ADIEU : Grief as Fayemi receives deputy’s body in Ado-Ekiti ...

The atmosphere was sombre at the Governor’s Office where politicians, civil servants, students, youths, journalists and other members of the public gathered in groups discussing the burial activities of the late deputy governor
Funmilayo Olayinka
A pall of grief descended on the ancient city of Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State capital, on Wednesday, as  the corpse of the late Deputy Governor of the state, Funmilayo Adunni Olayinka, arrived the town from Lagos via Akure, the Ondo State capital.
The body was received by the Governor of the state, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, at the Governor’s Office, where the late Olayinka worked as the state’s number two citizen between October 15, 2010 and April 6, 2013.
Speaking shortly after the he had led other senior government officials to receive the corpse, Fayemi said the people of the state must thank God for giving them the late deputy governor.

He said she gave much in ensuring the transformation of the Land of Honour.

The hearse, which brought the body of the late deputy governor, was marked “Moremi Ekiti,” the nickname the deceased acquired in the political circles where she ran as Fayemi’s running mate in the 2007 governorship election.

The Senator representing Ekiti Central Senatorial District and a kinsman of the deceased, Babafemi Ojudu, led family members of the deceased, who were conveyed in a Coaster bus.

The atmosphere was sombre at the Governor’s Office where politicians, civil servants, students, youths, journalists and other members of the public gathered in groups discussing the burial activities of the late deputy governor.

Many civil servants waited behind to witness the arrival of the corpse even after they had officially closed from work at 4pm.

At about 5.20pm, sound of music, drumming and trumpeting, which signalled the arrival of the funeral train, were heard around Okesa area of Ado-Ekiti, with the train connecting the Governor’s Office through the Government House.

The hearse was ushered into the Governor’s Office by MIC Undertakers and the governor’s security team while the crowd, which had gathered at the complex, struggled to catch a glimpse of the casket that was not brought out throughout the proceedings.

Many people wept profusely as the hearse arrived the Governor’s Office.
Many of them recounted the good deeds of the late Olayinka during her two-and-half years stint as the state’s number two citizen.

Speaking shortly after the corpse arrived, Fayemi, in an emotion-laden voice, thanked God for the safe arrival of the corpse and the funeral train, describing her late deputy as “our princess and Moremi who gave her life as a sacrifice to the people.”

He added: “We thank God for her sacrifices.
“This was her office where she gave her all to the people.
“All of us, adults, young, male, female we cannot thank Funmilayo Adunni Olayinka enough.
“The wise words of the elderly say that the best tree never lasts in the forest.
“She lived an eventful life, life of courage, life of sacrifice.
“We know that heaven is the recompense of the faithful and we thank God for giving her to us.
“The Bible urges us to thank God for everything and we thank God for taking her to a good place, a safe place where there is no room for these challenges.

“We pray God to give her dear husband, her children -Y eside, Lolade, Olamide – the Olayinkas and the Famuaguns the grace to continue with the fortitude to bear this irreplaceable loss.
“She fought a good fight.
“She did her best and we need to keep fighting for those things she believed in – abundant life for our people, transformation and service delivery.”

The train later departed the Governor’s Office around 5.45pm, while thousands of youths embarked on a candle possession from Fajuyi Park round major streets of Ado-Ekiti.
Earlier in Lagos, people in position of authority were urged to emulate the life of selfless service of Olayinka, who used the short time she spent in politics to create indelible positive impression in the lives of many people.

Rev. Peter Awelewa gave the charge in his sermon at the Commendation Service held for the late Ekiti State deputy governor at the Anglican Church of Ascension, Opebi, Lagos on Wednesday.
Awelewa said most of the problems confronting Nigerians have their roots in the selfish leaders who use their position and office to amass wealth instead of using it for the benefit of the people who entrust and empower to them with the authority to manage the resources for the benefit of all.

Awelewa, who decried various degrees of oppression in Nigeria, called on leaders indulging in such act to remember that one day death will come for them and all their ill gotten will be very useless on that day.

The clergy noted that some of the things that made the late Olayinka famous were her glamour, humility and cheerfulness, which never changed, even when she joined politics and became the Ekiti State deputy governor.

Awelewa, who commiserated with the husband of the deceased, Architect Lanre Olayinka, and his daughters, urged them to take solace in the Lord’s comfort and the hope of resurrection when they are going to meet again.

N2BN ARREARS: OGUN TEACHING HOSPITAL WORKERS THREATEN STRIKE

Workers of the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital, Sagamu, Ogun State, on Wednesday threatened to embark on strike if the state government fails to pay their over N2bn  salary arrears.

The workers, under the aegis of the Joint Health Sector Unions comprising the National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives, Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria, Senior Staff Association and Non-Academic Staff Union, also accused the state government of being insensitive to their plight.

Already, they have given the state government a three-day ultimatum to settle the debt as well as meet their other demands. The ultimatum ends on Monday next week.

JOHESU Chairman, Jamiu Ojabello, who addressed reporters on Wednesday, said the state government must pay the arrears deducted via their March 2011 salaries, non-payment of their 17-month Consolidated Tertiary Institutions Salary Structure arrears, and the 13-month Consolidated Health Salary Structure arrears among others.

He said, “The government of Ogun State should consider the peculiarity of the teaching hospital and improve upon the finances viz-a-viz the agitation of the workers to bring back an enabling environment where workers will go about their God-fearing and life-saving services in the right psychological state and frame of mind.

“The Ogun State Government owes OOUTH workers a whopping outstanding debt of over N2bn which we believe is long overdue and we are ever ready to ask for our legitimate entitlement. We appeal to all well-meaning Ogun indigenes to quickly intervene to prevent hardship on our patients.”

Ojabello also alleged that their working condition in the hospital contravened the standard set by the World Health Organisation.

He added, “Despite the fact that OOUTH workers are being deprived of their legitimate entitlement, they are being overworked. The international minimum standard in nursing practice is a nurse to four patients but here in OOUTH, one nurse attends to 20 patients and only God knows what happens to such a worker.”

The state government, he further said, had shirked in its responsibility regarding its contributions to the pension scheme despite making deductions from the workers’ salaries.

OIL THEFT: PENGASSAN, NUPENG THREATEN TO SUSPEND PRODUCTION

Oil workers under the aegis of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria and the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers have warned that they will suspend production if the rate of oil theft in the country is not checked.

The unions also threatened that the workers would stop the supply of petroleum products if there was no end to the organised destruction of oil installations in the country.

PENGASSAN’s National Industrial Relations Officer, Mr. Chika Onuegbu, gave the warning on Wednesday while delivering a lecture titled: ‘Escalating oil theft and the Petroleum Industry Bill,’ at a workshop organised by Spaces for Change in Port Harcourt.

Onuegbu said the nation was losing between $6bn and $12bn every year to oil bunkering and illegal refining.

“I want to clearly inform you that if nothing concrete is done to stop oil theft, the oil workers’ unions (PENGASSAN and NUPENG) may be forced to suspend production of crude oil and supply of petroleum products until appropriate action is taken.

“The impact of this ultimately on overall revenue from oil accruing to the Federation Account should be negative and severe as was alluded to by the NNPC recently.”

He explained that Nigerians, especially indigenes of the Niger Delta region, had expected the government to translate the revenue from oil exploitation to urban and rural infrastructure development.

Onuegbu added that oil theft began the moment it became clear that the Federal Government was not committed to the development of the people.

He said, “Since then, both organised and unorganised destruction of oil installations have been on the increase. Most of these were done because of the economic benefits derivable from it.

“Others were carried out as a mark of resistance and protest to the skewed nature of wealth creation and distribution in Nigeria, especially as it affects the oil wealth and the communities.

“Most of the incidences were targeted at stealing products, both crude and refined, which are then sold internationally or refined locally into products.”

On the PIB, Onuegbu said various solutions to oil theft had been proposed, even as he identified the involvement of host communities in the protection of oil installations as one of such proposed solutions.