Tag: Ajimobi

Osinbajo, Aregbesola, Ajimobi Charge Youths On Productivity And Hardwork

Nigeria’s Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, on Tuesday proffered hard work and productivity as panacea to Nigeria’s socio-economic and political development.

He said Nigeria would have overcome some of her challenges if not being hindered by endemic corruption.

Osinbajo gave the charge while addressing a congregation of youths that converged on Osogbo for 2018 Southwest Regional Youth Summit, held at WOCDIF Centre, Osogbo, Osun State capital.

He charged Nigerians to champion virtues of integrity and Omoluabi ethos as the only fundamental principle of development.

The Vice President held that Nigerians must begin to look inward on the need to support government’s efforts by being productive and hardworking, noting that a nation could only achieve her aspirations if the people are productive.

Osinbajo canvassed good character among Nigerians, saying talent and potentials mean nothing if character is absent.

According to him, “if we truly want our nation to grow and develop, thus everyone needs to make necessary input and the only way to achieving this is to be productive in all we do.”

“”We must begin to plan for the future of our nation. We must create foundation for values as it is critical to success‎.”

“We must work on the virtues that our founding fathers developed as this is the only way to set our nation on the path of greatness.

“In whatever we do, we must emphasize Omoluabi ethos. We must champion hard work and bear at the back of our minds the need to advance our nation in whatever we do.

“Talent and potential do not mean anything if there is no character, so no matter how talented one is, without character, there is no way to make success.

“Integrity is the key to success. Every business that doesn’t emphasize integrity, always fails, thus everyone must be ready to work and make sacrifice if we truly want development‎.”

The Governor of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, challenged Nigerian Youths to be productive for the country to come out of its present economic challenges.

The Governor held that education can be effective for national growth if it induces productivity, saying the youth should see the only way to success as hard work.

He noted that youths should see agriculture as a viable business as against the belief that it is meant for the uneducated. Aregbesola stated it is disheartening that despite the fact that Nigeria is the leading cassava producing nation in the world, the country is unable to feed itself because her productivity level is low on the crop, compared to India and Thailand.

He said, “We must first discover ourselves and apply our discovery to advance our nation. There is no short cut to success other than hard work and productivity.

“One cannot go to anywhere if he or she only believes in advance fee fraud and other vices.

“It’s unfortunate that we don’t produce what we consume as a nation, but we rely on rent. Though we are educated but our education lacks critical thinking.

“We are the largest producer of cassava in the world but it is unfortunate that we are not bringing out anything positive from that effort”, the Governor emphasised.

Also, the Governor of Oyo State, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, while charging youths to be hard-working noted that the only way to succeed in life is through hard work and not luck, like many youths of today now believe.

While challenging the youths to begin to see themselves as the set of people who will drive the future, Governor Ajimobi maintained that all the youth must decide to succeed in life through hard work.

Speaking on the purpose of the summit, the Oyo State Governor said it is about promoting and enhancing the future through the youth of today, stressing that the patriotic sentiment is to forge the future of the South West through the youth.

The Governor said it is important to maximize the opportunity of the summit as he called on the youths to see it as an opportunity to come together and chart a way forward for the youths in the South West and the nation at large.

He said active participation in the summit is a means of ensuring that the dreams and aspirations for the future are met.

According to Ajimobi, “the patriotic sentiment is to forge the future of the South West through this all important youth summit at this time when the nation at large needs to plan for the future.

“I see the youths as the next set of people who will drive our destiny and take our race to the next level through hard work and creativity.

“It is important to maximise the opportunity of this summit to chart a way for the growth and development of the South West, when youths come together, something good must come out of such deliberation.

“It is by investing in the youth that we have a future and our dreams and aspirations as a people will be met.”. Ajimobi stressed.‎

Earlier, the Acting Director General of the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN), Mr Sheye Oyeleye explained that the importance of the summit is to have the inputs of the youth in the master plan of Nigeria’s development starting with the South West.

He charged youths in the South West to always conceptualize their thoughts towards how to have a better future and take the region to its pride of place in the scheme of things that concerns Nigeria as a whole.

Oyeleye challenged youths in the South West to start thinking out of the box as the
world is now technology driven, noting that the time has come for the West to start seeing themselves as the rallying point of the development of Nigeria.

“I think the time has come for the youth in the South West to come out of their shells and begin to see themselves as the cradle of development of Nigeria.

“I know that our youths are intelligent and very vibrant, but it is time for them to start taking charge and put it into action.

“We should seize the opportunity of the crop of governors we have today who are ready to drive the development of Nigeria, stating with the South-West. I think the present South West governors are very passionate about the growth of the region.

In a goodwill message, the Oluwo of Iwo, Oba Abdulrasheed Akanbi, commended the foresight of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola for appointing more youths into his cabinet, while calling on other South West governors to follow suit.

He maintained that if more governors in the region give more youth opportunities in their cabinets, the youth will be begin to have a sense of responsibility and the feeling that they own the future.

The royal father used the occasion to charge youths to join the present administration in the fight against corruption, saying it is one of the ways the country can move forward and also guarantee a corrupt free future.

“My Governor in Osun has always set the tone for the youths to take charge of the future through the appointment of a lot of youth into his cabinet.

“Osun has always been youth-driven and I want other South West governors to take a cue from this”.‎

Oyo Govt, Olubadan Row To End Soon – Oluwo

The Oluwo of Iwoland, Oba AbdulRasheed Akanbi, has said that the ongoing face-off between the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Saliu Adetunji and the state government would soon be resolved.

The monarch spoke after a close-door meeting with Gov. Abiola Ajimobi at the Government House, Ibadan on Wednesday.

Judging from his earlier meeting with the Olubadan, Oba Saliu Adetunji, on the matter, the first class monarch said that he was confident that a rapprochement would soon be established over the chieftaincy review row.

The governor had, on August 27, presented certificates and staff of office to eight former Ibadan high chiefs and 13 Baales, a development that triggered a face-off between him and the Olubadan, who was opposed to the crowning of new Obas.

The Oluwo said that his visit to Ajimobi was aimed at finding an amicable solution to the dispute between the governor and Oba Adetunji.

Oba Akanbi, who did not disclose the details of his discussions with Ajimobi and the Olubadan, however, expressed optimism that the end to the crisis was in sight.

He commended the governor for what he called his peaceful disposition to the saga and his continuous expression of deep respect for the Olubadan and the traditional institution.

The Oluwo said, “I have met with Baba, the Olubadan, and we even spoke last night. I am here to speak with the governor because Iwo is the closest town to Ibadan. Being the closest first class monarch to the Olubadan, anything that happens to Ibadan is of interest to Iwo.

“We are here in continuation of our efforts at finding solution to the crisis. I am not going tell you the details of our discussions, but I can assure you that the traditional stool has been highly respected by the governor. He has shown so much respect to the Olubadan.

“I can see the government’s side that must also be respected. We must not rubbish that office. You can see that even with the power at his disposal, Ajimobi has toed the path of modesty and a quintessential trueborn Yoruba man.

“He has kept saying ‘Olubadan is my father; he is my king; I am the Aare of Ibadanland courtesy of Baba Olubadan.’ So he has shown so much humility that must be appreciated. I believe Baba Olubadan will soon come to terms with the governor on the installation of Obas in Ibadan.”

The royal father commended the governor for embracing all efforts towards finding amicable resolution to the impasse.

LAUTECH: Now That The Storm Is Over

On the 3rd of June, 2017, the workers of the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, (LAUTECH) Ogbomosho embarked on an indefinite strike action to drive home their demands, particularly on the non-payment of their outstanding salaries. The strike has then been called off on Tuesday, October 17. KAZEEM MOHAMMED traces the issues leading to the action.

Filtering is the good news that the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), jointly owned by the governments of Osun and Oyo state have resumed after a  protracted strike action embarked on by the workers of the university.

Earlier in June 2017, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) in LAUTECH announced the commencement of an indefinite strike, three months after the suspension of an 8-month industrial action earlier embarked upon by the union.

According to the statement by the ASUU Chairperson, Biodun Olaniran, and the Secretary Toyin Abegunrin, the strike became inevitable since the two governments of Oyo and Osun “have failed to honour the demands of paying the salaries arrears of its union members in due time, saying, “it had been over two years now that LAUTECH had been thrown into crippling financial crises due to government’s refusal to meet its funding obligations to the institution,” they said.

The strike action had left the students at home for months and truncated the academic activities in the institution. Several pleas went by, several threatening messages circulated, and frustrations pervaded the institution, but all these did not have any positive effect.

Kudos must be given to the two owner states of Osun and Oyo for the appointment of the new Governing Council, led by the former Head of Service of the Federation, Professor Oladapo Afolabi whose appointment seems to have played a significant role in the return of the workers of the university to duty. The university staff must also be commended for sheathing their sword after reaching a compromise with the management of the institution.

It would be recalled that the Pro-Chancellor and the Chairman of the council, Professor Afolabi had shortly after his appointment assured that the institution would soon reopen for normal academic activities, saying, the new council was closer to finding a lasting solution to the problems confronting the institution, just as he expressed the council’s readiness to restore the lost hope in the institution.

While admitting that the new council was inaugurated at the most trying time, Afolabi said they have accepted the challenges and are ready to ensure that all the issues in contention are resolved.

“We are optimistic of early resolution to the crises rocking LAUTECH; government is committed to bringing back a formidable university, council and management are also determined to ensure an enduring legacy. In about 15 or 20 days, we should be able to give you the resumption date.”

Afolabi also promised to ensure that the institution becomes self-sustaining and not be a burden to the owner state governors.

However, the strike has though been suspended, but the issue of self-sustainability has always been the issue in contention. While the governments of the two owner states have insisted that the university should be able to sustain itself without subventions from the governments, considering the huge number of students paying schools fees, some stakeholders, particularly the labour unions have insisted that the governments of the two states were not committed to ensuring the sustainability of the university.

Going by the available data, LAUTECH has student population of 27,457 undergraduates (regular), paying average of N70, 000; 1,514 undergraduate (Part time), paying average of N120, 000; 2,857 academic postgraduate (regular) and  3,054 (part time) paying minimum of N150, 000; professional postgraduate students of 2600 paying average of N250, 000; Open Distance Learning (ODL) 655; Pre-degree and other programmes are also not left out, all totaling 35,507 Students.

It was in the midst of the crisis that the two owner states set up a visitation panel, led by Chief Wole Olanipekun, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria to review the activities of the university, with a view to finding a permanent solution to the issues bordering on the development of the institution.

After its finding, the panel discovered that no fewer than 97 different bank accounts in almost all the commercial banks in the country were being operated by the institution as against the Treasury Single Account (TSA) policy of the government. It was also revealed that TETFUND and Needs Assessment Funds running into billions of naira have been given to LAUTECH without commensurate research output to show for it.

It was the recommendation of the panel that a forensic auditing of the finances of the university should be carried out, as part of the way to bring an end to the crisis rocking the citadel of learning.

The two owner states have claimed that they had released a total sum of N13.626 billion to the university as subventions between 2011 and 2016. This is excluding additional Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) by the institution through its various business ventures and activities running into billions of naira.

In line with the recommendation of the panel of enquiry and the believe that the institution should be able to sustain itself without necessarily relying on subventions from states, the service of an Auditing Firm, KPMG was employed by the two states to carry out a forensic auditing of the finances of the institution.

The exercise initially met a brick wall, as the labour unions were alleged to be frustrating the exercise by forcing the auditing team out of the university and denying them access to the documents required for the exercise. This interference by the labour union also raised a lot of dust and throw suspicions that perhaps, the management and the labour unions were having something in common to hide, wondering why a transparent exercise of such would be truncated. After series of interventions and insistence by the two owner states, the auditing was eventually allowed. It has since been concluded, the report submitted and currently undergoing review.

At a point in July, Senate President Bukola Saraki stepped in, making ‘promises’ to release a massive sum of N4 billion funding through the federal government and ensuring a permanent solution by also asking the federal government to look into taking over the institution. These promises have been described by observers as empty one, as neither Saraki nor Presidency has made any statement on the issue, even when the two states were struggling to find lasting solution to the crisis.

While the two owner state have reiterated their commitment to the sustainability of the joint ownership of the university, some public commentators have canvassed that the joint ownership should be forfeited.

One of the commentators was the human rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN) who called on the Osun government to relinquish ownership of the troubled university as a long term measure, just as he urged Oyo government to be prepared to take over the ownership of LAUTECH and provide the needed funds for it.

Meanwhile, it was during the crisis that it was clear that the complexity of the crisis rocking the institution was beyond ownership, but also of management and administration. While some universities with lesser population of students were seen to be sustaining themselves, one would wonder why LAUTECH could not.

However, the unfolding event since the appointment of the new Governing Council and submission of the Forensic Audit Report, have clearly shown that the two states are indeed committed to the sustainability of the joint ownership status of the university.

This is as the two owners states have begun to contribute the agreed take-off grant to the university, with the Osun government releasing a sum of N1 billion, while Oyo released N56,000,000 with a promise to add up the rest soon. The government was also said to have paid three months of the outstanding salaries of the workers. This, to an extent is a demonstration of the governments’ commitment to return the university on the path of glory it had always been.

Feelers from the LAUTECH campus have indicated that booming activities have since resumed, the lectures are being expected to start by next week Monday 23rd of October.

Though, the crisis has been resolved, but the sustainability of this should not be overlooked. The university must be empowered to sustain itself through the Internally Generated Revenue accrued to it in terms of fees chargeable on students and other means without putting unnecessary burden on the students.

EDITORIAL: Auditing As A Roadmap

The whole point of a forensic audit is to provide a roadmap for the future. If a process is broken, an audit is a very good way of achieving a preventive mechanism against same or similar mishappenings in the future. To state the obvious, it is clear that the process, operating structure and mechanism of the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) is broken and has to be fixed. This has to start with a thorough audit.

Without the audit, the co-financing owner states of the institution will be reenacting says law, which every school pupil knows as “throwing good money after bad”. There is obviously something very disturbing about the reports that the labour unions of the institution were reported to have frustrated the Accounting Firm, KPMG which was engaged by the two owner states, Osun and Oyo to audit the finances of the university, as part of the recommendations by the Chief Wole Olanipekun-led visitation panel. Series of drama and threat have thereafter trailed and frustrated this effort to get the institution back on its feet.

The Olanipekun-led panel had found out that the LAUTECH accounts were audited last in 2012, and a sum of N400 million was in question then, just as it revealed that the university runs 97 different accounts, in spite of the Treasury Single Account policy that has since been in vogue as recommended and adopted by the Federal government since 2015. The panel also found that the TETFUND and the Need Assessment Fund running into billions of naira had been given to LAUTECH without commensurate research output to show for it.

It is totally unacceptable that a citadel of learning should be averse to modern management methods which allows for auditing. It also makes one to ponder as to whether or not they are on the same page with the laudable anti-corruption battle. An aversion for auditing in any institution whether public or private sector has specks of corruption.

It is absolutely clear now that there are vested interests who for self-serving reasons want to prolong the strike, in order to hide their abnormalities and other shortcomings. It means that they are using the students as ‘human shield’ to emotionally blackmail the owners of the institution into submitting to their own interests.

This is completely unacceptable. The convention on warfare makes the use of non-combatants, as a shield, a war crime. In industrial relations, using innocent students as a shield is tantamount to the same thing. The time has come for the management and the unions to allow the visitation report of the Olanipekun-led panel to be implemented. This will allow the students to get on with their lives. They owe them that moral obligation.

Realities And Truth Untold

Condemnations have continued to trail the refusal of the management and labour unions of the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomosho to allow the forensic auditing of the university’s account, as some stakeholders have attributed the main reason behind the continuous strike in the university to the failure to allow proper auditing.

The auditing has been identified as the lasting solution that can be administered to the incessant and the current seeming-not-to-end industrial action by the workers of the institution.

The labour unions of the institution were reported to have frustrated the Accounting Firm, KPMG which was engaged by the two owner states, Osun and Oyo to audit the finances of the university, as part of the recommendations by the Chief Wole Olanipekun visitation panel. Series of drama and threat have thereafter trailed and frustrated this effort to get the institution back on its feet.

The Olanipekun-led panel had found out that the LAUTECH accounts were audited last in 2012, and a sum of N400 million was in question then, just as it revealed that the university runs 97 different accounts, in spite of the Treasury Single Account policy that has since been in vogue as recommended and adopted by the Federal government since 2015.

It was also revealed that the TETFUND and Needs Assessment Funds running into billions of naira have been given to LAUTECH without commensurate research output to show for it.

Besides the alleged prevention of the auditing firm to carry out the audit, the joint labour unions of the institution had filed a suit before an Oyo State High Court to stop the exercise, a situation that had continued to raise suspicion that the management and the labour unions had skeleton in their cupboard and they have ignored the lives of students.

It has been in contention that the university should be able to finance itself without subventions from the owner states, considering the number of students and the fees being charged.  Comparisons have been made with UNIOSUN, another state University completely independent of the State of Osun’s control.

Some of the students and staffers of the institution, who spoke with this medium under the condition of anonymity wondered why such exercise would be frustrated by the labour unions.

A lecturer in the Faculty of Engineering and Technology wondered why the management and the unions would be preventing the audit of the university’s account, saying that the action was suspicious.

“It is now clear that the management and we the staff members, particularly the union leaders are the ones preventing the end to the prolonged strike in LAUTECH. Why are we then blaming the government for what we are guilty of?

“The issue of the nationwide strike by ASUU is another discussion, but as for the LAUTECH, if indeed we are sincere about what we are saying, why are we preventing what the government is claiming will bring an end to the prolong strike?

Also, a student in the department of Architecture, who also spoke anonymously, appealed to the labour unions and management of the institution to take the interest of the student as a priority.

“We can blame the government, fine, but the blame now is of the unions and the management who have been resisting the audit of the account. What are they hiding? “The governments of the two states have proffered solution to this crisis. Let us give them that opportunity. It is after they have carried out the audit and nothing is forthcoming that we can be blaming the government’, he stressed.

However, the governments of the two states have continuously called on parents, students and other stakeholders to prevail and plead with the unions to stop frustrating sincere steps of owner governments to get LAUTECH back on track, saying they are not happy and comfortable with the prolonged strike that has kept the Nigeria’s future leaders at home.

Seven Nigerian Govs To Visit Buhari Tomorrow

Seven governors are set to travel to London to visit Nigeria’s ailing President, Muhammadu Buhari, on Wednesday.

This was disclosed by three presidential spokespersons, Femi Adesina, Garba Shehu and Laolu Akande, at a media briefing in Abuja.

The governors are to be led by Governor Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara and include governors of Ebonyi, Kano, Benue, Borno, Akwa Ibom, and Oyo.

The visit comes a few days after some APC leaders and governors visited the president on Sunday.

Mr. Buhari had on that July 23 met with the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and some governors elected on the party’s platform.

A statement by the presidency, which provided a photograph of the event, gave the names of those who met with the president to include Governors Rochas Okorocha of Imo, Umaru Tanko Al-Makura of Nasarawa, Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna, Yahaya Bello of Kogi, and the APC National Chairman, John Oyegun.

Femi Adesina, the special adviser to the president on media and publicity, later quoted Governor Okorocha as describing Mr. Buhari as cheerful and humorous during the meeting held at Nigeria House in London.

Mr. Adesina also quoted the Imo governor as saying, “By our visit to London today, the merchants of lies have been put out of business and Nigerians will not buy the garbage they have been selling.

“All those who look up to fake news can find better use for their time.”

Mr. Buhari, whose real medical condition is unknown, has been in London for over 70 days for medical treatment.

His deputy, Yemi Osinbajo, recently visited him in the British capital, reporting back to Nigerians that the nation’s number one man was recuperating fast and would return soon.

South-West Governors Meet, Plan Common Agenda on Development

The South-West governors yesterday met in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, to deliberate on how to chart a common agenda to fast-track the development of the region.

The meeting, hosted by Ogun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun, was attended by all the six governors in the region, including Abiola Ajimobi (Oyo), Rotimi Akeredolu (Ondo), Akinwunmi Ambode (Lagos), Ayo Fayose (Ekiti) and Rauf Aregbesola (Osun).

They met under the aegis of Western Nigeria Governors’ Forum, a meeting put together by Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN), a technocratic institution for the sustainable development of the region, which according to Amosun, had been the vanguard for socio-economic and re-engineering of the South-West.

At the end of the four-hour meeting, all the participants agreed that regional integration as a sustainable economic development paradigm presents the Western Region, and indeed the whole of Nigeria, a pathway into economic prosperity for all.

A communique read by Amosun stated, among others:

• “A joint task force and joint actions will be pursued and sustained on security threats to guarantee the safety of lives, property and prosperity of the people of the region.

• “The competitive advantage of constituent states would be harnessed for sustainable regional development.

• “In order to improve the food security of the region, DAWN should convene a regional agric summit to be held in Ibadan.

• “Approval is given for the establishment of a Western Nigeria Export Development Initiative (WENEDI) to drive the export potentials of the region.”

• “A committee be set up for codification of our values and ethos as an instrument of Yoruba uniqueness to strengthen our identity and unity of purpose.”

Also, the governors agreed that the artificial boundaries of states, religions, political affiliations, among others, would not be a barrier to regional development and urged all the states to be encouraged to significantly improve bilateral and multilateral co-operation to foster regional development.

Amosun had in his welcome address charged his colleagues not to allow themselves to be used as “instruments of division”.

He stated that creation of states from the Old Western Region in 1976, which should have been an impetus for development in the South-West, had been “allowed to create artificial boundaries between the Yoruba nation.”

“To further worsen the situation, some of our people are also making themselves available as instruments of division because of their selfish political gains. The consequence is that our people begin to see themselves as a people of one state or the other rather than as a sub-unit of the entity of the Yoruba people,” he said.

PHOTONEWS: Southwest Governors Meet In Ogun for Regional Integration

Governors from Southwest states, Nigeria, Rauf Aregbesola (Osun), Abiola Ajimobi (Oyo), Ibikunle Amosun (Ogun), Akintunde Ambode (Lagos), Rotimi Akeredolu (Ondo) and Ayodele Fayose (Ekiti) on Monday met in Abeokuta, Ogun state for Southwest Economic Governor’s Forum.

The meeting which was organised by Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN), the governors reaffirmed determination of the region to rebuild Yoruba nation amid mutual collaboration from member states.

See those in attendant……………..

Akande’s Wife 8-Day Fidau: Aregbesola, Ambode, Ajimobi Storm Ila-Orangun

By Waheed Adekunle, Osogbo.

……as Osun governor charges mankind on good deeds

The ancient town of Ila-Orangun, the country home ‎of the pioneer National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Chief Adebisi Akande on Thursday agog as three Southwest governors storm the town in honour of the 8-day Fidau prayers of late Sikirat Omowumi Akande.

Late Mrs Akande died ‎in Ibadan, Oyo state last week after a brief illness at the aged of 73.

The Fidau Prayers have in attendance the southwest governors among which are the host governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, his counterparts from Oyo and Lagos states, Senator Abiola Ajimobi and Mr Akinwumi Ambode respectively.

In his remarks, the host governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola charged human beings on good deeds while alive, saying nothing would be accepted by God except good deeds.

Aregbesola said every mortal must always be conscious of end time just as it behooves on every soul to always be reminded of day of judgment in all they do.

Governor Aregbesola  who described the death of Mrs Akande as a great blow to the state and Nigeria at large, said her demise would not only create a vacuum to Akande’s dynasty but the state and southwest at large

He said he was greatly pained and grieved to received her death but being consoled in the fact that the deceased lived a life to service God and humanity.

According to her, we are very grateful to God Almighty for the peaceful passage of late Mrs Akande ‎because as mortals we know that an end must come to our existence here on this planet.

“Though we are pained with this colossal loss and great transition of Mama but it is our beliefs that her soul will be reposed in the finest paradise by God.

“We pray God to make her soul find a good location of rest in her new station”, Aregbesola prayed.

While consoling the immediate and extended Akande’s family over the demise of their loved one, Governor Aregbesola prayed God to give Chief Akande and the children of the deceased a fortitude to bear the irraparable loss.

Governor Aregbesola who described Chief Adebisi Akande as the father of Progressives in Nigeria, said the impacts of the former APC chairman towards growth and development of Nigerian nation can never be over-emphasized.

In his sermon, the Guest Lecturer, Sheik Salimo Muideen called on Muslims to always draw lessons from death, saying the circumstances surrounding death is enough for every soul to learn about the vanity of life.

Sheik Muideen who is also the Chief Imam of Offa admonished human beings to render their lives to service God and humanity.

He called on the riches to imbibe the spirit of alms giving to the needy most especially the vulnerable in the society and as well spending their money in the course of Allah and His way, saying, “Allah‎ will not demand for anything except good deeds and solats in the day of judgment”.

PHOTO STORY: Faces At Fidau Prayer of Chief Bisi Akande’s Wife

Governors Rauf Aregbesola (Osun), Abiola Ajimobi (Oyo) and Akinwumi Ambode (Lagos) were among dignitaries at the 8-day Fidau prayer for Late Mrs Sikiratu Omowumi Akande, wife of the pioneer chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Bisi Akande.

Others include Osun state Deputy Governor Mrs. Grace Titi Laoye-Tomori; Senator Representing Osun Central, Professor Olusola Adeyeye; Secretary to the State Government of Osun (SSG), Alhaji Moshood Adeoti; Chief of Staff to Osun Governor, Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola; Osun state Head of Service (HoS), Mr Olayinka Sunday Owoeye; former Ogun state Deputy Governor Segun Adesegun and former Osun State Deputy Governor Adeleke Adewoyin.

A delegation of the state House of Assembly and executive council members of the Aregbesola administration was at the prayers.

See photos……………….

 

N147million Subvention Given to LAUTECH in 2months Despite Audit, Oyo Commissioner Says

Amid impasses between the two-owners state and management of the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, Oyo Commissioner of Education, Science and Technology, Professor Adeniyi Olowofela has said that the institution has been given subvention of N147 million in the past two months.

Olowofela disclosed this while addressing journalists against the backdrop of notions that the owner states had abandoned LAUTECH to allow for the institution’s audit.

He maintained that the government only offered support in form of subvention, which is about 25 percent of what was previously given, while the institutions were expected to work towards being financially autonomous.

Olowofela who said that the state was not unmindful of the Olanipekun panel recommendation that Oyo pays N1.8 billion in the shortest time, posited that the audit report was meant to guide the owner states on how best to fund LAUTECH.

Olowofela who spoke in company of Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Mr Toye Arulogun, affirmed that the owner states were undeterred in carrying out the audit which was last done in 2012.

“LAUTECH is still being given subvention. We have given them N147 million in two months. So, government has not abandoned LAUTECH. The audit will continue. After the audit, we will be guided better on funding of the school. We want them to be financially autonomous as the subvention we give them is support,” Olowofela said.

Generally, Olowofela noted that all state institutions had been to embark on ventures and generate revenue to fend for their affairs, while the state only supported with subventions based on their peculiarities.

Arulogun, while speaking, expressed optimism that the new governing council of the institution, set to be inaugurated, would assist in resolving the issues challenging LAUTECH.

Responding to government’s position, Chairman, Academic Staff Union of Universities, Dr Biodun Olaniran has said that it was not aware of the release of subventions since members of staff were yet to receive salaries since it commenced the ongoing strike.

It would be recalled that Vice Chancellor of the institution, Professor Adeniyi Gbadegesin had once pegged the monthly wage bill of the institution at about N360 million.

Meanwhile, Emmanuel Alayande College of Education, Oyo, may soon be opened, following letters of apology written by the institution’s unions and management to the state government.

Provost of the institution, Dr Rasaq Adefabi who confirmed this, said the institution had guaranteed government that there won’t be a recurrence of any breakdown of law and order, once the school is reopened.