Barely six-month after the Southwest Governance Innovation Summit (SWGIC) 2017, PERL has observed replication of shared innovations in four of six Southwest States in Nigeria, while the regional integration for economic development and collaboration between South West States in Nigeria is growing expectedly, owing to the full commitment and leadership of the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN) Commission and the Southwest Governors.

PERL supported a DAWN-led Southwest Governance Innovation Conference 2017 between February 20 and 23, 2017 in Abeokuta, Ogun State of Nigeria.

The conference, which was hosted in Ogun State by the Executive Governor of Ogun State, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, was attended by Speakers of House of Assemblies of Southwest States; donor partners; civil society and citizens groups; Commissioners, Permanent Secretaries, and Directors of Ogun State Ministries, Departments and Agencies; and the private sector participants.

The conference, tagged: sharing good practices that work, presented an opportunity for all Southwest States to share innovative reforms that were working, afforded participants the opportunity to deliberate on issues that cut across the Southwest of Nigeria (including ease of doing business, improving learning outcomes in schools, institutional structures for governance reforms, land governance and management), and to come up with action plans on a state-by state basis. During an interaction session organised by PERL on the level of implementation of the action plan developed during the conference, PERL realised that three states have begun implementation of their action plans which highlights innovations to be reforms to be replicated by respective states after listening to the reforms shared shared during the conference. Implementation of action plans by States: Osun State resolved to adopt the ease of doing business and ‘Kaadi Igbe Ayo’ (residence card) shared by Ogun State and Ondo State respectively. As at the time this article was written, the Officer in Charge of Regional Integration, State of Osun, Mr. Adedeji Atayero said the Osun State was working on creating an enabling environment for business to grow, with focus on Agro-business. According to him, the state has set up a committee that is overseeing the full implementation of Agro-business reform and has set up a produce board to make sure that farmers have access to land and funds, while the produce board also monitors what farmers are doing. In addition, Mr. Adedeji said that Osun State was incorporating some features into an existing smart card called Kaadi-Omoluwabi to make it function like ‘Kaadi Igbe Ayo’ of Ondo State. He said that agencies in the state have started collaborating to make sure that the card becomes a success. Oyo State resolved to adopt LAMATA to reform its transport sector. According to Justice Development and Peace Commission’s (JDPC) Jide Bangbose, the state delegates to SWGIC met with the Speaker of Oyo State House of Assembly and Majority Leader of Oyo State House of Assembly to discuss the prospect of taking the reform forward. The meeting with the two influential members of the House of Assembly led to the submission of a concept note, which highlight the need for LAMATA, issues, and step they could take to put the machinery in motion; to the House of Assembly.

The concept note is waiting to be deliberated upon by the House. Ogun State resolved to adopt Kaadi Igbeayo, a reform shared by Ogun State. Mr. Jola Oyeneye, Director of Service Maters, Office of Head of Service, Ogun State during an interview with PERL said Ogun State has contracted the consultant that worked with Ondo State to capture the vital information of the citizenry with the view to ensure that the dividend of democracy gets to citizens. In addition, Mr Jola said that Ogun State was replicating Ekiti States’ YCAD initiative, providing land settlements to enable young people to participate in the Agricultural sector. Ekiti State resolved to replicate OREAP and Kaadi Igbeayo shared by Osun State and Ondo State respectively. According to Mr. Shittu Muftau Aremu, a Director in the Office of the Head of Service, Ekiti State, the government of Ekiti State has deployed about 12320 hectares of land in various farm settlements in the State for agriculture and most part of the lands have been cleared while some have been allocated to farmers. Mr. Muftau is optimistic that the implementation of Kaadi-Igbeayo will commence in Ekiti State by the fourth quarter of the year.

According to Justice Development and Peace Commission’s (JDPC) Jide Bangbose, the state delegates to SWGIC met with the Speaker of Oyo State House of Assembly and Majority Leader of Oyo State House of Assembly to discuss the prospect of taking the reform forward. The meeting with the two influential members of the House of Assembly led to the submission of a concept note, which highlight the need for LAMATA, issues, and step they could take to put the machinery in motion; to the House of Assembly. The concept note is waiting to be deliberated upon by the House. Ogun State resolved to adopt Kaadi Igbeayo, a reform shared by Ogun State. Mr. Jola Oyeneye, Director of Service Maters, Office of Head of Service, Ogun State during an interview with PERL said Ogun State has contracted the consultant that worked with Ondo State to capture the vital information of the citizenry with the view to ensure that the dividend of democracy gets to citizens. In addition, Mr Jola said that Ogun State was replicating Ekiti States’ YCAD initiative, providing land settlements to enable young people to participate in the Agricultural sector. Ekiti State resolved to replicate OREAP and Kaadi Igbeayo shared by Osun State and Ondo State respectively. According to Mr. Shittu Muftau Aremu, a Director in the Office of the Head of Service, Ekiti State, the government of Ekiti State has deployed about 12320 hectares of land in various farm settlements in the State for agriculture and most part of the lands have been cleared while some have been allocated to farmers. Mr. Muftau is optimistic that the implementation of Kaadi-Igbeayo will commence in Ekiti State by the fourth quarter of the year.