South East matters to TInubu administration as economic pillar – Shettima

Vice President Kashim Shettima, says the South East matters to President Bola Tinubu-led administration not as a concession, but as a central pillar of Nigeria’s economic future.

The vice president stated this on Wednesday at the South East Vision 2050 (SEV2050) Stakeholder’s Forum convened by the South East Development Commission (SEDC) held at the International Conference Centre, Enugu.

The event was organised by SEDC in collaboration with the Office of the Vice President, Ministry of Regional Development and South East Governments.

The summit was attended by Gov. Francis Nwifuru of Ebonyi, Gov. Alex Otti of Abia, Gov. Chukwuma Soludo of Anambra, and host Governor, Peter Mbah of Enugu State.

Gov. Hope Uzodinma of Imo was represented by the Speaker, Imo House of Assembly, Mr Chike Olemgbe.

The Minister of Regional Development, Abubakar Momoh, National and State Assembly members, Traditional Rulers, Organised private sector and other stakeholders, also attended the summit.

Shettima said that the young people from the southeast and Nigeria at large were not spectators in the national journey but central.

“What we are doing in the South East is not afterthought and to the young people from the zone, let me speak on behalf of President Bola TInubu, you are central to our national journey.

“Your energy, creativity and ambition are essential to the Nigeria we are working to build,” he said.

He described the event as an exercise in rediscovering potential, adding that what mattered was how to organise, structure and align it with long-term national development goals through coordinated action.

“This is why Vision SEDC 2050 matters.

“This projection is an invitation to think beyond immediacy, reactive governance, and beyond short-term fixtures that deliver headlines but not trophies.

“It asks us to look at 25 years ahead and ask what kind of South East do we intend to build; infrastructure we must start delivering to make the future possible, ” Shettima said.

He explained that these questions could not be answered by government alone but demanded collective leadership through partnership of states, markets, communities, and citizens.

He, however, announced that TInubu had approved the establishment of the South East Investment Company Limited created to mobilise resources from the diaspora, capital markets, and development finance institutions.

Shettima said these resources would be channeled into infrastructure and human capital development across the region.

According to him, SEDC was created to address infrastructure gaps in the zone as a result of the civil war.

Speaking, Gov. Soludo emphasised the need for the South East to focus on regional security; highways that connect major cities; as well as gas pipeline and seaport for economic regional integration.

The governor appealed to the Federal Government to ensure full financial funding of SEDC to achieve its set goals.

“To ensure free movement of goods and services, we need robust agenda for regional transactions on infrastructure and by 2050, the South East will be infrastructure hub for Nigeria,” Soludo said.

Also speaking, Gov. Mbah, said the South East needed to first deliberate and design interstate logistic corridors, roads, rail, inland waterway hubs, and multi-modal systems etc.

According to him, these infrastructure must be planned and contracted as regional assets, not just state trophies and security must be treated as regional infrastructure..

Gov. Alex Otti on his part stressed the need for the zone to invest in energy to drive private sectors and Small Scale Enterprises from the zone.