Bola Tinubu (APC), Atiku Abubakar (PDP), Peter Obi (Labour Party), and Rabiu Kwankwaso (NNPP), among others, are expected to meet with South-West stakeholders in Ibadan, Oyo State, soon.
The South-West Development Stakeholders Forum expressed concern about what the presidential candidates intend to deliver to the region if allowed to become Nigeria’s next leader in a statement obtained by WITHIN NIGERIA on Tuesday.
It stated that it has become necessary to organize an interactive series for presidential candidates in the 2023 election to explain to the region and Nigerians their agenda for a united, peaceful, and prosperous nation.
The forum, which included civil society organizations, professionals, and religious leaders, argued that the South-West could boast of having residents from the majority, if not all, of Nigeria’s ethnic nationalities.
It emphasized that the region is the largest and most inclusive of its peers.
The forum’s resolve as noted in a statement quoted by SaharaReporters:
The South West is the industrial and commercial engine room of Nigeria All matrices clearly show that economic activities in the South West drive the Nigerian economy
Given its growing population of more than 50 million residents, its historical trajectory as the commercial nerve centre of Nigeria, its strategic political importance, and huge potential in driving national growth and development, the region deserves to know from the presidential candidates exactly what they intend to incorporate the South West in their agenda for a united, peaceful, and prosperous.
The South-West can also boast of having residents from most, if not all, ethnic nationalities of Nigeria. We are the biggest, non-discriminatory, melting pot for Nigerians and their social, commercial and other development activities and therefore deserve the critical consideration of all candidate With just over two months to the general elections, there is a need for the Presidential as well as the region’s Gubernatorial and Legislative candidates, to pronounce their plans for a concrete development agenda for the South West Region.
The South-West Development Stakeholders is willing and ready to bring the Presidential candidates to the table to address Yoruba people, and indeed all Nigerians living in the South West, of specific plans to make them true stakeholders in the new unfolding federation. Detailed plans for the parley will be announced soon.