By Omolara Adasofunjo

Ogun State House of Assembly has passed a resolution requesting that the State Government put machinery in place to check the subtle take-over of Adire Kampala local industry by foreigners.

The resolution was passed after the motion moved by the Majority Leader, Mr Yusuf Sheriff and seconded by the Minority Leader, Mr Lukman Adeleye with the support of other lawmakers at a plenary presided over by Speaker, Mr Olakunle Oluomo.

Opening debate on the motion, the sponsor, Mr Babatunde Tella, said the influx of foreign adire into the local market was eroding the rich cultural heritage of the people and threatening their source of livelihood. 

He called on the Ministries of Trade and Investment, Culture and Tourism as well as Women Affairs to investigate the matter, while pleading with the State Government to partner the Federal Government in assisting the local adire fabric makers to export their products to boost the nation’s growing economy.

Other lawmakers while supporting the motion commended Governor Dapo Abiodun and notable traditional rulers in the state for always adorning the indigenous adire in support of local patronage, pointing that if not checked the influx of imported Adire would continue to fuel unemployment, imitation of the people’s creativity and reduction in the state’s revenue. 

The lawmakers solicited the support of the National Assembly in the efforts to consider the classification of imported Adire as contraband goods.

Responding, the Speaker, Mr Oluomo, who commended the sponsor of the resolution, equally acknowledged Governor Dapo Abiodun’s untiring efforts at promoting the rich cultural heritage of the State, assuring that the Assembly would work towards enacting a bill to further strengthen and protect the local economy for the benefit of the people.

Similarly, Ogun State Magistrates’ Court, Amendment Law, 2023 has scaled second reading on the floor of the Assembly.

 The Sponsor of the bill, mr Oluseun Adesanya, led other contributors to the debate in emphasizing that the amendment of the law would increase the financial jurisdictions of the magistrates courts to take more cases, thereby reducing the burden of cases taken to the high courts.

Mr Oluomo equally affirmed that the amendment of the bill would assist in quickening justice dispensation before committing the document to the House Committee on Justice, Ethics and Public Petitions for further legislative actions.

Also, 2024 Appropriation Bill for Ogun State, tagged “Budget of Sustained Growth and Development” was successfully for the second time. 

Opening debate on the second reading of the bill, the Chairman, House Committee on Finance and Appropriation, Mr Musefiu Lamidi, said that the percentage allotted to each sector of the economy had shown the government’s resolve to sustain the growth and development of the State.

Other lawmakers who spoke in the same vein also affirmed that the proposed budget was achievable and advised that the 30% allocation to infrastructure should be evenly spread across the three Senatorial Districts of the State, particularly the rural areas.

The State lawmakers also called for increase on the percentage given to agriculture to empower farmers to boost food security and create job opportunities.

In a remark, the Speaker of the House, Mr Olakunle Oluomo who commended the lawmakers for the robust debate, urged them to do justice to the bill during the budget defence process and thereafter committed the bill to the House Committee on Finance and Appropriation for further legislative actions.

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