Oyo to adopt anti-open grazing

The Speaker, Oyo State House of Assembly, Mr Adebo Ogundoyin, on Friday, said that the Open Rearing and Grazing Regulation bill would be passed by the Assembly before the end of October.

Ogundoyin (PDP/Ibarapa East) said this at a town hall meeting, organised in Eruwa by the National Orientation Agency (NOA) in the state, in collaboration with Konrad Adenauer Stiftung.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the meeting had, as its theme, “Promoting Enduring Democratic Culture through Stewardship by Elected Public Officials”.

He said: “The bill, when passed into law, will address the crisis between farmers and the herdsmen, and other insecurity matters, especially in the rural areas without violating the rights of any ethnic group”.

Ogundoyin also said that Eruwa dam would be rehabilitated next year to serve as an irrigation source for the N4.6 billion farm settlement in the town and its environs.

“Without water, farm settlement cannot be achieved, while the primary healthcare sector will also be renovated,” he said.

In her speech, the state Director of NOA, Mrs Dolapo Dosunmu, said that the town hall meeting was organised to entrench the culture of dialogue and foster harmonious relationship between the people and their representatives.

Dosunmu said: “The town hall meeting is to provide a platform where an elected official will have the opportunity to give feedback to his constituents on his legislative activities.

In his remarks, the Eleruwa of Eruwa, Oba Samuel Adegbola, charged the speaker to hit the ground running, as the quest for development by Eruwa indigenes was very high.

The monarch urged the people of Ibarapa East constituency to continue to pray for Ogundoyin, saying that his success in office was their gain.

NAN reports that people of the constituency complained about inadequate electricity supply and bad condition of the road, while also calling for the overhaul of all the tertiary institutions in Ibarapa zone.