All is now set for the 17 Southern governors to converge in Lagos State on Monday for a follow-up meeting to the one held in Asaba, Delta State on May 11, this year.
They will be in one accord as they review the state of the nation as it affects the three geo-political zones.
The meeting being hosted by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu is not meant to fuel division in the country. The main objective is to further articulate collective interest and reiterate commitment to a united Nigeria capable of guaranteeing equity, fairness and justice in an atmosphere of true federalism.
Political difference will be momentarily downplayed. Reminiscent of the Asaba meeting hosted by Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, the welfare of the people of Southern Nigeria will take the central stage, displacing the partisan acrimony between the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the three geo-political regions.
Since the historic Asaba meeting, no concrete step has been taken to actualise some of the critical resolutions. The17 paper-weight chief security officers of dispirited Southern states have their joint constraints. They are toothless bulldogs who could only bark and not bite. Since their return from Asaba, their activities have been restricted to media comments in support of their resolutions. Instead of asking the Attorneys-General of the Southern states to forward bills to the respective Houses of Assembly to support their ban on open grazing, there is shortage of courage.
Nevertheless, tomorrow’s meeting is still important, even if it is to reiterate their position on the contentious national question.
Will the governors review their previous resolutions? Will they come up with novel suggestions on how to reconfigure the flawed or lopsided federal arrangement?
United by geography, Southern states have identical problems, ranging from dwindling revenue and poor infrastructure to soaring unemployment and perceived marginalisation by the distant Federal Government. But, more importantly, the three Southern zones face a common threat. The worsening security challenge has taxed them to the extreme.
The governors are under attack by separatist agitators who perceive them as obstacles to the realisation of their illusory objective. They can hardly tackle miniature security challenges in their domains because states under the flawed over-centralised constitution depend on the distant Federal Government for maintenance of law and order.
The new security challenges staring the powerless governors in the face were never anticipated. Northern kids follow cows to Southeast, Southwest and Southsouth states, destroying farms and crops. They allegedly harbour criminals, who kidnap, rape and kill. The governors raised eyebrows but federal authorities maintained that there is no restriction to freedom of movement for all citizens.
While the South is not against legitimate movement and trade within the confine of the law, only an insensitive governor would remain silent in the face of the unprovoked assault by armed herders and criminals on his people.
To check the herder/farmer crisis and other forms of criminality, the governors of the Southwest set up Amotekun as a regional security outfit. Their Southeast counterparts tried to float Ebube Agu, but without success.
Although the governors are largely camouflage state chief security officers, these efforts paid off. It raised security awareness. Now, the criminals know that they are under the prying eyes of patriotic, indigenous security agents.
If the invaders and killer-herders have not been checked in the Southwest, the scenario in the Northeast and Northwest may have been replicated in the South.
Credit: thenationonlineng.net
