Abiodun Warns Traditional Rulers against Sale of Govt ‘s Land

James Sowole in Abeokuta

Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, yesterday alleged that some traditional rulers had been found selling lands belonging to the state government.

He warned that his administration would take disciplinary action against any person found selling land in its forest reserves and plantations across the state.

 Abiodun stated this at the Statutory Meeting of the state’s Council of Obas, held at the Oba’s Complex, Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta, describing the actions of the people, including some Obas who sell government land as unpatriotic.

He said: “We will continue to seek your support in the area of lands. Sadly, cases have been reported to us here in Abeokuta about some of our monarchs who have taken upon themselves to allocate government land, government forest reserve, plantations to others. They’ve been allocating and selling government lands.

“I have found this very difficult to believe. I consider this extremely unpatriotic that our monarchs will now begin to allocate such lands to others, and worse still, in some of the areas, the land is being allocated to non-Ogun State indigenes

“Our kings are colluding with people from outside Ogun state and giving our land to them in our plantations and they are coming there, deforesting them. They are destroying the plantations. They are planting Indian Hemp there. I was completely heartbroken when I heard this news, and when we actually verified, it was true.

“As a responsible state government, we will not have any choice but to take disciplinary action against any person found culpable of such an act; any person, be it Kabiyesi or any person.

“Because this land does not belong to me, it doesn’t belong to you. It belongs to our collective patrimony; it is our collective property that we own as a state. It is our commonwealth, and we should endeavour to ensure that we do not engage in such acts like this capable of tarnishing the image of the royalty and the throne.”

 Abiodun who intimated the monarchs of his administration’s efforts at bringing in more investors to invest in the state, said the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the establishment of the Ogun State Dry Port at Kajola would be signed between the state government and a private investor before the end of the year.

He added that discussions on the use of the Cargo Airport by Beninese investors had been held with the country’s president.

“It means in Ogun state, we will now have a dry port that will now enable all of us, including our industries and manufacturers, to now ship their goods from anywhere in the world to Kajola. This MoU will be signed between now and Christmas.

“Last week, I met with the president of Benin Republic. He shared with me the fact that the government of Benin Republic has heard so much about our airport, sent delegates and determined as a government that they want to be the first customer to export from our airport.

“They have decided that all their agro produce will be brought down from Benin Republic to our airport and will be exported to the rest of the world from our airport,” he stressed.

On his administration’s plan for the health sector, the governor noted that the state government had decided to concession the 250-bed hospital in Abeokuta.

According to the governor, the state does not have the capacity to run the hospital, hence the decision to allow others to handle its day to day activities.

“We are going to be signing the MoU on the 250-bed hospital right here in Abeokuta,” he stated.

In his welcome address, the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Ganiyu Hamzat acknowledged the partnership between the state government and the traditional institution.

The Chairman, Ogun State Council of Traditional Rulers and the Akarigbo of Remoland, Babatunde Ajayi, lauded the state government for its developmental strides in all parts of the state.