South-West governors, monarchs back NEC on forest management

Governors of states in the South-West and monarchs from the region on Saturday declared support for the National Economic Council (NEC) decision on forest management.

The NEC had during its last meeting directed each state in the country to manage its forest.

The governors and the traditional rulers took the decision at a closed-door meeting held at the executive chamber of the Oyo State governor’s office in Agodi, Ibadan.

The meeting was attended by governors Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti), Dapo Abiodun (Ogun), Gboyega Oyetola (Osun), Seyi Makinde (Oyo), and Rotimi Akeredolu (Ondo).

The monarchs at the meeting were the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi; Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Ogunwusi; Akarigbo of Remo, Oba Babatunde Ajayi; Olugbo of Ugbo kingdom, Fredrick Akinrutan; Olubadan of Ibadan, Oba Saliu Adetunji; and Olugbon of Orilegbon, Oba Francis Alao.

The Deputy Inspector-General of Police in charge of South-West, Mr. David Folawuyo, the Oyo State Commissioner of Police, Ngozi Onadeko, and other heads of security agencies in Oyo State were also at the meeting.

Akeredolu, who briefed journalists at the end of the meeting, said the governors and traditional rulers supported the decision of NEC on forest management.

He said: “We believe that all the states should be in position to manage their forest and that will give the respective state governments the power to determine who and who are in the forest and for what purpose.

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“And where we have people that are illegally in the forest the state should be able to take some steps so that we can preserve the forest.

“So all of us supported the NEC decision on forest management.”

The governor said the meeting observed that the South-West borders had become too porous, adding that something urgently should be done to prevent foreign herdsmen from coming into the country.

“We noted that a number of these foreign herders with their herds are already in the country and what they do is something of concern to all of us and we believe our borders need to be tied.

“We need to tighten our borders so that all these foreigners, maybe from Niger or bordering states, coming with their herds and destroying farms are curbed,” he added.

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