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South-South governors have resolved to pull their states together into a formidable regional economic bloc driven by interconnected infrastructure, maritime development, industrialisation and investment, declaring that the region can no longer produce much of Nigeria’s wealth while its people remain trapped by poor infrastructure and environmental degradation.
The resolution formed the centrepiece of the communiqué issued after the second meeting of the South-South Governors’ Forum in Calabar, Cross River State, on Monday. The meeting was chaired by Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri.
The governors identified the development of a regional rail network, rehabilitation and modernisation of the Calabar, Port Harcourt and Warri seaports, and the opportunities presented by the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway as priorities capable of opening up trade, industry and movement across the six states.
They also resolved to meet President Bola Tinubu over the region’s infrastructure, environmental and economic concerns, while pledging to deliver “100 per cent” support for his re-election in 2027.
To prevent the initiative from becoming another round of meetings without results, the governors agreed to hold quarterly sessions and monitor the implementation of their resolutions. Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital, will host the next meeting from November 6 to 8, 2026.
The emerging regional plan seeks to replace isolated state projects with shared infrastructure, investment and value chains capable of transforming the South-South into an integrated economic corridor.
Director-General of the BRACED Commission, Ambassador Joe Keshi, presented proposals for regional infrastructure, particularly rail development, while the National Chairman of the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), Ambassador Godknows Boladei Igali, advocated the establishment of a regional investment fund.
Igali said such a fund could mobilise resources for large projects that cut across state boundaries. He also urged the governors to place young people at the centre of the region’s economic transformation through skills development, entrepreneurship and employment opportunities.
Cross River State Governor and Vice Chairman of the Forum, Senator Bassey Otu, said the region would only secure meaningful development when its states stopped acting separately and began speaking with one voice.
“We must come together as a people; we must cooperate, and we must ensure that our voice is heard and respected,” Otu said.
He maintained that the South-South possessed the natural resources, human capital and strategic location required to become one of Nigeria’s most powerful economic blocs, but warned that fragmentation had prevented it from fully converting those advantages into prosperity.
“The South-South has everything it takes,” he said, stressing that cooperation among the states would give the region greater influence and bargaining power.
Otu called for a common regional position on fiscal equity, particularly Value Added Tax, oil and gas revenues and the 13 per cent derivation principle.
He also sought the support of his colleagues for Cross River State’s campaign to regain its oil-producing status, describing the demand as part of the state’s struggle for economic justice and greater development opportunities.
On infrastructure, the governor proposed a regional corridor linking the proposed Bakassi Deep Seaport in Calabar to the East-West Road and the ports in Bayelsa and Delta states.
He also advocated greater integration of the region’s agricultural economies, saying the South-South must look beyond the production and export of raw materials to value addition, industrial processing and job creation.
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Otu identified cassava production, processing and ethanol development as areas in which the states could pool their resources, build common value chains and create thousands of jobs.
Diri, in his opening remarks, warned that the Forum would lose the confidence of the people if its resolutions remained on paper.
“We cannot afford to remain a region of meetings and communiqués,” he said. “The meeting must produce movement.”
He said every decision taken by the governors must be tied to clear responsibilities, timelines and measurable outcomes.
“We must move beyond resolutions to implementation,” Diri added, calling for coordinated action on infrastructure, transportation, security, environmental remediation and economic integration.
The Bayelsa governor said the challenges confronting the region did not stop at state boundaries and could not be effectively addressed through fragmented approaches.
He placed connectivity at the heart of the regional agenda, calling for accelerated investment in road, rail, air and maritime infrastructure, including the East-West Road, the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway and a regional railway system.
According to him, better connections among the six states would reduce the cost of moving people and goods, unlock investment and make the region more competitive.
Diri said the South-South should deliberately position itself as “Nigeria’s gas-industrial hub, West Africa’s maritime gateway and the country’s leading blue-economy zone.”
He also drew attention to the painful contradiction of a region that sustains much of Nigeria’s economy but continues to struggle with polluted waterways, damaged farmlands and neglected oil-producing communities.
“We cannot continue to produce the wealth while communities remain surrounded by environmental devastation,” he said.
The Forum consequently linked its economic ambitions to security and environmental restoration, recognising that investors would remain reluctant to commit resources where communities, waterways and critical infrastructure were unsafe.
The governors called for stronger intelligence-sharing and coordinated security operations to protect residents, oil and gas installations, maritime routes and emerging economic corridors across the region.
They equally demanded expanded environmental remediation throughout the Niger Delta and a stronger partnership with the Federal Government to address decades of ecological damage.
The Forum reaffirmed its support for President Tinubu’s administration and pledged to work towards delivering the region for him in the 2027 presidential election.
The governors, however, said their political support would go alongside sustained engagement with the President on infrastructure, fiscal justice, environmental restoration and other development priorities affecting the people of the South-South.
