Founder of Afe Babalola University in Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), Chief Afe Babalola (SAN), has accused governors of misapplying financial allocations to local governments in their domains.
He said the “inactions” of the governors were stunting development at the grassroots as well as depriving the people of the benefits that they should ordinarily access without stress.
Babalola spoke yesterday in Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital, while declaring open the eighth edition of the Afe Babalola Agricultural Expo (ABAEX).
The eminent lawyer expressed dissatisfaction with the way governors run the third tier of government.
He said the governors have made the local governments the appendages of the state government, thereby rendering them ineffective.
Babalola urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to ensure that the nation’s 774 local government areas get their allocations directly from the Federation Account to ensure grassroots development and engender transparency.
The ABUAD founder explained that releasing funds to the local governments would enable their chairmen to contribute to the socio-economic development in the communities, especially in the support for farmers.
According to him, the country has over the years abandoned agriculture, which was responsible for increasing food insecurity.
Babalola stressed the need for government at all levels to invest massively in agriculture.
He said: “I am suggesting that local governments should be empowered. Each local government should set up farming equipment for farmers to hire. They should also earmark large hectares of land for the farmers to farm.
“When I was a councillor in those days, local government funds used to come directly to them. We all know what has been happening to their money.
“I think the current President (Bola Tinubu) should do all he can to ensure that local government allocations get to them directly and not through the governors because they (governors) steal a lot.
“There is no parent that will send their children to school – some to Master’s and Ph.D levels – only to come back and be asked to use cutlass to farm.
“The best the government can do now to revive agriculture is to buy modern implements to encourage people to farm. If local government funds get to them, they will be able to buy tractors for the people to rent.”
The chairman of the expo’s Local Organising Committee (LOC), Prof. Abiodun Ojo, said the vision of ABAEX is to encourage excellence and sustainable performance among farmers in Ekiti State.
The LOC chairman said it is also meant to increase value addition across all agricultural products.
“To prosecute this ABAEX 2023 successfully, including logistics and the award for five winners from each local governments and te overall winner from all the local governments in Ekiti, plus the empowerment programme for youths and girls, a total of N32,478,400 has been expended,” he said.