By Babatunde Opoola.
Governance in a participatory democracy is about ensuring the greatest good for the greatest number of citizenry. In other words the hallmark of good governance is the deliverance of the divends of democracy.
As he commences his second year, the governor is rebuilding kwara state by establishing new partnerships to create employment opportunities; developing our human capital and empowering our women and youth; modernising our agriculture and rural development intiatives towards ensuring food security and empowerment.
This new rebuilding agenda will further re-engineer the financial management of the state to ensure transparency, accountability and efficiency in the management of government finances; create incentives to encourage greater productivity and good labour relations; increase the participation of youth and women in governance; and create institutions for Public/Private collaboration in development projects.
The rebuilding kwara initiative is deepening economic opportunities in the state by attracting investment to Kwara. An important platform of this transformative Initiative is to strengthen the state’s partnership with Federal Government, multilateral Agencies, International Institutions and the private sector.
The new relationship with the Federal Government will also attract development assistance and more federal presence in the state. To foster these partnerships the government is investing in critical areas such as security, roads, water, housing, education, health, agriculture, sports, sanitation and other action plans designed to make life more meaningful to the people and ensure that kwara State is indeed a place to be
The World Bank’s CARES project and recent visits of Governor Abdulrazaq to the Minister of Water Resources Suleiman Hussein Adamu; Minister of Communication, Isa Ibrahim Pantami ; Minister of Sports, Sunday Dare ; Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipre Silva and Executive Chairman of Federal Character Commission, Mueebah Faridah Dankaka are all geared towards facilitating Federal Government’s investment in critical areas of the state.
It is important to draw attention to Governor AbdulRazaq’s September visit to the Minister of State for Petroleum Timipre Sylva in Abuja, to discuss various areas of collaboration between the state and the ministry.
The major issues the Governor discussed with the Honourable Minister is the ongoing preparation for seismic data acquisition in Edu and Pategi parts of Kwara State, which is an extension of similar preparatory works in the neighboring Niger State.
The ongoing partnership also discussed the request of the administration for the NNPC to support the construction of a modern science laboratory for the Kwara State University (KWASU) as an endowment; the proposed expansion of the Oke-Oyi LPG depot; and the construction of the Ibadan-Ilorin-Jebba gas pipeline.
The gas pipeline when completed would enable easy supply of gas and constant alternate power supply to industries in the state.
This monumental success vigorously being pursued when achieved, will lessen the load on the national grid thereby increasing power supply to our communities, which would attract more firms and investments, hence, stimulating job creation in the state.
One of the major parameters in assessing the performance of state governors in Nigeria is to the extent to which they have been able to provide potable water in their respective states. Governor Abdulrazaq is aware of the high expectations of kwara people in this regard. With iron determination and uncommon zeal, Abdulrazaq confronted the hydra-headed problem of water scarcity and he is deploying a sizeable percentage of the state resources to the attainment of universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water, and working to also end open defecation in the state with improved access to adequate and equitable sanitation for all by year 2025.
It is against this background that the September visit to the Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Hussein Adamu in Abuja was imperative, seeking the support of the ministry for the state to achieve the set goals. The Governor also sought the support of the ministry for Kwara State to qualify for the funding of a reticulation project that aligns with the Ilorin Master Plan that is being prepared.
The Minister, assured the Governor that the N10 billion Tada-Shonga irrigation project remains a priority while the Pategi Water Works will be completed next year amongst other ongoing federal government’s projects in the state.
Applauding the efforts of the Governor across various sectors, Adamu said Kwara would benefit from the COVID-19 interventions of the federal government such as construction of public toilets, hand washing facilities, solar water facilities adding that Abuja would also engage 100 youths per local government area of the state as volunteers to support the National Hand washing Campaign.
The Governor equally intensified his drive with his visit to the newly appointed Director General of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) retired Air Vice Marshall Muhammadu Muhammed to seek support for victims of recent flooding in the state, among other issues in the state.The NEMA DG, who commended AbdulRazaq for the visit, said the governor’s request would be treated as an emergency.
Having recorded appreciable feats in agriculture development, AbdulRazaq has equally secured the number one slot for Kwara in the pilot scheme of the integration programme for rural farmers — an initiative of the African Union Development Agency/New Partnership for Africa’s Development (AUDA-NEPAD) to help promote sustainable agriculture and food security.
Explaining the outcome of his meeting with the Minister of Agriculture, Sabo Nanono, AbdulRazaq said Kwara would also benefit from the Federal Government’s stimulus programme, which includes getting about 10km roads. The road will start next month under the Ministry of Agriculture intervention. There are also programmes like soil test, mapping of farms, and provision of seedlings. There is also the National Livestock Transformation Programme. Prior to his visit, about four states had been programmed to kick off this year and luckily enough kwara state has been added to be part of the state that will kick off the programme after his visit.
According to Abdulrazaq Kwara would also benefit from a fertiliser scheme involving the Dangote Group and the Ministry of Agriculture, among other benefits of his constant engagements with various stakeholders. This is one sector Abdulrazaq said has received steady attention from his administration. Another milestone in Abdulrazaq’s Abuja visit is the pushing for Kwara to be made the north central regional headquarters for the national creative industry training programme which the Ministry of Sports and Youths Development is coordinating.
The programme according to the governor’s chief press secretary, Rafiu Ajakaye leverages the Creative Industry Financing Initiative, and is designed to boost job creation amongst the youth in Nigeria. The initiative was put together by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in collaboration with the Bankers’ Committee.
The Governor has also secured assurance of the ministry to support the Kwara State Football Academy to become a major national football talent hub.
The Pendulum 