South West governors charged to develop their states

Prof. Adewale Noah of the department of Education, Lagos State University (LASU), Lagos has charged the six governors of the South West zone on the need to work out means to develop the region beyond the dream of the late Premier of the defunct Western Region, Chief Obafemi Awolowo.

The university don gave the charge in Lagos recently while delivering a lecture titled: ‘The Role of Youths in Pivoting Good Governance’, at Ambode Youth Initiative (AYI), where he said if the governors failed to develop the region now, the South West might not be able to get up and take its position of excellence in the country.

According to him, “The fear is that if they miss genuine development now, it might take a very long time in the distant future for the South West zone to take over.”

The professor who observed that Governor Akinwumi Ambode was deserving of commendation however said it was imperative of the governor to fulfill his electoral promises to the people of Lagos.

He cautioned the governor to tread carefully in exploration of oil recently found in his domain, saying: “Badagry is a keg of gunpowder waiting to explode like the Niger Delta, if his administration fails to put in place measures that will compensate for the pollution and possible land degradation that may result once oil exploration started.”

To him there was need for greater youth participation in governance as this would lead to good governance that the country yearned for.
He added that Nigerian youths must avoid sycophancy, money incentives but should rather demand for greater accountability in government.

“Nigerian youths do not need permission to demand for their rights. It is the responsibility of the youth to interrogate governance.
“To challenge the government is not to be physical but to be cerebral. AYI must be watchdogs and constantly remind the government about their electoral promises,” he said.

In his remark, Ambode, who was represented by the Commissioner for Youth and Social Development, Uzamat Akinbile-Yussuf said good governance and civic responsibility was the basic ingredients for development.