Varsity Don Accuses Ekiti, Ondo of Playing Politics with Forestry Laws

Victor Ogunje in Ado Ekiti

A Professor of Forestry and Wood Technology, Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA), Prof. Tunde Ajayi yesterday lamented that the state governments had been playing politics with implementation of forest laws.

Ajayi, also, lamented that the approach of the government to the growth of forestry and wood technology had triggered destruction to the country’s potentials in the sub-sector, thereby subjecting people to dangers of global warming, erosion, and flooding.

He expressed this concern at a session with journalists in Ado Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital yesterday, suggesting that initiating right policies on the growth of forestry business can create enormous wealth for the Nigerian citizens and governments.

The erudite scholar insisted that good investments in forest value chain could create wealth through provision of raw materials and finished products for industrial growth, saying these could also engender foreign earnings for the country.

He said: “There are a lot of gains in the Forest value chain and it can add values to our economy if fully harnessed. In 1982, I produced a particle board using urea formaldehyde as a binder and I was given national recognition.

“The depletion of wood resources and accompanying saw dust gave me the impetus to conduct research on the possibility of using agricultural wastes to produce particle board for flooring, partitioning, furniture and other industrial and household use.

“I investigated the use of groundnut shell, rice husk, beans coat, maize stalk and other agricultural wastes using urea formaldehyde, recycled plastic, car battery case, cement and pozzolan as binder. Nigeria can gain enormous economic benefit: these research outputs are up-scaled and commercialized”, the academic said.

Ajayi disclosed that the reason the Government of Ondo and Ekiti States had not been able to tap their forest potentials maximally was that they were fond of playing politics with the extant forest laws.

In these states, the forestry expert explained that sawmill operators, timber contractors and others “are going to the free forest areas and forest reserves to fell trees indiscriminately.

Going by forestry laws, according to the don, there are areas where you can only cut five trees, there are areas where you have to cut one tree and plant four in replacement.

He noted that there “are game reserves in our forest reserves. So, you cannot kill animals in those areas. The government received all these reports and looked away pretending as if nothing was happening until it now becomes irreversible.

“Governments should stop playing politics with the forests and do what is right. Consultants that are given the rights to manage the Forests lack the requisite expertise and technical background. Most of them have business orientation and not the mentality of a forester, which is conservation.

“Professionals whose major responsibility and goal is to ensure the protection, proper management, and sustainable utilisation of Forest resources for economic gains, research, ecotourism, ecological studies and climate resilience should be saddled with management of forest reserves.”