Some herdsmen allegedly invaded the farm of the Speaker of Ondo State House of Assembly, Mr. Bamidele Oleyeloogun, with their cattle and destroyed his maize plantation.
The speaker disclosed this to his colleagues from the six states of the South West, at the South-West Legislative Reform meeting held in Akure, Ondo State, on Tuesday.
At the meeting, where the problems facing the region were discussed, Oleyeloogun expressed the need for stakeholders to find solutions to the incursions of herdsmen before the situation got out of hand.
“The issue of farmer /herdsmen crisis is critical. It is disheartening that farmers are no longer free to go to their farmlands. Something urgent must be done before it gets out of hand.
“I went to my farm yesterday (Monday), when I got there, I saw that all the maize I planted had been destroyed by cows of the herdsmen and after finishing there, they moved away,” Oloyeloogun said.
The motive of the meeting, according to the Speaker, was for the lawmakers from Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Ekiti and Ondo states to have a common goal aimed at solving problems facing the region.
He added, “The legislative arm of government is an important arm of government saddled with the responsibilities of lawmaking, ratification of appointment of public office holders, oversight functions, among others.
“It must be noted, however, that these functions cannot be achieved without financial autonomy of the legislature, hence the agitations for financial autonomy for houses of assembly is sacrosanct.”
