BY JIMITOTA ONOYUME

 PORT HARCOURT – SIX states of the South South region are to establish a common regional electricity company and an oil & gas firm.

Rising from a meeting of governors of the states in Government House, Port Harcourt Monday night,  under the aegis of BRACED, an acronym for the states, Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa-Ibom, Cross River, Edo and Delta States, the governors said they have also signed an agreement for the take-off of a Regional Economic Cooperation commission.  
  
The governors of Bayelsa, Cross River, Edo, Delta and Rivers states attended the meeting.

 Chairman of the South-South Governor’s Council, Senator Liyel Imoke who read the communiqué of the meeting said they have also concluded steps on how to conduct feasibility on the regional economic projects.
 
 He said that in a bid to fast track the process, the second South-South Economic Summit would be held at Asaba, Delta State from October 13th to 15th this year, while a strategic meeting of commissioners of Economic Development, Planning, Finance, Agriculture, Commerce and Industry  in the region, would be convened within 60 days.

 According to Governor Imoke, the BRACED Commission headquarters would be located in Port Harcourt, and would focus on human capacity development, Education, Information and Communications Technology, Infrastructural Development, Agric and Investments.

The Communiqué, which was signed by the five governors present at the meeting, also affirmed the readiness of the states to work out, between now and 2012, an effective mechanism for the re-certification of teachers as part of efforts to encourage teachers training, thus, improving the quality of education. 

Senator Imoke,  also said that the BRACED Commission would organize retreats for Commissioners and top functionaries of government , the business community, and for the civil service  to ensure that all the states operate on the same pedestal.