Former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo will chair a programme being organised to celebrate the victory of the governor of Osun State, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola on Sunday, 2nd November, 2014.
The event, Victory Colloquium for Ogbeni Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola, with the theme, “Osun Election: A Pathway For Nigeria’s Democratic Growth” is being organised by the Gazelle News.com, an online news medium, in conjunction with the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to Governor Aregbesola on MDGs.
According to the organisers of the programme, the theme topic lecture will be delivered by the national legal adviser of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr Muiz Banire while the following will discuss the theme lecture paper: Professor Lakin Akintola of the Lagos State University (LASU), Ojo, and Barr M.O. Ubani, chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Ikeja amongst others.
The speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Aminu Tambuwal will be the special guest of honour, just as former governor of Osun State, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola is expected to lead a special victory toast.
LEADERSHIP
Barring any hitch, the Osun State election petition tribunal adjudicating over complaints arising from the result of the August 9, 2014 governorship poll, will today begin pre-trial conference, Nigerian Tribune gathered.
At the pre-trial conference, petitions filed by political parties and their prayers would be thoroughly examined and distilled to determine issues that will be heard by the panel, with a view to merge prayers or demands of petitioners, where necessary.
During previous proceedings, on the premises of the state High Court, former chairman of the election petition tribunal, Justice Suleiman Ambrussa had granted leave to All Progressive Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to inspect materials used for the election at the state office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
It will be recalled that the first presiding chairman of the panel, Justice I.M Bako, was changed barely after the take off of the proceedings, following petition against him by the governorship candidate of the Accord Party (AP), Mr Niyi Owolade.
Similarly, the lead counsel of the APC, Barrister Kunle Adegoke had during one the proceedings raised an issue of a petition filed by his clients against Justice Suleiman Ambrussa, who succeeded Bako at the National Judicial Commission (NJC), a development, which eventually culminated in the recent dissolution of the entire three-man panel.
The new three-man panel, chaired by Justice Ikpejime, who is from Benue State would today hold its maiden sitting, with the assistance of two other members, Justice V.I Ofesi from Delta State and Justice Kutigi from the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.
TRIBUNE
• A devotee chats with an Ifa priest in the grove.
The blissful relationship between Osun goddess and the people of Osogbo has been celebrated for centuries unbroken. It is a bond deep in love, peace and procreation, second to none on planet earth. But like a thief in the night, Ebola virus crept into Nigeria to steal the joy of the devotees and tourists and almost marred the just concluded edition. But Commissioner for Tourism and Culture, Hon. Adetona Sikiru Ayedun admitted that although the festival was low-keyed, the health of the people was greater than wealth, and speaks of template already in place to grow the sector in the state of Osun. Excerpts…
How much has Ebola watered down this year’s festival?
We know and it has been established that it is a very serious and contagious disease, and we care much about the welfare of our people. Yes, we know it is a celebration period and part of tourism is for people to move into the city en mass, to come and celebrate with us and because of that to create wealth within the state and amongst our people but at the same time health is wealth.
We don’t even know the level or how fast the disease spreads so what we need to do is limit at least for the period this thing can be contained, the number of tourists or influx of people to the State of Osun.
Because one, if we don’t do that, it will spread the disease and what is even important is that for us to even determine who has what and that means all the vehicles coming into the state has to be stopped and all passengers disembarked and checked one by one which will take a toll on our health service delivery and that means we have to move all our doctors into the border towns of the state but we don’t want to do this. Coupled with that the federal government is trying to limit the spreading of the disease. Overnight yesterday, at the Federal Executive Council meeting, they said all festivals should be put on hold for the moment so that we know how best to eradicate this disease. It has seriously taken a toll because we are looking at a situation every year we grow the attendance of people coming to all our festivals. Last year we had close to 15,000 participants apart from tourists, even celebrants that came into the state and we know the effect on the economy, not just on the economy of the state, the hospitality industry, our cuisine providers, artists and memorabilia, artisans and others. But we know they have to bear with us for it is better for us to be healthy than create a wealth that would not be enough to cure the disease.
Beyond Ebola, what’s your plan to make tourism rebound. Is the budget for the sector alright?
On the issue of Ebola, immediately we had information about this disease, we put together an inter-ministerial meeting between our Tourism Ministry, Health, Environment and Information to create awareness and also to let people know why we needed to close our doors to tourists during the festival period. The Ministry of Health has started a total screening of people coming in and out of the state. On the issue of the state being a tourist destination, we all know that with what we have, which is over a thousand tourist sites; Osun remains a choice destination for tourists. Today, the identified significant ones are over 100. To develop these hundred sites to world standard level we need a huge amount of money and there is no how the government will spearhead this alone. It is either we decide to stop all other developmental projects, in the educational sector, health sector, and infrastructural development for tourism or share our resources even. But developing all these sites will not be the achievement of government alone and since it is even meant for wealth creation, what we intend doing is to bring in investors. We’ve been working on this. We have done some little interventions in all these sites. We want to bring in investors. We have started having people who are interested in joining the state in developing the sites for wealth and job creation and when this is done we know it will relieve the government of the debt of the budget burden because the private investor would definitely bring in his funds to come and work, we will only partner with them because we are the custodian.
What’s the significance of the grove since it became a World Heritage Site and the socio-cultural importance of the festival?
Since it was designated a World Heritage Site, it has given more exposure to Osogbo who is the custodian of the grove, then globally, it has exposed the State of Osun as a tourist destination every August. The socio- cultural impact of this event is that it runs for eleven to twelve days, during this period, we have different organizations bringing in their products into the state. We have different brands coming into the state bringing in different items and also it gives room for felicitations among the people in the state both inhabitants of Osogbo and the state in general. This period is a period that people have full-fledged, unlimited fun. These are the things we intend to achieve with the type of exposure we have received.
Can you quantify the extent of loss engendered by Ebola Viral Disease?
It has caused us a lot not just the state, what we are trying to achieve is to create wealth for our people, the hospitality industry will loose, cuisine providers will loose, brands business people will loose and also our artisans, art and craft, sculptors, at least people that would produce memorabilia. But it is even better for us. There is no amount of money you make this period, if we have this disease imported into the state that we would not have lamentation afterwards. It is better we don’t talk about the loss; we should better talk about our health first.
Let me say this, what we had yesterday was World Traditional Festival recognized by UNESCO. Every 28 August, is celebrated as World Traditional Day by traditionalists all over the world. And when you are talking about the significance of this, this is the cradle of Yoruba Civilization. We had people inhabiting Ife before the advent of Christians and Moslems who were basically traditional worshippers, Ogun, Shango, Obatala and the rest. Part of these traditional institutions is what we celebrate today as Osun Osogbo cultural festival. The Osun Osogbo was about the creation of what we call Osogbo today. It is a blissful relationship between Yeye Osun and a hunter who established a place called ‘Osoigbo,’ now known as Osogbo. The hunter we are talking about was the first traditional ruler of Osogbo town. It is a period of homage, obeisance and propitiation.
Like what you said, what is important to us is getting the best for the state and its people, and today what we had planned for this year’s celebration, if not for Ebola, we had a lot of things, which we had to scuttle. The only thing visible we can do this year is the developmental project we’ve done in the grove like the podium where we used to have exhibitions but today you can seat down conveniently and monitor the events as it unfolds. Unlike where we used to have issues with security and people moving out and devotees moving around, it is just the face-lifting of the grove and its entire surroundings that is an addition to what we are doing this year.
May I use this opportunity to congratulate the number 1 citizen of this state, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola on his reelection and also to congratulate all the indigenes and inhabitants of Osogbo including those who helped us reclaim our mandate, and wish them joyous celebrations during the festival.
SUNNEWS
Federal lawmakers from Osun State at the National Assembly are collaborating with the State government to fund some developmental projects in the state. Reports show that they are pooling funds from their constituency projects together to build schools, dams and other projects as part of the dividends of democracy to their constituents.
The lawmakers from Osun State in the National Assembly are giving a new meaning to constituency projects often embarked upon by legislators to help develop their area and give the much needed dividend of democracy to their people.
Instead of each of them spending the funds meant for constituency projects in his/her area on any project of his/her choice, the three senators and nine members of the House of Representatives from the state are pooling resources from such funds together to jointly fund common projects in close collaboration with the state government. And the result has been multi billion naira projects which one legislator couldn’t have been able to afford.
The lawmakers are leveraging on their membership of the same political party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) together with the state government, to support the vision of rapid development of all parts of Osun state by Governor Rauf Aregbesola.
It is a creative approach that has made it possible for the Aregbesola administration to achieve unprecedented success in education, agriculture and food security, water and sanitation among others since the inauguration of the administration in November 2010.
The ‘cooperative’ and collaborative approach of the lawmakers towards the development of the area has been made possible through their resolve to work with the governor as a formidable team, with the aim of taking Osun state out of the woods within a short time.
According to Senator Babajide Omoworare, representing Osun East senatorial district, otherwise known as Ife/Ijesa: “We the lawmakers met with the governor and asked him in what areas of development projects can we come in, to the rescue the state. We believe both the lawmakers and the governor have responsibilities to the people in our various constituencies and we must be ready to ensure we don’t fail in doing what are expected of us by the people.”
No doubt, the lawmakers’ intervention by pooling resources from their constituency project allowances is already helping the 23-year old state. For example, in Osun East senatorial district comprising 10 of the 30 local government areas in the state and one area office, Senator Omoworare and the three members of the House of Representatives from the area are using their constituency project allowances to fund a number of projects in the district.
Some of the projects include the water dam located at Umar Olanrewaju Street, Ipetu-Ijesa (under construction), building of Hope Elementary School, Ilesa, building of Community Middle School, Ita-Osa, Ile-Ife, renovation of Atakumosa Middle School, Osu, renovation of Ansar-udeen Elementary School, Ogbo Agbara Ile-Ife.
Senator Omoworare, who led other lawmakers on inspection tour of the projects, put the cost of the Ipetu-Ijesa water dam at N750 million, with a capacity to supply water to Oriade, Atakumosa East, Atakumosa West and Ilesa-West local governments.
He disclosed that the water project was funded with the N550 million 2012 constituency project funds of the lawmakers, adding that they had to source for additional N200m to make the total cost of N750m for the completion of the project.
The project included running of pipes and provision of reservoirs to some of the communities in the benefiting local governments.
Omoworare disclosed that the lawmakers would spend about N4 billion on water provision for the Osun East Senatorial District, including the counterpart funding from the federal government.
The Senator urged the federal government to put its N2.4billion counterpart fund for the water project in the 2015 fiscal year budget.
Speaking during the inspection of the Hope Elementary School, Ilesa, Hon. Ajibola Famurewa, representing Ijesa-South Federal Constituency at the House of Representatives, stated that the school was constructed in line with the quality of the state government’s model schools. Famurewa stated that the Ife/Ijesa lawmakers had consulted Governor Aregbesola before embarking on the construction of the school, saying that the National Assembly members were trying to share the Aregbesola administration’s burden of building ultra modern schools for the development of public education in the state.
According to Famurewa, the cost of the building of the Hope Middle School which is still under construction would be up to N168 million, including the furnishing of the classrooms and offices in the school, when completed.
The Hope Middle school has 31 classrooms, laboratories, offices and toilets, among other facilities. Famurewa stated that the lawmakers, in their 2013 constituency project are building two new schools and renovating two other schools in the senatorial district to meet up with the modern standard. He stressed that the Ife/Ijesa lawmakers at the National Assembly would also build new schools and renovate some others in their 2014 project.
The lawmaker representing Oriade/Obokun federal Constituency in the Federal House of Representatives, Hon. Nathaniel Agunbiade, stated that the funds for the constituency projects were not released to the lawmakers, saying that they only chose the type of project they wanted. ý Agunbiade maintained that the projects were executed after discussion with Governor Aregbesola and consultation with the people of their constituencies on the type of project they wanted in their areas. He explained that there would not be enough funds should they embark on different and individual project in their constituencies, hence their resolve to pull their constituency fund together and execute tangible projects that will benefit their people.
Speaking during the inspection of the Community Middle School, Ita-Osa, Ile-Ife, Hon. Rotimi Makinde representing Ife Central, East and North federal constituency, said: “We could have diverted these funds to personal use, but we could not do that because we want the development of our state.
“The Omoluabi caucus at the National Assembly has leaders; we have vision and we are committed to the development of our state. We cannot leave the burden of developing this state to our governor alone. We know he so much put priority on education and that is why we are building and renovating schools to assist him in our various constituencies and senatorial district at large. Things we have done so far are those of 2012 and 2013 constituency projects. Our 2014 constituency project fund would also be expended on education. We will move to health sector very soon.”
THE NATION
The management of DAAR Communications, owners of Africa Independent Television AIT, has apologized for a totally false story it published on its website claiming the Osun Election Petition Tribunal has declared the Peoples Democratic Party PDP Candidate Engr. Iyiola Omisore as winner of the August 9th Gubernatorial election which held in the state.
The station had reported that the tribunal sitting in Osogbo has voided over 100,000 votes of the All Progressives Congress and incumbent governor Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola.
The APC has however said everyone should disregard such story as no vote was recounted by anybody and there was no court order to that effect. So, it is all lies
In the statement published on it’s website and signed by its management, AIT said it wishes to retract and apologise for a news story posted earlier today on its website at www.aitonline.tv titled ‘Osun Election Tribunal: PDP Aspirant Gets More Valid Votes’.
“We sincerely apologise for any embarrassment the story might have caused to any group or individuals affected.”
“Do accept our sincere apology,” the statement concluded.
The Osun reconstituted Gubernatorial Election Petition Tribunal will start sitting on Thursday 30th October, 2014 and has not given any judgement in advance.
Barr. Kunle Oyatomi, APC’s state Director of Publicity in a statement Monday night, said the story was not only false, but also a total fabrication by PDP agents.
Read: Lies! Nothing Like 100,000 Voided Votes Or Tribunal Ruling Against Aregbesola – Osun APC
He said “there is nothing in that story which happened or is likely to happen”.
He further noted that: “The PDP has turned the propagation of lies and the fabrication of stories into their new psychological bastion. They are now removing themselves from reality and regaling in fantasy.
“No vote was recounted by anybody and there was no court order to that effect. So, it is all lies”.
The spokesman added that the claim that Omisore is likely to be declared winner of that election in a couple of weeks by the Tribunal is “the hallucination of a lunatic”.
Read Retraction Here
Photos of the Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, Chairman Amuwo Odofin Local Government, Comrade Ayodele Adewale Special Adviser to Governor lagos State on Inter-Governmental Relation, during the Official Commissioning of The Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu Legislative Building (Freedom House) at Amuwo Odofin Local Government, Lagos State on Monday 27-10-2014.

Governor state of osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola (2nd right); Chairman Amuwo
Odofin Local Government, Comrade Ayodele Adewale and wife Zainb
Adewale (2nd left); Special Adviser to Governor lagos State on
Inter-Governmental Relation, Reverend Tunji Adebiyi, during the
Official Commissioning of The
Asuwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu Legislative Building (freedom house).at Amuwo
Odofin Local Government, Lagos State on Monday 27-10-2014.

Governor state of osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola (2nd right); Chairman Amuwo
Odofin Local Government, Comrade Ayodele Adewale and wife Zainb
Adewale (2nd left); Special Adviser to Governor lagos State on
Inter-Governmental Relation, Reverend Tunji Adebiyi, during the
Official Commissioning of The
Asuwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu Legislative Building (freedom house).at Amuwo
Odofin Local Government, Lagos State on Monday 27-10-2014.

Governor state of osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola ( right) Chairman Amuwo
Odofin Local Government, Comrade Ayodele Adewale (2nd right) Special
Adviser Governor lagos State on Inter-Governmental Relation, Reverend
Tunji Adebiyi (2nd left) Deputy Majority Leader lagos House of Assembly
Hon. Bola Akande (left), during the Official Commissioning of The Asuwaju
Bola Ahmed Tinubu Legislative Building (freedom house), atAmuwo Odofin
Local Government, Lagos State On Monday
27-10-2014.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun State has a new executive council.
Gboyega Famodun, a former secretary, was elected chairman through consensus by party members in Osogbo, the state capital.
Speaking at the inauguration, Governor Rauf Aregbesola urged the party leadership to ensure that the continuous lies and deception being spread by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) do not hold water.
He said the party should start working to see that the opposition do not have up to 10 per cent of the votes in the state.
Aregbesola advised the new leadership to be united, focused and committed to building a virile and strong party.
Famoodun said his administration resolved to ensure openess, fairness within the party.
“We are prepared to listen and consult party leaders and members from time to time.
“We will not be sectional, but we will be sensitive to the various backgrounds and orientations of party members.
“We will ensure that the welfarism and good governance of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola continue unabated, until development becomes irreversible in our dear state.”
Other members of the exco include Azeez Adesiji (Vice Chairman); Rasak Salinshile (Secretary); Segun Olanibi (Treasurer); Mufutau Adesoji Abubakar (Financial Secretary); Morakinyo Akintola (Publicity Secretary) and Alhaja Bolanle Kudirat Fakokunde (Women Leader).
My attention is drawn to another wicked lie being circulated by the PDP cyber rodents which unfortunately is gaining ground particularly in the social media,claiming that a recounting exercise at the tribunal had given the PDP a win with over 100,000 votes contrary to the figures declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on the August 9th, Gubernatorial Election in the State of Osun.
This latest falsehood by those who are nothing but a serial liars is calculated at hoodwinking unsuspecting member of the public into believing that they have any iota of hope in the worthless petition they filed at the Election Petition Tribunal.
It is fundamental to point out at this juncture that beyond filing of petition at the registry of the Election Petition Tribunal, no proceedings has started till this moment of writing this piece. What we have had so far was an application for examination of all polling documents used in the conduct of the August 9 Governorship Election in the state to enable the petitioner maintain its petition. This application was granted to both APC and PDP and joint inspection is taking place at the INEC Office which involves only scanning of documents.
The Petitioner is challenging the result in the 17 Local Government in the state which are: Aiyedaade; Atakunmosa East; Boripe; Ede North; Ede South; Ejigbo; Ifelodun; Ilesha East; Ilesha West; Irepodun; Irewole; Iwo; Obokun; Ola Oluwa; Olorunda; Oriade and Osogbo Local Government. Out of the Seventeen (17 )Local Governments where Election result were sought to be inspected, only Five (5) Local Government have been inspected as at the close of work today, 27th October, 2014 . The five (5) Local Governments inspected so far are: Obokun; Osogbo; Olorunda; Atakunmosa East; Irepodun and Irewole Local Government.
The Tribunal has not granted an order for recounting of ballot papers because at no time did the petitioner seek for any recounting. The stage we are at the tribunal is a preliminary stage where responses are still being filed. No hearing of any sort has commenced. The inspection being done by the parties is entirely their business untill the report of such inspection is filed at the court registry ,heard under the fire of cross examination of those that did the report and the testimony of the witnesses is believed by the Tribunal.
It is therefore preposterous on the part of any party to a petition to seek to arrogate to itself figures that has not been credited to it either at the Election itself or at the election petition tribunal.
It is also pertinent to educate the gullible mind within Osun PDP that an order for recounting will be granted to a petitioner having satisfied the court on the preponderance of evidence brought forward by witnesses called upon by the Petitioner during the hearing of the petition. It is only granted when the Tribunal is convinced that on the totality of the testimony of the witnesses, there is need for recounting of ballot papers. The recounting will be done at the Court Premises Not at INEC Office as being bandied around by the ignoramus.
It is crystal clear that as at today, there has not been any sitting of the Election Petition Tribunal, No application for recount of ballot papers at the tribunal registry and there is no order for recounting any ballot papers. Whatever lie being cooked up by these elements resides only in their imagination and it is nothing but fantasy.
We hereby enjoin all lovers of peace and progress within and beyond our state to disregard this latest falsehood as a ranting of a drowning man who had nothing to hold on to but straw.
I thank you.
Ibrahim Lawal Esq
SSA (Legal and Judicial Sector Reform) to the Governor, State of Osun.
Osun State governor has reaffirmed its resolve not to leave any stone unturned in the quest of ridding the state of outbreak of any epidemic with a view to making the state a safe haven to all and sundry.
The state governor, Mr Rauf Aregbesola, stated this while addressing participants at the celebration of the 2014 Global Hand Washing Day celebration organised by office of the Rural Water and Environmental Sanitation Agency (RUWESA) in collaboration with the office of his wife, Ambassador of Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS), Alhaja Serifat Aregbesola, in Osogbo with the theme: “Choose hand-washing, choose health.”
Governor Aregbesola, who was represented by his deputy, Mrs Titilayo Laoye-Tomori, said the state government has distributed hand washing materials and infrared thermometer to over 2,000 state and Federal Government’s owned elementary, middle and high schools across the state to militate against the spread of the dreaded Ebola Virus Disease ( EVD) among school pupils in the state.
According to the governor, over 2,000 boreholes and toilet facilities together with potable water supply had been made available to people of the state so as to curb outbreak of water related diseases, adding that his government would not rest on its oars to ensure that no epidemic has a place in the state.
He, therefore, appealed to market and rural women to make good use of all they had been taught during different sensitisation exercise carried out by the state government by keeping their environment healthy always.
Bearing his mind on the occasion, Governor Aregbesola said the purpose of the celebration was to create awareness among people of the state and to call on the general public to take advantages that are abound in the programme.
He said the programme would provide enabling environment and give proper attention to school and to give materials to schools.
In her address, Alhaja Aregbesola, said the 2014 global hand washing day was a huge step taken to tackle problems of hygiene and sanitation in communities across the state.
She said frequent hand washing with soap and water as the cheapest way to prevent contracting Ebola and other communicable diseases, saying if everyone could involve themselves in mobilising others in making hand washing a routine, money spent on treating contracted persons would be channelled into other human rewarding ventures.
Urging the people to live in tandem with the theme of this year’s celebration by giving priority to had washing and observing all other hygienic means they had been taught, Alhaja Aregbesola emphasised that she would join hands with stakeholders to take campaign of sanitation and hygiene to a great height .
Earlier, the Special Adviser to the state governor in the Ministry of Water Resources, Community Affairs and Rural Development, Mr Kunle Ige hinted that the programme was aimed at sensitising public on importance of hygiene and restoration of healthy living in the state.
Ige said that people should comply and adopt the policy of washing their hands, adding that prevention is better than cure.
He added: “Now that the world Health Organisation (WHO) has certified the nation as Ebola-free, we should take things for granted because of the certification.
Delivering a lecture on the importance of frequent hand washing, the state Commissioner for Health, Dr (Mrs) Temitope Ilori, urged all and sundry to give priority to hand washing with soap and water at all times, adding that it is a way they could prevent themselves from contracting any disease.
TRIBUNE
As a result of rapid urbanization, the Osun State Government has announced the commencement of the construction of a modern residential estate to be known as the Oranmiyan New Town, whose groundbreaking was performed on Thursday.
Governor Rauf Aregbesola said the development would be devoid of the physical planning errors of the past in the state.
He said, “It will be recalled that as a result of lack of proper urban physical planning, which the state experienced in the past during which people carried out physical developments as they wished, with the attendant problem of perennial flooding, intra-city traffic and transportation problems, and unkempt environment leading to health hazards, it takes courage for one to break this jinx through the introduction of pragmatic and practical urban development control.”
The governor said the parcel of land measuring about 2,572 hectares was acquired by the former Premier of the old western Region, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, between 1962 and 1966 for the purpose of banishing hunger, poverty and unemployment among the people.
He added that the land had continued to be used for farming purposes until after the creation of Osun from the old Oyo State, resulting in the mass movement of people into the state.
He said, “This eventually led to shortage of housing accommodation for our people, hence the inauguration of an inter-ministerial committee to work out a modality for the utilisation of the hitherto Osun Farm Settlement; for its highest and best use, the committee thereafter came out with a recommendation that the large parcel of land should be converted into a Government Reservation Area, which led to the change of use that came into effect since 1994 and tagged: the Osun GRA, Gbongan Road.
Aregbesola said, “On assumption of office, the ministry saddled with the responsibility of managing government land in the state deemed it fit to redevelop the remaining parcel of land within the GRA, measuring up to 1,200 hectares, into a new town that shall be a model that other neighbouring states shall learn from.
“In order to guard against any communal conflict, rancor and acrimony, a name that unites the Yoruba nation was coined during my campaign days and upon assumption of office; the New Town is now known as the Oranmiyan New Town.”
From the comprehensive development plan, the Oranmiyan New Town will comprise seven neighbourhoods of private estate development, commercial shops, strip malls, community centres, recreational facilities, police posts and health centres.
Also expected are tennis and squash courts, 18-hole golf course and polo ground, and over 3,000 residential plots of varying densities.
The governor further said, “Developing new towns is a common phenomenon all over the world. The purpose of developing a new town is basically to create an environment that is aesthetically pleasing for living, working and recreating.
“More often than not, a new town can serve as a satellite town to an existing urban centre that has more or less reached its optimum level of growth so as to give room for its upgrading and partial re-development.”
According to him, the new town is expected to have basic infrastructural facilities, utilities and services, including good road networks, uninterrupted electricity, water, drainage and sewage system as well as other communal facilities.
The Commissioner for Lands, Physical Planning and Urban Development, Mr. Olumuyiwa Ige, said Osun had experienced influx of people since its creation, hence the need for new developments and urban regeneration.
“The State of Osun is one of the most urbanised states in Nigeria. This trend of urbanisation became more than doubled, especially since when this present administration came into power on November 26, 2010 till date. The rate of influx of people to the urban centres based on the government’s six-integral action plan has necessitated the possibility of establishing new towns in each of the state senatorial districts,” Ige stated.
According to him, the name, Oranmiyan, used for the new town was borne out of the passion for the Yoruba nation.
PUNCH