By Nsan Ndoma-Neji, Calabar
Arrangements have reached crescendo by the immediate past chairman of Anti-Deforestation Taskforce, Prince Odey Oyama, and a faction of Effi community youths to set up an ultra modern timber market in Okuni community, Ikom Local Government Area of Cross River State.
Oyama revealed this at a security meeting convened by Special Adviser, SA, to the state governor on Security Affairs, Central, retired AIG John Abang, at Ikom Local Government Council Secretariat with Effi community chiefs weeks ago.
The environmental expert stated that once they get permit from the state Forestry Commission, he and his Effi community youths would commence the process of setting up the proposed timber market to enable them make life easy for people building houses in the area, since state government had lifted ban on logging.
Oyama is known in the last two decades as being at the forefront of fighting wood logging and deforestation in the state, using his non-governmental organisation, NGO, Rainforest Resources Development Centre, RRDC.
He said that the proposed timber market, upon it takes off, would assist young men and women doing timber business log their woods and supply directly to the dealers who will be doing business at the timber market to be sited in the community, rather than allow external bodies to log and sell to timber merchants, who prefer to sell the wood outside the state.
Emphasizing on the need to establish a timber market in the community, Oyama stated that the market would assist young men and women logging in the forest to leverage on the opportunity.
The Executive Director, Rainforest Resources Development Centre, RRDC, maintained that instead of allowing the forest resources to be plundered by Chinese nationals, who he alleged as having an upper hand in the exploitation of forest resources, whereas the community indigenes barred from making use of the forest resources, stressing that the time has come when opportunity would be given to the village youths to do exploit in that area.
He said, “Go to Abakalike, they have one of the largest timber market today in Nigeria, but they have no forest. We have a forest, but we do not have a timber market.
“We want to be logging sustainably so that young men can use the forest to create employment for themselves.
“We want to come to you – Forestry Commission – and see how we can get permit. So that our young men can also participate in the sale of wood at the proposed timber market to be set up in Effi community in Ikom.
“The law of the state and that of the forestry commission empower us to float a timber market once we are able to obtain a permit from the state forestry commission.
“We want to come to you so that we can see how our young men can log sustainably and make money for themselves. This law empowers us to open a timber market, so that our young men who had been in timber business can make money for themselves.”
