An All Progressive Congress Chieftain in Kwara State, Barr. Kunle Sulyman has hinted at the possibility of Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq recalling most of his ‘sacked’ commissioners.
“My view is that if not all, many of them are coming back to help the governor achieve success and a second term in office,” the governor’s key loyalist told THE NATION NEWSPAPER in a report published on January 21, 2021.
The governor had December 31, 2020, dissolved the State Executive Council. However, the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Prof. Mamman Jubril, retained his seat, the governor likewise directed the former cabinet members to hand over to the most senior officers in their respective ministries.
Meanwhile, speaking on this development, Barr. Sulyman pointed out that most of the former cabinet members performed exceedingly well.
He said, “These commissioners, who served in various ministries performed well to the admiration of many in the state. Whether in health, education, road, or water, the government has touched lives in many ways never seen before. The present administration has strategically taken governance to the people such that there is no electoral ward in the state that cannot point to one or two things that they have benefited in just 18 months.
“The health sector has received about the highest priority even before the advent of Covid-19 pandemic and the result is there for everyone to see. The administration has started rehabilitation works across dozens of decrepit primary healthcare facilities. Long-abandoned routine immunisation and vaccination of newborn babies is back. For the first time, Kwara now has isolation centres equipped with modern gadgets like ventilators, defibrillators, patient monitors, and others. Its oxygen plant has been revived. For the first time, the state now has ambulances with capacities to manage patients in critical conditions on the go. Indeed, Kwara is now listed as an A-list state in the healthcare sector.
“The education sector is changing. More than seven years after it came under the hammer, Kwara State is now off the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) blacklist. It has accessed a backlog of N7.1 billion UBEC counterpart funds with a matching grant of N7.1 billion to gradually reposition the schools. Aside from the upcoming UBEC intervention, the state on its own is carrying out renovation works in at least 43 basic schools. With the UBEC funds in the kitty, no less than 600 basic schools are to get facelifts, while teachers are also to be trained. The transparent process to recruit 4,701 qualified and competent teachers into our public primary, junior and senior secondary schools is ongoing and should be commended by all.”
He furthered, “In May 2019, water tankers were the source of potable water in most parts of the capital city, even in the Government House. Pipe-borne water is back and stable in Ilorin metropolis, while nearly 500 boreholes have either been dug or rehabilitated across the state. No fewer than nine waterworks have been fixed since this governor came on board, while contracts for more have been awarded. With the water situation being tackled, Kwara is keying into the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), a key component of the Sustainable Development Goal 6 to promote hygiene and end open defecation. Under this scheme, many schools and hospitals across the state would now for the first time get tap water and pour-flush toilets.
“The administration is ending the helicopter money politics that had plagued Kwara’s past. Within the past 18 months, the administration has fixed over 100 rural and urban roads/culverts/bridges. Many agrarian communities are now getting standard roads, while those hitherto cut off from civilisation are also being linked. At least, 500 rural roads are to be fixed under the World Bank-enabled Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project (RAAMP) arrangement for which the administration had earlier paid counterpart funds. These road projects are spread across the senatorial districts, deliberately linking agrarian areas to the urban centres.”