Ogun and Lagos states can be likened to Siamese twin. An operation to separate one from another is so complicated that any mistake, can lead to the death of either of the twin. The two states are like two rivers flowing into each other and this makes it very difficult to identify which river actually flows into the other.
A look at both Ogun and Lagos shows that it is impossible to actually differentiate people living in one state from another as there are some people who live in Ogun State and work in Lagos State, while a lot of people live in Lagos and work in Ogun State. A trip to border towns of Sango-Ota, Akute Alagboole, Lambe, Ojudu, Agbado, Mowe, Warewa, Isheri and a host of others communities in Ogun State will convince anyone that there is really no boundaries between the two states. Some residents of these areas erroneously believe they are “Lagosians”.
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Trying to take full advantage of their closeness and shared socio-cultural affinity for the benefit of their people, Ogun and Lagos State governors, Dapo Abiodun and Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on May 24, at the Presidential Lodge, Abeokuta, signed a Memorandum of Understanding to formally inaugurate the Lagos-Ogun Joint Development Commission.
The joint commission is expected to focus on addressing infrastructural deficit, particularly road, that is pronounced in the border areas. Apart from revenue management and tax collection, which will take care of Pay As You Earn remittance to both states, the commission is also work on trade and Investment, resolution of boundary disputes, security, in the area of gathering and sharing of intelligence.
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The planning including disaster management, partnership in the cultivation and processing of food crops, among others, are other areas the commission will work on.
The MoU is a clear manifestation of the common dream that drive the nation’s biggest economy (Lagos) and that of her industrial capital (Ogun), to work together for the common good of their people and invariably, Nigerians as a whole.
Without doubt, Nigeria is in dire need of socio-economic development and actions like this, will to a very large extent, accelerate more projects that will help move people, goods and services from one state to another and in the process, boost industrial activities in the nation.
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I appluad this laudable move and use this medium to call on the governments of other states in the federation to emulate this laudable example set by the governments of the Gateway State and the Centre of Excellence by going into bilateral or multilateral agreements on a state to state or region to region basis, to fast track economic development in the country.
