Author: Optimal Times

The Osogbo Grammar School Alumni Association (OGSAA) has said the senior citizens should be paid their gratuities at least two months after disengagement while monthly pensions should start the following month of their retirement. The association’s National Vice President and Public Relations Officer PRO, Dr. Tola Winjobi made the call, on Thursday in Osogbo, at the launch of the maiden edition of ‘A Day With Senior Citizens’, an annual love feast programme for the elders of the association. The programme was organised to recognise the senior citizens of the alumni as well as appreciate one another. Winjobi said failure to…

Professor Oyesoji Aremu is a security scholar at the University of Ibadan. He is currently serving as the Deputy Vice Chancellor [Academic], Achievers’ University, Owo. In this interview with ROTIMI AGBOLUAJE, the professor of Criminal Justice said urged Tinubu to listen to the people and not to pander to political jobbers. What is your assessment of the last hunger protest?  The hunger protest held in the early days of the month of August was effective in a way mainly because it put the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on its toes. It is, therefore, difficult to…

At the midpoint of the 2030 Agenda, all of the SDGs are seriously off track. From 2015 to 2019, the world made some progress on the SDGs, although this was already vastly insufficient to achieve the goals. Since the outbreak of the pandemic in 2020 and other simultaneous crises, SDG progress has stalled globally. The SDGs were initially set for the fifteen-year period 2016–2030, following the fifteen-year period of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). It is clear that the SDGs need to be extended beyond 2030 for Nigeria to achieve its global goals. According to the SDG Transformation Center, there…

It is a new dawn for Oyo State smallholder farmers as the state government provides the needed support in the areas of land clearing, soil testing, farm inputs, fertilizers and funding. SULAIMON OLANREWAJU reports. Nigeria has about 40million smallholder farmers, who put in an average of 12 hours daily on almost 70.8million hectares of land. But despite the huge number of farmers, the vastness of the land they cultivate and the extent of their hard work, Nigeria is currently in the throes of food insecurity. As a result, Nigeria has had to depend on food importation to augment local production.…

The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) for Ogun State, Barrister ‘Niyi Ijalaye, has passed away suddenly. Ijalaye, who served under the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), reportedly slumped and died on Monday evening in Abuja, shortly after attending a crucial meeting at the Commission’s headquarters. According to a reliable source within the INEC, Barrister Ijalaye had returned to his hotel room in Abuja after the meeting when the tragic incident occurred. The source noted that the REC, who hailed from Ondo State, was in good spirits throughout the day’s proceedings before his untimely demise. Both his pictures and some other texts…

By Wuraola Oyedokun The  House of Representatives  aspirant in Ibadan North federal constituency on the platform of the All Progressives Congress {APC}, Dr.Olamide Junaid, on Monday,  described the death of the Oyo State   APC Chairman, Barrister Isaac Omodewu, as a shock and  calamitous development. Omodewu died in the United States of America during a protracted  illness. Junaid expressed her sadness on the matter while reacting to the unfortunate development. The Ibadan born-politician and prominent philanthropist described the late chairman as an astute political administrator and hardworking gentleman. Junaid  lamented that Omodewu passed on when his services were mostly needed, especially…

Ajiboye Omodewu, chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Oyo State, is dead. He succumbed to death after close to a year, receiving treatment for an undisclosed ailment in the United States where he was a citizen. The Otu-Itesiwaju born politician was commisioner at different ministries, during the administration of late former governor Abiola Ajimobi. He recently completed his law degree and law school. Olawale Sadare, publicity secretary of the APC, confirmed his death in a terse message on the party’s WhatsApp loop.

Skits literally crack ribs with laughter. The line separating fact from fiction or faction (fact and fiction) in skits is paper-thin. An instance was a skit cobbled together in Addis Ababa on January 11, 1976 at an OAU Extraordinary Session on Angola. This high-octane skit was documented by General Joe Nanven Garba in his Diplomatic Soldiering (1987). Garba was a Langtang-born Federal Commissioner for External Affairs under Murtala Muhammed and Olusegun Obasanjo. Self-titled ‘Field Marshal’ Idi Amin Dada, the notorious Ugandan despot, was then the OAU chairman. It was at that conference that General Muhammed delivered his famous and powerful…

Introduction I personally feel good at this invitation for some reasons. First, it is at a period Girl Guides worldwide is celebrating 105th anniversary of its establishment. This makes it epochal and significant to reflect on the goodness of God on the Association; and to also thank God for the founders and the vision of 105 years which is still on course. I am not sure any of you here or globally was there 105 years ago when Girl Guides Association was founded by Lord Robert Baden Powell and his sister, Agnes Baden-Powell in 1910. This calls for some reflections…

By Bukayo Agboluaje  Oyo State Acting Governor, Barr. Bayo Lawal, on Friday, urged  practitioners in the outdoor communication industry to uphold the standard of professionalism and compliance in their operations. Lawal gave this charge during the 39th edition of the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Out-of-Home Advertising Association of Nigeria (OAAN), with the theme: ‘Redefining OOH Media in Nigeria: The Practice, the Business and Value Creation,’ held at De-Signature Hotels and Towers, Jericho, Ibadan. The acting governor  noted that the out-of- home advertising industry plays a critical role in shaping the visual landscape of the state, stating that collaborative…