Akpabio salutes Faduyile over motion on Ayetoro ocean surge
…… queries logic behind his exclusion from 2027 poll
By Steve Ovirih.
Ondo South Senator, Distinguished Senator Prof.Dayo Faduyile OON, on Thursday tabled a motion before the Senate on the need for immediate and comprehensive shoreline protection to save Ayetoro community in Ondo State from Sea incursion. It will be recalled that Senator Faduyile had on the previous day presented a motion of national importance to ensure mandatory screening of of travellers coming into the country across all entry points to prevent the spread of the new strain Ebola virus.
Senator Faduyile who had prior to his election victory in June 2026 rued the threat of the Atlantic Ocean and its relentless submerging of Ayetoro in Ilaje told the Senate while presenting his motion that Ayetoro which is a historic coastal community in Ilaje land is facing gradual annihilation as the surge from the ocean has continued to threaten to submerge the entire community.
“Mr President and Distinguished Colleagues, recent reports indicate that approximately 80 percent of buildings in Ayetoro have been lost to sea incursion with devastating consequences for residents, schools, healthcare facilities,places of worship and traditional institutions.”
He said people of good conscience across the district are disturbed that the continued destruction of homes and community infrastructure has displaced families,disrupted fishing and other economic activities, threatened access to safe water and healthcare and this sea incursion challenge has placed the future of the historic community in grave uncertainty and immeasurable danger.
Faduyile further noted, “previous shoreline protection interventions have faced significant implementation challenges including reported delays in earlier NDDC contracts thereby necessitating transparent verification of project status, expenditure and outstanding obligations.”
He said delay may result in additional loss of lives, property, livelihoods and cultural heritage, as families have already been vulnerably exposed while children particularly, women and elderly persons are exposed to worsening humanitarian and environmental conditions.
In the reliefs and prayers sought, Senator Faduyile called on Federal Government through the Federal Ministry of Environment, NDDC and other relevant agencies to urgently collaborate with Ondo State Government and the State intervention agency to oil producing communities, OSOPADEC to implement a comprehensive and adequately funded shoreline protection program for Ayetoro among other prayers.
The motion was seconded by Distinguished Senator Ibrahim Dankwanbo,Gombe North.
The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, having listened to arguments on Faduyile’s motion gavelled prayers appended to the motion, noting that Senator Dayo Faduyile is a lawmaker with rich antecedents whose input in plenary has been quite noticeable and impactful since his arrival in the 10th Senate.
He described the motion as well researched as it has beamed a searchlight on not only Ayetoro in Ilaje but other places in the Niger Delta area that now face the threat of climate change and ocean submerge.
Akpabio expressed obvious shock and disappointment over the fact that the political structure in Ondo State did not deem it logical to return Senator Faduyile to the Senate in the 11th Assembly, questioning the logic behind stepping down the candidacy of Prof.Faduyile to appear in the ballot box in the forthcoming General election. The Senate President charged the Political class to stop playing politics with the idea of quality representation in the law making structure of Nigeria, stressing that the National Assembly is not a body to be deployed for patronage or political largess.
” How can you decide not to field an impactful lawmaker like Senator Faduyile to return to The Senate? Prof.Faduyile is former National President of Nigeria Medical Association,NMA and he is a Professor of Pathology; it is lawmaker like him that are needed in The Senate whose professional input will count in Legislative policy formation and Law making process,” Akpabio stressed.
Akpabio noted that in The United States, the law making body is populated by seasoned lawmakers whose experience pan decades in the Senate hence the quality of the legislation they churn out yearly which has consolidated democracy, advising the Nigerian political structure to realize that sending lawmakers who are green behind their ears will slow the pace of Legislative development.
” I want to thank you Senator Faduyile for this well researched motion and this Senate agrees with you that no part of the federation deserves to be washed away by the Atlantic Ocean,” the Senate President added.
