mapet: When I read some of the appaling statements made by some people here, then I resign to fate that some reasoning capacities are just basic at best.
1. If the Intent of this Airport had been limited to which one is better, which one deserves to have Airports, which is rural or not, Eastern states or Western states, then many of you would have been in leadership. But alas, your technocracy is simply rooted in the shallow abyss of NL pages where you demonstrate crass ignorance, albeit with arrogance.

2. Are these the kind of arguements we should be having? are they lofty? are they enriching our intellect? are they making things better?

3. Flash news. MKO Airport is already built. Deal with it.

4. For me, Any state that marshals a well thought out developmental blue-print is well within her right to execute it. Taking projects in isolation and asking idiotic questions like "is it what the state need" or "how will it affect Osun Farmers" is as pedestran as it comes.

5. It is imperative to understand that as long as cities exists and people live in it, Cities are bound to be built with relevant infrastructures. As long as commerce goes on in Osun state, then the leadership is bound to explore opportunities for wealth and prosperity. If UAE had been docile 20years ago as some of you are reasoning today, then will we have Dubai as both business and tourism hubs today.

6. Is the Airport needed. Absolute yes. It is a different ball game entirely how it will be run. That itself is another issue for credible debate. The issue of other Airport in Ibadan, Akure, Ogun and Lagos and why Osun not latch on that is relative. If the analyst had done the economic trending over 25years and the numbers tells that it is better to build one, so this is a better option. Besides there are lots of scenarios that would have been painted - Economics of scale, Proximity, Socio-Political, Identity etc.

7. For me the critical questions starts with the operation of the Airport. what the is Operations Business Model? Will we still rely on our corrupt customs and immigrations agencies that makes the country loose revenues with their ineptitude? or will it be privatized or concessioned? What bilateral/Trade Agreements are in place with countries/Agencies Aregbe had visit to the extend that some locked-in trade agreements are in place to make a minimum through put use of the airport. Are there provision for FTZ within the proximity of the Airport? Are there going to be Business Hub/Villages with close proximity to the Airport?

I would like to see for starters the following
1. Exportation of Agric Products like Beef, Leather, Cheese, Milk products and Agric products straight from Osun to place like China, Malasia, African Regions.
2. A situation where Osun and other regional states like Enugu, Akwa Ibom, Kano, Borno can have quick trade exchages of fast moving products cutting the lag time in road and rail transportation
3. A situation where people can fly straight to Osun for business and Holiday/tourism, from anywhere in the world. A situation I can fly to my state on friday from work and land in less than 30mins.

Future implications of these are;
1. A prospective business will factor the Airport as possitives to bring the needed customer.
2. Private Schools with World class facilities will start springing up in Osun as Landed property and running costs will be relatively cheaper than Lagos, Ogun, Abuja, PH etc
3. Cost of Goods could be cheaper as they could be sourced directly. Our Igbo brothers would fratenizing with Osun as you can come together and airfrieght critical goods and rail-transport it to other destinations.
4. A typical DHL may set up a regional Hub in Osun, since the runway can accomodate their Big planes
5. The list is unlimited.......we can only continue to fill in the spaces

Somebody is thinking deep

SLIDE waxie: u be mumu! because u no travel outta ur wretched crib, u tot all roads in the SW belomgs to the feds by sighting the Niger state's case abi?

For your lack of information and education, there is a clear distinction between the states and federal roads in lagos or Ogun state. By default, all federal roads are one-lane stup!d way!

If not for the lagos state govt who dualized or even quadrupled the federal lanes, what road of thiers is to proud of that u're sweating like a christmas goat!

In Ogun state, a standard major road is now 4lanes. The feds started fighting over a road at ijebu ode which the state want to construct to a 4lane. The feds claimed its on their plan. Its been months now, no work on the road even though they only wanna make it double!

Went through that road last month, nothing has been done by the federal government, except for the two massive flyover being constructed by Ogun state government, one at the center of Ijebu-Ode and the other crossing over Sagamu-Benin-Ore road. I wonder why the federal government stopped the state government when they know they can't construct the road. The flyover ordinary should have been constructed by the federal government> and hope the federal government won't be telling stories when those flyovers are copleted like they doing for Lekki-Ikoyi link bridge.

This case needs swift and thorough investigation and whoever is found responsible for the death of those people should face the law. 30 people's death in a single day ain't no play. The most annoying of it is that they lost their lives for senseless reason(politics).

And religious leaders should also desist from turning places of worship to campaign venue where politicians whose fear of the creator is far from is permitted to mount the podium to deliver campaign speeches.

@ pictures, why is Peter Obi's natives always having Ojukwu's head on them?

Even the die-hard Yorubas(Osun) do not close markets for kings birthday and other ceremonies, Lagos should soften the pedal on this constant market shutdown over one ceremony or the other.

Oh, it's now they are realizing this.
They didn't know there was tax evasion from an importation that took place over a year, all of a sudden the thing popped out. Lwkm..

What a month..

pafra: she must hv been confesin her sins in d holy land

Not until you visit Jerusalem(Israel) or any priest before your sins can be forgiven. Confession and genie repentance in your abode in Christ's name is enough.

madam_oringo:

Every non-performing THIEF like Oduah, Nnaji or ODinnmegwu should be removed and prosecuted for wasting tax payer's money!

And how's Nnaji a thief? Because he resigned to advance in life?
Forget not that whatever improvement the power sector is witnessing began in Nnaji's tenure.

Sec5: They forced Barth Nnaji,Odimegwu and other credible transformation crew to resigng.Now,it is Odua's time to be forced out leaving only non performing ministers.
Let us keep watching!

I wonder what the petroleum minister is still doing in that cabinet with the highest controversies.
I think there is still one performing minister in GEJ's cabinet, just one: the agric minister.

Nice one from Caleb Uni and Lagos government.

I see Caleb university is enjoying the monopolistic nature of private uni. in Lagos(unlike their counterpart in Ogun where private unis are many). The only private university in the state.

How I wish these rides are Nigerian made

Okija_juju:


Heheheheeee...



See them rolling on the floor with their oversized bedsheets called Agbada..

lol, na cultural things.

Photo #1--Gov Ibikunle Amosun and Oba Adetona
photo #2--Ijebu Indigenes paying homage to their king
photo #3--From left:Oba Adetona,Gov Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa,Hon Waziri Tambuwal ,Speaker, Federal House of Representatives, Hon Femi Gbajiabiamila.
photo #4--A side view of the festival.

Dudu_Negro:

Indeed, "what a country"!

Give Gej another 4yrs and Asari will be your Minister of Education and Tompolo Minister of Defense.

If you doubt me look at the two ignoramus heading those two ministeries today, how are they better qualified or competent than the two creek terrorists?

that'll be calamitous. You forgot that guy is a dropout.

Leaving ones profession of being a medical practitioner for heading a faction of a militant group. Lol

Not surprised, militancy is the norm in Nigeria now.
Afterall, a militant has a private jet and another is proposing a university. What a country.

Segeggs: THIEVES

and that family that consume a billion naira food yearly is?

pullyacap: Now the attack Lion rises up from his slumber!

the guy has been mute for a long time before now.

I think US$400 million would go a long way in meeting ASUU's demand.

ikwere militant: if u askwere re d universites in d east dat means dia is none in d west.as ibadan as nsukka,as oau as nau.d best college of edu in west africa is alvan ikeoku owere.d best uni of tech in nija is futo owere.one of d best poly nekede owere one of d best agric skol is mikel okpara at umudike,d fist state uni in nigeria is imsu.d fist nd only meterlugical institute in nija is at oba onitsha,d fist private uni in nija is madona okija all in d east of d nija.so drop dat cheap schinap ure drinkng

There is no point of comparism because it's actually all vanity in the real sense, but I don't think it would be nice twisting fact either ignorantly or intentionally.

Here is 2013 Nigeria University commission ranking posted on nairaland's front page months ago.

StHercules: 2013 NUC University Ranking In Nigeria - Every year the National University Commission, NUC, ranks universities in Nigeria due to the performance and meeting the requirement of a standard school.

This body monitor the universities in Nigeria to know those schools whose’s equipment is not updated or valid, also notice those whose’s equipment is standard in other for the schools to produce qualified graduates.

Below is the 2013 NUC University Ranking in Nigeria . . .the top 30. For the full list visit http://newsgallary.com/2013/04/17/2013-nuc-university-ranking-in-nigeria/


1. University of Ibadan, (overall best university)
2. University of Lagos,
3. University of Benin
4. Obafemi Awolowo University,
5. Ahmadu Bello University,
6. University of Ilorin
7. University of Jos
8. University of Port Harcourt,
9. University of Maiduguri
10. University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (best university of agriculture)
11. Lagos State University
12. Federal University of Technology Akure, (best university of technology)
13. Covenant University, ota (best private university)
14. University of Nigeria
15. Federal University of Technology,
16. Nnamdi Azikiwe University
17. Enugu State University of Science and Technology
18. Pan African University
19. Ladoke Akintola University of Technology…
20. Modibbo Adama University of Technology
21. African University of Science and Technology
22. University of Uyo
23. Bayero University Kano
24. Ambrose Alli University
25. Redeemer’s University
26. Babcock University
27. Federal University of Technology,
28. University of Calabar
29. Michael Okpara University of Agriculture
30. Ajayi Crowther University

https://www.nairaland.com/1260792/university-ibadan-tops-nuc-2013
I would have highlighted Lagos state university as the best state university becasue it's the first university stated as state university in the list, but I wasn't sure if one of those named before it is a state university.
NB: we're derailing this thread, the OP was actually asking why Ekiti is backward despite her huge numbers of intellects.

...men who are building hotels all over Owerri from their loot

At least they built these hotels in their home state.... What should the people of Anambra say about their governor spending his own 'loot' in building 'world class' mall in Abuja, outside his state?

Abagworo: Government should stop putting our corpers at risk by engaging them in electoral process.

exaclty.

Symphony007: this is just simple coomon sense. So if they PDP declare those seats vacant, they will now ask for candidates to come and contest for those seats? And you expect the existing holders to vacate because some swines at PDP said so? I'll love to see how this constitutional crisis play out.

welcome on board, our politicians and judiciary have broken too many of our said laws that I doubt if this country has any constitution or law guiding the people.

Investigations within the mainstream PDP also confirmed that the party had so far followed the disposition of President Goodluck Jonathan, who has insisted that the rule of law must be followed in all instances.
“His government has, so far, followed the rule of law. That is why there is no hard stance or drastic action against the agitators even when they worked against the party. Now, he has told the party to handle the matter in accordance with the rule of law,” sources close to the government said.

Since when did the president start following the rule of law? If the action by the supporters(Akpabio, mimiko, Jang...) of mr president at the NGF election is what they term 'rule of law', then I've got to get an Aso villa revised dictionary for meaning of words.

JMOI: Is Soludo still a candidate? If yes, which party? Will he participate in the debate?
This debate go make sense ooo.
Ngige vs Ubah vs Ukachukwu vs Obiano vs Soludo

Soludo is gone, he's not a flag bearer of any party for Anambra's Nov gubernatorial election.

Dblack: Which station do we tune too

AIT

Opeifa said the closure was necessary as part of efforts to deliver the first phase of the Blue Line Rail Project.

Finally, we're getting there.
I wish to see a blue line rail linking Ibadan and Lagos, Lagos and Abuja, cross-river and Lagos, borno and Lagos, port-hacourt and Abuja, Kaduna...

Stallion77: So we have adopted debates before election. ...
..this a must watch and a welcome devedevelopment.

It's indeed a good development. It's not new though, because this same body(NDEG) had organized debates in the last two gubernatorial elections in the country; Edo and Ondo election.

I watched the two debates, it's was really good see our elected leaders and aspires debate on how to make life better for us.

naptu2:

What makes a hotel a 5 star hotel is the rating it gets from recognised rating agencies, based on set criteria.

The Lagos State Government has set up a committee to set standards and rate hotels in the state. It hasn't completed its work (to the best of my knowledge).

Many foreign rating agencies rate Nigerian hotels like Transcorp Hilton, Eko Hotel, Sheraton Abuja, etc as 4 star hotels.

Thanks man.

Cajetan speaks: Some dudes are just crazy.. This is Nigeria's first 5star hotel? probably you guys meant Nigeria's tallest hotel because the last time I checked what makes a hotel 5star is not its architectural design...

Mind listing the '5-star hotels' we have in Nigeria.
Try not to mention hotels in Abuja because none has a rating of a '5-star'

CAN has been accusing Aregbe since he became a governor, so it's not new. There was even a time he(Aregbe) was accused of seceding Osun from Nigeria

I think CAN should read this epistle from one sincere and tolerant Nigerian.

Law prince: Merging of Osun schools: A call for tolerance

While still basking in the euphoria of my recent admission into the Nigerian Law School for the next academic session, I woke up to read the Tuesday, October 8, 2013 edition of The PUNCH and to my utter consternation, I was succinctly captivated by the cover page story with a headline that reads, “Christians protest merger of schools by Aregbesola”.

Reading through the position of the protesters under the aegis of Osun Baptist Conference and the effort of the Osun State Government to douse the “tension” made me feel very sorry for our existence as a nation and our inability to see any good in our diversity as a people living together under the name Nigeria.

Religion like ethnicity is a real problem in Nigeria simply because we the people wanted it to be and it has remained a constant factor for the myriad of challenges facing us. We have deliberately decided to attack one another when there are absolutely no reasons to. And where there are reasons, we are ultimately blindfolded by our imaginative thought with a “This religion wants to dominate us” syndrome. The animosity has eaten deep into our fabric so much so that government policies which are hitherto geared towards the betterment of all are immediately seen as an attempt to “Christianise” or “Islamise” the polity. And as followers, we are so immersed in the quagmire of religious insensitivity so much so that extrication may force an innocent mind to think we cannot live together as one nation under God.

I have argued several times that there should be a separation between the Church (Mosque) and the State. A mixture of both is a beautiful recipe for disaster in public policymaking and reaction to such a policy. We must learn as a nation to separate religious matters from core public interests especially in matters of education. It is very important for our religious fathers and leaders to be dispassionate when it comes to matters of equal benefit for all.

The missionaries may have founded many of these schools but as of today, they are funded and regulated by government and its agencies on education. It suffices to conclude that while they appear to bear Muslim or Christian names, their religious inclination does not go beyond the name. It is illogical, insensible and a flagrant disregard of the fundamental human rights as guaranteed by the 1999 constitution (as amended) for any Christian group to deny a Muslim kid the opportunity to attend a Christian named government school simply because she uses a Hijab. Conversely, it is repugnant to the doctrine of natural justice, equity and good conscience for any Muslim group to seek to deny any Christian child the chance to seek for public education as guaranteed by the law in a Muslim named government school for the unreasonable reason that she has refused to use a Hijab or cover her head. We should not reduce our public schools to grounds of intolerance and hatred.

I attended Ansar-ud-Deen Primary School and I was very privileged to have many Christian friends (girls as of then) who never covered their heads and were never chastised as to why they did not. We sat side by side in class, played, joked, ate, drank, fought, studied and learnt together like all children would do. It was at Ansar-ud-Deen I learnt “The Lord’s Prayer” and “The Grace” and till date, I still can recite them in eloquent manner despite being a devout Muslim. We offered both Islamic Religious Knowledge and Christian Religious Knowledge (BK as it was fondly called then) as it was compulsory for all. The general theme of both subjects as we were taught was to inculcate in us the virtues of being good, spirit of brotherhood, neighbourliness, love and respect for differences. We underwent examinations on CRK likewise my colleagues as they did on IRK. I grew up to understand the Christian faith, respect and appreciate the differences. With my friends, we never cared if A was a Christian or a Muslim; we simply enjoyed our friendship and moved on.

Getting to Lagos State University to study Law offered another perfect example. In my 100-level days, it was compulsory for all students to offer Islamic Law irrespective of your religious inclinations. In a class of over 350 students with more than 150 Christians, we all offered Islamic Law in a very interesting and competitive atmosphere. It was a beauty to see Christian and Muslim Law students “argue”, share and compare knowledge on the verses of the Quran and Hadith taught in class. My Christian friends quoted verses of the Quran and argued with eloquence and precision during tutorial classes. We were not surprised to that when the results were released the ratio of high marks revealed that Christians had better ratios than Muslims. To add to the beauty, the lecturer-in-charge happened to be a very conscious Muslim and a one-time leader of Muslims during his time on campus. We all laughed and joked about the result simply because we knew everyone merited the scores they got.

These are the virtues we grew up with. We learnt that in advancing the course of humanity, we only needed to appreciate the difference, learn and respect one another’s belief in an atmosphere filled with love and certainly not the one being promoted in the Nigeria of today by a Muslim towards a Christian and a Christian towards anything that has to do with Muslims. Our country cannot make any meaningful progress if we refuse to eschew this dangerous intolerance and lack of understanding we are deliberately brewing up every now and then.

Private schools funded from private purses can continue to promote individual religions as they deem fit but government schools should be a platform of togetherness of all faiths in order to appreciate the differences and promote inter-faith relations. After all, government schools irrespective of the names they bear, are funded by taxpayers who are both Christians and Muslims.

We owe the kids of today the duty to teach them how to defend, love and respect one another across all ethnic and religious divides after all we are all Nigerians. The government as a matter of urgency should call for dialogue between themselves on the one hand and the Christian/Muslim leaders on the other hand on the reason, to discuss the benefits of the policy and how they intend to keep the “beliefs’ of each founder in line with public policy as it demands.

Our diversity should be a blessing geared towards developmental strides for our nation and not a reason for disintegration. May God bless all our children and make them great personalities for the benefit of Nigeria and humanity as a whole.

Abdul-Aziz Bakare is a prospective Law student at the Nigerian Law School and tweets at @backarray

http://www.punchng.com/opinion/merging-of-osun-schools-a-call-for-tolerance/

This is one of the schools in Osun. A christian government school, that witnessed a total turnaround made by Aregbe.

Salvation Army School, Osogbo, Osun State.

obalampard:
.....He explained that they took the decision to defect to the PDP due to the alleged unsatisfactory conduct of last year’s local government council elections by the Governor Ibikunle Amosun-led administration...

Since last year, and he's just taking action! I think it's more than just about the local government election conducted about a year ago but he doesn't want to spill it out.