The South West Governors’ Forum, comprising the governors of Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Ekiti, and Ondo states, has agreed to establish a joint security surveillance to tackle terrorists under the banner of the Islamic State’s West Africa Province.

They also agreed to establish joint food hubs to address the growing food prices in the region.

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State disclosed this while reading out an-11 point communique reached at the end of a South-West Governors Forum meeting, held at Lagos House in Ikeja.

Governors in attendance were:l Seyi Makinde (Oyo), Lucky Aiyedatiwa (Ondo), Biodun Oyebaniji (Ekiti), Dapo Abiodun (Ogun) and Ademola Adeleke (Osun).

The closed-door meeting, which started at 12:15 pm after the arrival of all the governors, focused on common interests and key regional issues, which include security, agriculture, food security, economic collaboration and the South-West Development Commission.

After extensive deliberations on key issues affecting the South West, Sanwo-Olu, who read the communique, said: “The Forum commends the South-West governors for maintaining relative peace and security in the region, particularly during the recent festive period.

“Acknowledging the threat posed by ISWAP activities in parts of the South-West, the Forum strongly condemns any threat to the region’s security. It encourages enhanced collaboration between the Nigeria Police Force and local security outfits, urging them to remain vigilant. It also commits to taking necessary actions to counter these threats.

“It further agreed to establish a Joint Surveillance Monitoring Team to oversee and coordinate security efforts across the South West region. Additionally, the Forum resolved that its Special Advisers on Security would collaborate on intelligence gathering and sharing between states security agencies, local security networks and Federal law enforcement authorities.”

On the establishment of the South West Development Commission, SWDC, the governor’s said: “The Forum commends the Federal Government and the Senate for establishing the commission and collectively agreed to situate its headquarters at Cocoa House, Ibadan, Oyo State.

“It acknowledges the efforts of Odu’a Investment Company Ltd. in efficiently managing joint assets of the South-West region over the past five years.”

On food security measures, they said: “Recognising the need for food security, the Forum encourages collaboration among South West States to implement collective measures aimed at curbing food inflation in the region.

It expresses concern over the activities of unscrupulous middlemen who deliberately inflate prices of goods and commodities in South-West markets. It has, therefore, agreed to establish a State Food Inflation Joint Monitoring Team and also the establishment of Aggregation Centre /Food Hubs to foster inter-state collaboration and mitigate food inflation.

It commends the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria, DAWN, Commission for its improved performance over the past twelve months and encourages it to continue working diligently with South-West Commissioners for Agriculture on industrialization and infrastructural development across the region.