Tourism And Rural Development In Ogun: A Call To Rescue

Ogun state is regarded as a leading municipal in the country. This is in recognition of its pioneering role in education, medicine, law, divinity among others. On the other hand, it is famous for its strategic location as an integral transport route that connects with the rest of the country. It borders Lagos state to the south, Oyo and Osun states to the north, Ondo State to the east and the Republic of Benin to the west.

Created in February 1976 from the former Western State, Ogun is an embodiment of outstanding traditional cultures which over time has been refined without distortions to make them more alluring. From Remo to Egba, Yewa to Ijebu, captivating marvels that would make a cynical visitor startle thrives.

The state is blessed with Olumo Rock in Abeokuta; it is rated as the most popular travel spot. Legendary tales recalls that it protected the people of Egba against attacks during the frequent wars that characterized the ancient city for centuries. More historic monuments and landmarks include: Birikisu Sugbo Shrine at Oke-Eri; Yemoji Natural Pool at Ijebu-Ode; Oyan Dam in Abeokuta North; Iwopin Boat Regatta and Ebute-Oni in Ogun Waterside. Similarly, Madam Tinubu Shrine in Abeokuta; Oronna Shrine, Ilaro; Area J4 Forest Reserve; Tongeji Island, Ipokia; Old Manse at Ogbe, Abeokuta and Ijamido River Shrine both in Ota.

Festivals in Ogun, all of which enthralls and attract huge participation likewise audiences are: Ojude Oba, Egungun, Osun, Igunuko, Ogun, Olumo, Gelede, Oro, Orisa Oko, Obinrin Ojowu, Agemo, and Obalufon.

However, as good as all these sound, it is depressing that most of places highlighted are not as delightful as expected. They groan under trifling attention for reasons best known to the relevant authority.

Take for instance the Golf Course Resort situated at the back of the state secretariat in Oke Imosan, Abeokuta. It remains neglected since its ownership left he hands of ex-proprietor, late Chief Wole Olumide. The renowned architect, one-time chair of the Nigerian Golf Federation and the brain behind the architectural design of the magnificent National Ecumenical Centre in Abuja, lost the property to the present administration which seized it as a public trust due to allegations that it was built with questionable funds in connivance with former executive head, Gbenga Daniel.

While not challenging government’s authority, I consider it logical that we do away with politics and ensure the Course is put back into use. It is unclear if there is a subsisting order restraining the incumbent from taking care of the facility. Nevertheless, a situation where such a high revenue generator is left to deteriorate is totally unacceptable. I for one cannot fathom the sense in allowing a multi-million splendor waste because of apparent political differences. Tons of money would have been realized if that place was open; it is now 14 months since it was confiscated!

Hopefully by divine intervention, Governor Amosun’s attendants will forward this to him for to peruse. His promise to sustain the state as a leading tourism destination in the country may turn out to be a ruse except proven otherwise. To ascertain the condition of the sites I mentioned earlier, he should personally take a tour and see what is on ground. I can take a bet that he would be embarrassed when he enters some of the places.

His province is blessed with numerous tourist sites, most of which are yet to be developed to modern-day predilection. Undoubtedly, the leisure industry can generate mints of Naira annually and a supplementary approach towards this will do the magic. More local and foreign players in the private sector ought to be invited to fully exploit the sector’s potentials. This would further sell Ogun’s aptitude to the world, raise more funds for capital projects, create employment opportunities, alleviate poverty and empower people at the grassroots.

Besides, the desolate waterfronts around the Gateway State could be upgraded to attractive beaches and arenas of recreation. Areas where such are located include Makun Omi and Akere in Ogun Waterside and Ipokia local government areas. Provision of boats, holiday and sundry facilities et cetera, will transform such places to aboriginal assets.

Government’s financial plan for next year should comprise an improved budgetary allocation for the development of tourism as it is a key area worth keen interest rather than neglect. I hail from Ado-Odo/Ota, arguably the local government that produces the highest Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), yet no outstanding tourist spot. The ones there aren’t just eye-catching; I visit there at least thrice a year so I am talking about what I know.

Part of the projects the administration hypes in my LGA is the facelift of the Institute of Technology in Igbesa, but it appears hasn’t considered working on the road-stretch in front of the school. Till date the road beside the State High Court is so deplorable that you wonder if what we have is really democratic governance. Years ago, speculations were rife that the street was neglected because residents voted for Amosun against a sitting Daniel in the 2007 poll. Now that power has changed hands no difference; no caterpillar, no coal tar.

Chronicles from other inner parts and minor towns tell that not much has been done to upgrade their respective areas. But when you try to pass such intelligence across, overzealous officials as often as not, argue that your opinion is an absolute nonsense as though they are more astute. Any structure where you have such “I too sabi” individuals accomplish less, still they go on to list expected executions as gigantic successes, so the boss feels he has a superb team in position. For his own good, the governor must be wary of such appointees; the untiring praise singers.

To support my view, a former deputy governor of the state and serving senator of the platform of Action Congress of Nigeria, Adegbenga Kaka in an interview advised the present system to go back to the rural areas. His words: “Having spent so much to develop the urban centre, they should use the remaining two years to go back to the rural areas where the wealth resides, where agriculture and industrial development can be guaranteed. By so doing, they will give the people a sense of belonging and at the same time the source of revenue for the state can be enhanced. A situation where you concentrate development in the urban capital will only give rise to urban slum. By doing this, we are inadvertently increasing urban slums and making the rural areas to be desolate.” We can say the statement is political; we can say it is the voice of a man who wants to call the shots at Oke-Mosan, nonetheless, he is totally correct.

In the 2011 guber polls, the inhabitants of Imo and Nasarawa states resolutely voted out Ikedi Ohakim and Aliyu Doma mainly because of their inattention to rural areas. If you disagree with me go and ask the people, they are alive and well. One of the lessons we got during the last general elections is: no elected public office holder should be so comfortable to think that he (or she) is excessively loved to be dislodged.

In his speech during presentation of the 2013 Budget to the State House of Assembly, the governor said that “More than ever before, we should continue to join hands as we seek to bequeath an enduring legacy to Ogun State and generations yet unborn”. By writing this, I am joining my hands to his to ensure he leaves that legacy he desires. He should henceforth ensure that equal attention is given to all segments.

As a listening leader, I believe Senator Ibikunle Amosun would see to the issues raised with all purposefulness and keeping in mind our native anthem:

“Ise ya Ise ya, omo Ogun ise ya, eledumare ise ma ya o e ise ya,”

“Omo rere kii sa se, Omo Ogun kii so le,”

 “E bere gberu o, olorun n be fun wa e tera mo se o,”

“Ise ya…Omo Ogun Ise ya.

Wale Odunsi

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@WaleOdunsi

RE: Judge Grants Ifeanyi Ubah "Perpetual Injunction" Against EFCC Investigation

My attention has been drawn to a malicious article with the above caption which was posted on the online medium Sahararepoters  on Wednesday, May 15, 2013. In the article under reference, Sahararepoters without any regard to the truth or journalistic ethic wrote concerning me as follows; "Kafarati’s exparte motion today, aimed at interfering with the EFCC’s ongoing investigations regarding Ubah’s involvement in oil subsidy fraud, is reminiscent of the perpetual injunction granted former Rivers State governor, Peter Odili, which has prevented the EFCC from charging him to court for extensive corruption." In rushing to publish the article the medium did not bother to either see the processes filed in court or sought to hear my side of the story. Sahararepoters also deliberately distorted the order made by the court by claiming that the court granted me an exparte injunction which is "reminiscent of the perpetual injunction granted former Rivers State governor, Peter Odili, which has prevented the EFCC from charging him to court for extensive corruption". Nothing can be further from the truth.

I do not need any perpetual injunction from prosecution by the EFCC or  any prosecutorial agency of the government as I have nothing to hide. I instituted the action against the EFCC because the so-called investigation relates to a matter in respect of which I have been investigated and cleared by the Special Fraud Unit of the Nigeria Police Force and a judgment of the Federal High Court. The investigation is therefore a mere witch-hunt with political undertones.

I brought the above action in court because of my firm conviction that the so-called investigation was a witch-hunt intended to force me out of the gubernatorial race in my home state of Anambra. It is instructive to note that since about March 2013 when I  declared my intention to contest in the Gubernatorial election in Anambra State scheduled for 2014 as well as  commenced consultations towards realizing the ambition there has been no let up in the use of every machinery of state to intimidate me into withdrawing from the race. This is not surprising as the current Governor of the State is a known acolyte of some members of the Federal Executive Council of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and therefore has influence over some Government Agencies especially the EFCC.

I had earlier honoured an invitation by the EFCC and was billed to return to their office on May 13, 2013 but I was however reliably  informed by an operative of the EFCC whose name I cannot divulge that upon my return I  would be detained and then  taken before a court in Abuja upon charges already drawn up rehashing the allegations which were investigated by the House of Representatives and the Special Fraud Unit of the Nigeria Police and from which my company and I  had already been exonerated of any reasonable suspicion of commission of any criminal offence.

I was also informed that my planned detention and or arraignment are designed to stop me from contesting in the said Gubernatorial elections for the Governor of Anambra State and/or to so publicly malign me so that I would lose all credibility before the electorate and lose the election. In furtherance of this plan to persecute, detain, arraign me in order to publicly embarrass me and impede my ambition to run for public office, the EFCC had earlier sent a team of 20 armed operatives to arrest me on the 30th of April 2013 and briefly detained and interrogated me when I later reported to the EFCC office.

I therefore had no other option than to go to  the court since i had been cleared of any wrong-doing after a thorough investigation by the police. There was therefore nothing untoward in the court staying all actions pending the outcome of the suit since the peculiar facts of the matter justify the grant of the interim relief sought. In granting the order the court was amongst other reasons persuaded by my deposition that Capital Oil & Gas Industries Limited was maliciously and wrongly indicted by the Presidential Committee on on Verification and Reconciliation of Subsidy Payments to Petroleum Products Marketers [PCVRSPPPPM]) as a result of disagreements with Acces Bank Plc, Coscharis Motors limited, Aigboje Aig- Imokhuede (Managing Director of Access Bank) and Cosmas Maduka (Managing Director of Coscharis Motors Limited, Director and Chairman Credit Committee of the Board of Access Bank)) in 2012, over a joint venture arrangement involving importation of Petroleum Products. In support of the above, I also stated that Mr. Imokhuede and Chief Maduka decided to use the opportunity of the appointment of Mr. Imokhuede (as Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Verification and Reconciliation of Subsidy Payments to Petroleum Products Marketers [PCVRSPPPPM]) to witchhunt Capital Oil and me.

It will interest the general public to note that as I stated in the court processes, the witchunt formed the basis of a report which  was made by Mr Imokhuede’s Committee and Chief Maduka to the Commissioner of Police in charge of the Special fraud Unit of the Nigeria Police who was a member of the said PCVRSPPPPM and he proceeded to write interim reports which he claimed found me complicit in various offences even though no thorough investigation was conducted at that stage and he caviarly rejected documents which exonerated us of any wrong-doing.

Being aggrieved with the Presidential Committee and SFU  reports, I instituted action in  Suit No. FHC/L/CS/07/2012 in respect of which the Federal High Court delivered a judgment on the 18th of February 2013 declaring inter alia that “.. as the complaints made by the Presidential Committee on Verification and Reconciliation of Subsidiy Payments to petroleum Products Marketters under the control of the 3rd Respondent and by the 4th Respondent (in respect of purely civil contractual disputes between him and the Applicants) and purportedly investigated by the 2nd Respondent, grossly infracted upon the fundamental rights of the Applicants, no law enforcement agency whatsoever is at liberty and/or can validly act on the said complaints.

Before judgment was delivered in the said Suit No. FHC/L/CS/07/2012, the Special Fraud Unit of the Nigeria Police Force (having now conducted an impartial and objective investigation of the allegations made by the PCVRSPPPM against me and my company) by a letter addressed to the Honourable Minister of Finance of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on the 12th of February 2013 submitted the report of their investigations and requested the Honourable minister to “go ahead to process claims for payment of outstanding subsidy to the firm” based on the conclusion in their report that “After due analysis and considerations of the team’s findings, we found out no inference of a prima facie case of alleged offences”.

Having been cleared of the allegations of wrong-doing by the Police as well as the court, what then is the basis of the EFCC investigation of the same matter if not a witch-hunt?. Should a court stand idly by and watch the EFCC trample on the rights of an individual for fear that that likes of Saharareporters and EFCC would malign him in the court of public opinion without dislosing the full facts of the case?. EFCC should stick to the facts and desist from the obnoxious tactic of castigating judges on the pages of newspapers in order to intimidate them into giving a judgment or decision acceptable to her. Truth is constant. The hard-earned reputation of judges should not be dragged in the mud as they do not have the liberty of publicly defending themselves. Any person who feels aggrieved with a judicial decision should follow the legal process to appeal against same or apply to set same aside. Petition writing as should be known by the EFCC is not a mode of appealing against or applying to set aside an unfavourable judicial decision.

I leave you to be the judge of this matter. These in a nutshell are the reasons why I approached the court. For ease of reference the following are the relief I seek from the court;

1. A DECLARATION that the judgment of the Federal High Court in Suit No. FHC/CS/07/2013 delivered on the 18th day of February 2013 in favour of the Applicants, the exoneration of the Applicants by the House of Representatives committee investigating fuel subsidy fraud, a letter dated the 12th of February 2013 being a response of the Police Special fraud Unit ‘D’ Dept. to the Minister of Finance forwarding a report of investigations into allegations of subsidy fraud made against the Applicants and clearing them of any criminal complicity whatsoever,  collectively tantamount to a complete and final exoneration of the Applicants from any reasonable suspicion of commission of any criminal offence with regard to application for and receipt of subsidy payments under the Federal Government of Nigeria Petroleum Support Fund (PSF) scheme.

2. A declaration that in the circumstances of the complete exoneration of the Applicants from any reasonable suspicion of commission of any criminal offence with regard to applications for and receipts of subsidy payments under the Federal Government of Nigeria Petroleum Support Fund (PSF) scheme the continued, persecution, harassment, detention, threatened detention and/or prosecution of the Applicants by the Respondents and/or any other federal Government Agency constitutes an infraction of the Applicants’ fundamental rights enshrined in Sections 35 (1)(C) and 36(5) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended.

3. A declaration that the current inquisition, persecution, threatened detention and/or prosecution of the Applicants by the Respondents for reasons of stultifying, impeding or otherwise truncating the 1st Applicant’s declared intent to run for public office in Anambra State is ultra vires the Respondents, illegal null and void and an infringement of the Applicants’ fundamental rights enshrined in Article 13 of the African Charter of Human and People’s Rights.

4. An order of perpetual injunction restraining the Respondents from further action with respect to the allegations of subsidy fraud which have already been investigated by relevant Agencies of Government, the House of Representatives Committee and from which the Applicants have been cleared of any reasonable suspicion of commission of criminal offence and in respect of which the judgment of the Federal High Court in Suit No. FHC/L/CS/07/2013 was delivered on the 16th of February 2013 in favour of the Applicants.

5. An order of perpetual injunction restraining the Respondents from persecuting, detaining, threatening to detain or prosecute the Applicants in respect of allegations of subsidy fraud in respect of which the Applicants have been cleared of any reasonable suspicion of complicity by relevant Government Agencies, the House of Representatives and the judgment of the Federal High Court in Suit No. FHC/L/CS/07/2013.

Thank you.

Dr. Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah

Open letter to NGF: Betray not one of your own for material gain

It is allegedly the highest height of desperation if what is being reported in an online news website -http://abusidiqu.com about how the President of Nigeria, Mr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan wants to compel the Nigerian Governors’ forum to hold its election in the Presidential villa for obscure or rather obvious reasons known to him.

This latest move of the President if truly true is anti-democratic, imperious and smacks of desperation of a man clutching at straw.

The online news site reported and I quote: The election which is just few days away, “the Nigerian president has gone for the broke and so paranoid because of an ordinary governors forum election,” an influential member of the forum who is also a governor in one of the Northern states said.

The governor further revealed that out of desperation for his return in 2015, Mr Jonathan has also dropped his support for the governor of Katsina state, Ibrahim Shema for his Bauchi state counterpart, Isa Yuguda.

“As we speak, two of our colleagues who are the arrow heads of the group of governors promoting the Jonathan agenda within the forum, I mean Governor Gabriel Suswam of Benue and Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom state are in the villa with the president where they are calling the governors for the president to speak with them one after the other. This is in addition to the on-going collation of supporting governors’ signatures for the election”, the governor who will not want to be mentioned for fear of victimisation stated”.

The source further disclosed that in addition to the efforts of Jonathan, Suswam and Akpabio, the Board of Trustees Chairman of the PDP, Chief Tony Anenih has equally been speaking with the governors to support the president’s choice for the NGF. He said one of the governors that have been won over by Anenih is the Cross River state governor, Liyel Imoke who was until now a stauch supporter of Amaechi. “Imoke has turned his back because he was blackmailed that he has a number of cases pending in EFCC and was also promised some oil blocs”, the source added. Indeed, it has been reported that Anenih was about a week ago in Calabar to meet Imoke.

The online went further to say that, another governor in the south- west who also spoke on the matter confirmed that President Jonathan had personally called him to seek his support for his choice for the NGF chairmanship. “I was surprised that the president will call me to ask me to support his choice for the chairmanship of our forum even when he knows I belong to another party and not a PDP member. It shocked me but it confirms our fear that the man (Jonathan) is becoming too desperate about this his 2015 ambition”, the southwest governor added.

If you decide on the “Election Day” to turn your back on one of your own who is being badly persecuted by the king of the Manor Farm against your conscience or other reasons selfishly beneficial to you so be it.  Remember, it may be your turn in the near or far future to be victimized by the same King of the Manor Farm. Vote for your right conscience. May God protect, give you all wisdom on how to contribute towards the progress of Nigeria and guide you in making the right choice. Long live NGF.

By Igwe Douglas

Nigeria and Kenya to Collaborate Against Terrorism

President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, Friday at State House, told Kenyan Deputy Prime Minister and Special Envoy of President Uhuru Kenyatta, Mr. William Ruto, that Nigeria was concerned about the activities of terrorists in Somalia and other places in Africa, and the attendant negative effects on peace and development in the continent.

I have just declared a state of emergency in three states in our country, to check the havoc of terrorists’, he stated, ‘so I can appreciate the issues confronting Somalia and Kenya’.

President Jonathan said Africa needs to find a collective solution to the problem of Somalia, and suggested a meeting of leaders on the sidelines of the African Union 50th Anniversary Summit, scheduled to hold next week.

On the bilateral level, President Jonathan told the Kenyan Deputy Prime Minister that Nigeria and Kenya had a lot to gain from stronger mutual relations, and assured him of necessary cooperation in this regard.

 Earlier, Mr. William Ruto, Deputy Prime Minister and Special Envoy, told President Jonathan that President Kenyatta requested Nigeria’s intervention to help find and African solution to the Somalia problem which had spilled into Kenya.

‘Nigeria plays a leadership role in Africa, and Kenya needs you to join other leaders for a framework to help resolve the Somalia problem’, he said, adding that President Jonathan’s personal intervention would help.

 Mr. Ruto also spoke about improving relations through extending Kenya Airways flights to Abuja, as well as Kenya’s commitment to enhancing intra-African trade.

 REUBEN ABATI

Special Adviser to the President (Media and Publicity)

May 17, 2013