Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola received an award for Excellent Public Administrator 2014, during the 6th

Prince Bola Ajibola Annual Lecture Series at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife on Wednesday 15-10-2014. Photos below

Former, President International Court of Justice, Prince Bola Ajibola
(left) presenting an award to Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf
Aregbesola as an Excellent Public Administrator 2014, during the 6th
Prince Bola Ajibola Annual Lecture Series at Obafemi Awolowo
University, Ile-Ife on Wednesday 15-10-2014

Former, President International Court of Justice, Prince Bola Ajibola
(left) presenting an award to Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf
Aregbesola as an Excellent Public Administrator 2014, during the 6th
Prince Bola Ajibola Annual Lecture Series at Obafemi Awolowo
University, Ile-Ife on Wednesday 15-10-2014

Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola (centre); his Deputy,
Mrs Titi Laoye-Tomori (2nd right); Former, President International
Court of Justice, Prince Bola Ajibola (2nd left); Chairman of the
occasion, Professor Nurudeen Adedipe (right) and Deputy Vice
Chancellor Administration, Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Professor
Omolayo Ajayi (left), during the 6th Prince Bola Ajibola Annual
Lecture Series at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife on Wednesday
15-10-2014

From left, Former, President International Court of Justice, Prince
Bola Ajibola; Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola; his
Deputy, Mrs Titi Laoye-Tomori; Chairman of the occasion, Professor
Nurudeen Adedipe; Alara of Aramoko-Ekiti, Oba Adegoke Adeyemi and
President Magnacuria Chambers, Mr Akinwole Ayodele, during the 6th
Prince Bola Ajibola Annual Lecture Series at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife on Wednesday

Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, Governor of the state of Osun, has said that education is very critical to the realisation of sustainable national development and the achievement of national security.
The governor used the occasion to commend Vice-chancellor of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) who according to him, stood against the highest civilian attempt to stage a coup against democracy ‎at the recently concluded governorship election in the state.
Aregbesola, while delivering his lecture on Wednesday, as a guest lecturer on the title: “Education as a panacea to National insecurity and developmental challenges”‎‎ at the 6th Prince Bola Ajibola annual lecture series, organised by the Magna Curia chambers of Obafemi Awolowo University, held at the University’s Oduduwa hall in Ile-Ife, observed that ‎‎ for any society to achieve enduring progress, education must be the unavoidable bedrock of its efforts.
He maintained that for Nigeria to develop human capacity for the kind of productivity that will impact national socio-economic development, the path to follow is the education track.
“In engaging with the issue of education as a remedy for national insecurity and developmental challenges, I wish to contend that a conception of education as a process rather than as a tool will do us a whole world of good.
“To conceive education as an instrument meant to be deployed in achieving certain practical ends is to conclude that education is all about physical development of people. ‎
“Sadly, the Nigerian state today is assailed by manifold layers of insecurity and its progress is hampered by a myriad of developmental challenges all because of the continual erosion in the quality and standard of its educational system,” the governor pointed out.‎
‎He further disclosed that lack of adequate investment in education by successive administrations in Nigeria has crippled the educational system to an extent that what seems to matter is the acquisition of certificates.
Aregbesola opined that there is no reason why the children and youths in parts of the North and the Niger Delta region of Nigeria should not have the same quality education as their mates in other parts of the country.
According to the governor, “even in the South West, where we used to have a 50 years education head start, it is no longer a bed of roses.
“When our administration came in 2010, we discovered to our chagrin, from the SSSCE result of that year, that just about five percent of the candidates from Osun had the requisite pass needed for matriculation into higher institutions.
“The Nigerian leadership must heed and lead the response to the voices urging restructuring of the country’s educational system.”
The governor emphasised that, the restructuring of  educational system must be one that create opportunities for youths to develop their natural abilities to the highest extent feasible, adding that youths must be trained to be self-reliant, creative and productive.
Prof. Nurudeen Adedipe, Chairman of the occasion, in an address made a comparison between Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola and the President of the United States of America through their philosophy of believing that everything can be done. Adedipe also described the Governor as an uncommon man who has turned education around in the state.
“There is a link between the philosophy of Aregbesola and president Obama of USA in terms of their philosophy of everything is possible, the link between Rauf Aregbesola and development is what I can call excellent per say.
“You might also want to call him an uncommon Governor because he is the only Governor who has been able to develop a link between education and development which is why he is spending so much on the development of education in the state.
“He has been able to link politicking and the business of caring for the well-being of his people successfully, which is very uncommon among our politicians of today,” he opined.
Prof. Bamitale Omole, Vice Chancellor of  Obafemi Awolowo University, ably represented by Prof. Ajayi Adebisi, Deputy Vice Chancellor, stressed that the topic of the lecture is most appropriate at the time the nation is facing security challenges.
As Adebisi summed, he observed that the Governor is in a better position to deliver a lecture on the topic going by his efforts in putting the state in a better position, especially in the education sector.‎
NIGERIAN POLITICS ONLINE

The Osun National Youth Service Corps Management on Thursday organised a very low-key passing out ceremony for the passing out batch “C” members of the programme.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the ceremony, which held at the multipurpose hall of the NYSC in Ede, was solely a management affair as no state government official or representative was in attendance.
Speaking with NAN, the state NYSC Coordinator, Mr Abada Okpiroro, said the low-key ceremony was carried out due to the security challenges in some parts of the country and the fear of the Ebola virus disease.
He said the management of the NYSC in Abuja gave him the directive to hold a low-key ceremony due to the security challenges facing the country in consonance with affected states.
He however said the NYSC had given the out-going corps’ members the kind of mental, moral supports and training needed during their service year to face the challenges of life ahead of them.
“We have trained the corps’ members during their one year national service programme and we believe they will apply what they have learned to better improve themselves and the society.” he said
He said the corps’ members had acquired vocational training during the service year and should apply what they had learned to be productive and not be parasites on their parents.
He charged the passing out members to be productive and stay out of trouble as they rejoined the larger society.
DAILY INDEPENDENT

SPEECH DELIVERED BY THE GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF OSUN, OGBENI RAUF AREGBESOLA, AS THE GUEST LECTURER AT THE 6TH PRINCE BOLA AJIBOLA ANNUAL LECTURE SERIES, ORGANISED BY THE MAGNA CURIA CHAMBERS OF OBAFEMI AWOLOWO UNIVERSITY, HELD AT THE UNIVERSITY’S ODUDUWA HALL, ILE-IFE, ON WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 15, 2014
 
Protocols,
‘EDUCATION AS A PANACEA TO NATIONAL INSECURITY AND DEVELOPMENTAL CHALLENGES’
It is with heartfelt gladness that I join you today for the 6th Prince Bola Adesumbo Ajibola Annual Lecture Series. I should thank the staff and students of the Faculty of Law, particularly those of the Magna Curia Chambers, for choosing me as the Guest Lecturer for this all-important celebratory event. I am immensely grateful to you for this honour.
I must also acknowledge that instituting this lecture series in honour of Prince Bola Ajibola is quite in order. Beyond being an octogenarian of reputable standing, our revered father is one of those foremost Nigerians who have enormously invested in the service of humanity in contemporary times.
Both at home and abroad, Prince Ajibola’s contributions to the law profession are staggering. Unmistakably bold and inspiring are his footprints on the plain of human progress through the instrumentality of the law.
In every way, Prince Ajibola deserves to be celebrated. Wherever and whenever the names of men of honour, integrity, compassion, selflessness, and vision are referenced as worthy examples, our respected elder statesman will not be absent.
In this he remains a useful example to the young on how, through the appropriation of the values of diligence, perseverance, credibility, honesty, humility, and humanity, they can attain the lofty heights of greatness in their chosen careers. All of these values aided him in his numberless national and international legal undertakings and arbitrations.
Surely, for the Magna Curia Chambers and the entire law students of Nigeria, and indeed the law profession, Prince Ajibola is an undiminishing asset. His well-detailed memoirs entitled, Tribulations and Trophies: Memoirs of Judge Bola Ajibola, provides a revealingly illuminating proof of this assertion.
Distinguished audience, an annual lecture in the name of this eminent jurist provides another platform through which we can contribute to ongoing debates on topical issues of national importance. Interestingly, this year’s lecture aptly locates one of the most pressing issues that Nigeria needs to decisively engage and put in proper shape – education.
So, in discussing ‘Education as a Panacea to National Insecurity and Developmental Challenges’, being the focus of this year’s lecture, we join the subsisting debate on how we can employ education as one of the indispensable drivers of attaining national security and achieving sustainable human and material development.
We must therefore ask ourselves these crucial questions: Can education provide the healing balm to the festering wound of insecurity that is relentlessly threatening the continuous coexistence of Nigerians? Can education vouchsafe soothing relief from the excruciating pains of underdevelopment that currently limits the full attainment and expression of human capacity in Nigeria?
My immediate response to the foregoing posers is a loud yes. I am completely sold to the view that education is a vital means through which individual and national socio-economic aspirations can be actualised. Education is very critical to the realisation of sustainable national development and the achievement of national security.
Mark it, for any society to achieve enduring progress, education must be the unavoidable bedrock of its efforts. Therefore, if we in Nigeria are to develop human capacity for the kind of productivity that will impact national socio-economic development, the path to traverse is the education track.
In engaging with the issue of education as a remedy for national insecurity and developmental challenges, I wish to contend that a conception of education as a process rather than as a tool will do us a whole world of good.
To conceive education as an instrument meant to be deployed in achieving certain practical ends is to conclude that education is all about physical development of people. Education of that construct will more often than not limit the capacity of those given to it.
But seeing it as a process is to aim for the kind of education that will richly empower people to be ever ready to impact national development. Such education is functional and makes life more meaningful and liveable. As the scholar, S. Wehmeier, informs, a ‘process is a series of things that are done in order to achieve a particular result’.
Education as a process aims for an all-encompassing development, which in this case substantially concerns the physical/material, moral/spiritual, and emotional/psychological of the human person. It is those whose human make-ups are developed to the fullest capacity that can work to engender security and contribute robustly to national development.
In one of his contributions to the debate on education as a process through which personal and national development can be attained, the well-regarded Chief Obafemi Awolowo insightfully argues in The Voice of Reason that,
A man whose personality is fully developed never fears anything … and never feels inferior to anyone … and will resist any form of enslavement until the last breath in him is exhausted. […] His breadth of mind enables him to exercise his freedom in such a manner as not to endanger the interests and freedom of others.
Sadly, the Nigerian state today is horrifically assailed by manifold layers of insecurity and its progress is hampered by a myriad of developmental challenges all because of the continual erosion in the quality and standard of its educational system on one hand, and the unresponsiveness of its educational system to current realities on the other hand.
Through lack of fairly adequate investment in education, successive administrations in the national space have crippled our educational system to such an appalling extent that what seems to matter is the acquisition of certificates.
The full development of the mind, body and brain, which education that will inspire national development enables, is rapidly on a downward course across all levels of our educational system.
Yet, we have a growing population of unemployed graduate youths whose education avail little or nothing for national development. Worst still, their conducts raise serious questions about their claim to education. Why then should we be surprised by the pockets of insecurity that increasingly degrade lives and destroy our country?
If human beings are the agency through which sustainable development can be attained, then the process through which they are empowered must be accorded quality attention. That process, as evident in the focus of this lecture, is education.
Here I repeat the familiar refrain of most contributors to the debate on our educational system: our educational system needs a coordinated surgical restructuring to not only empower our children to respond positively to developmental challenges, but to also achieve full personality development.
Our present national condition makes this call imperative and a response to it even more urgent. From the elementary to the tertiary level of education, a comprehensively organised restructuring is necessary if education is to lead us out of the woods. In the State of Osun, I must note, this is the path we are already walking.
Part of the restructuring to be systematically effected nationally must redress the manifest imbalance observable in different parts of this country.
I contend that without this corrective restructuring, we will continue to have the torturing situation in which some parts of the country aim and work for development and some others reverse it or delay the quest for development.
For instance, there is no reason why the children and youths in parts of the North and the Niger Delta of this country should not have the same quality education as their mates in other parts of the country.
Even in the South West, where we used to have a 50 years education head start, it is no longer a bed of roses. When our administration came in 2010, we discovered to our chagrin, from the SSSCE result of that year, that just about five percent of the candidates from Osun had the requisite pass needed for matriculation into higher institutions.
Already, the social combustion in the North, especially the north-eastern region of our country, should drive home the important lesson on the harsh consequences of uneven socio-economic development in multi-ethnic configurations like Nigeria.
The Nigerian leadership must heed and lead the response to the voices urging restructuring of the country’s educational system.
In addition, the restructuring of our educational system must be one that makes it possible for our youths to develop their natural abilities to the highest extent feasible. They must be trained to be self-reliant, creative and productive.
If the youth of a country are fully trained and have the right environments to demonstrate the possibility of their human capacities, the insecurity that unemployment triggers and feeds on will be considerably minimal and manageable.
Such youths will be active agents of development and will never sit idly by while developmental challenges erode their human dignity and make them terror to society.
The developed countries of America, Europe, and Asia achieved their enviable development feats through their vibrant, energetic, creative, and productive youths. In Nigeria, we also have the advantage of a surging vivacious, energetic youth population.
We must give them the full mind, body and brain development to enable them perform productively in matters regarding development. We can engage them productively in different areas of our national life. We must create for them or empower them to create the environment necessary for achieving enduring development.
What this presupposes, therefore, is that we must be ready to make substantial investment in education and research. We must not be a country which loves the wonderful things of life but does not know or contribute to the process of realising them.
We must fund education without considering whether we will be insolvent, for it is impossible, as Confucius assures, for a country to go bankrupt in educating its people. Investment in education will always yield the highest dividends.
Our politics will not benefit our youths if it does little to empower them. Our policies will be sullied in the sewage of social unrest if the process that will make our youths agents of development is barely or not seriously minded.
As Chief Awolowo reveals in his words quoted earlier, the youths who are products of barren educational system and as such of vacant personality development will not exercise their freedom in such a manner as not to endanger the interests and freedom of others.
Such uncultured minds, he explains further, will have the ‘sorry figure of a religious fanatic who condemns everything, and everybody but himself, and whose only prophecy is one of pessimism, catastrophe and gloom for mankind …’
I believe we can all find concrete examples of these minds across the length and breadth of this country. In the South, where we do not have uneducated youths as waiting recruits of misguided, murderous and nihilistic fanatics, we have on our campuses, and have even spilled to the streets, a large army of gangsters operating as freelance terrorists, perpetrating with impunity, rape, murder, armed banditry, extortion, contract killing and any kind of imaginable vice.
That is why quality and stout investment in qualitative and functional education becomes all the more an imperative.
Distinguished audience, to get our educational system in good shape and develop the human mind, body and brain for lasting national socio-economic development, we need visionary, compassionate, disciplined, and unselfish leadership at all levels, more particularly at the national level of governance.
It is this leadership that can inspire the restructuring of our educational system in a way that will make education impact socio-economic development in our country.
I take refuge in the well-articulated view of Dean Kennedy that real leadership is about ‘mobilizing people to confront their predicament and solve their most pressing problems. The focus is not getting people to follow but on getting people to face reality and think and act responsibly, thereby enabling their organisations and communities to address their toughest challenges and make meaningful progress’.
We need people who can provide this form of leadership both in our political and educational spaces.
When we conceived of Opon Imo, the stand-alone e-leaning tablet, it was not because our state was awash with cash. Rather, it was because we envisaged the future of mankind as digitally driven and the need to prepare our children for that future. While some CEOs still have to present cheques to bank cashiers in order to obtain cash to pay for goods and services, I can now pay for my flight ticket from my mobile phone and print my boarding pass in the convenience of my bedroom or download it to my phone. One terabyte of hard disc space weighing less than 100 gram can contain digital versions of books that can fill a big library equivalent of Library of Congress or even the library of this university. We are therefore doomed if our children are not connected to the digital world. We will never catch up if we are trying to do catch up.
Also, I have made the case in the past and I want to make it now: that a good education does not only provide enlightenment, it must equip the graduate with a vocational skill. Nobody must claim to be educated without having acquired some skill with which he can be engaged in a productive activity that will put food on his table, without having to look for formal employment. Theoretically, there will be shortage of manpower if every graduate is in a position to employ one or two other persons after completing his or her studies.
Our present course system was designed at a time when anybody with a certificate was assured of a job, irrespective of discipline of study. It is not so anymore. The courses should now be tailored, one, in the direction of national needs and secondly, for individual empowerment.
I should like to conclude on a note of appreciation. And this has to do with the special award that I am to be honoured with at this event. I thank the minds who conceived of it and found me worthy of such a great honour.
I promise to be more steadfast in my commitment to the development of the people of Osun and by extension Nigeria. I will continue to work for the deepening of good governance and faithfully discharge the responsibilities of my position.
Ultimately, our aim in Osun is to provide functional education and establish a viable education sector that will be able to put our students on a comparable footing with their counterparts anywhere in the world.
We are unrelenting in our efforts, resolute in our purpose, and unwaveringly focused on our goals.
I will also like to thank members of this university community and by extension the ancient city of Ife, for your support to me during the August 9, governorship election. You withstood the terror machine of the state and its intimidations. You refused to be cowed, intimidated or provoked, but calmly and confidently trooped out to cast your vote. I treasure your support and I will be eternal grateful.
Once again, I thank the organisers of this lecture for their kind invitation and the honour of the special award.
I thank you all for your reassuring audience.

Considering the huge infrastructural deficit facing Nigeria, and the challenges being faced by the Federal Government of Nigeria due to a decline in oil revenue amongst other related issues, it has become imperative for State Governments and corporates to access alternative financing techniques to meet their capital development needs.

Activities in the equities market in Nigeria have slowed down considerably from the levels seen during the equities boom of 2004 – 2008 which has compelled corporates and governments to embrace the debt market by floating bonds. From 1960 to November 2013, there have been 80 corporate bond issuances in Nigeria and 34 state and local bond issuances; with state bond issuances dominating the market in recent times.

This article examines the potentials for using sukuk as a tool for capital raising and infrastructural development in Nigeria and discusses the recent sukuk issuance by the Osun State of Nigeria under the State’s N60 Billion Debt Issuance Programme. The sukuk issuance attracted international acclaim by winning the IFN Africa Deal of the Year Award 2013.

Sukuk as a tool of Islamic Finance

Sukuk provides access to a vast and growing Islamic liquidity pool in addition to the conventional debt and are commonly referred to as Islamic Bonds. However, this representation is not entirely correct.

Sukuk is defined in the Rules and Regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC Rules 2013) as investment certificates or notes of equal value representing undivided shares in the ownership of tangible assets, usufructs and services or investments in the assets of particular projects or special investment activity using shariah principles and concepts approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission (“the Commission”).  In simple terms, sukuk can best be called trust certificates.

In addition, under a sukuk structure, returns to sukuk holders (Investors) represent rights to receive payments from a trade transaction or ownership of a particular asset or business venture, while the returns to conventional bondholders represent the right to receive interest for borrowed monies.

Traditional bonds are not allowed in Shariah-compliant transactions due to their interest based nature as interest is prohibited in Islamic law as aforesaid. It is important to note that the underlying asset for a sukuk issuance must itself be Shariah-compliant. For example, a building does not qualify as an underlying asset for sukuk issuance if the major tenant will be a producer of alcohol. 

The Commission explicitly recognizes the following sukuk structures under Rule 571 of the SEC Rules:

• Sukuk Ijarah – (lease contract)

• Sukuk Musharakah– (sharing contract)

• Sukuk Istisnah– (exchange contract)

• Sukuk Murabahah– (financing contract)

Legal Framework for the Issuance of Sukuk in Nigeria 

Several Laws regulate the issuance of sukuk in Nigeria including the Investments and Securities Act 2007, the SEC Rules and the state law authorizing the sukuk issuance. The Commission in recognition of the development of Islamic finance introduced new rules on February 8, 2013 to regulate the issuance of sukuk in Nigeria. Rule 572 of the SEC Rules provides that all public companies (including SPV’s), state governments, local governments, and Government agencies as well as multilateral agencies are eligible to issue, offer or make an invitation of sukuk upon seeking the Commission’s approval.

The Rules apply to:   

i. sukuk which are offered by local or foreign entities that are within the regulatory purview of the Commission;

ii. sukuk which are denominated in Naira or in foreign currencies; and 

iii. sukuk which are listed, convertible, exchangeable, redeemable or otherwise.

From the wording of Rule 572, sukuk issued by private companies appear not to fall within the regulatory purview of the SEC. In a similar vein, a strict interpretation of Rule 567 will suggest that bonds issued by private companies will not be regulated by the SEC as this Rule specifically mentions only bonds issued by public companies, foreign public companies and supranational bodies. However, the SEC will exercise its supervisory powers over any instrument issued to the public by private or public companies. 

In addition to the advisers who advise on bond issuances, an issuer of sukuk must appoint a Shariah adviser who shall inter alia advise on all aspects of the sukuk including documentation and structuring and who shall also issue shariah certification which outlines the basis and rationale of the structure and mechanism of the sukuk.

Osun Sukuk Company Plc.’s Sukuk Al –Ijarah – Blazing the Trail

The Government of Osun State (“OSG”) through a wholly owned Special Purpose Company, Osun Sukuk Company Plc issued on the 8th of October, 2013 the first sukuk in Sub-Saharan Africa worth N11.4 billion ($70.6 million) under the Osun State N60 Billion Debt Issuance Programme to fund the development of 20 High Schools, 2 Middle Schools and 2 Elementary Schools in Osun State.

  The sukuk was issued at a rate of 14.75% per annum at N 1,000 per unit and matures on 8th of October, 2020. The issue which was rated A by Agusto & Co was successfully subscribed to by domestic investors with the price set through a book building process that lasted for 10 days.   

Structure of the Osun Sukuk

The SPC, Osun Sukuk Company Plc is a wholly owned Special Purpose Company of the Osun State Government incorporated with an authorised share capital of N1, 000,000.00 (One Million Naira) with Ninety Nine Percent of the shares held by the Osun State Government and One percent held in trust by the Attorney General of Osun State on behalf of the State.

The sukuk was structured as an Al-Ijarah; with the Osun Sukuk Company Plc. issuing sukuk certificates to the investors.

In accordance with Islamic law principles, each certificate represents an undivided beneficial ownership interest in the sukuk assets (i.e. the Schools). The sukuk assets are however held in trust for the sukuk investors by the Issuer. The sukuk investors’ payment for the certificates represents the cost of construction of the schools.  Holders of the Certificates have no recourse to any assets of the Issuer other than the sukuk assets. Since the sukuk holders are the owners of the assets (schools), they are free to trade the certificates in the secondary market.  The land upon which the schools will be built was transferred by the OSG to the SPC and a Certificate of Title (Certificate of Occupancy) was issued to the SPC.

The Issuer under an Agency Agreement, appointed the OSG as its agent to inter alia engage a construction company to construct the schools, obtain all government approvals, manage the operational and financial aspects of the construction for a prescribed fee and transferred the agreed cost of construction to the OSG.

The SPC forward leased the schools to the State Government against rental payments which will be remitted to the Issuer to make distributions to the sukuk investors; thus earning income for the investors during the construction of the schools.

A Purchase Undertaking was executed by the OSG in favour of the Issuer to give assurances that at the end of the lease/maturity of the sukuk or upon the occurrence of an event of default or early termination of the lease under the Ijara Agreement, the OSG will purchase the sukuk assets; with the purchase price being used by the Issuer to redeem the sukuk certificates at maturity.

The Purchase Undertaking is essential in Islamic Finance as it creates a debt obligation on the part of the OSG which eliminates market risk on the part of the investors. A Sale Undertaking was also executed by the Issuer in favour of the OSG in like manner. 

Sukuk – What Lies Ahead 

The issuance of the first state sukuk by Osun Sukuk Company Plc attests to the huge potentials for Islamic Finance in Nigeria, while its subsequent international acclaim creates integrity within the market which has the propensity to promote foreign direct investment. 

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has so far registered Jaiz Bank Plc. to provide full Islamic Banking Services and has licensed Stanbic IBTC Plc to operate an Islamic Banking Window. In addition, Sterling Bank Plc has also been given an approval in principle to operate an Islamic Banking Window.

With the right team of professional advisers, it is clear that focusing on substance over form can contribute significantly to the rapid development of the Nigerian economy through the issuance of Islamic Finance products.  Nigeria should not miss out on this opportunity. 

About the Author

Oladele is called to the Nigerian Bar and is a qualified solicitor in England and Wales. He currently heads the Banking and Finance law Practice of Kola Awodein & Co. Lagos, Nigeria. He obtained his Masters Degree (with Distinction) from the University of Warwick, UK. He has advised on several capital market transactions.

Oladele Oladunjoye – Business Day

OSUN State governor, Rauf Aregbesola, on Wednesday, said that education is critical to the realisation of sustainable national development and the achievement of national security.
He made this known while delivering a lecture titled: ‘Education as a panacea to national insecurity and developmental challenges’ at the 6th Prince Bola Ajibola annual lecture series, organised by the Magna Curia Chambers of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), at the Oduduwa Hall of the institution in Ile-Ife.

“Sadly, the Nigerian state today is assailed by manifold layers of insecurity and its progress is hampered by a myriad of developmental challenges all because of the continual erosion in the quality and standard of its educational system,” Aregbesola asserted.
Aregbesola stated, “even in the South-West, where we used to have a 50 years education head start, it is no longer a bed of roses. When our administration came in 2010, we discovered to our chagrin, from the SSSCE result of that year, that just about five per cent of the candidates from Osun had the requisite pass needed for matriculation into higher institution.”
The Vice Chancellor of OAU, Professor Bamitale Omole who was represented by the Deputy Vice Chancellor, Professor Ajayi Adebisi, stressed that the topic of the lecture was most appropriate at the time the nation is facing security challenges.
TRIBUNE

The 2014 edition of the annual conference of the Brand Journalists Association of Nigeria (BJAN), will take place in  Osun State at the weekend.
The State’s Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Hon. Sunday Akere who received the representatives of the association, said the state, under Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola is always willing to identify with individuals and organisations that could aid its developmental drive for the state.
BJAN leadership, led by its National Chairman, Goddie Ofose, had paid a courtesy visit to the commissioner to intimate him on the decision by his association to settle for the State of Osun as venue of this year’s conference as a result of the giant stride the state has recorded in the area of tourism. The topic for the conference, which will hold between November 20 and 23 is ‘Tourism marketing as catalyst for economic development’. The 2013 edition was held in Ogun State.
According to Ofose,  “BJAN members have taken pain to follow up the activities of the State of Osun in the area of Tourism, particularly the way the annual Osun Osogbo cultural fiesta has suddenly turned to international festival. We do not only consider it necessary to reel out the economic benefits of tourism, we want to add our voices to how it can be better marketed.  We want other states to learn from Osun and we want Federal Government to invest more in the industry,”
Responding, Akere described the Aregbesola led administration as a media friendly government that would continue to contribute its quota to every step taken to add values to journalism practice in the country.
He said: “As a government that appreciates the place of effective communication in government, the administration of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola has always regarded the media as a major partner in the journey to touch lives and bring rapid development into  the State of Osun,”
While assuring the association that he would table the proposal before Governor Aregbesola, the commissioner called on the media practitioners  not to derail in their responsibility as watchdogs and agenda setters in the society. He said Nigeria democracy needs effective media to blossom.
Speakers expected at the conference include; President Nigeria Guild of Editors,  Femi Adesina; MD, Chain Reaction, Israel Jaiye Opayemi; and COO, 141 Worldwide,   Bunmi Oke. Meanwhile, Hon. Sunday Akere has been penciled down to open the conference while it will be chaired by the Registrar Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria, Alhaji Garba Bello-Kankarofi.
THISDAY

As the entire World celebrated the annual Global Hand washing Day yesterday, people of the state have been enjoined to cultivate the habit of washing hands with soap as a preventive measure in contacting deadly diseases.

This was disclosed by the Programme Manager, Rural Water and Environmental Sanitation Agency, RUWESA, in the state, Alhaji Posi Adiatu unbehalf of the Special Adviser to the state governor in the Ministry of Water Resources, Rural and Community Development, Hon.Kunle Ige during a meeting with the State Task Group on Sanitation, STGS, at the RUWESA Conference room, Abere.

The RUWESA boss said; washing hands effectively will adequately promotes germs free and create zero tolerance for any deadly diseases in the society.

  According to Adiatu, this year celebration witnessed a sensitization for workers in the state Ministries, as well as teachers and students in both public and private schools on the importance of global hand washing day to kick starts the activities.

The Programme Manager said; further that, creation of awareness would follow by various media organisations about the benefit of hand washing with soap.

The grand finale of the events is expected to hold come next week Thursday at Nelson Mandela Freedom Park in Osogbo where the Wife of the state governor who is also the Ambassador of Community Led Total Sanitation, CLTS, Alhaja Sherifat Aregbesola will flag off this year Annual Global Hand Washing Day celebration formerly.

Speaking with our Correspondent shortly after the meeting, the Director of Hygiene in the RUWESA, Mr. Segun Moyinoluwa said people should join hands with them to spread the habit of washing hands not only in the state but around the world.

VANGUARD

Osun Government has said that the state would collaborate with the Federal Government to facilitate the presence of more agricultural facilities in the state.
The state Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr. Wale Adedoyin, told newsmen in Osogbo that more agricultural facilities were needed in the state to boost food production and achieve national food security.
“Although we have felt the presence of the Federal Government in the state in the areas of cassava production, provision of storage facilities and provision of modern equipment for food processing from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, but we want more of them,’’ Adedoyin said.
He said that Governor Rauf Aregbesola had approved the establishment of more farm settlement in parts of the state to be prepared and be allocated to prospective young farmers to produce food crops and livestock.
He also said that the state government had provided facilities in some farm settlements located in Ede, Ife and Ilesha, among others, for use by young farmers.
The commissioner explained that the farm settlements would be designed to provide job opportunities for youths, provide more food for the people and reserve for external consumption.
He said that the government would open up the land, prepare the land and allocate the land to applicants who would also be provided with other inputs, credit facilities and security to farm.
He said the ministry had organised a good number of workshops to train and retrain farmers in the state through farmers’ congress and associations, this year.
Adedoyin assured that the government would not relent in assisting and encouraging farmers to produce more food for internal and external consumption.
NIGERIAN OBSERVER

The government of Osun has on Tuesday condemned in very strong terms what it called the habitual proclivity of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party to mislead members of the public.

In its official position over claims by the PDP that the Court of Appeal in Akure last Friday sacked all federal state constituencies lawmakers from the state who were elected in 2011, the state government, through its Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Barrister Wale Afolabi, said the recent brouhaha sponsored by the Peoples Democratic Party in its deliberate misrepresentation of facts and  distortion of the decision of the Court of Appeal on suit concerning Independent National Electoral Commission & Mr. Rufus Oluwatoyin Akeju v. Peoples Democratic Party – Appeal No. CA/AK/46/2011 called for sober reflection.

Saying that his office had obtained a certified true copy of the judgment of the Akure court, the Attorney General argued that though the freedom of expression permits opinions over decisions of courts, the right does not give room for deliberate manipulation of facts.

The Attorney General stated, “We have obtained a certified true copy of the ruling of the Court of Appeal delivered on Friday the 10^th day October, 2014, carefully read and digested the 3-page ruling and are appalled to note that no sentence or paragraph of the said ruling decided any issue pertaining to the 2011 election of any member of the House of Assembly or National Assembly.

“In no part of the ruling did the Court of Appeal nullify any election but rather held that the Notice of Appeal filed by INEC was incompetent and thereby struck out the said Notice of Appeal. One then wonders how on earth the Peoples Democratic Party got the wild imagination by which it sought to seize power through reckless subterfuge by lying that the Court of Appeal had nullified the election of the APC honourable members in the Osun State House of Assembly and the National Assembly.”

The Commissioner said PDP is noted for such manipulations saying that “There is no way any court can nullify an election based on mere application to strike out a Notice of Appeal challenging an interlocutory injunction while the substantive suit is still pending at the Federal High Court.

“The Osogbo Federal High Court, in 2011, granted the PDP an interlocutory injunction restraining Ambassador Akeju from supervising the conduct of the 2011 elections. The same Court refused the prayer that INEC be restrained from conducting the said election. However INEC immediately appealed and obtained a stay of execution of that ruling pending the determination of its appeal.

“Curiously, PDP equally sought for stay of proceedings of the matter at the Federal High Court and same was granted. The subject matter of the appeal before the Court of Appeal was whether the Federal High Court was right to have restrained Ambassador Akeju from supervising the said election and no more. The substantive suit is still pending before the Federal High Court while appeals by other parties on the same interlocutory injunction are still pending at the Court of Appeal up till this moment.

Quoting section 139 (2) of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended) which states that “[A]n election shall not be liable to be questioned by reason of a defect in the title, or want of title of the person conducting the election or acting in the office provided such a person has the right or authority of the Commission to conduct the election,” he Attorney General said the PDP has embarked on what it called a “wild goose chase.”

He said even if the Court of Appeal had agreed that the Federal High Court was right in restraining Ambassador Akeju from conducting the 2011 Legislative Houses elections, that cannot invalidate or nullify the elections in so far as the person who conducted the said election had the right or authority of INEC to so conduct it.

He explained further, “The law is that no election shall be questioned simply because of the defect in or want of title of the person who conducted the election or acted in the office in so far as the person has the authority of INEC to conduct the election. The unfortunate agitation and labour of PDP cannot produce anything capable of harming the APC but can only end up in a stillbirth.”

The Attorney General also reminded members of the public within and outside Osun to be wary of PDP’s capacity for distortions saying just as he advised the media to also seek details and verify facts before their publication lest they fall victims of what he called PDP’s unrivalled capacity for fraudulent claims”.