IBRAHIM, Ridwan (INTEGRITY)
…A mediocre administration claiming “four years is not enough to clear the 16 years of rots” has forgotten that, it only took them less than four years to raise the debt stock of 59 billion they met in 2019 to about 114 billon unprecedented debt burden in our 55 years of history as a state.
The Harvey Dent of Kwara state, Gov. AA has sooner than expected been plagued by the plague he supposedly came to cure, but this time around, the plague is ravaging at a very unprecedented ignominious level because everything he ever touched is yet to see a day break of progress…….
The Kwara State 2023 gubernatorial election is fast approaching and Kwarans are more than enthusiastic to exercise their franchise for a change of deceitful government. The forthcoming 2023 elections hold tremendous importance, and the results will no doubt positively impact, not only Kwara State, but, Nigeria at large. That’s why it’s extremely essential for Kwarans to put sentiment(s) and prejudice aside and cast their vote for who has the best agenda for them.
Just after the 2019 Ótógè struggle and before the incursion of the incumbent administration of Gov. AA into kwara polity, the people had only hoped the new leadership would put up an almost impeccable performance and ensure better accountability to the masses. But alas, the direct opposite is the case as the present leadership has soon lost its self acclaimed integrity as a result of it’s venality.
As indisputably evident than ever as it is now, the incumbent administration has nothing new to offer as no man gives what he doesn’t have, and that’s why by the end of 2023 gubernatorial election when the authoritarian government of of the day faces its imminent defeat and set to vacate the office with his palpable legacy of misrule, corruption, and human rights abuses; widespread social tension, institutional decay and economic decline, the emergence of Alh. Shuaibu YAMAN Abdullahi will throw in towels and roll out far astounding programmes that will effect dramatic economic, political, social and physical changes in the state.
The Kwara State PDP gubernatorial candidate for the 2023 gubernatorial election, Alhaji Shuaibu YAMAN Abdullahi remains the best among the governorship candidates in the race. As often quoted in law, “he who asserts must prove beyond the reasonable doubts”. Hence, below are ten(10) reasons every progress minded Kwaran should cast their vote for Alhaji Shuaibu YAMAN Abdullahi in the forthcoming gubernatorial election:
- Out of the 14 Governorship aspirants vying for the apex political stead in the state in 2023, Alhaji Shuaibu YAMAN Abdullahi is the only aspirant from the Kwara North, a senatorial district known with disadvantaged history of protracted marginalization, neglect and relegation, thereby projecting her as a backwater along the line of politics and economy.
The only time the constituency had the opportunity at the crack of the highest vantage position in the order of leadership hierarchy in the state was in January 1992, when Alhaji Sha’aba Lafiagi was elected as the Governor of Kwara State and was later ousted from the office by the administration of General Sani Abacha in November 1993. Therefore, the principle of fairness, justice and equitable distribution of power can only be upheld when a candidate from Kwara North is given the chance to emerge as the next governorship candidate, especially a candidate like Alh. Shuaibu YAMAN Abdullahi with prerequisite experience, contacts both within the country and in the diaspora, and who has impacted many lives through his many philanthropic works.
- As the proprietor and managing director of Agromatrix, his strategic leadership has made the organization one of the foremost agricultural firms not only in the country but Africa at large going by the significant strides recorded in the Nigerian agro-business industry over the years.
In line with the vision of realizing a Prosperous Kwara through agricultural revolution, Alh. Shuaibu YAMAN Abdullahi understands fully well that the best and quickest route to economic development is the agricultural path as that is the area of the state comparative advantage, and Alhaji Shuaibu Yaman is ready to optimise to the fullest, the abundant resources of the sector which has, hitherto, remained untapped for the greater good of the state.
A Yaman/Makanjuola administration, through sustained infrastructural growth hopes to open up our rural areas for agribusiness. One major way our state can contribute to the national gross domestic product and break the shackles of poverty is investment in large-scale farming. While supporting our local farmers, a substantial part of the resources shall be devoted to agribusiness. The Agric Mall shall be electronically driven, and its scope of activities will be expanded for effective service delivery.
- Almost four years ago since Kwarans elected a government they supposed would be led by the right driver, an innovator who will, as a matter of urgency, understands the need to make a positive mark, all we have seen so far is the wrong driver behind the wheel of our progress. As a result of this wrong choice of leadership, our state with high velocity is being driven towards the wrong direction not envisioned by our founding fathers. We’re as a result, fast losing the dream of a prosperous state. Currently, what we are witnessing is a state of No Vision and No Direction! Even the word of God says “where there is no vision; the people perish”. It has been an administration led by greed and division which has metamorphosed into neglect of our people.
Kwarans no longer need a Governor who doesn’t have a realistic blueprint of what he wants to do and how he wants to go about it. The emergence of Alh. Shuaibu YAMAN Abdullahi is going to create opportunities for everyone to achieve their potential. He will create an enabling environment and support for individuals and groups through a revived SME scheme. He will invest more resources in the scheme to make it more impactful and not only dole out stipends as traders’ money, but as life-changing resources through our micro-finance banks.
- Our microfinance banks can be rest assured that their dark ages and incessant near bankruptcy experiences with the incumbent administration will soon be over, as his emergence as the Governor of Kwara state come 2023 will ensure their continuous survival and for effective financial service delivery.
The future of Kwara that has been on an automatic reverse gear journeying back to the days of the stone age.
Alh. Shuaibu YAMAN Abdullahi with his wealth of experiences, has gone pass the stone age with tantalizing attributes of contemporary standard. He is in the race not only to build a better future for our children and families, but to also chart the course of a better future for the next generation.
He wants our children to be part of a state that is coming together and not a state that’s going apart. He is in the race to lead Kwara to the path of progress and unity. He will be transparent, open and accessible, truthful and accountable to Kwarans at all times.
- Before now, Kwara State was never used to celebrating chicken projects i.e. painting of classrooms and roofing sheet adjustments as state’s capital projects to develop our education sector. Credit to UBEC for setting the standard: a typical classroom with their intervention fund.
The vision of Alh. Shuaibu YAMAN Abdullahi is to ensure that we make our schools conducive platforms for our unity and not avenues for exhibiting our differences as an heterogeneous state. Alhaji Shuaibu YAMAN Abdullahi will ensure that our primary and secondary schools’ education curricula are up to standard with contemporary development and our children are given the right type of education that will make them self-reliant, employable and confident to face the world.
- Quoting Abraham Lincoln, “Slavery is founded in the selfishness of man’s nature”
We cannot afford to continue on the path to future servitude; an ignoble path of the current indebtedness. A debt of over N110b in less than four years without any commensurate infrastructural growth is unacceptable for a predominantly Civil Service State economy like ours. Indeed, we are now weighed down by a heavy debt burden unprecedented in our 55 years of history as a state.
Again, this is the most extravagant government in the modern history of our state. How else do you describe a governor who celebrates keeping a whooping sum of N17b out of N27.21b bond in an unnamed bank? Yet, the state continues to pay an interest of over N1.2b monthly on a facility that has not been fully expended but drawn down. Of what economic rationale would that be, particularly when it was obvious that we needed not to collect the bond in the first instance if the leadership understands the institutional funding structure bequeathed by its predecessor? Of course, this calls for worry. It calls for concern, especially as the 2023 election is just months ahead.
Ahead of the 2023 gubernatorial election, a very sensitive rumour is spreading like wildfire that the purpose of the 17b kept in an unknown bank is to spend 1 billion per local government. Before this rumour sparks up or intensifies social protest, we implore the governor to tell us his plan for the money. And if the rumour is however true, their plans will be a futile endeavour with ineluctable defeat at the poll.
Alh. Shuaibu YAMAN Abdullahi remains the best gubernatorial candidate because the challenge of leadership in spending and incurring debt for generations yet unborn will be genuinely tackled and there will be abundant wealth creation.
- To the pensioners, Alhaji Shuaibu YAMAN Abdullahi shall make concerted efforts not to only pay their pensions but also bring them to par with the existing minimum wage. He will ensure that everything shall be done to pay arrears of their gratuities within the shortest time possible, while he also invests in and evolves a pre-retirement training program to ensure they live a meaningful life after their meritorious service to the state.
He recognises the plight of our industrious civil servants, who had served in the state public service until retirement and the need to safeguard their financial security after service.
- Alh Shuaibu YAMAN Abdullahi as our Governor would focus on revitalizing the civil service by restoring the hopes and aspirations of career officers whose promotions have been largely politicised. He will be the governor for the enhancement of the merit based promotion scheme; the promotion of enabling environment for the conduct of service operations. He will be the governor to ensure that appointment and deployment are based on competence, skills, knowledge, training, specialty and continuous training and retraining of workers. The civil servants will be allowed to play their statutory role as policy drivers.
The sun-SET teachers unceremoniously dismissed by the incumbent administration will be reinstated and retrained as sun-Rise teachers sacked by the incoming Gov. Shuaibu YAMAN Abdullahi if elected into office in 2023 . This vision would raise the bar of our collective achievements as a state with civil service and raise the bar for their performance and contribution to the positive story of our state.
- Kwara State Internal Revenue Service (KW-IRS) will be revitalized back to the trajectory of growth and funding of the IF-K that the previous administration not only desired for, but brought to light through its revenue reform agenda to be the best institutionalized funding arrangement in the country. Its truncated values shall be revived to get it back on track for excellence and growth for the development of our state.
Alh. Shuaibu YAMAN Abdullahi administration shall upscale the internal revenue generating mechanism to reinforce the blocking of leakages and improve services through continuous training and adequate incentives for those involved in the collection process to return to the performance-driven era.
(10). Lastly on security, Alh. Shuaibu YAMAN Abdullahi has assured the people of the state that his administration would do everything possible to strengthen security architecture in the state. To ensure that a Prosperous Kwara is realized, there must be protection of lives and property.
He would ensure that necessary support is given to security agencies towards combating kidnappings, banditry and other criminal related activities in the state.
The reasons Kwarans should vote for Alh. Shuaibu YAMAN Abdullahi are too numerous to mention & remain inexhaustible because he has successfully developed a solution driven developmental blueprint that will serve as catalysts to a thriving economy that will make Kwara a robust, healthy and growing economy with adequate jobs and strategic investments to sustain growth.
The Kwara PDP gubernatorial candidate, Alh. Shuaibu YAMAN Abdullahi understands how to bring deliberate and strategic plans and actions to create big ripple effects that can impact on Kwara economy and make life far more abundant not only to the good people of Kwara, but to the whole of Nigeria at large.
To the good people of Kwara, it is high time we started voting for candidates with right qualities and high moral standards.
Let’s invest our political right where we will make a sweet harvest in abundance in the future by voting for Alhaji Shuaibu YAMAN Abdullahi as the next Governor of the state.
With Yaman as Kwara State governor, come 2023, a Prosperous Kwara is POSSIBLE.