Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Cross Rivers, Edo and Delta Seek Regional Transportation

The Governors of Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Cross Rivers, Edo and Delta (BRACED) on Tuesday, resolved to boost regional transportation to boost economic activities.

Meeting under the auspices of BRACED Commission at Yenogoa, Bayelsa State, the governors’ resolution was read by the Governor of Edo State, Mr Godwin Obaseki.

Governor of Delta State, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori was represented at the meeting by his Deputy, Sir Monday Onyeme.

According to the governors, “at the meeting, we made the following decisions, first, the Council highlighted need for members of the BRACED Commission to device better regional transport connection through road, rail, water and air systems.

2) Council called on Federal Government to expedite work from the East /West Road. We thank Mr. President, President Ahmed Tinubu for commencing the construction of the coastal road from Lagos to Calabar, and appealed for speedy completion of the road and that work should also commence on the other end.

3) We commended the Federal Government for the establishment of the National Agricultural Development Fund (NADF) and we are looking forward to working with this agency to improve the economic development of the region particularly in the area of Agro-preneurship and food sufficiency.

4) Council condemned the killing of 17 military officers in Okuama and expressed its condolences to the Commander-in-Chief, the military hierarchy and specially the family of the diseased officers. We call on the Federal Government to set up a high-powered commission of inquiry to unearth what transpired in other to avoid such occurrences in the future.

5) Council called on Federal government to properly define the missions of troops that have been deployed to our region, that their involvement in communities’ boundary disputes, business or family dispute should not be part of military operational mission.

We also appealed to the military to allow the villagers who have been displaced to return home and resume their normal life.

6) The meeting commended the Bayelsa state government for their cooperation with the United Nations on Drug and Crimes (UNDOC) to build a peace architecture to curb crime and prevent violence in the state.

We discussed modalities for the expansion of this programme to include other states in the region.

7) Council welcomed the ongoing efforts of the states to promote financial literacy and skill acquisition particularly among women and youths.

In other to promote the growth of small businesses and medium enterprises in the region, we directed that the trainings and ongoing efforts should be sustained throughout the region.

8) The council noted the persistent poor state of electricity in our region despite the huge investment in the power sector by successive governments. We therefore call on the power companies operating in our region to work more closely with the state governments to ensure the operationalisation of the new electricity act of 2023.

We call on the Federal Government to embark on a comprehensive review of the power sector reform particularly with reference to transmission of electricity.

Finally, Council expressed its appreciation and commended his Excellency Sen. Douye Diri, Governor of Bayelsa State for his warm hospitality and all arrangements that he put in place to ensure a successful meeting.

Council commended the Director-General of the commission and staff of the commission for their contribution to the success of this meeting.”