Grapevine

Use Awolowo’s philosophy to manage S’West commission – Afenifere chieftain

The South West Development Commission, as passed by the Senate and the House of Representatives, is a welcome addition to the extensive and impressive collection of development tools for the rapid economic growth of our region. It is a welcome policy as long as the unitary constitution we are operating under is still in force.

For me, it is a natural and inevitable consequence of our national policy direction and trajectory. The South-West will embrace it and make the best use of it. The SWDC can transform the infrastructural landscape of the South-West and provide the necessary platform and impetus for all-round development. For instance, there is an urgent need for inter-state railway networks that will directly link most major towns, farms, and industrial hubs across the region.

However, there is a fundamental provision that focuses on the management of the commission. This must be entrusted to competent, passionate, and resilient people guided by Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s man-centred philosophy. Such individuals must be self-driven and self-motivated to design and promote a development agenda for the benefit of the region and its people.

There is a need for urgency regarding a restructured polity to further enhance the idea of a development commission, which is, at best, an economic tool to drive sustainable development.

They cannot be adapted to resolve fundamental political challenges. This is evident from our experience of conflicts in virtually all geo-political zones. While we savour the prospects of renewed initiatives to galvanise development in the region, we must redouble our efforts to realise a genuine political restructuring of Nigeria, which, rather than ceding more control to the centre, ensures that federating states gain more powers and resources to chart their preferred paths to wholesome development. This is the path that guarantees peace, progress, and prosperity. It remains the ultimate path to follow.