Osun Traditional Rulers Rally Support For Aregbesola

Traditional rulers in Osun have appealed to workers to call off their industrial action in the interest of peace, progress and development of the state as Osun remains stuck in crisis with many calling for the impeachment of Governor Rauf Aregbesola.

This week, workers staged a protest in Osogbo, the state capital, and called on Ogbeni to go. A counter protest with fewer people took place in the same city and praised the governor who owes angry workers many months of unpaid salaries.

The Democratic Socialist Movement ( DSM ) said in a statement this week that Aregbesola has ruined the state with his anti-poor, pro-rich policies and must be held responsible for the mess and crisis in the state.

Aregbesola has blamed his inability to pay workers on many reasons, including dwindling federal allocations due to the fall of oil prices in the international market, which made the federal government to cut down the money it shares to the 36 Nigerian states, but many say Aregbesola squandered state resources on election last year and should be honest and humble to explain in details where the money went.

President Muhammadu Buhari disbursed money to states recently for them to pay their workers, and while many praised the move, others said he fell into the same corruption trap Goodluck Jonathan fell into when he was allegedly blackmailed by the governors to share with them money in the Excess Crude Account.

That acount dwindled from $12 or $8 billion about five years ago to $2.1 billion this year. The Nigeria Economic Council, the most powerful economic advisory body in the country, is probing the transactions in the account and has accused the former Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, of not being able to explain to fed up Nigerians how about $2 billion vanished between last year and this year in that account, after she had announced at the end of 2014 that there was $4.1 billion in the ECA. Between November last year and May this year, the balance in the ECA crashed to $2.1 billion.

The lean federal allocations as well as inflated projects and mismanagement seem to have affected over 20 of 36 Nigerians states. With many of them unable to pay government workers, some workers have simply stayed back home with no money to go to work while others have staged street protests.

In Osun, workers have combined both, and recently forced Aregbesola to pay a month out many months of unpaid salaries. With the crisis deepening as workers continue to demand full payment of their wsges, the traditional rulers stepped in on Friday.

And in a release signed by 15 prominent Obas from the state, the royal fathers said “the workers have genuine ground to go on strike but at the same time, must protect the interest of the state”.

Speaking on behalf of the monarchs, the Akinrun of Ikirun, Oba AbdulRauf Olawale Adedeji, said “the traditional rulers express sympathy for workers, government and the people of the state because all parties are being affected one way or the other.”

“We sympathise with the workers, so also we sympathise with the government. We also sympathise with the people of Osun State for they are also affected in one way or the other by the financial crisis.

“We want to commend the labour unions, particularly its leadership for comporting themselves. We salute their endurance. We want to appeal to them to bear with government. We can assure them that from what we have seen, things would soon come out well,” the monarchs said.

The monarchs who signed the statement are: HRH Oba Wahab Oyedotun (Orangun of Ila); Oba Jimoh Olanipekun (Ataoja of Osogbo); Oba Rauf Olayiwola Adedeji (Akinrun of Ikirun); Oba Samuel Abioye (Olokuku); Oba Lookman Adesola Fadipe (Owa of Otan Ayegbaju); Oba Rasheed Ayotunde Olabomi (Aragbiji of Iragbiji).

Others include: Oba Kilani Adekeye Oyedare (Oloyan of Oyan); Oba Joseph Oladunjoye (Olunisa of Inisa); Oba Rauf Olaniyan (Elende of Eko Ende); Oba Ashiru Olatoye Olaniyan (Olobu of Ilobu); Oba Jimoh Olaromoye Olatoyan (Aree of Iree).

The others are: Oba Adetoyi Adetunlurese (Onirun of Oke-Irun); Oba Yahaya Elugbaju (Obajio of More, Ile-Ife); Oba Samuel Idowu (Akesin of Ora Igbomina) and Oba Lawrence Makinde (Oluosin of Aba Oni).

It was not clear if the workers, impoverished by the lack of money, will yield the traditional ca