A new dawn in the southwest?

Last week, governors of the southwest region met at Ado Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital to discuss issues affecting the zone. Interestingly, the gadfly among them, Peter Ayodele Fayose, hosted the meeting where there was only one absentee, Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State. Hate him or like him, Fayose’s speech at the meeting touched on core issues affecting the welfare of citizens of the six states these gentlemen were elected to govern. Significantly too, a woman, the deputy governor, represented Amosun at the meeting just as we should not forget that four of the governors have women as their deputies.

We must also give credit to the DAWN Commission, which, according to its website, “was set up by the Governments of the Southwest States of Nigeria as the institutional and programme management body to midwife their regional integration agenda.” Apart from posing nicely for photographs, they also adopted a communiqué outlining their agenda or the issues they believe are germane to their respective states. We shall come to that later. The meeting itself could be seen in the context of the classical half empty or half full glass analogy. There are those who see it as a good step especially considering the political divisions among the governors, both inter party and intra party; while some see it as too little against the backdrop of the challenges assailing the six states.

The Commission, however, deserves kudos for bringing together our lords and masters in Yoruba land. Yes, that’s the way they carry themselves thinking that they are doing us a favour serving us. Last year, this column challenged the governors to do something about the terrible and pathetic state of education after the release of the senior school certificate examinations results, with only Lagos and Ekiti States in the top 10 states. A gentleman from Afenifere Renewal Group (ARG) subsequently contacted me on how the organisation had foreseen such calamity and actually organised a conference on primary and secondary education in the region. He further sent me copies of papers delivered by scholars and educationists at the conference, which was not attended by any official of the state governments. ARG later sent copies of the conclusions reached at the conference to the governors, which only one or two bothered to acknowledge receipt, but without further discussion.

A cursory look at the six states will reveal a state of anomie with only, perhaps, Lagos offering a flicker of hope. When one considers the opacity with which Lagos conducts its affairs especially the budget, we will do a double take before praising the state. Still, however, it is the best among the pack. But what do we have in the other five states? Some with great promise have become a shadow of their former selves with unpaid salaries, big-for-nothing projects like air-conditioned pedestrian bridges, bridges to nowhere in an agrarian state, mega schools without well remunerated or happy teachers, and airports to satisfy individual egos and personal interests among other inanities paraded as governance. For an area adjudged as the fastest growing in the Commonwealth when the late Obafemi Awolowo held sway, it is doubtful if we can go lower than where we are presently. Our governors are supposed to be cosmopolitan and urbane, but sometimes they pass for touts going by their utterances and actions.

If, however, they are promising that things will change for the better, though not like the one we are witnessing nationally now, maybe there is hope for the region. If they are saying that there would be greater cooperation on issues of security, law and order, we can shout for joy as similar security issues assail the states. My visits to parts of Oyo and Osun States during the Christmas period revealed the havoc being wreaked by herdsmen whether Fulani or not. Folks are abandoning farming as they are losing money fast and we seem to be heading towards a food crisis as small holding farmers are not equipped enough to confront the menace. The platform under which police commissioners will meet need to be sorted out, as they are not under the control of the governors. Only those who live in border areas can explain their frustration and agony, as policemen cannot cross borders to help victims due to jurisdictional issues. Hopefully too, the uniform educational curriculum being proposed will come to light, as we need to make up for lost ground educationally.

Of course the communiqué would be incomplete without the usual platitudes about transportation, telecommunication, agricultural cooperation and economy of scale using the Odua Investment Group. The governors need to interrogate the past a little bit. The talk about a rail line linking the states was first mooted under the governorship of the 1999 to 2003 set, so it’s not a new thing. How many companies under the Odua umbrella have been sold? Why were they sold? Good enough that we have set the ball rolling, let’s hope that it will not be another talk shop without corresponding action.