A group under the aegis of Civil Society legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) has called for economic cooperation among the three South South States of Cross River, Akwa Ibom and Rivers to unlock economic potential and prosperity in the Niger Delta region.
The executive director of CISLAC, Comrade Auwal Ibrahim, made the call during a two-day stakeholders’ engagement workshop which started on Wednesday in Calabar.
Ibrahim said the coming together of Cross River, Akwa Ibom, and Rivers as pilot states is an initiative aimed at unlocking economic prosperity within the Niger Delta through trade facilitation, agricultural value chain development, and policy engagement for ease of doing business, tax and levies harmonisation.
He stressed that Nigeria, with a single economic entity, experienced internal trade barriers between its constituent states that mirror international tariffs.
He said that in the South-South geopolitical zone, these three states of Akwa Ibom, Cross River, and Rivers states form a geographically contiguous and economically significant corridor.
He stressed that historically, the three states share deep socio-cultural ties that complement economic strengths from agriculture in Cross River to the industrial and oil and gas hubs in Akwa Ibom and Rivers.
He however lamented that the full potentials of this regional bloc has been significantly hampered by a fragmented and often predatory tax and levy system at state borders.
“For decades, businesses, transporters, and traders operating across these three states have faced considerable obstacles that stifle economic growth and efficiency”. Auwal stated.
He stated that Multiple taxation, inconsistent levies, and bureaucratic bottlenecks have created a complex and unpredictable cost structure.
In his remarks the speaker of the Cross River State House of Assembly, Elvert Ayambem, represented by chairman Finance and Appropriation, Okon Owuna stressed that the advocacy of regional economic cooperation by CISLAC for the three South South states of Cross River, Akwa Ibom and Rivers is a welcome development that can pave way for good standard of living for the people in the region.
Ayambem maintained that because the three states share a lot in common it was better for bottlenecks to be taken away to pave way for economic growth of the region.
“It is worthy of mention that these States, though distinct, can grow faster If they come together to develop common grounds of economic growth”. Ayambem maintained.
