Leke Abejide vows to secure LG autonomy in constituency

A Member of the House of Representatives and Chairman, House Committee on Customs and Excise, Hon Leke Joseph Abejide, has vowed to secure local government autonomy in Yagba federal Constituency.

He disclosed this while meeting with Yagba Action Group (YAG).

According to him, the financial autonomy for Local Governments will help us a lot because the councils will have enough funds to tackle the menace of insecurity because that is the major problem Nigeria is facing now. Not just Yagba.

His words, “The real problem we have are the armed herdsmen. By the time we clear vast hectares of our lands, pay those bororos that bought our lands and collect our lands back from them and cultivate those lands, they will know that we are serious and that there is no place for them, anymore. It is because we are not utilising our lands that they think it is free. I have procured a brand new bulldozer for the purpose of clearing our bushes.

“Immediately after the local government elections, I will invite the three local government chairmen who are from my constituency, we will sit down with the governor, and tell them in the presence of the governor, the implications of not appropriating the money for the development it is meant for. I will let them know security is of utmost priority to our people.

“The kind of money they want to be giving the chairmen now, I will warn them, if you misappropriate the money, we will write petitions against you and you know you don’t have immunity. So I will ensure that much of our security problems will be solved by the time the monthly allocations start coming directly to the local government accounts. Even themselves, they need to make names for themselves. I will work with them and the Senator, to make sure our people return to farm without fear of insecurity. Farming is the only business our parents knew how to do best.

“How many people can get government jobs today in Nigeria? But there’s a lot of money you can make from the farm. Any of our youths who show seriousness and are interested in farming, we are going to do everything possible to support them. Another problem we are having is that some communities allow these Fulani miscreants to stay in their communities and they are large in numbers now.

“We must drive them away. Nobody is saying Fulanis are not Nigerian citizens with every right to choose where they want to stay and survive. But, if you are a Fulani man and you want to stay, you must be law abiding and not go beyond your boundary. I have discussed it with the governor. The governor is in support of what I am saying.

In the area of boosting food security, he mentioned that the issue of tractors is a very good idea. It is also part of his programmes. He noted that he did a pilot test this year on a specific type of corn, it is growing now and there’s a particular land.

” I am negotiating for; it is about 330 hectares, to start this mechanised farming system and I want to replicate it across Yagba Federal Constituency. Isanlu people have reached out to me, there’s a particular land I have gotten in Isanlu, so I am sending surveyors from the Federal Ministry of Works to measure it to know the number of hectares of land. When we know that, I am going to bring like 10 tractors. Not only to Isanlu alone, may be 10 in Yagba East, 10 in Yagba West, 10 in Mopamuro.

NIGERIAN TRIBUNE