•Says S’East states can’t afford to operate as 5 parallel actors
Enugu State Governor, Dr. Peter Mbah, has said the South East must be re-imagined and built into a common market and bloc to realise its potentialities as an economic power house.
Mbah emphasised that the South East could no longer afford to operate as five parallel states, and commended President Bola Tinubu for the establishment of the South East Development Commission, SEDC, as a clear demonstration of an understanding that regional development does not occur in isolation.
He spoke yesterday as the Vice President, Senator Kashim Shettima, officially declared open the South East Vision 2025 (SEV2025) Regional Stakeholder Forum at the International Conference Centre, ICC, Enugu.
“I am here to invite you to a bold re-imagining of the South East as a single economic bloc. For too long, we have looked at our five states as individual islands, but the era of the solitary path is over.
“Today, I propose the birth of the South East Common Market – a bold, borderless unification of our commerce, our talent, and our industrial grit.
“By fusing our five distinct economies into one powerhouse, we are no longer just negotiating for a seat at the table; we are building the table ourselves.
“This is more than a policy shift; it is the awakening of an economic giant, transforming the South East into a single, seamless theatre of enterprise where our shared heritage fuels our collective prosperity,” he stated.
At the event, with the theme, ‘’Charting a Shared Path to Sustainable Prosperity for South East Nigeria,” Mbah reminded the audience that the rules of prosperity were changing globally into a new era where those who could organise themselves, integrate their markets, and build systems at scale would rise, while those who could not would remain consumers of other people’s added value.
He described the South East Vision 2050 as an instrument to help the region solve problems that no single state could solve alone.
He, however, said the development plan must be matched with immediate action, starting with a region-wide feasibility and project preparation phase to be jointly funded and governed.
Governor Mbah said: “Second, we must begin with logistics and connectivity, because economies do not integrate on paper, they integrate through movement.
“The South East needs its first deliberately designed interstate logistics corridors, road, rail, inland hubs, and multi-modal systems that allow goods, people, and services to move seamlessly across state lines.
“These are not prestige projects. They are productivity infrastructure, and they must be planned and contracted as regional assets, not state trophies.
“Third, security must be treated as regional infrastructure. Criminal networks do not respect state boundaries, and neither should our response.
“We must commit to enhanced cross regional security coordination, shared intelligence, interoperable communication, and a centralised information and response hub that allows state security architectures and federal agencies to act as one system.
“Fourth, we must align the rules of engagement, investment processes, regulatory expectations, and dispute resolution, so that the South East presents a coherent face to capital, enterprise, and its own citizens.’’
He said it was regrettable that a region where identity was common and markets connected, producers and buyers across distances and life worked by collaboration, still suffered fragmentation.
“That fragmentation is no longer a historical footnote. It has become a present-day constraint. The world we are operating in now is unforgiving of disconnection and lack of unity. The global economy does not reward isolated effort.
“It rewards regions that can act as systems, regions that can coordinate infrastructure, align skills with industry, move goods efficiently, mobilise capital at scale, and present a clear, credible proposition to investors and their own people,’’ Mbah explained.
