Cassava Farmers Bicker Over Missing Funds

Osun State chapter of Cassava Grower Farmers Association is rolling in cesspool of corruption a investigation has revealed that the leadership of the group appeared to have allegedly used the financial opportunities accrued to the chapter to service some chieftains of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who facilitated his emergence as the chairman of the group in the state.

Findings have further revealed that several millions of naira accrued to the group for certain experimentation of the cassava plantation appeared to have lost in transit, for hundreds of group members who were entitled to the funds could not access it in the last three years.

Checks have further shown that a former minister under the defunct draconian the late General Sani Abacha junta, who hails from Ijesaland and another PDP chieftain in the state were the ones who had gotten more than enough of the the funds made available to the chapter by some international and national organizations and governments not because they are farmers, but because they were the facilitators of the chairman, Mr. David Omisade.

It was learnt that Omisade had met with his members sometimes in the past when a lump sum running to N200 million was allocated to his chapter for provision of cassava stems and land cultivation was available to his chapter, where he reportedly informed them about the development.

In order to service his facilitators, according to a source, the embattled farmer hinted his group of his readiness to share the money amongst the registered members so that they could go and find cassava stems of their choice, contrary to the demand, of the international organization that provided the money.

Information at the disposal of OSUN DEFENDER has shown that the organization that provided the funds wanted the farmers to plant special cassava stems that could germinate and grow within a shortest period, contrary to the old species that could take more than a year before it is ready for harvest.

However, another phase of corruption was the way and manner the leadership of the association would be demanding for processing fees from thousands of members across the state with a promise that they would be assisted financially later, only for them to still be living in forlorn hope despite the fact that the expected funds have been collected and developed wings.

According to findings conducted by OSUN DEFENDER, the two benefactors of the chairman have become parasites on the funds accrued to the association, a situation that has made them to feed fat on it on several occasions, only for Omisade to start hoodwinking the unsuspected members who might be demanding the whereabouts of the funds.

Last year, when OSUN DEFENDER contacted the septuagenarian farmer who was said to have attended numerous international seminars on the bill of the association about some improprieties in the association, Omisade took time to explain about the situation surrounding certain funds concerning provision of cassava stems and the cheque made available to his chapter, but could not give details of the expenditure.

When our reporter was raising so many questions, the farmer then began to threaten that he would cancel the gentleman agreement he had with his members, boasting that he would go ahead and buy cassava stems for them.