Osogbo in festive mood as Obasanjo visits today
From Seun Adeoye, Osogbo
OSOGBO, the Osun State capital, was burning with excitement yesterday as preparations reached top gear to host President Olusegun Obasanjo today.
During the three-day working visit, the President is to commission a number of projects executed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) government of Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola. President Obasanjo will also chair the quarterly meeting of the party in the South-West.
The visit, The Guardian gathered, will afford the President the opportunity of interacting with a wide cross-section of Nigerians comprising artisans, traders and market women. He will also visit Ekiti State where he is to commission a road project.
According to a statement made available to journalists at Osogbo yesterday by the Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Fatai Akinbade, the President on touching down at Ibadan Airport will proceed to Ile-Ife where he will commission the Ile-Ife-Ilesa Road, and the Ayeoba mini-Ife North Water Project.
Thereafter, the President is scheduled to commission the Okefia-Iwo Road dualised carriage way in Osogbo, and the Iree-Eripa Water Supply scheme, MicCom Golf and Holiday Resort Ada and Educational Trust Fund Building at Ladoke University Teaching Hospital (LAUTH) Osogbo the same day.
President Obasanjo, according to the statement, will also visit the Ede Aerodrome, Nigeria Machine Tools Company, Osogbo and the Okuku Water Supply before retiring to the Osogbo Government House where he will be involved in the monthly media chat tagged "The President Explains" to be beamed live from Osogbo.
Also, a statement from the National Vice Chairman of PDP South West, Chief Olabode George, to the Osun State House of Assembly on Wednesday said the President will preside over the PDP South West meeting at Osogbo tomorrow, the second day of the visit.
During the meeting, a lecture on the state of nation's economy will be attended by PDP stalwarts like the PDP National Chairman, Chief Audu Ogbeh, Acting Chairman Board of Trustees, Chief Tony Anenih and the Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, among others.
The Guardian also gathered from a reliable government source that the issue of who succeeds Ogbeh will top the agenda as well as the crisis among PDP chieftains in the South West.
Meanwhile Osogbo, the state capital, is wearing a new look in anticipation of the President's visit as preparations are on top gear to host President Obasanjo.
It will be recalled that a proposed visit by the President last month was cancelled at the last minute due to what a source said was the tight schedule of the President.
