By Adekola Afolabi

The Ondo State Government has said it would begin the demolition of all structures built on government land at various locations in the state.

To this end, government has directed all trespassers who have anything on government land to go and remove them immediately or face demolition.

This among others were part of the far-reaching decisions taken at the State Executive Council meeting held on Monday.

The Council also decided that henceforth, on Fridays, all public servants in the State including political office holders and students both in private and public schools would be required to wear traditional wears to work and schools, as a way of preserving our culture.

The State Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Mrs Bamidele Ademola-Olateju, who made this known shortly after the weekly State Executive Council meeting in Akure, added that the Council also ordered the closure of Ikare Central Mosque with immediate effect, pending the resolution of the contentious issues.

“We made some decisions on law and order within the state. We know there are disturbances around the Central Mosque in Ikare and the Council decided that the Ikare Mosque would be closed down henceforth with immediate effect. There would be no prayer offered in that mosque until there is resolution to the issue and the government would be inviting the parties involved in the dispute as well as the League of Imams to resolve the issue at stake.

“Those who trespass in various locations of government land, their structures would be demolished completely. If you have anything on government land go and remove them now and those that are writing petitions claiming to be the owners of government land, the government will not tolerate that. So, the Council has said those writing petitions to challenge ownership of government land, it won’t be tolerated by the government.

“In terms of environment, we make decisions on the use of plastic waste, the EXCO make far reaching decisions and plans are on underway to encourage the use biodegradable materials and the recycling of plastics.

“We made some decisions on Chieftaincy also and the Council decided that the petitions received would be reviewed by another Commission to be set up soon”, she said

Also speaking, the Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, Mr Emmanuel Igbasan, explained that the Council has approved the transmission of the Medium Term Expenditure Framework for Ondo State, 2022 to 2025 to be transmitted to Ondo State House of Assembly for legislative approvals and appropriation.

“Essentially, this is in core consonant with the Fiscal Responsibility Law of 2017 that requires us to our annual budget to derive it from the Medium Term Expenditure Framework. We have fulfilled all righteousness and we expect that all MDAs will defend their budget within the framework of the document that will soon be transmitted with the Ondo State House of Assembly.

“It is good to note that the people is the fulcrum of every action of Government even from 2017 till date, so this date we have prioritized human capital development, infrastructure, education and health and we expect our people to derive maximum benefit from the public expenditure going on forth.

“In addition, with the proactiveness of Mr. Governor in the procurement of three Swamp Buggies, we all know the consequences of the flood that is ravaging most parts of the country despite the advance information by NIIME. Many states were caught unaware but we note with the sense of responsibility that Ondo State Government is so proactive in purchasing those three Swamp Buggies even before now.

” Most of our river beds and even channels have been desilted  and we have free flow of water. Hence, out of the 600 recorded loss of life, Ondo State did not record any loss. We want to appeal to our people to ensure practices and culture that are compliant with best environmental practice, by not disposing their refuse indiscriminately or disposing their waste materials on water channels,” Igbasan stressed.

On his part, the Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Mr. Adewale Akinlosotu, said, “the Council decided to introduce or mandate all public servants in Ondo State including politicians to wear our traditional attire on Fridays. Basically we are declaring Fridays as a cultural Friday, and for students of both private and public schools, it is permissible for them to wear their cultural attire to schools on Fridays.”