Reader Appeals To Re-Elected Rauf Aregbesola

[caption id="attachment_1939" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Rauf Aregbesola celebrates his victory on August 9, 2014[/caption]

It’s been over a month since the All Progressives Congress’ candidate Rauf Aregbesola has won the governshorship election in Osun State. Naij.com guest writer Onagbenga Ahunso appeals to Governor Aregbesola, advising him on future actions.

“The re-election of Rauf Aregbesola as governor of Osun State is not without few implications. The self-styled “Omoluabi” and the APC government must understand this. Those who voted for change on August 9 are too significant to ignore. Their fears must be allayed. If, of course, Rauf Aregbesola and his party mean well for the “State of Virtue”.

“First, there is the fear that Rauf Aregbesola will end up spending his second term attending to his personal concerns. Rauf Aregbesola could rubbish whatever achievements he has recorded previously. This was the case under the immediate past administration of the state. Rauf Aregbesola should continue working on, improving his developmental projects.

“Next, neither he nor the APC should see his re-election as a victory of one religion over any others. Religious issues can be extremely volatile, especially when mixed with politics or administrative policies.

“Furthermore, the second term should not be considered the right time to implement obnoxious anti-workers policies. Those were introduced but tactically withdrawn in view of impending re-election. Some of them are: reduction in government workers’ retirement age and length of service, merging of schools and state-owned tertiary institutions, forceful retirement of workers on level 14 and above, imposing heavy taxes on salary earners and introducing other forms of taxes and rates etc. The bitter experiences of school administrators should not be allowed to continue. Grants should be released as and when due, not delayed or withheld.

“In addition, the policy of same uniform for all students in all the schools throughout the state is appalling, to say the least. Imagine that the students are exploiting the mix-up to commit atrocities of unimaginable dimension in schools other than their own because they cannot be recognized!

“Rauf Aregbesola should remember that the second term is not the time to take vengeance on those who chose not to vote for the APC. No voters should suffer from personal attacks, victimization, curses, or threats of  delayed salaries and stagnated promotion.

“And the final message for Governor Rauf Aregbesola and other APC enthusiasts. It was the people of Osun that did the voting. So the local politicians must not be sidelined. Nor the university/polytechnic graduates made cut grass for a mere pittance in the name of OYES [Osun Youth Empowerment Scheme]. What is needed from you and your APC government is dignifying jobs for the jobless.

“Rauf Aregbesola, since your re-election , everyone in Osun State has been praying  for God’s backing. We pray that your government will yield the desired fruits  of peace and prosperity for the populace.”

How would you estimate the performance of Governor Rauf Aregbesola so far? What do you expect from his administration in their next four years in office?

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The Untold Story Of Ebola Virus

The Ebola outbreak in West Africa has been described by the World Health Organisation, WHO, and historians to have the potential to cause havoc as much as any plague has ever done in the history of mankind.

According to the WHO, the deadly Ebola Virus Disease, EVD, ravaging the West Africa have recorded more than 4,300 cases and 2,300 deaths over the past six months.

Only last week, the United Nations agency warned that, by early October, there may be thousands of new cases per week in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and 

Osterholm claimed the world is in totally uncharted waters and that Mother Nature is the only force in charge of the Ebola virus disease.

Below are full texts of the opinion:

The Ebola epidemic in West Africa has the potential to alter history as much as any plague has ever done.

There have been more than 4,300 cases and 2,300 deaths over the past six months. Last week, the World Health Organization warned that, by early October, there may be thousands of new cases per week in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Nigeria. What is not getting said publicly, despite briefings and discussions in the inner circles of the world’s public health agencies, is that we are in totally uncharted waters and that Mother Nature is the only force in charge of the crisis at this time.

READ ALSO: Nigeria Seeks Local Cure For Ebola

There are two possible future chapters to this story that should keep us up at night.

The first possibility is that the Ebola virus spreads from West Africa to megacities in other regions of the developing world.

This outbreak is very different from the 19 that have occurred in Africa over the past 40 years. It is much easier to control Ebola infections in isolated villages.

But there has been a 300 percent increase in Africa’s population over the last four decades, much of it in large city slums.

What happens when an infected person yet to become ill travels by plane to Lagos, Nairobi, Kinshasa or Mogadishu — or even Karachi, Jakarta, Mexico City or Dhaka?

The second possibility is one that virologists are loath to discuss openly but are definitely considering in private: that an Ebola virus could mutate to become transmissible through the air.

However, on Thursday, 11 September, 2014, the director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, USA, Michael T. Osterholm, in an opinion piece he wrote for the New York Times, revealed that there are things about the Ebola virus that are not getting said publicly despite briefings and discussions in the inner circles of the world’s public health agencies.

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