Aregbesola Charges

Universities to Play

Relevant Roles

In Nation Building

By Damilola  Towobola

Osun State Governor,  OGBENI RAUF AREGBESOLA, speaking at the second convocation of the University of Osun, main campus in Osogbo on the 27^th of july, reiterated that power is responsibility and also congratulated the graduating students, their parents and well wishers who look forward to a bright future.


Gov. Rauf Aregbesola



“It gives me immeasurable pleasure to be here and be part of the grand occasion of today, the second convocation ceremony of this university. I congratulate the university on the joy of today and in spite of the teething problems it had at inception. I congratulate also the graduating students who, having toiled to complete their various courses, are looking forward to a bright and fulfilling future, irrespective of the gloom of the job market and other causes of anxiety in society.”

“Administration and governance are still serious challenges in our ivory tower. On a regular basis, students go on rampage over matters that astute administration could have taken care of. To address this issue of isolated disconnected pseudo citadel of learning, our government is endowing this University with a professorial Chair in Building a Knowledge Based Society: Innovation, Infrastructure and Quality of Life (BKBS: IIQL). The philosophy behind this is the slogan of Action Group in the 50s; "Freedom For All, Life More Abundant."

He stated that many do not even understand basic economics of admitting only the number of students that existing facilities and resources can support. In most cases, they would have overstretched existing facilities before seeking to expand them, and after this, severe crisis would have brewed from this indiscretion.

“From this, it is apparent that universities are not just institutions for awarding degrees but a very central institution of control in a society. From the mid 20th Century to now, we have seen the dominant role universities have played in the developed world. Universities are usually in the forefront of any social challenge, especially with the power of research being focused on areas that will promote human development and solve existential problems. From the ongoing AIDS conference in the United States, there are reports that mankind is just on the verge of conquering HIV and tuberculosis. Research is ongoing in their universities on all human challenges. For them, research is not just for promotion of lecturers but research findings are part of a society’s knowledge base which is transmitted to students and industries. So then, a university must be an institution for the people. It must be a centre for knowledge and problem solving for society.”

Aregbesola stated that governments have the problem of finding jobs for young people.  He therefore charged University to be relevant stating that “increasingly, our universities continue to issue bland certificates to graduates who are barely literate and if we take literacy literally to be the ability to read and write (good prose) then education is bland and not tied to need of society. Education must be woven into life with a common thread running through life and society.”

 “In most of our states, the government is still the major employer and accounted for 80 per cent of those in the formal sector. We have problem with agriculture since we cannot feed our teeming population; our agriculture is still largely primitive. Such things as improved seedlings (high yielding, disease resistant, early maturing seeds), modern farming implements and methods and farm financing are still strange to most of our farmers. We have problem with the economy such that it is difficult to identify trends and predict direction of the economy. This is why it has been difficult to get serious players to jump in the Nigerian economy”



Aregbesola



 “Physician, heal thyself. Universities themselves are as troubled as society. But a university is supposed to be a centre of excellence that stands above society, passes judgement on it and ultimately impart excellence into it. In our case, universities can hardly provide municipal services for themselves. Such things like safe water, electricity, security and waste disposal are still huge challenges for them. Instead of spending billions on diesel to power generators, why can’t the universities devote themselves to research in alternative and cheap sources of power for their campuses? With all the Physics and Electrical and Electronics departments, why must the universities be part of the diesel guzzling society? Universities engage contractors for buildings and road construction and are largely part of the contract driven economy. Why are their civil engineering and ancillary departments not involved with research on constructing roads and building at a fraction of today’s cost? If the universities are not indeed, centres of excellence, how can they impart excellence on society?"

Aregbesola further stated that he visions a regional University.  In his words, he stated that “Each state in the South-West should host a specialised campus of a Great Western University (GWU) where character would be built, life skills taught alongside the cultivation of the intellect. What I am looking forward to therefore is unification of existing tertiary institutions on a creative basis. The future therefore is of linkages and integration. If the campuses in our state specialises in a branch of knowledge such as Information Technology/ Medicine etc, I want it to be ranked among the best in the world.”

At these ceremonies, the university rolled out 657 graduates from five of its seven colleges, 20 of them with first class honours. This shows a vast improvement from last year when 362 students were graduated during the institution’s maiden convocation ceremonies.

“My ‘SAN’ Rank Will

be Deployed to the Struggle

for the Liberation of Nigeria” – Femi Falana

Human Rights Advocate and one of Nigeria’s most prominent constitutional lawyers, Femi Falana, who recently rose to the respected legal rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), has vowed that his new status in the Nigerian legal system will be deployed towards his personal contribution to the collective struggle for the liberation of Nigeria from the hands of the incompetent rulers who taken her hostage.

Mr. Falana made the remark in Lagos yesterday in an interview in the maiden edition of an upcoming online broadcast programme, “Why Are We Here, Nigeria?”

Femi Falana SAN

The series, anchored by Citizen Journalist, Segun O’Law, features high profile Nigerians and seeks solutions to the drift of the nation.  

Responding to a question as to whether the Nigerian legal system is not at the heart of the rot and overt indiscipline, aiding and abetting criminals instead of exposing them and bringing them to book, he described the judiciary as a manifestation of the failed State that Nigeria is.”

“The judiciary does not operate in a vacuum; it is only responding to the system that has virtually collapsed,” he said.

He described Nigeria as a neo-colonial capitalist economy that places the interest of capitalists above those of the public. “The legal system is a manifestation of the socio-economic system that we operate,” he explained.  “We run a neo-colonial capitalist economy, which now is totally based on market fundamentalism. The State is being made to withdraw completely from the affairs of our country”.

He underlined that under a laissez faire economic system, anything goes, and that the public interest must give way to private interest. “In the rat race for money making, ethics, national values, national moralities are all sacrificed for profitability,” he said.

Mr. Falana expressed his displeasure over the fact that Nigeria, despite being the sixth oil-producing nation in OPEC, is listed as the only oil producing Nation that imports oil, alongside the least valued items in any market, such as toothpicks.  “This shows you that the country is managed by incompetent, myopic and completely parasitic people, who have no commitment to the development of the country.”
He, however, expressed confidence in the ability of the people to effect the desperately-needed change in the country, recalling last January’s subsidy removal nationwide protests.

Asked by O’Law why UK lawyers avoided Ibori, with only one of them ending up in jail along with the former governor, and why such discipline is absent in Nigeria, where lawyers fall upon one another and connive with judges to free hardened criminals, Falana said things were changing.  In that regard, he pointed to the springing up of a group of lawyers who are forming an organization called “The Rule of Law Group’, which will challenge corrupt practices of other legal practitioners that conspire and connive to compromise the sanctity of the Nigerian legal system.

Femi Falana

Mr. Falana cited instances where senior lawyers obtain interim or perpetual restraining orders from the courts to stop the anti-graft agencies and the police from investigating indicted persons, stressing that that is not part of Nigerian law, and would be fought by the group.

He said the group would also combat the delay tactics being employed by corrupt lawyers to frustrate prosecuting teams and subsequently cause cases to wear out in court.

Turning to the ongoing trial of the oil subsidy fraud suspects, he expressed the view that it will be successful, unlike other cases in the past that fizzled out, but he called on Nigerians to be vigilant, just a they were in January during the protests.  

He told O’Law: “Nigerians must [stay] involved. We must not leave the trial in the hands of the Government alone. Citizens must remain vigilant like they did in January to see this to a logical conclusion.”

Mr. Falana stressed that it is not about whether the judicial system can be trusted.  “It is about the commitment of the Nigerian people to ensure that Justice is done this time around,” he said

Source:  Sahara Reporter

                                           Abacha and MKO's

                                 death were organized- 

                                    AL-MUSTAPHA'S PRISON NOTES REVEALS

Major Hamza Al-Mustapha

**I would Have Gunned Down Abdulsalami.
**I noticed how Abacha's body changed when President Yasser Arafat security operatives shook hands with him

In 1998 when he was arrested for interogation by the Special Investigative Panel, SPI, hardly did he realised that, that was the beginning of an end. Major Hamza Al-Mustapha, a former Chief Security Officer, CSO, to the late Head of State, General Sani  Abacha was one of the many people invited for interogation over several criminal activities perpetrated  during Abacha’s regime.

In 2012, Justice Morenikeji Dada's Judgement in the case of the murdered Kudirat Abiola condenmed Mustapha to death by hanging, stating, “By virtue of Section 319 of the Criminal Code Laws of Lagos State, the defendants, Major Hamzat Al-mustapha and Alhaji Lateef Shofolahan are accordingly sentenced to death by hanging until they are pronounced dead. “May the lord have mercy on your souls.” The death sentence verdict passed on him started moment he was arraingned before an Ikeja High Court in December 1999.

HIS PRISON NOTES

"My Boss, General Sani Muhammad Abacha, died at the early hours of Monday, 8th June, 1998. I had prepared him for a workshop organized by the Federal Ministry of Information for that day as he was expected to deliver an address as the Special Guest of Honour. His speech was drafted and fine tuned by the Chief Press Secretary, Chief David Attah who had submitted it to the Aide-De Camp for vetting and necessary amendments by the Commander-in-Chief. When I got to the bedside of the Head of State, he was already gasping. Ordinarily, I could not just touch him. It was not allowed in our job. But under the situation on ground, I knelt close to him and shouted, “General Sani Abacha, Sir, please grant me permission to touch and carry you.”

"Contrary to insinuations, speculations and sad rumours initiated by some sections of the society, I maintain that the sudden collapse of the health system of the late Head of State started previous day (Sunday, 7th June, 1998) right from the Abuja International Airport immediately after one of the white security operatives or personnel who accompanied President Yasser Arafat of Palestine shook hands with him (General Abacha). I had noticed the change in the countenance of the late Commander-in-Chief and informed the Aide-de-Camp, Lt. Col. Abdallah, accordingly. He, however, advised that we keep a close watch on the Head of State. Later in the evening of 8th June, 1998, around 6p.m; his doctor came around, administered an injection to stabilize him. He was advised to have a short rest. Happily, enough, by 9p.m; the Head of State was bouncing and receiving visitors until much later when General Jeremiah Timbut Useni, the then Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, came calling. He was fond of the Head of State. They were very good friends. They stayed and chatted together till about 3.35a.m. A friend of the house was with me in my office and as he was bidding me farewell, he came back to inform me that the FCT Minister, General Useni was out of the Head of State’s Guest House within the Villa."

"I then decided to inform the ADC and other security boys that I would be on my way home to prepare for the early morning event at the International Conference Centre. At about 5a.m; the security guards ran to my quarters to inform me that the Head of State was very unstable. At first, I thought it was a coup attempt. Immediately, I prepared myself fully for any eventuality. As an intelligence officer and the Chief Security Officer to the Head of State for that matter, I devised a means of diverting the attention of the security boys from my escape route by asking my wife to continue chatting with them at the door – she was in the house while the boys were outside. From there, I got to the Guest House of the Head of State before them. When I got to the bedside of the Head of State, he was already gasping. Ordinarily, I could not just touch him. It was not allowed in our job. But under the situation on ground, I knelt close to him and shouted, “General Sani Abacha, Sir, please grant me permission to touch and carry you.” I again knocked at the stool beside the bed and shouted in the same manner, yet he did not respond. I then realized there was a serious danger. I immediately called the Head of State’s personal physician, Dr. Wali, who arrived at the place under eight minutes from his house. He immediately gave Oga – General Abacha – two doses of injection, one at the heart and another close to his neck."

"This did not work apparently as the Head of State had turned very cold. He then told me that the Head of State was dead and nothing could be done after all. I there and then asked the personal physician to remain with the dead body while I dashed home to be fully prepared for the problems that might arise from the incident. As soon as I informed my wife, she collapsed and burst into tears. I secured my house and then ran back. At that point, the Aide-de-Camp had been contacted by me and we decided that great caution must be taken in handling the grave situation. Again, I must reiterate that the issue of my Boss dying on top of women was a great lie just as the insinuation that General Sani Abacha ate and died of poisoned apples was equally a wicked lie. My question is: did Chief M.K.O Abiola die of poisoned apples or did he die on top of women? As I had stated at the Oputa Panel, their deaths were organized. Pure and simple! It was at this point that I used our special communication gadgets to diplomatically invite the Service Chiefs, Military Governors and some few elements purportedly to a meeting with the Head of State by 9a.m. at the Council Chamber. That completed, I also decided to talk to some former leaders of the nation to inform them that General Sani Abacha would like to meet them by 9a.m. Situation became charged however, when one of the Service Chiefs, Lieutenant General Ishaya Rizi Bamaiyi, who pretended to be with us, suggested he be made the new Head of State after we had quietly informed him of the death of General Sani Abacha. He even suggested we should allow him access to Chief Abiola. We smelt a rat and other heads of security agencies, on hearing this, advised I move Chief Abiola to a safer destination."

"I managed to do this in spite of the fact that I had been terribly overwhelmed with the crisis at hand. But then, when some junior officers over-heard the suggestion of one of the Service Chiefs earlier mentioned, it was suggested to me that we should finish all the members of the Provisional Ruling Council and give the general public an excuse that there was a meeting of the PRC during which a shoot-out occurred between some members of the Provisional Ruling Council and the Body Guards to the Head of State When I sensed that we would be contending with far more delicate issues than the one on ground, I talked to Generals Buba Marwa and Ibrahim Sabo who both promptly advised us – the junior officers – against any bloodshed. They advised we contact General Ibrahim Babangida (former Military President) who equally advised against any bloodshed but that we should support the most senior officer in the Provisional Ruling Council (PRC) to be the new Head of State. Since the words of our elders are words of wisdom, we agreed to support General Jeremiah Useni. Along the line, General Bamaiyi lampooned me saying, “Can’t you put two and two together to be four? Has it not occurred to you that General Useni who was the last man with the Head of State might have poisoned him, knowing full well that he was the most senior officer in the PRC?”

"Naturally, I became furious with General Useni since General Abacha’s family had earlier on complained severally about the closeness of the two Generals; at that, a decision was taken to storm General Useni’s house with almost a battalion of soldiers to effect his arrest. Again, some heads of security units and agencies, including my wife, advised against the move. The next most senior person and officer in government was General Abdulsalami Abubakar, who was then the Chief of Defence Staff. We rejected the other Service Chief, who, we believed, was too ambitious and destructive. We settled for General Abubakar and about six of us called him inside a room in the Head of State’s residence to break the news of the death of General Abacha to him. As a General with vast experience, Abdulsalami Abubakar, humbly requested to see and pray for the soul of General Abacha which we allowed. Do we consider this a mistake? Because right there, he – Abubakar – went and sat on the seat of the late Head of State. Again, I was very furious. Like I said at the Oputa Panel, if caution was not applied, I would have gunned him down. The revolution the boys were yearning for would have started right there. The assumption that we could not have succeeded in the revolution was a blatant lie. We were in full control of the State House and the Brigade of Guards. We had loyal troops in Keffi and in some other areas surrounding the seat of government – Abuja. But I allowed peace to reign because we believed it would create further crises in the country."

"We followed the advice of General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida and the wise counsel of some loyal senior officers and jointly agreed that General Abdulsalami Abubakar be installed Head of State, Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces immediately after the burial of General Sani Abacha in Kano. It is an irony of history that the same Service Chief who wanted to be Head of State through bloodshed, later instigated the new members of the Provisional Ruling Council against us and branded us killers, termites and all sorts of hopeless names. They planned, arranged our arrest, intimidation and subsequent jungle trial in 1998 and 1999. These, of course, led to our terrible condition in several prisons and places of confinement."

 

Lawyers Applaud Appointment Of First Female CJ 



Some lawyers on Monday in Lagos applauded the appointment of Justice Aloma Mariam Muhktar as the first female Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN).

Speaking in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the lawyers urged the new CJN to fight the corruption in the system.

Aloma-Muktar  congratulated by Jonathan

 

Mrs. Caroline Ekpendu, who described the appointment as a well-celebrated one especially by female lawyers, urged the new CJN to rid the judiciary of all forms of unwholesome practice.



She said Nigerians were hopeful that her leadership would purge the judiciary of elements that would undermine its integrity and urged her never to relent.

“The appointment of Mrs.Mariam Aloma Muhktar as the first woman Chief Justice of Nigeria is a welcome development for women of Nigeria and the people of Nigeria as a whole.

“I believe that this is a right step in the right direction in the sense that with a woman getting to the peak of the judiciary of this country means that a woman can cope and indeed cope with the challenges of occupying such an elevated position and public office in Nigeria. We are hopeful that this appointment of a woman as the Chief Justice of Nigeria, will also show that sooner or later a woman can even be the president of this country without much ado; and this particular period the Nigeria judiciary is undergoing a lot of criticisms from the world over.

“We believe that a woman coming to this position would really standout and move the Nigerian judiciary forward.”

Another lawyer, Mr. Segun Oladipo, also commended the Federal Government for the appointment of Murktar, saying there should be a positive change during her tenure.

Oladipo called for the reform of the judicial arm of government, saying that it should be the aim of the new Chief Justice to strive to save the judiciary from total collapse due to the alarming spate of corruption in the country and the judiciary particularly.

He said: “I must thank the government for being very proactive in respect of appointments, particularly in the judicial sector. The women all over, from the lower rung of the judiciary, that is, from the magistracy to the High Court and Court of Appeal, are known to be very thorough.





“That is one thing you cannot take away from the women, they work very hard.

“In addition to that, the women are not presently corrupted by the system. The systemic fallible that is very rampant with men is not commonplace among the women.

Aloma-Muktar

“The only thing that I will sound to the first female Chief Justice of Nigeria is that she should not be driven by emotion that women are usually known for. The passion should be for justice.”

For Mrs. Remi Ajayi, another lawyer, the appointment was most appropriate and appealed to the new Chief Justice of Nigeria to promote justice and equity.

She said that it was important that a positive change be visible in the judicial system.

She urged Murktar to be courageous enough to deal with all forms of malpractice in the judiciary.

 

Source: P.M News