The South-East Development Commission (SEDC) has announced a long-term plan for the development of the South East states of Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo by 2050.

The SEDC managing director, Mark Okoye disclosed this while briefing journalists on Monday in Enugu.

Mr Okoye listed the development plan for the states to include Abia; 25-year plan, Anambra 50 years, Enugu; 20 years, Ebonyi; 10 years and Imo; 15 years.

The managing director said that the plans were being aggregated into a policy document adding that it was partnering with the South-East governors and other stakeholders to address the region’s infrastructural deficit.

According to him, once that is done, it becomes the Vision 2050 document and we are not doing anything to sideline what states are doing because they are critical stakeholders.

“They are the ones closest to the grassroots. They have been in existence for 50-plus years, so their plans will be respected.”

He said that the commission would hold a two-day stakeholders forum tagged,”SEDC’s South-East Vision 2050 (SEV2050)” between Feb. 3 and Feb. 5 in Enugu.

He said the forum had as its theme: “Charting a Shared Path To Sustainable Prosperity For the South-East”.

Mr Okoye said the one of the mandates of the commission was to work closely with the state and non-state actors to develop a long-term regional development plan for the zone.

He added that they had a stakeholder engagement plan where critical stakeholders like governors, SEDC committee of the Senate, House of Representatives and ministries deliberated on how to develop and transform the South-East zone.

The managing director highlighted the importance of the forum to include creating opportunity to interact with the organised private sector to chart a way for long-term projects like railway, gas pipeline, seaport, dredging of River Niger and others in region.

He said that the stakeholder forum would entail technical sessions with conversations on various critical sectors like agriculture which would form part of policy document.

“There will be political and multi-stakeholder alignment where we have all these different stakeholder groups, plus our governors in attendance as well as financial options for the projects.

“Six weeks after that, we will deliver the first draft of the Southeast Vision 2050 plan, and then open it up for validation online so that we can get feedback, and then wrap it up,” he said. 

(NAN)