•NBA demands immediate release of funds, threatens to sue FG
•‘IHS, Osun partnership will create 200 digital-ready educators’

The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and traditional rulers in Osun State, under the aegis of Osun Council of Obas, have called on President Bola Tinubu to, as a matter of public importance, intervene and resolve all matters obstructing the prompt payment of local council allocations in the state.

The groups lamented that both the traditional institution and rural dwellers had been plunged into severe hardship.The situation, they said, had also paralysed activities across the state.

Specifically, the lawyers called on the Federal Government to immediately release statutory allocations due to local councils in Osun State, describing the continued withholding of the funds as unconstitutional, unlawful, and a dangerous affront to the rule of law.

In a letter addressed to the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, the NBA leadership, led by its President, Afam Osigwe (SAN), and General Secretary, Mobolaji Ojibara, demanded that allocations from the Federation Account to Osun’s 30 local councils be released to the duly elected council chairmen and councillors who emerged from the February 22, 2025, council elections.

The association noted that despite multiple judicial pronouncements clarifying the disputes surrounding the legality of council leadership in the state, allocations due to the councils had been withheld since February 2025, allegedly at the instruction of the federal authorities.

It said that such actions had weakened public confidence in democratic institutions and emboldened lawlessness at all levels.” The NBA added that should dialogue fail, it would not hesitate to institute a public interest suit against the Federal Government “to halt the continuing desecration, wanton violation, utter disregard and total disrespect of the Constitution and the courts.”

The monarchs, who spoke after a meeting at the Ile Oodua Palace of Ife, hosted by their Chairman, the Arole Oduduwa &Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, Ojaja II, noted that the traditional institution and communities across the 30 local councils and the area offices had been negatively impacted by non-payment of the funds.

They noted that the situation had forced the state’s Council of Obas to deliberate on the development.

The Council said that traditional rulers, being natural leaders and closest to the people, are critical stakeholders in nation building, human development and community engagement, structured to be empowered to perform optimally through a functioning local council administration.

IN another development, IHS Nigeria, in its commitment to boost technical and vocational education in Osun State, has partnered with the state government on Osun Teacher-Shift 2025, aimed at transforming technical and vocational school teachers into digital-ready educators capable of driving innovation in classrooms.

The IHS Nigeria-sponsored initiative, implemented by Focus Teens Foundation, in synergy with the Osun State Board of Technical and Vocational Education, targets about 200 teachers across the state’s nine technical colleges.

The training will run in batches over a two-day period, with participants expected to acquire modern skills and innovative teaching techniques. Director of Sustainability at IHS Nigeria, Titilope Oguntuga, while addressing the beneficiaries at the opening ceremony held in Osogbo, the state capital, said that the project was packaged to prepare teachers for global opportunities and challenges.

Oguntuga, who underscored the critical role of teachers in national development, noted that they were contending with growing demands to inspire creativity, nurture innovation, and equip young people with practical and technology-driven skills.

She, however, hinted that each school would be given Routers with a one-year subscription after the end of the two-day training.

In his remark, Special Adviser to Osun State Governor on Technical and Vocational Education, Adedapo Ademola-Adesina, expressed the state government’s belief in the private sector collaboration to achieve its goals for technical and vocational education.