The Oyo State Road Transport Management Authority (OYRTMA) has expressed deep satisfaction in the passage of the anti-open grazing bill into law by the Oyo State House of Assembly (OYHA) under the leadership of Rt. Hon. Debo Ogundoyin.
The bill which was passed at its Thursday plenary is to avoid continuous damages and end loss of lives and unquantifiable investment to constant clashes between herders and crop farmers as well as to drastically reduce road crashes attributable to vehicle-animal collisions.
While addressing newsmen at the Authority’s headquarter in Ibadan, the OYRTMA Executive Chairman and CEO, Mogaji Akin Fagbemi, in reaction to the bill’s passage said “this is a welcome development even though it is long overdue. We must commend the leadership of the State House of Assembly for taking the bull by the horn and doing the needful without minding whose ox was gored”.
Speaking further on the development, Dr. Fagbemi said “It is crucial we seize this opportunity to intimate the good people of Oyo State, that we are fully aware of the indiscriminate, uncontrolled and wanton crisscrossing of herds along some major carriageways in the State. This poses huge threat to free movement of human and vehicles thereby hindering economic activities, promoting insecurity, damaging environment through exponential emission of green-house gases by small and heavy duty/articulated vehicles held in traffic jams resulting from herder’s activities on the roads”.
He also noted that the Authority is particularly concerned about the herder’s activities along Peller’s road, Iseyin, Iseyin Local Government Area of Oyo State as well as the Eruwa, Ibarapa and Oke ogun zones. “With the passage of the anti-open grazing bill into law, we are hopeful that the law-abiding herders across the State would strongly obey the prayers of the law while we as an enforcement agency of government shall be ready to confiscate or impound and prosecute as the case may be, any herd and its herder that transgress or fail to obey the law as it remains our sole objective to ensure free human and vehicular movement across State by enforcing both State and National laws that concern effective road transport management with the aim of enhancing economic activities to boost State’s IGR and encourage Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) in the State”, Mogaji Akin Fagbemi Concluded.
OYRTMA, according to its enabling law, is empowered to clear all roads within Oyo State of any encumbrances standing athwart the free flow of traffic at all sections of the roads.
