The six Southwest 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 federal security agencies in the region.
The decision was part of the agreements reached at a meeting by commissioners for agriculture in the six states in Ibadan, Oyo State capital, yesterday.
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 curb inflation.
The Southwest Governors’ Forum had last week directed the commission to convene the meeting with the mandate to fashion out a regional agricultural template.
At the meeting held at the DAWN Commission’s office yesterday, 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 – Ebenezer Boluwade (Ekiti), Bolu Owotomo (Ogun), Olayato Aribo (Ondo) Babatola Faseru (Osun) and Olasunkanmi Olaleye (Oyo). Lagos State was represented by the permanent secretary of the ministry, Mr. Emmanuel Audu.
The Director General of DAWN Commission, Dr. Seye Oyeleye, said it was important to dispel unfounded rumours that the region had lost its capacity to produce its food.
He urged the meeting, in accordance with the Southwest Governors Forum’s directive, “to come up with recommendations governors can easily implement” within the next few months.
The recently appointed Managing Director of Southwest Agric Company (SEAgCo.), a subsidiary of Odu’a Investments Ltd., Dr. Theophilus Onadeko, and Chief Kola Akosile from the National Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) attended the meeting.