YEWALAND IN NEED OF STAKEHOLDERS SUMMIT TO SKETCH ROADMAP FOR - TopicsExpress

YEWALAND IN NEED OF STAKEHOLDERS SUMMIT TO SKETCH ROADMAP FOR POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT I rejoice with our Kabiyesi the Olu of Ilaro and Paramount Ruler of Yewaland, and all other Kabiyesis in Yewaland on the occasion of Yewa Festival 2014, starting on the 9th to 19th April 2014. Congratulations to our Traditional Chiefs as well as all Yewa community leaders, and to sons and daughters of Yewa. A ku odun o, emi wa a se pupo re laiye o Amin. It is also necessary to extend heart-felt gratitude to all our Awori brothers and sisters in Ogun West Senatorial District, for their support whenever we call for unity and stronger participation in matters of developing all our communities. Coming together at this time is necessary and couldn’t be more important! Yewaland consist of Yewa South Local Government, Yewa North Local Government, Ipokia Local Government and Imeko Afon Local Government, together with vast population which is set to burgeon by 2030/2050 because of our young population. We need to awaken our youth and direct them to be entrepreneurial. People always underestimate what our people can be. Can you imagine if we have sufficient economic and political power? Let me ask right away, ‘what should be the macroeconomic objectives of Yewaland?’ It is simply the economic, social and cultural development of the Kingdom. Therefore, we want a kingdom which is prosperous and able to increase the economic well-being of its members, a Kingdom able to maintain peace and shun inter-ethnic acrimony, a Kingdom that is respected by its neighbours based on its economic power and a land which joins hands with other parts of Ogun State to achieve its laudable dreams and goals. As we all know, peaceful existence is not a one-way street. Yewaland on its part needs an outstretched hand to accommodate the interest of its neighbours. The national and state economies may be accelerating, but the concentration of wealth and power is excluding and locking out thousands of our young people which are driving insecurity and stability. In Yewa communities, there remain many challenges to overcome, including addressing the pervasive and growing inequality and disunity that are fuelling instability. Our young people are not trained to have entrepreneurial skills. Economic and social inclusion must be our top priority, and we can only get our community to have all inclusive growth if we are educated and change our mindsets. But before we could talk about economic growth, we needed political stability and security, which is key to unlocking Yewas full potential. We need to ensure that we have an enabling platform for business. Yewa Economic Summit (YES) is proposed as a foundation for sustainable and inclusive growth that must be laid now in Yewaland because we need jobs, jobs, and more jobs for Yewa youths. This is to create space for private sector, the local governments and Ogun State government to responsibly distribute the fruit of growth. The Yewa Economic Summit will be used to achieve the following objectives: • To identify the needs and the resources of the area and use same to plan the area’s development because to fail to plan is to plan to fail. • To open the identified resources for full exploitation for private sector driven economy. • To use the product of the maiden economic summit as basis for the production of an Economic Blue-Print that will be used for launching Yewaland on the smooth path of rapid, systematic and sustainable socio-economic development. • To attract off-shore and on-shore investors to the area for the purpose of establishing manufacturing industries and other primary production functions in Yewaland using as an advantage our closeness to Lagos State the commercial capital of Nigeria and the border posts between Nigeria and the Republic of Benin. • To attract both the State and the Federal Government to compliment the efforts of our local governments in creating the necessary enabling investment-friendly environment for private investors to do business in Yewaland. • To identify the engine for growth that will be used to jump-start the area’s socio economic development. • To make all the sons and daughters of Yewaland to be part and parcel of the process of transforming Yewa from underdevelopment to a great and vibrant land. • To use the Economic and Industrial Blue-Print as the bench-mark for assessing the people we give the political mandate to rule us both in the state and local levels, so that objective appraisal can be made from time to time, and necessary corrective measures taken to return the derailing leader to the known Road-map so as to reach the end of the journey successfully. Yewa Economic Summit (YES) is to raise awareness and build tolerance for a diverse culture and underpin mutual benefits. The effectiveness of this event is to be the mechanism used by local agencies in businesses and community strategies. Kudos to Ajiroba Dapo Oke and his team in the Education Committee, working on Yewa Education Summit set for June 2014 on repositioning education of our youths and preparing them towards socio-economic greatness. Our local governments must continue to realise the democratic dividend of good governance, respect for human right and rule of law. They also need to create an enabling environment for domestic and foreign investment to realise its potentials and ensure sustainable and inclusive growth for our people. There is no “quick” fix. Many of the areas that have grown today have done so at a small rate of growth over several years. What is important in my view is to provide necessary leadership role in harnessing all our resources together for a meaningful and sustained start. The economic effects of years of neglect or indeed inaction cannot be simply obliterated in one quick swoop. Consistency in policy and tenacity of purpose is important in order to achieve desired goals. No meaningful result can be achieved from “stop” and “go” economic policy. Therefore, the need for YEWA ECONOMIC SUMMIT with the road-map for future development is important. This will be achieved through brainstorming sessions, workshops, seminars and conferences, events, investments and advocacy. This is not tantamount to saying that policies and programmes should not be revived from time to time, but rather that a positive push in the development process once initiated must be sustained. The destiny of the Yewa people is primarily in their hands together to achieve the laudable objectives for the development of Yewaland. Lastly, we are currently putting together a powerful Planning and Implementation Committee of Yewa citizens, who will be able to draw up plans for the 1st Yewa Economic Summit. The thrust of our activities will aim towards putting together a highly respected, credible think-tank of Yewa indigenes that is very influential in directing the economic development of Yewa people. The Committee will be intellectual, not theoretical but highly practical, reasoned and analytical opinions on issues that support the economic interest of Yewaland and promote our culture to be at the fore-front of the agenda. The Committee will actively mobilize, identify, promote, protect, invest in and consider genuine contributions from stakeholders. This Committee will look into: • Reasons for the Summit • Aspects for Consideration • Structure of the Summit • Implementation Procedure and • Distribution of Responsibilities for the Project All contributions from the general public will be welcomed for consideration. Prince Abiodun Adewale Convener