In November 2023, barely five months into the new regime of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria -a vehicle created by the six south west states to map out development strategy for the region, once the leading area of the country, announced its plan to construct a rail line that will connect at least 44 cities and town in the six South-West states.
Though bold and far reaching, the plan has remained on paper since.
Not even a word has been heard on the steps towards implementation since President Tinubu signed the enabling bill to remove rail transportation from the exclusive list to the concurrent list.
Though Director General of the Commission, Dr Seye Oyeleye attributed delay in getting foreign partners to the lack of enabling law to place rail in the concurrent list as the major hinderance, nothing has been heard two years down the line after the enabling bill has been signed into law.
However, the South-West Summit which held in Akure, the Ondo State capital involving all state governors, ministers and federal appointees to chart a One-Economic Bloc strategy appears to have taken the wind out of the floppy sails of the DAWN.
The South-West Development Commission, SWDC, a body created by President Tinubu to pilot and engineer the development of the region was inaugurated few months ago.
According to Managing Director, Dr Charles Akinola, the SWDC is posed to devise and serve as a strategic body to pull the region noted for its series of firsts in terms of infrastructural development of the country in the 50-70s back from its period of slumber to an engine of growth.
Indeed, the SWDC and the regional fore runner, the DAWN has no reason to fail.
Not necessarily because of its having men and resources but also for using the opportunity presented by President Tinubu’s economic reforms which has opened the country up for encouraging local and foreign investors.
What is more, South-West region of the country has no reason not to tap to the full the new Vista of opportunities now being provided for encouraging the six regions to chart their various development strategies and focus.
As at year 2024, the six states in the South-West had a Gross Domestic Product, GDP of N60. 60 trillion using the data provided by the Bureau of Statistics for 2023.
This makes the region contribute about 25% of the National GDP of about N314 trillion.
Apart from above, the South West also took the lead among other regions cum geo political zones with Internally Generated Revenue, IGR of N1. 660 trillion with Lagos alone accounting for 35% of the total IGR of N3. 63 trillion generated by all the 36 states in the country including the Federal Capital Territory for 2024.
With this figure, the South-West was a major contributor to the national total of 3. 63 trillion and stands in better position to realise its full potentials if it could operate One -Economic Bloc strategy as explained by Dr Akinola, its pioneer Managing Director who also spoke at the summit.
This brings us to the question of how does the region expect to leverage on this huge revenue base and deploy its potentials to reposition it as it was the leading development region in the 50s-60s with its list of firsts in infrastructure and human development.
This could only be done by using its vast human resources to develop its untapped natural resources.
Infrastructure:
With a population of between 44- 50 million which alone represents more than 22% of the country’s over 200million population, as at July 2025, it is in a better position to attract investors to implement the building of the proposed railway network to connect the six states which are by far the most cosmopolitan among all the other five regions in the country.
With the removal of railway from the exclusive list, the SWDC working with DAWN-a body set up by the six states, it could set up a transport regional framework which could harness both road, rail and water transportation.
Since, it has three coastal states of Ondo, Ogun and Lagos with three ports, operation of One- Economic block is quite feasible.
Today, Lagos is the only state in the country with two internal rail networks with the third-Epe-Marina in the works.
Integration with Ogun state from Epe is realistic just as the Red Line already running from Oyingbo in Lagos to Agbado in Ogun State also makes for easy connectivity between the two border states.
Education: The creation of the SWDC should serve as the spring board for bridging the Educational gaps now existing in the region with the development of relevant skills via neglected technical education which was a component of the education policy of the former Western Region.
Development of a realistic and workable educational policy for the region by both the DAWN and SWDC will help in arresting the army of unskilled and unemployable youths roaming about our streets with evolvement of economic and social predators of ‘Yahoo, Yahoo’ syndrome.
A synergy has to be established among our various educational bodies both in the primary, secondary and tertiary institutions to develop needed manpower to address challenges of the modern age of technology.
Technology driven educational policy is crucial to addressing identifiable gaps towards stimulating and creating employment for our teeming youths.
Agriculture: One of the areas that has suffered neglect is Agriculture and its Food value chain.
Farm settlements which represent production of food crops and Livestock in the region have to form part of the intervention in the food supply chain.
Today, it is a crime for coastal areas in the country to depend on the North for food and Livestock supply with vast arable land starring the region in its face.
So also is the area of establishing a synergy among the various pioneering agriculture research institutes like the Cocoa Research Institute-set up during the era of Cocoa boom and through which the Free Education policy of the 50s was financed.
Also mention must be made of IITA, Nigeria Cereal Research Institute, Institute of Agriculture Research and Training are all underutilized bodies that could turn around the regions fortune.
Health: The establishment of Primary Health Centres pioneered by the late Professor Ransome Kuti is intended to complement the existing health facilities like Clinic and Dispensaries established in the 50-60s but left to rot away.
A synergy should be established among these health institutions to reduce over dependence on and resort to General hospitals and Teaching Hospitals which should be for research and training.
There is no doubt that if both the SWDC and DAWN could walk their talk, we may experience a rebound and resuscitation of development thrust for which the region is noted and return it to the glorious decades.
The increase in FAAC allocation to the states, increase in IGR and creation of Federally-funded Development Commission is an opportunity for returning the region for focused development it is noted for.
Time for action is now, enough of rhetoric.
TUNDE ABATAN IS PUBLISHER, NEWDAWNNGR.COM TUNDE2013ABATAN@GMAIL. COM 08165660217
