Gold as misfortune of our land

My visit to Iberekodo, my homestead, a relatively sleepy and unknown settlement in Atakunmosa West Local Government Area of Osun State, over the weekend, has seriously increased my worries about the future of the community vis-a-vis sustainable livelihood. The destruction of means of livelihood is worrisome as a result of uncoordinated activities of illegal artisan miners in the area.

The entire Ijesaland is sitting on gold treasure, which is supposed to be a harbinger of prosperity and abundance. The exploration of the mineral deposit if well coordinated by stakeholders in the industry, should create employment opportunities for our youths and boost revenue for the government.

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The people’s land has been raped, devastated and plundered. The vegetation has been destroyed and ruined with many economic trees vandalised. This land is the totality of our existence. It is the hope for our today, tomorrow and even beyond.  It is saddening to see my land taken away from me by illegal miners. My hope scattered and my economic power gradually wiped out.

The kingdom has been plundered, her womb removed. A survey and reports collated across villages within the kingdom revealed that in the nearest future, if the illegal activities of the vandals are not curbed, cocoa production will reduce drastically as most plantations have been affected without any efforts to reclaim the land. This will affect agricultural productivity as the top soil lacks necessary nutrients to support agriculture after excavations by miners.

Exploration of valuable mineral materials from the soil are categorised into surface mining and underground mining which are extracted from deep in the soil. The surface mining is easier to do in terms of funding, time and technological support but the mother deposit is usually located only deeply underground. The surface mining is the most unorganized as the identity of miners are not known, they are mostly itinerants.

A visit to Itagunmodi, Iyere, Aba Store, Ijana, Epe, Igun, Iwaro, Isaile, Isotun, Oke Inasin, Asaobi, Idominasi, Oora, Idoka, Ikinyinwa , Isireyun, Eesun, Ijaaregbe, Iperindo, Alaba, Iwara, Faforiji and other villages too numerous to mention  shows the sorry and deplorable condition of our farmland. Of course, these unwholesome activities cut across all farming communities of Ijesaland with the influx of unprofiled miners. It is disturbing that many of these miners plundering our land are foreigners from Niger, Chad, and Togo. They have created social milieu in these communities. These miners now embark on criminal activities such as raping, stealing, robbery, hijacking of motorcycles and are even suspected to be harbouring kidnappers in the thick forests.

Most disturbing is the attitude of our traditional institutions culpable on submitting community land for mining prospecting. It is always said that it takes two to tango. The situation is worsened with the altitude of our new breed generation who engage in selling off their heritage. It is embarrassing that the economic gain accruable to the land owners is nothing to write home about as they are paid just a pittance.

A miner must be licensed, we must insist on adequate compensation to the land owners/communities if at all mining must take place.

The people of Ijesaland should strive to ensure that mining activities are made to follow rules and regulations guiding the sector. Government must wade in, modify the system and ensure maximum benefits to the indigenous people.

Wole Ajewole,

Osogbo