Arrangements are being concluded by the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN) Commission to hold an interactive session with the presidential candidates of major political parties in the country.
This was made known in a statement signed, on Wednesday by the Director General of the Commission, Mr Seye Oyeleye.
He said the interactive session, will hold in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital sometime in November, adding that it will afford the presidential hopefuls the opportunity to articulate their agenda as it specifically relates to South West Nigeria.
According to Oyeleye, the parley will provide an opportunity for the politicians to robustly engage critical stakeholders in South West Nigeria on how they intend to turn the country around if elected in 2023.
“The idea of the public interactive session with the presidential candidates of the major political parties in the 2023 general elections was informed by the need to allow the candidates’ engagement with critical segments of the South West public on their agenda, plans and programmes.
With a population of about 50 million, its historical trajectory as the commercial nerve centre of Nigeria, strategic importance and huge potentials for national growth and development, DAWN is inviting the presidential candidates to outlay how they intend to incorporate South West in their agenda for a united, peaceful and prosperous Nigeria with specific attention to the region’s peculiarities.
“DAWN is further moved by the need to prevent the seeming uncertainties in the Nigerian political environment as well as the constant proclivities of political changes, both within the region and the country in general, from getting in the way of sustainable development.
“The strategic intent is to get and dissect the agenda of the candidates, and looking towards a cohesive, coherent and balanced approach to fast-track the development of Nigeria as a strategic nation state for the development of the African continent.
“It will also be an opportunity for the candidates to articulate their plans in the face of the clamour by the people of the South West of Nigeria for an unhindered and unconstrained socio-economic development.
“The DAWN commission convenes this event in recognition of its role as a strategic institution for pursuing the composite development interests of South West Nigeria, not as an exclusive territory, but as a region with her own unique orientation, challenges and development priorities within the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” the director general said.
He noted that the parley will build on a similar one organised by northern Nigerian leaders under the umbrella of Arewa Joint Committee.
DAWN Commission is the technocratic institution for the sustainable development of South West region of Nigeria.
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