Oyo State governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, on Monday, lamented the underdevelopment of South-West states, after the demise of the sage, and Premier of old Western Region, Chief Obafemi Awolowo.
The governor, while speaking at a three-day legislative summit organised by The Nation in collaboration with Ceedee Resources at the Premier Hotel, Ibadan, eulogised the former Premier, observing that rather than build on the firsts of the First Republic, the South-West had witnessed an embarrassing regression.
According to him, since the departure of Chief Awolowo from governance, development has been far from the region.
“Since Chief Awolowo’s departure from governance, development has been far from the region. Rather than build on the firsts of the First Republic, the South-West had witnessed an embarrassing regression.
“It is a shame that, decades after the First Republic, with the advent of technology, sophistication and advancements in knowledge, that republic is still our benchmark of excellence and example of purity of mental sophistication,” he said.
The governor further said that one of the challenges facing the people of the region was the need to look backwards in order to move forward.
“For us to move forward as a region, we need to go back to the foundation of those sparkling performances of our forefathers and examine what gave birth to those evergreen records.
“If the Western Region was a pacesetter in infrastructure, quality of human capital and so on, why can’t we recreate this noble pedigree today for the benefit of the oncoming generation? This should be the greatest concern of this gathering,” the governor declared.
Governor Ajimobi, who noted that the key to integration and development in the states that make up the former Western Region were quality leadership and collaboration among the states, noted that, “we have had leaders at the state level who never appreciated the need for the integration of the South-West for the benefit of our people.”
He, therefore, recommended that the South-West states must collapse the social, political and legal walls against integration and development, saying, “The Action Congress of Nigeria, being driven by a sense of history and commitment to the ultimate good of the people, has identified the integration of the area that formerly constituted the old Western Region as a major factor for the wellbeing of our people.”
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