Author: Optimal Times

The Federal Government, on Monday,  vowed to sell off the five electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) as blackout persists. Minister of Power Adebayo Adelabu said banks and the Asset Management Company (AMCON), which have been managing these DisCos, having taken over because of the failure of the management to repay loans, lack the technical capacity. The sale to reputable technical power operators is expected to be completed within three months, he added. Those affected are Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) under the management of the United Bank of Africa (UBA), Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC), Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company and Kano…

Three Thousand Seven Hundred and Forty-nine candidates who accepted the admission granted them by the University of Ibadan  are expected to participate in the 2023/2024 Matriculation Ceremony scheduled to hold on Tuesday 23 April 2024. The programme is expected to be virtual, and participants are to join online at 10 a.m. The Vice-Chancellor, Professor K. O. Adebowale, mni, FAS,  will declare the Matriculation Ceremony open and deliver an address. A matriculation Lecture  entitled:  “Harnessing the Giant in You for Giant Strides” will be delivered by Dr.    Victor Alabi, of the  Centre for Language Studies,    Brown University, the USA.…

The pan-Yoruba socio-cultural and socio-political organization, Afenifere, on Monday, described the call for the exit of Yoruba from Nigeria as undesirable, self-serving and unnecessary ‘at the moment at least’. In a statement issued by the organisation’s National Publicity Secretary,  Jare Ajayi, Afenifere maintained that the problems bedeviling Yorubaland and Nigeria as a whole “are not merely because multi-ethnic groups make up the country. Rather, the country’s multifarious problems can be traced to lack of good governance.” It would be recalled that Professor Banji Akintoye, leader of Ilana Omo Oodua and Mr. Sunday Adeyemo a.k.a Igboho, was reported to have, on…

The Governing Council of KolaDaisi University, Ibadan has approved the appointment of a new bursar, Dr. Michael  Alatise, who takes over from the former Bursar, Mr. Yinka Babatunde. In a statement by the Registrar of the University and Secretary to the Council, Mr. Haruna Olawale Adetu, the appointment is for a term of four years, effective immediately. The statement wss made available to journalists by Margaret Innocent, Principal Public Relations Officer of the university Born in December 1963. Dr. Alatise is an old student of Renascent High School, Ibadan. He obtained OND in Accountancy in 1987 and HND in Accountancy in 1990 from The…

By Wuraola Oyedokun  Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State has  assured the people of the state that prices of food items will crash in the next harvest season. Makinde  said  the administration has been doing a lot to curb rising cost of  food items by giving  support and farm inputs to farmers in the state, maintaining that the prices of food items would soon come down. The governor disclosed this during the official launch of Skretting Nigeria Factory at Olope Meji, Ife-Ibadan expressway, Asejire, Ibadan. Makinde, who was represented by the state’s Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Olasunkanmi Olaleye,…

By Wuraola Oyedokun  Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State will on April 24, 2024 at the International Conference Centre, University of Ibadan host a former Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki; a former Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi and other dignitaries for the maiden edition of Rt. Hon. Adebo Ogundoyin Students’ Legislative Summit. Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki is expected to give a keynote address while Dr. Kayode Fayemi will be the Guest Speaker at the Summit which holds at the International Conference Centre, University of Ibadan. The three-day summit organised for about 1,000 members of Students Representatives…

By Adeola Akinyemi  As part of its belief and vision for education, a major ethno-political movement in Ogun State, Awori4OgunGov2027, has given out scholarships to students studying at higher institutions. The Coordinator of the movement, Azeem Salako, made this known to the press while presenting cheques to the beneficiaries. Salako, who made the presentation at the organisation’s office, said: “We reached out to the Federation of Awori Student Unions (FASU) to send the names of two people who needed partial funding for their tuition. “The organisation then sent the names with details of their tuition, and we were convinced the…

The Chief Medical Director [UCH] of the University College Hospital, Ibadan, Prof. Jesse Otegbayo has called on the Federal Government to address the nation’s health care system, institute Universal Healthcare, and put in measures to control the nation’s population which is estimated to reach 401 million by 2050. Otegbeyo, a Professor of Medicine, Gastroenterology and Hepatology, said a vigorous pursuit of these measures would ensure the eclipse of liver cancer and other maladies as a scourge to the health of the people and improvement in life expectancy. The professor gave these recommendations while delivering the 548th Inaugural Lecture of…

..Says it demolished Yoruba Nation agitators’ building after obtaining court order The Oyo State Government, on Thursday, charged the residents of the state to report any illegal, life-threatening and nefarious activities going on in their environment, saying the government is out to maintain security. The state’s Commissioner for Lands, Housing, Survey and Urban Development, William Akin-Funmilayo, stated this while speaking with journalists at the site of the demolished building allegedly belonging to Yoruba Nation agitators. It would recalled that the Oyo State had on Tuesday demolished a building located at Toye Oyesola Street, Sagari, Boluwaji area of Ibadan…

A former Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC),Prof.  Adeolu Akande, on Wednesday,  pleaded with  groups and factions in the All Progressives Congress(APC) in Oyo State to unite for the party to win the forthcoming local council election in the state. He also urged the members to settle their differences so that the party will conveniently  win the  elections of  2027.  Akande  said Oyo State is an APC State but the crisis in the party cost it the election. The APC leader  made the plea in Otu, headquarters of Itesiwaju Local Government area  of Oyo State, when  he hosted party…