THE three day South'South Economic Summit that ended at the weekend in Asaba, Delta State with a call to restructure Nigeria and unbundle the federal government.A statement, which was jointly issued by host Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan; his counterpart from Edo State, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole; Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State; Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers; Liyel Imoke of Cross Rivers; and Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom after three days of jaw-jaw in the Delta State capital of Asaba summed it all up.They called for a review of the allocation formula to give more power, responsibilities and funding to the states and councils as centres for growth.According to them, there was an urgent need to strengthen the nascent governance structure in the Region to incorporate private sector and other non-state actors with a view to creating favourable policy, legal and regulatory environment that will stimulate greater private sector participation in the development initiatives of the Region.On the first day of the conference, which was attended by President Goodluck Jonathan, Rwandan President Paul Kegame, Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka and a host of others, a diversification agenda hinged on effective exploitation of resources and devolution of power were identified by the overwhelming majority of the speakers as the panacea for a sustainable economic development and growth in the country while on its part, the Federal Government resolved to pursue the economic transformation agenda.Represented by Vice-President Namadi Sambo, he told the governor of the zone, with other stakeholders and experts which met to brainstorm on a growth agenda 'beyond oil and gas disclosed that it has approved $40 billion (N65 billion) for the procurement of facilities that would not only stop gas flaring in the country but also harvest the commodity for industrial and domestic operations.Also, the designs of the new East-West railway line and second Niger Bridge have almost been concluded, even as the administration affirmed that the power crisis that has been assailing the economy would 'soon be a thing of the past'.The President told the audience which included captains of industry and top bank executives, who groaned under the pangs of power outages at the venue of the Forum, that 'very soon, there will be no power outages in the country.'Already, he said licences will soon be issued to states for the generation and distribution of electricity in their respective areas of administration.He explained that the administration has been pursuing an economic growth agenda 'without oil', with 'opportunities in the country being exploited to achieve an economic diversification programme.'Up from decades of genocidal conflict, Kegame of the tiny East African nation of Rwanda advised to Nigerian leaders to strive to diversify its economic base, without decelerating on the promotion of its oil and gas sector.Kegame who was represented by a top official of his administration, John Ogara, argued that the insinuation of 'oil and resource curse' was only scripted by Africa detractors, noting that with prudent management of resources, Nigeria should be able to leverage on its hydrocarbon reserves to promote the fortunes of its economy.According to him, Rwanda was able to rise from the ashes of genocidal war that crippled its economy development, through determination and will power.He pointed out that Nigeria needs to pursue pro-active measures that would ensure effective mobilization of its vast resources in achieving a well-deserved economy, even as its oil and gas sector continues to play strategic part in in the country's transformation agenda.For Nigeria to take the great leap, the country has to improve its infrastructural facilities, towards building a virile enabling environment for business to thrive.He told the cheering audience that in his country, it takes only an incredible six hours to register a company for business, which he said has promoted exploitation of opportunities in the economy.Soyinka hammered on the importance of intra-regional economic empowerment that would ensure a weaker central administration as a strategic path to true federalism.After decades of crying in the wilderness, demanding stridently for a Sovereign National Conference, he vowed that he would now talk less on the conference, since the promotion of intra-regional economic blocs was a step in the right direction and could achieve the same purpose. He explained that a weaker central power would engender the needed devolution to the lower tiers of government and thereby bring about effective development of the grassroots and true Federalism.He decried the current security challenges currently facing the country, saying that the enthronement of good governance, planked on transparency and concern for the general well-being of the people would provide the strategic antidote to the crisis.Echoing Soyinka, Oshiomhole called on members of the National Assembly to amend the 1999 Constitution, which vested too much on the Federal Government at the expense of states.Oshiomhole called on the federal lawmakers to amend the present revenue allocation formula allocation, which at 52.4 per cent was very much is in favour of the centre. The Federal Government, he emphasised was taking too much money from the Federation Account at the expense of the 36 state governmentsThe quest for true federalism was also the major theme of Akpabio and Amaechi. The demand by Akpabio that a strong centre should be unbundled caught the attention of Soyinka who smiled and nodded his head, saying: 'I like that. I think that is the right word. The Federal Government should be unbundled. There is too much power at the centre.'With hundreds of parastatals and agencies, which are not necessary, Akpabio said that the Federal Government was chewing more than it can swallow and pleading like Oshiomole that the revenue allocation formula should be reviewed.The persistent call for the restructuring and unbundling of the federal might obviously got on the nerves of the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala when Amaechi lashed out at the controversial Sovereign Wealth Fund. But a rather irritated Okonjo-Iweala took time to lecture Amaechi, the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum and his colleagues on the imperative of the Wealth Fund from an economic perspective.Amidst a thunderous applause by the audience, Amaechie charged: 'During the last allocation, the Federal Government grabbed over N400 billion from the Federation Account and gave about N100 billion to the 36 states, yet they want to save our money.'The governors, he said should be allowed to spend and save their money as they like. But Okonjo-Iweala explained that there is only one national economy in the country and that the Federal Government and not the states was better placed to handle the economy. Sheexplained that the Sovereign Wealth Fund was necessary because of the volatility of crude oil price which is the mainstay of Nigeria's economy..'Notwithstanding the absence of the former Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff of the United States Armed Forces, Admiral Mike Mullen and former Mayor of New York, Rudy Giuliani who failed to turn up as following the advice by the United States Consulate officials in Lagos, the conference coasted home.Mullen who was billed to speak on 'Conversations on Terrorism and Securing the Gulf of Guinea' and did not show up because of insecurity occasioned by the recent attacks by Boko Haram. But Oshiomhole faulted the Americans for not coming, pointing out that in spite of the 2001 bombing of the World Trade Centre in New York, people still travelled to the city. Oshiomhole said there was an exaggeration of security challenges in the country by western nations and advised them to assist the government in tackling the situation.Security challenges however formed a robust discussion both by the National Security Adviser Gen. Andrew Azazi, state governors and other stakeholders. Azazi said the decision to stop the lead speakers to Asaba may not be unconnected with the recent Abuja and Kaduna bomb blasts last Thursday just asAzazi who took a swipe at the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said that the action of the party in zoning offices had directly contributed to the upsurge of the activities of the sect which he insisted had increased since the emergence of Jonathan as President as some Northerners felt it was still their turn to rule after the death of President Umaru Yar'Adua.He admitted that solution to security challenges could not be found overnight even as he condemned the fire brigade approach in handling security matters.He said: 'We need to change the discourse, face the issue comprehensively, equip and retrain the personnel and I think we are not doing that.'The governors reaffirmed the imperative of regional co-operation as a practical path towards national development and welcome the emergence of other Regional Development Commissions with expression of readiness for co-operation with them by BRACED Commission.The governors said that there has been tremendous improvement on the security situation in the region and further the South ' South as a region of peace, stability and immense investment opportunities and called upon its development partners to support the region.While urging the restructuring and unbundling of the Federal Government, they argued that there was need to review the current policies and regulations on power and gas to enable the states generate, transmit and distribute power to complement the efforts of the Federal Government and facilitate the utilization of moribund capacity in the Region.According to them, such a move will promote and accelerate economic development in the South ' South Region. In pursuit of this, the Summit accepted the development of a Niger Delta Energy Corridor, a project with potentials for connecting the people, industry and natural resources and creating jobs.On education, they said that they would ensure quality education in the region and the adoption of ICT and collateral equipment for all levels of education (primary, secondary and tertiary). A renewed impetus in the areas of curriculum development, teachers' preparation, re-certification (in-service and professional education) and holistic training approach was recommended.They resolved to develop integrated transport facilities in the region, through a balanced development of rail, roads, waterways and airport facilities and also to partner with the Federal Government and the Private Sector in the development of the Lagos ' Calabar Railway Lines Project and press for the urgent completion of the East ' West Highway.With the unshared enthusiasm over the convocation of the Soverign National Conference (SNC) to address the national question, the regional economic grouping of the South-South states and their counterparts in the South West and South East may provide a leeway into resolving some of the socio-economic problems presently bedevilling the country.
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