By Engr. Abduraheem Olaitan Kehinde
It is often said that government is a continuum. What this implies is that effective governance and sustained development are largely dependent on continuity and building upon the strides and accomplishments of past leaders.
By acknowledging and building on the achievements of their predecessors in office,governors can propel their states towards greater heights and guarantee a brighter future for their citizens.
Unfortunately, this isn’t the case for Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq of Kwara State, who has never for once acknowledged the good works of those who came before him, let alone build on them. Instead, he has chosen to undermine their legacies and the foundations they laid, thereby hindering the state’s potential for growth and development.
I was moved to pen this article moments after I came across an online news story stating that the Federal Government had selected the Kwara State University (KWASU) as one of the six universities across the country to benefit from its ICT Experience Centre initiative. This initiative is a joint effort of the Federal Ministry of Education and the Federal Ministry of Communication, Technology, and Digital Economy, and part of the FG’s Learn to Earn Programme.
KWASU’s inclusion in the pilot phase of the initiative makes me believe there’s a lot that could be achieved with the institution if we had the right leadership in the state. I felt so elated that Kwara is getting national attention because of what someone had envisioned many years ago and strived earnestly to establish.
Also,not long ago,the Federal Government listed Harmony Advanced Diagnostic Centre (HADC), Ilorin among the 10 critical health care service centres across the fields of radiology, clinical pathology, medical and radiation oncology, and cardiac catheterization that it intends to upgrade and expand.
It is delightful to note that these two projects – KWASU and HADC – that have received the attention of the federal government are legacies of the past PDP-led administration of Dr Abubakar Bukola Saraki. These two projects have eased access to tertiary education for young Kwarans, boosted access to critical healthcare services for Kwarans and also created jobs for them.
It is heartwarming that despite the sustained efforts of Governor Abdulrazaq to undermine the good works of past administrators of the state, some of their works are still relevant and noticeable as they continue to positively impact the lives of Kwarans who are the ultimate beneficiaries.
For years,Governor Abdulrazaq and his shameless handlers ran the propaganda and lies that former PDP administrations did not do anything in the State. This speaks volumes of their small-mindedness and lack of leadership. Isn’t it time for him and his team of liars to bury their heads in shame? .
Since coming into office, out of sheer bitterness and envy, Governor Abdulrazaq has consistently undermined and neglected critical projects executed by the immediate past PDP-led governments. Notable among the projects is the Harmony Advanced Diagnostic Centre. Determined to kill the Health Centre, the governor has refused to fund it by upgrading facilities there and also failed to prioritise the welfare of workers at the Centre by starving them of their salary payments.
As of today, I’m not sure there is any staff in that Centre who has received salaries more than twice in the last six months. This callous disregard for the welfare of this professionals and the vital services they provide is inexcusable.
Under Abdulrazaq’s administration, the facility that once stood as a beacon of medical excellence, has been reduced to a shadow of its former self.
Just like Harmony Advanced Diagnostic Centre, KWASU is another legacy project of past administration that has suffered neglect under Governor Abdulrazaq’s administration.
Since assumption of office, Abdulrazaq has failed to fund the university neither has he provided it with needed support. Despite his pre-2019 election campaign pledge, the governor has refused to pay subventions to the institution. This is forcing management of the university to admit more students than its capacity, putting undue pressure on lecturers and available facilities at the citadel of learning.
The governor cannot point at any infrastructural or facility upgrade his government has carried out in KWASU since 2019. Another sad thing to note is the deliberate abandonment of the construction of the satellite campuses of the university in Osi (Kwara South) and Ilesha-Baruba (Kwara North), which the immediate past administration of Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed was working on.
After five years in office,it is not certain if the present administration had added a piece of block to the two projects. Rather than see to the completion of the two campuses, Governor Abdulrazaq is hellbent of establishing his own University of Education project, which shouldn’t be a priority for any responsible and responsive governor.
We all know the transformation and impact the completion and operation of the two KWASU campuses will have on the host communities of Osi and Ilesha-Baruba and the neighbouring communities.
We are all witnesses to the impact the presence of KWASU brought to Malete and its environs. His failure to complete these projects after five years in office is another reflection of his narrow-mindedness and poor approach to governance and leadership.
Furthermore, is there any reasonable justification for Governor Abdulrazaq’s decision to convert the Cargo Terminal at the Ilorin International Airport (now known as the Gen. Tunde Idiagbon Airport) to a mundane tailors’ complex called Garment Factory?.
Even if the Cargo Terminal wasn’t in operation, couldn’t he have initiated moves to revitalize and put it into use? What is more saddening is that more than a year after the Garment Factory was completed, no meaningful activity is taking place there, leaving the equipment procured with taxpayers’ monies to rot away.
This is the same way the government has failed to open the Tanke Bridge more than eight months after its completion, with the government refusing to tell the public why the facility is yet to be opened for public use.
Perhaps,the government isn’t proud of the poor job done on the project and fears its devastating consequence. The quality of the Tanke bridge can’t even match the quality of the Post-Office bridge that was built over 15 years ago by the Saraki-led administration.
I believe sooner or later, Kwarans will come to know the truth and what the government has been hiding about the Tanke bridge that gulped billions of naira of Kwara’s money.
It is glaring that Governor Abdulrazaq’s refusal to acknowledge and build upon the strides and achievements of his predecessors, coupled with his incompetence, maladministration and mismanagement of state’s resources has hampered Kwara’s growth and development, and that’s not difficult to see.
It is evident that while the governor and his administration seem intent on undermining the legacies leaders who came before him, especially Dr Abubakar Bukola Saraki, the State and its people continue to benefit from his visionary initiatives thirteen years after his time in office, a testament to his foresight and effective leadership.
Clearly, Kwara is in desperate need of such competent, forward-thinking, and purposeful leadership at this critical point.
