The Governor of Enugu State Peter Mbah has called on the South-East to reimagine itself as a unified economic bloc warning that the region can no longer afford to operate as five separate states. Speaking at the South-East Vision 2025 Regional Stakeholder Forum held at the International Conference Centre in Enugu Mbah urged leaders to embrace coordinated development to unlock collective prosperity.
Addressing Vice President Kashim Shettima and stakeholders, the governor commended President Bola Tinubu for establishing the South East Development Commission as a catalyst for regional growth. He proposed the creation of a South-East Common Market describing it as a borderless integration of commerce talent and industry across the five states.
“By fusing our five distinct economies into one powerhouse we are no longer just negotiating for a seat at the table; we are building the table ourselves,” Mbah said. He emphasized that the initiative goes beyond a policy shift and represents the awakening of an economic giant capable of transforming the South-East into a seamless theatre of enterprise.
Mbah outlined that global prosperity increasingly favours regions that can integrate markets organize at scale and develop strong systems. He described the South-East Vision 2050 as a framework to tackle challenges beyond the capacity of individual states while stressing the need for immediate action.
He called for a region-wide feasibility and project preparation phase jointly funded and governed by all five states. Key to integration would be the development of logistics and connectivity including interstate road rail and multi-modal systems to facilitate the movement of goods and people. He stressed that these must be treated as regional assets rather than state prestige projects.
The governor also highlighted security as shared infrastructure advocating for cross-regional coordination shared intelligence interoperable communication and a centralized response hub to ensure that state and federal security agencies function as one system. Additionally he called for alignment of investment rules regulatory processes and dispute resolution mechanisms to present a unified front to investors and citizens.
Mbah lamented that despite shared identity and culture the South-East continues to suffer from fragmentation which he described as a present-day constraint. He urged that Vision 2050 be treated as a framework for immediate action to build integrated systems capable of harnessing the region’s economic potential.
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