By Raphael Ede Enugu
Governor Seriake Dickson has been appointed forum chairman of the South-south geo-political zone by the governors of the zone, to enable them present a common front on issues of cooperation and economic benefi ts for zone and the country. Dickson thanked his colleagues for the confi dence reposed in him and called for the support and robust partnership of the governors, leaders and people of the zone to reposition the South-south, a region with enormous resources, vast potentials and challenges Th e governor, however, disclosed the South-south Governor’s Forum inaugural meeting would hold in Port Harcourt, Rivers state on August 28, 2017.
At the combined meeting, the South-south and South-east governors resolved to pursue inter-regional cooperation and integration for the economic benefi t of the two regions and unity of Nigeria. Th e resolution, at the Nike Lake Resort in Enugu, the Enugu state Capital, had Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers state, Governor of Cross River state, Prof Ben Ayade, his Abia state counterpart, Chief Okezie Ikpeazu, Owelle Rochas Okorocha of Imo state, while the Anambra state Governor was represented by his Deputy, Dr. Nkem Okeke. Others are Governor Udom Emmanuel of Akwa-Ibom state and the host Governor, Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu state, all in attendance. Delivering a four-point communiqué to newsmen shortly after the meeting, Governor Emmanuel noted that, the governors agreed to work together and realign to strengthen the socio-cultural relationships existing between people of the two regions.
Udom said the inaugural meeting also unanimously endorsed him as the interim Chairman of the South-south and South-east Governors’ Forum, which comprised 11 states. He said the Forum reviewed the state of the nation, particularly the issues aff ecting the two regions and also fi xed its next meeting for August 27, 2017 in Port Harcourt, the Rivers state capital. Earlier, in his opening remarks, host Governor Ugwuanyi noted that “building a stronger inter-regional socioeconomic and political bloc would provide the benefi ts of economies of scale and better economies of scale and attract both local and foreign investments to the two regions.” Ugwuanyi, who canvassed the support of his South-south colleagues in the ongoing eff orts to create a South East Development Commission, maintained that, eff ective interregional cooperation would enable the leaders command greater political capital to infl uence the decisions of the federal government for the betterment of their people. He, however, urged the forum to speak with one voice and appealed to the federal government to review its borrowing plans from the China EXIM Bank for a railway development, with a view to including the Eastern railway corridor.
