Ahead of August 9 election in Osun, youths paints Osogbo white in support of Aregbesola’s second term ambition.

‎The ancient city of Osogbo went white on Monday as youths in their thousands took to major streets of the state capital to show their support for the second coming of governor Rauf Aregbesola as the governor of the state.

The walk tagged “one million march for Aregbe”‎ had people from all works of life in attendance all clad in a white T-shirt with the inscription of “1,000,000 march 4 Aregbe” pasted on the front of their wears and “RAUFOMANIA” at the back.

In a carnival like manner, youths from the 30 Local governments and the Area office snaked through Okefia- Olaiya- Fagbeesa- station road- Gbeemu- Oluode to Orita- elelede.

The motorcade with music in support of Aregbesola blaring from speakers mounted on trucks rented the air as it moves from Orita- Elelede to Abaaku- Ayetoro- Igbona- Ajegunle and the convoy later stopped at the Nelson Mandela Freedom park.

General Secretary, Raufomania, Comrade Remi Odewale held that the group decided to embark on the campaign to encourage the governor that youths in the state are not unaware of the commi‎tment of the governor to developing the state.

According to him, ” our action was borne out of what happened over the weekend when the president came to town and all the opposition could do was to bring people from outside the state.

“We were shocked when fight broke out at the stadium the venue of the People’s Democratic Party’s rally. It became obvious it was a rented audience, our surveillance of the place revealed that because of the could not wait till the end because they are still going as far as Ogun state.

“Though we would have love to get close to one million, but the time is so short and we have also set the criteria for participation to be you must have a valid voters card, so what we have around is close to thirty thousand youths with voters card”. Odewale pointed out.

He noted that unlike what happened at the PDP rally where people who had voters card were not up to one hundred,‎ the Raufomania has close to thirty thousand youths with voters card attending the march for Aregbesola.

He counselled youths not to be intimidated with the presence of security personnel in the state, saying they are for the protection of voters.

The governor of the state while addressing the youths stressed that what he has done in his 4years in office is just a tip of the ice-berg.

He held that he will be launching a mini bus assembly plant among others that he has done is enough for him and that he is happy that people is happy with the development in the state.

In his words, ” I am very happy that youths actually identify with us, any government who do not recognise the important of youth is a government that has no reason to be in government. My own understanding of power is responsibility.

“All what we are doing in Osun has not been done before now, God through us has brought a lot of industries to the state. What we’ve done in our first term that you are happy about, will not be able to compare what how second term will witness in ter‎ms of development”. The governor told the gathering.

Adebayo Ayoade Salami was elected Senator for Osun Central Constituency of Osun State at the start of the Nigerian Fourth Republic. He ran on the Alliance for Democracy (AD) platform. In the Senate, he was appointed to the committee on Public Accounts, Labour as Vice-Chairman. In this interview with journalists, he bares his mind on the administration of Aregbesola in Osun, among other issues. Excerpts…

You have been around for a while in Osun politics, and people here know that you are a progressive, what will you say qualifies you as a progressive? The first thing I will like to say is that you said I have been around for a while, but I will tell you that I have been around all the time. Before the creation of Osun state, I was a local government chairman in the then Oyo state. I also made significant impact in the creation of the state and I contested the governorship of the newly created state in 1991 with Isiaka Adeleke; so, it is not that I have been around for a while but I have been around all the while. You are also asking what the impetuses of a progressive are; I have seen all the government that ran through the state. You will see that when a progressive mind comes into governance, they believe the essence of government is doing good for the masses. Nobody has exhibited this trait in the history of Osun more than Rauf Aregbesola.

 So you believe Aregbesola has lived up to the impetuses of a progressive with the way he is governing the state?

He has done a lot for the state and has been able to lift the state higher in terms of development, among the committee of states in Nigeria. His programmes have touched the lives of the people of the state in so many areas: the first programme he did looks small to some people, but to me that is the greatest achievement of this administration, changing the concept of our state to that of “omoluabi”. This is not physical but germane to the mind and being.

There is a great difference between being a virtuous person and a bastard, that’s one core value that every human being should have; the attribute of being responsible, good is what that concept has brought to Osun. It looks minute but great in the concept of growth. Let’s go on from there, it is very bad for a human being to wake up in the morning and find nothing to do. That will change him from a complete human being. So, what he did in his 100 days in office was to create an engagement for twenty thousand youths. If you wake up in the morning and sit down without having any where to go, you are no more a being, you will hate yourself, twenty thousand had been saved from such situation.

The ten thousand Naira they get may look small, but you will see that with that, about 200 million Naira is pumped into the economy of the state monthly. It is not an amount that can go to other state. If somebody is getting an allowance of ten thousand all he can do with such money is take care of his immediate needs, not one that he can travel out of the state with. Parents for the first time were relieved of the burden of seeing the child they have trained over a period of time sitting at home doing nothing productive, which is an achievement on its own part. He also came up with Osun rural entrepreneurial agricultural programme. Let’s clear the land and give it to people who are interested in farming.

That is an area where we have comparative advantage so that we can also be the food basket for this part of the country. We have reform in the education sector. Honestly, I, Bayo Salami, looking at my background as a capitalist, I was wondering how a government can continue to feed children in public schools everyday without being a burden on government but he felt differently about it, saying most of these children are from the have-nots and they also have a role to play in the development of the state. He held that they need the food at that particular age to aid their assimilation. So they now eat balance diet a day in the school. He decided to give them free uniform and he transformed the education sector at the higher level by giving them the tablet of knowledge “Opon Imo”.

And for the first time in the history of the state, infrastructural development is at the highest, the kind of road that we never imagined came up, roads that can last fifteen to thirty years and that is the practice world over. If you want to borrow money from banks it must show how lasting such projects must be; it must be able to stand the test of time. They don’t expect you to be spending money on maintenance.

Are you in agreement with people who believe the state is indebted to the tune of N350 billion?

Look, people who said he has borrowed N350 billion do not know what N350 billion amounts to. One thing is clear: no single entity can borrow more than 150 billion, no single individual, state, corporation, or what have you, can get more than N150 billion. People still capitalize on our ignorance; we can be subsumed by just rumour. You will wonder whether these people know what they are talking about? You want to make it in life and you don’t want to borrow?

Let me tell you something. America is the most indebted country in the world; there is no place people of the world want to get to more than America, how many people are struggling to take a Visa to our country and how many people want to get to America? They raise their debt ceiling year after year, so long they can produce that huge infrastructure in the US, and everything is okay with them.

Most of our leaders do not have what it takes to govern a nation. In this century and the one coming, it is not the mineral resources inside the soil that will make the difference, but the brain that God has endowed us with. That is what will make the difference – not your oil, but how you use your intellect to better the lot of the people.

You are a seasoned politician in this state, are you subscribe to the insinuation that the governor of the state abandoned local politicians while constituting his cabinet, and that the cabinet is made up of people from Lagos?

The people he has brought are Osun indigenes; some of them may not be necessarily domiciled in Osun as at that time, but for whoever cares to listen to me, the standards we have reached in the last three and a half years need sharp minds. I am not defending him. You need a sharp mind for sound ideas.

I can tell you now that politicians that are based here know the level we have reached, and I believe that by the second term of Aregbesola’s administration, politicians at home would have moved to the next level. Things are no more the same in the state. Our teachers are different nowadays; the mode of dressing and the work environment have changed. That is the level we have gotten to, we are no more doing things as it used to be.

If you were the governor of the state, would you have constituted a cabinet like Aregbesola did?

Maybe I will not even be that exposed to have those tall dreams that he has. My dreams may still be the dreams that we used to have about doing things, but I have seen the practical solutions to problems through him. Look at the kind of roads he is constructing round the state? We used to construct road too before, but hardly will you go there after 6 months and you will not blame yourself.

He has done all that is humanly possible in the last three and a half years at the expense of his own health. The good he has done is more than my expectation; that is why I have decided that whatever it takes, he has my endorsement and come August 9, we are going to win, no amount of 50 billion Naira PDP may bring to Omisore campaign account, money will not buy the conscience of an Osun person with what they have seen in the last three and a half years.

 What are your fears about the coming governorship election in the state?

I, Bayo Salami, do not have any fears about the election. I am very sure that come August 9, we will win the election with a wide margin. Take it from me, we have a state that is heterogeneous not an homogenous one like that of Ekiti. I am not unaware that President Jonathan spoke with all the Obas in Ekiti on one on one basis before the day of the election; I am not unaware that he will do the same thing in Osun, but I am aware of the situation in Osun.

Our Obas are not illiterate, they are of sound mind and conviction that they know what is right. At the appropriate time Osun people will take their so-called ten thousand Naira which they have penned down for every voter and will still do the right. This is not a place that you come and preach religious differences; we have been living together as brothers so I am certain that APC will win the election.

DAILY INDEPENDENT

As the final countdown to Saturday’s gubernatorial election in Osun State begins, global attention would once again be focused on Nigeria as the wobbling and fumbling continues in the nation’s quest to join the leagues of real democracies.
And as had always been the case with elections in western Nigeria since independence, it is going to be a straight fight between federal might and the people’s will. Why the federal government or rather the party at the centre is always interested in controlling south west Nigeria against the wish of the majority beats one’s imagination. I don’t want to hazard a guess, but suffice to say that each attempt whether successful or not have always had grave consequences for the country.
Attempt by the NPC/NCNC controlled federal government in the first republic to take over western region through its lackeys in the region led to the western regional crisis that later snowballed into the crisis that eventually ended Nigeria’s first attempt at democratic rule. Recall what happened to the second republic when the ruling National Party of Nigeria (NPN) of President Shehu Shagari forcefully claimed victory in Ondo State. The only ‘successful’ takeover of political power in the south west by the party at the centre to date was in 2003 when ‘son-of-the-soil’ President Olusegun Obasanjo manipulated the process, using the federal might, to claim victory for his Peoples democratic Party (PDP)in all but one of the south west states.
But not too long after, the people realized their mistake and took back what they lost to the PDP, safe Ondo State. Again, applying the federal might policy of intimidation, the federal government is on another mission to forcefully take over the south west targeting Ekiti and Osun states as prelude to pocketing the remaining four states of the region in the 2015 general elections. And with Ekiti already in the bag, Abuja is full of confidence that Osun too will fall. In the last few weeks, the state has been fully militarized by the Commander-In-Chief, President Goodluck Jonathan, who in defiance of wise counsel has moved soldiers, State Security operatives and of course the police into Osun to ‘deliver’ the state to the PDP. Whether he succeeds or not and what becomes of our democracy after Saturday is in the hands of time. For Jonathan, securing Osun, Ekiti and the rest of the south west states is not so much for the wealth of the region, but the millions of votes he needs to secure a second term. Whereas his party men in the region are only interested in the key to the treasuries of the Yoruba states in order to squander the resources.
With this premise, it is easier to understand the battle that lies ahead for the people of Osun State as the local ruling party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its candidate Governor Rauf Aregbesola confronts the PDP and its flag bearer, Senator Iyiola Omisore stoutly backed by the government at the centre.
Saturday’s election is not so much in the hands of Aregbesola or Omisore but the people of the state who must decide the direction they want to take their future. Where Osun State was before Aregbesola came in and where it is today should be their guide, and I will use education to illustrate my point here.
As a beneficiary of the Bola Ige administration free education programme in Oyo in the second republic, I recall what most members of my generation then were going through to go to school and stay in school before the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) came to power in the region in 1979 and education was made free. No more school fees; no more buying of books, all our parents had to do was feed us and buy our school uniform. I can still recall the happiness on my parents’ face when newly sworn in governor Bola Ige announced this at the Liberty stadium on October 1, 1979. They both heaved a sigh of relief as they listened to the pronouncement on radio. Before then they had been finding it difficult paying the school fees of my siblings and I. Even though the skeptics, especially in the NPN said it wasn’t possible and derided the quality of education we were getting in public schools, millions of parents stood by the UPN and their governors defying the federal might to secure their children’s future. Today that decision has been well justified; their sacrifice have not been in vain, their children are now successful men and women in their various fields, thanks in no small measure to the free education programme of the day. The NPN federal government did offer rice and money that time but they rejected them.
If one looks at the contributions of the Aregbesola administration in the last four years or thereabout to improving the standard of education in Osun State, one is tempted to say that if only for that he deserves, without blinking an eye, a second term in office. And that is the truth.
I don’t want to talk about the beautiful schools he has built all over the state or even the reclassification of schools that he has done, as some are wont to argue that aesthetics are not enough to make good schools, what about the free feeding programme on which over N3 billion is being spent annually; free school uniforms. What about the tablet of knowledge or ‘Opon Imo’ (a miniature computer or tablet) containing the entire senior Secondary School syllabus, books and WAEC/GCE examination papers given to Senior Secondary School students to prepare them for their final exams.
Any parent or guardian that understands what it takes to buy whole set of books for their children or ward(s), buy their uniform, pay their school fees and above all feed them (at least once a day) will appreciate the burden that Governor Aregbesola has taken off their shoulders. And it is only right and even godly to appreciate the man by giving him another term in office. This is the least they can do for a man who has taken it upon himself to better their lot. To Governor Rauf Aregbesola, serving the people (of Osun) is a commandment from God. I chose to dwell on his education programme (only a fraction of his achievements in this sector) because I believe, like Chief Obafemi Awolowo who saw the future of his Yoruba people in education far back in the 50s that is the best foundation for the future.
Aregbesola has laid a solid foundation for the future of his people in Osun, the people should allow him to build it further by rewarding him with a second term. Any other decision to the contrary could lead to eternal regret. A word is enough for the wise.
THE NATION

It’s E –Day in Osun State on Saturday. In just 48-hours, all the huffing and puffing; all the stomping about the state in the last few weeks will be over. Hopefully the people of Osun, the Omoluabis, would have made their choice and the initial winners and losers will emerge. The electoral battle between incumbent Governor Rauf Aregbesola and Senator Iyiola Omisore promises to be one of the most keenly contested in Nigeria’s recent history.
Were it in those days when the world wrote on scrolls and in long hand, Hardball would wager that a whole library of scrolls would have been filled with verbiage on the Osun election. In other words, there is hardly anything left to be said in this epic battle. All the boastings have been boasted, all the posturing have been postured; all that is left is for all parties to keep awake and ensure that the voting and collating processes are truly free, fair and without any glitch.
It may well signpost one of the most significant battles between the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) behemoth and the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC). Whichever party wins this will gain an important edge over the other. If PDP’s Omisore wins, it would amount to a most momentous victory for his party and may have set up a groundswell for the re-capture of the Southwest by the PDP, considering that Ondo and recently, Ekiti had been lost by APC. It is indeed a must win for Ogbeni and his party if only to stem the recent losses and imbue reassurance.
Ogbeni had put up a modest performance in the past three and a half years, surpassing the record of most of his predecessors. He is a man of the people, a man who cares passionately about the welfare of the people. He is the direct antithesis of Omisore, who could be appropriately qualified as a member of the conservative old order. He was a deputy governor and then he has been a senator since 2003. That is about all for his achievements and claim to leadership unless you want to recount the unfortunate incidence of the gruesome killing of Chief Bola Ige of which Omisore was seriously linked, though a court discharged and acquitted him.
Great leaders and politicians would naturally seize the grand pedestal of the Senate to define themselves and their raison d’etre.  But it is sad to admit that Omisore’s time in the upper chamber remains an insignificant blip in the annals of his people. A man who could not manage to be a great senator, how can he deign to seek to make a good governor? Most notably, one would have thought he would run an intellectualised campaign, carefully articulating his ideas; sadly, it has been a puerile outing, with the electorate not knowing neither what Omisore stands for, nor what he seeks to offer.
Finally, it has been widely conjectured that the Osun election may be crucially decided by the votes of Christians led by members of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN). If that truly be the case, then one can be sure that the best candidate would be victorious because CAN is a most rational entity.

THE NATION

Photos of the Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, acknowledging cheers from the crowd during a one million man march round the street of the State Capital,  Osogbo by youths from all the Local Governments in support of his re-election on Monday 05-08-2014

It is another test case for the electoral commission
Come Saturday, the people of Osun State will go to the polls to elect who will govern them for the next four years. Coming so soon after the Ekiti State gubernatorial election in which the incumbent governor, Dr.  Kayode Fayemi of the All Progressives  Congress (APC), was defeated by Mr. Ayodele Fayose of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the stake in the Osun election has suddenly become very high as the two leading parties test their strength in preparation for the 2015 general elections. Challenging Governor Rauf Aregbesola of the APC is a former Deputy Governor of the State, Chief Iyiola Omisore.
The campaigns leading to the election, assuming we can use that word to qualify what has transpired in the state in the last one month, have witnessed threats of violence and all manner of intimidations. Yet violence and intimidation during election have no place in civilised society. We therefore enjoin the two candidates and their supporters to conduct their affairs before, during and after the Saturday election in such a manner that would be no room for coercion and violence.
As for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the message is simple: If the commission can conduct the Osun State polls without hitches, as it did in Ekiti State two months ago, then Professor Attahiru Jega would have done a lot to restore the trust of Nigerians not only in his stewardship but also in the capacity of his commission to deliver on credible elections next year. We hope INEC can use the Osun State election to make another statement that it is not beyond its capacity to have people cast their ballots, count the votes and then make them count.
It is particularly important for INEC to use Saturday’s election to further test its preparedness for the challenges that would come with the 2015 general elections. Experiences with recent elections (outside of Ekiti State), reveal that voting materials were not only in short supply, many of the sensitive materials arrived the polling booths hours late in many places. Among others, there were complaints that election officials were not deployed in sufficient numbers in some polling units, prompting party agents to step in, while many prospective voters were disenfranchised, following the omission of their names or photographs in the voters’ register.
However, we must also sound a note of caution in that election is a process and not an event. To that extent, the role of the security agencies is very critical. For instance, as much as INEC conducted itself creditably in the course of the Ekiti State election, we cannot say the same of the military whose men practically behaved like an army of occupation. In the case of Osun State, it is the Police that should be watched, especially since Mr Jelili Adesiyan, the Minister of Police Affairs, is an interested party in the election.
We therefore call on the president to ensure that state power is not deployed for partisan purposes. Even when his party has a stake in this election, the president should remember that he is most importantly the president of the country and not just a party man. We call on him to impress it upon the Minister of Police that he has a responsibility not to use his office to precipitate any crisis in Osun State by deploying the Police to promote partisan interests. In similar vein, we consider last week’s show of force by those said to be officers of the Department of State Security (DSS) to be very unhelpful. Such evidently partial acts cast doubts on the credibility of elections and ultimately put peace and even democracy at risk.
At the end of the day, the people of Osun State deserve the right to elect the candidate they deem most fit to govern them for the next four years. May the best candidate win.

Mr Najeem Salaam is the  Speaker of the House State House of Assembly. In this interview, Salaam maintains that the outcome of the Ekiti State governorship election will not have any impact in Osun State. The Speaker also chided the Federal Government for allegedly stifling  the state by deducting it’s allocation. Excerpts:

How do you respond to President Goodluck Jonathan’s remarks that his party, the PDP, will reclaim Osun State?

Well, people are entitled to their opinions. As a politician and as president who belongs to a political party, he is entitled to his own opinion. He can say whatever he wants whichever way he wants to say it. But that is not the reality on ground in Osun state.

That will also lead me to react to what the Vice President, Namadi Sambo said that the man who came through the back door, will surely go through the back door. He was referring to the judgement of a competent court as a back door judgement. That is the implication of what he is saying. It is a bad signal he is sending to the judiciary and to the country.

President Jonathan has a right to speak on. Behalf of his party, but he should be mindful and careful of what his utterances in order not to cause chaos.

What effect do you think the Ekiti poll will have on Osun governorship election?

It does not have any serious impact in Osun State as far as we are concerned but it boosted the ego of the PDP. The PDP knows that Osun is unlike Ekiti State. What the governor has done so far will give our party victory on August 9. We know and the PDP knows that Ekiti and Osun states differ and the outcome will be in our favour.

Are you not worried over the growing level of attacks at the campaign rallies?

I am worried because of the violence that the PDP has introduced to the campaign rallies. I am also worried when the candidate of a political party is being guarded by masked persons. That is not democracy.

Look at the number of troops deployed to Ekiti State and from what we are hearing, they want to double the troops to be deployed to Osun state.

Are you kicking against the use of troops deployment for the August 9 elections?

Yes. We do not need it. What we are saying is that we have soldiers at Ede, they can make use of those rather than importing troops and security personnel into the state. If troops are imported, no one will detect real or fake soldiers.

In the constitution of our country, the only person who can declare curfew in a state is the governor unless there is a serious crisis. We are not at war, we are only preparing for elections. Why should they say people should not move from Friday, August 8 till Saturday night. Movement should not be restricted, they should not unnecessarily heat up the polity in Osun state.

But there have been insinuations that some members of your party have been using the State Boys to cause mayhem?

I have not seen where the State Boys were used to cause mayhem in the state.

But some members of the State Boys were arrested after a rally at Ilesha?

Those that were arrested were coming from a rally, they were not involved in any vice, they were stopped and picked up by the security agencies. Let me tell you that the plan of the PDP is to implicate some APC leaders in order to get them arrested.

Your party has raised an alarm over a plan to assassinate the governor.

In every rumour, there is an element of truth. Not only the governor, most of us have been listed.

Have you made any formal report to the Police?

We are waiting because we do not know what is wrong with the system. We do not know who to report to, we do not know who to trust or who can secure you. One is scared to report.

The government has been accused of not doing any new basic infrastructure?

People that are blind cannot see what we are doing. If one is blind, he or she will not see the development going on in Osun State. There is no local government in this state that does not have a tarred road inspite of the meagre resources we have.

Not minding the dwindling allocation to the state, we are moving on. We have managed to pay salaries and execute developmental projects. The federal government does not give us money because they do not want us to perform, all in the name of politics.

That is against the principle of true federalism. We have been denied funds to uplift our people. Some people are jittery because Aregbesola is performing.

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Photos of the Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola during the Official Launch of Osun Youth Empowerment Scheme-Technology (OYES-TECH) at Government House Lawn, Osogbo, State of Osun, during the weekend

Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola (2nd right); Managing Director, Osun Investment Company Limited (OSICOL), Alhaji Bola Oyebamiji (2nd left); Regional Director West/Central Africa, RLG Communications, Mr Tosin Ilesanmi (left) and Mr Basiru Adewale, during the Official Launch of Osun Youth Empowerment Scheme-Technology (OYES-TECH) at Government House Lawn, Osogbo, State of Osun, during the weekend

Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola (2nd right); Regional Director West/Central Africa, RLG Communications, Mr Tosin Ilesanmi (right); Managing Director, Osun Investment Company Limited (OSICOL), Alhaji Bola Oyebamiji (2nd left) and Mr Fakayode John (left), during the Official Launch of Osun Youth Empowerment Scheme-Technology (OYES-TECH) at Government House Lawn, Osogbo, State of Osun, during the weekend

Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola (2nd left); Regional Director West/Central Africa, RLG Communications, Mr Tosin Ilesanmi (2nd right); Managing Director, Osun Investment Company Limited (OSICOL), Alhaji Bola Oyebamiji (left) and Mrs Lawal Rasidat (right), during the Official Launch of Osun Youth Empowerment Scheme-Technology (OYES-TECH) at Government House Lawn, Osogbo, State of Osun, during the weekend

From right, Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola; Managing Director, Osun Investment Company Limited (OSICOL), Alhaji Bola Oyebamiji; Regional Director West/Central Africa, RLG Communications, Mr Tosin Ilesanmi and Head Commercial Unit, RLG Communications, Mr Emeka Nkpa, during the Official Launch of Osun Youth Empowerment Scheme-Technology (OYES-TECH) at Government House Lawn, Osogbo, State of Osun, during the weekend