Five years of AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq’s leadership

BY BASHIR ADIGUN

Kwara is at an unprecedented height of developments that has never been witnessed in the history of the State. Thanks to the visionary leadership of our exemplary Governor, Mallam AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq.

Indigenes of the state, home and in the diaspora, are full of compliments and praises for the prudence of the governor to achieve such tremendous developments within a short time in office. The opposition are also in a state of shock and awe with the performance of our uncommon governor but they resorted to a smear campaign of lies and propaganda which do not affect the masses who know better.

No wonder Governor AbdulRazaq’s re-election for a second term was again landslide and seamless.
It is the reason some former die-hard members of the opposition parties jumped ship to share in the vision of the governor for a new Kwara where you do not have to worship a tin god to aspire for leadership positions and succeed in business.

The vision of Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq is to lay a solid foundation for a prosperous Kwara and make the state a Mecca for investors and tourists.

In his first tenure, one of his first tasks was to address the rot in the education sector. He got the state back into the good books of the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) which was blacklisted under his predecessor for non-payment of counterpart funds, resulting in the resuscitation of education in the state to the pride of all.

Over 600 schools were constructed or renovated with unprecedented improvements in the performance of students and teachers. This was further perfected with the recruitment of close to 5,000 teachers on merit. Free exercise books and teaching aides were distributed to all pupils and schools in the state.

Part of the positive outcome of Governor AbdulRazaq’s investment in education is that Kwara students now win laurels in national presidential debates and lead Nigeria delegations in international competitions. Many residents of the state are giving testimonies on the effects of the Smart School System, a product of the vision of the governor. Teachers are being paid regularly and retrained for optimal performance.

In addition to SUBEB’s funding and milestones recorded, additional billions of naira have been invested in tertiary education, human capital, technical and vocational education as well digital literacy ensuring that youths who constitute the majority of the population are fully and digitally repositioned for brighter prosperity globally.

In the civil service, workers who were neglected over the years were promoted and got arrears of their promotions and salaries.

The government also increased their wages to reflect the ₦30,000 minimum wage with full implementation in line with the minimum wage agreed between the Nigeria Labour Congress and the federal government. Recently, the governor approved and released ₦16 billion to settle all outstanding salaries and allowances owed to all local government workers by governments under the displaced dynasty. The same billions have been paid covering outstanding pensions and other categories of workers in the state. No civil servant failed to get his or her monthly salary since Governor AbdulRahman’s election in 2019.

In his second term, the governor is consolidating on the success of the first four years. He is determined to improve the skills of young indigenes of the state and digital natives, our amiable governor has built an innovation hub to provide a platform and echo system for development in information technology.
The innovation hub, when commissioned, seeks to unlock unlimited job opportunities and wealth creation for youths in the state.

A second-to-none visual arts centre is also ready to provide platforms for local and international artists.

With the global popularity of the Nollywood film industry, the governor has built a state-of-the-art Dolby Film Studio named the Sugar Factory Film Studio to attract film producers within and outside the country and the development of indigenes of the state in modern arts of film production

Besides the film studio, another project of the administration of Governor AbdulRazaq, to attract tourists to the state, is the International Conference Centre. It is the first of its kind in North Central Nigeria. The conference centre will complement the state-owned hospitality facility being remodelled to a five-star standard.

A garment factory designed to provide jobs for the teeming youths and increase the internally generated revenue of the state has been completed

The governor has equally repositioned the health sector. For instance, the State Specialist Hospital has been resuscitated by constructing more wards and providing standard dental and eye clinics. Additional doctors and other health workers have also been recruited. All these are in addition to the renovation, and equipping hospitals and health centres across the state.

The governor ensured the approval of the medical programme for the Kwara State University, Malete. This has led to the upgrade of the Ilorin General Hospital to a University Teaching Hospital. This move will no doubt lead to the production of more medical doctors for the state. Not only that, Governor AbdulRazaq has provided 24-hour non-stop electricity for Sobi Specialist Hospital, the new teaching hospital and almost all other general hospitals in the state.

The administration has also built an international grain market; the Gbugbu International Market, a shea butter factory and an industrial park at Eiyenkorin to provide an easy market for farmers and expand the industrial base of the state for employment opportunities for the youths

The Eyenkorin Industrial Park has provision for 5000-megawatt electricity to boost industrialisation in the state. Two new radio stations were also established to ensure the people have more voices in governance and create more job opportunities in entertainment and the mass media industry.

A massive infrastructural development is ongoing in the state. For the first time in the history of the state, all local government headquarters are now construction sites with multi-billion naira federal and state road projects, some of them at finishing levels ready for commissioning.

Old roads have either been repaired or reconstructed. In contrast, many new roads across the state are being completed and ready for commissioning to ease movements and save travel time by commuters. Waterworks that the previous administration neglected have been rehabilitated and boreholes have been provided for rural communities

The administration’s ease of doing business has attracted small medium and large businesses into the state.

The BUA group has completed its $400 million sugar Refinery in Lafiaji. It is expected to create an estimated 6,000 jobs in the state. New federal roads across the three senatorial districts at ₦350 billion have been flagged off statewide with prospect for their completion before long to boost international trade and further attract foreign investors.

Governor AbdulRazaq has been supporting farmers in the state through the following programmes:

• CADRE HARMONISE: Kwara state was incorporated into the Cadre Harmonise Food and Nutrition analysis under the National Programme for Food Security in January 2023. With the full support of the KWSG, two food and nutrition security analyses have been done in the state (November 2022 and March 2022). The analysis has resulted in the:

1. Establishment of working synergy between the KWSG and all the agricultural institutions, agencies and parastatals (such as the Lower Niger River Basin Development Authority (LNRBDA), National Centre for Agricultural Mechanization (NCAM), Nigeria Stored Products Research Institute (NSPRI), etc) in the state towards improving the food and nutrition security of the state.
2. Interventions for 9,150 farmers in Kwara state by the NPFS.
3. Interventions for 200 farmers each in Asa and Baruten, LGAs using a special variety of maize and other inputs by the NPFS.

• Distribution of irrigation equipment: In March 2023, the state government empowered over 4,000 farmers across the 16 local government areas of the state with free agricultural inputs and irrigation equipment to enable them to engage in all-year-round farming to boost food production. This has resulted in an increase in dry-season rice farming in the state.
• Subsidised hiring services: The departments supervise subsidised machinery hiring services for our teeming farmers. Machinery such as tractors and bulldozers are hired out at very low cost to farmers. Farmers have direct access to the scheme to promote tractorisation.
• Intervention in dry season farming across the state.
• Provision of irrigation facilities at no cost to genuine dry-season farmers across the state.
• Coordinating agro-processors to promote their outputs and effective usage of their facilities.
• 6,561 beneficiaries also received both inputs and assets support under the Kwara State Fadama NG-CARES in 2022.
• SAPZ: The Kwara state government completed processes and requirements for the establishment of a Special Agro-Processing Zone (with dairy farming as the main focus) in partnership with the African Development Bank (AfDB). Because of this, the French government has shown interest in supporting the actualisation of the Special Agro-Processing Zone (SAPZ) by assisting in the upgrading and modernisation of pasture production, breed improvement, meat processing and irrigation systems in Kwara state. The state is now disbursement ready, with the IsDB (Islamic Development Bank) adopting the funding of the project on behalf of the AfDB. The project was kicked off in April 2023 with preliminary administrative activities (work plan design, review of terms of reference, etc) ongoing towards the commencement of physical activities on the approved site.
• LIP: The commitment of the Kwara state government to developing the livestock sector attracted the Livestock Intervention Programme (LIP) from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) under the National Livestock Transformation Plan (NLTP); ₦207 million worth of infrastructure/equipment has been received from the federal government under the LIP and they include solar-powered boreholes, hand pump boreholes, solar-powered streetlights, health dispensary and animal handling centre, security posts, micro-earth dam, two hectares market vegetable garden, 10 hectares of irrigated pasture, ruminant feed mill, etc.
• L-PRES: Processes and requirements for the state’s participation in the World Bank’s Livestock Productivity and Resilience Support Programme (L-PRES) have also been completed with the payment of the required counterpart fund of ₦20 million and signing of the Subsidiary Loan Agreement (SLA). Kwara state is now disbursement ready, while full activities will resume in May 2023.

In Sports, the governor refurbished lawn tennis, handball and squash courts. He has also been supporting the state athletes to excel in local and international competitions

It is on record that the state is the first to comply with the UN Affirmative Action on Gender. Appointments of women in public office are currently 100%, surpassing the 35% stipulated by the body. Only Kwara state, today, has a law mandating 35% of women’s inclusion in all political appointments.
The state is also the best reference point on youth inclusiveness with youths constituting the overwhelming majority of political appointees in the state. The state has the youngest lawmaker in Nigeria.

Kwara is also a trailblazer in social investment programmes. It is the first state to legislate the social investment programme into an act of parliament — even before the federal government.

The state government’s Owo Isowo, the equivalent of Trader Money under the federal government has supported many traders in the state while the Owo Arugbo, a conditional cash transfer for the poor and elderly have provided succour for the aged and the vulnerable in the state. There is also Kwaprenuer; a business pitch programme to provide financial support for indigenes of the state with innovative business ideas. It’s the first of its kind among states in Nigeria.

Most importantly, the statesmanship, stunning humility zero tolerance for political thuggery and violence exhibited by the youths, women and labour-friendly governor has earned the state unanimous golden title of the most peaceful and secure state in Nigeria among leading security chiefs in the country.

The leadership vision and agenda of the governor to transform Kwara state from being a civil servant state to a digital economy and investors’ destination are no longer in doubt to all the doubting Thomas.

Governor Abdulrahman AbdulRazaq has no doubt etched his name in gold. History will indeed be kind to him for putting Kwara on a strong footing for generations to come.

It is time therefore for all patriots, youths, women, elders and indeed all stakeholders to seize this golden opportunity to rally around such an uncommon visionary and selfless leader to make Kwara attain her full potential as the hub of the digital economy and investors’ destination in Nigeria.

Adigun is the special adviser on media to the Kwara state governor.