools is free, qualitative andfunctional. What this latter point implies is thata good proportion of parents who had beenmade victims of coughing out enormous hard-earned resources in order to get their wardseducated in private schools; or rather who couldscarcely afford that costly facility for theirwards are now afforded the rare privilege ofgood education free of charge, courtesy of thequintessential leader of our time, OgbeniAregbesola.

Through the introduction of Opon Imo, theburden of spending enormously on textbooks

either by parents or government has beenrelieved. We remember with nostalgia the oldgood eras of free education as introduced andsuccessfully operated in the defunct WesternRegion by the late sage, Chief ObafemiAwolowo, the premier of the Region. The samefeat was replicated during the Second Republicwith late Chief Bola Ige at the helm of affairsas Governor of the old Oyo State. We alsoremember the good efforts of Chief BisiAkande in his days as Governor of the present-day State of Osun.

During the entire period under reference,tuition, textbooks and notebooks were entirelyfree! The free education scheme afforded manyschool children especially those from humblesocio-economic background the opportunity ofaccess to quality, functional education. By thestandards of those periods, school childrenwere provided with textbooks and notebooksfree of charge. But the standards of the currenttime place the demand on government to findanother device which can present volumes ofbooks of different sizes in a very light, easy-to-access gadget, which an average learner cancarry about with much ease and which canprovide learning anywhere and anytime withoutthe burden of carrying bulky bags around.

Another advantage of the Opon Imo is that itsaves the government the perennial burden ofprocuring sets of books. According toGovernor Aregbesola while responding tocritics that his administration is deemphasizingthe use of books, he enumerated the economicbenefits of providing easier4 alternative asconsisting in saving enormous costs for thestate which can be expended on other viablelife- changing programmes and projects. Thegovernor said that over a period of ten years,the devise would save government a whoopingsum of about N50.25 billion; were the state toengage in the physical purchase of hard copiesof textbooks for the 17 subjects taught in ourpublic schools, hard copies of 51 audiotutorials, hard copies of JAMB and WAEC pastquestions and answers and the rest.

Aside these, the Opon Imo device can be

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•(L-R) The Speaker, Federal House of Representaives, Rt. (Hon) Aminu Tambuwaal; Oyo State Governor, Senator Isiaka Abiola Ajimobi and former Lagos State governor andNational Leader of All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu making history at the launch of the initiative in June last year.

8 OSUN DEFENDER Tuesday, September 30, 2014 PHOTOTALK

Preparation For 2014 Ileya Festival In Osogbo. Photo: GBENGA ADENIYI And SEGUN ADEJUMO

•

•Rams displayed for sale at Sabo Market, Osogbo, last Saturday.

•Ram buyers and sellers at Ring Road area, Osogbo last Saturday.

•

•Some of the Osogbo inhabitants buying food stuff for Ileya festival at Olu-Ode Market, last Saturday.•

9 OSUN DEFENDER Tuesday, September 30, 2014PHOTOTALK

•Another cross section of the Good Woman during their thanksgiving programme in the church to commemorate the grandfinale of their three-day programme at victory parigh,Tinumola Estate, Osogbo.

The Good Women Of The Redeemed Christian Church Of God, Victory Zone, Osogbo,Organized A Programme Titled ‘Overflowing Home Builder’ Penultimate Sunday.

Photo: SHOLA ADERINTO

•A cross section of Good Women of The Redeemed Christian Church Of God, Victory Zone, Osogbo in a group photograph with children of Abiye Orphanage home, Osogbo,during their visit to donate to less-privileged members of the society.

10 OSUN DEFENDER Tuesday, September 30, 2014MAGAZINE

Getting It Right With Opon Imo Intervention Initiativesolar-powered. It also has the capacity to

record audio lessons, thus saving students thetrouble of copying notes. It also spares themmore time to learn.

Another benefit confirmed for the device isthat it facilitates the incumbent administration’sfree education programme through its cost-saving nature. We would all agree that a trulyqualitative and functional free educationprogramme is usually a crowd-puller. Thepopulist nature of such programme thereforewould require its provider to find means ofmaking learning easier, fast and all-reachingwithin a limited space of time. OSUNDEFENDER Magazine is of the assurance thatthe Aregbesola administration has done thissufficiently well.

The governor has continuously emphasizedthe bold resolve and determination of hisadministration to focus thrust on the makingof the total student – so the preparation ofconducive learning environment, whichconsists in the construction of befittingclassrooms and equipping such with goodfurniture, shall win the priority attention of hisgovernment. He has never reneged on hispromise that his administration will not waveror get derailed from the pursuance of theselofty courses of action.

Further on the issue if textbooks, Aregbesolareasoned that since textbooks are made fromwood which is obtained from forests cultivatedon wide expanses of land; the introduction of adevise like Opon Imo, which reduces thedependence on books, will help in theconservation of our forest resources, hencereducing risks associated with environmentaldegradation.

It has been a reasonable argument from thepoint of view of Ogbeni Aregbesola that sincea student must have been exposed to textbooksfrom kindergarten, offering him somethingdifferent at his high school age would do himmuch benefit. In other words, he should beoffered with the kind of learning that brings himin conformity with his colleagues andcounterparts in the present world order through

exposure to digital-based instruction thatmakes him ICT-compliant.

In Governor Aregbesola’s definition, theOpon Imo devise is a first of its kind standalonelearning tablet in the world for self-paced study.It provides three major content categories vis-à-vis e-library virtual classroom, and anintegrated test zone. The virtual classroomcategory contains 63 e-books, covering 17academic subjects for examinations conductedby WAEC, NECO and JAMB as well as non-academic life-enriching subjects such asHistory of the Yoruba, Sexuality Education,Civic Education, Ifa on Ethics and Morals,Enterprise Education, hints and tips on passingSSCE and How to Live a Healthy and HappyLife. It was further revealed by the Governorthat this section also contains an average of 16chapters per subject and 823 chapters in all,with about 900 minutes or 15 hours of audiovoiceovers.

In the integrated net zone of the devise, thereare more than 40,000 JAMB and WAECpractice questions and answers dating back toabout 20 years. It also contains mock tests inmore than 51 subject areas, whichapproximates to 1,220 chapters, with roughly29,000 questions, referencing about 825images.

The tablet, as it has turned out, is in design,use and purpose more than a learning devise. Itis a revolution that individualizes learning andbrings the school to the child. No wonder thatGovernor Aregbesola said that in the old order,the pupils went to school to study, but that withOpon Imo, they henceforth learn!

Opon Imo has also been defined as entailingdemocratization of learning. This is so, becauseOpon Imo provides equal access to every child,irrespective of his or her background. Pupilsin the remotest village now have access to thesame body of knowledge as their counterpartsfrom the most cosmopolitan city.

No wonder that OSUN DEFENDERMagazine drew reference to the coincidenceof the Opon Imo launch with the June 12celebration, vis-à-vis the mention above of thedemocratization aspect of the device. We pauseto reflect that the annulment of the results of

the June 12, 1993 Presidential Elections whichwas widely, convincingly and overwhelminglywon by the late business mogul, captain ofcommerce and symbol of the collective causefor democracy, late Bashorun MoshoodKasimawo Olawale Abiola poised monumentalset-back to the nation and the development ofits segments and institutions. Had thedemocratic experience of that time beenallowed to thrive and materialize, the nationwould have advanced well today. This is moreso if it is viewed against the back drop that theachievers of today – Senator Bola AhmedTinubu, Governor Babatunde Raji Fasola andour own Ogbeni Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola –were parts and parcel of the struggle in thedefunct Social Democratic Party (SDP). If ourreturn to democratic governance had startedfrom that time; honestly, we would have gonevery far by now.

Opon Imo, by containing all subjects, is averitable tool in the making of the roundedstudent. It was revealed that a science studenthas access to textbooks on arts and socialsciences and vice-versa.

We also learnt that there is a business side tothe tablet. According to Governor Aregbesola,a factory for the assemblage of computertablets is already in the pipeline in the State ofOsun. The factory will provide jobs for ouryouths and provide revenue to the government.He said that by that singular move, thefoundation is being laid for the making of Osunas the IT hub of the nation. The governorexpressed the hope of his administration thatOpon Imo would spread to other parts of thenation from the State of Osun.

In rounding up his speech at the launch of thedevise in June 2013, Ogbeni Aregbesola viewedthe addition of Opon Imo to our education asanother turning point in the public schoolsystem in the State of Osun. He expressed hisstrong belief that the history was in the makingon that day with the official launch of thedevise; and that the real significance of the dayin the history of education in Osun will beappreciated in the fullness of time.

History was made in June 2013 through the

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•AREGBESOLA •LAOYE-TOMORI

11 OSUN DEFENDER Tuesday, September 30, 2014 MAGAZINE

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Getting It Right With Opon Imo Intervention Initiative

events culminating in the official unveilingof the iPod-like computer devise; customizedto demystify learning for students at the seniorsecondary level of our public school system inthe State of Osun. Branded simply as Opon Imo,which translates into Tablet of Knowledge, thedevise, a brainchild of the Aregbesolaadministration had earlier come under severecriticisms from the camp of detractors on manygrounds; the last of which was that theprogramme had been clandestinely launched inLagos.

Earlier, detractors had tongue-lashed theproject as sheer attempt at wasting the financialfortunes of the state; attempting to deify theoracles by the introduction of what they choseto call Opon Ifa; and an overall attempt atmaking the youths of the state tow the path offetishism. As time advanced, further accusationscame that the Opon Imo project sought todeemphasize the use of textbooks; and mostrecently, critics of the project cried foul that ithad been launched in Lagos, rather than the Stateof Osun for which it was designed and meant.

At the end of it all, the administration of theday, under the leadership of Ogbeni RaufAregbesola has proven itself to be well aboveall situations aimed at distracting it as the OponImo initiative has eventually seen the light ofday.

In his state-wide broadcast heralding in theNew Year 2014, the Governor of the State ofOsun, Ogbeni Rauf Adesoji Aregbesolaelucidated on the numerous achievements ofhis administration in the past years. In hisspeech titled “Reflections on Our Policies andProgrammes”, the Governor detailed theachievements, which bordered chiefly on thegiant strides recorded in the education industry.While commenting on the whole essence ofhis aspiration to become the helmsman of thestate in the first place, the governor had this tosay:

“As we begin this great year, I reflect on

the last year and even the last three yearssince the Almighty God, by His grace andmercy, brought me to this seat as yourGovernor. Permit me to say that the onlyreason why I aspired to be governor was toget an opportunity to improve the lot of themasses of our people.

“I know how dehumanizing poverty andlack of opportunities can be. I know howilliteracy can truncate the destiny of a personand a society.

“This is why every day our focus as anadministration has been (and is) on how toimprove the lives of the majority of ourpeople.

“My firm belief is that government existsto protect life, liberty and pursuit ofhappiness, provide an environment forcommerce to thrive, for the young andeconomically deprived to be educated, for thesick who cannot afford medi-care to be takencare of, for the provision of security for all,and for the enforcement of the rule of law andmaintenance of law and order.

“All of these must be premised on the truththat all men, regardless of means, religion orethnicity, are created equal by God and mustbe enabled where they are unable to accessthe means for decent and humane existence.

“The question I ask myself about any policywe propose to make is simple: ‘How will thisbenefit the poorest in the State of Osun’?”

On the justification behind the introductionof the O’ Meal programme, the Governor madethe following comments:

“It is this philosophy that has guided andinspired all of our policies as yourgovernment. We put in place the O’Mealsprogramme for feeding all elementary schoolchildren daily because we know that a largenumber of our people find it difficult to feedthemselves and their children. We know thatundernourishment and calorie deficiency isa major cause of physical and mentalunderdevelopment of children and youngpeople.

“It has been scientifically confirmed in

many countries that provide lunch for theirchildren in school that it significantlyimproves the academic performance andhealth of the pupils. We are finding this to bethe case in our state.

“Additionally, the programme hasincreased elementary school enrolment inOsun from 150,000 to 380,000 children. Wenow have the largest elementary schoolenrolment in the country.”

Of particular note is the reference we intendto draw to the last quoted paragraph above. Onthe overall, it is the aggregate of thecomprehensive and integrative package ofinitiatives in the education sector of the statethat contributed to the upsurge in enrolmentstatistics of public schools in the state, to theeffect that there was a swelling of more thandouble only within the space of three years.

Commenting on the Opon Imo initiative, theGovernor traced the purpose of its introductionand the impact it had made so far, when he said:

“Our provision of ‘OPON IMO’ (THETABLET OF KNOWLEDGE) which containsall the textbooks and teaching aids requiredin high school is because we know that mostparents in the state simply cannot afford thecost of textbooks.

“Again we believe that all of our children,regardless of the financial means of theirparents, must have equal access to books andother materials for effective learning. Theintroduction of this electronic tablet is tobring our children, no matter how remotetheir location may be from the centres ofdigital advancement, to familiarity andcurrency with cutting-edge technology.”

The Governor appraised the overall educationpolicies and programmes of his administrationin lucid terms in the following words:

“The same is true of our educational reformpolicy. You will recall that when I was swornin as Governor in November 2010, theschools were in a shambles. Hardly any

Contiuned from page 10

•Laro-Timehin Middle School, Isale-Osun, Osogbo, recently built under the administration of Governor Rauf Aregbesola.

OSUN DEFENDER Tuesday, September 30, 2014 MAGAZINE 12

Getting It Right With Opon Imo Intervention Initiativeschool in the state had facilities of any kind.

We then called for an education summit,attended by great educationists andintellectuals of all persuasions.

“Professor Wole Soyinka, our own NobelLaureate, made time out to personally attend.The summit recommended a completeoverhaul of our education system.”

He particularly appraised the outcome andeffectiveness of the first-ever State of OsunEducation Summit as follows:

“The most important conclusion of thesummit was the restructuring of the systeminto three basic categories, Elementary,Middle and High schools. Grades 1–4 are theelementary school, Grades 5–9 are the middleschool, while grades 10–12 are the highschool.”

Concerning the State of Osun Schools’Infrastructure Development Committee (O’SCHOOLS), the Governor affirmed our claimswhen he said:

“In the high school, we focus on preparingthe children for both internal and externalexaminations. Our plan is to build 20 newhigh schools, 50 middle schools and 100elementary schools. Each of these schools willbe equipped to state-of–the-art standards,especially with digital learning aids,electronic boards, functional andcontemporary laboratory equipment, sportsfacilities, clean water and large powergenerators etc.”

Making justification for the merger ofschools, the Governor made the followingclarifications:

“The only way to provide these facilities ataffordable costs is to merge small poorlyequipped schools into larger schools whereall the facilities can be provided to large

numbers of students using economy of scaleto maximum advantage. This is what we havedone.

“Sometimes, this policy has beenmisunderstood and some have tried tomischaracterize the reforms as having areligious undertone. This is most unfortunate,wicked and untrue.

“The philosophy of our education policyhas been the development of a new manintellectually, socially and morally. This newman is placed in the centre of society andviews his own development as part of and forthe development of society.

“This is a non-parasitic and non-oppressiveman, who views his existence in the contextof the growth of others; he views whateverhe acquires to be subsumed in the overallinterest of others. He is a man in himself anda man for society.”

Governor Aregbesola refuted claims by asegment of people that he is bent towardsfavouring one religion against the other. He alsotold the story behind the education reformsinitiated by his administration:

“There are some who may genuinely feelthat the education reforms might affect theirmissions. This is an unfounded fear. Only anirresponsible person will attempt to rubbishor remove the legacy of missionaries ineducation in Osun and even in Nigeria. Iattended mission primary and secondaryschools here in Western Nigeria and I proudlydisplay that on my resume.

“But let me take us back into a bit of ourfairly recent history. Everyone knows thatmission schools were taken over by thegovernment of the Western State almost 38years ago. This means that since 1975, allmission schools were owned, funded and runby government. But the successive stategovernments ensured that the names of theschools were not changed, in order tomaintain the legacies of the foundingmissionaries.

“Therefore, as we rebuild the schools andexpand their facilities, we also have not and

will not tamper with their names. We believethat the missions and missionaries, whofounded the schools, must be immortalised byretaining the names of the schools. Forexample, one of the completed middle schoolsin Osogbo is the Salvation Army MiddleSchool at Alekuwodo.”

On the prospects of returning missionschools to their initial owners, the Governorsaid:

“I am also aware of the agitation of somemissions to have schools returned to them.Although, as I have said before, the schoolshave been owned by governments since 1975,our administration is not foreclosing theprospect of returning some of the schoolsupon the completion of our new schools.

“I wish to emphasize that this process canonly begin upon completion of the schools weare currently and aggressively building allover the state. The process of return ofschools must be well planned and executedbecause of the various implications,especially the fact that their ownership hadchanged almost four decades ago.”

On the newly introduced Omoluabi Corps andInstilling discipline in school children of thestate the Governor said:

“Osun is a state which will be a model ofpeace and tolerance. I would like to say thatreligious, political and ethnic tolerance is thebasic foundation of our Omoluabi heritage.We must promote this culture of tolerance andcivilized conflict resolution with all our might.

“This is why we have decided to establishan Omoluabi Peace and ConflictManagement Commission. This is to be astanding commission where communal,religious, ethnic or other social disputes canbe resolved by a body of respected eldersfrom across Yorubaland and even othergroups.”

Contiuned from page 11

•The newly-commissioned ultra-modern school building of St. Stephen’s ‘B’ Middle School, Modakeke, State of Osun.

13 OSUN DEFENDER Tuesday, September 30, 2014FOREIGN NEWS

Russian Suspicions Of US Motives In Syria Make Cooperation UnlikelyT

HE United States and Russia see Islamic State as a

common enemy but are failing to overcome deepmutual distrust and agree on how to tackle the threat

together, making any role for Moscow in the U.S.-ledcampaign unlikely, say U.S. officials.

Differences between theformer Cold War foes are stark,say the officials. Moscowsuspects Washington’s ulteriormotive is removal of its ally,Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad. Washington refuses toconsider working together aslong as Moscow insists that U.S.strikes need Syrian and U.N.approval.

Diplomatic efforts, fromhigh-level talks at the UnitedNations to informal contacts inMoscow, have failed to resolvethose misgivings, which echobroader problems in U.S.-Russian relations, already at apost-Cold War low over thecrisis in Ukraine, Americanofficials say.

“The main obstacle toRussian participation isMoscow’s position that ‘this canonly be taken with permissionof the Syrian government orthrough the U.N.,’ which is notsomething we accept,” a seniorU.S. administration official toldReuters on the condition ofanonymity.

“If Russia thinks thatsomehow they’re going to gainsome kind of shift in the U.S.policy, that is not going tohappen.”

Though Russia hasno sympathy for Islamic Statemilitants who have seized largetracts of territory in Iraq andSyria and face U.S.-led airstrikes in both countries,Moscow’s relationship withSyria forms a difficult backdropto talks over any potential role.

Russia’s absence from theanti-Islamic State coalitioncomplicates Washington’scalculus, reducing the possibilityof U.S. leverage over the flowof Russian arms into Damascusas the U.S.-led campaign movesforward with air strikes in Syriaand arms anti-Assad rebels.

Moscow, which has beentrying to raise its diplomatic andeconomic influence in theMiddle East, has been a majorprovider of conventionalweapons to Syria, giving Assadcrucial support during the nearlyfour-year civil war and blockingwider Western attempts topunish him with sanctions forthe use of force against civilians.

Washington, meanwhile,backs moderate Syrian rebelswho are seeking to topple Assadand are likely to play a centralrole in any future groundcampaign inside Syria. The U.S.government accuses Assad ofwidespread human rights abusesand says it will never ask forAssad’s permission for its airstrikes.

While this all but rules outmilitary collaboration in Syriaagainst Islamic State, alsoknown as ISIL, U.S. officials stillsee potential for common causeon another front: aidingBaghdad’s battle to roll backIslamic State’s gains in Iraq. Butthere, too, joint U.S.-Russianaction appears out of thequestion.

“The U.S. and Russia sharean interest in defeating the kindof violent extremism that ISILrepresents,” a senior StateDepartment official said.

“DIDN’T CHANGEANYTHING”

Russian sensitivity aboutAssad’s fate figured prominentlyin private discussions betweenMoscow and Washington inrecent weeks, say U.S. officialswith direct knowledge of thosetalks. After President BarackObama announced air strikesagainst Islamic State forces inIraq in August, members of his

administration began signalingto Moscow that Syria was next,the officials said.

They said Secretary of StateJohn Kerry conveyed themessage to Russian ForeignMinister Sergei Lavrov in Parison Sept. 15 on the sidelines of aconference on Iraq, attended byU.N. Security Councilpermanent members, Europeanand Arab states, andrepresentatives of the EU, ArabLeague and United Nations. Allpledged to help the governmentin Baghdad.

At that meeting, Kerryoffered assurances that theUnited States would not directlytarget Assad or his forces, theofficials said. Meeting at theUnited Nations on Wednesday,just days after the start of theU.S.-led air assault in Syria, thetwo again discussed the conflict.

“It didn’t change anything,”a senior U.S. official said.

At a news conference at theUnited Nations on Friday,Lavrov questioned the legalityof the air campaign andalso gave the United States a“we-told-you-so” message aboutthe consequences of U.S. policyin the region.

“We are fighting againstterrorism consistently,constantly, not just whensomeone announces a coalition,”Lavrov said.

Moscow had long warned ofthe potential blowback of U.S.support for the anti-Assadopposition in Syria’s civil war.Plans to expand Americantraining and arming of moderaterebels have only heightenedthose concerns.

BEHIND-THE-SCENESEFFORTS

Despite that, Russia couldgain from any U.S. successagainst Islamic State, which has

been joined by fighters fromRussia’s predominantly MuslimNorth Caucasus, a region wheremilitants wage daily violence toestablish an Islamic state.

The bloodshed there is rootedin two wars that Moscow foughtwith Chechen separatists afterthe Soviet Union’s fall and thesefighters could pose a security riskfor Russia if they return to theNorth Caucasus.

Among two dozen individualsand groups identified by the U.S.State Department on Sept. 24as foreign terrorists or terroristfacilitators was a Chechenmilitant group, Jaish al-Muhajireen wal-Ansar. Thedesignation, which enablesWashington to freeze assets andblock financial transactions, wasseen as benefiting Moscow.

But U.S. officials sayWashington has made no specificrequest to Moscow to join thecoalition or work together inthe fight against Islamic State.Nor has Russia offered to do so,they said. But they acknowledgeMoscow’s potential importancein any campaign in the MiddleEast.

“There’s no doubt that Russiais a key player on Syria, on Iraq,and will inevitably be involvedin whatever we are dealing with,”though it remains to be seenwhat kind of role that willentail, the senior Obamaadministration official said.

A group of U.S. and Russianforeign policy experts whoregularly advise their owngovernments met privately in

Moscow last week, seekingcommon ground in the fightagainst Islamic State, accordingto a person close to the matter.

The Russian delegation,which included former officialsstill close to the Kremlin,expressed interest incounterterrorism cooperation,including intelligence sharing.But the talks encountered toomuch mutual distrust to agree onanything tangible,the person said.

The discussions were held onthe basis of what is known as“Track II” diplomacy, anunofficial channel forinternational conflictresolution.

In Moscow, Fyodor

Lukyanov, editor-in-chief of thejournal Russia in Global Affairs,said Russia’s role in the fightagainst Islamic State likelywould be limited to assisting theIraqi and Syrian governments.Moscow already suppliesweapons to security forces inboth countries.

“Russia has no desire, no planand no interest to be part of anycampaign led by the UnitedStates,” said Lukyanov, who isalso head of a Kremlin foreign-policy advisory panel.

“The Russian view is that allthis mess to a large extent hasbeen produced by the recklessand crazy policy in its invasionof Iraq,” he said, referring to the2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraqthat was heavily criticized byRussian President VladimirPutin.

At Least 31 People Feared Dead After Japan Volcano EruptsTHIRTY-one people were presumed dead on Sunday

near the peak of a Japanese volcano that eruptedunexpectedly a day earlier while it was packed with

hikers out to admire autumn foliage, sending a huge cloudof ash and rock tumbling down its slopes.

Police said the 31 people werefound in “cardiopulmonary”arrest but declined to confirmtheir deaths pending a formalexamination, as per Japanesecustom. An official in the areasaid rescue efforts had beencalled off due to rising levels oftoxic gas near the peak, as well

as approaching nightfall.

Hundreds of people, includingchildren, were stranded on themountain, a popular hiking site,after it erupted without warningon Saturday, sending ash pouringdown the slope for more than 3km (2 miles.)

Most made their way downlater on Saturday but about 40spent the night near the 3,067meter (10,062 feet) peak. Somewrapped themselves in blanketsand huddled in the basement ofbuildings.

“The roof on the mountainlodge was destroyed by fallingrock, so we had to take refugebelow the building,” one toldNHK national television.“That’s how bad it was.”

More than 40 people wereinjured, several with brokenbones.

Earlier, the Fire and DisasterManagement Agency had saidauthorities were trying toconfirm the whereabouts of 45people.

It was not clear whether those45 included the 31 people foundin cardiopulmonary arrest.

The volcano was stillerupting on Sunday, pouring

smoke and ash hundreds ofmeters into the sky. Ash wasfound on cars as far as 80 km(50 miles) away.

Volcanoes erupt periodicallyin Japan, one of the world’smost seismically active nations,but there have been no fatalitiessince 1991, when 43 people diedin a pyroclastic flow, asuperheated current of gas androck, at Mount Unzen insouthwestern Japan.

Ontake, Japan’s second-highest volcano 200 km (125miles) west of Tokyo, lasterupted seven years ago. Its lastmajor eruption was in 1979.

Satoshi Saito, a 52-year-oldhiker who climbed Ontake onSaturday and descended less thanan hour before the eruption, saidthe weather was good and themountain, known for its fallfoliage, was crowded with peoplecarrying cameras.

“There were no earthquakesor strange smells on themountain when I was there,”Saito, who usually climbs Ontakeseveral times a year, toldReuters. He also said there wereno warnings of possibleeruptions posted on the trail.

“But a man who runs a hotelnear the mountain told me thatthe number of small earthquakeshad risen these past two months,and everyone thought it wasweird,” Saito said.

Saudi Arabia Warns Yemen Violence CouldThreaten Global Security

SAUDI Arabia has said “unprecedented challenges”facing Yemen since Shi’ite Muslim rebels took overthe capital could threaten international security, and called

for swift action to deal with instability in its southern neighbor.

The world’s largest oilexporter, which shares a longborder with Yemen, welcomedan agreement signed in Sanaa onSept. 21 to form a newgovernment incorporating theHouthi rebels and some Yemenisouthern separatist forces.

But the kingdom, a key U.S.ally which views itself asprotector of Sunni Islam, fearsthe accord could benefit its mainregional foe Iran, which it seesas an ally of the Houthis, andmight also bolster the Islamistmilitant al Qaeda group.

It is not clear whether thepower-sharing deal will satisfy

the Houthis’ demands, orwhether it will instead emboldenthem to seek further powers.Under a security annexe to theaccord, they had been expectedto leave Sanaa in return for theirinclusion in the newgovernment. To date theyremain in place.

In some of his strongestlanguage about Yemen to date,Saudi Foreign Minister PrinceSaud al-Faisal told the U.N.General Assembly that hopes foran end to the crisis had beenwrecked by what he suggested wasthe Houthis’ failure to honorthe deal.

“The lack of implementation

of the security annexe of theagreement and the lack ofimplementation of theagreement itself in the requiredmanner by the Houthi group hasdashed these hopes,” he said in aspeech circulated by the Saudimission at the United Nationsin New York.

“Yemen faces acceleratingand extremely dangerousconditions that require us all tolook and propose the necessarysolutions to confront theseunprecedented challenges,”Prince Saud said.

Prince Saud said Yemen’sviolence “will no doubt extendto threaten stability and securityon the regional and internationalarena that could prove difficultto put down regardless of theresources and efforts that maybe exerted.”

Saudi Arabia in 2011 played a

key role to push forward a Gulfpower transfer deal that sawlong-serving President AliAbdullah Saleh step down aftermonths of protests in 2011 infavor of his deputy.

Yemen has since facedmultiple challenges, includingregular attacks by al Qaeda andits affiliate, Ansar al-Sharia, aswell as protests by southernseparatists demanding secessionfrom the country.

The Houthis say their moveinto Sanaa was necessitated bythem being left out of agovernment formed after the2011 protests that they hadparticipated in.

Saudi Arabia views theHouthis, who hail from the Zaydibranch of Shi’ite Islam, as alliesof arch-rival Iran. Iran deniesinterfering in Yemeni affairs.

•Rescure team been rescuring the volcano victims in Japan on Sunday.

OSUN DEFENDER Tuesday, September 30, 2014 14FEATURE

Gradual Killing Of The SystemSINCE the civilians took over

government in 1999, we have hadeight Inspectors General of Police till

date. They are- Musiliu Smith (1999-2002),Mustapha Adebayo Balogun March 2002-January 2005, Sunday Ehindero 2005-2007,Mike Mbama Okiro 2007-2009, OgbonnaOkechukwu Onovo 2009-2010, Hafiz RingimJanuary 2010- 2012, Muhammed D.Abubakar2012-2014 and Mr. Suleiman Abba2014- till date. A keen observer will note thatin some cases, some Inspectors General ofPolice, even introduced newuniforms,during their tenure.

From 1999 till now, we have had sevenChiefs of the Air Staff. They are Air MarshallIsaac Alfa (1999-2001), Air Marshall JonahWuyep (2001-2006), Air Marshall Paul Dike2006-2008, Air Marshall Michael OluseyiPetinrin (2008-2010), Air MarshallMohammed Diko Umar (2010-2012), AirMarshall Alex Sabundu Badeh(2012-2014)and Air Marshall Adesola Nunayon Amosufrom January 2014 till date.

From 1999, we have had nine Heads ofService of the Federation. The Post is acreation by the Constitution. They are Mr.Abu Obe1999-2000, MahmmudYayaleAhmed 2000-2007, Ms Obele Okeke 2007-2008, MsAmmalPepple June 16 – June 152009, Mr Steve Oronsanye June 16 2009 –November 15 2010, Prof. Oladapo AfolabiNovember 16 2010 – September 2011, AlhajiIsa Bello Sali September 30 2011 to March2013, Alhaji Bukar GoniAji March 25 2013to August 2014 and Mallam Danladi KifasiAugust 19 2014 till date.

All things being equal, Alhaji Kifasi willretire in December next year, when he clockssixty. He has served as a member of theGoverning Board of the Central Bank ofNigeria.

I am told that Alhaji Kifasi is highlyimaginative and hardworking. Poor soul!According to the pioneer Director-Generalof the Bureau of Public Service Reformsestablished in February 2004,Dr.GokeAdegoroye, who retired asPermanent Secretary of FCT two years ago,there are over 150,000 federal civil servants(Mainstream) as at now.

The Nigerian National PetroleumCorporation was established on April 1, 1977as a merger of the Nigerian National OilCorporation and the Federal Ministry ofMines and Steel.

It also supervises the upstream anddownstream oil development and it ischarged with regulating and supervising theoil industry in Nigeria. It has ninedirectorates. They are Exploration andProduction, Refining and Petrochemicals,Commercial and Investment, Finance andAccounts, Corporate Services, Gas andPower, Engineering and Technology,Business Development.

The corporation also has varioussubsidiaries. They include Nigeria LNGLimited (NLNG), Nigerian PetroleumDevelopment Company (NPDC),NationalEngineering and Technical Company(NETCO),Pipelines and Product MarketingCompany, Nigerian Gas Company (NGC),Integrated Data Services Ltd. (IDSL), WarriRefining and Petrochemicals Company Ltd.(WRPC), Kaduna Refining andPetrochemicals Company Ltd. (KRPC),PortHarcourt Refining Company (PHRC), NNPCRetail Ltd., Nigeria-Gazprom Ltd. (NiGaz),NIKORMA Transport Ltd. (NIKORMA),NIDAS Marine Ltd., Hydrocarbon ServicesCompany Ltd (HYSON), NNPC PensionFund Ltd., Duke Oil Services Ltd. (UK),Calson Bermuda Ltd., NNPC Properties Ltdand Brass LNG Limited.

From 1999 to date, we have had eightGroup Managing Directors for thecorporation. From March 17, 2010, when hebecame Acting President till he was finallysworn-in as President, on May 6 2010,

following the death of his predecessor. FiveManaging Directors of the NNPC haveserved under the current President. Likewisethe present Minister of PetroleumResources has appointed four groupManaging Directors for NNPC since shecame to the Ministry on April 16 2010. Theyare: Dr. Jackson Gaius Obaseki, May 1999-November 2003; Engineer FunsoKupolokun, November 2003- July 2007;Engineer Abubakar Yar’Adua August 2007-January 2009; Dr. Muhammed SanusiBarkindo, January 2009- May 2010; BarristerLadan Shehu, April 2010 to May 2010;Engineer Austen Olusegun Oniwon, May2010- June 2012; Engr. Andrew LeahYakubu, June 2012- August 2014 and nowDr. Joseph Thlama Dawha from August 2014to date. Dr.Dawha joined the NNPC in 1988.All things been equal, he has less than fivemonths to serve. The NNPC has a Board ofDirectors of which the Minister of Petroleumis the head. The board was constituted onJuly 17 2012. It was again reconstituted withthe same membership last week. From 2012till now, the board has met only once. Othermembers of the board are: Abdullahi Bukar,Steve Oronsaye, Professor OlusegunOkunnu, Daniel Wadzani, Bernard Otti andPeter Nmadu.

From 1999 till date, we have had sevenChiefs of Naval Staff. They are: Vice AdmiralVictor Kare Ombu (1999-2001), Vice AdmiralSamuel Olajide Afolayan 2001-2005); ViceAdmiral Ganiyu T.A. Adekeye (2005-2008);Vice Admiral Ishaya lko Ibrahim, 2008-2010;Vice Admiral Ola Sa’ad Ibrahim 2010-2012;Vice Admiral Dele Joseph Ezeoba, 2012-2014and Vice Admiral Usman Oyibe JibrinJanuary 2014-till date.

From 1999 till date, we have had eight

Chiefs of Army Staff. They are: Lt. Gen.Victor Malu, May 1999- April 2001; Lt. Gen.Alexander Ogomudia, April 2001- June 2003;Lt. Gen. Martin Luther Agwai June 2003-June 2006; Lt. Gen. Owoye Andrew Azazi,June 2006-May 2007; Lt. Gen. Luka NyehYusuf, June 2007- August 2008; Lt. Gen.Abdulrahman Bello Dambazau, August2008- September 2010; Lt. General OnyeaboAzubuike Ihejirika, September 2010-2014and now Lt. Gen. Kenneth Tobiah JacobMinimah, January2014 till date.

The post of Chief of Defence of Staff isthe highest military officer in the Nigerianarmed forces. The position was establishedfor the first time under 1979 NigerianConstitution with General Julius Alani IpoolaAkinrinade (75) as the first Chief of DefenceStaff. Gen. Akinrinade a war hero, is fromYakoyo near Ile-Ife in Osun state.

From 1999 till date we have had sevenChiefs of Defence Staff. They are AdmiralIbrahim Ogohi, 1999-2003; GeneralAlexander Ogomudia, 2003-2006; GeneralMartin Luther Agwai January 2006-May2007, General Andrew Owoeye Azazi, May2007-August 2008; Air Marshall Paul Dike,August 2008-September 2010; Air MarshalOluseyi Petinrin, September 2010-October2012; Admiral Ola Ibrahim October 2012-January 16, 2014, and now Air Marshall AlexSabundu Badeh, January 16, 2014 to date.

From 1999 to date, we have had six ChiefJustices of the Federation. They areMuhammed Lawal Uwais 1999-2006, SalihuModibo Alfa Belgore 2006-2007, Idris LegboKutigi 2007-2009, Aloysius IyorgyerKatsina-Alu 2009-2011, Dahiru Musdapher2011-2012, Aloma Mariam Muktar 2012 todate.

All these appointments clearly definewho really we are.

These career appointments made in thelast fifteen years alone, have ceiling on thenumber of years one has to spend in theservice before you retire or you are kickedout. In case of judiciary, seniority takesprecedence.

All the appointments were made by thePresident.

In some cases, he made the appointments,in consultations with the NationalAssembly or the National Council of States.He does not need consultation beforeappointing anyone as Group ManagingDirector of NNPC, neither does he need toconsult anyone before appointing anyoneas Head of Service once, he is a PermanentSecretary.

But there is nothing in the law or in theprocedure of appointments, which saysanyone less than two years left to serve,must be appointed head or anyone who isthe most senior.

And there is no law that says thePresidents cannot appoint someone that hasat least four to six years to serve beforeretirement, so that he or she could carry outthe necessary reforms before he or sheretires. Changing service chiefs constantly,like we change police uniforms, is amazing.

Why must a new President distrustserving service chiefs to the extent that hehas to appoint his own, bearing in mind thatsince 1999 till date, only one political partyhas been in power in the centre.

We all know that in the military tradition,once you appoint a junior officer as servicechiefs, all his seniors automatically retire.Let us imagine how many trained andexperienced officers that have suddenly leftthe service in the last fifteen years; theircareers suddenly cut short and their familiesin total penury, in a country of their own,which they once served proudly.

Human nature, being human, someonewho has less than a year to spend in theoffice, however competent or patriotic heor she could be, will be more concerned orworried about his retirement plans thanbringing any tangible inputs into theservice, moreso when pensioners in Nigeriaare treated like endangered species;neglected and humiliated. A service is not alaboratory where you perform annualexperiments with new reforms and withdifferent headships.

The problem is that we don’t allow thesystem to grow. And a system does notgrow overnight. It has to be systematic andgradual. If we don’t allow the system to grow,then we must expect all kinds of corruption,misconduct, irregularities within the system,hence the numerous gigantic and difficultproblems that have now plagued us.

I have limited myself to the civiliangovernment and the appointments madefrom 1999 to date because a civiliangovernment is supposed to get things right.

By limiting the tenure of a service chiefor a chief executive to less than two years,we are promoting job insecurity. We are atthe same time killing the service.

And of what use is adead service to thegrowth of a nation.

•Eric, a former Director at thePresidency, stays in Lagos.

By ERIC TENIOLA

•ABBA: Police IG

15OSUN DEFENDER Tuesday, September 30, 2014 PHOTOTALK

•(L-R) Deputy Governor, State of Osun, Otunba (Mrs) Grace Titi Laoye-Tomori, The governor, State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola and the newly-posted Coordinator, NationalYouth Service Corps (NYSC), State of Osun, Mr Abada Okpiroro during a courtesy visit to the Governor at Government House, Osogbo recently.

The New National Coordinator Of National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Mr AbadaOkpiroro, Paid A Courtesy Visit To The State Of Osun Governor, Ogbeni RaufAregbesola, At The Government House, Osogbo, Recently.

•A physically-challenged man from Irewole Local Government Council area, demonstrating how to physically wash hands during the Ebola Disease Sensitisation programme forJONAPWD members in Osogbo recently.

State Of Osun Ministry Of Health Organized Ebola Sensitization Workshop For Physically-challenged In The State, Recently.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2014

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

By ADE OLUGBOTEMI

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

Osun Tribunal And IncompleteWitness Evidence For Prosecution

IT is very hard to take itaway from Nigerians,who will always want to

make a point of conviction,where apparently there isnone. The nature of fightingfor an unjust course hasalways justified the stand ofsome nationals of thosee c o n o m i c a l l y - v i a b l ecountries, who seem not tosee anything good in us towarrant any scintilla of respect andhonour. Over and over again, we havenot been able to fault their standpointbecause when a jewel is not valued byits owner, nobody can fault the attemptby any other person to trample it underfoot.

It is necessary to point out certainomissions in what would have beenveritable tools in the hands of GovernorAregbesola’s challengers; so thatmaybe, it will become easier for themto claim the victory they have severallyalluded to. This, in a way will also helpthe tribunal to quickly dispense with thecase within the time frame allowed forby electoral law and also allow the stateto quickly settle down to the task ofcontinuing fixing the problem arisingfrom past maladministration and neglect.Party faithful will also be able to facethe realities that betide in order tostrategize for future elections.

Whenever an election is challengedat the tribunal, both the prosecutors andthe challengers will try all humanlypossible to convince the adjudicators thatthey have ample evidence to establishthe veracity of their cases. No effortwill be spared to ensure that theirgrounds of challenge and defence arenot faulted. It sometimes takes them tothe realm of fallacy and crevice offables, such that an unsuspecting jurorwill easily get confused to the end thatwrong judgment is awarded. Humanlimitations and subjectivity thus leavemany wilderness of imagination toerroneously ascribe toga of partiality,where there is none.

Witness accounts form veritable toolsthat opposing parties often exploit todrive home their points. Such accountscan either be coded, i.e. written or oral.Oral evidence with stamps of authorityoften carries more weight forcircumstantial veracity to be establishedthat oral evidence. That is why litigantswork acidulously for the latter to beadmitted in evidence, so that the casesof their clients can be made simpler topursue. We all remember how the policereport that the defunct Action Congress(AC) generated a lot of furore duringthe prolonged case that led to the returnof Ogbeni Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola asthe lawfully-elected governor of whatis today known as the State of Osun.

Nobody knew the importance ofpolice report until the PeoplesDemocratic Party (PDP) startedfighting tooth and nail to prevent itsadmittance. The same police report wasfaulted to have been written in anunprofessional way, but the proof,beyond reasonable doubt, that the reportactually emanated from police authority

put paid to the issue. The strength ofthe report gave the tribunal and theappellate court inroad to what actuallytranspired before PDP was erroneouslyawarded victory instead of AC thatactually won the election that producedAregbesola as the authentically electedgovernor.

I found it difficult to believe that theAugust 9, 2014 could be faulted forwhatever reason, especially by formerSenator Iyiola Omisore, the candidateof the Peoples Democratic Party thatapplied all unconventional means toconfuse all innocent voters of the Stateof Osun. Never in the history of ourpolitical evolution has a candidate’squiver been so ruthlessly stocked withfallacies that almost became acontinuum, which outstanding attributeis its unbreakable nature. Unfortunatelyfor the mischief makers, all their fallacieshave expiry dates. As a fallacy gotwaned in potency and power, they

quickly called another up for duty, untilthe quiver got exhausted of its contents.They thus resorted to verbal abuse andcastigation that eventually worked forAregbesola positively. People becameso tired of lies and conjecture, whichrepudiation caused many to rally supportfor the Incumbent. The result of that isnow history.

PDP’s Federal Government broughtalmost three quarters of Nigeria’ssecurity apparatus put together to theState of Osun for reasons best knownto them. If it was only the Police thatflooded Osun, it would have beenexcused on the altar of critical analysis.The Directorate of State Service (DSS),the Army, the Civil Defence Corps,Immigration Service etc, all combinedwith the regular and Mobile Police tocause a dread that Osun people willrelive for a long time to come. Like theproverbial eye opener, people in theState of Osun now know, and are

thoroughly convinced that thethreat that moves up to highheaven will eventually exhaust itsgradient to come down abased.

Reports from all these securityagencies ought to have been front-loaded by PDP and her candidateto help the tribunal in her quest tospeedily dispense with the case at

hand. The DSS is good at adequatereporting, if they really want to live upto their billing and responsibility. Thepolice is also a professional body thatknows her onions. The same goes withother observers, both local andinternational. Their proficiency cannotbe faulted if actually they are out to dowhat they have been detailed to takecharge of. It is for the good of all parties,if an unbiased reporting has been madeand the reports are produced as scriptsof evidence to those who have beencharged to adjudicate on the matter.

The big question is ‘why has PDP leftout this veritable source of evidence intheir fact gathering?’ They ought to havejust requested that their reports bepresented as documentary evidence toprosecute their case. They should in factproduce the foreign observers’ report,so that the verdict can eventually beinternationally-adjudged to be fair allparties. We are all familiar with the waysreports are doctored to favour a partyof interest. We know how falsificationis perfected, so as not to sense any foulplay, but with the corroboration offoreign observers’ reports, theassessment can be creditably made.

We have seen how witness’ accountshave written in the past and witnessesare called upon to be tutored on thingsthey know nothing about. That is whymost of them easily get confused beforethe Judges, who use their wealth ofexperience to fish out wrong claims fromthose who claim to be giving authenticoral evidence. Just like most well-meaning Nigerians are looking forwardsto an era of impartial judgment, OsunElection Tribunal must also spread itsdragnets to gather evidence outside thepurview of the court premises. Thecomplainants may fail to gatherevidence that are germane to fair trialof cases before them; they are also inthe best position to explore the benefitsof hindsight to help handle cases inaccordance with their individual meritsand in line with best practice the worldover.

Democracy will thrive well when thethree arms of government namely;Executive, Legislature, and Judiciarydetermine to make things work. Nigeriacan only develop politically when we allresolve to make things work better thanthey are now. We are in a situation whennothing seems to be going the rightdirection, and it is when people knowthat things cannot be taken for grantedand that there is enforceable penalty fortaking things for granted that they willbe careful and do things rationally theway they are handled in civilized World.

•GANIYU OLAOLUWA: Osun PDP Chair