Ise Agbe N’ise Ile Wa

By Yusuph Olaniyonu

The title of this piece came from a popular Yoruba song which is taught in schools. The full lines of the song state that “Western education without basic knowledge of farming and other food production methods is inadequate because ours is an agrarian population. Those who refuse to work hard will resort to stealing”.
The lines of the above stated song apply more to Ogun State than most other states in our country in several ways. The state has 16,432 square kilometers of land, 80 percent of which is arable. As part of the state’s profile, it is noted that it has” evergreen forest vegetation and soil suitable for the cultivation of cash and food crops like cassava, rice, oil palm, cocoa, rubber, kolanut, pineapple, vegetables, cotton, cocoyam, citrus and banana’’. What this translates to, is that the state is traditionally agrarian in nature and population.
Also, the third item on the five cardinal programme of the current administration in the state is increased agricultural production leading to industrialization. In a more symbolic manner which demonstrates that Western education must go hand in hand with the knowledge and promotion of agriculture, the Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun appointed an urbane corporate lawyer, Mrs. Ronke Sokefun as commissioner in charge of the Ministry with the responsibility to execute the plan to use agriculture as a means of creating wealth, generating employment among the teeming youths, increasing food production thereby eliminating hunger among the people, eradicating poverty, stemming rural-urban drift, creating synergy between the farms and the factories thereby promoting the government’s industrialization agenda, and increasing the state’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR). 
As a good model, Sokefun has actually taken up the challenge by leading a team which is pursuing initiatives aimed at positioning the state as a food basket of the nation, dependable source of raw materials for agro-based industries and exporter ready to earn more foreign exchange.
The team has been discharging its roles by using investment in equipment, provision of technical, financial, material and advisory support to farmers, revival of inherited farm estates, creation of large  state-owned demonstration farms through which they create employment, spread knowledge about new farming techniques and encourage partnership between government and farmers (both small and big). Other means through which the Amosun government is executing its increased agricultural production agenda are creation of a corps of graduate farmers who will serve as model employers for others to emulate and embrace farming, liberalization of access to land by potential investors and partnership with the Federal Government to enhance agricultural production.
I will discuss how these initiatives are manifesting themselves by revisiting the various programmes on livestock production, fisheries, crops production (cotton, cocoa, cashew, cassava, rice, tomato and vegetable), mechanization, provision of soft loans, supporting graduate farmers, general training, fertilizer supply and development of markets for farm produce.
For instance, the state has embarked on an all-year round pullet rearing for sale to farmers aimed at replacing culled layers during all festivals. Thus, 75,000 pullets were reared. It is intended that the pullets would produce over 100 million eggs in a year. The pullet production programme will end up helping to achieve self sufficiency in poultry meat and egg production. 
Also, the government has rehabilitated the Central Livestock Feeds Depot which had been moribund for 15 years. The feed mill has not only helped in achieving the pullet rearing plan, it is now the major supplier of feed to the 8000 layers owned by the 40 graduate farmers resident in the Owowo Farm Settlement.
There is also the Balekan Poultry Project which has been given a face-lift with increased capacity to produce a total of 3,866,383 eggs while the Oke Eri Poultry also owned by the government produces 1,175,051 eggs. 
There is also an on-going beef multiplication project at Odeda which has successfully upgraded indigenous breed of cattle by crossing the Ndama and the White Fulani. This is aimed at helping local farmers to increase the population of their herd. 
In the area of fish production, the Amosun administration has rehabilitated the three government fish farms located at Odeda, Ilaro and Ikenne, all of which have been in serious state of disuse in the past years. The pond reservoirs were then supplied fish seeds. Today, the three farms produce an average of 29 tons of table-size fish per annum. To increase the capacity of these fish farms, the government also constructed three new hatcheries with ability to produce an average of 500,000 fish seeds per year for sale to farmers at subsidized rate.
The government also installed modern smoking kilns for fish processing for the three fish farms. These have provided better opportunity for value addition in fish production. Again, the Amosun administration has provided basic implements for local farmers at subsidized rates. These include 13 outboard engines, 226 bundles of fishing nets, 1,111 rolls of twine and 4,444 floats. The facilities have helped to rejuvenate fish production and energise the local economy in riverine areas of the state.  
Realising that during the golden era of the Western region when agriculture provided 67 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product, cocoa, rubber and other tree crops were sources of the wealth, the department of tree crops and rural development was mandated to provide high quality seedlings and extension services to farmers. Thus, the department provided one million cocoa seedlings for farmers at no cost.
The ministry has established two hectares of cocoa seed garden at Alagbagba in Odeda local government while it has engaged in the cultivation of 50 hectares of cocoa in the same neighbourhood.
In the area of cassava production, the Ministry has a unit under its Agricultural Services Department called Cassava Revolution Programme which has helped to mobilize relevant stakeholders for the adoption of improved, high yielding, early maturing and disease resistant cassava varieties. The unit has since distributed 43,000 bundles of improved varieties of cassava cuttings to farmers under the GES. The government is set to install a high quality cassava flour plant in the state while it has also cultivated thousands of hectares of land for cassava so as to help in meeting the raw material needs of the proposed plant and other industries which are daily setting up shop in the state.
Apart from cassava, other farm produce which the state government has focused on, both in direct involvement and helping local farmers to increase their production capacity are rice, cotton, cashew and tomato. In fact, the government has invested heavily in establishing Green Technology farms for the production of tomato and pepper. The farms located in Kotopo provide employment opportunity for about 50 youths who are managing them. It also served as a centre for transfer of technology as there are now 30 others which sprang up across the state after learning from the government project.
The state government is also encouraging farmers through the purchase of land clearing equipment worth N600m which is hired to farmers at subsidized rate. This has made the job of ploughing, harrowing, slashing, planting, spraying and shelling very easy and affordable for farmers. Access to fertiliser has equally been made easy and cheaper. Also, farmers now get soft loans from the N1 billion facility from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) being administered by the state.
       Other major projects embarked upon by the government for the benefit of the people are the cultivation of 50-hectare cashew farm located in Afon, 50-hectare rice plantation in Onidundu, another 50-hectare oil palm plantation in Ipokia and the partnership it entered into with the Malaysian Ministry of Agriculture for the development of 250 hectares of paddy paddy rice. These are projects that will change the face of food production in the state judging by the benefit that will accrue to the people.
It is also worthy of mentioning that the Ministry of Agricuture in Ogun State has created what it calls Oja Irorun, an outlet where public servants can shop for Agricultural produce at farm gate prices. A more elaborate version of this market is the beautiful edifice in Asero area of the state capital which is open to all members of the public. It is called Agric Mart or Oja Agbe.

More importantly, the government has consistently liberalized the process of obtaining land by investors in agriculture and agro-based industries. That is why the longest road being constructed by the government, the 107 Kilometre Ilara-Ijoun-Egua road, is aimed at opening up the many square kilometres of arable land in four local government areas of Ogun West senatorial district.
 
      It is however necessary to mention the establishment of the Owowo Model Farm Estate in which 40 graduates were selected after a rigorous process and provided comfortable accommodation. The graduate farmers engage in various aspects of agricultural production including arable crop production, poultry and fish farming. They are demonstration agents to other educated youths that farming is not only for the unlearned rural people.
It is believed that with all these efforts and more that cannot be captured in this piece because of space constraint, Ogun is set to reclaim its lost glory as the nation’s most viable farming region.
Olaniyonu is Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Ogun State.

Ogun to Fund 47.23 per cent of 2015 Budget with IGR 

Ogun State Governor , Senator Ibikunle Amosun has said the state would fund 47.23 per cent of its 2015 N210.354 billion proposed budget from its Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).
Presenting the 2015 Appropriation Bill, titled, “Budget of Continuity” to the State House of Assembly yesterday, Amosun said it would be funded as follows: IGR, N99.35 billion (47.23 per cent); Federation Account, N53billion (25.20 per cent) and Capital Receipt, N58 billion (27.57 per cent).
The budget, which he stated  is aimed at sustaining the tempo already achieved in the Mission to Rebuild the State by taking it to an enviable pedestal through all around development strategy  comprises Capital Expenditure of N118.26 billion (56 per cent) and Recurrent Expenditure of N92.09 billion (44 per cent).
"We are proposing a Budget of 
N210.354 Billion for the 2015 Financial Year, which is about the same as the 2014 Budget of 
N210.28b. 
"The rationale for this is that the macro-economic outlook driven by the global oil prices suggests a contraction in the national economy.  I have always maintained that Ogun State is not immune from the wider economy.  However I am confident that we will be able to maintain our budget size by innovatively growing our Internally Generated Revenue," he said. 
In line with the Government’s five cardinal programmes, the Affordable Qualitative Education programme got the highest allocation of N42,565,400,000 billion (20 per cent), follow by the Rural and Infrastructural Development/Employment Generation, N34,423,000,000 (16 per cent), Affordable Housing and Urban Renewal, N22,373,726,000 (11 per cent), Efficient Health Care Delivery, N20,282,700,000 (10 per cent)and Agricultural Production leading to Industrialisation, N10,641,350,000 (five per cent).
While reiterating that the administration would continue to impact positively on the people, the governor noted that various project initiated and completed and the improved economic development of the State are positive indicator that shows that the state is on the right track. 
He enumerated some of the projects of the government to include 12 model schools across the three senatorial districts of the state, the Mobalufon Junction flyover on the Sagamu-Benin Expressway Ijebu-Ode, which according to him had helped to stop carnage witnessed daily at  the junction.
They also include the transformation of Ota township outlook, the six-lane road which has changed Ayetoro as well as the on-going Home Owners’ Charter that enables residents to regularise their title documents at highly discounted rates.
Giving an insight into plans of the government in 2015 in the Education Sector, he said it would rehabilitate all public schools in all the Local Government Areas in the state with the provision of additional classrooms and more conducive learning environment for pupils and sponsorship of Post Graduate Programmes within and outside the country.
In the Health Sector, Amosun said government would build nine medium sized hospitals in all the nine Federal Constituencies, embark on massive recruitment of health professionals while the Agricultural Sector would be boosted with the purchase of additional 40 units of refrigerated meat vans, establishment of diagnostic laboratories for veterinary services and the upgrading of farm estates in the state.
The focus in the Affordable Housing and Urban Renewal programme will see to the construction of Mitros City, Akute, construction of two units of Mechanic Workshop each of Kobape, Ilaro and Ijebu Ode and International Convention Centre at Abeokuta.
He said water projects would be spread across the 20 Local Government Areas just as it would also construct 36 motorised borehole water schemes for rural communities and small towns and the construction of 30 solar-powered borehole water schemes for communities not connected to the national grid.
Under its Rural and Infrastructural Development programmes, Amosun said all on-going road projects would be completed while plans are on for a cable bridge over Ogun River which will link the 10-lane boulevard coming from Sapo via Itoku to Lafenwa.
The governor solicited for continued support and cooperation of stake holders to collectively deliver the promises and surpass previous achievements, saying, “Let me assure you that in the coming year, we shall strive with renewed strength and vigour to make our state the best in service delivery to our people.  
“Our Mission to Rebuild is commitment to continuous improvement until we create an Ogun State that is the pride of the region and indeed the nation and solidly entrench the foundation for a new and better Ogun State.”

What Gets Measured, Gets Done

By Yusuph Olaniyonu

September 21, 2014 was a unique day for the people of Ogun State. In Abuja, the federal capital, two events concerning all the federating states took place that particular day, one political or ceremonial, the other related to economic development. While the attention of the media and members of the public was, as usual, focused on the ceremonial, not many people knew or cared about the event with the serious economic implications for the 36 of the federation.
The ceremonial event was the conferment of national honours on some Nigerians by President Goodluck Jonathan. The attention of the national media as well as the general public was focused on this event in which Ogun state Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun and eight other citizens from the state were beneficiaries.
In the other event which was taking place simultaneously, Ogun state was also a focus as the World Bank Group presented its 2014 edition of the ‘Doing Business in Nigeria’ report. In that report which comes in a comprehensive glossy publication, the efforts of the present Ogun State government to institute processes which will comply with world standard was acknowledged and endorsed by the experts of the international financial institution.
In the report, the World Bank noted that five of the 36 states in the country stand out in their efforts to improve the business environment, particularly after its 2010 edition. The states are Ogun, Niger, Cross River, Ekiti and Rivers. It specifically expressed surprise at the rapid transformation in Ogun State which was “one of the lowest ranked overall performers in both 2006 and 2010’’.
Describing Ogun State under the Amosun administration as “one of the top performing states in 2014”, the World Bank specifically praised the current government in Ogun State for its “concerted effort” and positive collaboration with the Federal Government and the private sector which saw the state leading other states in three of the four Doing Business indicators used as benchmarks for the report.
“The construction permitting system was radically overhauled with the state government authorities decentralizing the approval system and a new committee monitoring delays. Building permit applications and payments can now be made simultaneously in district offices. Private professionals issue environmental impact assessments in accordance with the conditions and templates set out in a framework agreement. The certificate of completion is issued on the spot, immediately following the final inspection”, the report noted.
While perhaps explaining why Ogun is now the most industrialised state in Nigeria with almost all investors seeking to either expand their operations or those who want to build a new factory now taking Ogun State as the preferred destination, the World Bank confirmed what most commentators had been talking about for some time. It stated: “The state Ministry of Commerce and Industry abolished the requirement for a physical inspection of the business premises – today a proof of company address such as a utility bill is sufficient. A business premises permit is issued on the spot upon payment of the fee.”
The reforms introduced through investments in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) equipment by the state’s Bureau of Lands and survey and the new attitude to make things happen as fast as possible introduced by the team led by My Wale Osinowo, a chartered accountant whose doors is always open to customers of the bureau, equally got noticed by the assessors from the World bank. The report mentioned that “Ogun’s Bureau of Lands digitized property records with the aim of enabling electronic title searches and making property registration more efficient”. The international financial institution noted that Ogun State has taught the world a lesson – “what gets measured gets done”. Herein comes the title of this piece.
The last comment in essence means that the present administration in Ogun State has created measurable standards which enable it to carry out periodic self-assessment as well as open up her processes for others to measure the rate of progress made. The past practice of making claims, perhaps to create publicity stunts or massage political ego of a leader is no longer fashionable.
More importantly, knowing that it has an institution like the World Bank watching with eagle eye how business of governance is conducted and how businessmen and other individuals fare when they transact business with government only compels the government to improve on many of its processes. I am sure that when the World Bank repeats the study for the 2016 report Ogun State will want to improve on the current rating by ensuring that it scores higher in the three benchmarks where it is doing well now as well as do better in the enforcement of contract indices for which the state did not rate very high in the current report.
Those of us who have been calling attention to the fast rate of industrialization in Ogun State and the fact that the two Investors’ Summits held in March 2012 and May 2014 in Abeokuta are yielding positive results have now been vindicated. The World Bank report has endorsed our claims. It has shown that the on-going radical reforms, the massive infrastructural development, purposeful investment in security of lives and property, decent housing and urban renewal programme the new positive attitude which is investors-friendly, the honesty of purpose and visionary leadership in the state can only point to one direction – a great future.
The World Bank report can only encourage more investors from across the globe who all have free access to its contents to know more about Ogun State and seek to join others in relocating their businesses to the Gateway State. 
         
Olaniyonu is Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Ogun State

The Silent Industrial Revolution

By Yusuph Olaniyonu

In an interview published in the August 30, 2014 edition of some national newspapers, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, Governor of Ogun State, spoke about the danger that the growing army of unemployed youths pose to the country. The Governor should know. While superintending over a state like Ogun with 22 public and private tertiary institutions, and many more still under construction, Senator Amosun estimated that there must be about half a million unemployed graduates presently living in the state.

The natural follow-up question is what the Governor is doing in the area of job creation. While the Amosun administration has directly and indirectly created over 50,000 jobs through employment in the public service, helping small scale entrepreneurs with soft loans to develop, sponsoring skill acquisition programme for youths, empowering traders to gain access to cheap funds and creating opportunities in agriculture for young graduates, it has also pursued with vigour one of its five cardinal programmes, which is Increased Agricultural Production leading to Industrialisation.

In achieving the objective behind the industrialization programme, the Amosun administration deliberately set out to profit from the state’s contiguity to Lagos, the commercial capital of the country and the border it shares with Republic of Benin, which by inference made it a gateway to the over 300 million-population in the West African sub-region. The strategy therefore is to attract multi-national industries, both those already existing in the country but have expansion plans and those that are just coming into the country afresh. The state has abundant land resources, 16,432 square kilometers, available for industrial, commercial, agricultural and property development. This is a key factor that an investor will actually consider in deciding on a location for his new industry. More than that, the state government has equally liberalized the process of acquiring land, particularly for industrial, commercial and agricultural purposes.

Add this to the fact that though industries located in Ogun State have easy access to the air and sea ports in Lagos, the state also boasts of having 84 percent of the strategic Lagos-Ibadan Expressway which is a link between Lagos and the rest of Nigeria, located within its territory.

The numerous tertiary institutions in the state also provide a ready pool of skilled workers to industrialists. All these advantages have been harnessed by the Amosun Administration to create a bi-annual Investors’ Forum through which it shifts the focus of investors from across the world to investment potentials in the state and the benefits the state government offer.

In addition, the state government has invested heavily in upgrading the infrastructure in the state. The emerging road network in Ogun State is comparable to the ones in many developed countries. The security system is so good that it is reassuring that one’s investment is secured in this environment, despite the challenge that its multi-border nature ought to pose.

The result is that in the last three years, the state has become the industrial hub of Nigeria. The popular question in the investment community about Nigeria now is not ‘who is in Ogun State’ but ‘who is not in Ogun State’. With 47 multi-national industries having opened shop in the state in the last three years, Ogun State is now the industrial capital of Nigeria. According to Otunba Abimbola Ashiru, who handles the Commerce and Industry portfolio in the state, the new industries have altogether invested in excess of $8 billion in the state.

The new manufacturing plants that have commenced production in Ogun State belong to the biggest industrial concerns in the world. These include May & Baker, Lafarge Wapco, Nestle, Procter and Gamble, Dangote Cement, among others. In the next few weeks, ten new industries, including Olams and Apple & Pears, will also join the train, as they are set to commission their industries. In fact, in the last three years, President Goodluck Jonathan had visited Ogun State three times to commission big industries. Today, Ogun state is the cement capital of Africa. With an annual total of 13 million metric tons of cement produced by Lafarge Wapco and Dangote Cement from their plants located in the state, (same as the total national production figure for South Africa), the state can rightly claim that appellation. 

While commissioning the Procter & Gamble Industry in Agbara, the largest American investment in Nigeria outside the oil sector, President Jonathan declared Ogun State as the most industrialized state in the country. Also, while commissioning the WEMPCO Steel Company Limited in Ibafo, the President praised the Amosun administration for creating the enabling atmosphere for industries to be trooping into the state. He added that in the nearest future, there will not be a single person who is willing to work but cannot get a job in Ogun State.

The President’s testimony brings us back to the plan of the Amosun administration to systematically tackle the problem of unemployment among the youths, thereby laying a solid foundation for the socio-economic development of the state.       

Olaniyonu is Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Ogun state

Tell us more about your Home Ownership Charter Programme
We put in place Home Owners Charter because we realised that a lot of people have built homes without relevant approval and papers. It wasn’t to demolish any structure. It is a scheme aimed at empowering our people, putting higher values on their property and helping to generate enumeration statistics. 
In areas like Magboro, Aseese and many of our border areas that are unplanned, we appreciate that government had abdicated its responsibility and that is why people built in the manner they did. We plan to do something called ‘envelope urban renewal system'. That means development that will take the peculiarity of that particular area into cognisance and try to fashion out some order in the prevailing disorderliness.
There was a master plan for Ogun state. Even my predecessor reviewed it but didn’t use it. The largest limestone belt in West Africa is along the Sagamu-Papalanto belt. It is in the Master-plan and yet what do you have over the limestone deposit now? All manner of housing estate. I cannot understand why people will see the right thing and decide to do the wrong thing. 
Our plan is to deliver quality houses for our people to the extent that becoming a house owner won’t be a problem. Some people told me that the houses in the estates we are building in Abeokuta would be taken over by people from outside the State,  particularly Lagos. I said it would never happen. Nobody will buy the houses and lock it up. It must be occupied. They will have to come and be living in them. But we have to be ready to change the way we live in the past.
As a result of her multi-border nature, Ogun State is prone to security challenge. What have you done to address the problem ?
Only two states are investing in security more than Ogun State in Nigeria today. These are Lagos and Rivers States. We met 19 rickety Hilux vans provided for the use of the police when we came in 2011. Today, we have over 300 brand new Hilux vans equipped with communication facilities. We have 13 Armoured Personnel Carriers (APC) in place today. No state in Nigeria has the type of APC we have. It is a 2011 technology, the very latest technology from the USA.
Some people wrote a petition to EFCC saying that we have approval for eight APCs and ended up buying 13. They said we had the intention of stealing that was why  we approved only eight at the State Executive Council in the first instance.  I said this is ridiculous. It is when I collected money for 13 and bought eight that I think I have committed an offence. 
We were advised that if we were buying 10, the manufacturers will reduce the the price and so instead of the eight that we approved, the money was enough to buy 10. And due to the exigencies of the time when banks could not open in the whole of Ogun East Senatorial District, we had to fly the APCs into the country. Even at that, we were able to bring them into the country at a very low cost. We were initially about to charter a plane to fly seven of them simultaneously into the country immediately but someone advised me that it will be cheaper to bring them into the country in piecemeal. That advice again saved money for us to be able to buy more APCs. Happily, when i was asking for waiver from the President, I asked for 13 not eight. The cost of our own APCs compared to the one anyone has is far cheaper. We have 56 Divisional Police Officers. We fund the operations of those Hilux vehicles and those APCs. We give allowances to policemen and soldiers in our security outfits. 
When we came, banks were all closed but due to the measures we put in place, all banks are today working in Ogun State. Some people try to sabotage the APCs but we always get around it. They planned to mess us up but God is in control.  My own goal is to provide security for the people of Ogun State. Before we came, nightlife was almost zero, now people can move around even at night and nightlife is back in the state. Properties of our people are now well secured. We have not got there yet but we are on the correct route and we are not stopping.

Why did your administration abandon the Cargo Airport Project?

When the project was conceptualised in 2004, the Expected Date of Delivery was to be December 6, 2006. People of Ogun state were happy that we are about to get to Eldorado. But by the time the former governor left office in 2011 nothing was done and billions of naira had been supposedly committed to the project. I want to revisit the project and continue with it but we can’t even see the plan they have for it.  We can’t see anything on the ground and they even left debt on it. Some people have even dragged us to court over the debt arising from the project. They obtained injunctions that nothing must be done until the case is dispensed with.
But the good news is we have a plan for a cargo airport in the state. In the 1940s, there was the Second World War and there was an airstrip in Alamala Army barrack which was used by our colonial masters. The place is already revived and fenced with some preliminary work already done by the Federal Government on it. My predecessor knows of this airstrip but looked the other way.The beauty is that the Cargo airport will still go ahead. But you cannot say you are doing an airport when there is no road. The road that leads to the airport is one of the roads Papa ObafemiAwolowo constructed. It’s in very bad state. The Federal Government is actually working on one cargo airport in Wasinmi and they should have completed it really but I don’t know why they have not because money was voted for it yearly.

Why is it difficult to resolve the Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU) crisis before you ordered the closure of the school?

In a more decent environment, my predecessor would not be in a state to be walking around freely, grandstanding and spreading false information to cover up the obvious lack of planning manifest in the administration he headed. In one fell swoop, he created four tertiary institutions and raised the number of tertiary institutions owned by Ogun State government to 10. Even Lagos with all the money, has just five. He then funded them for two months and stopped and then accumulated debts of unpaid salary and subventions. We came in and inherited all manners of debt. In Olabisi Onabanjo University alone, he left a debt of N1.8bn. For eight years, the OOU couldn’t hold any convocation because they couldn’t process results of students. We have to clear all the backlog of unpaid salary and allowances. We held convocation for over 40,000 graduates in one fell swoop.  Every government around us has three, four or five but Ogun state must fund all its 10 institutions. He himself funded the schools for just two months and stopped and allowed debts to pile up.
The students of OOU are being used and can sometimes be very mischievous. I know what I said during my campaigns in 2011 because I have all my campaigns tape recorded. When I was campaigning, I promised to reduce the tuition fee by fifty percent.The following day after I publicly made the promise, my predecessor reduced the tuition fee by fifty percent to take the wind off our sail. I then promised to reduce the tuition fee further by 10 percent and I did that immediately I assumed office.
We give over N600m to each of the schools every month, multiply that by 12 that is N7.2billion. That is what we spend yearly on tertiary institutions alone. What is the subvention payable by Lagos every month? 
He really caused havoc in this state. He set up booby-trap all over the state. For instance, he increased the pension of the retired Permanent Secretaries in the state civil service from N40,000 to N400,000 after his party lost the election and refused to pay the retired Permanent Secretaries. I got to office and that was what I was paying. I have to be paying the N400,000. He was paying N40,000 and increased it to N400,000 and I have been paying that.
He stopped paying gratuities to retired workers since 2007. Recently I realised that we still have some people who haven’t collected gratuity despite the N26bn we have spent on that sector. So, we investigated the situation. We discovered that he stopped paying in December 2007. We were made to clear 2008,2009,2010,2011 and 2012 arrears. It means that if he hadn’t owed those years, Ogun State Government won’t be owing any gratuity to its retires. It’s unfair that some people will work and not be paid their entitlement when they retire. We still have some N7bn to be up to date in gratuity payment but that is where we found ourselves. He left debt everywhere and I have been clearing debts all these years.
To return to the OOU issue, the government reduced tuition fees in all its tertiary institutions, even up to 61 percent in some cases, depending on which school they are studying. Students from nineinstitutions came and thanked me, but their colleagues in OOU said they want further reductions and that the new school fees regime must commence immediately. Against all advice from thesecurity agents, I went to address them. I saw some of them in hood like those SSS operatives used during the recent Osun Stateelection. I wonder why a student will be in hood. When it became obvious that all our explanations and efforts to make the students see reason fell on deaf ears and that they are bent on fomenting crisis like they did on August 15 when they destroyed property and attacked innocent people in Abeokuta, we ordered the closure of the university to maintain peace and order.

There is the accusation that the party members who worked for your election are not being taken care of?

I don't really know the genesis of this claim but I believe some people see us as miracle workers. In their minds ‘They say there is no money and work is simultaneously going on all over the state. Roads are being constructed and bridges are being constructed’. They now say ‘the money is there, bring it’. Well, the money is not there to be shared.  The money is there to the extent that those for capital projects will go for capital projects, those for recurrent will go for recurrent. We are struggling to cope because the allocations from Abuja keep declining.

What is the relationship between you and Chief OlusegunOsoba like?

Chief Osoba is my leader and whatever happens, he remains my leader. There is no contest about that. I do not want to say more than that.   

Why is it difficult for you to carry him along?

I don’t know what you mean by carrying him along. The ACN executive in the state in 2011 had 52 members. Today, 47 of themare with us in APC. So if I do not carry people along, how will they be with me? These are people who have been with Chief Osoba since he joined politics in the late 80s. So, why is the allegation of not carrying people along? The Osoba people dominate the current APC executive in Ogun State. They constitute 71 Percent of our executive committee.  I will appeal to you journalists to assist in preaching the Gospel that one percent of something is better than 100 percent of nothing. It is in the overall interest of all of us to continue to work together as a team. Our tendency is the only one that can bring development to our state and country. We should not allow any reverse to the on- going development in our state. I am a peace lover and will continue to reach out to all those who feel aggrieved and all the good people of Ogun State.
Indeed, it is a good credit for Chief Osoba to continue to be in a position to say that it was while our government is in power that we recorded these so many feats we are seeing in Ogun State.

Are you not afraid that these crises could derail your re-election?

Our re-election will be achieved, by God's grace and with the support of the people. Go and write it down. But I must say it is in the interest of everybody that we are united. So I will want to appeal again that we should come together to make history for our state. I will relentlessly push for us to have a united, stronger and focused APC in Ogun State.
It must be stated clearly, at this point, that I am not in competition with Chief Osoba.

Interview with The Executive Governor of Ogun State Senator Ibikunle Amosun FCA.


How well are you combining all the various infrastructure development projects embarked upon by your administration with what is now known in the South west geo- political zone as politics a of Stomach Infrastructure?

I will continue to maintain my position that it will be an insult on our people to reduce governance to the distribution of kerosene and rice. It is an insult that will undermine the memory of the great leaders that our state has produced. While I agree that Governance is about the people but it cannot be reduced to that level. 
The problem is that over the years, governments have failed and poverty has escalated. Holistic solutions that are needed to address the issue of unemployment have been neglected or ignored. The issue of unemployment is widespread and that makes poverty to escalate in the land. The unemployed in Ogun State will be close to 500,000 because of the presence of many higher institutions in the state and that is very bad for us. 
We have to go back to the basics and address those issues that brought us to this sorry pass. We should start creating wealth for the people. It is not about giving them fish but teaching them how to fish and create the enabling environment for them to be productive. The poverty level is too high and it won't be tackled by distributing rice. I give rice too. Yes, I give rice to people during festive periods and I have been doing that long before I started playing partisan politics. It is not to be giving rice to secure votes during elections. That is bad. That is fraudulent. That is an insult to our people. 
But the fact remains that the unemployment rate is too high. That is what we need to address as government.
When we came in, we said we wanted to employ 10,000 people for civil service jobs but close to 70,000 people applied. In fact, at a point we had to stop allowing people to apply because it was simply overwhelming. Recently, we announced that we would recruit 2000 environmental marshals and over 50,000 people including doctorate degree holders applied. That is dangerous for us as a nation. We are giving too much stress to our youths. The government must put in place a holistic approach to address the issue of poverty.

What lessons did you learn from the Ekiti elections?

I disagree that the good people of Ekiti voted the way they did because some people gave them rice. The people of Ekiti are very educated. There must be some other things that happened that people are yet to know and appreciate. We have some lessons we have picked from Ekiti episode which we have reflected.

What are you then doing to address the issue of poverty and unemployment?

In Ogun state, what i am doing is to provide the enabling environment through solid infrastructure that will serve as catalyst for industrialisation. We are doing this by working on our Internally Generated Revenue (IGR). I inherited an IGR of N730m in 2011 and with the help of God and the support of the good people of Ogun State, we are now on average of N5.2bn per month.  We attained this level without inconveniencing our people. We have to think out of the box to generate money. This is why we have been able to do so many things to improve the welfare of our people. We realise we need to attract investors to Ogun state.  I am happy to say there are 58 new companies now in Ogun state and more are still coming. We go out of our way to invite the companies to come to Ogun State. Ogun State is now an industrial hub. We have the largest industrial base inNigeria presently. Interestingly, as these companies come in, they employ our people, build their capacity and in turn increased our GDP. Again, we have many youth empowerment programmes aimed at creating entrepreneurs out of our youths. Our Ministries of Commerce and Industry, Women Affairs and Social Development, Community Development and Co-operatives, Agriculture, Vocational Education Board as well as The Uplift Foundation run by my Wife have many entrepreneurial development programmes aimed at making youths self employed and becoming employers of labour.

What is the contribution of the Agriculture sector to the efforts to rebuild the economy of Ogun State?

Our agriculture policy is maturing now. I can say that we have about 3000 youths who are in the agriculture sector. We are partnering with the Bank of Industries to provide finance for our young graduates to encourage and attract them to Agriculture. We have graduate agricultural scheme in all the three senatorial districts. We give them land and money and implements and they are encouraged to employ some people to assist them. We have 16, 409.26 square kilometers of land, 80 percent of which is arable.So, we know that if we strategise properly we can have comparative advantage in agricultural production
Lagos State even requested for one thousand hectares of land to cultivate rice in Eggua and we too have allocated 10,000 hectares for the cultivation of rice in the same area. There is a healthy competition going on in Eggua now. Our people will be employed and the local economy of that area is being positively affected. We also have cassava farm in Ibiade and we are about to start planting on a 20 hectares cashew farm in Afon. Our Green House technology farm in Kotopo is already producing pepper and tomato that are already being sold in the market. Our intervention in the areas of poultry, fishery and piggery are also yielding fruits.
We have rice mills ready and I must mention too that the Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina is assisting the state in the area of rice and cassava.
Today in cassava production we are number one in Nigeria. Cassava is one reason why some companies are coming into Ogun State Our goal is to feed Lagos, house Lagos, move Lagos and possibly, clothe Lagos.
We are working on housing too. Already, we have four housing estates that are about 80 percent completed. They include the Orange Valley, Plainfields, both in Oke Mosan in Abeokuta, AAK Degun MITROS Estate, Laderin and OPIC Estate, Agbara. There are two others in Makun and Isheri that are about to begin. In Nigeria, everybody struggles to buy land, build houses and get Certificate of Occupancy but do they do that in UK or USA? No, it is not like that. There are houses for all categories of people and status. Our own situation is pathetic as there exist a huge housing deficit as government has failed in the area of housing and there cannot be a vacuum. People can’t stay under the sun; they must get land and build for themselves. Government seems to have surrendered. And it is a shame. People now build anyhow even without planning.
 
The on-going Sango-Ojodu Road is causing inconveniences to the residents. When do you hope to complete the construction?

We have to make the Sango-Ojodu-Abiodun road a six-lane road because we plan for a light rail system that will pass through that area. Initially it was to be a 4-lane road but we have to re-plan and re-design it. It was to cost N40bn then and now will cost about  N70bn.  We do not have the money. So, we are constructing it in phases but we will construct it over a period of three and a half years. It is a huge investment but we will install toll gates on it to enable us pay for the cost of the road construction and effective maintenance of the road over the years.
 
The demolition of structures for road construction work is a bold effort. How have you handled the fallout and payment of compensation?

The role of government is to be fair and just. In our urban renewal drive, we have reasons to demolish some structures to give way for the roads we are to build. In the first of such roads that we completed, the Ibara - Sokori-Totoro road, five structures that have to do with me personally and members of my family were affected. Three belonging to former President Olusegun Obasanjo were affected. But today Baba prays for me because we didn’t demolish the structures and leave the work undone. Several kilometres of road and bridges are being built across the state to raise the infrastructure profile of our state and attract investors. 
When we started, a lot of people were unhappy with us calling us several names. Even some party people said it will affect our party negatively as we are not likely to have fund for the construction of the roads.f But today, they have seen the reason why those structures must give way to the roads. They have seen the work that is going on and people appreciate it.

We give compensation to home owners whose properties were affected irrespective of whether you have the necessary documents. This is Ogun State and we recognise that we cannot subject our people to the conditions attached to such exercise inother places.  So, we have to pay compensation. What we do in some instance is to build completely new houses for some very old very vulnerable people whose homes were demolished. 
The abuse by some people over these tough decisions doesn’t have impact on me. I usually plead with our people that you cannot make an omelette without breaking the egg. I take inspiration from the fact that Pa Obafemi Awolowo was thoroughly abused when he commenced the construction of the 25-storey Cocoa House building in Ibadan. Women took to the streets to protest. Today, that building defines the entire landscape of the whole of  South-west zone, even including Lagos. One should not be deterred by criticism if you are sure of what you are doing and you are acting sincerely, for altruistic reasons.
 
There are accusations by the opposition that the cost of your road construction is too high and that you are borrowing heavily to fund the construction work.
All the roads we are constructing are of world standard and the cost is the lowest in Nigeria. I challenge anyone to investigate this claim and prove me wrong. We deliver high quality at low cost to the people of Ogun State. Our Ogun Standard roads come with six lane minimum, there are eight to ten lane boulevard. There are drains on both sides, walkways, median, street lights, green areas and bus stops. Those who cannot comprehend the financial management strategy that is helping us to handle all these completed and on-going gigantic projects are the ones shouting about phantom N300 billion loans. Our debt profile hovers between N37bn and N40bn because we pay back regularly and I want to challenge those who cry about N300bn loan to provide the names of the banks where they have helped us to secure such loans.

Understanding the OOU crisis


One does not need a star-gazer to know that it is the elements within the political opposition that are responsible for the violent protests by some students of  the Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU), which have now resulted in the closure of the institution by the state government.
It is on record that the students of OOU were having their normal classes before the announcement of reduction of school fees by about 60% penultimate Tuesday by the state government.
Rationally and expectedly, all the students of tertiary institutions in Ogun state reportedly erupted into spontaneous jubilation. Twenty-four hours later, news filtered to the public that the students of the tertiary schools in Ogun state under the umbrella of the National Association of Nigerian Students were organising a “Thank You” rally at the Governor’s Office penultimate Thursday.
Sensing that the governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, has scored a major political point, having not only abolished his predecessor’s template of yearly increase in school fees of tertiary students but now reducing school fees payable by 60%, the opposition moved fast.
So, they reasoned thus: “If we allow Amosun to savour another moment of glory, having introduced free primary and secondary education, which we could not do during our tenure, then we are done for.”
They mobilised a handful of students of OOU, led by one former ex-officio of the school’s Students’ Union Government (who is no longer a student of the school), to counter the solidarity rally of the overwhelming majority of the students in support of the current administration by demanding further reduction of the school fees and their retroactive implementation.
Of course, they were no match for the majority in terms of the success of the rally. Then they did the unexpected the next day – violence. They destroyed property and valuables worth millions of naira.
The government has the paramount responsibility of maintaining law and order. In particular, it needs to protect the majority of OOU students, who, like their counterparts in other higher institutions of learning in the state, saw the 60% reduction as a huge and unprecedented gesture on the part of Amosun, for which they are very grateful and knew the politics behind the current agitation by a few of their colleagues.
I urge the law enforcement agents to fish out this political and violent few among the OOU students and make them face the wrath of the law so that normal academic activities can resume without much delay.

OOU CLOSURE: PAINFUL BUT INEVITABLE DECISION

In line with The Mission to Rebuild Ogun State as contained in the Five- Cardinal Programme of Senator Ibikunle Amosun Administration, education sector has continued to enjoy topmost priority. It is in the light of this that we are constrained to issue this public statement with regards to certain developments at the Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU).
Situation at Inception:

At the inception of this Administration on 29 May, 2011, we were confronted with a rather grim state in our Education Sector, with most of the State’s Tertiary Institutions being bad shadows of a once glorious past. Indeed, they had become embarrassment to the fond memories of those illustrious sons after whom some of them have been named.

Academic activities had been grounded to a halt in most of the institutions as some of them were closed as a result of strikes and other prevalent inclement environment. There were backlogs of subventions, running into an average of eleven (11) months, owed the schools by the previous Administration, resulting in unpaid staff salaries. To say the staff were demoralised was to state the obvious.
Academic traditions and ethos had been jettisoned, academic calendars were in abeyance and even students were ostensibly progressing from one level to the other without completing the requirements of previous levels, including payment of school fees.
The decay in our tertiary institutions was exemplified by the failure of Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU) to hold convocation ceremonies for eight ( straight years our predecessors were in the office. It was also disheartening that rather than serve as purveyors of knowledge and enlightenment, our tertiary institutions had become dens of cultism.
Our Interventions:

It was obvious that some urgent and far-reaching interventions were required. Consequently, after wide consultations with stakeholders, the government set up Visitation Panels for our two Universities (Olabisi Onabanjo University and Tai Solarin University of Education) and Fact - Finding Panels for the other eight tertiary institutions.
The panels, after painstaking and diligent engagement of stakeholders and deliberations, submitted their reports that confirmed the ugly state of affairs - that was already in the public domain - in the respective institution and unearthed even deeper rot in the system. The Government subsequently set up another committee to study all the reports of the panels in order to have an all-encompassing appreciation of the issues and provide a holistic solution to what were certainly systemic problems.
Among others, the Committee identified paucity of funding in the face of dwindling government revenue and competing needs, proliferation of schools and programmes with attendant duplication of overheads, deviation from the core objectives for the establishment of some of the schools, and leadership challenges. In the main, the Committee recommended streamlining of programmes and courses, mergers of some of the institutions, and strengthening of the management.
The government subjected the Consolidated Report to wider and intense consultation and the feedbacks received from critical stakeholders indicated a preference for the retention of the institutions. The preference, propelled more by emotive rather than rational reasons, run counter to the grains of the reality on ground. Nonetheless, in deference to this position, the government accepted to keep all the schools and remained committed to confront the challenge of rejuvenating them, the financial constraint notwithstanding.
In furtherance of this commitment, the government commenced immediate payment of the outstanding backlog of subventions, appointed new management teams, constituted the Councils, and increased the subventions to the schools. This Administration currently pays over Six Hundred (N600M) monthly as subventions to the State’s tertiary institutions.
Indeed, our commitment to the Education sector is manifest in the over N160B we have invested in the last three years. Yet, in fulfillment of our electoral promise and to ensure that our tertiary students further benefit directly from our interventions in the education sector, we implemented additional 10% reduction in tuitions and fees payable in all our schools. This first reduction, which was done at the inception of our Administration in 2011, was in addition to the 50% reduction announced in the twilight of the previous Administration, to pre-empt our electoral promise to reduce fees.
Government’s Gesture, Agitation by a Few and Our Response:

The current agitation for reduction in school fees by students of Ogun State tertiary schools has been ostensibly fuelled by the recent reduction in the fees payable at Lagos State University (LASU) by the Lagos State Government.
Despite the marked differences between the situation in Lagos and Ogun States, the government further demonstrated its commitment to the wellbeing of our students by proactively reducing the fees payable in Ogun State schools, starting from 2014 / 2015 session. The reductions varied with the highest being 61%. These gestures were greeted with applause and appreciation by the generality of the students in all the ten (10) State’s tertiary institutions, except the Olabisi Onabanjo University where a section of the students, clearly in minority, raised two issues. These were the commencement session and the cap on the amount these dissenting minority would rather like to dictate to the government. It was curious that it was only after the government’s gestures that the few OOU students devised these two issues as red herring to perpetrate what is increasingly becoming clearer as a well-choreographed and externally influenced agitation by the few.
The few OOU students wanted the commencement to be backdated to 2013 / 2014 session with N50,000 as the maximum amount for all courses and all students. To provide an underpinning for their argument, they cited Lagos State as a reference.
In order to clothe their agitation with some toga of credibility, the few OOU students embarked on a futile mission to coopt the generality of the OOU students, students of the other nine (9) tertiary institutions and some officers of Non-Governmental Organisations to join their politically – motivated agenda. These efforts have been rebuffed by the students of the other institutions and other stakeholders.
Nonetheless, the Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun FCA, met a week ago with the representatives of the OOU students in his office and later addressed them and their other colleagues. He thereafter set up a committee (comprising government representatives and representatives of the Students’ Unions of the ten institutions) to determine what was peculiar (if any) about OOU with regards to the government’s gesture and recommend how best to address it.
In the course of the committee’s deliberations, the OOU Students representatives could not make a convincing argument while the commencement of the new fees should be backdated to 2013 / 2014, their only premise being that, due to the long ASUU strike, the 2013 / 2014 academic session is still on till October and therefore should qualify them for a refund of the fees already paid. As absurd as this request is, disruption of academic calendar is not peculiar to only OOU. Indeed, there are other institutions (within and outside Ogun State) whose 2013 / 2014 academic sessions still have a few more weeks to go, also due to the general academic staff strikes in the country. OOU can, therefore, not be treated in isolation.
Obviously following a script, the OOU representatives brought up yet another tenuous request: if other schools in the same circumstance were to enjoy backdating of the reduction in fees to 2013 / 2014, then OOU students, regardless of the course of study, would not be prepared to pay any fee higher than the lowest of fees payable in any of the other nine (9) tertiary schools in the state. It is no longer about the commencement session (if other schools will enjoy it) nor about N50,000 highest fees payable. It is now that students of OOU, a university, will want to pay the least of fees payable by students of, for example, College of Health Technology or Tai Solarin College of Education – a preposterous demand.
It was clear to the student representatives of the other nine (9) schools and government representatives on the committee, that the OOU students were looking for every reason, no matter how tenuous, to contrive a crisis.
As mentioned earlier, the situation differs from State to State. For example, Lagos State that these misguided few have continued to cite has five (5) tertiary institutions compared to ten (10) that we have in Ogun State. The same scenario is applicable in both primary and secondary schools sub sector – we have more primary and secondary schools in Ogun State than Lagos State. While we are proud of this - because this is in line with our heritage as the cradle of education in Nigeria – but we are modest enough to acknowledge that we do not have access to the same resources as Lagos. Indeed, the internally generated revenue of Lagos, the nation’s economic hub, is 400% more than our own.
It will therefore be ridiculous for anyone to demand for parity in school fees with Lagos just as it will be unrealistic for a resident of Lagos to demand that the government should bring down the average cost of living in Lagos to be in parity to what is obtainable in Ogun State.
OOU is Closed:

While the discussion were still on in the committee, security reports have confirmed that the few students who are bent on fomenting trouble have started mobilising to disrupt the peace and security of the state and unleash mayhem. The vast majority of OOU students are opposed to this plan and have also vowed to resist these few “professional” students, being motivated from without, to portray them as being unreasonable and unappreciative.
Besides, the students from the other nine (9) students were also preparing to demonstrate their acceptance of the new fees and express opposition to any preferential treatment for OOU.
There is certainly an imminent and ominous threat to the peace and security of the state and lives of our students will be endangered in any ensuing conflicts between opposing groups.
In the circumstance, the government has no alternative but to take a firm decision in the overall interest of all. Consequently, the government has directed the Council of Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU) to immediately close down the institution till further notice.
Parents are hereby advised to make immediate arrangements for their wards to vacate the school premises and stay away henceforth from the institution.
This is a painful but an inevitable decision and the government solicits for the understanding and cooperation of all in this regard. It is painful because this forced closure is a temporary pause in our determined march to reposition our tertiary institutions and OOU in particular. OOU had a backlog of convocation for eight academic sessions which our Administration cleared in 2012 and we have continued to ensure that the convocation is held regularly and annually, as scheduled. It is further painful that the new Council and Management Team, who have demonstrated uncommon zeal and dedication since their inauguration, will have their repositioning programme slowed down.
But this is temporary. The Council has been directed to review the situation from time to time and advise the government accordingly. When the government is satisfied that the atmosphere is conducive for teaching, learning and research, the school will be re-opened.
In the meantime and for the avoidance of doubt, all students should vacate and stay away from all the campuses of Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU) till further notice.

Salisu: Direct Primaries Not Negotiable in APC

28 Aug 2014

Interview


Deputy Chief of Staff to the Governor of Ogun State, Alhaji Shuaib Afolabi Salisu, is an aspiring senator for Ogun Central. In this interview with Akinbami Faloye, he talks about his ambition, politics in the state and the future of the All Progressives Congress. Excerpts:


How far have you come in your political career?
My commitment to the political process started from my university days. The parliament has always been a place where I think you need a lot of persuasive skills and ability to build bridges and network. Sometime in 2004/2005, I was called to be part of the Policy World Group of a presidential aspirant.


In the group, we put together what we thought was a very good documents and the presidential aspirant told us that as beautiful as this document is, when it is time for implementation, the political class would say we (members of the group) we are not part of the political process and if we want to be part, we should go back to our respective states and get involved in the political process so that we can move it from the level of policy formulation to implementation. This was how I got involved because I went back to Ogun State and registered.


I think it was in the process around 2005/2006 to 2007 during the build-up to the general election that I got involved and I fought for the ticket of my party, Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). I was the interim caretaker committee secretary to put ACN into place and after a few encouragements I also vied for the ticket of the party for the House of representative for Abeokuta North and Obafemi/Owode federal constituency.


I had a contestant from Obafemi/Owode constituency. I came out from Odeda local government and I was able to get the ticket and I contested the election in April 2007 for the House of Representatives seat.


Obviously, everybody knew what PDP did then. I was sad as a candidate and I went to the tribunal not because I was desperate to win the seat, but because I thought we must challenge the impunity. My position was dismissed at the lower tribunal and I went to the court of Appeal in Ibadan, for a review of the decision of the lower court.


In 2011, I actually wanted to go for the Senate for two reasons. First, it became obvious that the House of Representatives seat that I was still fighting for in the court was ceded to the son our leader, Olumide Osoba, so it would be foolhardy to want to contest that ticket knowing how things used to operate in our former party.


Also, during that time, my local government, Odeda had spent two terms with a candidate of PDP but because the House of Representatives seat is meant for three local governments and if the incumbent then was Odeda and had spent up to two terms, naturally it must also move to another local government. This was why I wanted to go for the Senate and incidentally at the close of nomination, myself and Honourable Shina vied for the ticket from Abeokuta North.


At the close of nomination process, I was the only one left because I was the only one who actually paid the nomination fee required by the national headquarters of the party. By the time my boss, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, was picked as governor, there were few people who contested the governorship seat with him then, largely from the old AD, AC stock.

One of them Senator Obadara was given a ticket and I thought again that if PDP had inflicted injustice on me in the general election in 2007, why would my own party even without any discussion with me and as at the close of nomination, I was the only aspirant that picked the ticket and paid the nomination fee.


So I petitioned the national headquarters and I was at national headquarters for two or three times to pursue the petition. At a point, I got Hon. Adeshina to go to Abuja to say that two of us were the only ones who had shown interest in these tickets. He had paid the nomination fee, so either of us that you pick would be good enough.


I went to meet with Chief Bisi Akande, the then chairman of our party about once or twice to lay my case. But after sometime, I got a feeling that this matter has reached a dead end. So I came back and briefed Senator Amosun and said I was also going to court to challenge the fact that if PDP allowed democracy to thrive in 2007, we must also allow internal democracy to strive in our party.


Of course, given what was obtainable then, we were more determined to get PDP out of the state so any sacrifice would not be too much. I was convinced that it would be better for us. I am from Ogun Central and the governor is also from Ogun Central and if we started fighting the issue of Senate ticket, it may have impact on the outcome of the general election if we did not come together to work.


So I dropped the senatorial ambition and I became a director in the campaign organisation of Senator Ibikunle Amosun Campaign Organisation for the governorship seat and I am grateful to God that we won and he appointed me as the deputy Chief of Staff and I have been working with him in that capacity for some time now.

What if that same scenario repeats itself and you are asked to make yet another sacrifice?
Well I do not think at this point in time that one would be asked to make a greater sacrifice because I do know that the party would be looking at the candidates that have popular support both within the party and outside. To that extent, one has been able to command a lot of overwhelming support amongst the party faithful and I do hope that the type of scenario that came up in 2007/2011 would not come again.


When I emerged my party’s representative for the House of Representatives, I kept faith with the people and the constituency. Incidentally, the federal constituency I just mentioned that we have six local governments and three federal constituencies, and the federal constituency that I have contested for has three out of the six local governments. It has the highest number of local governments in the senatorial district. But beyond that, it has also reached the other local governments in Ogun Central.


I do not see any scenario besides allowing a level playing ground for those who aspire to any position, not just the House of Representatives or Senate. For any person who aspires for a level playing field to compete for that ticket, I do not see the scenario of 2011 coming up.


Even the party has recognised the need to allow internal democracy to prevail. Our party has a strong internal democracy principle that allows candidates to run for positions and get the needed support and the level playing field. I think the market forces would largely determine who carries the flag of the party and clinches the seat at the general election.


The mood in the party is to allow all those who wish to aspire to any position to have an opportunity to compete on their own and contest in a free and fair primary election. In any case, there is nowhere that says an incumbent senator or representative must be given an automatic return ticket. We are talking about people who in the first instance got the ticket not because they were the most deserving of the ticket.


The question is: what happens to those who have had to make sacrifices but did not get the ticket? In any case, it is not as if the governor has lined up his own people, no. Rather, everybody would determine what he wants to do and also pursues his own political ambition. So, it is not about the governor presenting some individuals to contest. I think in my own understanding, you cannot try to solve a problem by creating a greater problem. Giving automatic ticket to anybody especially members of the National Assembly would create a greater problem for the party.

Is your boss aware of your ambition?
I have declared my electoral intentions to the governor and I have also emphasised to him that I am asking for his support and a level playing field. I am also aware that there are other candidates who are interested in the same seat. Therefore, when you go through a free and fair internal party democracy, where if you win you will rejoice, but if you do not win, you accept it that way and you would not have cause to leave the party. At this point, you sit down, evaluate the areas where you have failed and how to amend those areas.


What makes people feel alienated from the party is when they are not given the opportunity to have a level playing field to compete with others. I sought his blessings and he has said let many of you who want to be in the process be in the process and at the end of the day, the internal mechanism of the party would be brought to bear and we would present whoever emerges from the primary system.

What would be your interest as a senator?
When you represent a constituency in the national assembly and given the type of lopsided federalism that we have, most resources are in the hands of the federal, so the constituents expect that you use your influence to bring development back to your constituency and advocate what you think is best for them. Second, they also expect you to work with the government at the state level in partnership to ensure that development is also brought to your constituency and state.


It is noteworthy to state here that in our constitution in each state, the senate is like the cavity of states. This is why regardless of the population of any state; each state has three senators unlike the House of Representatives where it is based on criteria. It does mean that a senator must at all times ensure that the state interest is fully protected at all times at the federal level.

Why challenge an incumbent from the same party?
I am from the same local government with the incumbent and you ask yourself what has been the impact of our representative in our local government, senatorial district and the state in general? What is the collaboration in spite of the efforts of the governor and the overtures that he has continually made? What has been the level of collaboration between those who claim they are representing us at the national level and the state?


There are senators that would speak at the floor of the National Assembly and would inspire change such as Senators Durojaiye and others. Let people in the constituency feel your impact as an elected representative.

What do you think of your chances?
I have no doubt that we would have a resounding victory at the general election. I am not contesting for the first time. I have contested when our party was in our opposition. I contested against an incumbent on the platform of the PDP that was from the federal government and it was the party that was in power as at 2007. So in 2007, I contested on the platform of Action Congress against a PDP state and federal government.


Eight years after, I am proud to say that I contested against the PDP and I am working with the governor and it does help and extend the feasibility, morale and confidence to be able to understand how the executive arm of government does work and how being in the parliament could also assist. The experience at the executive level could also help in being a good parliamentarian, so working with a governor who is also a senator. It certainly has a lot positive impact on one’s morale.

How do you intend to improve the lot of your people?
As an individual senator, the needs of my people are very simple. I want to be able to attract a lot of federal presence. When you have federal presence, it would help a lot. For instance, we have the University of Agriculture and the institute of police affairs. These have helped a lot not only in Odeda, but other L.G.A.


We need to provide empowerment that is truly empowering to our constituency. We cannot afford to reduce governance to periodic distribution of rice. As an IT practitioner, I would like to see a situation where technology developing agency puts a software centre that creates employment for a teeming number of young people out there to harness and develop their skills in software development and provide a linkage between what they are doing there and the efforts of various government agencies. As a senator, I will work with the federal government to provide employment opportunities in this direction.

Tags: Nigeria, Featured, Politics, Shuaib Afolabi Salisu

Right of Reply


Standing Facts on their Head


By Yusuph Olaniyonu


Reading through Steve Oliyide’s reaction to my article published in some national newspapers on July 12 and 13, gave me an initial feeling that at last, Nigerians will enjoy a good debate on issues affecting Ogun State as we approach the 2015 elections. However, if the outright falsehood and misrepresentation which dotted the response from beginning to end is the nature of exchange that our people will be subjected to, then the expected debate may not be worth the name. In any case, I still feel that I owe our people the duty to further reinforce the points I earlier made in the article entitled ‘ Bisi Onabanjo on My Mind’.
 
First, the Special Assistant to ex-Governor Gbenga Daniel noted that my article must have been informed by the need to respond to a claim made by his principal and also that the results of the Ekiti election must have compelled me to want to inform the public about our education policy. This is surprising, as the Ekiti election only held on June 19 whereas I had already written several articles between 2012 and now to inform Nigerians of our administration’s policies, projects and programmes. Before the one under focus, I wrote an article titled ‘Before We Forget’ published in many national newspapers on June 8, 2014, 13 days before the Ekiti polls. In that piece, I chronicled how the Otunba Gbenga Daniel administration inflicted violence, impunity and fear on our people and how the Amosun government has since restored peace and normalcy. Nobody in that administration has written a rejoinder to that piece. Maybe because there was no Ekiti election result to serve as inspiration for them or more appropriately, they have no answers to the details of atrocities contained in the article.
 
Secondly, now that we are being told that ‘the love of the people’ formed the philosophical underpinning of the education policy in Ogun State between 2003 to 2011 and that the aim was to create ‘model teachers’, we can as well examine the logic of that claim. In an administration with so much ‘love for the people’, parents had to pay huge sums of money to enrol their wards in public secondary schools, construct chairs and desks to be used by the students in school, pay building or development levies, buy textbooks and registration materials. 
The ‘people-oriented’ policy of the past administration was manifested in its inability to pay the WAEC fees which it had promised to pay. At a time, WAEC withheld the results of students from Ogun State. In 2010 when the results were withheld by WAEC, I had to write about it in my column on the back page of THISDAY newspaper. In that article, I revealed how the Commissioner for Education told the House of Assembly that he had advised against the policy so that the government  would not start what it could not sustain.
 Even then, the Amosun administration since May 2011 had to pay some backlog of WAEC fees that it inherited from the past government and has paid for the just concluded 2014 examinations.

If Oliyide remembers my 2010 intervention which forced the Daniel administration to quickly pay some money to WAEC and pleaded for the release of the results, he will not make the false claim that I was probably far from home when the administration was misgoverning Ogun State. I have been following and commenting on developments in the state for more than two decades. The former governor is very well aware of this fact. 
 
I know for sure that Chiefs Obafemi Awolowo and Bisi Onabanjo would be happy that while replicating their free education policy which translates to abolition of tuition fees, provision of infrastructural facilities in schools, supply of text books and instructional materials, the Amosun administration also  introduced Unified Exams in all state-owned primary and secondary schools. This is paid for by the government and it ensures that teachers strive to cover their syllabus and that the same standard is set across all our schools. When we talk about increased enrolment in schools, this is a direct result of the high standard of education available at no cost to students. The migration to public schools from private is because very few rational human beings would pay for what they can get at no cost. 
Again, Ogun State has 1,436 primary schools  and 345 secondary schools (173 JSS, 172 SSS and 129 combined schools). So, how can the enrolment figure be the same at both levels? This disparity in number of primary and secondary schools necessitated the need for construction of new model schools which members of the Daniel administration seem incensed about. I will address the issue of model schools later. 
 
Also, the last administration that created ‘model teachers’ , according to its propagandists, owed teachers salary of up to 19 months as at May 28, 2011. Deductions made from their salaries were not remitted to their co-operative societies. This therefore stifled their access to loans which usually provide financial succour to this category of workers. Their unions were polarized so as to enervate and prevent them from taking organised action against government. The vocal ones among them were suppressed, intimidated and whipped to toe the line or face grave consequence. Yet, the administration that subjected them to all these unsavoury experiences wanted to make them ‘model teachers’, as we are now being told.
 
There has been so much noise about TASUED as the number one university wholly devoted to producing teachers. However, that claim remained only on paper. The TASUED that the Amosun administration inherited was one in which all manners of non education related courses were created and students admitted arbitrarily with the sole aim  of generating funds. The university was running courses in diverse disciplines from mass communication to petro-chemical engineering, industrial relations, computer engineering and so on. Obviously, these courses were miles away from the proferred objective of training “model teachers.”
As at 2012 when the current administration set up a Visitation Panel to review the institution, it had more students than Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU) which is a multi-disciplinary institution. It equally had loads of courses not accredited by the National Universities Commission (NUC). Since it was not well-funded by the government that created it, the authorities would  simply admit students each time they needed funds. This became manifest in that it had more part-time than full-time students. Admission requirements were so fluid, depending on the expected financial targets. And that was the university that members of the last administration in Ogun State usually boast is the premier education-focused institution. What manner of teachers will such a school produce?
Thanks to the intervention policy of the present administration which, after deciding not to merge it with OOU, appointed a new VC and Governing Council with a mandate to streamline the courses and get them accredited, audit the student population and ensure only the qualified ones remain, as well as ensure academic discipline in the school. So, while the Daniel government created a monument which he planned that his expected protégé –successor governor  would name after him, as recorded in a State Executive Council memo, the Amosun administration actually saved the institution from self-destruction.
 
 Further, Oliyide mentioned that the Daniel administration achieved so much in OOU. He can tell that to the marines. Is it the same OOU which before 2012 did not hold a convocation ceremony for eight years, thereby creating a racket-ring for the award of its certificates? Under the present administration, in order to clear the backlog, over 40,000 graduates had their convocation in 2012. The 2013 edition held on time and we are eagerly looking forward to the 2014 convocation. 
While some people believed that the general neglect suffered by OOU under the Daniel administration,  during which it had no single tarred road on its main campus, was due to the plan to promote TASUED over it, our conclusion is that none of the higher institutions fared better. In fact, just before the Amosun administration came into office in 2011, TASUED took a loan of N500m which we never knew what it was used for. There was the widespread belief that it was part of the funds that went into sponsoring a new political party that was set up at the twilight of the last administration. Imagine what collateral was promised to the bank? Expected student school fees. That was the philosophy of the ‘people-oriented education policy’ of the government in which Oliyide served.
  We  should also remind our readers that while the 'people - centered' policy of the Daniel administration made it fix the bursary for students of Ogun State origin at N1, 500, the present administration has since raised it to N5, 000. We have also taken steps to ensure that the bursary awards  are not turned to a source of siphoning money from the government as it was in the past.

Those who  speak about some phantom Human Capacity Development programme are probably reflecting the ‘Government by Proposal’ system with which Ogun State was governed between 2003 and 2011. This is a system in which a crony quickly puts together a proposal designed to help him make some bucks and money is quickly approved for the programme. Sending a few loyalists for some hurriedly designed courses abroad as a way of further dividing the body of teachers is not the style of the Amosun government and nobody should brandish that as an achievement here. We prefer sustainable all-year-round training programmes involving reputable national and international agencies. This is better and more beneficial.
I can see that the issue of construction of model schools runs through Oliyide’s reaction to my piece. Just like his boss, the former Governor who has been  whingeing about the model schools, this ex-Special Assistant does not seem to believe we should have constructed model schools, not to talk of building 15 out of the proposed 26 at the same time. For the umpteenth time, let me explain that the need for the model schools arose from one of the bad policies the Daniel administration hurriedly initiated for lack of well-thought out solution to the rising cost of running the education system.
The administration without thinking about the implications or conducting any impact analysis, hurriedly returned schools originally owned by the missionaries without creating alternative public schools. The policy  led to some 23,000 students dropping out of the school system in one session alone, for inability to pay the school fees charged by the new owners. The Amosun administration had to quickly reverse the policy on its assumption of office. However, the government knew that this was a temporary measure. The permanent solution is to construct new schools that will take the present students in the schools owned by the missionaries and the growing population in our public schools, particularly the secondary schools.
The foundation stone of the first model school was laid in 2012. The schools are planned as major projects which will redefine public education in our state. It is therefore not something that will be hurriedly executed. Those who feel threatened by the achievement that the model schools will become for the Amosun administration should wait and see how well they will turn out. The tenure of our administration is definitely not terminating now. And just as we have not failed in the execution of previous projects we have embarked upon, we will invite them for the commissioning of the model schools.
  Let me also remind the readers that our administration has reclaimed the glory of Ogun State which was thrown to the dogs when the past administration got Ogun State blacklisted by federal intervention agencies like UBEC and ETF for mismanagement of the funds coming from these agencies. That is why it was the Amosun administration that had to pay the state counterpart funds to assess the UBEC fund for 2008/2009 and subsequent years. We have since used the funds to construct over 1,000 blocks of classrooms in our schools. Yet, despite knowing that the UBEC fund is a joint contribution by both state and federal government on a 50-50 basis, Oliyide is unhappy that we are taking part of the glory for the proper utilization of the funds for viable capital projects. What a way to reason.
 
Olaniyonu is Commissioner for Information and Strategy

http://saharareporters.com/2014/07/21/diary-violence-ogun-state-under-governor-daniel-oludare-abayomi


Diary Of Violence In Ogun State Under Governor Daniel By Oludare Abayomi Jul 21, 2014


It is no longer news that many attempts were made on the life of Senator Ibikunle Amosun (SIA) before he became the governor of Ogun State on May 29, 2011. It is equally not a news item that violence became the second name of  Ogun State, especially between 2007 and 2011 and an unstated official policy of the government of Otunba Gbenga Daniel (OGD). It was the only period in the history of the state when insecurity led to banks closing business while other organisations simply relocated to neighbouring states.
What appears to be news is the orchestrated attempt by some revisionists to rewrite history through distortion of events and outright fabrications. It is therefore important to remind the general public of some of the deadly violent acts perpetrated against the person of Amosun and his supporters in the years leading to his becoming the governor of Ogun State. Interestingly, the libraries of media organisations in Nigeria could further help readers’ memories on the Gestapo conduct of the last government and HOW IT BLAMED OTHERS FOR THE CRIMES COVERTLY AND OVERTLY PERPETRATED AGAINST THE OPPOSITION BY ITS AGENTS, sometimes with the connivance of elements of the police. Citizens will also recall the daily killings in cities like Sagamu, Abeokuta, Ijebu Ode, etc. and at the drinking joints around MKO Abiola Stadium during the reign of terror.
This intervention is very important in order to guard jealously our hard-won peace and tranquility under the current administration. The incidents listed below are by no means exhaustive. Former Governor gbenga Daniel during his corruption trial in Abeokuta EFCC handout


(1) Constituency’s Tour Attack
On Monday, July 18, 2005, Senator Ibikunle Amosun was on one of his constituency’s tours around Abeokuta with hundreds of his supporters. Suddenly, Governor Daniel’s convoy showed up. The convoy rammed into the SIA’s convoy. ODG’s security men, for no just cause, fired tear gas into the crowd and shot sporadically, killing two supporters of SIA and wounding many others in the process.

(2) Invasion of Sagamu
The city of Sagamu was invaded by OGD's boys on November 22, 2006 in which scores of SIA’s supporters were gruesomely attacked.

(3) Attack on Gbenga Obadara
Bukola Olopade, popularly called Ozogula, the then Commissioner for Youth and Sports and his boys physically manhandled Senator Gbenga Obadara (Ozogula’s uncle) at the 2nd February Hangout in GRA Abeokuta in 2007.

(4) The Ijaiye Attack
On March 9, 2007, the SIA Governorship Campaign Team was violently attacked at Ijaiye, Abeokuta. The state capital had stood still for SIA on the fateful day. This got the PDP jittery, hence the attack by its thugs, led by Ologbowon and Bukola Olopade (Ozogula). Some of Amosun’s supporters were killed while he escaped by a hair’s breadth. Properties running into millions of naira were destroyed by the thugs.

(5) The Police Invitation/ Adatan Car Wash Attack
Upon invitation from the police on March 10, 2007, SIA decided to trek to the Eleweran station with some of his supporters. At the Car Wash area, Ozogula and Ologbonwon, the heads of the ‘hit-and-run’ team of OGD, attacked SIA and his teeming supporters who were unarmed. Those who sustained grievous injuries in the attack included Chief Derin Adebiyi, Mr Taiwo Fagbemi and Alhaji Mufasiru. Many others lost their lives. This particular attack was later described as ‘illegal trekking’ by a very senior police officer. Only divine intervention saved an unarmed Ibikunle Amosun from an obvious, premeditated assassination attempt. It remains a miracle till date because he was the MAIN TARGET.

(6) OGTV Incident - Governorship Election Debate
On April 3rd, 2007, the governorship election debate on the premises of Ogun State Television (OGTV) was disrupted by a team of boys led by Ozogula, who wielded dangerous weapons like guns, daggers, machete, etc. Otunba Dipo Dina was among the candidates slated for elimination that day. Others included Senator Gbenga Kaka, Ogbeni Lanre Banjo. Again, God did not deliver Amosun to their hands.

(7) OPC Invasion of Abeokuta
On a bright afternoon in 2007, several members of the OPC invaded the Ogun State capital, fully armed and chanting war songs. They converged at the PDP secretariat, where Governor Daniel addressed them, saying “Awon omo ogun mi, mi’o gburo yin!” (My warriors, I’m yet to feel your action!) The capital was later thrown into pandemonium and many supporters of SIA went into hiding. It was the era when shop owners in Abeokuta closed business latest by 6pm.

( Physical Assault on SIA  Middle: Governor Ibikunle Amosun
On May 23, 2008, during the burial of Senator Abraham Adesanya at Abusi Odumare Academy, Ijebu Igbo, Amosun was physically assaulted by agents of the former governor. He was also pelted with sachets of Pure Water.

(9) Attack on Senator Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello
She was violently attacked INSIDE THE CHURCH by one of OGD’s body guards who bears the name Daniel during the wedding ceremony of the daughter of the then Governor Alao Akala of Oyo State on November 15, 2008. Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello

(10) Attack on Chief (Mrs) Alaba Lawson
On December 19, 2008, Mrs Alaba Lawson, the Iyalode of Egbaland and staunch supporter of SIA, was violently attacked by agents of the former government. Her guard was slaughtered. Only God preserved her life. Further threats were sent to her through her brother. As a result of the incessant threats to her life by OGD’s men, she went on self-exile for over two years and only returned to Abeokuta after the inauguration of the Amosun government. She has since lived peacefully in the state capital.
Wale Adedayo: Former Chief Press Secretary to Governor Gbenga Daniel Wale Adedayo

(11) Attack on Wale Adedayo
On January 10, 2009, at about 10pm, there was an attempt on Wale Adedayo’s  life on Ago Iwoye/ Ilishan road by agents of the government that he served. That was at the height of the disagreements that led to his eventual exit from Daniel's government. Readers will recall the accounts of the galling atrocities committed by the OGD regime in Adedayo’s book - Micro-seconds from death.

(12) Murder of Age Omo Lemomu
On February 14th, 2009, Mr Age was murdered in cold blood in Sagamu by men believed to be OGD's supporters. His body could not be found till date. He was a lieutenant, staunch supporter of OGD and credited with having gory details of OGD’s atrocities, including his not being from Ogun State. The general belief is that Age was murdered because he knew too much about OGD. For instance, it was Age who established a root for OGD in Sagamu, whereas he (OGD) hails from Isoko-land. 

(13) Murder of Lafenwa DPO
On March 4th, 2009, the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of Lafenwa police station, Chief Superintendent Adesola Okesola, was killed in what appeared to be a premeditated murder by the powers that be in Ogun.

(14) Court of Appeal Attack
While following the due process of law to reclaim his stolen mandate in the 2007 governorship poll, Amosun and his supporters were violently attacked by the OGD boys on the premises of the Ibadan Division of the Court of Appeal on Monday, January 18, 2010. Several vehicles belonging to the supporters of Amosun were smashed by the thugs.
Former LGA Chairman in Sagamu, Tunde Oladunjoye

(15) Assault on Tunde Oladunjoye
The Chairman of Ijebu-Ife Local Government, Hon Tunde Oladunjoye, was assaulted (slapped) on Saturday, July 24, 2010 by Mrs Daniel, wife of the then governor, Gbenga Daniel, because of his principled stand on the rule of law. The OGD men returned to Ijebu-Ife on Monday, July 26, 2010 and burnt down Oladunjoye’s house. The palace of the king of the town was equally razed on the same day.

(16) Face-off with Speaker Dimeji Bankole
OGD also had a face-off with the then Speaker of the House of Reps, Dimeji Bankole, during the inauguration of Sango bridge, constructed by the Federal Government on July 29, 2010. The Speaker had been invited by the minister for the event only for Daniel to orchestrate the launch of the bridge once he realised Bankole was already close to the venue. Bankole was enraged and this resulted in a war of words between the duo. Residents who had come for the event scampered for safety as security aides of the two men engaged in a shooting spree.

(17) Osoba went into Exile Ex-Ogun State Governor, Olusegun Osoba
As part of his vindictiveness and intolerance of the opposition, a phony allegation was made against the former governor of the state, Chief Olusegun Osoba, who by sheer coincidence was in Ilaro around the period Yeye Funke Daniel’s convoy was allegedly attacked. Chief Osoba was arrested and made to write statements, especially at the Zone 2 of the Nigeria Police Force, Onikan, Lagos. As a result of his persecution by OGD, Chief Osoba went on self-exile and could only return in 2011. A massive home-coming ceremony was organised for Chief Osoba and other party faithful by Senator Ibikunle Amosun. Osoba has since been enjoying his visit to Abeokuta or any part of the state.
Former youth commissioner, Bukola Olopade a.k.a "Ozogula" Dailyindependent

(18) Ozogula’s cult project 
This was christianed ‘Taking the boys off the streets’ but it was a smokescreen as the same boys were used to unleash violence on real and perceived opponents of OGD. It is not surprising that the Ogun State Truth Commission stated that Bukola Olopade alias Ozogula, Akeem Odejimi Ologbowon, Mrs Olufunke Daniel, Mr Saburi  Kehinde Ayoade, among others, “were shown conclusively by the Petitions considered by us to have engaged in acts of either political violence, abuse of office or hooliganism...” The Commission, for instance, recommended the criminal trial of Ologbowon (Ozogula’s comrade-in-crime) for murder of Gbenga Apolola. It said Mr Saburi  Kehinde Ayoade should be prosecuted for gunning down Moshood Bankolewa. While recommending criminal proceedings against Mr Bukola Olopade aka Ozogula, the Commission said he “was found to have attacked one Ajasa Olayiwola at Car Wash Adatan Area of Abeokuta with thugs and hoodlums and had him beaten with sticks and metals resulting in bleeding from his head.”

(19) OGD’s Valley View Declaration
On that day of infamy, OGD wore a red cap. He described the situation, which he foisted on the state, as the commencement of war. A sitting governor and war, one wonders!

(20) Other Attacks on SIA 
Amosun suffered other violent attacks at Ilaro, Ajilete, Ijebu Ode, Oke-Itoku and Odogbolu, all in a bid to permanently silence him. But the Almighty did not grant them their heart desire.

(21) Siege on Ogun House of Assembly
There were several reported attempts on the life Rt. Hon Tunji Egbetokun, the then Speaker of the Ogun State House of Assembly and others opposed to the mis-governance of the state under OGD. For instance, Daniel’s Chief of Staff, Mr Yomi Majekodunmi, was apprehended by the police for being in possession of firearms around Hon Egbetokun’s house.

(22) The OGD Killer Squad
The security agents are not unaware that members of OGD's killer squad are still stealthily active under the cover armed robbery, political violence, cultists’ clashes, etc. They will be made to face the full wrath of the law.

Finally, citizens must be wary of these revisionists and profiteers from violence. It is on record that since the recent APC crisis began, Amosun’s watchword has remained reconciliation. Interesting, there has been no political violence against the opposition under the Amosun government. This bears eloquent testimony to the style of Amosun. It is an irony that OGD and his supporters moved freely in Abeokuta on the day of the inauguration  of his faction of the Labour Party. That was not possible when he was the governor. Leaders of some labour unions were brutally silenced for having the guts to demand for their rights. Daniel now enjoys the liberty he denied others. What an irony! Other opposition parties even have their events relayed on the state television, which was a taboo under OGD. Of course, there are a few unpatriotic elements within the APC, in collusion with the opposition, that attempted to reenact violence in the state on two occasions.

The security agents, I believe, are on top of the situation to prevent a repeat of the isolated ugly incidents. 
Vigilance is the price of liberty. Let’s all guide our freedom jealously. Let’s ignore the lies and join hands with the Amosun administration so that the unprecedented development the state is witnessing can continue without let or hindrance.
I wrote this piece from the depth of my heart because I was a victim of the lawlessness and crude violence that characterised the government of OGD. Nobody would have been able to predict in 2009 that normalcy would ever return to this state. Let the calculated lies on the internet stop. Let OGD's boys and their collaborators devote their time to better things. Amosun is a man of peace; and that’s evident in the freedom being enjoyed by all residents of the state.
 
 - Oludare Abayomi is a chieftain of the Action Congress of Nigeria (now All Progressives Congress), Ogun State chapter.

Bisi Onabanjo on My Mind
By Yusuph Olaniyonu

For those of us who had our secondary education in Ogun State between 1978 and 1983, late Chief Victor Olabisi Onabanjo remains a folklore hero. The man became the first elected governor of a young state which was just 44 months old in October 1979 and realized that his victory at the polls was as a result of popular support for his party, the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN).
One of the cardinal programmes of his party was free education. While there are many enduring landmark edifices built by the Onabanjo administration in its four years, three months tenure, as a direct beneficiary, the education programme is still the area where one continues to have the most appreciation of the ingenuity of Chief Obafemi Awolowo and his lieutenants. In a place like Ogun State where education was and remains a major industry as the people have by then had close to two century exposure to Western education, the UPN captured the heart of the people with its creative investment in establishment of new schools, building of new education infrastructure, supply of free textbooks, notebooks and other instructional materials, while tuition fees were abolished in secondary schools.
The quality of teaching in Ogun state was so high that some of my mates were from Lagos, Oyo and places that are now in Edo and Osun States. People from neighbouring states came to get good education in Ogun State and benefit from the free education policy. Incidentally, when I returned to live in Ogun State in 2011, I found that one area where the erosion and compromise of the Onabanjo legacy was more evident is in the area of education. Over the years, schools in Ogun State had suffered serious neglect. The infrastructure had collapsed. Quality of teaching had become prostrate. Teachers were disenchanted and teaching had become a second profession to them. As a result of these negative developments, students themselves have become disoriented.
These are the challenges that the present administration in Ogun State headed by Senator Ibikunle Amosun had to contend with since its inception on May 29, 2011. Incidentally, the first item in the administration’s Mission to Rebuild Agenda is Affordable Qualitative Education.
With its meager resources, the present government, like that of Onabanjo, abolished tuition fees in all its 1,491 primary and 473 secondary schools. Also, an audit of number of pupils and students in public schools were taken and textbooks, notebooks and instructional materials were supplied to each of them as we enjoyed under the Onabanjo administration. The Amosun administration also initiated a programme in which it gradually began the renovation and reconstruction of blocks of classrooms in the schools as well as supply of new furniture in those schools. To enable it pay for the cost of these infrastructural facilities, the government entered into negotiation with the Universal Basic Education (UBE) and Education Trust Fund (ETF), in which it paid the backlog of its counterpart fund dating back to 2008 so that it can access the fund due to the state which had been lying fallow.
That is why one would see new buildings and furniture in some primary and secondary schools with the inscription ‘SUBEB 2008/ 2009’, yet they were built by the current administration with the money accessed in arrears from UBE for the year inscribed on them as directed by the relevant federal intervention agency. However, with the extent of rot inherited by the present administration in the area of infrastructure, it is not uncommon to still see some school buildings that are not in good shape. Definitely, renovation and reconstruction of classroom buildings is a work-in-progress that will take a few more years before normalcy can be totally restored.
As it was in the Onabanjo era when new schools were built to accommodate the growing number of students, the Amosun administration is on the verge of completing 15 model secondary schools with each of them having a carrying capacity of 1,000 students. The model schools are being constructed in preparation for the return of schools originally owned by missionaries.
Again, government has introduced the unified examinations in primary and secondary schools in which all pupils and students write the same examinations, centrally administered and paid for by the government. The implication is that tutors are forced to cover their syllabus, the quality of teaching automatically improves and level of performance of students in internal and external examinations continues to grow higher. In any case, government has religiously paid the WAEC fees of final year secondary school students while those in technical schools enjoy the same privilege.
The students are further motivated by the reward of a foreign leadership training that the foundation run by wife of the governor, Mrs. Olufunso Amosun, gives to the 20 students with best WAEC results selected from the 20 Local Government Areas. These progressive policies explain why enrolment in Junior Secondary Schools has jumped from 174,820 in 2011 to 214,837 while that of the Senior Secondary Schools has moved from 146, 737 to 162,536 in the last three years. The performance in WAEC has also improved by over 100 percent from what it used to be in 2011. Similarly, the Higher Education Performance (HEP) rate has moved from 18 percent in 2011/12 to 49.8 percent in 2012/13.
Today, teachers in the state have never had a better deal. Schools now get money for running cost. They get 27.5 percent Peculiar Allowance and 13th month salary allowance. They are due to get the recently approved car and housing loans of between N500, 000 to N2 million and N1 million to N5 million respectively, depending on the salary scale. The loan will enable some of them to purchase comfortable apartment flats in the AAK Degun MTR Estate, Laderin in Abeokuta, specifically built by the government for public servants. Since 2011, Ogun State’s teachers have been participating in different all-year round training programmes aimed at improving their competence. No wonder, Ogun State has been carting away majority of the awards in the National Teachers Awards being given by the Federal Government. The state government also gives similar award to further motivate the teachers.
The seven tertiary schools owned by the state are not left behind. They get improved monthly subvention paid regularly to enable the school authorities meet their financial demands. The government has introduced policies aimed at overhauling the system. Infrastructural, education and transport facilities aimed at repositioning the schools and returning them to the prime position they occupied in the immediate years following the exit of the Onabanjo era.
Despite the propaganda by some opposition elements, I make bold to say the state government has not approved any request for increment in school fees in these higher institutions since 2011. Rather, since 2011, it has directed an across-the-board reduction in fees while also insisting on operation of a cashless policy aimed at institutionalizing financial discipline in the school.
It is for the above reasons that each time one reviews the developments in the Ogun State education sector, one is tempted to conclude that there is a re-enactment of Onabanjo’s golden years.

Olaniyonu is Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Ogun State