LAUTECH WILL BE GREAT AGAIN!

See The Punch Newspaper May 30, 2017 page 41.

THE CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA,

OGBOMOSO ZONE

A PLEA TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO TAKE OVER LAUTECH:

THE ONLY FEASIBLE PANACEA FOR THE SUSTAINABILITY OF THE UNIVERSITY

OUR CONCERNS

1. The lingering incessant strike action paralyzing academic activities in LAUTECH and strangulating her administrative system has become a matter of great concern to the Heads of Churches and Christian Association of Nigeria in Ogbomosoland.

2. The wanton wasting away of the lives, time and future of our youths and children who are students of this institution has become worrisome and disturbing to all discerned minds.

3. On several occasions, students have been sent out of school as a result of avoidable strike action spanning eleven (11) months. This has exposed the vulnerable youngsters to unscrupulous pressures; various types of accidents, high rate of criminality and untimely deaths while many have become redundant and frustrated because they are not able to constructively dissipate their pent-up energy.

4. Workers, both teaching and non-teaching are grossly impoverished as a result of non-payment of salaries and arrears, which, of course is the major reason for the incessant strike actions rocking the one time best state university in Nigeria. As at now, workers of LAUTECH are being owed eight (8) months salaries and arrears pilling up in years. Yet, neither the Governing Council nor the proprietors of the university is speaking or doing anything serious to address this crass maladministration! Staff morale is generally low.

5. Apparently, the concomitant effects of the sorry state of LAUTECH on the well-being of the staffers of the institution are far reaching: several of them are not able to attend to their medical bills, perform their duties as parents and meet critical domestic and social obligations.

6. Suffice to add that the experience of JAMBITES who were supposed to write their 2017 UTME at LAUTECH was not a palatable one and it constitutes a disgrace to our social dignity and collective integrity as a nation!

7. The host community is also badly hit by the wave of the crisis. The commerce of the city is in comatose because LAUTECH staffers constitute a bunch of her population.  As elders in the host community, parents of these LAUTECH students and patriotic citizens of this country, the lives and future of our children are so precious to us that we cannot afford to see them struggle with these precarious situations and challenges that are beyond them. 

8. From the look of things, the situation is beyond the power of the two owner states, or so it seems. All efforts said to have been made before now by the two owner states seem not yielding any desired result. As we speak, the governments of Oyo and Osun States have refused to make the reports of the much celebrated Wole Olanipekun Visitation Panel public! Too many questions are begging for answers here.  

9. The proposed audit exercise recently muted by the university visitors is a welcome development. Such exercise is a conventional procedural oversight responsibility of proprietors of growing organizations and ivory towers, provided it is not just a ploy to tactically buy time, disintegrate the university or sack some of these hapless employees with reckless impunity. However, we opine that it will be counter-productive and seriously unhealthy to further keep the students and workers away from classroom while the audit is ongoing.  

OUR HUMBLE PLEAS

1. As we appreciate and commend the hallowed efforts of the governments of Oyo and Osun States over LAUTECH imbroglio, we plead with all that are concerned especially the Federal Government, the National Assembly, Federal Ministry of Education and Nigerian University Commission (NUC) to urgently come to the RESCUE of LAUTECH by taking it over as a Federal University.

2. This will not only rescue the lives and destinies of almost thirty thousand (30,000) current students of the university (and several other desperate candidates awaiting admission), it will also put a permanent pay to the lingering crisis and rekindles the faith of all stakeholders in the leadership of our country. 

3.  Ipso facto, as of today, given human nature, especially in Africa, a joint venture stands the risk of unequal commitment sired by varied interests. What belongs to everybody actually belongs to nobody. Therefore, no matter how much the partners strive to pretend that these differences do not exist, they will come to the surface. This is the scenario playing out between Oyo and Osun in the case of funding of the institution. Or, how does one justify a situation where Osun as at April 30, 2017 owes almost 5.4 billion naira while Oyo owes almost 2.7 billion naira to the university? 

4. In the whole of Nigeria, it is only LAUTECH that has dual ownership. Other states that found themselves in similar situations have peacefully shared assets and liabilities. This is what Prof Mafiana – led team from NUC tried to achieve in 2011 before the current administrations in Oyo and Osun came to throw spanners into it. Why is it that the university is the only monument they agreed to retain as a legacy of their common heritage? What of Colleges of Education in Oyo and Osun States, The Polytechnic Ibadan, and other higher institutions of learning located within the territories of the two states at the time of creation of Osun State?

5. It is clear to all and sundry that the experiment (Joint Ownership of LAUTECH) has failed. The only pragmatic way - forward is to embrace reality and allow peaceful parting of ways rather than the present pejorative and arrant grandstanding by the two governors. Sad to find out that there has been no capital grants to the university since almost 10 years ago! Major developments have been undertaken through Federal Government interventions; courtesy of TetFund Scheme!

6. The world is watching! Quick, noble, decisive and positive actions that can proffer both immediate and long-term solutions to this impasse will be expected from the NUC, Federal Ministry of Education, the National Assembly and other pertinent agencies of the Federal Government of Nigeria.  

                                       LAUTECH WILL BE GREAT AGAIN!

                          Rev'd Dr. Israel O. Olaniyan    

Chairman, Head of Churches

                                  

Bishop Bayo Akintola    Sectetary, Head of Churches

Revd John Olarinde

Chairman, OCMF

Evang. Doyin Olayiwola

Chairman CAN, Ogbomoso North L.G

Revd J.O Olomoluwa

Chairman CAN, Ogbomoso South L.G

Revd G.A Adeleye

Chairman CAN, Oriire L.G

The Revd Titus Okewole

Chairman CAN, Suurulere L.G

Elder J.O Oyeniran

Chairman CAN, Ogo-Oluwa L.G  

Revd. Dr. Dele Opatoyinbo

Chairman, Ogbomoso Zonal CAN

AMBODE : THE MAN WITH THE MANDATE

AMBODE : THE MAN WITH THE MANDATE

I was born on the 14th of June,1963 at Epe General Hospital, Epe, Lagos State.

•  I had my Primary School at St. Jude's Primary School, Ebute Meta, and Lagos. Passed the National Common Entrance in Primary 5 and gained admission into Federal Government College, Warri.

•    Recorded the second best  result in  the entire West  Africa in the  Higher School

Certificate Examinations in the Social Sciences in 1981.

•    Graduated with honours in Accounting from the University of Lagos at 21.

•  I started my public service career at Lagos State Waste Disposal Board (now LAWMA)as Accountant Grade II in November 1985.

• At  24,  qualified  as  a  Chartered  Accountant  and  completed  my Masters  Degree programme in Accounting from University of Lagos, specializing in Financial Management.

•    Worked  in  the  Local  Government  Service  for  10years  and  was  at  various  times council   Treasurer   in   Alimosho, Shomolu, Mushin   and   Ajeromi-Ifelodun   Local Government Councils.

• In 1998, my commitment to public service earned me the award of the US Fullbright Scholarship for the Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship program, in Boston University, Massachusetts, USA on Public Leadership with emphasis on Finance and Accounting.

• I was appointed acting Auditor-General for Local Government in 2000 and became the youngest ever Auditor-General for Local Government in Lagos State.

•    I was appointed Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance in January 2005 and in February, 2006,  was given the additional responsibility of Accountant-General of Lagos State.

• I was the youngest Permanent Secretary in service and only the second person to hold both positions of Permanent Secretary and Accountant-General at the same time.

• Under  my watch,  the  State  Treasury  Office  revolutionized  the  way  Lagos  State finances  were  raised,  budgeted,  managed  and  planned  resulting  in  the  state's budget performing at an average of 85% annually.

• I ensured payment of civil service staff salaries before the end of the month, payment of running cost by 1st week of each month and introduced end of the year

package and special/specific welfare for staff.

•    I launched the e-payment platform for the monthly staff salaries

•  I renovated the State Treasury Office, created a conducive working environment, introduced a corporate dress code and provided laptops for all Directors

•    I Introduced prompt payment of gratuity and pension arrears of the State Universal

Basic Education Board and Local Government old pensioners. 

• I introduced regular technical meetings with the Directors of Accounts in all MDAs, facilitated the sponsorship, by the State Governor, of over 1000 accountants to the Annual accountants' Conference in Abuja and initiated the annual retreat for Heads of Accountants as well as Local and International training for staff.

•    I co-organised the first ever National Tax Retreat in association with the Joint Tax

Board/Federal Inland Revenue Service in 2005.

•    I chaired   the   Technical   Committee   that   produced   the   Lagos   State   Economic

Empowerment Development Strategy (SEEDS) document.

• I led the audit teams as the Auditor-General in the office of Auditor-General for Local Government to clear and publish the arrears of statutory audits of 1995 to 2004 within 12months.

• I am a  scholar,  accountant,  administrator,  an  astute  leader  with  strong  emotional intelligence, i am an alumnus of Wharton Business School and also attended courses at Cranfield School of Management, Cranfield, England; the Institute of Management

Development, Lausanne, Switzerland; INSEAD, Singapore and the Harvard Kennedy

School of Government, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

• I retired voluntarily from public service in August, 2012; the first ever recorded voluntary retirement by a Permanent Secretary in the Lagos State Public Service.

• I established Brandsmiths Consulting Limited in 2012 and the company is today consulting for Federal, State and Local Governments on the transition to the new International Public Service Accounting System and other financial advisory services.

• I am a stickler for high performance and my decisions are never based on race, gender or religion.

ISLAMIC AGENDA IN NIGERIA : PERSPECTIVES AND PERSECUTION

THE CORRECT APPRECIATION OF NIGERIA'S POLITICAL SITUATION 

1. It is said that the voluntary surrender of power in 1979 to Alhaji Shehu Shagari gave the military, as then represented by Olusegun Obasanjo, a sanctimonious self-righteous air of being Nigeria's custodian of democracy and moral conscience. However, the National Christian Elders' Forum (NCEF) sees things differently to wit: that the handing over of power in 1979 was a stage in the promotion of Islamism in Nigeria. The reasons for the 1966 coup may be obscure but the fact remains that the first Law passed by the Independent Nigerian Parliament was the Emergency Act of 1961, signed by Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe within months of Independence. This was an unusual way of celebrating freedom from colonial rule.

2.         The Western Region Emergency situation was contrived and stage-managed; we remember the cry "fire on the mountain, run, run, run" by both Kensington Momoh and Lekan Salami that led to "operation wetie" followed by rigged Western Elections, then the State of Emergency declared contrary to the provisions of the Constitution.  All of the above led to the Civil War of 1967 – 1970. The group of army officers (mostly Muslim), headed by Murtala Mohammed in 1966 that staged the July revenge coup of that year continue to form the pillar of all succeeding military and civilian  regimes including the 2015 Elections that brought Muhammadu Buhari to power a second time, as was done for Olusegun Obasanjo in 1999.

3.         The Vanguard of Saturday, May 13, 2017 at page 5 in an article captioned "Power Struggle How Buhari's Letter was Muddled", part of which read that:  "as a military leader, he [Buhari] had Tunde Idiagbon and some other acting in private capacity, even still powerful in the present government" makes it clear that the cabal or some others acting in private capacity are the Islamists.  In other words, since 1975 the Islamists gained power in Nigeria and have, since then, employed jihad as instrument for governance. Cabal is defined as a group of people united in some close design together to promote sectional views or ideology often by intrigue unknown to persons outside the group or cabal.

4.         The Non-Commissioned Officers (NCO) and Lieutenants (Lt) of 1966 created successive dynasties of military regimes and civilian governments. Since then and now, majority of them were Muslims.  Today, one of them, once again, is the President of Nigeria. The military governed with popular appeal and little opposition and thus became the alternative rulers of Nigeria while some officers retired to become traditional rulers.

It is often said that the Army resort to politics was "akin to setting an exam prior to attending lecture", using the Gowon case who went to study politics that earned him a Phd after being Head of State of Nigeria for nine years (1966 – 1975).  In the opinion of the NCEF, this is an incorrect assessment.

5.         The Muslim officers who spearheaded the overthrow of General Gowon, on the eve of handing over power, came prepared especially Shehu Yar'adua and Ibrahim Babangida. They were fully prepared by the Muslim Brotherhood that provided the ideology of Islamism and the strategy for its operations.  This explains why the coups by Christian soldiers always failed e.g. the 1966 coup mainly by Ibadan University and Sandhurst graduates, 1976 Dimka coup, Orkar coup of 1990, all failed woefully. The Muslim brotherhood Islamists introduced legal political and military doctrines into Islam to become what is eventually known as Political Islam.  The final objective is the defeat of Democracy and the enthronement of a world Caliphate, through the doctrine of Sharia. Sharia is an immutable, compulsory system the Muslims are obliged to install and the world required to adopt. Failure to do so is declared to be damnable offence against Allah.  Sharia is not a private matter.

6.         Islamists see Democracy as an obstacle to overcome, a culture and civilization that cannot be embraced or even tolerated.  It is impossible for the Islamists to tolerate alternative legal systems and forms of government for peaceful co-existence with other forms of culture or civilization. The implication is that Sharia promotes jihad. Stealth and regular jihads are the same i.e. to achieve the same result – those in Aso Villa that practice stealth jihad, the Fulani herdsmen and Boko Haram are the same. Muslim Brotherhood (MB) is the most important entity promoting Sharia in the world.  It is very clear that the Muslim groups in Nigeria are front groups for Muslim Brotherhood and relies on MB's resource base, leadership and strategy.  The aim is to destroy Western civilization from within and ensure the takeover of the political authority by Sharia. Thus, ensuring triumph of Islam and the installation of the Caliphate is a must especially when Nigeria already has the Sokoto Caliphate.

7.         National Intelligence, Law Enforcement and Security leadership in Nigeria have been taken over by the Islamists.  The Islamists are at war (jihad) with the rest of Nigerians who are considered unbelievers and those of different Islamic sects such as the Shiites who have a different interpretation of the meaning of jihad.   

8.         Examples of stealth jihad Whittling down of a chapter of the Constitution on Human Rights by excessive provisos to bring it into conformity with Sharia which stipulates that humans have no rights, as all rights belong to AllahCreation of States and Local Government skewed in favour of the 'Muslim' NorthThe numerous provisions in the Constitution for Sharia and Sharia related issues without relative provision for Christianity and Christian issues. Section 162(2) on Public Revenue is skewed in favour of 'Muslim' North as, for example, the consideration of landmass, which, ordinarily, should be an asset but is used to provide more Revenue Illogicality of military decrees becoming the Constitution, all of the above and more constitute stealth Jihad. Examples of regular Jihad are (i) Boko Haram (ii) Fulani Herdsmen and other similar organizations in Nigeria.It is stealth Jihad to prevent Christians and others from having political parties they can call their own while Islamists own all the over 40 political parties. 

9.         Recommendations:

(a)       There should be a New Constitution to replace the one in use that has Sharia inclined military decrees grafted into it.  There is need for proper understanding of the nature of Sharia by non-Islamist Nigerians in order to keep Nigeria Sharia free

(b)       Discard Sharia compliant Finance and Banking Acts

(c)       Set up a Truth and Reconciliation Commission

(d)       Establish a Law Review Commission to isolate Sharia in our statute books

10.        Islamist Politicians in action in Nigeria

Walter Onnoghen CJN, was reported in The Nation of Saturday, May 13, 2017 at page 5, while delivering Judgment in the case of Abia State Governorship tussle to have reacted thus: "there is need for member of the political class to re-examine themselves in the present dispensation and to save and protect Democracy in the country --- There is no problem that the politicians are in charge of the Executive and Legislative, but please keep out of the Judiciary".  For a better understanding, the NCEF submits that politicians, in this context, mean Islamists who are also in charge of the Judiciary.  This feat, the Islamists were able to achieve, through stealth jihad over the years.

11.         To suggest that Nigeria cannot be Islamized is to exhibit ignorance as Nigeria is populated half by Christians and half by Muslims.  How many Christians are in the Federal Judiciary, Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, Federal High Court and the Court of the Federal Territory of Abuja?  It cannot be 50:50 but 60% Muslims and 40% Christians. This is not to say that all 60% Muslim Justices and Judges are Islamists but the truth is that Muslim provides the sea in which the Islamist swim in".  Above all, no Islamist or Muslim is loyal to the Nigerian Constitution but only to the Quran and they have never hidden this fact.  The need for peaceful co-existence has to be further discussed especially issues concerning the Rule of Law not Rule of might or superiority of Religion over the Law.

12.        For a correct appreciation of the Nigerian situation, the word 'cabal' should be substituted with the word 'Islamists'.  A proper understanding of the Nigerian situation by Christians will help, in no small measure, to prevent violence and deaths that may follow if Islamist Taqiyya (deceit) manifests further. Political problems require political solutions. Islamists/rulers in Nigeria seem to see themselves as successors to the British colonial masters, having partnered the British to rule Northern Nigeria.  *The Islamists do not see Nigeria as a country but part of a Sultanate established by Usman Dan Fodio in early 18th Century which explains why the Nigeria Constitution and Rule of Law are treated with contempt.*

13.        *This state of affairs could never have happened without the collaboration of Christian proxies.*  These facts notwithstanding, it is time that Christians call the Islamists bluff in Nigeria. Core Christians do not have a political party and Catholic Priests and Pastors have to fill the gap, a job they have done poorly, because the Clergy failed to appreciate the fact that Islamism is a political movement which requires to be countered by a Christian political party for the promotion of  Democracy and Rule of Law.  The reason for the poor performance can be attributed to the infiltration of the Churches by the Islamist Intelligence Service and cultists who compromise the Clergy by corrupting them.  We, non-Islamists, have a duty save them from themselves.

14.        It is very clear that since the Islamists, in various names including Enforcers, Cabal, Politician, Presidency etc. encroached into democracy and subsequently succeeded in overthrowing democracy and replacing it with Islamism the end result has been poverty, inequality and corruption. All non-Islamist Nigerians must join hands together to defeat by constitutional means the Islamists that are the present rulers (owners) of Nigeria.

National Christian Elders' Forum (NCEF)

Abuja, May 15, 2017

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PASTOR AYODEJI JEGEDE

Pastor Ayodeji Jegede holds Bachelors degree in Agriculture at University of Ilorin. He is working on his degree in Theology at the Baptist College of Theology, Lagos. He is the Minister for Students, Youth & Pastoral services at Lagos Central Baptist Conference Lagos State and the Minister coordinating the Youth, Teenage & Children Ministries  at Estate Baptist Church Abesan Estate, Lagos West Baptist Conference. He has served the Nigerian Baptist Convention as a Member, Protocol and Logistics Team during the 2012 Annual Session held in Lagos state. He is an Editor and engage in publication services.

He is a facilitator at Leadership and Management Seminars. Jegede is Chief Executive Officer of Tranformer Multi-Services  and a prolific author of 10 books.

Pastor Ayodeji Jegede, today and always you are CELEBRATED as a COMMITTED and CONSISTENT brother, friend and a follower with foresight. May God fortify you at FORTY in the name of JESUS CHRIST Happy birthday.

From Pastors, Deacons, Associations, members of staff of Lagos Central Baptist Conference;  and indeed my family,  we say Happy birthday. 

Rev..Dr. Kehinde Babarinde

Conference President