‘Why govt revoked 20-year-old Ife-Tuntun farm’
from Clement Adeyi, Osogbo
Ife-Tuntun Farms, Ile-Ife, Osun State, had remained the only means of livelihood to the farmers in the community. But that changed on March 31, 2017.
On that day, the state government issued a 21-day ultimatum to the occupants to vacate the 30-square-mile land at Shasha Forest Reserve. The land was acquired by late Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade, 20 years ago for his subjects.
Osun State is the third largest cocoa producer in the South West after Ondo and Oyo states. The state largely draws its rising profile as a big role player and producer of the cash crop from the Ife-Tuntun Cocoa Farms.
Investigations also indicated that the current rapid development in the community and the neighbouring villages numbering about 30 is as a result of the existence of the farms where about 75,000 farmers earn their living and contribute to the economic development of the state.
Apart from the farmers who live with their families, hired labourers and dependants in the community and the villages, other dwellers engage in different business ventures and contribute meaningfully to the development in the areas.
But the revocation order contained in a letter signed by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Moshood Adeoti, and addressed to the current Ooni, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, threatened the only means of livelihood of the farmers and other occupants.
The farmers numbering 75,000 and operating under the aegis of Ife-Tuntun Farmers Association (IFA), had vacated the farms following the revocation order.
According to the revocation letter: “The approval granted was for the cultivation of cash crops instead of food crops contemplated by the Forestry Laws and Regulations. Furthermore, an encroachment beyond the 30 square miles of Shasha Reserve was discovered to have taken place.
“Consequently, the state government accepted the recommendation of the committee which favoured the revocation based on overriding public interest. The state government has further gazetted this position as contained in the white paper, which was published in the State of Osun Gazette dated December 8, 2016.
“Arising there from, the government hereby gives 21 days notice to the occupants of the 30 square miles and other encroached areas within Shasha Forest Reserve to vacate same, while I sincerely wish to urge your imperial majesty to communicate the contents of this letter to the occupants of the said forest reserve to keep them abreast of this development.”
Chairman of IFA, Akeeb Mukaila, said: “We had to comply because we can’t fight government, we can’t protest and we can’t argue with government over the matter.
“We are only appealing to Governor Rauf Aregbesola to tamper justice with mercy and withdraw the quit notice and allow us to continue with our occupation because that is the only means of our livelihood.
“Our Kabiyesi, the late Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade, was the one who acquired the land from the Osun State Government for Ife indigenes when he was alive. He acquired it from the former military administrator of Osun State, Col. Anthony Obi in 1997.”
He said the indigenes faced scarcity of land for farming after those who went to Ikale in Ondo State in search of land, were attacked and others killed while they were trying to harvest their cocoa and ran back to Ife. They approached the monarch who went to the government to acquire the land for them at the Shasha Forest Reserve.
He disclosed that the late monarch set up a committee to allocate 10 acres of land each to the farmers numbering 10,000 free of charge. They, however, paid N2,000 each to collect form, which was used as the surveyor’s fee. It took the farmers five years to get the first harvest.
“We got the first harvest in 2002 and started taking them to the market immediately,” the farmers chorused excitedly during chat with Daily Sun. They stressed that cocoa production was crucial to the agricultural economy as well as food production and security of the nation.
In those days, they recalled, a kilo of cocoa sold for N120, while a tone with 13 bags went for N120, 000. The price went up to N1million last year. It, however, dropped to N500,000 recently due to the poor exchange rate.
Mukaila added: “There is no doubt that Ife-Tuntun Farms remain one of the nerve centres of cocoa farming in the South West, making Osun to rank third in the South West after Ondo and Oyo. Sending us parking from the farms will amount to pulling the state off the ranking. It will also reduce the capacity of cocoa production, which will also go a long way in affecting the country’s exchange rate profile.
“Apart from that, it will amount to taking my means of livelihood from me and my family. Then poverty, hunger and hardship will set in and my children who are still in school will withdraw. It was the farm that I used to train some of my children to higher institutions and due to unemployment, some of them are assisting me in the farms pending when they will get jobs.
“The situation will go out of hands if government closes down the farms. That is why we are begging government to allow us to continue with our occupation which is our only means of livelihood now.”
General secretary of the association, Owojori Ayoola said: “Through our cocoa farming at Ifetuntun Farms, we have been contributing to not only the economy of Osun State, but also nation building in many ways. For instance, we create employment opportunities for adults and the youths in our communities.
“I was jobless after completing my secondary education and secretarial studies to work as office secretary, but I couldn’t get the job for years until I took to cocoa farming. Since then, I overcame unemployment problem.
“Now, I am comfortable with what I am doing to eke out a living. I can feed my family easily from my farm because I grow other food crops. I also use the farm to train my children in school. Two of my children have graduated from polytechnic, while two of them are now in the university. Government should consider the importance of the farms to our families’ economic lives, Ile-Ife, Osun State and the entire country.”
The patron of the association, Pa Marcus Odulebiojo: “I am a retired police officer. I retired in 1994 and took to farming in 1997 because my pension was not enough to feed my family. With the occupation, I was able to train six of my children from the university.
“Some of them finished from the University of Ibadan, Obafemi Awolowo University, UNILAG among others. Some of them are working abroad, while others are working in Nigeria here and contributing their own quota to the development of the country.
“Without Ife-Tuntun Farms, what would have been the fate of my children now? That is why government must spare the farms. I appeal to our governor, Aregebsola, not to chase us away. He should have mercy on us because if we are chased away, we don’t have anywhere to go and there won’t be any job for us to do.
“At our age, where are we going to work again? It is obvious that unemployment rate will increase. Hunger will also be the order of the day if government goes ahead to send us parking from the farms.”
One of the female farmers, Mrs Esther Eluyeni, the treasurer of the association said: “All my life and the lives of my family members depend on the farm. I use it to feed them because I grow food crops such as yams, cocoyam, beans and plantains on the farm. I use the proceeds from my farm to assist my husband by training my children in school.
“Our hope of survival will be lost if government closes down the farm because my children will drop out of school and we don’t have any means of feeding the family. That is why we are appealing to government to leave us alone. We don’t have anywhere to go.”
Another farmer, Omisakin Isaac: “I took to farming since 1998. This is where I feed my extended and immediate families. My children are in school and my wife is a trader whose business cannot sustain the family. That is why we need the farm. If we are driven out of the Ife-Tuntun Farms, I will become jobless and where will I get another job? Certainly, life will become difficult for me and my families.”
Chief Michael Ojo: “Government should have mercy on us. My destiny and the future of my children depend on the farm. I have two houses in the community. I have labourers who also have families that depend on my farm for a living. If government chases us away, where will they go and survive? It will mean end of living for us.”
Chief Owojori Martins: “Government should tamper justice with mercy. The farm is my only hope of survival. I depend on it to feed my family and my aged mother. If she hears that I am sent out of the farm, she will faint. Also, my children are still in school. My last daughter is still breastfeeding. Where will I run to for help if our only means of livelihood is taken from us and where will help come from?
“The farmers have contributed a great deal to the development of the communities in different dimensions. A lot of people from the communities have invested in smallscale businesses. There is no single public school in any of the communities. But some people used their personal money they made from their farms to build private schools as a part of their contribution to the educational development and to reduce illiteracy level among the children of the communities.
“(Osun-Rural Access Mobility Project (Osun-RAMP) also constructed access roads to the communities which help farmers to transport their farm produce to the markets in towns and neighbouring states.
“The Ife-South Local Government also built maternity centres for primary health care delivery. People also built expensive houses. So, how can such communities be grounded over night? Such a move is anti-development. So, sending us from the farms will affect all the development in the communities.”