OYEDOKUN COMMENDS ADELEKE FOR HIS COURAGE

 

"Anyone who knew how the former Asiwaju of Ede, Chief Adetunji Adeleke impacted positively, the lives of People of his hometown, Ede ,Osun State and the entire country, Nigeria ,would have no option than to rejoice with  Governor Ademola Jackson Adeleke for his courage in stepping into the shoes of his late brother as the new Asiwaju of Ede land ."

The Oluomo of Inisa, Chief Shuaib Afolabi Oyedokun has noted.

In a statement released  by the Oluomo of Inisa, he described the life of the former Asiwaju of Ede as a brilliant testimony and demonstration of the golden thought which says that:" it isn't life that matters but the courage  one puts to it ."

"With Chief Adetunji Adeleke, charity also, did not only begin from home ,  the training he imbibed from his Adeleke Dynasty towards his passion for and sense of pursuing people's welfare, became an undying badge which he wore courageously as he expanded the legacy of good governance to the state and Nigeria in general" He  recalled .

 "It is therefore along the pleasant metaphor which  the traditional chieftaincy title of Asiwaju has  exuded in the dynasty, bequeathing worthy  heritage from one generation to another, that I am congratulating  the Osun State Governor for taking up the mantle as the Asiwaju of Ede." Oyedokun added. 

According to him:

It is my prayers that the Governor would brace up to the privileges and challenges which the chieftaincy aptly confers, even towards the progress of the state, not forgetting to do proud the fulcrum , goodwill  and platforms upon which he rode to power, particularly the welfare of the commoners which his Dynasty fought for since the days of his father.

The Oluomo of Inisa then commended the Timi of Ede,His royal Majesty, Oba Munirudeen Adesola Lawal as well as his council of chiefs for the great honour done to Governor Adeleke and for their commitment to the advancement of the ancient town and the state in general. 

"That this honour is  coming  at a time the Governor is clocking 64, shows that the new age portends  double blessing commensurate with the responsibility of tapping into the wisdom there-from while preparing him graciously for the task a-head ." Oluomo reckoned.

PRECISION HAND OF GOD IS FANTASTIC IN JOURNALISM

 

How does Precision come into the Hand of God in Journalism  ? One may ask.

It is like the promise or covenant which God gives ; it is purified seven times  and re-purified in the fire of fulfillment seven times. 

Conversely, It is an open secret , for instance, that my brand of Journalism practice goes beyond one which fulcrums  on mere western paradigm .

This had become apparent since 1989 when I won my first Best Reporter of the Year award, and after which the then Cross River State University, Uyo,( Department of Communication Arts) invited me to contribute a chapter to a journalism textbook which was then on the drawing board .

 It was after I submitted my contribution that God, during my journey into trance,revealed to me the secret of Journalism, where-in, His breath exuded into the documents while it translated to my first Journalism textbook titled:" JOURNALISTS AND THE HAND OF GOD.

Precisely, the message  in the Book of Revelation in the Bible, Chapter four put it most succinctly :

" After this I looked, and,  behold,  A DOOR WAS OPENED IN HEAVEN ( emphasis in capital letters is mine ) and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, COME UP HITHER AND I WILL SHOW THEE THINGS WHICH MUST BE HEREAFTER. "

No doubt, the Hand of God has been working for me in the profession, knowing full well that in the business of Journalism, which is geared at ensuring good governance, whatever door government is trying to shut for selfish end, is the same door that journalists set out to open up in the interest of the public.

Let me confess here however that until April,14,1994, I didn't know that midwifery is an office with its own door, and that only the HAND OF GOD opens and closes the  door as He chooses.

 Conversely ,when a new King over Egypt which knew not the Biblical Joseph ascended the throne, it was his plan to kill all male children of Hebrew and upon which he recruited midwives detailed to carry out the dastardly act.

King Pharaoh resultantly gave them the order :" When ye do THE OFFICE OF A MIDWIFE , to the Hebrew women ,and see them upon the stood, if it be a son, then ye shall kill him, but if it be a daughter then she shall live ."( Exodus 1:16 ) Today  April, 14, 2024 ,I am happy to recall that God, on April, 14, 1994, intervened in opening the Door of the office of midwifery for my wife, Prophetess Idowu  Deborah Fagbola who gave birth to Kayode John Fagbola, now marking his 30th birthday today. 

How did it happen  ?

 My wife had in 1994 kept shuttling, time without number,  between our Ring Road  Ibadan residence and Punch's Oke-Bola-based hospital, anticipatory  and preparatory to her time of delivery in which the arrival of the expected child was mysteriously delayed. 

On the afternoon of this April 14 ,1994, Mummy ,was still in the usual protracted labour when the Lord inspired me to go to the family altar where we always prayed to God ,giving me His gentle instruction that I should fill up the hand bell there with water, bless it and give my wife to drink .

Barely twenty minutes after she took the water, she put to bed effortlessly right in our three-bed room flat.

Hallelujah, Kayode is a child of prayer and indeed an answer to God-inspired prayers.  It was shortly before his birth that Punch Management approved for me a car loan with which I bought my first car, JETA. 

The second precision to this Miracle birth which heralded the arrival of my car was that it revealed the potency in Precision Journalism in which we scoop out big news through subjecting  statistical data into intelligent and intelligible interpretation .

Mrs Christie Ohuabunwa , who was on the Crime Beat, being our Amazon Crime Correspondent, had stormed the news room one afternoon with her usual exclusive stories. 

When I demanded from her the source of her stories, she yielded to me two heavily bound books of Crime statistics which she got authoritatively from credible source. 

After she had exhausted her write-ups from the documents, she yielded the books to me, on request, and for three months, I locked myself up in my office, being the Acting News Editor of Sunday Punch,interpreting the statistics of crime intelligently and intelligibly. 

For a whole quarter of the year, 1994, the statistics of various crimes in Nigeria by Nigerians from 1950 to 1994 were speaking to me while I plotted data of crimes which lay in the kitties of both Federal and State governments in Nigeria. The result was fantastic  !

The Sunday Punch under the supervision of my Editor, Godwin  Nzeakahnnamdi, alias Ogbefi was for the period commanding frontline respect in the market with the newspaper becoming an instant sell out. At one of the board meetings presided over by our actuarial and mathematical Chairman,  Chief Ajibola Ogunshola, my editor gladly presented my case for a car loan, based on my excellent performance while the request was granted instanter.

The Hand of God in Precision Journalism is indeed fantastic. 

OLALERE FAGBOLA REPORTING

EXPERTS CALL FOR SCHOOL PRESS CLUB IN THE FIGHT AGAINST DRUG ABUSE

Amid increasing cases of  substance abuse and gender-based violence in Nigeria, with attendant toll on socio-political and economic life of the youths ,two child experts and educationists have stressed the need for schools to adopt a threefold educational initiatives towards urgent implementation of ongoing fight against the social malaise.

The recommendations which were adopted at a recent workshop for teachers in Osun State are the setting up of Drug-free Press Club in schools ,the energisation of literary and debating society programmes and the engagement of students in creative drama which fulcrums on  the upliftment of moral values in school environments.

The three-pronged policy is encapsulated from two lectures delivered separately by the Assistant State Commander of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, Dr Yetunde Ofoha and the Director of Public Schools, Mrs. A.O. Adeoye .

The two experts agreed that the impartation of needed knowledge through the faithful implementation of their recommendations would go a long way to inculcating sound academic and moral values in the lives of students while building in their psychology, the stamina vital to coping with pressure of life as well as helping to debunk the fallacy that prosperity comes without labour.

Both of them stressed that it was important to integrate the three initiatives into the school time table and argued that if the ongoing fight against drug abuse and addiction would not end up as a mere shadow-chasing antics,  the sensitisation must be methodically inculcated into the school system, beginning from their assembly so that it would serve as a lifeblood which students would carry beyond the four walls of the schools .

The Assistant State Commander of NDLEA expressed regret that Nigeria which formerly was regarded as a transit country for hard drugs has now become a producer, consumer and trafficker country, pointing out that the immediate victims are youths, regarded as future leaders.

Dr Ofoha equally noted that it was not even palatable that Osun state is purportedly classified among states with the highest cases of drug addicts.

 She however noted with delight that the United Nation has encouraged the incorporation of spiritualism in the prevention of substance abuse and in the rehabilitation of drug addicts, adding that the NDLEA has equally been operating new strategies in its War Against Drug Addiction, acronymed WADA.

 In her own contribution, the Director of Public Schools in the Ministry of Education, Mrs Adeoye who charged teachers that " discipline is inseparable from teaching," urged workshop participants to be mindful of their behaviours with students whom they are supposed to lead by examples, adding that:" a toaster ( child abuser) of students can't preach honesty before his or her students. "

The Director of Public Schools who described the workshop as very timely, stated that the ministry of education in Osun state is committed to the march against drug abuse and gender-based violence ,stressing that the month of March is intensifying its march against the menace through FIGHT, being the acronymed for Fill In The Gap And Halt The Trend .

 In the commitment of the state Government to rid Osun state of social malaise, Mrs Adeoye disclosed that no fewer than 5,000 new teachers are being recruited by the state government towards the education of youths while ensuring that they equip their students with moral armament needed to fortify them as future leaders.

 At the Uniosun Teaching Hospital, Osogbo workshop venue in which the Osogbo Window on America is located ,resource persons drawn from the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA and the Ministry of Education ,presented papers while the Chief Executive Director of Trauma of Dreadlocked Publisher , Olalere Fagbola treated participants to  renditions of poetry  in support of the Fight.

Earlier, the Director of Osogbo Window on America, Mr. Samuel Ibitoye stated that the Window is an initiative of the Public Affairs of the U.S. Consulate , stressing that the workshop,through collaborative efforts with Imole foundation, is part of programmes by which the Window has not relented in empowering youths in Osun state through different educative initiatives geared at moulding their minds in being productive .

The Imole Foundation, a nongovernmental  organisation was established  by Mrs Hembadoon Babatunde and under the Board Chairmanship of Mr Kehinde Babatunde .

Imole foundation. The organisation is committed to the fight against drug abuse, sexual abuse and gender-based violence in schools across Africa.  

The founder has been using her book, WOUNDS THAT WON'T HEAL " now adopted by the Osun State Government for the use of schools in her sensitisation campaign to educate students as well as parents in different programmes for early advocacy for kids .

BY OLALERE FAGBOLA