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Oba Gbadebo who spoke at the installation of the traditional head (Baale) of Akinjole Town in Ewekoro local government area of ogun State, Chief Olanrewaju Monday Akintona, said partisanship of traditional rulers in politics could jeopardise the integrity of traditional institutions.

Alake stressed that as a father to all, traditional rulers, should continue to ensure the unity of every one in their domain and shun controversies such as politics and involvement in illegal land tussle.

Earlier in his acceptance speech, the newly installed Baale of Akinjole Town Chief Olanrewaju Monday Akintona, vowed to use his new position to promote unity among his subjects.

He said he recognised his position as a Baale, who must shun partisan politics, avoid actions and utterances that could give the impression that will promote disunity among his subjects.

He maintained that both the religious leaders and traditional Chieftaincy holders represent two vital institutions that should not be tainted by the vagaries of politics.

While calling on all sons and daughters of Akinjole to join hands together with him to move the town to greater heights, Chief Akintona said the development of the town can only be achieved if all come together as one.

The installation which was witnessed by high chiefs from Egba and Kemta section of Egbaland includes Chief Tosin Fadare, Chief Abayomi Rotimi, the Oluwo of Kemta and many Kemta traditional Chiefs took place at the Palace of Alake of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Aremu Gbadebo.

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President Buhari gave the commendation at a meeting with Ogun State traditional rulers, led by Alake of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Aremu Gbadebo.

Responding to the Vice President’s presentation at the meeting on the economic outlook in the country in the last four years and how the APC-led administration has done more with less resources, the President said ‘Him (Osinbajo) being the Chairman of NEC is in a very strong position to know what we are earning and what we are doing with the earnings.

“I am very pleased with his vast experience and intellect. He has captured effectively what the administration has done and I commend him for playing a very great part in that. Thank you, Mr Vice President.’’

The President told the traditional rulers that in all the States he had visited so far for his re-election bid, he had taken time to explain to Nigerians the achievements, programmes and future plans of his government in the three key areas of economy, security and anti-corruption.

“On the promises on security, I have mentioned repeatedly that the people of the North East appreciate our undertakings because you cannot manage a country unless it is secure. We have succeeded in that and we thank God,’’ he said.

The President noted that Nigeria has attained food security under his watch, adding that many farmers have testified that fertilisers are now available and affordable.

“Fighting corruption is the most difficult under our system but still, we have not given up. We are steadfast in our determination to ensure that those who abuse trust are brought before the law and punished,’’ he said.

President Buhari appealed to the traditional rulers to prevail on their subjects to be law abiding and show respect to constituted authority during and after the elections.

“I am happy for what you have done on voter education so that your people can choose whoever they like from whatever party,’’ he said.

In his remarks, Oba Gbadebo assured the President that Ogun people will give him more than 60 percent of the votes in the State to guarantee his re-election and that of their son, the Vice President, on February 16.

He hinged Ogun people’s support for President Buhari on his commitment to the welfare of the masses, reflected in the array of well-conceived, executed and various ongoing projects that abound all over the country.

The Oba announced that Ogun State has been a major beneficiary of Federal Government projects, listing the Lagos-Ibadan expressway that passes through 80 percent of the State, Lagos-Ibadan standard gauge fast train, the latest technology in train movement the world over, among others.

“It was my privilege to have been part of the passengers on the trial run on the Lagos-Abeokuta stretch of the rail on Friday, February 8, 2019. Generations unborn will continue to thank your Administration for taking the bull by the horns,’’ Oba Gbadebo said.

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Tinubu, who was responding to allegations from certain quarters that the APC was preparing grounds for violence during the elections, said those making such allegations were already sniffing their defeat at the polls. He said the cries of violence were also indications that those making the allegations had already conceded defeat even before the first ballot was cast in the election.

The APC leader spoke to reporters after a meeting with traditional rulers from the South West in Abuja, led by the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi. Tinubu said neither the party nor its presidential candidate, Muhammadu Buhari, wanted any Nigerian to be a victim of violence during the elections and therefore did not need any form of violence to win the election.

The APC, he pointed out, was working hard to win the elections, while those alleging violence were busy looking for excuses for their impending defeat. On his meeting with the Obas, Tinubu said: “The royal fathers spoke of the need for a peaceful election. When you have the belief that you can get a proper result, you work hard because you want peace. When you believe that you can win, you don’t want violence. We all love our children, our brothers and our followers and none of us would want our followers to become sacrificial lambs.

“We won’t encourage violent disruption of any election because we are confident of winning. Those who are crying wolf before the election have already accepted defeat before the election as far as I am concerned. I am very happy and proud of the very promising situation. When you have the endorsement of your royal fathers, it means you have the people with you and the voice of the people is the voice of God. I am elated.”

The APC chieftain appreciated the royal fathers for their support and for not giving up on the APC and also for visiting the President to encourage him.

Taking a fresh broadside at Atiku Abubakar, the PDP presidential candidate, Tinubu said he (Atiku) did nothing to help Lagos State as Vice President when the Obasanjo government seized its local government allocations, but merely asked them to go and comply with Obasanjo’s directives.

“Atiku was Vice President of this country when the local government allocations for Lagos State were seized. When we led a protest to Atiku then, he said: ‘Go away; go and comply.’ Without the allocations, you cannot bring development. When we said we needed power to power Lagos and the industrial base in our region, they said no.

“They were taking away N250 million from our allocations every month for being innovative and creative. Everywhere we turned, they rejected us and punished us. But we never gave up. Today, we are in that progressive development championed and led by President Muhammadu Buhari. Thank you for not looking back. Thank you for visiting and encouraging him.”

Tinubu also spoke on his purported collapse on Monday after the inauguration of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, stating that “Fake news and whoever is manufacturing it, you better don’t believe them.” He also described as negative and fake news, reports of the alleged boycott of the campaign council by APC governors.

“The point is, the governors had to stay back home because we all don’t have to converge in one place to decide certain modalities when we can easily go back to them on what was discussed and what we expect from their states. That is what we call structuring in an election. There are some jelly fish reporters around Nigeria these days.”

At the meeting, Oba Ogunwusi said as royal fathers, traditional rulers would therefore continue to preach peace and peaceful coexistence. The Oni said: “My message to Nigerians in this time of election is peace, peace and peaceful co-existence all the way. The power of every Nigerian and every electorate lies in the thumb. As traditional rulers, we are fathers to all and in playing that role, we pray that there should be peace in this country.

“That is what we are preaching and it is very important to all of us to know that Nigeria is greater than any of us. So, we should continue to preach peace and identify with good things that will be beneficial to the nation. That is why we are here.”

The traditional rulers, who had earlier visited the President, also included the the Alake of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Aremu Gbadebo; the Alayemore of Ido Osun, Oba Aderemi Adedapo; the Deji of Akure, Oba Aladetoyinbo Ogunlade; the Ayangburen of Ikorodu, Oba Kabiru Shotobi; the Olukare of Ikare Akoko, Oba Akadiri Momoh 1V, and the Oloye of Oye Ekiti,Oba Michael Oluwole Ademolaju Adugbole III.

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STEM is Sterling Bank’s corporate social responsibility initiative which seeks to promote practices that contribute to the sustenance of the environment on a long-term basis. It presently covers partnership with waste management agencies in 14 states, tree planting to combat desertification in parts of Northern Nigeria and an annual national cleaning exercise.

The 2017 edition of the national cleaning exercise organized in partnership with other corporate bodies and waste management agencies in states, will hold simultaneously in Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Rivers, Kwara, Enugu, Plateau and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja on Saturday, 12th August 2017.

Chief Marketing Officer of Sterling Bank, Henry Bassey, said the Paramount Ruler of Egbaland would be on ground to bless the Sterling Bank team and other participating corporate partners in his Palace before and after the cleaning exercise in Ogun State.

According to him, other notable personalities expected to grace the occasion from Ogun State are the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, the State Commissioner of Environment; Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Environment, Chairman Abeokuta South Local Government; the Ogun State National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Director; Ogun State Health Officers as well as the NYSC Environmental Community DS.

Bassey also said the Executive Secretary, FCTA, Mrs. Folashade Joseph has been invited for the occasion, adding that other top officials of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) and those of the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) have confirmed their invitations to attend the cleaning exercise that would hold in Abuja and other states simultaneously.

Other top officials expected to attend the event in Abuja are directors from the Federal Capital Territory Administration and officials of the Wuse Market/Abuja Markets Management Limited.

Sterling Bank will be joined by British Council, KPMG, L’Oréal, Malta Guinness, Aquafina, Daar Communications, Wecyclers, Businessday, Classic FM, Beat FM, Naija FM, Shawarma & Co and Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA), among others, to make the cleaning exercise in Lagos State a success.

The CMO said the Bank would use the occasion to formally handover 1,000 uniforms for street sweepers to the FCTA.

Launched eight years ago as a cleaning exercise promoting sanitation and hygiene, STEM has evolved into a national force championing the cause of the environment. It presently covers public enlightenment campaigns, partnership with waste management agencies in 14 states, tree planting to combat desertification in parts of Northern Nigeria and an annual national cleaning exercise.

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At the lecture with the theme, The Economics of Change, the governor said Nigeria must cut its dependence on foreign goods, increase local production and enhance entrepreneurship, adding these would help save the local currency which currently carries too much pressure.

Aregbesola expressed regrets that despite the huge opportunities in sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing, Nigeria has failed to make use of the opportunities.

Also at the event were the Emir of Kano, Dr. Sanusi Lamido, Sanusi, Alake of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Aremu Gbadebo.

The governor said it was disheartening that Nigeria depends too much of foreign foods which is killing agriculture.

He said, “We should also cut the importation of food to less than 25 per cent of the current volume. This is to enable us develop agriculture. It has been the policy of our administration since day one to promote food production in order to be able to feed our people.

“It is really shameful that in spite of our endowments in natural resources, we are still dependent on imported food items as a nation.”

The Governor queried why Nigerians should continue to rely on buying and selling noting that Nigeria’s investors have short ends of the sticks.

He added, “The most successful and leading enterprises in the country are owned largely by foreigners, with our people being minority shareholders.

“A system where it is easier to prosper and succeed in business through buying and selling is inherently anti-development. Entrepreneurship training should be part of education at all levels.”

Harping on agriculture, Aregbesola said farming should now be knowledge-based adding “There must also be a transition from producer of primary goods to value adding. Adding values create a value chain that increases the momentum of development.”

He explained that the value of one kilogramme of cocoa beans Nigeria exports is multiplied 5,000 times by the time it imports it as chocolate.

“If we can make the same quality of chocolate, we could have earned 5,000 times the value we derive from cocoa beans in a value chain that includes revenue generation, wealth creation, job creation and spiralling effect of developing ancillary industries around this product.

The governor gave the instance of the disappearance of tyres manufacturing companies in Nigeria lamenting that with the huge number of tyres needed in Nigeria, no single tyre is manufactured in the country.

“By importing, we are simply developing the economies of the nations we buy from through job creation, value chain maintenance, capacity for product development and other spin off effects of production.

“You can imagine that there are seven million vehicles on our roads and we do not produce a single tyre for them. If the average lifespan of a tyre is three years, then every three years, we need 28 million tyres, working on the assumption that an average car has four wheels.

“We must then find a way to import 28 million new or used tyres. We can imagine what effect it would have on our economy if we produce just half of these tyres at home.”

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