…. Bans youth carnival, countdown to new year

As cases of Coronavirus continue to rise nationwide, the Government of the State of Osun has introduced new measures to curb spread of the infection in the State. 

The State Executive Council announced the new directives after its meeting held on Monday to discuss emerging national issues, including the management of the pandemic. 

The Council expressed worry over what it described as appalling and abysmally low level of compliance of residents of the State with the existing COVID-19 protocols. 

It has therefore issued new directives that groups, associations and residents of the State must comply with, to limit spread of the disease in the State. 

Part of the new directives is that all social clubs, hotels, departmental stores, supermarkets, event centers and allied centres are to henceforth operate at half of their capacities.

The Council appealed to the citizenry to cut down on social gatherings for weddings, naming ceremonies, funeral ceremonies and others to reduce the spate of exposure and contact with possible carriers visiting the State during the Yuletide period.

It also mandated religious organisations in the State to reintroduce the abandoned protocol regimes already put in place at the wake of the pandemic before the economy was unlocked for business activities.

Additionally, the Council directed its members to engage leadership of various religious groups to sensitise and enlighten their congregations on the need to comply with the Covid-19 protocols.

Towns and cities are to put on hold the annual days through physical attendance and change such to virtual version.

Council directed Local Governments and Local Council Development Authorities to form enforcement/suasion committees to save the situation and further spread of the pandemic.

Also the Executive Council directed the Citizenry to embrace the use of face masks in public places, washing of hands with soap and water, hand sanitisers and social distancing as compulsory steps to avoid infections.

The Council pleaded with the citizenry to continue to take their health seriously as their personal responsibility and enjoin all to adhere to the Covid-19 protocols.

The Council encouraged proper management and disposal of used face masks and other materials used daily in the prevention of the virus of the pandemic from spreading.

The Council did not leave out the need to sustain the ‘no mask, no entry’ at MDAs and public places across the State, including educational institutions.

The Council also directed that annual youth carnivals should be discouraged across the State with cancellation of countdown to the new year rallies and ceremonies.

Signed 

Prince Wole Oyebamiji 

SSG, State of Osun  December 22, 2020

…. says committee expresses readiness to distribute immediately on receipt

The leadership of the Osun Food and Relief Committee on Monday revealed that it is now ready to receive delivery of the 40, 332 units of 10kg bags of rice for onward distribution to the people of the State.

This is even as it expressed readiness to commence the distribution of the expected CACOVID rice on delivery.

The Committee also  debunked the insinuations making the rounds that the State government deliberately hoarded the food and relief materials donated by CACOVID, meant to cushion the effects of the ravaging coronavirus pandemic.

The Committee noted that contrary to speculations,  it has not received any rice component, just as it displayed the letter from CACOVID  which had absolved the State of any wrongdoing in the looted palliatives, before the journalists, while addressing a Press Conference, in Osogbo, on Monday. 

The Secretary to the Committee, Alhaji Adebayo Jimoh, disclosed these during the joint press briefing held at the Press Centre, Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Osun State Council, Osogbo.

CACOVID is the Coalition Against Covid-19 established by the private sector task force in partnership with the Federal Government, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and the World Health Organisation with the sole aim of combating the effects  Covid-19 pandemic in Nigeria.

Jimoh, who denounced the insinuations that the State deliberately hoarded the looted palliatives, said the letter from CACOVID was enough vindication to validate the State Government and the Committee’s earlier positions that they never hoarded the palliatives before they were looted.

He explained that the looted palliatives were not meant for distribution as at the time they were looted by miscreants who burgled the warehouse in Ede during the EndSARS protest.

“As a committee, we have no mandate to distribute the looted palliatives as at the time they were looted because we were awaiting the directive of the donors through the CACOVID committee.

“As you all know, the palliatives under our supervision were distributed accordingly during the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic, but for the CACOVID palliatives, the State was asked to wait for further instruction before flagging off the distribution.

“As at the time the food items were looted, the donors had not delivered the rice component which was part of the reasons we were directed not to distribute.

“There was a letter signed and dated 28th September, 2020 by the Commissioner for Commerce, Dr. Bode Olaonipekun, and my humble self to this effect, demanding the release and supply of the rice component of the palliatives”, Jimoh added.

He however said the State was now ready to take delivery and   distribute the expected rice component once supplied as modalities had been put in place to ensure smooth and equitable distribution to the beneficiaries throughout the State. 

Speaking on the proposed framework for the distribution of the expected rice component of the CACOVID palliatives, the Commissioner for Commerce, Industries, Cooperatives and Empowerment, Dr. Bode Olaonipekun, said the rice would be taken directly to the beneficiaries on delivery.

He said there would be no room for warehousing, adding that adequate security would be put in place to avoid the breakdown of law and order.

“We are not going to warehouse the expected rice component as strategy is going to take the form of direct supply for onward distribution.

“Each place of the distribution clusters will provide trucks for immediate takeoff of the rice and there will be a monitoring and evaluation team, which will include members of the CACOVID team, Civil Society Organisations; Youths and students, traditional rulers; religious leaders; and market women”, he added. The Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Hon. Adeleke Adebayo and Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Ismail Omipidan, were also at the press briefing.

.…says no FG palliatives in Osun warehouses

The Osun Food and Relief Committee on CIVID-19 has siad that the Coalition Against Covid-19 (CACOVID) has not flagged off the distribution of palliatives in the State. 

The Committee disclosed this in a statement signed by the Secretary of the Committee, Alhaji Bayo Jimoh, and made available to newsmen on Wednesday in Osogbo, the State capital.

The statement reads in part: “I wish to place on record that CACOVID has yet to do any flag-off in Osun. CACOVID sent a programme of events to us in August in preparation for the flag off but it was later called off. 

“The last letter we wrote to them on behalf of the State was dated September 28, reminding them that the State had yet to receive the rice component of the donated items and that they should give the Committee further directives on the available ones since some of the items were perishable.

“We are sure that when they elect to clear the air on the status of their palliatives in the States, we shall be vindicated.They should come out with a list of the States where flag off had been done”.

The Secretary also clarified that the State does not have any Federal Government’s palliatives in any of its wear houses as they have all been distributed.

“For the umpteenth time,  I wish to reiterate that no Federal Government palliatives were delayed and none was kept in Ede Warehouse. The consignments we got from the FG have since been distributed. “Only CACOVID palliatives were housed in Ede Warehouse and we were asked to wait for the flag-off, hence, our inability to distribute before they were looted”, Jimoh said.

We are in receipt of information that the Warehouse in Ede, where we kept the relief materials donated to the Osun Food and Relief Committee by the Private Sector Coalition Against Covid-19 (CACOVID), has been attacked and food items carted away.

It has therefore become imperative to put the records straight in view of the falsehood and the misinformation making the rounds about the donated relief items.

One, it is not true that the food items were hoarded.

Two, the food items have no direct bearing with the State Government, as they are within the purview of the Food and Relief Committee.

Three, the items can only be distributed after a formal flag-off by the CACOVID Office, Abuja. 

Four, we do not have the authority to distribute the food items without approval from Abuja.  

Besides, the Committee is still expecting the rice component of the donated items, which is 40, 230 bags of 5kg. 

All these are part of the reasons the items were still in the warehouse up till the time of the invasion.

The following items were donated: Pasta FMN – 29, 992; Pasta OLAM -10, 282; Noodles- 80, 644; Garri -40, 322; Salt- 40, 320; and Sugar – 40, 227. 

However, the rice components of the donated items are yet to be delivered up until now.

The Committee wrote to CACOVID as recently as September 28, 2020, reminding it of the rice component, which is yet to be delivered.

Part of the letter reads: “I wish to refer to our letter on the above subject and wish to request for the recent update on the rice component expected to have been delivered to the State, and also to seek your advice on the exact time the State should expect delivery, considering the fact that items already received into the Warehouse are food materials and are perishable with limited shelve lives.

“May I recall in our previous discussions that the delay experienced is due to increase in cost of rice and delivery, that the amount paid to suppliers could no longer cover cost of purchase and delivery to Osun. “

However, up until this moment, we are yet to receive response from CACOVID. 

This is the truth about the status of the donated relief items until their unfortunate looting.

Signed:

Alh. Bayo Jimoh

Secretary, Osun Food and Relief Committee

The State Government of Osun hereby reiterates that the curfew necessitated by the need to rid our streets and communities of violence and damages, is till further notice.

This by implication means that the State Government has not approved the movement of people at any time of the day within the period of the curfew.

Kindly be informed that the curfew is not a punitive measure; rather, it is to keep our streets safe, our children safe and to ensure that our business owners do not suffer any more losses.

Citizens are enjoined to cooperate with the government by staying safe, so that we do not suffer more physical, financial and psychological damages.

The State Government assures that the curfew will be lifted as soon as our collective safety is guaranteed.

Signed:

Prince Wole Oyebamiji

Secretary to the State Government

The government of the State of Osun has declared a three-day fasting and prayers for the restoration of peace and tranquility in the State.

Osun government, in a statement by the Secretary to the State Government, Prince Wole Oyebamiji, said that the fasting and prayers would hold from Tuesday, 20th October to Thursday, 22nd October 2020.

The statement read in part: “Osun is known for peaceful co-habitation amongst her citizens, but recent occurences in the State appear to threaten the enviable peace profile of Osun. Therefore, citizens are enjoined to observe the three days fasting and prayer for the peace of the state.

“We also implore royal fathers and religious leaders to observe this rewarding spiritual exercise for the sake of the peace of the State, and mobilize as many people in doing same.

“Also, observance of this exercise would not require a public holiday or a large congregation at any designated place”, the statement read.

The State Government of Osun has charged its citizens to leverage on the demands for innovations that the COVID-19 pandemic has brought about in the country and in the world.

The Deputy Governor, Mr Benedict Alabi, who is the Head of the State’s Task Force on COVID-19, disclosed this while receiving the donation of solar-powered handwashing machines from the Osun State branch of the Nigerian Society of Engineers.

Alabi said that the State of Osun is one that runs on innovations across different sectors, and is therefore open to receiving more innovative ideas and Interventions from individuals, groups and associations, within and outside the State.

In his words: “We appreciate the Nigerian Society of Engineers for this noble idea presented to the State. The Governor and the people of our dear State are impressed by the idea behind this donation.

“COVID-19 has presented us with the opportunities to be innovative. It is now left for us  to utilize the opportunities the virus has presented, for the advancement of the society.

….okays Juma’at in mosque

The State Government of Osun having appraised how the state is currently faring with respect to the global health emergency, vis-a-vis the fact that Eid-el- Kabir and Juma’at fall on the same day, has announced that there would be no Eid congregation or prayers on Friday July 31. However, Juma’at service will hold in line with the existing safety protocols and guidelines.

The State of Osun is still recording rising figures of confirmed COVID-19 cases amidst an active community transmission stage of the pandemic. This coupled with the fact that people whose COVID-19 status has not been ascertained would be travelling into the State from different parts of the country, in the spirit of the celebration.

The State cannot afford the impact of any form of large gathering such as the kind expected at praying grounds  and the associated difficulties of enforcing the safety protocols against COVID-19

Our health managers are also worried by the recent surge in active cases , and have warned that the State could experience galloping figures due to continued disobedience of safety protocols if it allows any kind of specially high density gatherings or congregation.

The State Government does not want its citizens exposed to this dangerous infection, especially among the aged and those with underlying health conditions. 

The State Government of Osun is not relenting in its fight to curtail the spread of the coronavirus, and to rid the State of it. The government is, and will continue to take necessary actions towards ensuring the safety and security of its people.

The Governor and State Government of Osun wish all Muslim faithful a happy Eid-el-Kabir celebration ahead.

Signed: Prince Wole Oyebamiji Secretary to the State Government

.…discharges 12 patients

The State of Osun Commissioner for Health,  Dr Rafiu Isamotu on Wednesday, announced the discovery of additional eight fresh COVID-19 cases in the State. 

He also confirmed the discharge of 12 patients from the State’s Treatment and Isolation Centres, just as he confirmed the death of one patient.

Dr. Isamotu while appealing to citizens and residents of the State to always observe all the precautionary measures laid down by the State against the spread of the virus, noted that the new cases were contacts of previous cases in the State. 

He added that with the latest development, the number of confirmed cases in the State, as at July 22, are 367 with 175 active cases.  The Commissioner further revealed that the State had successfully treated and discharged 183 patients, while nine deaths have so far been recorded in the state.