The farmers in Idanre forest have called on the Governor of Ondo State, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu to desist from driving them out of their farmlands and destroying their properties.
The farmers trooped out in their large numbers in a peaceful protest calling on government to cease action and to allow farmers to continue go about their legitimate farming business.
Governor Akeredolu was reported to have earlier ordered the local farmers to vacate the forest reserve.
The existing order was necessitated by the decision of the State government to concession no less than 40,000 hectares of their land to some few private individuals, of which officials of the sitting government are part of.
While speaking with journalists including the Democrat News Magazine at Alade-Idanre on 20th of July, 2022, Mr. Jerom Akinlose and Hon. Akinyelure Adebayo said their properties worth over billions have been destroyed.
In their words: “the farmland is not government property it belongs to Idanre. Our fathers have been working in the forest since 1988.
“We are very peaceful and hard working here in Idanre. Many of us went to the forest immediately we graduated from Universities because there is no white collar jobs.
“Now that our efforts has provided means of livelihood and now Mr. Governor is driving us out forceful, which means government wants to turn us to bandits and kidnappers.”
“This protest did not involve the use of cutlass or hoe. We are not fighting the government or anybody. This farm is our heritage and they should leave it for us. We are begging Aketi, he should leave it for us.
“He gets money from four or five different sources through the forest reserve. They are: five thousand naira per ton of cocoa, N500 per bag of cocoa coming out of the reserve, N300 per palm oil and plantain. We have all the tickets. I have tickets attesting to my paying more than a million.,”
“Those who are working in the forests are doing so for survival. There isn’t any government office in Idanre. There is no higher institution, nothing special. All we have is our heritage as forest reserve. The implication of sending us out of the place is proceeding to carry guns.,”
Another Akinseye Adebayo said: “if you see the farm we are talking about, no fewer than 2 million people are there, they, their children and wives, a very long chain.
“Presently in Nigeria, agriculture constitutes about 37.7 percent of our Gross Domestic Product, of which 26.6 percent comes from cocoa. Out of this percentage, Idanre contributes no less than 70 percent. The implication of what the government is doing is that about 30 million people will be rendered useless.”
“All we have here is school and farm. There is no government presence or industry. Idanre’s industry is cocoa. What we are saying is that if the government is claiming there is insecurity in other areas, it isn’t in Idanre.”
“What we are now telling the world, that we want the international community to know is the properties being destroyed will cause hardship for more than 30 million people.”
Also speaking with journalists, the Chairman of all the Olus in Idanre and the Olu of Irowa, Oba Francis Omotunde Olubodun pleaded with Mr. Governor to accede to the demands of the farmers in the area.
He pointed out that government can not afford to throw over 3 million people into unemployment market.