Secretary to the Ogun State Government, Mr. Tokunbo Talabi has tasked his counterparts in the Southwest States to evolve short and long-term strategies that will propel the next level of development in the region.

          Talabi stated this in Abeokuta at the 2nd Edition of the Secretaries to State Governments (SSGs) Forum, saying that the Southwest States should adopt a uniform structure of digitalisation process, to encourage interconnectivity among member States to avoid duplication of efforts.

Talabi affirmed that the last meeting was an eye-opener on the need for collaboration, cooperation and knowledge sharing among the Southwest States, especially on Cabinet Affairs, urging his colleagues to use the occasion not only to map out but implement those strategies to enable the region to forge ahead.

One of the resource persons at the event, who is from the National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies, Prof. Tunji Olaopa, while speaking on the topic: “The Nigeria State, Public Policy Implementation and the Challenge of Implementation”, identified lack of national ideological framework for understanding development as a bane engendering impactful developmental initiatives by government at all levels.

Prof. Olaopa posited that to tackle the trends of uncompleted projects by States in the Southwest, government should have the political will and leadership sophistication that harness the best of policy intelligence and expertise, channel funds and resources based on technical-rationale parameters.

He tasked the Southwest States on deployment of required smart structures and methods, as well as ensuring the recruitment of personnel to achieve an intelligent mixture that would facilitate efficient service delivery in the public sector.