By Lawal Akanbi Sharafadeen.
It is very laughable to see someone in their right senses try to compare the tenures of Governor Bukola Saraki and Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq as Nigeria Governors’ Forum Chairmen. While I do try not to make comparisons between the duo, because I believe “ti a ba fi omo we omo, a lu ikan paa ni,” but may God forgive me because I however feel it is necessary I make a very short comparison here.
While the former’s administration was marked by groundbreaking reforms and unprecedented accomplishments that were largely felt by Kwarans and other Nigerians, the latter, who is the current occupant of that office, lacks the intellectual capacity to even champion a cause or reform as the Chairman of the Forum.
Rather, he has reduced the office to mere ceremonies and courtesy visits. We are not surprised that Governor Bago of Niger has been pitched to replace Governor Abdulrahman by other members of the Forum who believe he will perform better than the incumbent.
The deputy chairmen of the NGF who are from each of the 6 geo-political zones of the country, have expressed their lack of confidence in the leadership of Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq and fear for the crumbling of the Forum if things are left to him.
It is disheartening to see what our Governor has reduced us to in Kwara. We now rejoice only at receiving favours without any attempt to become better in our self-sustenance. We now claim mere paperwork as achievements.
Why don’t you wait until the roads are completed before you begin to count your eggs, Mr. Egghead? How do you explain the shamelessness of the Governor’s aide trying to distort facts in a write-up, claiming that the same roads that had long been approved by former President Muhammadu Buhari was facilitated by Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq as Chairman of the Governors’ Forum?
This is a blatant lie.For reference, -the roads fraudulently alluded to Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq’s NGF chairmanship were a product of an Executive order 007 signed by the Muhammadu Buhari administration on “Road Infrastructure Development and Refurbishment Investment Tax Credit Scheme 2019”, which established a 10-year scheme known as the Road Infrastructure Development and Refurbishment Investment Tax Credit Scheme.
Currently,some of the most prominent participants have embarked on various road schemes. They include Dangote Cement Plc (Apapa-Oworonshoki-Ojota road in Lagos and the Lokoja-Obajana-Kabba Road connecting Kogi and Kwara States), MTN (110km Enugu-Onitsha Road in Anambra State) and Transcorp Group (Oyinbo- Izuoma-Mirinwayi-Oklama-Afam Road).
Others are:Access Bank (Oniru axis of VI-Lekki circulation road in Lagos State), GZI Industries (Umueme village road, Abia State and Mainstreet Energy, Malando-Garin Baka-Ngwaski Road) and in specific, BUA Group has also received approval for N415 billion tax credits that comprise N115 billion 132km Kano-Kazaure-Kongolam highway under the same scheme linking Kano, Jigawa and Katsina States and another four major roads worth N330 billion which are Kosubosu- Kaiama-Bode Saadu highway (130km); Bacita- Shonga-Lafiagi highway (83km); Eyenkorin- Afon-O!a-Odo Ottin highway (49km); and Okuta-Bukuro Road which connects to Benin Republic (32km).
We know it is difficult to defend the inadequacies in Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq’s leadership, but you shouldn’t resort to lying and white washing the Governor because the only way to be correct in these lies is if only other numerous roads from other states of the country captured under the scheme initiated in 2019 could be somehow linked to Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq who only became a governor in 2019 and was not a chairman of the NGF until 4 years after the roads were approved for construction.
Also,one doesn’t need to be the Chairman of the Governor’s Forum before you can facilitate roads. It is also a known fact that the longest road by km in Kwara State was facilitated under Governor Bukola Saraki.
While ‘I waa still a toddler when Governor Saraki was Kwara State Governor or when he served as the NGF chairman’ isn’t a tenable excuse any longer, permit me to say having a Governor on the side of the people is the greatest blessing citizens can have.
Governor Bukola Saraki’s tenure was characterized by deep affection for the people, and through his leadership as the Forum Chairman, he instituted policies that made governance easier for the people and created a system where every Governor could compete to do better.
One of such initiatives was the State Peer Review Mechanism, aimed at fostering development, enhancing governance, and sharing best practices among the states. This initiative led the NGF to transition from a largely political entity into a more policy-focused, people-centric organization.
Another beautiful initiative of Dr. Saraki’s visionary leadership as the NGF chairman was in In 2011 when a proposal to create the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) met with significant opposition from the majority of Nigeria’s 36 state governors.
The NSIA was conceived to manage a Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) that would enable the federal government to invest in diverse sectors and mitigate economic risks.
In recognition of the long-term advantages of the Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF), Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki as the NGF Chairman, partnered with the Ministry of Finance to adapt the fund in a way that would benefit the states’ development.
Utilizing his position and persuasive skills, Dr. Saraki succeeded in swaying his gubernatorial colleagues to endorse the NSIA initiative and what do you have today?.The NSIA manages assets exceeding $3.5 billion, serving as a testament to the foresight of leaders like Dr. Saraki who understood the broader economic implications and benefits that such a fund could bring to Nigeria.
We all know his efforts in championing the eradication of polio in Nigeria. I challenge Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq’s handlers to mention one people-focused policy he has embarked on either as the state Governor or as the under-performing NGF chairman that he is.
Today, the federal government can embark on a project for the upgrade of the Harmony Advanced Diagnostic Centre because Bukola Saraki conceived and birthed that initiative.
The federal government saw what Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq wasn’t seeing after he neglected the facility for many years before certain people began to work behind closed doors to ensure the federal government consolidated on the HADC facility.
We know how this Governor has starved the workers there of their payments, and yet you still want to rig the glory to Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq despite knowing nothing about it.
Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq’s leadership has only exemplified bad governance, lawlessness, and no regard for the rule of law in the state. The Governor leads the pack of those who have not conducted local government elections in the state despite the federal government’s cry for the fiscal autonomy of all local governments councils.
Who should lead by example? Instead of people-focused policies, he is hell-bent on seeing people in poverty by taking away their means of livelihood without any measures to cushion these effects, especially during the most difficult times experienced by common people.
Who instituted the doctrine of necessity for power to be transferred to the vice president in the absence of the then president Shehu Musa Yaradua? This is a man with a record of delivering real solutions to issues. The Ilorin Smartcity project is the brainchild of the Federal Government, and we know how that project is still far from being a reality yet.
How many real-time issues or initiatives has Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq proffered solutions to as the Chairman of the Governors’ Forum? We are tired of hearing the same two or three proposed FG projects.
The Presidency understands the sneaky nature of Abdulrazaq, which is why President Bola Ahmed Tinubu rejected the Governor’s purported list of favourites that included his siblings as ministerial nominees.
Instead, he chose those whom he could trust without the input of the State Governor, as well as other key appointments such as that of Mallam Lanre Issa Onilu and many others.
The Governor and his siblings’ cronyism is evident in the composition of the State Cabinet and Advisers to the government. They said the Governor knows about the list he has no influence over. Is Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq now a state house journalist?
Let me digress here to ask the Governor to mention one appointee of his that has done so much for the people with their office like Prof. Oba Abdulraheem whom you have claimed was not allowed to succeed in their office.
Was it not the same Governor Bukola Saraki during his time as NGF Chairman who returned Prof. Oba Abdulraheem as the Chairman of the Federal Character Commission after he had resigned? Is that not the same Prof. that was robbed by Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq to the 2019 APC guber primaries?
We will not forget Abdulrahman’s atrocities to the people of Kwara State. We know how he went against Kale Kawu of Rural Electrification Agency (REA) in Abuja, how he stood against the reappointment of Prof. Abubakar Suleiman.
Why was Lukman Mustapha relieved of his position? Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq will one day answer to all he has perpetrated by bringing down other illustrious sons of Kwara State because he is the NGF Chairman today.
While I will always maintain that it is a huge disrespect to try a comparison between any past or present NGF chairman or Kwara State Governor with Bukola Saraki, it will only be sane to note that Bukola Saraki ran so that other Chairmen and Governors could walk.
He brought positive and radical changes by restructuring and resourcing the Forum to enable it to respond to both the contemporary and future needs of Governors and their constituents under his leadership as Chairman.
He strengthened the policy development capacity of the Forum with support from the UK’s Department for International Development.
This, along with a range of other international partnerships – such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation – allowed the Forum to reach new international audiences to the benefit of Governors and individual states. Kwarans are proud of their son.
The question is, without lying, what has Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq done with his office as Chairman other than jamboree visits to Aso Rock and acting as an airport ushering coordinator for the president?
Lawal Akanbi Sharafadeen writes from Kwara State Capital.