The South West Development Commission (SWDC) has secured a provisional licence to establish a comprehensive passenger and freight rail network connecting the six states in the region.
The Managing Director of the commission, Dr Charles Akinola, disclosed this during a high-level strategic meeting held on Tuesday at the historic 25-storey Cocoa House in Ibadan, Oyo State.
Akinola said the commission would partner with O’dua Investment Company Limited and the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN) Commission to develop an interconnected rail system across the South-West.
“We have secured provisional licence for rail for freight and passengers. We will work with O’dua and DAWN to connect the South-West with rail,” he said.
He explained that the commission was also exploring other major infrastructure initiatives, including regional energy security and an integrated road network.
“We are also planning energy security for the region. We are looking at constructing a road that will link Ore in Ondo State to the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway for integrated transportation to open up the region.
“We are thinking of South-West infrastructure development fund to complement federal government’s funding,” Akinola added.
The SWDC boss said the commission remained open to partnerships aimed at recreating the type of ambitious regional development initiatives associated with the region’s past leaders, including Chief Obafemi Awolowo and Chief Lateef Jakande.
He also commended the current management of O’dua Investment Company for repositioning the company and delivering billions of naira in dividends to its owner states.
Akinola described the Association of Retired Heads of Service and Permanent Secretaries in the South-West as an important stakeholder in efforts to accelerate the development of the region.
The meeting was attended by several regional stakeholders, including the Regional President of the Association of Retired Heads of Service and Permanent Secretaries in the South-West, Mr Damola Badejo; Group Managing Director of O’dua Investment Company, Mr Yinusa Abdulraman; and Director-General of the DAWN Commission, Dr Oluseye Oyeleye.
Badejo said the meeting was aimed at exploring opportunities for collaboration between the association and the three regional institutions.
He said the association would present copies of its publication outlining a proposed economic development plan for the South-West to O’dua Investment Company and the SWDC as its contribution to ongoing discussions about the region’s future.
“We intend to use this visit to present copies of our association’s publication on the proposed plan for the economic development of the South-West to O’dua Investments Company and the South West Development Commission as our modest contribution to the continuing conversation on the development of our region,” Badejo said.
He noted that DAWN Commission had partnered with the association in producing the publication and stressed the strategic importance of O’dua Investment Company, DAWN and the SWDC to the region’s development.
Badejo described O’dua Investment Company as a symbol of the collective economic interests and aspirations of the South-West states, while commending efforts to reposition the company, unlock the value of its assets and maximise benefits for the region.
He also praised DAWN Commission for its role in promoting regional integration, collaboration and coordinated development among the six South-West states.
On the SWDC, Badejo said its establishment had provided a new platform for coordinated interventions, infrastructure development and other initiatives across the region.
In his remarks, Oyeleye paid tribute to the region’s forebears for their ambitious development projects, citing Cocoa House, Liberty Stadium, O’dua Investment Company and Nigeria’s first television station as examples of what he described as “audacity of thinking”.
“What our forebears did is audacity of thinking; they were not thinking of the next election but the next generation and taking the region to another level,” he said.
Oyeleye described O’dua Investment Company, SWDC and DAWN Commission as critical to the future of the South-West, calling for a shift towards development-focused politics rather than divisive political interests.
He also disclosed that DAWN had collaborated with Egbe Omo O’dua in the diaspora to establish funds aimed at providing start-up capital for businesses across the region.
According to him, applications are currently being invited from interested beneficiaries.
