Kwara Guber Debate: Candidates share plans on governance

Barely 85 days to the 2023 governorship election, candidates of the political parties in Kwara state have intensified efforts at convincing the electorate to vote for them, leveraging on a public debate.

Speaking at the debate organised by the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Kwara state council tagged “Conversation 2023” candidates of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Professor Shuaib Oba Abdulraheem and Alhaji Shuaib Yaman Abdullahi, held at the Press Centre, Offa Road, GRA, Ilorin, on Thursday promised to focus on education and agriculture respectively.

While Abdulraheem, a former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, held the view that education could be employed to solve 90 percent of the societal problems, Abdullahi said the time is ripe to embark on agricultural revolution.

Also Read: Emergence of ‘Third Force’ in Kwara Politics, A Threat To Ruling APC or Mere Propaganda

The NNPP governorship flag-bearer observed that investment in education is the nation’s key wealth and must be in the right quality and quantity.

He noted that the misguided individuals committing banditry, kidnapping and terrorism got ensnared due to lack of attention to right education.

Abdulraheem, who is also a one-time Executive Chairman, Federal Character Commission (FCC), added that he would take a holistic look into the state education and teachers engaged to tutor prospective students if elected in next year’s polls.

“Education has a very strong influence in my life as a teacher. Lack of attention to education is a major problem. Therefore, education will be my priority when given the mandate.

Also Read: Insecurity: PDP scolds Buhari, calls him “lame-duck President”

“Education is the key to unlock key wealth of the nation. If you have education, 90 percent of the nation’s problem is solved. And also I will take serious measures to put education in the right place. An educated nation cannot be deceived to do something that will harm its people”.

The NNPP governorship candidate also identified mismanagement and misuse of resources as the bane of the nation, saying that the citizens must be inquisitive on how the available little resources had been utilized.

PDP counterpart said his administration would prioritize agricultural revolution through which thousands of unemployed youth could be meaningfully engaged.

Also Read: 2023 Presidency: Nigeria Needs Courageous Leader Like Me — Tinubu

Abdullahi told the gathering that the state was blessed with untapped natural resources but only take leaders with vision and passion for development to ascertain the hidden treasure.

He stated that the health sector should also be improved upon because it is key to having healthy citizens.

The PDP governorship candidate said, “Creation of jobs is very central if we want to take Kwara to a greater height. We are going to enrich the people and bring prosperity to Kwara. This has been our focus long time ago”.