By Godfrey AKON
A Fellow of the Nigeria Institute of Public Relations, NIPR, Alh Saadu Salahu, has appealed to stakeholders to support the Kwara State Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq in his economic and developmental agenda for Kwara.
Salahu spoke in Ilorin, Kwara State, while presenting a paper at a forum organised by the Media Town Hall with theme “Kwara Development: The Role of Stakeholders.”
He urged the legislators, civil servants, public servants and captains of industries to team up with the state governor to actualise his development plans.
The media mugul recalled that the state was created in 1967 and had two development plans in 1970 and 1980, but lamented that the previous administrations in the state from 1980 to 2019 did not create any development road map for the state.
“However, it is sad and highly regrettable that for close to four decades, 1980 to 2019 when Governor AbdulRahaman AbdulRazaq emerged as the democratically elected governor of the state, Kwara with all its huge resources groped in darkness without any development plan and vision by each of the successive governments both military and civilians.
“We lost many of the state enterprises and companies including Trade Bank, Shonga farms and billions naira worth of investments in Kaduna , Abuja , Lagos and parts of the country,” he stated.
Salahu, expressed delight that Governor AbdulRazaq’s ” leadership initiatives and visions are contained in a well articulated 436 – page Kwara State Economic Development Plan.
“The State plan aligns with the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations, UNDP, Africa Union and several International and development partners,” he added.
He said the highlights of AbdulRazaq administration’s 10- year development plan included its background and rational, governance and institution strengthening, macro-economic outlook and fiscal policy directions, agricultural, rural development and poverty reduction.
“Others are education and health sector development, youth, sports and social welfare, land titling and administration, inclusive and affordable housing, functional water, sanitation and hygiene. It also speaks to affordable and reliable electricity, efficient transportation and regional integration, information and communication technology.
“Critical social service infrastructures, sustainable environment, domesticating the SDGs, results monitoring, evaluation and reporting and snapshots of the indicative financing requirements for the plan are all included.
“Examined against the context of the 17 MDGs, it becomes clearer that Governor AbdulRahaman AbdulRazaq 10 years development plan (2021-2030) aligns with the UN SDGs lasting 2030,” he said.
According to him, a critical examination of AbdulRazaq ‘s leadership vision, policy agenda and implementation has put Kwara on the global map as one of the best governed states in Africa in the past four years.
These policies, he said included the five years agricultural plan, 10 years development plan, new Ilorin city master plan and other senatorial districts, new Kwara State Industrial Park at Eyenkorin with a plan to generate 5000 megawatts of electricity, law establishing Kwara State Social Investments Programme, multibillion-naira investments on basic education, infrastructures, ICT, teachers training on quality assurance, instructional materials leading to construction and renovation of over 600 schools across the state with Kwara’s emergence as the overall best in national school competition and representing the country at international level; winning laurels, first time in the history of the state in over two decades.
Others, according to Salahu, included the innovation hub Ilorin, which seeks to unlock unlimited opportunities for the youths in digital economy, Visual Arts Studio, Ilorin, Ilorin International Conference Centre, Shea butter industry in Kaiama, the Garment Factory in Ilorin, which when become operational will provide jobs for over 2000 women in the state; plan to resuscitate the Bacita Sugar Company, road infrastructures across the state, PHCs in all the 193 wards across the state and improved health data, transparency due process and accountability; and commitment to align with climate change agenda by investing in green environment, amongst others.
“It is quiet gratifying to note that the 10-year economic development plan of Governor AbdulRahaman AbdulRazaq is based on well-articulated 4 major pillars – institutional reform, economic development, social development and infrastructural development.
“At the risk of an obvious emphasis , you are all witnesses to the positive impact and outcomes of the leadership vision , agenda and economic development policies of the governor in the past four years in education , civil service , road infrastructures, poverty alleviation , security , health care services , ease of doing business , gender mainstreaming, youths inclusiveness in political leadership , KWprenures, transparency and accountability , all in line with the UN SDGs ‘ agenda and global best indicators for good governance,” he stated.