The Western Nigeria Governors’ Forum ended a two-day quarterly meeting in Lagos State on Wednesday.
The forum expressed readiness to bid for the concession of Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja.
In attendance were Governors of Oyo, Ondo, Lagos, Ekiti, Osun and Ogun.
They agreed that Lagos, which in the past refused to join the forum, has formally become a member of the O’dua Investment Group.
The forum also confirmed Mr. Oluseye Oyeleye as the substantive director general of Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN) Commission.
A communique read by Oyeleye, disclosed that a regional agriculture summit to be sponsored by the Lagos State government would hold in May, in Ibadan, the Oyo state capital.
“To further consolidate on food security and job creation in the South West, it was agreed that the region would embark on a rice-accelerated programme”, it said.
The governors charged the DAWN commission to conduct a study on the success in education in Ekiti State, for peer learning adoption among the states
They also urged the focal representatives to structure a programme on the Omoluabi ethos of the Yoruba race.
The forum tasked the commission to work on reviving regional inter-school football competition while its focal representatives and agriculture commissioners should hold a technical session before the agriculture summit in Ibadan.
However, there was a mild drama when Ogun State Deputy Governor, Mrs. Yetunde Onanuga, who represented Governor Ibikunle Amosun, refused to sign the memorandum of understanding on Lagos state’s efforts to acquire more land from member states for agriculture.
Onanuga said the state government was not happy with the way Lagos handled an agreement with Ogun over a parcel of land allotted to it in the state, few years back, for a rice project.
Reacting, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, said the issue will be resolved.
He explained that the state wanted to expand the agricultural output and had decided to sign more agreements with some state governments in the region.
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