By ALEX ENEBELI

The Kenyan Ambassador to Nigeria, Amb. Isaac Parashina, says the South East Development Commission (SEDC) will shape the destiny and economy of the zone and the entire African continent.

Parashina stated this during SEDC’s South-East Vision 2050 (SEV2050) Stakeholder Forum, held at the International Conference Centre, Enugu on Tuesday with the theme “Charting a Shared Path To Sustainable Prosperity For the South-East”.

He stated that Nigeria and Kenya shared longstanding bilateral relations in many areas and reaffirmed Kenya’s commitment to work with Nigeria to connect people in trade and various sectors.

“Our intention is always to work with all institutions, persons, the MDAs to enhance our shared interests and also achieve mutual interests for both countries and African continent.

“Our coming together will shape not just the destiny of our people, but the people of African region. We will continue to develop ideas and as Africans, we must always have our own way of solving our issues and share our prosperity.

“I want to inform you that Kenya, last year in July, opened our borders to all the citizens of Nigeria to visit without visa and stay for at least six days,” he said.

Speaking also, Gov. Peter Mbah of Enugu State noted that Nigeria was blessed with immense human capital, entrepreneurial dynamism, cultural cohesion, and a strong spirit of resilience.

Mbah, represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Chidiebere Onyia, added that unlocking the full potential of South East region required coordinated planning, long-term vision, policy alignment, and strong collaboration across states, sectors, and institutions.

According to him, the forum provides them with the rare opportunity to move beyond fragmented efforts and begin the process of building a unified, data-driven, future-oriented development agenda for the Southeast.

“The Enugu State Government firmly believes that sustainable development must be people-centred, private-sector-driven, innovation-led, and on the part of strong institutions, principles that align perfectly with the vision 2050 agenda.

“We also recognise that no single state can achieve transnational development in isolation, therefore, regional cooperation, shared infrastructure, integrated markets, and a collective advocacy are indispensable to our collective success.

“The state will continue to support regional initiatives that promote economic integration, industrial growth, human capital development, and social inclusion across the Southeast,” Mbah said.

Earlier in a welcome address, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer (SEDC), Mr Mark Okoye, expressed the need for stakeholders to work together for the future of southeast through clear thinking,

honest diagnosis, and coordinated planning.

He explained that the forum was aimed at moving the Southeast from fragmented effort to coordinated action, noting that for decades, development and planning across the country had often followed a familiar pattern.

“Consultants are engaged, documents are procured, validation workshops are done in the nicest hotels and the plans are launched and yet, ownership of those plans remains very shallow.

“Implementation is weak, and public trust is limited. We have chosen a different path at SEDC. Over the past year, the SEDC has spent time listening, mapping constraints, engaging states, and testing stress-testing assumptions.

“Many of the questions guiding today’s session emerged from that work.

“The forum is, therefore, not about unveiling a finished plan,” Okoye said.

He explained that the commission would build a credible pipeline that could attract domestic, diaspora capital and institutional finance to develop the South East Vision 2050.

This, Okoye explained, would ultimately translate into factories, farms, infrastructure, power, logistics, job creation and sustainable returns.

In a remark, President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Sen. John Mbata, extolled SEDC for organising the event, saying that “We must work together to unlock our potential, to liberate the zone, and to address our challenges.

“Let us drive our union forward, creating jobs, reducing poverty and improving the quality of life for our people. I believe that together we can build a brighter future for ourselves and the generations to come,” Mbata said. (NAN)