Olotu splash’s 30m naira on constituents at 9th LSHA townhall meeting

Hon. Emmanuel Olotu, a member representing Ifako-Ijaiye constituency 2 at the Lagos State House of Assembly has doled out 30 million naira to empower constituents, to cushion the economic hardship.

The lawmaker who was mindful of the plights of his constituents personally monitored the disbursement of the funds to 600 constituents, which includes the artisans, religious leaders, community leaders in the markets, CDC, youths and other groups.

According Olotu, party members at the ward levels also have a fair share of the largesse.

The financial empowerment by Olotu coincides with the ninth edition of the Lagos State House of Assembly Constituency Stakeholders’ Meeting held at Ojokoro in Ifako-Ijaiye.

The meeting held simultaneously across the 40 Constituencies of the state which witnessed a massive turnout of constituents, who were urged to prioritise subsistence farming to ensure food security.

The theme of the parley is “Ensuring Food Security for Sustainable Future: Youth Participation and Home-Grown Farming.”

Hon. Emmanuel Olotu, member representing Ifako-Ijaiye Constituency 2 at the Lagos Assembly affirms the urgency for a deliberate paradigm shift towards unfettered food production.

Olotu maintained that given the prevailing clamour for food sufficiency in recent times, the best approach is for all residents and stakeholders to accord food production a serious consideration putting all available lands into profitable agric use.

He said that addressing food insecurity is so critical and all efforts should be concentrated on solving the hike of food prices and scarcity.

Olotu said that as lawmakers the House had created an enabling environment for farming activities to thrive in the state especially through the passage of anti-open grazing of livestock Law to protect farmlands.

Calling for home-grown farming, Olotu said that food production systems. Must be capable of withstanding climate change, economic variables, providing access to healthy food and promoting sustainable practices that preserve national resources.

“To achieve these goals, our farming capacity has to be widened, involving everyone, including the youths with the skills, knowledge and resources to drive agricultural, innovation and entrepreneurship within every community.

“To boost food production and also to force prices down to bearable limits, there is need for strategic solutions and approaches to farming.

“I call on you all our constituents who have landed properties to priorities yielding them for agricultural purposes in order to encourage participation in agricultural activities.

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“Let us therefore collaborate to build a food security future for Lagos State and Nigeria – a future where our youths are empowered, our farmers thrive and our communities flourish with abundant foods,” Olotu said.

Delivery a lecture on the theme, Mr Omolade Balogun, said that issues of food production remained a collective business, hence each Community Development Association (CDA)must focus on its area of comparative advantage.

Balogun urged all council chairmen to declare a day for residents to showcase their home-grown food production to encourage residents.

Mr. Shakin Agbayewa, the Deputy Chairman, All Farmers Association of Nigeria, Lagos State, advocates the profiling of existing groups known for ensuring security within the communities so as to integrate them into the farm ranger’s scheme.

“There is one thing the DSS need to do for us, that is security profiling. Federal government just came up with 8000 farm rangers for 21 states, if you divide it that is 480 in each state, that amounts to maybe ten in each local government.
“It is not enough, instead allow each local government to come up with farm rangers which will be profiled by the DSS and once they see that they are not security risk, the local government should remunerate them to ensure protection on the farms and that will encourage farmers.

“It will also create a source of employment for our teeming youths. Bring the Agbeloba, Egbe Odo and Amotekun on board and pay them salaries having been profiled and affirmed of not been a security risk because they are familiar with nooks and crannies of the forests.” Agbayewa said.
He however, urged government to review its policy which appears favourable to building estates than farming, as this poses lots of challenge for food security.

Also speaking, the Chairman, Ojokoro LCDA, Hammed Tijani, said that the council remained committed to supporting people interested in food production especially in this economic hardship.

“Tijani, who highlighted many of his intervention and achievements, said, ” Food production should not be left for the elderly.”

Former Lagos lawmakers Hon Ipoola Omisore and Hon.Rasheed Makinde declared that the crave for white collar jobs as a against agriculture is the root cause of food shortage.

“In advanced country, we have urban agriculture where at every backyard of every building, they involve a kind of mini-agriculture,” Makinde said.

Alhaja Silifat Olujimi, the Iyaloja General of Ojokoro LCDA, who noted that residents should not wait until they would have hectares of land before doing farming.

Olujimi urged youths and school leavers to embrace farming instead of waiting endlessly for white collar jobs.