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The Kwara Advancement Initiative, KAI, has expressed disbelief over the sudden decision of the Kwara State Government to renovate the Metropolitan Square, Ilorin which has been long abandoned since the inception of this administration, despite pleas from various quarters for the facility to be maintained.
This is contained in a statement signed by the Head, Democratic Mobilization and Monitoring Desk of KAI, Hajia Adeola Bashiru and issued to newsmen on Sunday in Ilorin, Kwara State capital.
The group said the decision of Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq to renovate the metropolitan square at the tail end of his tenure, was never in the interest of the populace, but borne out of his selfish desire to use the centre for political activities as the 2023 election campaigns kick off.
It expressed regret that the APC government, out of “pointless spite”, chose to abandon the public facility, despite calls for its use and further laid off workers at the facility for political reasons.
The statement read, “It is regrettable that the Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq government has woken up from its slumber to renovate the Metropolitan Square at a time when the state of infrastructure there has degenerated due to neglect and non-maintenance.
“It has been so abandoned that miscreants have been there to freely vandalize facilities and cart away some valuables, since there was no detailed security.”
The pressure group also accused the Abdulrazaq administration of jettisoning not just the facility, but other ones, established by his predecessors apparently for political reasons.
“Previous governments ensured proper use of the Metro park for state activities from time to time. But Governor Abdulrazaq chose for reasons best known to him, to neglect the place and other state facilities.
“Instead, the APC administration converted the Kwara Stadium Complex into an event centre, for state functions, setting up canopies and dancing on the turf.
“Other state facilities that suffered this malicious neglect in the hands of this present administration include the Kwara Amusement Park, the Geri Alimi Diamond Split Underpass, all built by the previous administrations with tax-payers money.
“No government in a right frame of mind will, because of political differences, choose not to maintain an edifice like the Gerin Alimi Diamond Split Underpass, which because of neglect, has started to show signs of damages at some sections.
“One is forced to ask Governor Abdulrazaq, ‘Is government not a continuum?”
While accusing the Abdulrazaq administration of egocentrism, KAI noted that the sudden quest to renovate the place, was in preparation for the Tinubu/Shettima Presidential Campaign flagoff in Ilorin, and his (Governor) second term bid campaign, since it has become obvious that there’s no such venue in the state that can accommodate their campaign in the state capital.
KAI therefore warned Governor Abdulrazaq to stop playing petty politics with public assets, adding that “he must ensure he leaves Kwarans’ properties just the way he met them, if not better, as he has even failed to add to it in the first place.”
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