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Osun State
governor, Rauf Aregbesola, has formally inaugurated the Truth and
Reconciliation Commission that would investigate all human right abuses
in the state in the last eight years.

He says that the commission is not targeted at any particular person or group of persons, neither is it a witch-hunt exercise.

Speaking at the
inaguration in Osogbo yesterday, Mr. Aregbesola charged the
seven-member committee not to be distracted in the discharge of its
duties but to be open minded and humane during the period of its
exercise.

The governor, who
noted that it was difficult to forget quickly how his administration
came into being through a court of appeal judgment in Ibadan which
nullified the election of the former governor, Olagunsoye Oyinlola,
stressed that all cases of injustices allegedly perpetrated by the
former administration should be properly investigated.

“We should not for
this reason forget how we got here. We did not arrive at this junction
ex nihilo – there was an antecedent of tears, sorrow, and blood. The
wounds inflicted are deep; the scars are vivid and permanently
disfiguring. Some are still painful.

“The painful
reality we must reconcile with, therefore, is that our today was
determined by our past and if we do not do anything about it, it is
going to gobble the future as well. This is the challenge we have on
our hand,” Mr. Aregbesola said.

“Election, a
necessary condition for democratic participation, became harbinger of
death, misery, and permanent incapacitation for many as choices were
cancelled and wrong persons imposed arbitrarily. Protests were visited
with repression as the security agencies were unleashed on peaceful
protesters on the streets, killing, maiming, and hounding them.

“Subsequently,
people were being rounded up in the comfort of their homes and put in
illegal detention on spurious charges. Serial abuse of human rights
became routine,” the governor further said.

He disclosed that
reconciliation must be preceded by truth, and encouraged members of the
commission to be bold, courageous, and firm, saying the cynics,
naysayers, and the guilty are going to criticise them.

The commission has
one month to complete its assignment with Samson Uwaifo, a retired
Supreme Court justice as chairman. Other members are Yunus Ustaz-Usman,
Ayo Atsenuwa, Funmi Falana, Hakeem Yusuff, Bamidele Aturu, and Waheed
Lawal. Nurudeen Ogbara will serve as the secretary of the commission.

Meanwhile, two
months after the Supreme Court ordered the dissolution of its 30 local
governments, Mr. Aregbesola, yesterday performed the swearing-in
ceremony of caretaker committees for the councils, with a charge to
them to shun corruption and conduct their affairs with integrity,
truth, and service to the people.

Speaking at the
swearing-in ceremony of the caretaker committee chairmen at the state
secretariat, Osogbo, the state deputy governor, Grace Laoye-Tomori,
called on the caretaker chairmen to give impetus to the rebranding
campaign designed to give Osun State her true identity in the comity of
Nigerian states.

Call for probe

However, the
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Osun State has called on the federal
government and security agencies in the country to investigate the
launch of a flag and coat of arms for Osun State by the state governor,
Rauf Aregbesola. The party also rejected the composition of members of
the Truth and Reconcilliation Committee by the governor.

The acting state
chairman of PDP, Sunday Ojo Williams, said yesterday in Osogbo that the
action is tantamount to teasonable felony, asking whether Osun State is
a separate entity from the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“What is the
purpose of a crest and a coat of arms? From the look of it, the emblem
belongs to a secret cult. The federal government and the security
agencies in the country should investigate into the activities of Mr.
Aregbesola in Osun State,” Mr. Ojo-Williams said.

A lawyer, Bola Alake, however, explained that there was nothing illegal in the action of the state government.

“There is nothing unconstitutional with a state having its own coat
of arms. Nigeria is a federation and states have the power to shape
their own identity, independent of the federal government,” Mr. Alake
said.