Afenifere Chieftain urges South-West Govs to unite for regional growth
…As Lagos hosts DAWN Commission Focal representatives meeting
South-West governors and governments of the six states in the region—Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Ondo and Ekiti—have been urged to collaborate and integrate policies toward sustainable growth and development of the region.
The appeal was made by the Chairman of Afenifere Renewal Group, Hon. Olawale Oshun, during the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN) Commission Focal Representatives meeting hosted by the Lagos State Government at Alausa on Thursday.
The meeting, which focused on development of South-West, was attended by the Director-General, Development Agenda for Western Nigeria, Dr. Seye Oyeleye, and all the representatives from the six South-West states.
Speaking on the theme of the meeting, “Strengthening Regional Integration for Sustainable Development in South-West Nigeria,” Hon. Oshun charged the DAWN Commission to engage organised South-West stakeholders and the public for economic and social transformation in the South-West.
He said, “All collaborative processes rely on mutual understanding and appreciation of differences; hence, the governors as heads of their respective states must discount their political differences and continue with their regular consultative zonal meetings and must see themselves as the main agents of change.
“They must integrate policies on security, education, health, and transportation together and look at sustainable development to end hunger, promote employment, and create necessary infrastructure that will support development in the country.”
Speaking at the event, Director-General, Development Agenda for Western Nigeria, Dr. Seye Oyeleye, said the commission is trying to foster greater integration in South-West. He said the region is working collaboratively in the area of agriculture to ensure that the Lagos Rice Mill in Imota has a lot of input from states in the South-West.
Oyeleye said the South-West Development Commission (SWDC), when fully operational, should focus on game-changing projects like power, transportation, and agriculture to trigger development in the region.
He said, “We are now moving into an era where the Federal Government itself is talking about regional development commissions, and part of the things we are looking forward to when our own South-West Development Commission takes off is the fact that we want to engender regional game-changing projects, and it is better for us now to meet together and agree on what we will be pushing forward.
“We want regional game-changing projects. South-West needs to move very fast. It is the fastest-growing region in the country. Lagos is in the South-West, and Lagos is the fourth largest economy in Africa.
“Our market, when we talk of South-West, is not just Nigeria but the entire West Africa. So, it is in our interest to work together and ensure that we put in place infrastructure that would make the South-West number one. We want to move together as a bloc.”
In his address, the Special Adviser to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu on DAWN Commission Matters, Hon. Ismail Odesanya, expressed the commitment of the Lagos State Government and other South-West states to the DAWN Commission for the sustainable growth and development of the region
