In Ekiti state in southwestern Nigeria, a task force has been set up to curb the activities of illegal forest operators (Toba Suleiman, 'Oni Raises Task Force to Check Illicit Forest Activities' This day Online, 5th June 2010). It has a mandate to impound and auction any vehicle caught with illegal logs or illegally produced planks, and to close down any sawmill found engaging in illegal activities. The governor, Mr. Segun Oni, said his administration would not fold its hands while some few people collude with non-locals to plunder the state�s forest resources.
He said his administration did not want a repeat of what happened in the 1970s and 1980s when a syndicate made of some foreigners and some greedy local people stole artefacts and antiquities across Ekiti land.Oni, who described the forest reserves as the commonwealth of the local host communities and the state, called on the people to be vigilant and to volunteer useful information on the activities of the illegal forest operators to the security agents.
I am sure the dealers in portable antiquities are fuming among themselves. What a "nationalist" eh? Never mind, I am sure there are plenty of "internationalist" dealers out there still willing to buy the "liberated antiquities" and the "liberated wood" to sell to "cosmopolitan" collectors and carpenters over the seas. Obviously though they need first to fight any legislation that would get in the way of such free enterprise and "protect their freedom to collect".
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