Protocols,
STATISTICS FOR NATIONAL RELEVANCE
I must thank the Governing Council and members of the Nigerian Statistical Association (NSA) for the kind invitation to the association’s 39th annual national conference and to declare it open.
Your choice of Osun as the host of your AGM is meritorious. Irrespective of the recent orchestrated campaign of calumny against our state and administration in a section of the media, we are the choice destination for meetings, conferences, conventions and sundry events by corporate bodies, associations and organisations.
This is firstly due to the fact that Osun has a great history behind it. It is the spiritual home of all Yoruba people. Ile-Ife, the fountainhead of Yoruba people, and where the legend says creation began, is less than 50 kilometres from where we are. This will probably explain why nature has extra-blessed us with a serene ambience and breath-taking natural formations.
Oluminrin Waterfall in Erin Ijesa is captivating in its sheer grandeur and compares to any in the world. The Osun Grove, as many of you are aware, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and attracts devotees of the Osun deity and tourists from all over the world. There are more than 50 of such nature’s beauty in Osun.
Secondly, our state has one of, if not the lowest, crime rate in Nigeria. This is in addition to the geniality and hospitality of our people. I will implore you to explore the rich possibilities of God’s nature in Osun before returning to your posts after this conference.
The theme of your conference: ‘Statistics for Good Governance’ is very thoughtful. According to Davidian, M. and Louis, T. A, two leading scholars in your field, ‘Statistics is the science of learning from data, and of measuring, controlling, and communicating uncertainty; and it thereby provides the navigation essential for controlling the course of scientific and societal advances’. I earlier said your theme is thoughtful; let me add that it is also value laden. You see statistics as essential to ‘good governance’ but I will quickly say that without statistics, there can be no governance itself, good or bad. On a broader scale, statistics go beyond governance, it encompasses life itself, mostly in an informal way. Generally in life, whether we are educated or not, or read statistics or physics, we take mental notes of events and phenomena around us and observe patterns from which we form opinions which in turn inform our views and actions.
For instance, we know that drunk driving is dangerous and can lead to fatal accidents. We also know that snake bites can be fatal. These are pieces of knowledge derived from observable patterns in human experience. It is statistics at work. Also, a trader must mentally calculate how much she needs to sell each of the 50 oranges on her tray, against her cost price, to be able to break even, since she could not afford to hire an accountant or a statistician. In the course of her trade, she must determine and predict fairly well the best places and individuals with whom to ply her trade and the characteristics of individuals that are credit worthy or not.
Statistics is also without doubt the backbone of science and the scholastic enterprise. It is the backbone of any business endeavour and enterprise and society. However, for government, a systematisation and conscious application of statistical methods and principles is an imperative without which no government can function. It is therefore necessary to have a functional and effective statistics department.
As we speak, we are carrying out a verification of workers in the state to determine our true wage bill. Though this may be accompanied with some discomfort, it is much needed for effective management of scare resources.
Your association has made admirable efforts to bring statistics into the mainstream of government with varying degrees of success. You have also gone to great length to control and regulate the statistics vocation in Nigeria. I salute and give you kudos for this.
There are however socio-political challenges of relevance for your association. There are times when public and private officials bandy around false statistics in order to promote falsehood and fraudulent agenda. Your association should be able to set the records straight in such circumstances.
Sometimes in 1979, a great debate arose over the conduct of the presidential election of that year on what constitutes two thirds of the then 19 states of Nigeria. A legal gimmick was thrown in which made it twelve two thirds of 19 states. Only Prof Chike Obi, a mathematician, spoke and expressed strong objection that a state is a whole and indivisible; therefore, there could be no two third state. It would have been interesting and even illuminating for your body to volunteer an opinion as it would definitely have been the case in the advanced world.
Periodically, by executive fiat and shenanigan, opposition governors were being removed from office with ‘simple minority’ votes of legislators in their states, when the constitution prescribed at least two thirds majority. Your voice, as a professional association, would have come to the rescue and save our nation from a global embarrassment.
You will also recall that recently, the Federal Government and states lapsed into financial crisis. While the then Federal Government borrowed N470 billion from commercial banks to be able to pay most of its workers salaries in its last four months, states were in a quandary until the coming of President Muhammadu Buhari who extended a lifeline to them.
The official explanation from the Presidency was that thieves were daily stealing 400,000 barrels of crude oil. But there is an incongruity between this figure and the amount by which allocation to states dropped.
While 400,000 represents about 19 per cent of Nigeria’s daily oil production quota, monetary allocation to states dropped by more than 60 per cent and the nation began to haemorrhage financially and tottered towards asphyxiation. Of course, we now know what happened to the money. We led the campaign from here to expose this fraud but with dire consequences for us. Honestly, statisticians should have spoken up while this storm raged.
The challenge for your profession therefore is patriotic intervention in national life as it concerns your profession. You will through this promote good governance with statistics.
Let me wholeheartedly welcome you to Osun and wish you a fruitful and successful meeting as I declare this conference open.
I thank you all for your kind attention.
Category: Politics

Aregbesola made the disclosure while addressing some workers and other stakeholders of the state Tuesday evening in Osogbo.
The governor, who described the state workforce as cooperative, said he personally shared in the pains they have gone through.
He said the storm was over as the state has started a new era of development, progress, transformation and everlasting peace.
“By the grace of God, the state will come out again, we will pay workers their salary before the Sallah celebration. Our government is one that is committed to workers’ welfare.
“We will also like to implore workers to join government in its effort to block some channels of leakages. It will be of great help to government and the people if you turn yourselves to whistle blowers by reporting any act or persons that are doing anything that will affect the state,” the governor emphasised.
Aregbesola expressed appreciation for what he called the workers’ commitment to his administration’s dream of transforming the state,said their sense of understanding and commitment was profound.He therefore urged the workers in the state to keep an eagle eye as soon as the payment commences by helping the government in fishing out any mischievous or fraudulent act that might be perpetrated by those who want to reap from where they did not sow.
Protocols,
A GIANT LEAP
It gives me great pleasure to be present at the opening ceremony of the Bola Ige Mechatronic Institute (BIMI). It is a dream come true and a befitting legacy in honour of the indelible memory of our dear departed leader and national icon, Chief Bola Ige, an avatar from this precinct but a citizen of the world.
Though Chief Ige was brutally murdered by those who thought they could silence him, his spirit has been restless and has been tormenting his killers who have been sinking deeper in the quagmire of infamy. These are the same individuals that have fruitlessly attempted to plunge the state into chaos and bring about a change of government through conspiracy and subterfuge in the recent past. While you drink from the cup of shame, we shall continue to honour the memory of Ige as he is ensconced in the pantheons of departed Yoruba leaders.
For starters, this institute is the first of its kind in Africa and definitely exits in no other place in Nigeria. We even have the assurance and admiration of our partners from Germany that it compares favourably with what obtains in the home country.
Our vision for this institute began with the need to empower our teeming youth and equip our artisans with the requisite skills to be relevant in an increasingly digital world. As many of us have noticed with consternation, the new car is no longer a mechanical artifice with some electronic parts, as in the past. Cars are now computers designed to work mechanically. Major components like ignition, transmission, engine, wheels, seats and dashboard are largely electronic, even though they have mechanical appearance. All the parts and pieces, up to tyre pressure, are coordinated from the brain box, a computer that forms the soul of the vehicle.
No mechanic can work on these parts again without the right tools and knowledge. The entertainment, navigation and communication facilities in a new car are so sophisticated that they make the old mechanics look like cave men. Even then, fault diagnosis and certain repairs can only be done with the aid of a computer. Without this tool and the requisite knowledge to use it, your mechanic is at best an admirer of your car and at worst, a vandal working on that piece of machinery. As some of us are aware, there are prominent Nigerians who no longer bother to service their choice cars in Nigeria. They just ship it back to Europe periodically for servicing.
It is a 21st Century revolution that crept upon us unawares and which puts the livelihood of our automobile technicians at grave risks. It also put our expensive cars and transportation in jeopardy if there are no handy service personnel nearby, even as mechanic workshops litter every street corner.
This institute will therefore be training on-the-street and mechanics from garages and candidates from automobile companies. It will also admit OND and technical college graduates for skill acquisition and Industrial Training.
It plans to offer through National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) and National Universities Commission (NUC) approval for upgrade of the polytechnic syllabus, a degree course on Auto Mechatronics, using the facilities in future. This is purely a practical delivery project as trainees shall be tested and certified before graduation from the centre.
We have also introduced an innovation. The National Automotive Design and Development Council’s Auto Mechatronics Curriculum and Instructional manuals are currently being translated into Yoruba to enable our auto mechanics train, develop and acquire skills in Yoruba language. With this institute, there is no need for travelling abroad for mechatronic training, except, of course, for tourism. We have what it takes here and we are going to take it to the next level. We are not going to be at the receiving end of modernisation and the brave new digital hi-tech world that has arrived.
Preparatory to today, in June last year, we sent 30 indigenes of Osun on a two-month in-plant, end-user training in Germany before returning to participate in the installation and commissioning of this institute. BIMI, to the glory of God Almighty, is now a completed billion naira project with the equipment alone costing N875 million. We have received the biggest support on this project from the National Automotive Design and Development Council, under the auspices of the Federal Ministry of Trade and Industry which got the Bank of Industry to finance it through First Bank of Nigeria. It is interesting to note that of all the states that competed for this project, Osun got the nod, partly due to the due diligence done on our proposal that confirmed our good credit rating.
This institute is also one of our wise investment moves. We have put it under the management of Osun Investment Company Limited (OSICOL). Rather than drain scarce government resources, it is going to bring revenue into our purse, as I have renewed assurances from Mr Bola Oyebamiji and his team that it is going to be run in the best tradition of a profitable company.
Please let me acknowledge and thank our technical partners, Lucas Nulle Gmbh from Kerpen in Germany. We will only be modest if we say it is one of the best in the world. It is indeed the best. We thank you for coming to our small place and the transfer of technology. I will also like to thank Osun State College of Technology, our host. It is my sincere hope that you will ride on the crest of this institute to make a statement in technological education. We cannot forget our host community, Esa Oke, the land of the brave. Our sincere appreciation go to National Automotive Design and Development Council, and its parent ministry, the Federal Ministry of Trade and Industry, for the kind support and for having faith in us. We will not forget the Bank of Industry who financed this project and First Bank, our long term partner in the development of Osun.
Last but not the least, the committee that put this institute together. Idiat Babalola, who heads the committee, Muyiwa Ige, the scion of Chief Ige, whom we have honoured with this project, Bola Oyebamiji, the MD of OSICOL, the investment arm of the state government, Gbaye Olanubi and Lai Busari.
This small project is a giant leap into the digital future and we are happy to be a pioneer. It is one of the proud and enduring legacies we shall, by the grace of God, leave in the state as we provide leadership and good government to our people. We shall not be discouraged, we shall not tire and we shall not rest until we fulfil our mandate and provide life more abundant to our people.
I thank you all for your kind attention.
Osun a dara
The Governor of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, on Thursday attributed the protracted insurgency in the North-East of the country to planning failure and several years of neglect.
This was even as the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) Osun Chapter charged public office holders to urgently declare war against corrupt practices.
Workers in the state stated this through the Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress Jacob Adekomi who led his members on an anti corruption rally which took place across Nigeria on Thursday.
Aregbesola while declaring open the 39th Annual Conference of the Nigerian Statistical Association (NSA) in So go, said the problem of the North-Eastern part of Nigeria is not that of military but a direct fallout of lack of planning, adequate gathering of statistical data and outright neglect by successive governments since independence.
According to him, the North-Eastern part of the country because of the neglet of human capacity development and lack of infrastructure before independence till date.
He lamented that of the six geo-political zones of the country, North-East is the poorest in terms of Electricity supply health as well as other social infrastructural which led to the carnage the country is witnessing today.
He said, “the problem of North east is not what the military option alone can solve. The problem of insurgency in the North-East is a direct fallout of several years of neglect and abandonment of a particular set of people.
“Empirical data has clearly shown that since the nation got its independence, the North-East has been the least interms of human development index in Nigeria.
“In terms of electricity, Schools, social infrastructure, infant mortality, and quality health services used in measuring human development, North-East occupies the lowest rung of the ladder among the six geo-political zones of the country.
“Absence of all these social amenities led to the degeneracy being witnessed in the Northern part of the country today.
“To my mind, the only way to mitigate the calamity that befalls us is to close the yearning gap in human development with other regions of Nigeria”. The governor stressed.
The governor added that without statistics, there can be no governance itself, saying statistics on a broader scale goes beyond governance.
Aregbesola described statistics as the backbone of any business endeavour and enterprise and society, “for government, a systematic and conscious application of statistical methods and principles is an imperative without which no government can function.
“It is therefore necessary to have a functional and effective statistics department. As we speak, we are carrying out a verification of workers in the state to determine our true wage bill.
“Though this may be accompanied with some discomfort, it is much needed for effective management of scarce resources”. He emphasised.
The NLC in a letter addressed to the Governor entitled: “National Day of Action Against Corruption and For Good Governance,” and signed by the Nation President, Comrade Ayuba Waba, said Thursday was set aside by labour to draw attention of the political authorities to damage that corruption has caused to the nation.
The letter also stated that NLC used the campaign tagged A National Day of Action and Protest to underscore a deep concern for overbloated and unsustainable cost of governance.
The letter said in part: “We are convinced that this action has become necessary to bring to the fore the urgent need for a national discourse to drastically reduce the cost of governance at all levels (Federal, State and Local Government) against the background of the fall in the price of crude oil, our main source of foreign revenue.
“There is also an urgent need to review and strengthen our anti-corruption legislation. This will remove such loopholes where punishment for crime of conspiracy, breeze of trust and embezzlement of N32.8bn police fund was a mere 2-year sentence.”
Earlier in his address, the National President of NSA, Dr. Muhammed Tumala said the financial crises experienced in 1990s and 2008 were caused by gulf in the knowledge of the nation’s economy.
Tumala stated that it was against the background of the crisis that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) introduce two systems in 1995 to ensure that nation’s collect and disseminate data to improve knowledge and understanding of the economy.
The statistician boss noted that the national association was in Osun to interact with government on issues relating to developments in the production processes of statistics in Nigeria.
“Since 2007, progresses have been recorded at both federal and state levels towards fully establishing statistical system for Nigeria.
“In addition to interaction between our members, we are also here in Osun to interact with your government on issues pertaining to developments in the production processes of statistics in Nigerian,” Tumala.
…As Govt commences payment next week
The Government of Osun has said that Primary School Leaving certificate is not a condition for the payment of arrears of salaries to Osun workers.
This disclosure was made on Wednesday by the Osun Head of Service, Mr. Sunday Owoeye in a programme monitored in Osogbo on the State television, Osun State Broadcasting Corporation (OSBC).
He described as mischievous and incorrect the report in a media report that the state has asked all workers in the state to present their Primary School Certificate before the arrears of salaries due to workers are paid.
The Head of Service pointed out that the circular sent out by government is not meant for the payment of salaries, but for the monitoring and control within the civil service.
Owoeye held that the verification of workers under a normal civil service situation is an exercise that is supposed to be carried out yearly.
He added that streamlinning the civil service must be an on-going process, saying that for organisation, be it public or private to grow and remain healthy, such outfits need to examine and check itself regularly.
The HOS emphasised that the circular and forms that were distributed to worker to fill were like a questionnaire that civil servants need to input information that are applicable to such category of workers.
According to him, “It needs to be stated clearly that in the scheme for public service workers, it is only those who are appointed as cleaners, messengers and guards that are expected to present their primary six certificates. Do you ask Doctors, Engineers, Pharmacists and other cadres in that category to come and present primary school certificate.
“Form filling is very important and you can see that in why institutions place much emphasis on it. If you are filling a form, you are not compelled to fill everything. You will have provision for “Not Applicable”. If the question is not applicable to you, then you put it their. Primary six certificate is not a compulsory condition.
“The impression these people are now giving is that the circular says that if you don’t present your Primary six certificate, you can’t receive your salary, that impression is mischievous. So, it is not correct that all workers are being asked to present such certificates before they are paid,” Owoeye emphasised.
He averred that the government is not unaware of the fact that some people have been paid to distort the truth, noting that they will want to justify the pay received by their paymasters by trying to set workers against government.
Owoeye held that the much talked about bail out is not a charity from banks, noting that Osun is trying to be sure that the loan meant for the payment of backlogs gets to people that are supposed to get it.
He added that the screening and verification exercise is a scheme by government at ensuring that leakages are being blocked, “nobody borrows to pay for fake or dubious service or products.
”As we speak the comprehensive screening of workers and pensioners of the state of Osun was completed only yesterday (Tuesday) whereupon a formal report is to be submitted on the outcome of that exercise this Friday. We are on it.”
Speaking on insinuations that the process is a delay tactics, he queried this saying workers and government had earlier decided that there should be an exercise to get the actual figure of the amount to be paid as salary.
“Government’s intention on this exercise is healthy and we are on course. The chairmen of the screening committees are to bring in their reports. We are looking at it and we’ve been discovering irregularities. I don’t have to hide that from you.
Photo of the Governor, State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola and the National President, Nigerian Statistical Association (NSA), Dr. Muhammed Tumala, during a courtesy visit to the Governor, at Government Secretariat, Abere, Osogbo, on Tuesday 08/09/2015.

Governor, State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, presenting the State
Emblem to National President, Nigerian Statistical Association (NSA),
Dr. Muhammed Tumala, during a courtesy visit to the Governor, at
Government Secretariat, Abere, Osogbo, on Tuesday 08/09/2015.

Governor, State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola exchanging
pleasantries with the National President, Nigerian Statistical
Association (NSA), Dr. Muhammed Tumala, during a courtesy visit to the
Governor, at Government Secretariat, Abere, Osogbo, on Tuesday 08/09/2015.

Governor, State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola (middle); National
President, Nigerian Statistical Association (NSA), Dr. Muhammed Tumala
(2nd right), Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Moshood Adeoti
(2nd left), Immediate past NSA President, Mr. Boniface Oseloka Amobi
(left), NSA National Treasurer, Mrs Obikudu Felicia (right) and
others, during a courtesy visit to the Governor, at Government
Secretariat, Abere, Osogbo, on Tuesday
Pictures of some of the Tables and Chairs to be distributed to thirty six States and FCT, SUBEBs in Nigeria by Federal Government, hosted by Osun, during the National Flag off ceremony, at L.A Government Middle School, Ayetoro, Osogbo on Tuesday 08-09-2015

Some of Tables and Chairs to be distributed to thirty six States and
FCT, SUBEBs in Nigeria, by Federal Government, hosted by Osun State
SUBEB.Insert is Governor Rauf Aregbesola (middle); Deputy Executive
Secretary, Universal Basic Education (UBEC), Dr Yakubu Gambo (right),
representing the Executive Secretary and State Chairman, Universal
Basic Education Board, Prince Felix Awofisayo, during the National
Flag off ceremony, at L.A Government Middle School, Ayetoro, Osogbo on
Tuesday 08-09-2015

Some of Tables and Chairs to be distributed to thirty six States and FCT, SUBEBs in Nigeria by Federal Government, hosted by Osun State SUBEB.Insert is Governor Rauf Aregbesola (left); Deputy Executive Secretary, Universal Basic Education (UBEC), Dr Yakubu Gambo (middle), representing the Executive Secretary and State Chairman, Universal Basic Education Board, Prince Felix Awofisayo, during the National Flag off ceremony, at L.A Government Middle School, Ayetoro, Osogbo on Tuesday 08-09-2015

Some of Tables and Chairs to be distributed to thirty six States and FCT, SUBEBs in Nigeria by Federal Government, hosted by Osun, during the National Flag off ceremony, at L.A Government Middle School, Ayetoro, Osogbo on Tuesday 08-09-2015

Front row from left,State Chairman, Universal Basic Education Board, Prince Felix Awofisayo;Deputy Executive Secretary, Universal Basic Education (UBEC), Dr Yakubu Gambo (middle), representing the Executive Secretary; Governor Rauf Aregbesola and Secretary to Osun Government, Alhaji Moshood Adeoti,during the National Flag off ceremony of Tables and Chairs to be distributed to thirty six States and FCT, SUBEBs in Nigeria by Federal Government, at L.A Government Middle School, Ayetoro, Osogbo on Tuesday 08-09-2015
Pictures of the Governor, State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola discussing with the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, during a condolence visit on the demise of the Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade, at Government House Osogbo, on Monday 07/09/2015.

Governor, State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola (middle); the Alaafin
of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi (right) and Speaker of the House of
Assembly, Hon. Najeem Salam, during a condolence visit to the governor
on the demise of the Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade, at Government
House Osogbo, on Monday 07/09/2015.

From right-Governor, State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola; Speaker
of the State House of Assembly, Hon. Najeem Salam and the Alaafin of
Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, during a condolence visit to Aregbesola on
the demise of the Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade, at Government
House Osogbo, on Monday 07/09/2015.
The Speaker of Osun State House of Assembly, Hon. Najeem Salam, has defended the integrity of the State Governor, Rauf Aregbesola, saying the governor remains a man of strong character, honesty and integrity.
The Speaker absolved the governor from blame on the financial status of the state, stressing that it was the openness of the governor that exposed the financial predicaments of other states in the country.
He assured that the 34 billion naira bailout loan obtained by the state from the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, would go a long way to address the challenges facing the state and called on the workers to cooperate with the government to move the state forward.
The Speaker made the remarks in Abuja Tuesday at the opening ceremony of a workshop organised by the Anti-Corruption Academy for members of states Houses of Assembly from the South-West Zone of the country.
The Speaker who spoke through his Deputy, Hon. Akintunde Adegboye said transparency and honesty go together and this has remained the watchwords of the present political leadership of Osun state.
He dismissed insinuations that the problem over unpaid salary in the state had to do with corruption, insisting that there was no iota of truth in the allegation.
The law-maker said the capacity building workshop for legislators was timely as it would update their skill and fine tuned their knowledge on transparency, probity and accountability in governance.
The Provost of the Anti-Corruption Academy, Professor Sola Akinrinade said the fight against corruption in the country cannot be undertaken by President Muhammadu Buhari alone and called on all law-makers, civil servants, members of the private sector and ordinary Nigerians to join in the crusade against corruption.
“The agenda for the next three days is sensitization and capacity building to ensure that legislators are aware of the requirements of the law in relation to probity, accountability, integrity and transparency and the need for them to thses values in the performances of their official duties,” he said.
Professor Akinrinade added that ” the other part of it is the forewarning of what lies ahead for those who choose to pursue the path of perfidy, that there is the long arm of the law waiting to bring to justice all those who are caught perverting the process and helping themselves to unfair proportion of the national cake, especially the portions that do not belong to them.”
THE NATION
A MEMBER of the Osun State House of Assembly Olatunbosun Oyintiloye has described the activities of President Muhammadu Buhari government within his 100 days in office as a demonstration of his sincerity to return Nigeria to the path of progress.
Oyintiloye, representing Obokun State Constituency, said the activities of the President have so far shown that he is not only meticulous and mature but full of insight.
He said President Buhari intellectual and managerial wherewithal to take Nigeria to the Promised Land.
Speaking at political meeting in Ibokun, the lawmaker said the input that has been made in the fight against insecurity, corruption, as well as economic developments were visible.
According to the lawmaker, the President’s mien and steps have shown that insecurity can be subdued, corruption tamed, bad economy addressed and hope restored.
He said: “The machinery that President Buhari has been able to set in motion to fight security challenges deserves applause of Nigerians. The area of note is the order for the relocation of Military Command Center to the Northeast, which is the theatre of the insurgency.
“The goodwill established by the President in the diplomatic arena and willingness of the international community including the United States (U.S.) to cooperate with Nigeria in the area of economy, insecurity and corruption indicated the giant strides of the President Buhari-led administration.”
Oyintiloye pointed out the template and tempo set by President Buhari in fighting corruption as another testimony that he has been on the right track, saying his body language alone has triggered a paradigm shift in the public service.
The lawmaker said: “He has been able to harnessed resources through the single account remittance, which to a large extent had improved the revenue of the federal government and a proactive measure in curbing corruption.
“Due to series of strategic intervention, more funds are coming to the federal government treasury and by extension deepening and developing the economy. For instance, the nation’s foreign reserve rose by 1.12 per cent in August from $31.08 billion to $31.43 billion which is a positive sign for the economy.”
He said the repositioning of the refinery ?and the hiring of 10,000 more hands to strengthen the police cannot but steps taken in the right direction.
“Nigerians can clearly see that the country is already moving in the right direction, it is now getting the deserved respect from the international community, our country is no longer a pariah state and it is crystal clear that the President is sincere, believable and focused”, he said.
On the bailout for cash-strapped states, Oyintiloye said the presidential intervention will stimulate economic activities in the benefitting states.
He dismissed those accusing the President of not recording any success within his first 100 days as being economical with truth.
“President Buhari is too mature and experienced to be stampeded to take rash and irrational decisions or continue in the old track of waste and inefficiency”, Oyintiloye said.
THE NATION