Thoughts On The SouthEast Development Commission Bill (1)

As the bill suggests, the *SEDC* is a  federal government agency in Nigeria that will attempt to address the challenges of underdevelopment in the Southeast region of the country, a region that has since the end of the *Nigerian/ Biafran War*  long suffered from neglect and marginalization, resulting in poor infrastructure, high unemployment rates, and low levels of social services. The establishment of the *SEDC* was borne out of a desire to address these issues and promote economic development in the region.

The Southeast region of Nigeria is made up of five states: *Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu* , and *Imo* . Despite being rich in natural resources and having a vibrant entrepreneurial spirit, the region has struggled to attract investment and create jobs for its burgeoning population. The lack of good roads, electricity, and other basic infrastructure has hindered the growth of industries and businesses in the region, leading to widespread poverty and underdevelopment.

The bill to establish the *SEDC* was passed sometime in 2018 by the *Senator Ahmed Lawan* led National Assembly but was denied assent by the then sitting president , *Muhammadu Buhari* . It was again reintroduced into the 11th Assembly and was passed in the House of Representatives by December 2023 before the *Senator Akpabio* led Senate passed it recently for a second time.

For me, the rejoicing will begin with an assent first, otherwise there will really be no reason to celebrate the bill. Now while it is true that one might believe that the chummy relationship between the leadership of the National Assembly and the presidency might make it’s being assented to a done deal, was the relationship between *Senator*  *Ahmed  Lawan* and  *President* *Muhammadu Buhari* , a  model for Executive/Legislative chumminess, the type sought in nation’s like the United States of America where political leanings have trumped governance hurting the ability of most presidents to deliver on their agenda.

So if the bill could not excite a *Buhari’s* assent what is the probability that it would excite that of *Asiwaju* , at a time when the government is busy trying to implement the Oronsaye report and bring down the number of government agencies.

Again, the bill seems to contain certain confounding issues in it, particularly in it’s set of responsibilities such as ” To receive and manage funds from the allocation of the Federation account for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of roads, houses and other infrastructural damages suffered by the region as a result of the effects of the civil war, as well as tackle the ecological problems and any other related environmental or developmental challenges faced by the South Eastern states of Nigeria and for related matters, 2024”. 54 years after the Uli Strip was overun by Federal troops while *Brigadier Effiong* formally surrendered to *General Yakubu Gowon* , a majority if not all reconstruction and rehabilitation work have long been carried out and concluded not by the *Federal Government* which payed much lip service to it’s 3Rs, but by the *Igbo* people themselves in their  ‘ *Mekaria* ‘ attitude which naturally waits little for government interventions. For example, my grandfather’s house in *Abagana* was destroyed as it served as the *Biafran* *Headquarters* for that sector, my father rebuilt the house in the 80’s as did every Igbo man who survived the war, pray what will now be rehabilitated or reconstructed that has not been carried out in the past?

I would rather have the first set of responsibilities thrown out except people can either show me for certain, these  roads or infrastructure still suffering from the war’s effects and then focus more on the developmental challenges faced by the zone as we asked the following questions.

Can the bill if passed into law and the commission established act as a bulwark for the development of the zone’s economic and commercial potentials?

Will the *SouthEast Development Commission* drive development into the region which is presently grappling with a dearth of basic infrastructure as well as youth unemployment and unrest? Is it the nation’s solution to the cries of marginalisation bellowed time and time again by it’s people and selfishly brandished by our leaders, particularly when they are not observing table manners?

A cursory look into the history of past commissions and their dividends or contributions to the development of those areas will help answer in the negative. A good example is the the *Niger Delta Development Commission* , *NDDC* which has despite the billions sunk into it failed to deliver on it’s mandate! The *North East Development Commission* has taken the same trajectory, now except those who will pilot the affairs of the *SouthEast Development Commission* be saints, we may yet  get the same shambolism experienced from the initially mentioned commissions.