Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State commenced the week on a positive note. His fellow governors from the 17 states in Southern Nigeria entrusted him with leadership for the next few years. Elected as the new chairman of the Southern Governors’ Forum, with Anambra State Governor Professor Charles Soludo as his deputy, Abiodun’s election within the confines of his own courtyard in Abeokuta is no small achievement. I extend my congratulations to this esteemed leader.
The fact that the governors conducted their meeting behind closed doors – with 13 sitting governors and three represented by their deputies – highlights why the five executive hours should be a topic of public discourse. Abiodun and Soludo inherit a comatose Southern Governors’ Forum, which, despite its noble founding purpose in 2000 – to foster regional cooperation and unity among the 17 Southern states in Nigeria – has become a cacophony of voices.
For me, the most pressing challenges confronting Governor Dapo Abiodun’s Southern Governors’ Forum at the time of Abiodun-Soludo’s election should be the minimum wage question and the legal action instituted against state governors regarding local government autonomy. The longstanding dispute between the two tiers of government pertains to the allocation and control of funds designated for local governments, which has sparked intense controversy.