The South-West Governors agreed on Wednesday to enhance farm security by establishing specialized units within the Amotekun corps.
This decision was made during the roundtable on food security hosted by the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria Commission in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
Present at the meeting were the Commissioners for Agriculture from Ekiti, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, and Oyo states: Ebenezer Boluwade, Bolu Owotomo, Olayato Aribo, Babatola Faseru, and Olasunkanmi Olaleye, respectively. Mr. Emmanuel Audu, the permanent secretary of the Lagos State Ministry of Agriculture, represented the state’s commissioner.
In his opening remarks, Seye Oyeleye, the Director General of the commission, emphasized the importance of dispelling rumors that the region had lost its capacity to produce its own food. He urged the commissioners to propose recommendations that state governors could implement within the next few months.
Additional resolutions aimed at boosting agriculture included massive land clearing, enhanced security, and large-scale production of short-term crops like maize, sweet potatoes, and vegetables. Other plans involved revitalizing moribund dams for irrigation, improving mechanization across the value chain, adopting a cluster farming model, expanding input distribution, and establishing an electronic agriculture database.
Participants at the meeting included Dr. Theophilus Onadeko, the recently appointed Managing Director of the South-West Agriculture Company (SWAgCo), a subsidiary of the Odu’a Investment Company Limited, and Chief Kola Akosile from NACCIMA.
Recently, the South-West Governors’ Forum met in Lagos, committing to massive industrialization and agricultural revival in the region.
At this meeting, Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu was elected the new chairman of the forum, succeeding the late ex-Ondo State governor Rotimi Akeredolu. The governors reiterated their call for the establishment of state police to address the region’s security concerns.
The governors commended the House of Representatives and the South-West Caucus for their efforts in passing the South-West Development Commission Bill and looked forward to its speedy passage by the Senate. They also praised President Bola Tinubu for the groundbreaking of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road and the proposed Lagos to Sokoto road, urging the Federal Government to rehabilitate other federal roads in the region.