By 
Dr. Abdulmumin Yinka Ajia
In 2018, I made the case why Kwarans should elect me as their next Governor – this was at a period when Kwarans were vociferously demanding change from years of waste and decadence as typified by the administration of former governor AbdulFatah Ahmed.
My singular purpose in offering myself for service was to rescue Kwara workers from a regime of half salaries and sometimes no salary at all, promotion with no cash backing and sometimes no promotion at all. Comatose waterworks all over the state, primary and post primary education in shambles, a decimated public health infrastructure, and a lack of meaningful investment in rural infrastructure. The lists of woes are endless. This was the situation before the general elections of 2019 that brought in the incumbent governor, Mallam AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq.
In dropping my ambition and joining the incumbent as part of the then opposition’s resolve not to splinter the vote and give the Peoples’ Democratic Party any opportunity to return to the Ahmadu Bello Government House, I realized that Mallam AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq was called to this task and it became necessary to support him. I agree with the saying that “A great man doesn’t seek to lead, he’s called to it”. Three and a half years later, I am still convinced that the incumbent is the right man for the job.
X-raying the AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq Administration Three Years After
The incumbent’s achievement in rural transformation in less than four years has surpassed that of his two predecessors – in particular – his immediate predecessor. I saw it myself firsthand when I visited the villages that share boundaries with my farm. According to the villagers at Awe district, the governor drove himself to their village one bright afternoon without any fanfare, the villagers in their oral narration said they were ecstatic but the governor told them he was there to work and they should get right to it. The Awe district elders and townspeople narrated to me that they told the governor they needed a post secondary school and a steady water supply for their community. The governor built the school in less than three months and installed a solar powered borehole for the community in record time. I shared this story on my social media handle at the time and the governor isn’t even aware my farm or any of my holdings is in that part of the state. He is just doing the job that he’s called to. Reason why I agreed with those who say “A great man doesn’t seek to lead, he’s called to it”.
Still on Rural Transformation
Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq’s rural transformation is all over the state with a particular focus on Kwara North. Kwara North with its vast fertile land holdings presents a huge potential for Kwara and Nigeria. Sadly, it has been underutilized, marginalized, and treated as Kwara’s backwater. The incumbent has begun to change the narrative and he is investing heavily in the North of Kwara. First by opening up the axis to information through Notia FM Station, the first of its kind since the creation of Kwara in 1967 while simultaneously investing in roads, bridges, and other critical infrastructure. The story is the same in the South of Kwara and in the Central area. The incumbent is leaving no one behind and he is applying our resources fairly across the three zones.
The Former Scandal at the Universal Basic Education Commission
From 2014 till 2019, Kwara was blacklisted by the Nigerian UBEC because the state government under former governor AbdulFatah Ahmed mismanaged the UBEC funds and couldn’t account for it. Because of the lack of access to UBEC funds, Kwara’s primary education suffered greatly. The state of our public primary schools was indeed a pitiable one under AbdulFatah Ahmed. Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq has begun to correct this problem, first by paying the counterpart funds and then following up with a personal trip to the agency’s Abuja head office to speak with the agency head directly. This is an example of a leader leading from the front and taking charge of critical conversations. The UBEC funds were subsequently released and Kwara is seeing improvements in primary and junior secondary education across the state due to the availability of this fund. Thanks to the payment of counterpart funds by the AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq administration to UBEC.
Due to the improvement in our public primary and junior secondary schools, parents and guardians have begun to return their children and wards to public schools due to the visible progress that is been made. Enrolment in public schools has risen and we are beginning to see a drop in private primary school enrolment.
KwaraLEARN
KwaraLEARN (Leading Education Achievement and Reform Now) is another signature achievement of the incumbent governor particularly in the area of primary education. Analysts have stated that this programme has the potential to dramatically improve learning outcomes in our public schools. The initiative is powered by technology and is data-driven. KwaraLEARN is not executed in isolation; it is also paired with high-quality learning materials, rejuvenated and high quality training and ongoing coaching for teachers and school leaders, along with a technology-enabled support team with the goal of ensuring a holistic learning environment that aims for high learning outcomes.
The Indiscriminate Sale of our Commonwealth for Pittance under Gov. AbdulFatah Ahmed
There is a government report authored under the chairmanship of distinguished Senator Suleiman Makanjuola Ajadi wherein the former Kwara governor was indicted in the way and manner Kwara public assets were basically shared amongst cronies. This alone disqualifies the major opposition from taking over the reins of governance in Kwara for at least the foreseeable future as the sins of former governor AbdulFatah Ahmed will take time to expiate. It takes a high level of callousness to treat public assets the way former governor AbdulFatah Ahmed did and not feel remorseful.
Full Salaries and Pensions
I have heard people often say that the payment of full salaries isn’t an achievement and is constitutionally guaranteed. I agree with the latter point and disagree vehemently with the former. We are all living witnesses to how the Ahmed administration treated Kwara workers poorly. Not paying their salaries as at when due, paying them half salaries, promoting them without cash backing, and discriminating against some of them, the lists of woes are endless. The incumbent has begun to address some of these problems. Salaries are being paid in a timely fashion since 2019 and Kwara workers have taken it for granted since then that their salaries will come at a certain date of the month. Just few days ago, my younger sister who is a senior civil servant casually told me that her salary will be paid on the 28th of the month. She dropped this information casually without even noticing and it occurred in the midst of other conversations that we were having. It occurred to me that she has confidence that her salary will come on the said date and she basically took it as a matter of course, which is as it should be but not what it was under former governor Ahmed. Just a few years ago, I literally was paying many of my relatives in the civil service some form of monthly stipends because their salaries will not come on time and when it does, it may be incomplete.
The same story applies to the pensioners. I have firsthand narrative from a retired grandmother who happens to be the mother to one of my friends. In one of our conversations, she was full of praises for Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq for not only working assiduously to clear the backlog in gratuity payments but also paying their pensions in a timely manner. She currently lives in the United States and has been receiving her pension on a monthly basis without having to bribe anyone or stand in the hot sun. By taking care of the pensioners in particular, the governor has kept one cardinal promise – that if you sacrificed 35 years of your life for us in Kwara and forsake the allure of the private sector – we will also take care of you in your old age. This is a cardinal promise that the former governor and his administration forgot and failed to fulfill. We cannot go back to this unenviable past.
Economic Intervention
I have observed the incumbent’s huge intervention in rural agriculture through incentivization. By opening up Kwara North through huge investments in roads and bridges, the Soya beans farming in the North have witnessed increased profit margins as farmers are beginning to get their produce more efficiently to the market.
The Garment factory is another signature achievement of the incumbent. A world class facility, I will only advise the governor to privatize it and allow it to be private sector led. In this type of arrangement, Kwara will retain the controlling shares in the entity while the private sector will buy up the remaining 49 percent share of the company. This is a win-win situation for both Kwara taxpayers and the organized private sector.
Small Business Grants
The hugely successful small business grants in Kwara have helped 61,998 enterprises secure various non-interest loans and some non refundable grants. This administration, through various interventions has created over 70,000 direct and indirect jobs. In boosting the local economy, the present administration has also invested heavily in technology, entertainment, and visual arts. These are futuristic projects that have great potential to bring huge returns on investment for Kwara.
Employment Vs Unemployment Data
From an unenviable 21.1% unemployment rate in 2019, Kwara is now at 16.5%, I trust that the governor is not satisfied with this progress and will continue to work tirelessly towards achieving single digit unemployment numbers. The key takeaway for me is the governor’s show of commitment without which any policy will not yield the desired outcome. I am confident that through collaborative leadership, we can assist the governor in reaching single digit unemployment numbers in the next four years by His Grace.
The improved employment numbers is corroborated by the Kwara Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (KWACCIMA) which put the number of active manufacturing companies in the state at 77 up from 41 in 2019 when the governor assumed the reins of state leadership.
Social Safety
I have followed keenly the incumbent’s social interventions and I am quite impressed with the level of commitment and resources that he has invested in the social programs. Presently, I am aware that about 48,000 vulnerable persons are either benefiting from free health insurance or the elderly monthly stipends scheme. The elderly monthly stipend that goes directly to our vulnerable citizens is a dignified way of assisting our vulnerable population and a far cry from Dr. Bukola Saraki’s unstructured benevolence. We all know that the old way of giving led to deaths and injuries in the past. I had raised this point years ago with those close to Dr. Saraki about the need to pay beneficiaries directly into their accounts to avert the stampede at his house. My advice fell on deaf ears and I became convinced over time that Dr. Saraki is not well served by his closest associates. This is one among many other reasons for our ideological divergence. Since Governor AbdulRazaq took over the reins of government, he has been paying our vulnerable populations, a percentage that includes a significant amount of our senior citizens with dignity.
Investments in Healthcare
Since Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq’s assumption, 40 medical doctors, 25 pharmacists and 60 nurses have been hired to boost healthcare service delivery in the state. This is a far cry from the dearth of these key professionals in Kwara and the resultant poor healthcare service delivery that we witnessed under the previous regime. The AbdulRazaq’s administration has also ensured the payment of over N300m in counterpart funding in health sector neglected by his predecessors; this increased health fund has led to the boost we are witnessing in primary healthcare delivery in Kwara. This increase has also led to an increased funding for the community health insurance scheme and nutrition assistance for children under three years.
Polio Eradication
The AbdulRazaq administration has also been tackling polio head on by investing heavily in immunization. For five years, the AbdulFatah Ahmed administration neglected to pay the counterpart funds necessary to accessing funds needed to fight polio and thus the immunization of our children stalled for five long years. Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq has reversed this ugly trend and the polio immunization programme has been revived in Kwara after five years.
The incumbent’s focus on basic primary healthcare service delivery has led to a significant increase in Kwarans seeking medical care in publicly funded healthcare facilities across the state. This ultimately will lead to savings in disposable incomes and free up funds for other mundane needs.
The Intensive Care Unit of the Ilorin General hospital is the first in the history of Kwara. The Governor followed it up with the purchase of oxygen concentrator, patient monitors, pediatric sphygmomanometer, automatic defibrillators, oxygen cylinders, and manual and electrical suction machines amongst many other needed tools necessary for effective healthcare service delivery.
The Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority and the Nigerian Healthcare Development and Investment Company (NHDIC) also signed an agreement with the Kwara State Government under the leadership of the incumbent on Diagnostics and Oncology Expansion Programme to build, equip, maintain, and operate a private modern medical diagnostic centre and catheterization lab in Ilorin. This will complement the Harmony Advanced Diagnostic Centre and place Kwara in a pole position for medical tourism from across the nation.
In another notable feat, the state government under the leadership of Mallam AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq also recently secured a World Bank funding to support infrastructure upgrade in at least one primary healthcare facility in each of the 193 wards of the state leading to a N4.6 million cheque for each primary healthcare centre in Kwara. This World Bank assisted fund will help in reducing under five and maternal morbidity and mortality in Kwara and help to improve coverage of key maternal and child health interventions.
Overall, the incumbent’s investment in a better health care delivery service demonstrates his resolve to keep Kwarans healthy and improve wellbeing.
City Master Plans Beginning with ILORIN
Ilorin, the state capital is home to about a million people and growing daily. While I commend Dr. Bukola Saraki’s administration on his many feats in Kwara, he was not able to begin work on the city master plan and we are all living witnesses to the fact that his successor AbdulFatah Ahmed did not have the same level of drive as the former – reason for his abysmal performance in office. Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq is correcting all that by producing a master plan for Ilorin and working towards same for major cities in the south and north of Kwara.
Development Index
The development indices under Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq are encouraging and a second term will help him to consolidate his work. Like any community, Kwara is still faced with a myriad of challenges particularly in the area of development. There are definitely many areas where the incumbent can improve and some of us are committed to working alongside the governor to ensure those areas are improved upon. The reality is that the alternative being bandied about is not an option for us in Kwara because the candidate of the major opposition is someone that lacks not only honour but integrity. It is difficult to achieve growth and development under someone who lacks these basic virtues. We cannot trust Kwara with a man deficient in character.
Still on Character
The incumbent has his many faults like all of us mortals do but in watching him at close quarters, I see a man that cares for the average Kwaran and the care element to me is the most important because all other policy flows from the element of care. If Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq did not care, he wouldn’t embark on the huge rural transformation that is ongoing under his leadership. If he doesn’t care, he wouldn’t invest heavily in KwaraLEARN and fight for UBEC funds. Compared to his immediate predecessor, his level of care is huge and it isn’t even comparable.
The inability of the major opposition to nominate a worthy candidate to face off against the incumbent shows that the incumbent is the only major candidate in the arena. Of course, there are a few worthy candidates from the smaller political parties – all of whom I have tremendous respect and admiration for. But we cannot delude ourselves to think the race is between the incumbent and the credible smaller political parties. The race as we all know is between the incumbent and the only major opposition party in Kwara. As I have stated earlier in this piece, the major opposition is bedeviled by a lack of a credible candidate at the top of the ticket. It is sad to note that they actually have some credible candidates down ballot but the lack of credibility of the candidate at the top of the ticket will definitely drag the rest of the other candidates down along with him. In essence, Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq is the only man in the arena and by His Grace will be re-elected for another term of four years to consolidate his work and pass the baton to a credible candidate from the North of Kwara.
The Choice Before Kwarans
The choice before us as Kwarans cannot be clearer; we have a choice to continue on our steady growth and the path to even development of the three zones or to retrogress under a potential Yaman administration. I trust that the people of Kwara will make the right choice and re-elect the incumbent because what he has achieved for Kwarans in almost four years and what he can achieve in another four is more than Yaman’s dud promissory note.
Dr. Abdulmumin Yinka Ajia is a management consultant, tech entrepreneur and academic. Follow me on twitter@abulajia
Post Script:
“A great man doesn’t seek to lead, he’s called to it”
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