Indeed, if His Excellency, Alhaji Ahmed Abdulfatah, Governor of Kwara State were to be an athlete, he would be in a blistering form in the 100 metres dash, just as the 4X400 metres relay race would comfortably occupy pole position in his competitive athletic menu list. Interestingly, both require enormous speed and endurance, but more than anything else, focus. No doubt, in the last one year, this gentleman has displayed these traits in surplus; the reason he has so far surpassed expectations before and after his victory in the April 26, 2011 gubernatorial election in the state on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Recall that when politicians and technocrats from Kwara State and beyond converged in Lagos for a retreat to draw a roadmap on the Kwara Project after the elections, many dismissed it as a jamboree; describing it as one of those time-wasting talk shops that would not impact positively on the people. In fact, as was with the governor’s “Legacy Continues” slogan premised on the benefits of one administration furrowing into another in terms of policy formulation and implementation, as well as programme actualization, many saw it as another political mantra to cajole the electorate. The doubts arose particularly as most new governments in Nigeria were in the habit of steering away from the programmes of the out-going government and often rubbished their actions and programmes by any way possible.
However, as opposed to this common practice, the Ahmed’s administration chanted the continuity mantra and stuck to it being in the know of its benefits to the people. Little wonder, two years down the foray, for the discerning, the administration has substantially acquitted itself by upping the ante of development in many sectors of the Kwara economy with the monumental developmental benchmark set by the immediate past administration of Dr Bukola Saraki as a guide. Starting out with the Lagos Summit which gave birth to the shared prosperity of the administration as a spring board for the formulation, implementation and actualization of the administration’s programmes and policies, all eyes were fastened on the transformation agenda of the government.
With a policy thrust that leverages resources and takes advantage of the strength of the state for economic growth, human capital development and youth empowerment, strategic infrastructure and effective governance, all of which fuse with the Shared Prosperity Programme of the administration, happy days, indeed, have come.
While deepening and strengthening commercial agriculture through private sector initiative to drive the economy of the state and in turn, create jobs and ensure food security, the government has completed the International Diagnostic Centre, flagged-off of the inaugural flight by student-pilots of the aviation college, completed the Micheal Imoudu/ Offa garage road among other road projects started by the immediate past government, as part of the continuity agenda. The administration’s high value on the 500 metres concept, especially as it affects its health and water supply policies spurred it on to consolidate on the achievements of the previous administration in the area of healthcare.
In its first phase, the administration embarked on a robust rehabilitation of the five General Hospitals across the three senatorial districts of the state at the cost of N1.6 billion with more General Hospitals to follow in the second phase. The governor explained that the logic behind the concept is that no Kwaran should go beyond 500 metres to access quality healthcare. Already, plans are in top gear for the start of the Community-based Healthcare Insurance Scheme, which has already undergone pilot shape.
With matchless vigour, Dr Ahmed pursues his dreams of human capital development and youth empowerment. Like squeezing water out of stone, quite a number of investors are now keen on coming to the state. There is a N70 billion agreement on large-scale farming with Valsolar, a Spanish Consortium. The agreement has since been commended by stakeholders in the agriculture sector, just as the federal government through the Minister of Agriculture, Akinwumi Adesina signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the state government on the production and cultivation of cassava on commercial scale in the state.
Today, Kwara State produces about 40 tonnes per hectare, which is far above national average. The beauty of the Valsolar/Kwara State government partnership lies in the fact that the Spanish consortium got to know about Kwara State’s potentials in agriculture through the Spanish Embassy in Nigeria. Another dividend of the administration’s policy on agriculture was the interest of Mosilo Group in building an Agro-Processing complex in Share in Ifelodun council area of the state. The 600 tonnes complex with over $150 million capital outlay for its first phase will change the status of Nigeria to the largest producer of cassava in the world.
Instructively, the efforts of the governor has not gone unnoticed as he was awarded the Outstanding Agriculture Icon of the Year 2011, for his contributions to the country’s agricultural development by the African Leadership Magazine in Washington DC, United States of America in April last year.
To boost water supply, the administration provided water booster station at Western Reservoir in Ilorin and Anberi to boost water supply to Ajasse-Ipo and environs. It also carried out comprehensive rehabilitation of 15 water works and sunk 300 boreholes across the State.
On the area of manpower, which the government sees as critical to the actualization of its robust policies, it has expedited action on the take-off of the School of Nursing, Oke-Ode to complement the College of Nursing, Ilorin, in the training of qualified nurses and midwives.
On the area of water supply, the reticulation of water pipes in Ilorin metropolis has continued in high pace while boreholes have been dug for many communities to ensure availability and access to pipe borne water. In the last count, no fewer than 14 water works were rehabilitated while 38 others were committed to the National Grid.
It is worthy of note that in the last nine years or so, Kwara State has been reputed for road construction. The tempo has been nourished under the present administration. The Ahmed administration has done over 800 kilometres of roads in the three senatorial districts to open the state further for agricultural development and economic growth. Over 300 of these are feeder and access roads purposed to create the desired value chain. In the Kulende-Oyun bridge axis of Old-Jebba road in Ilorin, a federal road that was a nightmare for motorists due to monumental traffic snarl, today, the story is different. The state government carried out expansion work on a long stretch of the road at a cost of N200million and traffic congestion on the road has since disappeared.
Again, the government has rehabilitated more than 400 classrooms in 58 schools while about N24 million was spent on the payment of National Examination Council (NECO) and National Board for Technical Education (NABTEB) fees for 3,126 students.
At the tertiary education level, fees of Kwara indigenes at the Kwara State University Malete was reduced from N180,000.00 to N95,000.00 to the relief of parents and guardians. The government also offered Bursary Award to students of Kwara State origin.
The subventions of state-owned tertiary institutions were increased by 50% to boost the financial strength of the institutions. Still poised to reflect the new education policy based on capacity building with a technical education bias, technical schools in Erin-Ile, Ilorin and Patigi are being rehabilitated and equipped to produce well trained manpower, while an International Vocational Centre at Ajasse-Ipo, in Irepodun local government of the state is under construction.
On the economic front, Kwara State remains a beautiful bride for investors and banking institutions who want to partake in the actualization of the state’s potentials.
• Oba is Chief Press Secretary to Kwara State governor
