By Anietie Akpan
Southern Governors have thrown their weight behind the issue of fiscal federalism and devolution of power as they tinker with the idea of solid mineral control, establishment of state police and others.
This was contained in a 17 point communique endorsed by the Ogun State Governor and Chairman, Southern Governors’ Forum, Prince Dapo Abiodun; Anambra State Governor and Vice- Chairman of the Forum, Prof Charles C. Soludo and 16 other governors after their meeting recently in Abeokuta, Ogun state to foster unity and common grounds of interest.
To drive home their agitation for fiscal federalism, and devolution of power, they unanimously agreed that, “the minimum wage should be reflective of the cost of living and that each state should be allowed to negotiate its minimum wage”.
Furthering their discussion on fiscal federalism and devolution of power, they discussed the issue of solid mineral exploration and exploitation which today remains on the exclusive list in the constitution.
The Southern Governors expressed concern over current practices where “minerals licenses are issued, and exploitation are undertaken without recourse to state governments.
“These continue to be carried out often attracting criminal activities and attendant negative environmental impact, ecological degradation with no remediation commitments, and no revenue accruing to both States and the Federal Government”.
They also resolved to “continue to advocate for the creation of state police against the success of community-based regional security outfits that have significantly helped intelligence gathering. It is believed that this will enable Governors to be Chief Security Officers indeed”.
While applauding the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for conceptualizing and commencing the construction of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road project, which cuts across eight states, the forum noted that this laudable project will create employment in the construction industry ecosystem, boost productivity by drastically reducing travel time, promote tourism, and open up and integrate all the Southern States to more investment opportunities.
They however advocated that, “the Federal Government should rehabilitate, repair, and reconstruct Trunk A roads and transfer roads to states that have expressed interest in taking them over.
“The Forum will commission a regional multimodal transport master plan that prioritizes connectivity by rail, road, air, and water to enhance regional connectivity and facilitate the interstate and intra-region ease of doing business”.
Being the economic and industrial hub of the country, the Forum highlighted the need to address the inadequate power supply in the region and to achieve 90,000 MW of electricity to adequately serve the estimated 90 million people in the Southern Region (using the rule of thumb of 1,000 MW per 1 million population), member states were encouraged to take advantage of the recent constitutional amendment that now allows states to regulate, generate, transmit and distribute electricity whilst also considering renewable sources of energy.
Hence they noted the pressing need for an alternative power infrastructure grid to reduce the impact of grid collapse in the region.
The Forum recognized the necessity of total PMS (petrol) deregulation and pledged support to the Energy Transition programme of Mr. President and urged member states to implement a quick transition to Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) and Electric Vehicles (EVs) as a condition precedent to full deregulation to cushion effects on citizens.
The Southern Governors resolved to be more aggressive and intentional about food security and therefore enjoined all states “to intensify their agricultural resurgence/revolution initiatives based on the cash and food crops best suited for each region to achieve food sufficiency, self-reliance, and employment generation”.
In this regards, the States are encouraged to set up special agro-processing zones to extract the most value from the agro-value chain..
Members resolved to remain united and very committed to oneness of purpose noting that the physical boundaries that divide us do not compare to the strong bonds of enterprise, resilience, and culture that we share and unites us. Member States resolved to be deliberate about intra-region trade, partnerships, and investment facilitation and promotion which was agreed will require a structured and coordinated collaborative approach.
They resolved that the Southern States Development Agenda (SSDA) will be set up and will comprise a team whose primary responsibility is to outline a holistic plan to foster trade and investment, sustainable growth and development, economic prosperity, social harmony, and food security for the region. They will work hand in glove with individual states’ Investment Promotion and Facilitation Agencies, the Nigeria Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC), and other multilateral agencies.
