There is high hope for the rapid development of the South West geopolitical zone, as the House of Representatives, Wednesday passed for a second reading, a Bill for an Act to Establish South West Development Commission.
The South West Development Commission would be charged with the responsibility to, among others, receive and manage funds from allocation of the Federation Account and to receive donations and gifts for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of roads, houses and other infrastructural damages suffered by the region as well as tackle the ecological problems and any other related environmental or developmental challenges in the South West States.
According to the Bill sponsored by Olufemi Fakeye and 80 others, the Commission shall: formulate policies and guidelines for the development of the South West States; conceive, plan and implement, in accordance with the set rules and regulations, projects and programmes for the sustainable development of the South West States in the fields of transportation, health, education, employment, agriculture, industrialisation, housing and urban development, water supply, electricity, solid mineral exploitation and telecommunications and cause the South West States to be surveyed in order to ascertain measures which are necessary to promote its physical and socio-economic development.
The Commission is also expected to: prepare master plans and schemes designed to promote the physical development of the South West States and the estimates of the costs of implementing such master plans and schemes; implement all the measures approved for the development of the South West States by the Federal Government and the member-States of the Commission.
It would identify factors inhibiting the development of the South West States and assist the member-States in the formulation and implementation of policies to ensure a sound and efficient management of the resources of the South West States; assess and report on any project being funded or carried out in the South West States by mineral extracting and mining companies, oil and gas producing companies, and any other company, including non-governmental organisations and ensure that funds released for such projects are properly utilised.
The Commission is to further tackle ecological and environmental problems that arise from the extraction and mining of solid mineral, exploration of oil mineral in the South West States and advise the Federal Government and the member States on the prevention and control of oil spillages, gas flaring and environmental pollution; liaise with the various solid mineral extraction and mining companies and oil and gas prospecting and producing companies on all matters of pollution prevention and control.
The Commission is equally saddled with the responsibility of execution of such other works and perform such other functions which are required for the sustainable development of the South West States and its people as well as receive donations and gifts from any legitimate, documented source aimed at the advancement of its set goals, provided such donations shall be reported to the relevant federal authorities.
In a lead debate on the general principles of the Bill, Fakeye on behalf of the other 80 sponsors said, the case of the Southwest today is precarious because the population has not only increased, but remains mostly agrarian, with exports still largely consisting of primary produce items from the same old plantations that are now yearning for replanting.
He said the Bill seeks to legislatively explore how to cure some of the ailments in the Southwest, just as it has been done and would still probably be done for other political zones by the House of Representatives.
“The Bill seeks to redirect federal budgetary attention to some areas of growth that could have multiplier effects of geometric proportions, such as Agriculture, Transportation, Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Environment, etc., on the overall economy.
“Therefore, this aspiration is the rationale for all the Honourable Members from the six States of the Southwest, along with some of their Colleagues who are not even native to any of the Southwest States, proposing this historic Bill.
“By passing this Bill, we would be demonstrating the courage as national leaders to lift a finger towards turning the current sordid socioeconomic fortunes of the zone (and therefore of the country) around, so that our youths could confidently channel their collective energy into productive endeavours that would yield for us a better future, rather than them, out of frustration and misguided desperation, engaging in antisocial practices that tend towards criminality”.
