₦airaland Forum

Nigeria: Lagos State Governor Justifies Meeting of Southern Governors

Panafrican News Agency (Dakar)
By Segun Adeyemi

10 OCTOBER 2000


Lagos, Nigeria — Host Lagos Governor Bola Tinubu has justified Tuesday's maiden meeting of governors of the 17 states in southern Nigeria, saying such a gathering was necessary to strengthen the country's fledgling democracy.

In an apparent reference to criticism of such gathering as sectional and divisive, he said it should actually be encouraged and supported.

Nigeria: The Inside Story Of Southern Governors Parley In Enugu


14 JANUARY 2001

OPINION
By Jide Ajani

Lagos — It is not everyday that the executive governor of a state sits by his phone, calls his colleagues and extracts a commitment from them. But to host the Southern Governors Forum, it is increasingly becoming a ritual that every prospective host governor would have to go through.

It is necessary, and it will become more so as development gets stormier in the country. It was on the telephony note that the last lap of the preparations for the second in the series of the Southern governors' parley kicked off.

Nigeria: Conclave Of Governors


15 JANUARY 2001

The News (Lagos)
By Uba Aham

Lagos — When Senator Bola Tinubu, Lagos State Governor, strolled out of the conference hall of the Nike Lake Resort Hotel after the second summit of the Southern Governors, 10 January, he expressed his approval of the resolutions reached at the summit. "I am elated about our resolution to establish state police," he told this magazine. "Security," he asserted, "is a right, not a privilege for the people". The Governor who is an advocate of state police argued that the present situation whereby security of the masses is solely entrusted to the federal police gives room for fraud, irregularity and abuse of power. The governors, according to Tinubu, would not allow the issue of state police to be sabotaged by any act of omission or commission. He said they were determined to pursue it to a logical conclusion.

The summit had in its nine-point communique endorsed by all the 17 Southern governors, resolved that a constitutional amendment empowering states to establish the state police be pursued.

Nigeria: Southern Governors Meet Again In Benin City On March 26


19 MARCH 2001
Vanguard (Lagos)
By Jide Ajani, Political Editor

Lagos — Governors of the 17 southern states will between March 26 and 28 storm Benin City, the Edo State capital, for the third Southern Governors' Forum, Vanguard can reveal.

According to information available to Vanguard, the governors would, at the meeting, decide on how to tackle the federal government on the issue of revenue allocation.

Nigeria: Owerri to Host Next Southern Governors' Summit


11 SEPTEMBER 2001
The Guardian (Lagos)
By Tolu Olarewaju And Kola Alade

Ibadan — OWERRI, the Imo State capital is to host the fifth Southern Governors summit. The date, however, is yet to be determined

The two-day summit in Oyo State came to an end yesterday. Traditional drummers were on hand to bid state chief executives fare-well as they emerged from the council chambers, venue of the meeting.

Nigeria: Resource Control Tops Agenda of Southern Governors Summit

11 MARCH 2002
This Day (Lagos)
By Oma Djebah

Port Harcourt — The sixth quarterly summit of the 17 southern governors kicked off yesterday in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital with resource control and True Federalism topping the agenda.

By 7pm yesterday, no fewer than 10 of the 17 governors had arrived, throwing the oil city of Port-Harcourt into a carnival mood.

Nigeria: 7th Southern Governors' Summit: Same Agenda, Same Rhetorics


12 JULY 2002
This Day (Lagos)

Lagos — Samuel Ajayi reviews the Seventh Summit of Southern Governors in Akure, the Ondo State capital and writes that gradually, the meeting is becoming a forum of hammering on same issues every four months

If there was one thing that would remain indelible in the minds of those who witnessed the Seventh Summit of Southern Governors in Akure, Ondo State capital earlier in the week, it was the fact that the event was so rich in razzmatazz and empty in any radical departure of what has always been.

Nigeria: Southern Governors' Forum -- a Forum Out of Puff...and the Dangers Ahead

6 FEBRUARY 2004

OPINION
By Jide Ajani

After just seven summits, it appears the Southern Governors' Forum, SGF, designed to give a voice to the many problems of states south of the Niger, has gone the way of most things Nigerian - full of hope, brimming with expectations but mostly truncated. There are strong implications should the SGF be allowed to atrophy as is the case now because the real essence of what the forum once stood for, making a case of the south, is being befuddled by the fact that 16 of the 17 governors in the south are of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, stock, therefore, feathers should not be ruffled with an Olusegun Obasanjo as president. But power would someday go back to the north and a resuscitated SGF may be perceived as a mere hegemonist agenda to distract a president of northern extraction who would emerge then. What really went wrong with the forum and how can it be brought back to life.

"There is a mysterious cycle in human events. To some generations much is given. Of other generations much is expected. This generation has a rendezvouz with destiny"

Nigeria: FG Out to Discredit Us - Southern Govs

4 DECEMBER 2004
This Day (Lagos)
By Tokunbo Adedoja And Omon-Julius Onabu

Lagos/Benin-City — The 17 southern governors yesterday rose from a meeting in Benin-city, Edo State, declaring that the Federal Government was all out to "malign" state governors through sustained and deliberate efforts of its officials to create an impression that corruption exists only at the state level.

The governors, who expressed the need for the states and the Federal Government to collectively promote and ensure the sustenance of democracy and the corporate existence of the nation, said maligning state governors was not only unfair but it could also discredit government and promote lawlessness.

Nigeria: Southern Govs. Summit: Igbinedion Carpets FG Over Anambra Crisis

4 DECEMBER 2004
Daily Champion (Lagos)
By Vincent Adekoye

Benin — EDO State Governor, Chief Lucky Igbinedion has criticized the Federal Government over its inability to provide adequate security as well as the apparent inaction towards ending political crises in some parts of the country with Anambra State as a case in point.

He warned that this growing disquieting trend of resorting to unbridled violence as a means of seeking redress for perceived wrongs and achieving political advantage is capable of aborting the present political dispensation if not urgently checked.

Nigeria: Deductions: Southern Govs Lash FG

4 DECEMBER 2004
Vanguard (Lagos)
By Osaro Okhomina And Simon Ebegbulem

SEVENTEEN GOVERNORS of the Southern states of the federation rose from a meeting in Benin City yesterday, berating the Federal Government's inability to ensure the practice of true federalism and frustrating efforts of the state governors to take total control of security apparatus in their states. They insisted that these failures were responsible for recurring national problems

The 8th summit of the Southern Governors chaired by the Edo State Governor,Chief Lucky Igbinedion, insisted that for the realisation of true federalism and security in the country, the constitution must be amended to provide for a strict adherance to the principle of federalism and make the state commissioners of Police answerable to their state governors.

Nigeria: A Memo From Southern Governors

28 FEBRUARY 2005
This Day (Lagos)
ANALYSIS
By Tokunbo Adedoja

Lagos — Four years after gathering at the Akodo Resort, Epe, Lagos for the maiden edition of the Southern Governors Summit, governors of the states in the three southern geo-political zones, again converged on Lagos last Friday for the 9th edition of the summit where politics, economy and security of the nation were discussed.

And coming on the heels of the National Political Reform Conference, inaugurated last week by President Olusegun Obasanjo, the gathering also served as an opportunity for the South to restate its position on some salient national issues, reports Tokunbo Adedoja, who was at the summit

Nigeria: Udenwa Makes Case for Southern Governors Forum

2 MARCH 2005
Vanguard (Lagos)
By Chidi Nkwopara

Owerri — The Southern Governor's Forum has been described as "a veritable ground for highlighting the peculiar problems of the Southern states as well as that of the entire nation." Imo State Governor, Chief Achike Udenwa, who made the explanation in a chat with Vanguard in Owerri, also said that the forum has been able to address and proffer solutions to certain recalcitrant issues bugging the citizenry." The Southern Governor's Forum was established in 2000. It has succeeded in calling attention to some very pressing national issues. We have made our contributions and I am sure that we have quite a number of contributions to make in the future", Udenwasaid.

While saying that these contributions will not be limited to the development of only the Southern States, the governor also said that they equally keep the entire country under serious focus each time they meet."We have never limited our deliberations to the development of only the Southern States. We equally keep the welfare of our citizens and the entire country under serious focus, each time we meet", Chief Udenwa said.

naptu2:
Southern Governors Forum To Meet In Lagos 12 Years After Last Meeting

The Lagos State Government

12 years after, Southern Governors meet in Lagos on Monday


…Fiscal federalism, devolution of powers top agenda
Twelve years after their last gathering, Governors from the Southern part of Nigeria will on Monday converge in Lagos to deliberate on how to forge stronger ties for the three geo-political zones.


In a statement signed by the Secretary to the Lagos State Government (SSG), Mr Tunji Bello, the meeting which will be co-hosted by the Governors of Lagos State, Akinwunmi Ambode and Akwa Ibom, Emmanuel Udom will address issues that are germane to the development of the three contiguous zones.


Bello said the meeting is in line with the realisation that the different states in the South have since 2005 developed several areas of comparative advantage which could be harnessed and become mutually beneficial.


According to him, the Governors would also be expected to adopt a common position on the issues of armed robbery, kidnapping, devolution of powers and issue of fiscal federalism which have all gained prominence of late.


“The 2017 Lagos summit of the 17 Southern Governors representing the South South, South West and South East zones is expected to come up with a communiqué after the deliberation.


“It is noteworthy to recall that the inaugural meeting of the Southern Governors took place in Lagos in 2001 under the administration of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu,” Bello said.


The statement added that the predominance of views is that if the Southern States speak with one voice, they are bound to attract weighty and credible listenership.


The 17 Southern States expected at the summit include Governors Emmanuel Udom of Akwa Ibom; Ben Ayade- Cross Rivers State; Godwin Obaseki - Edo State; Nyesom Wike - Rivers State; Ifeanyi Okowa - Delta State; Seriake Dickson- Bayelsa and Rochas Okorocha- Imo State.
Others are Willie Obiano - Anambra State; Okezie Ikpeazu - Abia State; David Umahi - Ebonyi State; Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi -Enugu State; Rauf Aregbesola - State of Osun; Abiola Ajimobi – Oyo; Ibikunle Amosun –Ogun; Oluwarotimi Akeredolu – Ondo; Ayodele Fayose - Ekiti and Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State.

https://m.facebook.com/followlasg/posts/1628203977200862

oshozondii:
Insecurity: Southern Governors Meet In Asaba

There is heavy security in Asaba the Delta State capital as southern governors meet today, Tuesday.

Security operatives were seen at strategic points in the capital to forestall any unforeseen occurrences.

The road leading to the Government House, the venue of the summit has been barricaded while security at the entrance gate has also been beefed up.

The PUNCH gathered that the persistent attacks on police assets and killings of policemen in the south-east and south-south, and kidnappings would be top on the agenda for the meeting.

The Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Mr Olise Ifeajika, said that almost all the governors are expected to arrive in the state today (Tuesdays).

He said, “Yes, we are happy to have them, the meeting will hold in the government house; after the meeting, decisions will be taken and the communique will be read.”

https://punchng.com/breaking-heavy-security-in-asaba-as-southern-govs-meet/?utm_term=Autofeed&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter&amp&utm_term=Autofeed&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter&__twitter_i

naptu2:
Southern Governors Meet In Lagos Today.

Southern governors to meet again in Lagos tomorrow

• Akinrinade, Opadokun, Dogo Salute Move
• Urge Lobby Of NASS, States Assembly To Achieve Restructuring

Following their May 11, 2021 declaration in Asaba Delta State, the 17 Southern governors will again converge on Lagos tomorrow for the second leg of the first gathering. The meeting is to be hosted by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu at the State House, Ikeja.

Critical stakeholders have, however, warned the governors not to allow Nigerians to perceive their meetings as a “mere gathering” where empty threats or resolutions are made.

They said the governors should deploy better strategies by involving their representatives in the National Assembly, engage the State Houses of Assembly and also seek collaborations of socio-cultural and political organisations, to get their aim and objectives achieved.

In telephone conversations with The Guardian yesterday, former Chief of Defence Staff, General Alani Akinrinade (rtd), General Secretary, National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), Mr. Ayo Opadokun and spokesman, Middle Belt Forum, Dr Isuwa Dogo, commended the governors’ determination to meet and take a stand, especially at this uncertain period. But they all tasked them to go beyond making resolutions.

Akinrinade, who commended the governors for having the courage to reconvene, said the present challenges confronting Nigeria would linger till the next century “except something urgent is done. You must remain resolute in the demand for restructuring.”

He enjoined the governors to mount pressure on elected representatives from their various states in National Assembly to support restructuring.

“I wonder what Southern lawmakers in the National Assembly are doing about restructuring? They seem not to be serious about it.”

To him, the governors should as a matter of necessity impress it on Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila and all Southern Senators to kickstart the debate on how to restructure the country.

The retired general also said the governors must be more assertive in their demand for state police in the meeting tomorrow. “I think after tomorrow’s meeting, the governors should return home and begin to lobby their states Assembly to raise Bill on State Police. Their demand now should be a full-fledged State Police and nothing more. They should also make their stand known to President Muhammadu Buhari that he (Mr. President) must come out and speak on the state of insecurity in the country.

Opadokun said the governors must act their talk. He said it was not enough of the 17 southern governors to make pronouncements. They should make their state Houses of Assembly legislate the Asaba Resolutions into law to give it a force of law. If the governors can collaborate with lawmakers, it will become more effective and remain a credible voice for the marginalised southern part of Nigeria.”

Dogo challenged the governors to deploy tactical strategies to get their demands achieved. He urged them to ensure they deploy their numerical strength to persuade the National Assembly and their various States Assembly to implement and recognise the resolutions of the 2014 National Conference.

“If they are serious, they can also get support from States like Adamawa, Plateau, Taraba, Southern Kaduna, Sokoto, Kwara and Kogi. They should mobilise all the socio-political and cultural bodies to support restructuring and how to implement the conference report. By the time they do this, President Buhari will have no choice than to adhere to their demands.”

The State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr Gbenga Omotoso, was said to have confirmed that the parley would deliberate on insecurity, true federalism, open grazing, State Police, restructuring, and food security, among others.

The meeting would also discuss the aftermath of the Asaba gathering to assess if any meaningful success was made.

The Guardian gathered that nearly all the governors are likely to be in attendance because of the near-war situation Nigeria is in at the moment and how insecurity is currently affecting their states.

But a serving member of the House of Representatives, who did not want his name in print, disclosed that northern lawmakers are watching Gbajabiamila closely and would not hesitate to initiate an impeachment motion against him if he tries anything they perceive to be against the interest of their region.

It would be recalled that the governors, at the last meeting, which was hosted by Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State and attended by 15 of the 17 Southern governors, arrived at a 12-point resolution, which included the banning of open grazing of cattle in all the states.

https://guardian.ng/news/nigeria/national/southern-governors-to-meet-again-in-lagos-tomorrow/

Nigeria: Southern States Unity Cup Debuts

By Ernest Ekpenyong
22 FEBRUARY 2002

Determined to foster unity through sports, governors of the southern states of the federation have concluded arrangement to organise the first Southern States Youth Unity Football Championship.

The decision to stage the soccer fiesta expected to feature teams from all the states within the regions was taken at the last meeting of the southern governors held at Owerri, the Imo State capital late last year.

When Southern governors gathered in Lagos

October 25, 2017

A summit of Nigeria’s Southern governors convened in Lagos for the first time in 13 years was buoyed by the determination of the summiteers to look beyond tribe, tongue and political affiliation to the issues that limit the expression of their autonomy within the context of the Nigerian federation.

By Emmanuel Aziken, Political Editor

Last Monday’s summit was the first gathering of governors from the former Southern Nigeria in 12 years.

Divided by culture and tribe but united by geographical positioning the 17 states from Nigeria’s southern region have for the most part trudged different paths.

It is that character that has made the states of the south seeming preys and partners with the more politically sophisticated Northern political elites who have at different political dispensations remained in power by oscillating political favours between different geographical sections of the south.

Unlike the North, the South after the amalgamation of the Southern and Northern provinces of the country in 1914 was divided into two political regions, the Western and Eastern Regions leading to divergent political experiences.

Through the period of colonization and into independence, the North sustained a similar political and geographical identity that was only broken up in 1966. Even after that till now, the North has continued to share political, economic and cultural philosophies. Governors of the 19 Northern States also hold regular meetings in Kaduna where issues of common interest are shared.

The first time the Southern governors met was in 2001 in Lagos under the auspices of the former governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

The last of the meetings was in 2005 in Enugu where Governor Chimaroke Nnamani hosted the Southern governors.

That meeting was shadowed by insinuations that it was a cover for the affirmation of the much controversial Third Term amendment of the Constitution to allow governors and the president a third term in office.

Since then governors from the South have walked different political and economic paths. However, regional meetings of South-South, Southeast, and Southwest governors have progressed. Moving along different paths, it was not difficult for the governors and their people to recognize that they could do little in the face of increasing pressures for the political restructuring of the country.

It was in the face of this that Governor Akinwunmi Ambode hosted fellow governors from the South on a one day summit.

Devolution of powers

All but one governor that is Owelle Rochas Okorocha, the governor of Imo State were present or represented.

Those present besides the host, Ambode were governors of Ogun, Senator Ibikunle Amosun; Oyo, Senator Abiola Ajimobi; Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, Ebonyi, David Umahi; Edo, Mr. Godwin Obaseki; Ondo, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu; Abia, Mr. Okezie Ikpeazu; Enugu, Mr. Henry Ugwuanyi; Bayelsa, Mr. Seriaki Dickson and Ekiti State, Mr. Ayodele Fayose.

Governors of Cross River, Anambra, and Delta, were represented by their Deputies – Mr. Evara Esu; Dr. Ikem Okeke and Mr. Kingsley Otuaru respectively.

Once the governors gathered for their meeting last Monday common issues bothering them came to the fore.

Sources at the meeting told Vanguard that once Governor Ambode gave his welcome address, he was immediately followed by Governor Emmanuel who as chairman of the South-South governors served as co-host.

Among the others who spoke that day were Governors Aregbesola, Umahi and Ayade and a common trend in their assertions was the need for restructuring or devolution of powers back to the states.

The governors were particularly peeved that though Nigeria presents itself as a federation of states but that the country has been run more or less as a unitary state with the Federal Government acting like a big bully.

The governor added: “States are disparaged for always carrying begging bowls to Abuja in quest of hand-outs from the Federal Government.

This is a function of our present national constitution that burdens the Federal Government with activities and responsibilities that rightly fall within the province of states.

“The productivity and revenue-generating capacities of most states are thus stifled, thus turning them into no better than street beggar states incapable of even meeting routine obligations of paying workers’ salaries and pensions without federal support.”

As Governor Ambode noted, Lagos State had since the advent of the Fourth Republic been at the forefront in the advocacy for the expression of true federalism.

The state has been in and out of the courts and taken painful stands in the defence of its rights as an autonomous part of the Nigerian federation.

The choice of Lagos as the host or as convener of the summit was not totally shocking given the leading role of the state in the fight for the autonomy of the states. Among the landmark cases the state won that helped to define the country’s federation as Ambode recalled last Monday were the legal control over the management of its environment, the control of urban and physical planning, the regulation of overhead masts, the registration and regulation of hotels and restaurants, and the control of inland waterways.

These victories he noted were aimed at consolidating the rights of not just Lagos, but all 36 states as semi-autonomous parts of the Nigerian federation.

Remarkably, some of the key victories won during the stewardship of Governor Tinubu were articulated by his attorney general and commissioner for justice, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo who is today, the vice-president of the country.

Indeed, some would love to see how Osinbajo would marshal the arguments he used to win some of those landmark cases to limit the power and influence of the Federal Government now that he is seated as the country’s number two citizen.

Power and influence

Given that the issues of concern were straightforward, the governors did not find it difficult to reach a communiqué which was read out by the host after about a two hour of deliberation.

The communiqué read thus:

* We have reinstated our commitment to a united and indivisible Nigeria.
* The summit also reiterated the need for true federalism and devolution of powers.

– It reinstated its commitment to collaborate with one another for the growth and development of their economies.

* The summit emphasised priority on security of lives and property for the citizens.
* It further emphasised the need for effective linkage on good infrastructure within the space of southern Nigeria.
* The summit also appointed Ambode as the chairman while Ebonyi state governor, David Umahi and Bayelsa State, Seriake Dickson, as co-chairmen.
* The next meeting is scheduled to hold in Port Harcourt, River State.

Optimism that last Monday’s summit would go a long way in redefining the relationship of the states in the south was infectious as Governor Ambode read the communiqué. However, the same optimism was almost there when a different set of governors met the last time about 13 years ago.

Fears that personality if not political rivalry would again break the bonds of unity weaved in Lagos are all too palpable.

How the governors forge to look beyond their immediate concerns to the long term good of their people may be the only key to keep them going.

naptu2:
Memories

There are many reasons why I remember the Southern Governors Forum meetings of the early 2000s. Of course there's the fact that it was always in the news and I always know what's in the news. There's also the fact that it was one of the tools that was used to fight the onshore-offshore dichotomy battles (some people might have forgotten about that), but there's a very random reason why I remember the meetings. It's about a motorcade.

(Interestingly I'm still trying to find the time to complete my post about some motorcades that I saw in the early 1980s).


I was on Third Mainland Bridge and heading towards the Island when I saw a strange thing. It was a lone police motorcycle that had its siren on. This was quite strange. The only time that you'd see police motorcycles with their sirens blaring (at that time) was when they were leading a motorcade, yet here was a solitary police motorcycle with its sirens blaring. Most vehicles around simply ignored the motorcycle.

It was some time before even more police motorcycles went past. I was near the Adeniji Adele exit by this time. This made more sense. There were around 3 motorcycles and a pilot car was close behind them. Then I soon realised why everything initially seemed strange. There were around 4 governors (each in his official car), including the Lagos State governor, in that motorcade and it was longer than usual. All the vehicles on Ring Road had to park to allow them go past.

This occurred during one of the Southern Governors Forum meetings. It was only after I saw the plate numbers of the governors' cars that I remembered that I had read about the meeting in the newspapers.

I wish I could remember the year that this happened.