How Osun is Using Technology to Checkmate Farmers/Herders Clash

State of Osun has taken refuge in technology to nip potential farmers/herders clash that has claimed millions of lives in some parts of the country in the bud.
Commissioner for Innovation, Science and Technology, Oluremi Omowaye, who spoke in an interview with The Nationin Lagos, said the government has put in place an inquiry call centre and invested heavily in unmanned aerial vehicles that would gather data and relay same to the centre which would be analysed for action.

According to Omowaye, the response of the Governor Rauf Aregbesola’s government to the menace of herder/farmers incessant clashes was to think out of the box for a technological solution that would allow seamless flow of information about the movement of livestocks and their owners across the state.
He said: “We needed to set up an inquiry call centre and we needed a short code so that it will be easy for people to reach us. We approached the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) which granted us the code after detailed presentation by our team.
“This technology will be deployed this week using unmanned aerial vehicles that would interface with the call centre. We want a scenario whereby all livestock in Osun would have a unique individual identity so that when a livestock strays into your farm, all you need to do is text the first three digits to the short code issued by the NCC and once you do that you will get a response from the call centre to check the owner.

“From the call centre too, the owner would be called. Aside that, we are also going to use it for other services such as ambulance services because in the call centre, you have the security operatives too so, we thank the NCC for quick response.
‘’I know the NCC is trying to establish a call centre at in Osun so we have an agreement that when they come up with their own, we will.’’
On supportive infrastructure on which the technology would ride, he said the state is one of the leading states in the federation in terms of the providing infrastructure.
He said: “Osun is one of the leading infrastructure states in Nigeria. Governor Aregbesola has opened up a lot of roads, health and educational infrastructure. The government is even working in the area of electricity since it is the major challenge IT has. We are working on boosting power generation in the state but one thing that is unfortunate is that companies do not pay tax.
“There is no government that can function well without paying tax. What is coming from Abuja cannot pay salaries so we enjoin the companies to cooperate with the state government and pay tax. I am sure with the level of investment in infrastructure so far, Osun is the place to be for investors, both local and foreign.
“We are deploying IT solutions to ease tax collection but no matter the solution you deploy, computer is garbage; garbage out, if they do not cooperate, it won’t work. But we have deployed a lot of solutions that will enhance tax collection. There is always this allegation of multiple taxation by state governments too. We have also deployed solution that would end the regime of multiple taxation in the state.”
On the monthly internally generated revenue (IGR) of the state, he said it is less than N1billion while the wage bill for both employees of the state and local governments is above N5billion, stressing that a lot needed to be done in the area of increasing the state’s IGR so that the monthly wait for Abuja would become a thing of the past.
On the state of the art infrastructure put in place in the state, he said: “What Governor Aregbesola has done Osun is a world-class design, world class standard. The government encourages that the two ducts were built so that not only fibre optics would fly. The government is also thinking of building an industrial park so that the infrastructure would not be scattered all over the state. We are working on the industrial park. We are also talking to some Chinese investors for the industrial park and in the park, there will be a segment for IICT park,” Omowaye said.