S’South Urged To Harmonise Dev Plans

Governor of Rivers State, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, has urged South-South states to harmoniSe their various development plans.

 The Governor, who made the call at the South-South Zonal Forum for the First Nigeria Vision 2020 Implementation Plan held in Port Harcourt yesterday, asked the states in the region to produce their respective plans in line with their unique visions, priorities and resource limitations.

 Represented at the occasion by his deputy, Engr. Tele Ikuru, Governor Amaechi expressed confidence that the nation’s Vision 20:2020 would not fail as Vision 2010, because it has a driver, who knows what it takes to realise the vision and a Federal Government interested in the vision.

 Governor Amaechi expressed happiness that the South-South was the first zone where the forum took place, advising the states in the zone to have economic integration at the back of their minds while discussing the vision.

 Also speaking, the Ministerl Deputy Chairman, National Planning Commission, Dr. Shamsudeen Usman, explained that the regional forum became necessary because each State of the Federation has its own unique resource endowment, level of development and basic needs, noting that the various plans of the states and regions would then be brought together to form a national plan since, neither the states nor the federal government can do it alone.

 The Minister promised that the National Planning Commission would give technical support to states to realiSe their plans, stressing that the support would also assist states lagging behind to keep pace with stronger ones.

 He commended the Rivers State Government for being the first to organiSe this forum that would give Nigerians a document that would guide the nation to achieve her target of being one of the largest 20 economies in the world by the year 2020.

 Earlier, the Rivers State Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, Mr. Charles Gogo Levi, urged the forum to focus on the initiatives that would address the developmental challenges and opportunities peculiar to the region, emphasiSing the need for collaboration, co­ordination and co-operation within the levels of governments in Nigeria to achieve the needed development objectives.