Exclusive: South-South Governors To Meet In Benin City on Thursday

An upcoming meeting of the six governors of the South-South geopolitical region of Nigeria under the auspices of the BRACED Commission is slated to take place in Benin City, Edo state on Thursday 18th January 2023.

The meeting will be chaired by the chairman of the BRACED Commission Governors Council, H.E Mr. Godwin Obaseki, governor of Edo State, is envisaged to be a significant platform for addressing various issues related to regional development, integration, and security.

BRACED is an acronym of the south-south States of Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa-Ibom, Cross River, Edo and Delta. The meeting in Benin City, the Edo State capital is expected to be attended by the newly elected governors of Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa lbom, Cross River, and Delta states along with their commissioners of economic development and Planning.

This meeting of the south-south governors will focus on how to revive and strengthen the BRACED Commission and the regions aspiration for collective regional development and integration.

The idea of the BRACED was the outcome of the first south-south economic summit held in Calabar in 2009 and the Commission was created thereafter, to drive the region’s aspirations of a sustainable regional economy that is strong enough to provide employment and prosperity for the people of the region and at the same time, be globally competitive.

The Benin City meeting will also discuss issues pertaining to the security of the region and how to effectively entrench its knowledge sharing and peer review mechanism.

A communique is expected to be issued after the meeting.