Date: 2015-02-22

Before the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) abruptly shifted the dates of this year’s general elections, the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kwara State had took its campaign train to 14 of the 16 local government areas of the state.

The APC’s intimidating campaign train was led by the leader of the party in the state, Dr Bukola Saraki, the state governor, Alh AbdulFatah Ahmed and the director general of the party’s campaign organisation and speaker of the state House of Assembly, Barr Razak Atunwa.

In all the places visited by the APC leaders and their supporters, they were given rousing reception not only by the ordinary members of the communities, but the highly revered traditional rulers in all the communities.

From Offa to Oyun, Ekiti to Oke-Ero, Ifelodun to Irepodun in Isin local government areas in Kwara South; from Edu to Patigi and Moro in Kwara North and from Ilorin West to Ilorin East, Asa to Ilorin South in Kwara Central, the APC campaign team was received with pomp and pageantry.

The traditional rulers of most of the communities visited in all the 14 local governments did not only reel out the dividends of democracy that their communities have enjoyed from Governor AbdulFatah Ahmed’s administration, but also unequivocally endorsed the governor’s second term bid.

During the campaign tour of Edu local government area, the Etsu Tsaragi, Alhaji Aliyu Kpotwo, announced that all the traditional rulers in the state had not only endorsed the former governor of the state, Dr Bukola Saraki, as the political leader of the people of the state but were also supporting Governor Ahmed in his second term bid.

The monarch said all the first class graded traditional rulers in the state, chose Saraki after the demise of his father, Dr Abubakar Olusola Saraki, to lead them politically.

For the traditional ruler, politics in Kwara remained “a heritage thing”, adding: “If I dont want to do anything to destroy to my father’s heritage, then I should do nothing to destroy the political structure that has been of immense benefits to us”, he said.

He disclosed that the people of the town have resolved to make public their political interest, noting that the town had suffered in the past due to “wrong information peddled against us. We don’t want it again. We need to let the world know where we belonged and what we stand for”, he admonished.

The Etsu, who lauded Saraki for initiating the reconstruction works of his palace praised Governor Ahmed for completing the project which is now a prized edifice to the people of the town.

In his words: “Anyone here before now who again decided at present to come to Tsaragi will see monumental development achieved under the government of Ahmed.

“Therefore, nobody should tell us that we need to vote for Governor Ahmed for his second term ambition. Instead, we are the ones to come and beg him to come out and re contest. His first term in office was a great blessing to us. We will mobilise our people to return him to power”.

The Etsu said in as much as democracy represents divergence of opinions, he would not allow any of his subjects to deviate from the parts that will benefit the people and the children.

Also, the Emir of Lafiagi, Alh. Saidu Haliru Kawu, while reminiscing on the existing bond between his people and the people of Ilorin said they would always align with the Ilorins in whatever may be their political ideologies.

According to him, “In our own Lafiagi, we would not renege on the political agreement between our fore fathers and the Ilorin people. They were always doing things in common. We will not allow this age long harmonious relationship to end during our own time”, he remarked.

In his own speech when the APC took its campaign train to his palace, the Emir of Shonga, Dr Haruna Yahaya, catalogued the many achievements of Governor Ahmed’s administration in his community.

He declared: “Your Excellency, all said and done, the government has recorded many achievements both across the state and in Shonga. But, as Oliver Twist, Shonga emirate pleads for more. We will continue to assure you of our unalloyed loyalty.

“Your Excellency, I think you have done enough to ensure your overwhelming success at the polls. Once again, we welcome you very heartily so Shonga emirate. May Allah (SWT) bless your mission”, he prayed.

And in Ekiti local government area of the state while receiving the APC campaign team, the Owa of Eruku, Oba Olanrewaju Buhari Oyediran, assured leaders of APC that the people of the area were in support of the party and its programmes.

“We have tested APC government and we have seen the need to support the party for further development of our place. Our support for APC is total. It’s the present state government that upgraded my traditional stool to second class, even while I was in holy pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia, while you also constructed our roads”, he said.

It is pertinent to mention here that during the course of APC campaign across the nook and crannies of the state, no fewer than 5000 PDP members in Asa and Ilorin West local government areas defected to the party.

The defectors were led by a university don and foremost critic of the Saraki political dynasty, Dr. Saad Omoiya. Omoiya is also a close political ally of Mohammed Dele Belgore (SAN), the coordinator of President Jonathan campaign team in Kwara.

The gale of endorsements of Governor Ahmed for second term by traditional rulers during the campaign tour showed that the APC-led government in the state had against all odds met the yearnings and aspirations of various communities in the state in the past three and half years.

The governor had within the period under review implemented people- oriented programmes and policies, empowering transporters, students, youths, artisans and farmers, among others while also creating employment opportunities to the unemployed.

The introduction of “Quickwin” programme through which thousands of youths were engaged is a pointer to this. Before the end of 2014, government plans to engage over 8,000 youths under this scheme which has been roundly applauded by the people. All these combine to make the party cohesive in the state.

Between 2011 and now, the administration of Governor Ahmed has engaged 10, 200 youths, empowered 41, 000 small business owners, provided 100 taxis to transporters, reduced fees at the state university, abolished tuition fees at Senior Secondary Schools level, supplied free notebooks to senior secondary students, modernized five and equipped 13 General hospitals and 42 Primary Health centres, constructed and rehabilitated several hundred kilometers of urban and rural roads.

The governor has also expanded water supply, create a new generation of commercial farmers, connect 400 communities to the national grid and extended a globally-applauded community Health Insurance Scheme to cover about 80, 000 Kwarans.

Everyone recognizes Governor Ahmed as the most youth-friendly and focused. He started earning those credentials within weeks of taking office with the engagement of 2, 000 youths through Kwara Bridge Empowerment Scheme (KWABES).

Not only did the government engaged 5, 000 youths under the scheme in three years, 2, 000 of them now hold pensionable permanent employment in the state civil service. And it is on record that the state government has never defaulted in payment of KWABES beneficiaries since its inception.

And despite the shortfall in the federal allocation to the state, the government is still able to pay civil servants and pensioners their monthly salaries promptly on the 25th of every months.

The Ahmed administration has also established International Vocational center in Ajase-Ipo, in the southern axis of the state to train youths on various vocational skill that could make them self-employed and employers of labour after the completion of their courses.

The Harmony Advanced Medical Diagnostic centre, the International Aviation College, both in Ilorin, the state capital and the New Nigerian Commercial Farming initiative in Shonga, Edu local government area of the state, aside from improving the fortunes of the state and its people have also registered the state in the World map.

To cap it up, the governor recently upgraded 59 traditional institutions in the state. He also said that plans are in the offing to create local government development councils areas out of the existing 16 local government areas of the state.

Also, during the course of his campaign tour of the state, Ahmed donated 10 bore holes and electric transformers to some communities in Asa local government area of the state.

He asked the community leaders in the area to liaise with the ministry of water resources to jointly take a decision on where the boreholes will be located.

He equally asked leaders of various communities in the area that had requested for transformer to liaise with the ministry of Energy to take delivery of the transformers.

At Alapa, both the governor and the APC leader in the state, Dr Bukola Saraki donated N1m towards the completion of the town’s central mosque.

And as at the time of this report, the state government had distributed 100 transformers to various communities in the state for an improved electricity supply to the benefiting communities.

From the feelers from the APC campaign tour and verifiable achievements of Governor Ahmed’s administration, it is crystal clear that the APC is heading for a landslide victory in the general elections now scheduled to hold on March 28 and April 11, 2015.