Barely a day into the administration of Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun State, the State House of Assembly faulted an Executive Order issued by the governor on the State anthem, crest, flag and appellation.
The House, in a release signed and made available to journalists in Osogbo, the State capital, by the chairman, House Committee on Media and Publicity, Hon. Moshood Kunle Akande, said the usage of the State Anthem, Crest and Flag was backed by the law and as such the usage was a matter of law and not a choice.
Recalled that the Governor in his speech on Sunday had directed “Immediate reversal to the constitutionally recognised name of our state, Osun State. All government insignia, correspondences and signages should henceforth reflect Osun State rather than State of Osun which is unknown to the Nigerian constitution.”
The Assembly claimed that the State of Osun Anthem, Crest and Flag Law of 2012 was assented to on December 18, 2012.
The statement partly reads: “The usage of the State Anthem, Crest and Flag is an enactment of
law and as such, its usage is a matter of law and not choice.
“The enactment ‘State of Osun Anthem, Crest and Flag Law, 2012’
assented to on the 18th of December, 2012 contained in Schedule 1, Il, Ill, IV and V, which carefully details every component of this law is not in ambiguity.
“Schedule I is the State Anthem, Schedule I has to do with the
State Crest, Schedule III is the symbolic significance of the
the symbolic significance of the elements in the Flag, SUI.”
The House of Assembly noted that having been aware of a court judgment in effect recognising ‘Osun State’, the Assembly, pending the determination and exhaustion of all legal means would not be drawn into the matter.
The House of Assembly, however, insisted that the State appellation shall and will continue to be “State of the Virtuous (Ipinle Omoluabi) as against the ‘State of the Living Spring’ as directed by the new governor.
