All the governors of the Southwest states of Nigeria, Monday, met in Abeokuta under the aegis of Western Governors’ Forum to discuss mutually benefiting issues especially regional integration.
For record purposes, we hereby reproduce the Communiqué issued after the historic parley. Enjoy:
QUARTERLY WESTERN NIGERIA GOVERNORS’ FORUM MEETING
HELD AT THE MITROS HALL, MITROS RESIDENCES, GATEWAY ANNEX, ABEOKUTA, OGUN STATE
ON MONDAY, 24, JULY, 2017
THEME: ECONOMIC SELF-DETERMINATION FOR WESTERN NIGERIA; The Export Alternative.
The meeting which was hosted by the Governor of Ogun State, H.E, Senator Ibikunle Amosun CON, FCA had in attendance:
1 Governor of Ekiti State H.E, Mr. Ayodele Fayose
2 Governor of Lagos State H.E, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode
3 Governor of Oyo State H.E, Senator Abiola Ajimobi
4 Governor of Ondo State H.E, Arakunrin Rotimi Akeredolu SAN
5 Governor of the State of Osun H.E, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola
Also in attendance were the Deputy Governor of Ogun State, Chief Mrs Yetunde Onanuga, the Acting Director-General DAWN Commission, Mr. Seye Oyeleye; Group Managing Director, Odua Investment Limited, Mr. Adewale Raji; President, Koinonia Global Services, Mr Femi Boyede, Mr O.A Odugbemi MFR and some very high level officials across the States in the Region.
The meeting was primarily focused on strong and implementable decisions that would drive the sustainable development of the Southwest Region.
The theme of this meeting is ECONOMIC SELF-DETERMINATION FOR WESTERN NIGERIA; THE EXPORT ALTERNATIVE. At the end of the meeting, the Governors of the Region agreed and resolved henceforth:
- DAWN is directed to develop a 25-year Western Nigeria development Masterplan.
- That a joint task force and Joint actions will be pursued and sustained on security threats to guarantee the safety of lives, property and prosperity of the people of the region
- That western Nigeria is hereby declared a ZERO TOLERANCE ZONE.
- That the artificial boundaries of states, religions, political affiliations etc will not be a barrier to regional development. All the States are encouraged to significantly improve bilateral and multilateral cooperation to foster Regional development
- That the competitive advantage of constituent states would be harnessed for sustainable regional development.
- That DAWN should develop a Revenue optimization strategy for constituent states of the region.
- In order to improve the food security of the region, DAWN should convene a regional agric summit to be held in Ibadan
- That Approval is given for the establishment of a Western Nigeria Export Development Initiative (WENEDI) to drive the export potentials of the region
- That synergy of DAWN Commission, ODUA group and other critical stakeholders should develop a framework to drive the commercial and industrialization competitiveness of the Region.
- That a committee be set up for codification of our values and ethos as an instrument of Yoruba uniqueness to strengthen our identity and unity of purpose.
- That the forum be known henceforth as WESTERN NIGERIA GOVERNORS’ FORUM.
SUMMARY
At the end of the forum, all participants agreed that regional integration as a sustainable economic development paradigm presents the Western Region, and indeed the whole of Nigeria, a pathway into economic prosperity for all.
NEXT MEETING
The Forum agreed that His Excellency, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode FCA, Governor of Lagos State is scheduled to host the next meeting of the Western Nigeria Governors’ Forum.
Western Nigeria Governors Forum
Monday, 24 July 2017
