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Tag: kwara

  • Kwara ACN sacks chair Olawepo

    •‘Only party’s NEC can remove me’

     

    The Kwara State Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) Caretaker Committee yesterday said it had removed its Chairman Kayode Olawepo and appointed the party’s Secretary Tony Ayinla as the new Chairman.

    But Olawepo said the committee lacks the power to sack him.

    In a statement in Ilorin, the state capital, the committee said the move was “an urgent attempt to reposition the opposition party ahead of future tasks”.

    The statement urged party members to support the new leadership, assuring the public of ACN’s commitment “to lead the collective yearning for good governance and continuous struggle against tyranny of the few, which is militating against the state’s human and infrastructural development”.

    It added: “Kwara State ACN Caretaker Committee, a body charged by the National Secretariat with the day-to-day running of the party, held a special meeting in Ilorin on Tuesday where some decisions were taken to smoothen the running and repositioning of the party.

    “The caretaker committee, among other things, effected leadership change by appointing Mr Toyin Ayinla as chairman in place of Mr Kayode Olawepo. Ayinla was, until Tuesday, the Secretary of the committee. Mr Olawepo has, by this decision, ceased to be the chairman of the party.

    “All the decisions, including the suspension of the chairman, have been communicated to all the appropriate authorities, while members across the state are urged to work with the new leadership to move the party forward.

    “The party wishes to assure all its members and people of Kwara State of renewed commitment to lead the collective yearning for good governance and continuous struggle against the tyranny of the few, which is militating against the state’s human and infrastructural development.”

    Olawepo described his removal as null and void, adding that “only the National Executive Council (NEC) of the party has the power to do so

    He said: “Only the NEC can announce the dissolution of the caretaker committee, of which I am still the acting chairman.

    “Second, I am not from their constituency – Kwara Central. So, no member of my constituency wrote a petition against me, which could warrant my removal or suspension.”

     

  • Police deny arresting killers of Kwara CP

    The police in Enugu State yesterday denied reports that the killers of the Kwara State Police Commissioner, Chinweike Asadu, have been arrested.

    The Commissioner of Police, Tonye Ebitibituwa, in a statement, described the story as false and misleading.

    The commissioner said the report being credited to the state command that three suspects have been arrested and handed over to the police by a private security company was a fabrication.

    According to Ebitibituwa, there was the need for information to be verified before it is published to avoid giving the public wrong impression.

    He said the matter is still being investigated.

    The commissioner solicited the cooperation of the media and the public in ensuring that there is useful and timely information to the police to ensure a crime-free society.

     

  • Boost for reading culture in Kwara

    Boost for reading culture in Kwara

    Governor’s wife inaugurates reading club

    640 students participate

     

    Bothered by the increasing rate at which students lack interest in reading, the wife of the Kwara State governor, Mrs. Omolewa Ahmed, has said that one of the ways through which the ugly trend could be reversed is genuine commitment, on the part of parents and teachers. They are to ensure the revival of reading culture in schools, she said.

    Describing reading as the gateway to learning without which children cannot access a broad and balanced education; Mrs Ahmed noted that in today’s literate world, academic success, securing employment and personal autonomy depend on reading and writing proficiency.

    “Reading is a skill that begets many other skills because it constitutes a key part of our capability to increase our capacity,” she said.

    Mrs. Ahmed spoke while addressing secondary school students from 64 public schools in Kwara State who converged on Ilorin, the state capital, for the inauguration of “LEAH Reading Club.”

    About 640 students, with 10 from each school, were drawn from the 16 local government areas.

    While inaugurating the LEAH Reading Club, Mrs. Ahmed said that the education desk of her pet project-LEAH Charity Foundation-would not relent in ensuring that students in the state make reading their hobby.

    Continuing, she said: “The LEAH Reading Club has a vision of building the capacity of our children to read, enjoy reading and apply what they learnt from every book they read to the challenges of everyday life.”

    Represented by her Special Assistant, Administration and Strategy, Mr. Lanre Bello, Mrs. Ahmed said that reading would boost intellectual empowerment of the students, saying that it was a collective responsibility of government and stakeholders to ensure its workability.

    She noted that a good instructional approach will not produce the desired result without a knowledgeable teacher. Teaching reading is a job for experts. Learning to read is a complex linguistic task which is, in itself taxing. For many children, it requires efforts and incremental skill development.

    “Teaching reading requires thorough knowledge or skill acquired through focused study and supervised practice. It is indisputable that classroom instruction works more than any other factor towards ameliorating reading problems.

    “Therefore, there is an urgent need for a comprehensive re-design of reading instruction for the teacher. It is very vital to improve classroom reading instruction.

    “We have a joint responsibility to nurture them into responsible adulthood, to help them open up their minds and hearts to new ideas through books,” she said.

    Mrs Ahmed appealed to the principals of the pilot schools to collaborate with her foundation in ensuring the success of the programme.

    Her words: “It is on this background that I urge all principals and teachers who are in charge of the pilot schools to kindly work with the foundation in ensuring that we lay a proper foundation for the future of our children.

    “We shall discover in due course that this investment is worth every sacrifice that we have made on it. We will work with schools and the ministry of education to ensure proper monitoring of the activities of the club in order to fulfill the goals with which we set them up. I would also like to advise our children to be good representatives of the mission, showing all their peers why they must join the club.

    “The LEAH Reading Club has a vision of building the capacity of our children to read, enjoy reading and apply what they learnt from every book they read to the challenges of everyday life. We want them to see the reading club as a safe place to learn, exchange ideas as well as nurture their public speaking skills.”

    Earlier, the Administrator of LEAH Charity Foundation, Mrs. Bukola Akinleye said the foundation was resolved to endear “our young ones to reading at this early stage so that it will be part of them as they grow up.

    “As it is known the world over, the basic contents of knowledge are best kept in durable archive books. This underscores the importance of books in the pursuit of life.

    “During the reading camp and competition, the foundation hosted school students. The admirable performance of the participants made it imperative for the foundation to make books accessible to schools as the foundation can afford, so as to endear students to reading and stimulate reading interest in them,” she said.

  • Kwara suspends action on Ganmo stool

    Kwara State Government yesterday announced the suspension of action on the Oluganmo of Ganmo stool, pending the resolution of litigations on the matter.

    It appealed for calm in the community.

    The Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Alhaji Isiaka Gold, announced the suspension after visiting the scene of the fracas at Ganmo in Ifelodun Local Government Area.

    The community erupted in a clash on Sunday over a claim to Oluganmo of Ganmo’s stool.

    Gold, who expressed displeasure at the level of destruction in Ganmo, said security agents had been ordered to fish out the culprits.

    The SSG said following the suspension of action on the traditional stool, the government would view further outbreak of violence as a criminality and prosecute those apprehended.

    He enjoined security operatives to ensure the safety of residents, adding that people should go about their lawful activities without fear.

    Gold advised the indigenes to embrace dialogue in the resolution of disagreements rather than resorting to violence.

    The Ganmo Progressive Union urged stakeholders to sheathe their sword and allow the government to resolve the issue, while awaiting Supreme Court’s verdict.

    The President of the union, Alhaji Yekini Openle, in a statement, urged security operatives to release some of the youths arrested in connection with the crisis.

     

  • House urges IG to find Kwara CP’s killers

    House urges IG to find Kwara CP’s killers

    The House of Representatives yesterday condemned the killing of the Kwara State Commissioner Police Chinwike Asadu and has mandated the Inspector- General of Police Mohammed Abubakar to “ ensure that the killing does not go the way of the previous unresolved murders and assassination.”

    The lawmakers also asked President Goodluck Jonathan to redouble his effort as the Chief Security Officer of the country “ to ensure that all his security chiefs are on top of their schedules.”

    Members of the House also want the installation of CCTV cameras to be encouraged in all state capitals and all public places.

    The resolutions of the House followed the adoption of a motion moved by the Chairman of the House Committee on Media and Public Relations, Zakari Mohammed under matters of urgent national importance.

    The lawmaker, while presenting the motion after a minute silence was observed for the late officer, argued that the killing of the Kwara CP brings to question “our fast deteriorating capacity to deal with all forms of crime in its ramifications.”

    The lawmaker said since 1986 murder of Dele Giwa, former Editor of Newswatch through a parcel bomb “no high profile killing or assassination has been unravelled.”

    He added: “If a high ranking police officer is attacked in this manner, our security situation in the comity of nations would further worsen thereby making investment drive in our country a mirage as no investor would put his resources in an unpredictable environment.”

    Enugu State Commissioner of Police Tonye Ebitibituwa yesterday said his command has arrested some suspects.

    He, however, declined to give the identities and number of thesuspects.

    The police boss said it was through such arrests that the police get information on their target.

    Ebitibituwa said no innocent citizen would be molested by security operatives.

    The General Officer Commanding 82 Division of the Nigeria Army, Enugu, Major General Adebayo Olaniyi has pledged to support the police to ensure that the killers of Asadu were fished out.

    He described the death of the police officer in Enugu as shocking and unfortunate.

    The GOC expressed optimism that “God in his infinite mercy will expose the perpetrators”.

    Olaniyi spoke yesterday at Ebitibituwa’s office.

     

    ‘Place N25m reward on slain CP’s killers’

    Renowned security expert and Chairman of the School of Management and Security, Dr. Ona Ekhomu, has urged the police to place a reward of no less than N25 million for information on the killers of the Kwara State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Chinweike Asadu.

    He said the murder was a warning that leaders at all levels needed to re-evaluate their security profile and practices.

    Ekhomu, in a statement yesterday, said the killing of the late Asadu was a strong indication that the security situation in the country was getting worse. He said reports iindicated that the CP was relaxed when the incident happened. “That created a vulnerability that was exploited by his assailants,” he said.

    He urged the police agency to set up a tips hot-lines where it may receive tips on the incident. All tips should be computer-logged in order to enable review by police managers, he said.

    Ekhomu said: “Security awareness training will make executives more pro-active about their security as it will increase their readiness, responsiveness and decisiveness in personal security issues. Security awareness will enable chief executives imbibe a culture of responsibility for their personal security. It will open their eyes to security risks, security threats, security vulnerabilities and decision options to stay safe and alive.”

     

     

     

     

  • Offa/Erin-Ile clashes: Communities urge Kwara to obey rule of law

    The communities of Offa and Erin-Ile in Offa and Oyun local governments of Kwara State have said an acknowledgment of the rule of law by the Kwara State Government is the antidote to recurring communal clashes between the two communities.

    They urged the state government to muster enough political will by enforcing its laws to bring perpetrators of wanton destruction of life and property in the two communities to book.

    The two communities made the submissions in their separate memoranda at the Kwara State Judicial Commission of Enquiry into the recent Offa/Erin-Ile crisis in the state.

    Offa community, through its counsel Rafiu Lawal-Rabana (SAN), appealed to the government to revisit the recommendations of the Justice Hannah Ajayi panel on the 2006 disturbances with a view to either acquiring the disputed land for use as an industrial layout or establish an institution there.

    Offa also recommended the “relocation of motor parks from Idigba and Agejunle (Federal Polytechnic) to police junction Erin-Ile and Idiogun in Offa in compliance with the state government’s directives; the Kwara State Government, particularly the security agencies, should check the excesses and total disregard for the rule of law by the National Union of Road Transport Workers as evidenced by their wanton destruction of farmlands and property of Offa indigenes and the illegal arrest and harassment of Offa people; the subsisting boundary lines established by the government of Col. Ibrahim Taiwo in 1975 based on a peace accord signed by the representatives of the two communities (Offa and Erin-Ile) on November 21, 1975 as a result of the recommendations of the committee of eminent traditional rulers in the state; the boundary of Offa Local Government as delineated at its creation in 1991 out of Oyun Local Government be maintained and the Kwara State Government should invite the National Boundaries Commission to confirm the boundary of Offa Local Government when it was carved out.”

    In its recommendation, the Erin-Ile community through its counsel, Olukunle Alabi, urged the state government to obey court orders by “implementing the pertinent judgments of the courts (Supreme Court judgment of 10/12/1973 and the Court of Appeal judgment of 20th September, 2012) in the interest of lasting public peace, law and order.”

    Erin-Ile equally enjoined its sister community to “set in motion the appropriate structure and machinery for the resuscitation of Offa-Erin-Ile communities’ smooth interactions and the way forward towards the socio-economic development and sustainable progress on enhanced and permanent basis.”

     

  • Kwara’s strange investment model

    Kwara’s strange investment model

    Too many strange things do happen in Kwara State. And they happen without the critical actors (often time the government) batting an eyelid about what embarrassment such events/happenings cause the people. Sometimes so glaring a lie is told about state of things and so on.

    On February 18, I read the full text of an interview Governor Abdulfattah Ahmed granted some journalists. The interview came under different headings in different dailies. Of all these headings, however, I considered the one in The Punch most catchy and, perhaps innocently, most indicting. It reads: “We’ll hand over Aviation College to investors.” Having earlier read the interview under a different heading (“We’ll make Kwara Nigeria’s agric hub”) in The Nation of same date, I did not bother to read the interview again. The content is the same.

    Now I quote a statement from the interview, as published in The Nation. “For now, the school is fully owned by the state but don’t forget that the state government is not in the business of running aviation. So ultimately we will sell off 70 per cent of that business to those who know how to do it and then the school will run on its own internationally”. Something is very clear from this statement and that is that the Kwara State government owns the Aviation College wholesale! On Monday January 14, the governor’s spokesman, Femi Akorede, made the following statement on twitter: “Kwara will eventually sell 70 per cent of its stake in Aviation College.” Today, after reading the governor’s interview, I asked my 12-year-old younger sister to tell me what Akorede’s statement meant. And without much ado, she said it means the government is selling 70 per cent of its own shares in the business. Prodded further, she said the statement meant the state does not appear to own it 100 per cent. That was the exact interpretation I had in my mind. Instructively too, I recall somebody on twitter asking Akorede whether somebody else owns some shares in the college. He has remained mute ever since. Now the governor just told us Kwara owns the college wholesale. The “its” in Akorede’s statement clearly is ambiguous and I remember somebody had alleged it was a sign of very terrible things to come on this project, citing the Shonga Farm as an example. The governor of course made some false claims about the Shonga Farm such as declaring it a huge success when Mr Irvine Reid, one of the remaining Zimbabwean farmers, said in an interview with Financial Times of London (November 1, 2012, titled ‘Nigeria seeks to beef up farming industry’) that “our farming experience has passed its sell-by date”. Recall that 13 white farmers were there initially. The governor did not disclose that five of the white farmers had since left the farm, much less explain why they left. He did not also say that Kwara State government is having its funds being deducted at source on account of unpaid debt of the “thriving” Shonga Farm which the government says now belongs to “private concern”. An article titled ‘Operation Fool the People of Kwara’, published by Newswatch of March 09, 2012 in the wake of 70m Euro rice farming agreement the state government signed with one Valsolar Consortium of Spain, had far-reaching revelations about this. Why is Kwara shouldering a burden of a venture now belonging to a private concern or where it has a paltry 25 per cent?

    Now to the Aviation College. I do not know of any decent government that spends public fund to put a project in place and then hands same to some “investors”? Where were these investors when public fund was being committed to the same project? Here I repeat a question one terrified Olabisi Ogunwale asked Akorede about this issue: is the aim solely based on future divestiture? And worst still, the governor said in the interview that government has no business in doing/running business! Is this statement an afterthought or the governor had always known this? If he knew this, why commit government fund to a business when government has no business being in business? These clearly defy common sense. Also, we do not know precisely how much of public fund has gone into putting the college (including the facilities and man power) in place. If we do not know these and the government is not the type to give such fact, how do we know it is not being dashed out at giveaway price to so-called private investors?

    I have further worries. It is my prayer that the Aviation College does succeed. Else, Kwara will pay dearly – as it is doing for Shonga Farm. The Governor, clearly attempting to douse public anger at the news of Kwara’s plans to purchase additional 10 aircraft for the college in a state with legendary dearth of basic infrastructure, used the interview to explain that the money is not from the public coffers. He said the college is benefiting from the new EXIM loan that the Federal Government has signed with the Chinese and India governments. The aircrafts are to be purchased from the loan, the governor added, to be paid back by the college over a period of 10 years. Good deal. But the governor clearly was holding back some facts about the loan: who is standing surety for this loan just in case of default? What happens, God forbid, in the event that the college is not able to pay pack? Head or tail, Kwara people would be made to pay.

    But the bad news does not end there. The Aviation College was built from the N17b bond accessed sometime in 2009 from the capital market. Last year, additional N10b loan was taken to, in the words of the government, complete projects, including the same Aviation College! That money (N17b) is due for payment next year. With the college far from yielding any profit and the hope of it doing so remaining dim as at this minute, it is fair to say that the ISPO (Irrevocable Standing Payment Order) – which the state government signed in the event of the businesses for which the bond was taken defaulting from paying – would take effect from 2014, further depleting the meagre resources of the state. Yet Kwara people will soon lose ownership of this venture whose debt would be deducted from the treasury!

    Clearly too many things are not right here. The government will hit back on this, rather than explain itself. But definitely Kwara’s investment model is quite strange. And one would be forgiven to call it an outright fraud. This is the only state I know of where public fund is used to float an enterprise and the government will wake up one morning and auction it out. If my information is right, the multibillion naira Kwara Diagnostic Centre, also built from the N17b bond, is also gone. Kwara is no estate agent.

    • Ajakaye writes from Ilorin

     

  • Asadu was a rare man, says Kwara police command

    •Groups: murder of CP a setback to national security

     

    THE Kwara State Police Command yesterday described its late Commissioner; Chinwike Asadu as a rare and compassionate boss.

    Deputy Commissioner Mr. Abdul Bube, who spoke in Ilorin, the state capital, the news threw the command into mourning.

    Condolence registers were opened at both the state police headquarters and officers mess in Ilorin.

    Bube said: “The officer and men of this command were shocked when we heard of his death. Somebody that left here in the name of going for the police games and he said since I am passing through my village, let me stop over so that the following morning I can take off. “That very night, somebody visited and after that he escorted him and returning a vehicle blocked him and they shot him dead.

    “We have been mourning and weeping since this incident. Even some civilians who had opportunities to come close to him shed tears that he is a good man. You see people crying like women as if one of their relations died.

    “That showed how cordial the man was to the people. Here he was our leader. He was a very gentle and compassionate man. Whatever he tells you to do, he was always ready to correct you if you did not do it well. We miss him. He is a rare man.

    “If any police officer tried to play some pranks, he will say ‘my son, I have passed all these stages you are now, you can not deceive me.

    If what I said is not right, come and tell me. I am ready to listen to your own side provide you advise is in order.

    “All security agencies, the army, The State Security Service (SSS) and even a general from Sobi Barracks have been here this morning to condole with us.”

    The Afonja Descendants Union in Kwara State also described the murder as the height of insecurity the country has descended into.

    Leader of the union, Alhaji Abdulkareem Olola-Kasum said: “Insecurity of life has descended so low in our society to the extent that dogs are now killing lions with impunity. A society where lions are at the mercy of wild dogs cannot be said to be safe abode for lambs.

    “The murder of the commissioner offers a big challenge to the Inspector-General of Police as well as the entire police formation in the country. They should therefore leave no stone unturned in search of the perpetrators of the heinous crime.”

    The correspondents’ chapel of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), Kwara described the death of the police boss as astonishing and shocking.

    Council , Chairman and Acting Secretary of the chapel, Layi Olanrewaju and Akinlolu Abayomi urged the Federal Government to take necessary action in ensuring the safety of lives and property of Nigerians.

     

     

  • ‘We will make Kwara Nigeria’s agric hub’

    ‘We will make Kwara Nigeria’s agric hub’

    When Zimbabwean farmers started commercial agriculture in Shonga, Kwara State, not many believed in the project’s viability. Today, it has become a success.The state has bigger dreams for the project. Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed is seeking the Federal Government’s support for the scheme through irrigation, which he says is capital intensive. He also spoke on his administration’s efforts to create employment and revive moribund state-run businesses, among others, with reporters, Group Business Editor, AYODELE AMINU was there.

     

    The Commercial Agricultural Scheme in Shonga was launched with fanfare, are the products in the market?

    Shonga Farm is one of the best things that have ever happened to Kwara State and, indeed, Nigeria and I wish that the transformation agenda we’ve been talking about in the country borrows from what we have done in Shonga as a platform for driving commercial farming in Nigeria. We started with 13 farmers who moved from Zimbabwe and settled in Shonga. We have them compartmentalised into three sectors – Poultry, Mixed Cropping and Dairy. These farmers came in to be commercial farmers. For commercial farming, we are talking about what we call value chain. In other words, they will form largely what we call feed stock for processing. That is what we mean by commercial farming. You will not see their products on the shelves like you expected to see. Their products are there in the market which you use, probably daily but you will not know because it is a value-chain concept. For instance, the dairy plants soya and maize to prepare feed. This feed is fed to cattle. The cattle produce milk. Milk is now sold to WAMCO. WAMCO produces Peak Milk, which you use. You now understand the value chain. That is why if you expect to see fresh milk in the market you will not see it. They are largely designed to be feed stock and the same thing happens to the poultry. They plant maize and soya. They have a 50-tonner feed mill there where they generate feed. They buy day-old chicks from Olofa’s Farms, which is another feed stock farm and in six weeks they grow to table size.

    They have an abattoir that has the capacity to slaughter 10,000 chickens every day, but currently they are doing about 5,000. Once they slaughter the chicken, they are packaged and sent to eateries. At major eateries, it is their chicken you will eat. So, people who expect to see Shonga Chicken in the market will not see it that way. The cassava that is grown there has the highest yield in the country. The national average for cassava is about 15,000 tonnes per hectare; in Shonga we do 40,000 per hectare. This cassava is being exported to China as chips. The kind of transformation agenda we are talking about in the country is what is already happening there. Our own effort in the state is to see how our local farmers would begin to be incorporated into this transformation agenda beyond just subsistence farming. They begin to see themselves as clusters around these commercial farmers and it is that model which we are trying to translate to the state wide farming concept. So, if you hear us talking about agricultural transformation in Kwara, what we are talking about is replicating what we are already carrying out in Shonga to make it a state-wide farming concept.

    Unfortunately, the biggest challenge we are faced with is the issue of irrigation, which is capital intensive. That is what the Federal Ministry of Water Resources should be doing by supporting us with irrigation so that we as a state continue to give necessary inputs to drive our farmers from subsistence level to commercial level under a clearly spelt out value chain concept. This will help our farmers to truly see agribusiness as a means of economic empowerment. For us in Kwara State, we have gone further by not only enumerating our farmers, but clustering them according to cooperatives and compartmentalised them into crops; that is, rice, maize, soya and cassava. These are the four crops we are taking to commercial level. These four crops will form feed stocks to a value chain development programme. So, that is what commercial farming should be seen. Hence, when you are trying to drive a transformation agenda, it is the whole chain that requires to be renewed. All we need to do is to use our local farmers to copy what the Zimbabwean farmers are doing successfully. Hopefully, Kwara State will become the true hub of agricultural transformation and agricultural value-chain development in Nigeria.

    What is the government doing about job creation in the state?

    On employment, I can tell you that it is the benefit of continuity. The real meaning of continuity is value for money in the real sense because what are we trying to continue? You want to continue something that has been started which is expected to drive itself to a level of fruition that you can get benefit. For us in Kwara, we started the issue of getting people out of the streets, getting them empowered. We went further the moment we came in 2011. We went into an enumeration programme to know how many people are unemployed. What is their category? What is their educational level? That helped us in generating the database which has helped us in creating a platform for giving those jobs. The first thing we did was that we gave 2,000 youth jobs under the Kwara Bridge Empowerment Scheme. We promised these 2,000 youths that within the next one or two years they would be properly engaged. That is, they would move from the bridge to proper engagement and so others will replace them on the bridge. I am happy to let you know that the 2,000 have been completely absorbed. In addition to that, additional 2,000 have been replacing those ones that moved from the bridge. It is a continuous programme.

    Also, we have just started an International Vocational Centre, which will be driven under a programme with City and Guilds (C&G) of London so that the people who graduate from there will be given C&G certificates. We chose C&G because we want to create people that would be employable outside Nigeria. We are looking beyond Nigeria. As soon as it starts with the first tranche of students in September, the centre will be the platform for training youths and reduce unemployment. We will also create a platform for supporting them. We have a debenture. We have set aside over N250 million, the first tranche of people who already had skills but gaps in funding have collected theirs. We have given some of them part of the N250 million under the cooperative scheme. So, those who undergo training will also have access to these funds. In other words, we are training people that will become employers and employees at the same time. So that is the kind of support we are giving to address the issue of youth unemployment in the State.

    You said you are interested in micro finance banks. The policy allows state governments to put aside a percentage of their money to help the micro finance banks. How much have you given to the micro finance banks and what is the agenda to develop the micro finance banks?

    What we have done here is that we look beyond just giving the one per cent. We were very conscious of the fact that the micro finance banks are expected to drive deposits to be able to bring about lendable funds within the micro finance industry. We are not waiting for that. We have set aside about N500 million as a debenture, which we are making available to prospective beneficiaries through the micro finance banks. So, the way the Federal Government has created a debenture under the support for agriculture and made this money available through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to commercial banks to beneficiaries, we have also set aside that kind of money. The micro finance banks that have demonstrated capacity to lend this money and collect back will continue to be our partners. As a matter of fact, we are still assessing the first tranche of their administration of those funds and the level of recovery will make us know what next.

    What are the things you have on ground that could attract Shoprite to Ilorin and others that are coming?

    The first attraction to any business is how enabling the environment is in terms of security. We have spent so much and we have put so much at stake in ensuring that we have a secured environment.

    Secondly, we’ve invested so much on our road network, which makes us accessible from the North, the South and the North-central. Most importantly, our people are very hospitable. You hardly see any issues that have to do with religious, social problems in the state. We have always tried to ensure that our environment is quite enabling. We also have the population. This tells you that the environment couldn’t be more enabling to support this kind of businesses. That is why we asked Shoprite to come here and they saw that the environment is quite good for them. Our weather is also quite supportive of driving businesses. These have been part of the ingredients that the government has always seen as part of its own contribution to creating an enabling environment. However, we are not stopping at that. We are bringing Spar to Kwara. We have had the same kind of arrangement we had with Shoprite with Spar. They will not only create a new Spar outlet here, they will also create a new Shopping Complex, which will be a very good platform for employment. Our major concern is getting our people employed and creating the enabling environment for our people to carry on their businesses. Shoprite alone has generated so much employment for our people. The turnover in one day is on the average of N6 million to N7 million. Nobody ever believed that Kwarans have this level of disposable income. This tells you that our people are hungry for this kind of businesses. Apart from the environment that would be created for employment, it will also create an environment where we can get value for money.

    Spar is one of the biggest outlets globally from Netherlands. We are lucky to partner with them to bring them here to set up something that will change the lives of people. We are focused because we are driven under policies that have been outlined, structured, methodically put in place to drive Kwara State to desired level. From day one when we were coming to this business, we already knew what we wanted to do for the next four years. We didn’t come to this business by accident. We knew exactly what we were coming to do. We knew how much resources are available and we knew how much these resources can do and we know that we are going to get there only through ingenuity, through partnerships with the private sector and that is what we are doing. We are not deterred.

    What is the idea behind Harmony Holdings Limited?

    Before now, the state had interest in some businesses – transport, insurance, properties, hotel business and so many things. These things were just run on their own. Sometimes the state has shares in some businesses; for example, Kwara Furniture. But to what extent have all these businesses translated into increase in revenue for the state government? We have found out that they have not contributed anything, largely because they have been running on their own and we began to see that whatever they are right now, they have assets with latent potential to grow to desirable levels where they can contribute revenue to support economic growth in the state. It is against this background that we said all these things should be put under an umbrella, which we called Harmony Holdings with a very strong management that will see each of these businesses as S.B.U. – Strategic Business Units – that would be given specific targets in terms of growth and development and most importantly, in terms of expectations in revenue to advance the much required revenue for the state.

    Some of the businesses are even moribund, but we are reviving all of them so the potential are huge. I will give you an example, Kwara Transport, used to run commuter buses from one town to the other. We said no, this cannot go on like this. If you want to be in the business of transportation, what are the best practices? Who are those that know how to do it and are doing it well? Bring their models to see how it is working. That is what we have done. Today we have a structured management.We have a programme that allows individuals to bring in their buses. In short, we have been able to get to efficiency level from where we will grow organically and ultimately inorganically. This will begin to see us getting to the desirable level of revenue. There are so many options where we can go. There are courier services. There is haulage business. There are ferry services. These are all inorganic ways of growing. We can increase the fleet. Look at more routes, do a feasibility of which routes give us best benefit for our value for money. That is organic growth and that will see us getting to desirable level. Our major concern is value for money.

     What is the economic importance of the Aviation College?

    For keen observers and those who want to truly see themselves growing among comity of nations, they must begin to learn how to do a clear analysis of opportunities. One big opportunity that exists in the aviation industry is the fact that there is dire need of pilots globally. Check any international airline, they will tell you. Training pilots requires that you understand the dynamics of the business. The last administration realised that this gap could be filled to serve two purposes. Firstly, it will serve as a hub for aviation. It will support what we have on ground. Don’t forget that we have a cargo terminal. We already have the Air Force hangar here and, of course, an International Airport. Secondly, we want to bring Kwara State to be on the map of the world because when you have an International Aviation College it goes beyond servicing the immediate community. Apart from Zaria and South Africa, I don’t know where else pilots are trained in Africa. Obviously, by the time this school gets to its full potential, everybody in Africa who intends to train as a pilot will know the existence of an Aviation College in Ilorin. For now, we are training pilots but there are other services. There is engineering training. There are other services that are going to go into it. This would become itself a hub for driving aviation business.

    Indirectly, there are people who will support those who are going to work there. So, for us, it is a major hub to create the kind of economic environment that will not only put us on the map of the world but also we begin to see Kwara as a place that is attractive for prospective businesses. In Kwara, we are looking beyond just tapping on low-hanging fruits.We are looking at the process where in 15 to 30 years, the state will be one of the most developed.

    So, beyond just doing the normal infrastructure – roads, water, hospitals, schools –what are the long term benefits that we can bring to our people that on its own can regenerate support scheme for growing the economy of the state. This is part of the reasons we have set up an International Aviation College and, luckily, under the new EXIM loan that the Federal Government has signed with the Chinese and India governments and others across the world, International Aviation College will be benefiting from the loan. It will be able to acquire at least 10 new aircraft under a 25 year loan agreement with a 10 year moratorium. It couldn’t be better than that. The school will acquire the aircraft, develop economy of scale, train students, earn money and pay back the loan on their own. The 10-year- facility means that the college’s cash flow will not be under pressure. It is when you borrow money and you have to pay within a very short time that you have pressure on your cash flow. The loan was so attractive that we couldn’t resist it and it is one of the best things that ever happened to us. That will enable the school to get to the much desired full scale aviation college that we have always prayed for and will allow them to attain economy of scale where they can earn a lot of money to service the school and pay back. For now, the school is fully owned by the state but don’t forget that the state government is not in the business of running aviation. So, ultimately, we will sell off 70 per cent of that business to those who know how to do it and then the school will run on its own internationally.

     

  • Kwara ACN hails Supreme Court ruling on council chair

    •Flays attack on CPC office

    The Kwara State Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) yesterday said Monday’s ruling by the Supreme Court, which affirmed the reinstatement of the sacked Ekiti Local Government Chairman Dele Abiodun, is a rebuke of “the illegalities, corruption and impunity of the Bukola Saraki years”.

    The apex court, on Monday in Abuja, threw out the appeal filed by the Kwara State Government and upheld the decision of the Appeal Court, which held that Abiodun was illegally sacked and should be paid his entitlements till the day his tenure expired.

    In a statement in Ilorin, the state capital, by ACN Chairman Kayode Olawepo, the party said: “On Monday, January 7, the Supreme Court, in a unanimous judgment, handed down a sharp rebuke to the illegalities, corruption and impunity of the Bukola Saraki years in Kwara State by upholding the Appeal Court ruling, which reinstated the sacked chairman of Ekiti Local Government, Dele Abiodun.

    “We recall that Abiodun, a staunch advocate of local government autonomy, was summarily dismissed without any form of fair hearing by the Saraki administration for no other sins than his challenge of the illegal deduction of funds accruing to his council from the Federation Account. Abiodun heard of his dismissal on Radio Kwara without receiving a prior letter. His councillors were later coerced to do a kangaroo impeachment and Abiodun was, in what was akin to the Joshua Dariye saga, sent away from the seat, for which the people of the council had elected him.

    “But, as the lower courts had affirmed, the Supreme Court said an emphatic no to the rule of thumb that was the hallmark of the Saraki administration. This ruling is indeed a confirmation of our consistent stand that the regime was as lawless as it was corrupt – contrary to the fake appellation of ‘transparent leader and democrat’ being accorded the former governor by the hungry crowd in the state Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    “We salute Abiodun for his courage, belief in the rule of law and dogged fight for justice and fairness in the face of intimidation and political victimisation.

    “Although Abiodun’s term has lapsed, the ruling is a victory for the rule of law and fairness and a rebuke to the impunity that was the norm in that era. We hope that Kwara State will, without further delay, pay all the entitlements and the arrears due to Abiodun as an elected chairman.”

    The party also condemned the attack on the Congress for Proghressive Change (CPC) office in Ilorin.

    It described the attack as a threat to democratic freedom and public peace.

    ACN added: “We also condemn the attack on the CPC secretariat in Ilorin allegedly by some PDP thugs. We join the CPC to call on the law enforcement agencies to bring the culprits to book in the interest of communal peace. No political party should be allowed to constitute a threat to the existence of others or individuals for holding divergent views.

    “We note with dismay that the attack on the CPC office came days after the party issued a scathing criticism of the PDP for resorting to name-calling because Kwara ACN leader, Mohammed Dele Belgore (SAN), pointed out a serious anomaly in the state’s 2013 budget, in which the recurrent expenditure far exceeds capital expenditure.”