Date: 2017-05-27

ADDRESS BY HIS EXCELLENCY, ALHAJI (DR.) @ABDULFATAAHMED, THE EXECUTIVE GOVERNOR OF KWARA STATE, ON THE OCCASION OF AWARD PRESENTATION/DINNER TO MARK THE GOLDEN JUBILEE CELEBRATION OF THE CREATION OF KWARA STATE, ON THURSDAY, MAY 25, 2017. Courtesies,

My very good people of Kwara.

Let me most warmly and heartily felicitate with you all on this auspicious occasion of the 50th anniversary of the creation of our dear state. While today’s ceremony calls for introspection, I have no doubt we have a lot to celebrate, having achieved the half-century mark as a state.

Without a doubt, we have been through ups and downs in the course building a socially virile, politically strong and economically viable State. While we are not yet where we aspire to as a state, I harbor no doubt that our state has significantly transformed from what it was 50 years ago when it was created in the aftermath of the civil war. No longer are we a slowly developing civil service state. Today, Kwara State is the new frontier of prosperity in the North Central.

For these reasons and more, we specially give thanks to the Almighty God for his numerous blessings on our state.

Beginning this year, we will strengthen the economic and social foundation for making Kwara State one of the top five in Nigeria within the next ten-years through innovative planning and strategic implementation.

Our resource constraints are well-known. Less acknowledged is our inventiveness. So let me make to clear to everyone here today: Our resolve to make our state greater for the benefit of our people and all who call Kwara State home is driven, not by resources, but by the resourcefulness of our people. Tonight, we honour illustrious sons and daughters of Kwara State who have added value to the administration of our state and immensely contributed to her progress. Clearly, hundreds of distinguished individuals fall into this category. However, we have decided to honour a few not because others are less accomplished but because that is the number we can accommodate at an event of this nature. Others will be honored in the nearest future. As we celebrate the state’s anniversary, it is perhaps pertinent to take you down memory lane.

Kwara State was created by the General Yakubu Gowon-led Federal Military Government on Saturday, May 27, 1967, alongside 11 other States.

The main objectives for the creation of the States were for social integration, and acceleration of development amongst the constituents of the States.

There is no doubt that, in Kwara today, these objectives have been significantly actualized. You will all recall that at creation, the State was made up of the old Ilorin, and Kabba provinces.

Overtime, it has witnessed a number of changes that reduced its population, natural resources and culminated in the present 16 Local Government Areas. Ladies and gentlemen, permit me, at this juncture, to express our profound gratitude to all our founding fathers whose energy, resilience, commitment and uncommon patriotism led to the emergence of present day Kwara.

We deeply appreciate the immense contributions of the past eighteen Military and Civilian Governors of Kwara State, starting with the pioneer, Brigadier General David Lasisi Bamigboye (Retired) up to the immediate Past Civilian Governor, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, CON.

Although Kwara State is still work in progress, I make bold to say that my distinguished predecessors have served this great State diligently through their unquantifiable contributions to its socio-economic development.

Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, Monday, May 29, 2017 will mark the 6-years anniversary of my administration as the Executive Governor of this State.

Upon assumption of office, we came up with a 4 cardinal programmes as enshrined in our Shared Prosperity Agenda including: Impactive Economic Growth, Human Capital Development and Youth Empowerment, Strategic Infrastructure and Effective Governance. Shared Prosperity is targeted at bridging the socio-economic gaps in the state and has guided the objectives and activities of the State since 2011. With all sense of modesty and history, I have no hesitation is stating that we have enhanced our state and uplifted its people in the last 6 years. In that time, we have we have ensured the completion of inherited projects and reduced waste attendant to the abandoned project syndrome. We have equally implemented projects and programmes in all sectors for the good of the people of Kwara State.

In the same vein, we pursued programmes of Youth Empowerment with tenacity of purpose to eliminate restiveness and positively channel the energies of our youths.

To ensure sustainable funding of our development aspirations, we set up Kwara Internal Revenue Service to reform internal revenue regime and to complement Federal Allocation.

We equally established the Kwara Infrastructure Fund (IF-K) which is a powerful harbinger of strategic infrastructural development of Kwara State.

Let me at this juncture express my profound gratitude to all the good people of Kwara State for their unalloyed and exceptional support for this administration. Of special recognition are our fathers, our mothers, the youths, various professional groups, the traders, market women, artisans, professionals, the business community, transporters, farmers, our children, traditional rulers, religious leaders, community leaders, security personnel, civil servants, activists, housewives and other well-meaning people who continue to stand by us and support us.

This speech will be incomplete, if I fail to appreciate the 31-member Central Planning Committee that midwifed the Golden Jubilee Anniversary Celebration of Kwara State. Headed by the Secretary to the Government of Kwara State, Alhaji Sola Isiaka Gold, the committee did a marvelous job as seen in the quality of the programmes and their meticulous execution.

Once again, I congratulate us all on the anniversary of the creation of our state and wish us all many more years of prosperity and advancement. Thank you all. May God bless our state more.

Dr. Abdulfatah Ahmed

Executive Governor,

Kwara State

25th May, 2017