The Sun News On-line

The Governors Forum met in Lagos at the weekend and charged the media to focus more on positive reports about the Nigerian nation as negative reports create wrong impressions of the country and scare away foreign investments.

Addressing media executives on behalf of the forum at an interactive session held at Lagoon Restaurant in Victoria Island, Governors Bukola Saraki, Babatunde Fashola, Ikedia Ohakim of Kwara, Lagos and Imo states respectively, tasked the media to partner the governors in rebranding the Nigerian nation and repositioning it as a catalyst for development.

The governors also promised to collaborate with the Federal Government in the area of agriculture to ensure food security as the looming food crises could be a blessing in disguise to the nation and its component parts because it encourages people to embark on commercial farming in large scale on the vast arable lands across the country.

Governor Fashola explained that Lagos state on its part has begun to focus more on marine and aquatic agriculture, which are areas of the state’s comparative advantage because of its aquatic nature.
Governor Babatunde Fashola reminded the media executives that as partners, it should be realized that whatever resources are managed by the governors are being held in trust for the people and that the media must ensure that leaders use such resources for the common good of the majority.
He added that with the impact of Information Technology, the world is getting smaller and smaller by the day and that it is the way the local press projects the country that would reflect on the international stage.

Governor Ohakim disclosed that the governors of the 36 states of Nigeria had spent not less than N40 billion on security matters to ensure that there is security of life and property and support the Federal Government in securing the nation.
Ohakim lamented that Nigeria recently lost a multi million dollars investment opportunity which could have fetched thousands of jobs to Sierra Leone because of misgivings created by media reports on Nigeria.

Governor Fashola called for a revisit of the 1963 Nigerian constitution which espoused true fiscal federalism with the country benefiting immensely in terms of development.