By SEGUN GIWA

Ondo State Governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, has approved the recruitment of 350 persons into the Amotekun Corps to ease the pressure on the Ondo State Security Network.

Akeredolu announced this at an award programme organised by Ondo State Agribusiness Empowerment Centre (OSAEC) on Tuesday in Akure.

Akeredolu also said that more operational vehicles and motorcycles would be purchased to aid the corps’ operation in the state.

Akeredolu said it became imperative because the corps had been overstretched while protecting farmers in the bush.

The governor, who noted that there was a time Agricultural investors were leaving the state until the advent of Amotekun, said: “We have agreed to employ 350 personnel into the Amotekun Corps in the state because of the pressure on Amotekun.”

“Operational vehicles and motorcycles will be purchased too to ease their work,” he said.

He said there would soon be Amotekun stations in rural areas, as those places are not on the road but in the bush.

Earlier, the governor said that OSAEC was created to revolutionise the Agricultural sector, as farming should no longer be a vocation, but a business.

The governor said although the state had interventions from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), his administration is developing Agriculture in all the senatorial districts.

Akeredolu said Ondo State unarguably supplies over 45 per cent of tomatoes being sold in Lagos markets.

He disclosed that he is committed to launch Ondo State into the world map of Agriculture and would continue to partner and support relevant stakeholders to achieve this objective.

He said the Okitipupa oil palm plantation, abandoned over the years, had been brought back as part of his commitments to the red-gold (palm oil) revolution.

The Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Agric and Agricbusinesses, Pastor Akin Olotu, said the award was to recognise those that have performed extraordinarily well in the sector.

Olotu said that the state is reaping the fruits sown by the present government which came into office in February 2017.

One of the Award Recipients and Correspondent of Television Continental (TVC), Mr Ayodeji Moradeyo, appreciated the agency and government of Ondo State for the recognition of his good work.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Moradeyo received the Most Supportive Media Reporter of the Year 2021 award. (NAN)

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