Ahead of the 2023 Kwara state gubernatorial election, traditional rulers, thought leaders, community leaders, artisans , religious leaders and other stakeholders in Isin and Irepodun local governments gathered at the Topmost Hotel , Oro, Irepodun local government on Thursday to stock take and they had consequently resolved to support Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrasaq’s re-election bid citing his ‘outstanding achievements’.
The town hall meeting was the second in the series of what had become ‘ a solo campaign and accountability platform for the Abdulrasaq administration’. The first had been held in Offa for residents of Oyun and Offa local governments, setting the ground for top government officials and the Governor to tell the administration’s success stories, take feedback, and seek votes from the electorate.
Government officials also on Thursday took turns to chronicle the achievements already recorded by the Abdulrasaq administration in three and a half years and efforts that had been made to change things for the better in the state.
Commissioner of Finance, Hon Olasumbo Florence asserted that in a clear departure from what obtained in the past, Kwara state had not borrowed money from the financial institutions for payment of salary to workers in the state since 2019 despite some financial shocks along the line.
She also said Kwara ‘is currently on a sure footing than it was in 2019’, adding that its fiscal sustainability rating had grown positively over the last three years.
‘For instance, our ranking nationally was 20th in 2018, 19th in 2019, 12th in 2020, 10th in 2021, and 8th in 2022’ the Finance commissioner submitted.
Commissioner of Works and Transport , Hon Rotimi Suleiman Iliasu said the government has constructed roads in Irepodun, Isin and other parts of the state while plans were already being made to construct more roads in the two local governments under the Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project (RAAMP).
Commissioner of Health, Dr Raji Razaq also gave details of the administration’s health projects in Isin, Irepodun and across Kwara state, noting that the payment of counterpart fund by the Abdulrasaq administration had made hospitals across the state get qualified to access funds which had helped in making children, pregnant women and others enjoy free healthcare while the number of people visiting hospitals in the state because of the facelift given to the health facilities had increased greatly.
While 65,000 pregnant women visited hospitals in the state in 2020 with 8,200 women giving birth at public health facilities , the number increased to 181,000 in 2021 while there were 21,000 women that gave birth at public health facilities , he also noted that Kwara state was ranked as fourth in the country in respect of covid-19 response .
Chairman, Kwara State Universal Basic Education Board (KWSUBEB), Professor Sheu Raheem Adaramaja, who spoke on efforts made by the Abdulrasaq administration to enhance and improve basic education in the state , through provision and improvement of infrastructural facilities, also cited what the situation was at the state scholarship board to prove that things had actually changed for the better .
He disclosed that N50 million was though earmarked for provision of financial aid to students in the state by the previous administration, it however only had 1,317 students as beneficiaries while the same N50 million made available in 2019 by Governor Abdulrahman AbdulRazaq had 8,304 students as beneficiaries.
Acting General Manager, Kwara State Social Investment Programmes (KWASSIPs), Hon AbdulQuowy Olododo said all parts of the state have benefited from the safety programmes of the administration, citing the World Bank State-by-State poverty index released in August 2022, he also noted that the various social investment programmes had helped to bring down the poverty index of Kwara state from 30.2 in 2019 to 20.4.
He also disclosed that KWASSIP has a new programme in the pipeline that will take care of artisans and the transporters.
Prince Olajide Titiloye, who spoke on behalf of the Oloro of Oro Kingdom, described the Abdulrasaq administration in superlative terms, asserting that the ancient town has not had it so good since 1979.
Prince Titiloye is also the chairman of the home branch of the Oro Descendants Union (ODU).
‘On behalf of the Oloro of Oro ,Oba Abdulrafiu Ajiboye Oyelaran, I want to thank Your Excellency for this initiative. We thank you for the uncommon development that you have brought to our community. You have done what we could not get since 1979 . We are grateful for the numerous projects you have done in our community.
For instance, the government carried out comprehensive renovation of Oro Grammar School. It is a great deal for us. You have given the school a face-lift. As a politician during the second republic , you have given us what we could not get done even through others who had served as Governors in the state. With everything in Oro Grammar School now, it is as if it is a small university.
The General Hospital in Oro is under a very serious renovation now. We appreciate you sir. Likewise, the road that links Nitel/Okerimi junction which has been tarred by this government. The road was not passable before’ he said.
Chief Sunday Ibitoye, who led a delegation of Egbe Omo Ibile Igbomina to the event, , urged AbdulRazaq to restore the stool of Oluganna of Ganna, adding however that the Governor has brought so much development to the state. He also commended the Governor for his humility and live-and-let-live attitude to politics.
Sarkin Fulani in Irepodun local government, who is also the Sarkin of Kara Market, Ajase-Ipo, Sheu Garba urged the state government to help renovate the market and provide them with a motorized borehole.
Chief Imam of Pamo Isin, Imam Abdulkareem Abdulganiyu, said there was a need for the government to ensure that religious studies teachers are posted to schools in the Kwara South while the Chairman, Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) , Isin LG, Reverend Ade Aremu, advised the government to remain focused in its efforts to improve people’s welfare, and ensure equitable distribution of wealth to all categories of citizens.
Giving his speech, Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrasaq submitted that the programme was designed to create a platform for the people to stock take and know the factors to be considered before taking a decision ahead of the upcoming guber election.
‘We are here to know where we are coming from , where we are and where are going , you can only appreciate what we are doing and what we have done when you look back into the past and make comparison , civil servants were not being paid their salary before we came on board , teachers were facing hardships , the ministries were not getting subventions and running costs we don’t even know what they were doing with our money , there was no functional water work in the state when we came on board. We have begun to change things for the better gradually you can bear witness that work is ongoing we are doing it gradually’ he said.
Responding to Prince Titiloye’s request that the College of Education, Oro should be made a degree-awarding institution or a federal College of Education, the governor said a feasibility study will be carried out while promising to in the first instance ensure that internal roads at the institution gets fixed.
‘We have also taken note of requests made by the people, Kwara state college of education, Oro, is the most important institution owned by the state government in the Kwara South it is only a matter of time , a college of Education will become a university we are going to carry out a feasibility study to know how it can be upgraded to a university it is after doing that that we will be talking about capacity of government to fund it that is what we will put into consideration but for now our investment in the college will continue we are going to also fix the internal roads at the institution.
I do feel unhappy each time I drive on roads within the institution , it needs infrastructure projects but we will be doing it gradually we will prioritize the college of Education like we had done to the General Hospital , Oro. we will also look into the issues of upgrading of traditional rulers , it is work in progress. it is not easy, in Ifelodun local government alone, there are fifty four graded traditional rulers , new people want to join them while the existing graded- monarchs want elevation. We had also been told that the Oloro of Oro ought not to be at the level that he is but these are things we will look into. We will ensure justice when it comes to upgrading of traditional rulers’ he submitted.
He also promised that the state government will come to the aid of farmers that had their farm crops destroyed by herdsmen through the government’s social investment programme and the Ministry of Agriculture while also setting up a committee for this purpose.
He thanked traditional rulers in the state ‘for helping us to maintain peace’ while asserting that his administration had prioritized good governance.
‘This is a good government we are progressing in terms of investment, job creation , youth empowerment, gender equity’ he added.
Abdulrasaq , who submitted that his administration has a development plan that he would like the citizens and residents to embrace , added that he was committed to changing things for the better.
‘We want all local governments in the state to map out economic development plan ,we don’t want Kwara to be known as a civil service state any longer , we want to be a state with economic growth, a state with agro processing industries, manufacturing industries, and others , we want to make ease of doing business the mainstay in the state so that our moribund industries can be brought back to life and also have an enabling environment for new investments to crop up’ he said.
The governor, who urged Kwara state people to continue to support his administration, said he had made a government that is equitable to all and a government that is responsible to all, available to the people.
The town hall meeting was attended by political bigwigs , state cabinet members, traditional rulers, community leaders including Senator Lola Ashiru, Rep Raheem Olawuyi, APC chieftains ; Alhaji Raheem Adedoyin and Otunba Olabode Oyedepo , Alhaji Abdulrasaq Jiddah, Chairman, KWASUBEB, Professor Sheu Raheem Adaramaja, acting GM , KWASSIP, Hon Abdul Qowiyy Olododo, Olupo of Ajase-Ipo, Oba Ismail Alebiosu and Kwara state APC Chairman, Prince Sunday Fagbemi.
Asked how he felt about the decision of the governor and other stakeholders to hold the townhall meeting in Oro , international businessman and Kwara state APC chieftain, Otunba Olabode Oyedepo ‘Deway’ told Team@orientactualmags.com that it was a good development adding that Abdulrasaq had done Oro people proud and had helped in breaking the jinx with regard to infrastructure projects.
‘I think choosing Oro as venue for the town hall meeting was strategic. Strategic in the sense that the governor has done immensely well in respect of infrastructural developments in Oro land . The general hospital is currently under renovation, and it’s not just being renovated, the governor is looking for a way to turn it to a specialist hospital with first -class and world- rated equipment. Before now, and for 16 years, we’ve been pursuing the renovation of that hospital, under the previous administrations, with no luck. And each year, there’s always a place for the hospital in the budget. Nothing was done until Mallam Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq came to our rescue.
That’s number one. Number two, there is a road—the Oloro road—that leads to Oro Grammar School. That road had become impassable even for the pedestrians and look at it now, it’s not only tarred, it’s well -tarred.
That’s the school we all attended and the road had become an eyesore to everybody. Most of the buildings in the school had collapsed. And despite our appeals to the past administrations, nothing was done about it. And if you go to that school today, I will tell you that it has not only been renovated but he has also built new structures.
And when you have something to show, you are proud to face the people. The governor can say ‘four years ago, I was here to ask for your votes with promises to do this and that. Today, three and a half years down the lane, I can boldly stand before you and tell you I have done exactly what I’ve promised’. I think that was why the governor strategically chose Oro as venue for the town hall meeting.
And I want to add, quickly, that the success story is not just about Oro; this is a governor that I can conveniently vouch for that there is no ward in the entire state in Kwara State today that has not benefitted one kind of infrastructure project or the other. And we cannot, without mincing words, see this and decide to go back to ‘Egypt’.
That’s why I am around to make sure we succeed in the coming elections and secure a second term for this governor because, if out of three and a half years, out of which one year was taken away by the COVID pandemic, so we want to say he has worked for two and a half years, if a governor could do this much for Kwarans in 2 and a half years, I am going to say he deserves our loyalty and our votes to ensure he gets a second term so as to continue with the good work he has started’ he said- Team@orientactualmags.com Do you have any information you wish to share with us? Do you want us to cover your event or programme? Kindly send SMS to 08059100286, 09094171980. Thank you
