Osun State Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola and his Oyo State counterpart, Senator Abiola Ajumobi on Wednesday urged the Lagos State government to champion the quest for integration and economic development of the southwestern region.
The duo who spoke at the close of the 6th Lagos State Economic Summit christened, ‘Ehingbeti 2012’ with the theme, ‘From BRICS to BRINCS: Lagos Holds the Key,’ posited that the state must lead from the front and show the way to other states in the region.
They added that it was the only way to ensure that the development drive in Lagos was sustained.
Aregbesola who commended the Lagos State government for its effort in bringing about the blueprint for development in the country, noted that its heavy investment in economic policies and strategies has kept the nation focused.
He cautioned that the lofty policies which have driven the development witnessed in the state in the last 13 years must be one that takes the whole of the south west region and Nigeria into full consideration, warning that failure to do so might see such efforts come to naught.
According to him, “Should Lagos move alone, the state will be inundated by the people who speak the same language with the state first, they will abandon their territory to suffuse the state and all the effort by the state to achieve greatness will come to naught.
“Therefore, Lagos State must ensure that as they are developing the state, the neighbouring states must move together with Lagos to ensure that they are not alone in the development drive. Lagos must do more in ensuring that the neighbouring states particularly, are helped to develop along with the state”.