As part of the social benefits of the Osun Food Support Scheme, the government of the State of Osun has said the Scheme is proving useful in the evaluation of the available database of the poor and vulnerable households in the state.

The Chairman of the Osun Food Support Scheme and Commissioner for Regional Integration and Special Duties, Eng Olalekan Badmus, during the meeting of the Scheme’s Steering Committee, disclosed this on Wednesday, at the Conference Hall of the Ministry of Information, while responding to questions and feedbacks from stakeholders at the review meeting of the scheme.

“We are using scheme as a model for evaluating the currency and validity of the social register that is available in the State.

“In the process of distribution, we are beginning to identify those who are deceased, those who have relocated, and others who should not be on the list again.

“This is proving to be a critical advantage of the Osun Food Support Scheme, and our committee will communicate its observations to the appropriate quarters for further verification and necessary action”, Badmus stated.

He also revealed that civil groups, traditional and religious leaders, among others have been critical in performing the role of identifying the poor and vulnerable in their communities thereby assisting the State Government in the implementation of the Scheme.

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…. NAFDAC warn Nigerians.

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has warned Nigerians against the use of alcohol-based hand sanitisers imported from Mexico.

The Director-General, NAFDAC, Professor Mojisola Adeyeye, who gave the warning explained that the US Food and Drug Agency (USFDA) had placed all alcohol-based hand sanitisers from Mexico on a countrywide import alert.

The NAFDAC BOSS said the products were labeled as containing ethanol but were found to have methanol contamination, which is toxic and could be life-threatening if absorbed through the skin into the body system.

She reiterated that USFDA said until it is able to review the products’ safety, it will be on its watchlist.

Information has it that this marks the first time the Agency was issuing a countrywide import alert for any category of drug product to further safeguard the healthy living of all.

NAFDAC said substantial methanol exposure could result in nausea, vomiting, headache, blurred vision, permanent blindness, seizures, coma, permanent damage to the nervous system, or death.

It also warned those in possession of such products to discontinue its usage in their own interest.

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…. Presidential spokesperson, Garba Shehu

The Presidency says security agencies have arrested some Nigerians funding Boko Haram terrorists, who over the years have been operating in the country.
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, who made the disclosure on a television programme noted that, Nigerians would be shocked when details of the investigation on the humongous sums of money were being made available to the group would be disclosed.

Shehu stated further that the sponsors included but not limited to some Bureau De Change operators who have strong contacts abroad.
He added that the Presidency further identified places of worship being used to harbour killers of security agents in the country, assuring that, efforts are on by the heads of intelligence agencies to bring the perpetrators to book.

It would be recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari had earlier ordered the Service Chiefs and other security and intelligence coordinators in the country to be proactive so as to rid the country of disgruntled elements.

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The Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, has decorated Usman Alkali Baba with the rank of Inspector-General of Police (IGP).

This followed President Muhammadu Buhari’s approval of Baba’s appointment as Acting Inspector-General of Police on Tuesday.

The appointment which was announced by the Minister of Police Affairs, Maigari Dingyadi, took immediate effect.

The Acting IGP replaced Mohammed Adamu whose tenure expired February 1, 2021, but had it extended for three months.

Until his appointment, Usman Alkali Baba was a Deputy Inspector-General of Police. His appointment will be in acting capacity pending his confirmation by the Senate.

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An Osun State High Court, sitting in Ejigbo, today dismissed the suit filed against Osun State Government on the selection of Ara kingship and consequent enthronement of Alara of Ara,Oba Dr. Olubayo Adesola Windapo.

Prince Emmanuel Oladejo Ilufoye and three others had jointly filed the suit against the installation of Alara of Ara, Oba Dr. Olubayo Adesola Windapo.

The Plaintiffs had earlier informed the Court
that the Customary Law regulating the selection of a candidate to fill the vacant stool of Ara, whenever it occurs, was not followed. According to them, the flouted Chieftaincy Declaration was registered on the 1st day of June, 1979.

Barrister Moses Faremi, representing Ministry of Justice and state Governor of Osun State, told the court that the plaintiffs had failed to comply with the laid down procedure stated in the section 19 and 20 of the Chiefs Laws Cap 25, Laws of Osun State 2002.

After the kingmakers must have selected the oba elect, among the contestants, aggrieved parties have 21 days to petition the Governor who takes a decision on appointment of Obas, Faremi stated.

Barrister Faremi then advanced that the decision to challenge the action of the kingmakers in court is an abuse of process.

Justice Lawrence Arojo held that the court lacks the jurisdiction to determine the suit filed by aggrieved parties and agreed with the State Counsel, Faremi Moses that the case of the plaintiff is preemptive and premature.

Justice Arojo also said that administrative remedy provided for under section 19 and 20 of chiefs Laws of Osun State was never exhausted before the plaintiffs approached the Court.

Justice Arojo therefore ruled that the suit filed to challenge the installation of Alara of Ara,Oba Dr. Olubayo Adesola Windapo is dismissed.

opeyemi BELLO
Information Officer,
Ministry of Justice.

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President Muhammadu Buhari has received a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole and former Governor of Ogun State, Gbenga Daniel, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja

The duo, who recently defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), were accompanied on Monday by the APC Caretaker Chairperson, Mai Mala-Buni, who is also the governor of Yobe State.

Others in the entourage were Governors of Jigawa State, Mohammed Badaru and Kebbi State, Atiku Bagudu.
Otunba Daniel was governor of Ogun State from 2003 to 2011 while Mr Bankole was Speaker of the House of Representatives of Nigeria (2007–2011), both on the platform of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

While Otunba Daniel was campaign manager for the PDP presidential candidate and former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, in 2019, Mr Bankole contested that year’s governorship election in Ogun State on the ticket of the Action Democratic Party (ADP).

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The government of the State of Osun wishes to commiserate with the management and staff of Unique F.M., Ilesha, and indeed the entire body of media professionals in the state over the passage of Mr Sunday Alakinde, one of the popular radio presenters in the state.

This is particularly a painful loss to the State of Osun, which today mourns not just one of its sons but also one of its finest professionals in the media industry.

Alakinde was an erudite journalist, a brilliant presenter, and a dexterous user of the Yoruba language. He made a huge impression through the daily yoruba newspaper review programme, “Ojutole Ojutoko”, one that cannot be forgotten in a hurry.

The government expresses its condolences to the family of the deceased, to the entirety of the media family in Osun state and in Nigeria as a whole, and to the management and staff of Unique F.M. and prays that God grants Mr Alakinde’s family and friends the fortitude to bear the loss.

Signed:
Funke Egbemode
Commissioner for Information and Civic Orientation,
State of Osun

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The Chairman, State Universal Basic Education Board, state of Osun, Hon. Ajibola Famurewa, has canvassed the need to tap from the many inherent potentials of the Nigerian youths to enhance National Development.

Hon Famurewa made this known during a lecture entitled “Rejigging Universal Basic Education for the Development of Youths’ Entreprenurial Skills “delivered at the Second Annual Akeem Kareem Lecture Series held in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.

The Osun SUBEB Boss noted that education is a veritable tool for national development and social integration, which if fully tapped from the root will impact entrepreneurial skills in children.

The former federal law maker however, enjoined the youths in particular to engage themselves in entrepreneurial skills acquisition as opposed to a craze of searching for a white-collar job which he noted are now very difficult to get in Nigeria.

He also enjoined all stakeholders in the country to map out strategies through the creation of an enabling environment to instill in the teaming youths the mulch needed entrepreneurial skills for both personal and national developments.

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As the Osun Judicial Panel of Inquiry on police brutality, human rights violations and related extra-judicial killings continues to look into the grievances of citizens on abuse by men of the police force, a petitioner has narrated how police officers killed his brother and failed to release his corpse to the family after four years.

Teslim Olakunle Ibitoye, a resident of Erin-Osun area of the State, who spoke during the sitting of the panel on Friday, added the officers whose bullets killed his brother were also responsible for the injury he sustained in his spinal cord.

Ibitoye, who described the incident as an offspring of some overzealous officers’ chase of suspected criminals, claimed that the killing of his brother, who he described as the breadwinner of the family, has left a strain on the family’s wellbeing.

“The event that led to our petition before this honourable panel happened on the 25th of April 2017. We were at our cousin’s place on a visit when suddenly I heard a gun shot. The last thing I remembered was that I stood up at the sound of the first gun shot.

“We were taken in a bus and driven to Osogbo. My brother was lying dead on the ground and I also was lying on my back because I couldn’t sit by myself again. I remember that when the Commissioner of Police at the time, CP Adeoye, came around, my cousin, Nureni Ibitoye, and the other suspects that were apprehended, kept repeating that myself and my brother had not done any wrong.

“On the basis of their testimonies, the Commissioner of Police ordered that I be taken to the Police Clinic for treatment. I was sneaked out of the Clinic on April 28 at about 2:00am and taken to Abuja. After some examinations in Abuja, one oga Abba Kyari ordered that I be taken to the hospital for treatment.

“I was taken to the General Hospital at Gwagalada, where I was admitted and discharged on August 1. From there, I was taken to the Police Cell again for two weeks. I was eventually released on August 15, and I have been trying to treat myself since then.

“It is unfortunate but that attack has ruined a lot of things around my family. My mother is still in shock, finding it hard to believe her son got shot.

“Other members of the family are still trying to recover from the trauma because my brother’s body has been withheld for four years despite the fact that all investigations show that he has not committed any crime. The killing of the breadwinner of the family has turned everything upside-down in the family.

“I am grateful for this Panel set up by the government, because my expectations are graduay being fulfilled. The Panel has just initiated the process for the release of my brother’s corpse. This is a positive development for us.

“That aside, I want to be treated. As I speak, I still have a bullet in my T4 (spinal cord) that I have been carrying around for four years. If there’s anywhere, I can be taken to get a proper treatment and for the bullet in my T4 to be removed, I will be most pleased.

“The effect on my health has been severe. Breathing for me has required extra efforts, and even despite the support, I don’t have the strength to stand.

“For the extent of the damage done to my family and to me, I am appealing for an order of adequate compensation to the tune of Fifty Million Naira Only (N 50,000,000)”, Ibitoye stated.

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As torrential rains began to wreak havoc in various parts of the State, the Special Adviser to the Governor and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Osun State Signage, Hoarding and Advertisement Agency (O’Signage), Mrs Dupe Ajayi Gbadebo, has indicated the preparedness of the Agency to commence the enforcement of the signage law in the State.

Addressing newsmen in Osogbo, Mrs Ajayi- Gbadebo said that demand notices have been served to signage owners while removal notices have also been placed on illegal and wrongly placed signposts and billboards across the State.

She said removal notices placed on signages was intended to instil sanity, compel registration and make defaulters to settle approved bills to the coffers of the State Government.

She therefore called on individuals and corporate bodies with such notices to come to the Signage office to fulfill their obligations and get clearance.

The O’signage boss urged those who want to make payments to the Agency to do so directly to the Government account in various banks, saying that the Agency does not allow its staffers to collect cash payments.

According to Mrs Ajayi-Gbadebo, the State Government is most concerned about safety of lives, adding that vision blights do occur as a result of competitive location of several bill boards along roadsides and often results in accidents and loss of lives.

She pointed out that rainstorms are capable of forcefully removing not well erected billboards and signposts which can pose serious dangers to lives and property of innocent people.

The O’signage chief executive disclosed that the three core objectives that inform the activities of signage Agency are to standardize erection of boards and signage in an orderly manner; create environmental aesthetics; encourage and enhance commercial activities.

She explained further that activities of the Agency is devoid of political colouration.

Mrs Ajayi-Gbadebo said whether political or religious and any other type of poster or signage, the owners must register with Government properly and the Agency would guide them on the right way and appropriate places to paste posters or erect billboards.

She said the State could no longer tolerate the manner major streets have been defaced with posters, other signage as well as billboards and appealed to whoever wants to use public space for advertisement to come to the Agency for registration.

She added that any individual, religious organization, political party, company or business owner who attempts to use public space for advertisement without the authorization of the Signage Agency would not only forfeit such billboards but will also be arrested and prosecuted.

The O’Signage Boss warned that pasting of posters indiscriminately would no longer be allowed in any part of the State and that only those who register appropriately would be able to make use of the public space for advertisement purposes.

Soliciting the support of the citizens to the activities of the agency, Mrs Ajayi-Gbadebo disclosed that the Agency allows reasonable payment arrangements of annual dues, as well as the need to patronize professional advertisers.

The signage dues, according to her, is determined by sizes or location as well as the level of industrial concerns involved with the signage.

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