I would like the Yorubas of Kwara and Kogi get their Odo Oya State, which should become part of the southwest geo-political zone. Then the seven governors can pursue an aggressive agenda like this

Ayo Akinfe

[1] The South West Governors Forum shall provide loans with interest rates of no more than 5% interest to anyone wishing to delve into agriculture. Such loans will be tailored towards buying hybrid seedlings, pesticides, herbicides, fertilisers and farming equipment like tractors, water tanks, silos, barns, etc

[2] Under the auspices of the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (Dawn), the governors will make land available to everyone interested in venturing into agriculture. Their policy will encourage farmers to pool their resources together and form cooperatives to enhance unit-per-head output and make the use of machinery possible. Smallholdings have low output

[3] They will build a freight railway network linking all seven states to easily transport farm produce within the geo-political zone. The aim is to get this started in 2030 under China’s Belt and Road Initiative

[4] As from October 1 2027, the export of primary produce will be banned across the geo-political zone. Every agricultural product, solid mineral or primary commodity produced within the southwest geo-political zone must be processed with at least 50% value addition before it is exported

[5] All 159 local governments within the seven states will be given full autonomy. State governors, will not touch a penny of the local government budgets

[6] All seven governors commit to allowing the Independent National Electoral Commission to conduct local government elections across the seven states directly. From henceforth, no state government shall be involved in local government polls

[7] All seven governors commit to funding a regional police force on this case to be known as Amotekun. To avoid it being used as a private army of political thugs, at least four of the seven governors in the region must sanction the deployment of Amotekun operations for major operations

[8] Dawn shall be constructing at least three major sea ports along the coastline between Lagos and Ondo States to relieve the pressure on Apapa. This shall include one in Badagry in Lagos State, Olokola in Ogun State and Ayetoro in Ondo State

[9] Each of the seven governors commits to attracting at least $5bn in foreign direct investment annually. They also pledge to generate at least 90% of their annual budgets from internally generated revenue

[10] All seven governors commit to spending at least 30% of their budgets on education. As part of this policy, classes sizes in primary and secondary schools must not exceed 30

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