Gov AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq Administration’s 5-Year Scorecard: A Legacy Of Uninspiring Leadership, Full of Misplaced Priorities–Umar Farouq Idris
A painstaking and objective assessment of the scorecard of the Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq-led administration in Kwara state in the last five years will give you only one outcome; which is that the performance of the administration has been largely uninspiring and disappointing – far below the expectations of a vast majority of Kwarans. The claim by this government and its handlers that Kwara has witnessed unprecedented heights and development can best be described as an illusion. It’s only the media aides of the governor and his supporters that will promote such a fallacious claim.
While I acknowledge some of the accomplishments of this administration, it is glaring that many of what they term as achievements are pedestrian and have no significant impacts on the development of the State and wellbeing of its people. What’s being projected by the media handlers of this government is far from on the ground reality . What we are experiencing in the State is nothing close to what is being projected as achievements. A quick study of the natural environment of this State will help us understand where we should be if our potential were fully maximized.
The Gov. AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq-led administration has in the last 5 years, performed woefully in various key sectors of the economy, but I will like to start from agriculture which interests me the most because I believe the sector has the potential to transform our economy.
A quick study of the natural environment of this State will help us understand where we ought to be if our potential had been maximized. Kwara State is one of the ten largest States in the country in terms of landmass, and is endowed with significant agricultural potentials. However, the State has not fully utilized these potentials, despite having a comparative advantage in shea-nuts, cashew nuts, soybeans, rice, maize, and many other cash and food crops. The 2024 Budget of the State reflects the government’s lack of commitment to agriculture, as the sector received less than 1.5 percent of the entire budget size.
A serious government should invest in agriculture, as it is the government’s responsibility to differentiate between the needs and wants of society, with shrewd application of the doctrine of scale of preference. Unfortunately, this government has failed in this regard. Any objective observer would note the absence of any genuine desire by this administration to bring about economic progress.
Kwara State also has abundant water resources that could support increased output from captured fisheries, as well as Cage culture systems in our various freshwater bodies. By improving the business environment and enhancing domestic resource mobilization, the State government can turn around the socio-economic fortunes of the State.
Rather than the government’s heavy investments in cosmetic and white elephant projects, the government needs to invest in impactful projects and initiatives. For instance, if the N17.8billion the government is investing in the rehabilitation of Kwara Hotel had been invested in our agricultural sector, that money would have provided enough tractors and other farm equipment for farmers in each of the 16 local governments or fixed roads, and opened us up for economic prosperity through the sale of proceeds from that investments. Recently, Governor Kefas of Taraba State equipped farmers with 250 tractors while citing agriculture as the heartbeat of the economy of the State and a seed of hope, progress and a brighter future. Today ,Taraba and Niger States are doing relatively well in agriculture in comparison to Kwara State that celebrated producing a 10 -Year Agricultural Transformation MasterPlan as far back as 2021.
Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq’s scorecard does not reflect the economic situation of the State. The NBS analysis of GDP of the 36 states showed that the State ranks second to the last in terms of estimated GDP, indicating that Kwara is underperforming economically. How do you grow your GDP when you do not invest in things that give you a comparative advantage economically and when you shut down the doors of the economy? We now live in a State where the poor queue-up for handouts, humanitarian assistance, and daily necessities from international organizations and charities.
I read in the report that the State claimed it had developed the educational sector, and then I wondered, is this not the same State that the BBC documentary revealed the appalling state of educational infrastructure in Kankan LGEA School, which is a reflection of all schools in our rural communities in Kwara State, including pupils learning under trees and sitting on bare floors in dilapidated classrooms, after claimed expenditures of N14.2 billion UBEC funds? How do you place substandard paintings of school fence at 42m that took a large amount of money as an investment in education?
A government that failed to award subventions to State-owned tertiary educational institutions and continuously made blanket promises on the completion of Ilesha Baruba and Osi campuses, which have not been fulfilled. It is still unclear what achievements they are parading as government efforts to improve the standard of education in the State.
How do we applaud such misplaced priorities in terms of project allocation and execution by this State government? The development and progress of a State largely depends on well-designed aims and objectives to be achieved. To achieve this, one needs a selfless leader and prioritization, which cannot be said of our State under Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq. One may ask why the Governor is hell-bent on spending so many resources if he doesn’t really have a clear-cut plan on what he wants to achieve? Your guess is as good as mine: selfish leadership and misplaced priorities are the problems. What logical explanation can one give for spending close to 18 billion naira on renovating a five-star hotel while building another four-star hotel in the proposed international conference center on the same Ahmadu Bello way?
This culture of poor prioritization, purposelessness and self-centeredness of the Governor has led to projects like the Visual Arts Centre, Garments Factory, and Gen. Tunde Idiagbon Flyover Bridge being neglected months after their completion. Or rather, we should ask the State government if they have lost complete direction on what to do with those projects. If we can borrow over 55 billion in bonds and Loans and spend lavishly on capital projects with no foresight and no tangible economic return, it is worrisome. Not only is the wasteful investment of the State concerning, but also the fact that we have to pay back over #1.4 billion monthly out of the innocent taxpayers’ money for something that is not of social and economic benefit to the State.
This mess we are in reflects the government’s priorities. They would rather demolish properties of the people (mekunus) and dissidents instead of managing the State properly, such a shameful outing for the Governor.
This is a call to the AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq-led state government to stop ‘acting’ competent and prove to be worthy of the vocation handed to them by the people of the State of Harmony.
God bless Kwara State—Mr Umar Farouq Idris (Almajiri), writes from Ilorin, Kwara state
