South West States Plan Farm Security Unit

To ensure food security, the six south west states of Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Ondo and Ekiti have agreed to strengthen farm security by creating specialised units within the Amotekun Corps.

Amotekun Corps is the region’s uniform security outfit established to support the work of l security agencies.

The decision was part of the agreements reached yesterday during a meeting of commissioners for agriculture from the six states in Ibadan, Oyo State .

The meeting was a follow-up to the agenda for food security set by governors in the region at their meeting in Lagos last week. The governors resolved to pursue massive food production to achieve food security and inflation.

The South West Governors’ Forum had last week directed the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN) Commission to convene the meeting with the mandate to fashion out a regional agricultural template.

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At the meeting held at the DAWN Commission’s office on Wednesday, the commissioners also agreed to pursue massive land clearing, large-scale production of short-term crops such as maize, sweet potatoes and vegetables. They also agreed to revitalise moribund dams for irrigation, improve mechanisation across the value chain, adopt a cluster farming model, expand input distribution, and establish an electronic agriculture database.

At the meeting were the commissioners for agriculture in Ekiti, Ogun, Ondo, Osun and Oyo—Ebenezer  Boluwade, Bolu Owotomo, Olayato Aribo, Babatola Faseru and Olasunkanmi Olaleye respectively, while Lagos State commissioner for Agriculture was represented by the permanent secretary in the ministry, Mr Emmanuel Audu.

In his opening remarks, the DAWN director-general, Dr. Seye Oyeleye, said it was important to dispel unfounded rumours that the region had lost its capacity to produce its food.

He charged the meeting, in accordance with the South West Governors Forum’s directive, “To come up with recommendations that state governors can easily implement” within the next few months.