Southern Governors Call for National Dialogue, Restructuring, End Open Grazing

Governors of the 17 southern states under the aegis of the Southern Governors Forum have called on the federal government to convoke a national dialogue as a matter of urgency to address widespread agitations among Nigerians for greater inclusiveness in governance.

“The federal government should convoke a national dialogue as a matter of urgency,” they said in a communique at the end of their meeting yesterday in Asaba, the Delta State capital.

The governors also called for the restructuring of the country and end to open grazing in the Southern parts of the country to curb the excesses of armed herders.

In the 12-point communiqué, the governors stressed the need to review appointments into federal government agencies, including security agencies, to reflect federal character and the heterogeneity of the Nigerian population.

They said in the communiqué, read by the Chairman of the forum and Ondo State Governor, Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu, that they had resolved to foster cooperation among the Southern states and the nation at large. 

The communiqué added that the governors reviewed the situation in the country and deliberated on the current security situation, agitations/restructuring, prospect for inter-state collaboration and partnerships as well as on the incidence of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Their conclusion: “We affirm that the peoples of Southern Nigeria remain committed to the unity of Nigeria on the basis of justice, fairness, equity and oneness, and peaceful co-existence between and among its peoples with a focus on the attainment of shared goals for economic development and prosperity.”