Osun Poll: Aregbesola Reads Riot Act To Troublemakers

Osun State Governor, Rauf Aregbesola, has warned that his government will not give room troublemakers who perpetrate mayhem to destroy the collective gains of the administration in the past three years.
He gave the warning on Monday night in a state-wide broadcast to the people of the state on the preparation for the forthcoming governorship election in the state.
Local government and governorship elections are to hold in the state soon.
Aregbesola said: “I also wish to remind us that this year, 2014, is an election year in Osun – the governorship seat will be up for contest. We must prepare for this.
“Election presents an opportunity for the people to choose their leaders and also reward or punish good or bad leadership. We must approach this task with this simplicity but with every sense of responsibility.
“We must seek to exercise our rights and protect these rights from encroachment, using the most civilised and legal means.
“But we must avoid violence and unruly conducts and we must not give room for any troublemaker who might want to use the pretext of election to perpetrate mayhem and destroy our efforts and collective gains of the past three years,” the Governor added.
While stressing that his administration will ensure that Osun State was made model of peace and tolerance, Aregbesola called on the citizenry to give more support and cooperation to his government to be able to deliver the dividends of democracy to them.
“Osun is a state which will be a model of peace and tolerance. I would like to say that religious, political and ethnic tolerance is the basic foundation of our Omoluabi heritage. We must promote this culture of tolerance and civilised conflict resolution with all our might.
“This is why we have decided to establish an Omoluabi Peace and Conflict Management Commission. This is to be a standing commission where communal, religious, ethnic or other social disputes can be resolved by a body of respected elders from across Yorubaland and even other groups.
“As we enter this great year of destiny, I pray that all our prayers will be answered, our joy will be full, our children will make us proud, our businesses will return excellent profits and our farms will yield bountiful harvests.
“We will not die in this New Year, we will live and enjoy the fruit of the land, in peace, in joy and in good health,” he pray.
Meanwhile, Aregbesola has named Justice Bola Ajibola as the head of the Omoluabi Peace and Conflict Management Commission to look into remote and immediate causes of communal clashes between the people of Oba-Ile and Oba-Oke in the Olorunda Local Government area and Ido-Osun and Ede communities in the Egbedore and Ede local government areas of the state.
The Governor told his people that the setting up of the commission was part of the strategies by government to ensure that peace reigns supreme in the state.
It would be recalled that on October 20, 3013 there was an outbreak of communal clash between the two communities leading to the death of two persons while several other sustained injuries.
Also, several houses were set ablaze, including the palace of Oloba-Oke of Oba-Oke, Oba Adams Iyiola.
The communities were embroiled in violent clash over land dispute.
DAILY INDEPENDENT