The South-West Governors’ Forum on Monday called on the Federal Government to set up ranches across the country and discourage nomadic system of cattle rearing.
The forum, which comprises six state governors in the region, lamented the spate of killings and other forms of criminality in the region, which they said needed serious attention.
The Chairman of the forum and Governor of Ondo State, Rotimi Akeredolu stated this when he led other members of the forum on a condolence visit to the leader of the pan-Yoruba socio-cultural organisation, Afenifere, Pa Reuben Fasoranti, after the funeral service of his daughter, Mrs Funke Olakunri in Akure, the Ondo State capital.
Akeredolu said, “We are not bastards; we are ready to protect our people. No doubt, we are faced with many security challenges. We are ready to tackle security challenges in the region because we will give good account to our people in the South West.
“All the governors are saddened by the killing of Funke, it shouldn’t have happened. It has brought us down, we should hide our face, we should be blamed.
“But we are prepared to face this challenge. It is a security challenge. Something drastic and urgent needs to be done.”
Akeredolu told Fasoranti that the killers of her daughter would be “smoked” out from their hiding.
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The governors at the meeting were Akeredolu (Ondo), Mr Dapo Abiodun ( Ogun) Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu ( Lagos) Dr Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti) and Seyi Makinde (Oyo) while Osun State Governor, Gboyega Oyetola was represented by his deputy, Mr. Benedict Alabi
Also speaking during the visit, an Afenifere chieftain, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, condemned the activities of Fulani herdsmen and urged the governors to collectively fight the menace of insecurity ravaging the region.
In a remark through the Secretary-General of the group, Bashorun Sehinde Arogbofa, the Afenifere said Olakunri had been made a sacrificial lamb in the country, urging the South-West governors to take urgent steps to stem the spate of insecurity in the region
“Yoruba are not bastards and will never be. We are expecting action from the governors to secure the lives of the Yoruba,” Arogbofa urged.
Shortly after, the governors held a closed-door meeting at the Ondo State Governor’s office. After the meeting, Akeredolu said the forum had decided to take a drastic step to tackle insecurity.
Akeredolu added, “We have received the report of our security summit and we have decided to change security architecture of the South-West and from August, we shall begin to see the results. But for now, we cannot give the details of what we are going to do because it is a security matter.” [PUNCH]
