Oduduwa News

January 5, 2021

Press Statement

PDP: Osun State Secretariat

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) alerts Nigerians of clandestine plots by certain individuals to set up a strange office in Osogbo, Osun state, and purport such to be the Osun State secretariat of the PDP.

For the avoidance of doubts, the PDP states in unequivocal terms that our legitimate state secretariat in Osun State remains our office located at Km 3, Ikirun Road, beside Federal Road Safety Corps Office, Biket Area, Osogbo, Osun state.

It is imperative to state that our great party does not operate or recognize any other state secretariat in Osun State other than the above stated.

All party members, critical stakeholders and supporters, particularly in Osun state and the nation at large, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), all security agencies, the media and the general public should take note and be guided by this accordingly.

The leadership of the PDP charges all our members in Osun state to continue to work together and not be distracted by any such divisive plots, especially at this time that our party is working relentlessly to rescue our nation from misrule.

Signed:

Kola Ologbondiyan
National Publicity Secretary

Government of Ekiti State has approved the disbursement of N62Million loan to 220 staffers of the State Teaching Service Commission as housing loan.

A statement from the office of the Chairman of the Commission, Hon Babatunde Abegunde made available to newsmen in Ado Ekiti, explained that the beneficiaries are made up of both teachers in public secondary schools and non-teaching staff.

Abegunde said that a Cumulative amount of N340, 754,231.74 has been disbursed since the inception of the Fayemi led administration in October 2018 to 2,459 beneficiaries.

Expressing appreciation to Governor Kayode Fayemi for the good gesture, Hon Abegunde noted that the continuous release of funds to the housing and vehicle loans schemes since the inception of his administration has been a source of encouragement and motivation to teachers and other categories of workers in the Commission.

He said the housing and car loan scheme is a demonstration of Governor Fayemi’s commitment to the welfare of workers adding that the administration would leave no stone unturned towards making life more meaningful for workers in the State.

Advising those that are yet to benefit from the scheme to exercise patience, Abegunde assured that the loans are revolving and therefore continuous adding that it will soon reach more beneficiaries.

He charged the workers to reciprocate the government good gesture by showing commitment and diligence at their duty posts, stressing that they should make loyalty and dedication to duty their watchwords.

A 23years old identified as Jumoke Kehinde has allegedly committed suicide in her home at the Kajola area of Akure , Ondo State , after she was suspended from work for coming late last Thursday .
The dead body of the lady, who worked at a popular shopping mall in Akure , was said to have been found in her room after she allegedly took a substance suspected to be an insecticide .
Mr Taiwo, a manager in the organisation , who gave his name simply as Taiwo , confirmed the incident and said the deceased along with some other staff members was suspended for reporting late to work last Thursday , he expressed surprise that Jumoke could take her own life .

“ On that day , she was seen arranging her table getting ready for the day ’ s sales as she appeared happy , but she later left the mall around 11 am after receiving the suspension letter.
“ Around 4 pm , a distress call was received in the office that she was not feeling fine . One of the management staff went to check on her. Jumoke was found on the floor of her room shivering , while her mouth smelled of the insecticide . No empty can of the substance was found anywhere as she was rushed to hospital. After some time at the hospital, she was pronounced dead .” he said.

One of the deceased colleague, who pleaded anonymity , said Jumoke never showed any sign that she would commit sucide after she was given the suspension letter.

“ Her mother called her but she couldn’ t say anything and was just crying on the phone . The mother kept calling her line but later could not get through again ; so, she sent someone to check on her. The person found her on the floor writhing in pain . We had to quickly call the office and rushed her to hospital” the colleague stated.

“ We all know that when you come late here, you will be suspended for a few days without payment. But I don ’ t see any reason why such an issue should make her commit suicide .” he added.

Meanwhile, the body of the deceased has been evacuated to a mog from where she would be prepared for burial.

Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, on Monday, noted that he does not want to talk about President Muhammadu Buhari’s government for the sake of his sanity.
He, however, described the Lagos-Abeokuta-Ibadan railway as a long-overdue project. The playwright stated this during an interview with Kaftan TV.

Soyinka when asked if the railway project is a plus to the current government, he said, “I don’t want to talk about Muhammadu Buhari’s administration. I think it is best for my sanity just to avoid that overall question. I can take bits and pieces of Nigeria’s present predicament but I think for one’s sense of balance, one must forget the existence of the Buhari administration.”

He said he has seen roads in Nigeria for years as a death trap while rail transport had been neglected. He said on two occasions he had spent over six hours on the road from Lagos to Abeokuta.

Soyinka while speaking on the train project said, “It is a work in progress but it is a very impressive work in progress considering the difficulty of really executing anything in this country… I think we are looking at a virtual transport revolution which is long overdue.”

“I have spent, on the road between Lagos and Abeokuta six hours. A few weeks ago at the launching of my novel in Abeokuta, I left Lagos…. The journey took about seven hours,” Soyinka said.

Close friends of late Tunde Thomas have denied the claims spreading online that his estranged wife, Moyo Thomas told him her two children were fathered by FCMB MD, Mr. Adam Nuru.
In a statement Saturday, 2 January, 2021on behalf of friends of the late Thomas, Mr Adetunji Iromini warned the public to be wary of a sponsored petition on change.org which they described as a wicked assault on Tunde’s cherished memory.
According to them, the allegations about the paternity of Tunde’s children with Moyo Thomas are unsubstantiated and malicious.

They added that the claims were intended to portray Tunde as an uncaring father and thereby rubbished his reputation.
“Tunde is the father of the two children and Moyo never told him he was not their father as he was in touch constantly with the children, calling and having fatherly conversations with them, even at odd hours, at least twice every month from December, 2017,” the statement reads in part.
“The last of such calls took place on Thanksgiving Day on 26th November, 2020. Tunde visited his children in USA in June 2018 and interacted with them unhindered after his recovery from the stroke he had earlier that year,” the group of friends stated.

“This does not paint the picture of a man who had been told he was not the father of his children as was maliciously stated in the petition and is being circulated on social media,” they added.
The friends, who apologised to FCMB MD, Adam Nuru, said the unwarranted negative publicity is quite unfortunate in many ways.
According to Tunde’s friends, “It does not augur well for the memory of the departed soul especially as we are all grieving the loss of Tunde, who was buried only on Wednesday, 30th December, 2020”.
“The pictures of the children are being posted in the social media, without care and utter disregard for the human feelings at this trying period for the family.
“There would not have been any need to respond to issues raised in the petition but for the sake of posterity, and to defend the integrity of and loving memory of Tunde and his children. Tunde was a very caring and responsible father to his two kids notwithstanding the misunderstanding he had with his wife, which is a matrimonial issue.

“Like any marriage, there were differences between Moyo and Tunde leading to their separation and eventual relocation of Moyo to the USA in December, 2017. It is important to note that the divorce process was never thought of or initiated by Moyo. And to the best of our knowledge, no divorce papers were ever served on Moyo.
“This means that they were still legally married because Moyo and her family believed the channel for reconciliation was still open up until Tunde’s unfortunate demise. Moyo and Tunde clearly worked to ensure the differences they had did not affect the relationship they respectively have with the two children.
“It is very sad that a group of people have decided to take the differences between a married couple and misrepresent it into a sensational story. It is unfair to have the pictures of his young children splashed all over the internet.
“Tunde had a mild stroke in 2018. By the grace of God, he was able to fully recover from this and carried on with his life. He was obviously doing well at his job and was in another relationship with a lady who was pregnant before his death.
“Why he had a cardiac arrest that led to his eventual death almost two years after remains a mystery that only God can provide answers to. We can begin to postulate on possible reasons, but we would rather not, to preserve the fond memories of Tunde.

“Tunde has now gone to be with his maker. We do wish his family and associates including his pregnant girlfriend, the fortitude to bear the unfortunate loss. He has now been laid to rest and we implore all to allow those grieving his loss, including Moyo and his children, to do so in peace.
“May Tunde’s soul rest in perfect peace. Amen,” the statement concluded.

In combating the major challenges that confront Nigerian universities, The Assistance Vice-Chancellor of the University of the West of England, Bristol, Professor Lukumon Oyedele has on Tuesday, 22nd of December beseeched the Nigerian Government to grant Nigerian Universities autonomy to permanently solve the challenges facing Education in Nigeria.

Professor Oyedele who made the statement while delivering the 2nd annual Prince Tunde Ponnle public Lecture titled “Internationalization of Higher Education in Nigeria: A Change in Attitude and Strategy” identified ineffective governance model, poor academic quality, and structural problems as part of the problems that is currently affecting Nigerian Universities. He further stated that the issue of not working and still getting paid is a panacea for failure and future strikes and thus causing the incessant strike in Nigerian Universities. Professor Oyedele however maintained that giving Universities full autonomy will enable each institution to determine and manage their resources more effectively.
In his lecture, Professor Oyedele said “The only way the Nigerian Government can make Nigerian Universities great again is to ensure that full autonomy is embraced in terms of every activity within the university system in Nigeria. I strongly believe that this will give opportunities for universities to fund themselves and be able to do exactly what they want. It will definitely cause issues, there is no doubt about it because some universities will collapse, some universities will merge, but the reality is that the universities that can survive this will do well, and new ones will also emerge.”
“Competency-based appointment and performance-based management can go a long way to increase academic quality in the country. It’s not about ethnicity, it’s not about tribalism, and it’s not about where you come from or your state of origin. It’s about who can do the job.
After giving autonomy, the role of the Government will just be monitoring and ensuring accountability within the university system.” Professor Oyedele added.

The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Labode Popoola while speaking on the lecture noted that he is an advocate of autonomy.
“When you have the autonomy, there are some basic things you must do. You have to be accountable, transparent, and should be able to employ from wherever you want. You can charge your own fees based on the quality you give.”
However, Professor Popoola stressed that while autonomy has numerous advantages, it comes with responsibility.
Osun State Governor, Mr. Adegboyega Oyetola, in his address said “this year’s topic is not only interesting but very apt. Our government is ready to leverage on well-informed contributions like this to reform our state-owned tertiary institutions.”

The Governor who was represented by the Commissioner for Education, Hon. Folorunsho Bamisayemi noted that his administration is committed to making Osun state institutions globally competitive and as such, we are receptive to every well-articulated idea to achieve our goals,” he added.
Among dignitaries that graced the event are the former Governor of Osun State, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola; The former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ibadan and former Minister of Health, Professor Isaac Folorunso Adewole; The current Vice-Chancellor of Obafemi Awolowo University, Professor Eyitope Ogunbodede; The former Registrar of Obafemi Awolowo University, Mr. Ayorinde Ogunruku; Royal fathers in the State of Osun among other dignitaries.