That S’South Govs’ Asaba Meeting

A couple of weeks ago, the six South-South governors in Nigeria gathered in Asaba, the Delta State capital, under the umbrella of South-South Governors’ Forum. Central to their discussions and decisions were the moribund BRACED Commission and the establishment of a regional security outfit to tackle peculiar challenges in the region.
Speaking at the end of the meeting, the Forum’s Chairman and Governor of Delta State, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, said that the governors had agreed to resuscitate the BRACED Commission, which is a regional economic and integration platform. In addition, BRACED, which stands for Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa/Ibom, Cross River, Edo and Delta, would be mandated to come up with modalities on the establishment of the regional security outfit.
Indeed, The Tide is happy to note that, after years of lull since the formation of the BRACED Commission over 10 years ago and the seeming abandonment of its vision and mission by its founding founders and their successors, current governors in the region appear ready to take up the gauntlet once more. The commission, at inception, was intended to facilitate economic co-operation and developmental strategies within the region. It, however, failed to deliver on its promises after an apparent loud inaugural show, ironically, in the same Asaba, by its founding fathers.
Regrettably, we cannot claim to be ignorant of the foibles that made the BRACED Commission to suffer a stillbirth ab-initio after it was largely seen as a big step in the right direction by member-states.
Now that the incumbent governors have resolved to provide the needed logistics for the Commission to come back to life, we believe that it is a move that should be supported and encouraged by all that have the interest of the region at heart. We believe so because the importance of economic co-operation, unity of purpose and streamlined strategy towards common challenges in the region outweigh individual approach and one dimensional strategy.
Indeed, the South-South region, in spite of being the goose that lays the golden egg for Nigeria, has peculiar problems, ranging from economic, social to political. In fact, the level of lack of development in most communities of the region in the face of its often touted wealth is a paradox of contrasts.
There is no gainsaying that the people of the region have suffered severe deprivations and we think that through the BRACED Commission, provided that the objectives are right, the people can pool resources together and take the region to the next level.
With the Commission given the necessary shot in the arm, it would present the region the platform to articulate common areas of cooperation, tackle issues with one voice and seek to attract attention and development for the region. It must, however, be noted that, for the commission to be viable, efforts must not be spared in providing the logistics it needs to function optimally.
More importantly, the governors should do well to provide the leadership and vision needed by the Commission, while an administrative structure in which all the states would be represented is required for the needed cohesion, vibrancy, unity of purpose and economic empowerment to be engendered.
We think that the Commission should be seen as a serious business platform to advance the interest of the region rather than a mere social meeting or a forum for competition. It is a known fact that the Commission, despite its ideals and promises at formation, suffered setback due to ego problems, personal agenda and political differences among the founding governors. This must not be allowed to play out again. The larger interest of the region is paramount and should be above that of an individual, including any of the governors.
It is time to drive the wheel of development and progress of the region forward and no state in the zone should be left behind.
In addition, we support the Forum’s idea of setting up a security outfit for the region.
Currently on the front burner in the country is the issue of regional and community policing. In fact, the decision of the Forum on this subject matter could not have come at a better time, especially, considering the coming on stream of the South-West security outfit, Amotekun, the prevailing precarious security situation in the country and the peculiar security challenges in the region.
However, the region must not play to the gallery or join the bandwagon for the sake of it. We expect the political leaders to sit back and design a workable security blueprint that will be suitable to the zone. Such blueprint would not only seek to collaborate with the extant security agencies to provide law and order and protect lives and property but to promote a safe environment for business and leisure in the interest of the region’s economy.
Governors in the region are expected to rise above personal disagreements, political differences and ethnic considerations to speak in one voice on this matter. Security is serious business and an efficient and effective outfit is needed in the region to drive safe living and robust economy. If we dilly-dally while other regions secure their frontiers, criminals would naturally seek for a safe haven and would readily take advantage of any porous zone.