Last weekend in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, the BRACED Commission organized a retreat on regional cooperation and strategic planning. Themed: "Promoting Understanding and Ownership of Regional Development Process," the retreat recorded significant success not just in the quality of participation but in the frankness and no-holds-barred contributions from the participants

BRACED is an acronym for Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Edo and Delta states. The commission was formed in 2010 for the purposes of cooperation and integration of the member states, also known as the South-south states following recommendations from the maiden South-South Economic Summit held in Calabar the previous year.

Since its birth, the commission has functioned as the anchor house of the member states. It serves as their coordinating secretariat for the promotion of cooperation among the BRACED states, which produce about 91 percent of the crude oil throughput from the entire Niger Delta region. This puts the BRACED states as the most critical states in the sustenance of the nation's mono-culture economy. Nigeria's economy runs on crude oil receipts.

Population-wise, the six BRACED states are not disadvantaged. It is the third most populous zone in the country. Besides, it has a sizeable youth budge, a significant portion of elite and enviable collection of human capital most of whom have distinguished themselves in their callings and vocations.

The BRACED states are endowed with natural endowments beyond oil. Huge forest reserves capable of supporting the growth of diverse cash crops, huge deposits of minerals from kaolin to iron, and huge water bodies for commercial aquaculture among others highlight the BRACED states landscape. Yet, in the midst of this, poverty still stalks the zone. Basic amenities still elude the people. This was at the core of reasons for the retreat: The need to create a platform for stakeholders from the six contiguous states to strategise on how to leverage on their collective strengths and economies of scale.

The Director-General of the commission, Ambassador Joe Keshi, said "the process of cooperation, integration, and overall development of the south-south cannot and will never be accomplished without each one of us, without each group or sector being part of and owner of the process.

"To own and claim ownership of the process begins with understanding and appreciating both what is involved, what it entails and above all, the benefits of states with a common sense of identity and purpose coming together for their collective economic benefit and the creation and implementation of institutions that express a particular identity and shape collective action within a geographical region.

Keshi listed the objectives of the retreat to include: Deepen awareness of the imperatives and demands of sub regional development and identify the key drivers of zonal development; assist to emplace guidelines and strategies that will promote coherent, cohesive and dynamic integrated development as well as the multi-sectorial and multi-level interventions required in the management of shared resources and aspirations; and assist to emplace structures and mechanisms that will drive sub regional development

No fewer than 16 papers were delivered by a mixed bag of fecund resource persons including persons from the World Bank, UNICEF and European Commission.

Mr John Litwack, lead economist at the World Bank, Abuja Office in his paper titled: GettingBetter Value for State Resources in the BRACED States listed the development potentials of the BRACED states to include significant government resources, port access and large and young population. According to him, the states can leverage on these potentials to conquer the 'oil curse' through determination and effective leadership. The World Bank had been a strong partner of the BRACED states in strategic areas especially in building strong public finance management modules. Some BRACED states are already participating in some of these public finance management programmes. They are: Edo, Bayelsa, Rivers, Delta, Cross River.

Ambassador David MacRae, Head of Delegation, Delegation of the European Union (EU) to Nigeria and ECOWAS, traced the history of the EU and concluded that the BRACED states can learn a lot from the EU in the area of building strong institutions, planning and public finance management. He drew a correlation between the governments of the 27-member nations of the EU (Croatia will join by July this year) and the six BRACED states and the BRACED Commission. He recommended proper planning and strong public financial management, strong independent institutions as prerequisites for effective public service delivery to beget a BRACED community where goods, persons, capital and services can move and be moved freely.

While lauding the founding of the BRACED Commission which mirrors the European Commission in many ways, he said: "For purposes of continuity, the EU institutions were established by treaties. Recognition of BRACED Commission by State Houses of Assembly could provide the legal backing that transcends current and future administrations. The leaders of the BRACED states should ensure that a legal framework is fashioned to guarantee the sustainability of the BRACED Commission".

Like the relationship between the EU Council and the European Commission, the BRACED states should provide general policy direction while the mandate for policy formulation and implementation rests with the BRACED Commission. He urged the states' civil service to cooperate with the BRACED Commission for effective synergy. Because the EU functions on the tethers of effective funding, MacRae recommended adequate funding of the BRACED Commission through annual budgetary allocations from BRACED states, stressing that such fund should be administered independently. To reduce restiveness in the zone, MacRae advocates that resources need to be effectively utilized to the benefit of the citizens of the BRACED States. This, he said, would reduce restiveness, attract investments and create jobs in the region.

For Professor Vremudia Diejomaoh, President of the Foundation for Jobs and Development, the coming together of the BRACED states is in sync with global trends where otherwise disparate communities, states and nations are pooling their sovereignties. He warned members of the BRACED states not to see regional integration through the BRACED Commission as a sprint but as a marathon hence the need to embark on long term plans with effective funding to boot.

One of the outcomes of the retreat was the recommendation for the setting up of a BRACED States Investment Fund as a major driver of business within the BRACED states. Participants underscored the need for individual states to pass an enabling legislation for the institutionalization of the BRACED Commission agreement which was signed in 2011.

It was also recommended that individual states should include their share of financial contribution to the BRACED Commission in their annual budgets. The need for the BRACED states to fully fund the regular budget of the BRACED Commission was emphasized.

Stakeholders, however, decried the apathy of the BRACED states governors towards the activities of the Commission. They noted that as leaders of the states, they ought to show more commitment as a way of inspiring followership.

The need for the BRACED Commission to develop a sub-regional strategic plan consistent with the priorities of the states was emphasised. Participants called on individual states to mainstream BRACED issues, policies and programmes into their respective strategic plans.

No doubt, the BRACED states have the best opportunity among the six zones in Nigeria to leapfrog the country into the mainstream global economies. They parade the brightest and the best in human capital, and if you add the rich repository of natural resources, what you get is a region waiting to happen. But to do that, the right mix of political will, effective leadership and perceptive followership is required.

The future is bright and beautiful. Pat Utomi, a professor of Political Economy and Entrepreneurship paints that future thus: "The end I can see clearly in my mind for BRACED states is a prosperous region of people living in harmony with each other and their environment which has been cleaned up from the savaging of the early oil years. It is an end in which prosperity is driven by the creative powers of human imagination and not natural resources; having long taken its factor endowments and built global values chains in which they are globally competitive."