DAWN: Southwest’s journey to self-rediscovery

Posted by: Augustine Avwode in Politics 15 hours ago

The Southwest governors have inaugurated the office for the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN) Commission at Ibadan, the Oyo State capital. Assistant Editor AUGUSTINE AVWODE writes on the vehicle designed to fast track the integrated development of the region.

The Southwest is thinking tomorrow today. The region is in a hurry to re-enact the ‘good old days’ when the Western Region was ahead in both infrastructure and socio-economic development in the country. Those were the golden era of Nigeria’s development in the early 1950s to 1966, otherwise known as the pre-independence and immediate post independence era.

The geo-political zone is working assiduously to achieve this dream through a module aptly christened Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN) Commission. DAWN is to serve as the purveyor of the integration drive. Though, now made up of six states, the region still enjoys the privilege of linguistic homogeneity and geographical contiguity.

All over the world, regional integration has been described as the key to rapid development. Therefore, many countries are collaborating and cooperating in their bid to form a stronger united front. In the same vein, states within federations are coming together to derive maximum benefits from the idea of cooperating. DAWN is a project packed with lofty dreams.

The governors took another bold step towards the realisation of the project last week. They inaugurated the office of the DAWN Commission at Cocoa House, Ibadan. Present at the commissioning were Governors Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola of the State of Osun, Senator Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State, Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State and Dr Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State. Also present were Hon. Olawale Oshun, the Chairman of Afenifere Renewal Group (ARG), the organisation that produced the DAWN document and helped midwife the commission.

Governor Ajimobi said the inauguration of the DAWN Commission office was a way of showing their “commitment to regional integration.” He further said that: “We have set up regional integration offices in our respective states. We are committed to exploring our strengths for common good in terms of commerce and infrastructural development. In the end, our objective is to turn our region into a place of enviable development and a competitive destination for credible investors,” he said.

The DAWN commission, according to its Director General, Dipo Famakinwa, deserves the support of all Yoruba indigenes because it seeks to restore the Southwest region to global competitiveness witnessed when the late sage Chief Obafemi Awolowo was the region’s Premier.

“This project is not political; it is strictly developmental. It will remain committed to the development of Yorubaland. DAWN will restore the dignity of the past and connect it with present realities and future opportunities.

“We will embark on projects, not because we want to be seen, but, because it has been well thought out in line with best practices and best interest of the region. This building (Cocoa House) for example is a testimony to the resilience of Yoruba people. Elsewhere, it would have been sold or even converted into residence,” he said.

To drive the point home more forcefully, ARG’s Secretary General Ayo Afolabi said: “We have strayed from our developmental trajectory, for which we were known and it looked like we would never get it again. It looked like the good old days of Chief Awolowo would forever be history but I am happy that today we started on that developmental roadmap. I no longer look into the future with despair but with optimistic assurance,” he said.

Skewed federalism

A political scientist and public affairs analyst, Mallam Moyo Jaji, praised the initiative, saying the skewed nature of Nigeria’s federalism has made it imperative for any region that desires growth and development to go the way of the Southwest.

“The DAWN Commission is a very welcomed development. Why did I say so? The momentum of development started by the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, was truncated by the emergence of military adventurers in 1966. He made the Western region a reference point in the First Republic. Going by the kind of skewed federalism we are practicing in Nigeria now, if such a programme is not put in place, you will discover that your development will be stagnated. In a situation where other zones don’t want to develop, if you want to develop, then you just have to chart your own programme and that is why the DAWN project is attractive to me”.

He said, even though one out of the six states is being controlled by a different party, the region’s integration will not suffer because it should not be determined by party consideration or affiliation.

“Government is all about development; therefore, party differences should not hinder what is good for your people. I am sure the states in the region are determined to make this a shining example for others to follow. Without sounding immodest, I can tell you that the Southwestern part of the country is still the most developed in the country and it behoves us to maintain that momentum for others to copy.”

Mallam Jaji said his criticism of the federal arrangement in the country is premised on the fact that the super-structure remains largely faulty. This, he said, makes the component parts look as if they are unable to optimize their potential and everyone is forced to depend on the centre for handouts. Such a situation, he said, will not augur well for the regions. To stay afloat, he argued, “there must be a programme of this nature, which seeks to fast track the development of regions, that is why we should encourage it.

Comparative advantage

The Southwest region is not in the mood to concede its economic leadership in the country to any other zone. If anything, it is to make the region as self sufficient as possible.

Speaking to The Nation, Lagos State Chairman of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) Chief Henry Ajomale said DAWN as conceived, is much more than just going back to the good old days. He explained that it is to also ensure that the zone enjoys the comparative economic advantage that it has to the very maximum.

“The DAWN Commission is not just desgined for a return, if you like, to the good old days of the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo. It is more than that. It is to ensure that we maximize the comparative advantage economically, that we have in the Southwest. What do I mean? If you are producing something, others will come and support you to develop it to the maximum. If for example you are good at Cocoa production for instance, that is a cash crop, we will support you. If it is animal husbandry like you have in places like Shaki and Isoyin in Oyo State, we will help you to the point that it will expand in scope so that all the others states that are not producing this type of product will have to depend on you for supply of life stock.

“Economically, therefore, that state will become strengthened and develop because there is a lot that will be going for it as other state will be demanding from them. Whether it is rice, tomato or cassava, there wouldn’t be need to go to another region or depend on another state when one of you can produce such a product. All you need is just go there for the supply.

“If you look at what Osun State has done now with the Nigeria Railway Corporation by signing an understating to transport the produce from the state to Lagos, it is a good idea. Once the products get to Iddo, there is a ready market for them, therefore, nothing will be wasted. The advantage of Lagos to their farmers is so much. Lagos doesn’t produce much of these things because of its geographical location. It is waterlogged. If you talk of fishery, yes, but for the others, they have to depend on the others. We have the population to consume most of these things from the other states in the region. So we encourage them that whatever they are able to produce will be consumed here. And the financial benefit will go to them and they can use it to develop their state. “, he said.

He said the DAWN Commission is also looking at infrastructure development by linking all the states in the region by developing roads both in the urban areas and the hinterland.

“Very sure, of course, the DAWN Commission is looking at that aspect. The plan is to link all the states in the region and even the hinterland. The objective is to enable the farmers to evacuate their produce from the hinterland to the cities. If this is not done, it will affect the farmers. They are planning to interlink all the states in terms of health delivery, education and other infrastructure in the region.”

The 2020 focus

The purpose of the DAWN, it was learnt, is to foster regional co-operation and integration apart from being a catalyst for decentralization. It all began at a retreat held on between July 22 – 24, 2011, at the University of Ibadan Conference Centre, Ibadan, Oyo State, and attended by a constellation of the best intellectuals, technocrats and professionals in Yorubaland, at which the DAWN framework for action was developed. The development agenda, principally, seeks to encourage the Southwest states to develop a common set of integrated development strategies that enable the region and its citizens to experience a well-managed process of development, across all spheres of existence.

Chief Ajomale said the initial focus of the DAWN is 2020 and that after that period, it will be reviewed to see how it has performed. “Our initial target is 2020, between now and then, we want to see what we can make or able to do. After that, then we would evaluate it and then we can now say let us move on to 2030 and go further and talk of another Master Plan for the next 10 years,” he said.

From now till 2020, having inaugurated the office, the governments of the states in the Southwest now owe their people the duty to breathe life into an enviable dream. The nation, nay the people of the Southwest are waiting.

http://thenationonlineng.net/new/dawn-southwests-journey-to-self-rediscovery/