At a town hall meeting with Kwara indigenes resident in Lagos, the Kwara State Governor, Abdulfatah Ahmed provided a platform for exchange of ideas on how to advance the socio-economic development of the state, while giving his scorecard.

The chamber was full and there was a buzz about everything. From politics to business and everything else, they had a sustained conversation. Then, a moment later those words were compressed into one. It became a discussion that focused entirely on the future of Kwara State. But it started from the past.

On Sunday, June 22, the Governor of Kwara State, Abdulfatah Ahmed visited Lagos on a dialogue mission. It was for exchange of ideas with Kwarans resident in Lagos State on how to move the state forward and in particular to give his scorecard about the progress made so far in the state.

As he walked into the expanse auditorium named after Adeyemi Bero, located within the precinct of the Lagos State Secretariat, Alausa, Ikeja, it was evident that his townsmen who had been waiting to see him were delighted at his appearance for the meeting. The click of cameras was instant, just as the shout of Sai' Megida, a nickname he has become used to in the last few years rented the air.

But Ahmed didn't come alone. His commissioners and special advisers were in his entourage for the business of the day. Yes, he was truly prepared.

At first, he expressed his gratitude to the people who had suspended other engagements because of the consultative meeting. He said: "I want to specially appreciate you for finding the time to meet with us. You are special and critical to the progress of our dear state."

Then, he engrossed his audience with the story of change in Kwara. "We have improved lives through our work and repositioned Kwara in the last three years based on our legacy of continuity," he said with a grin.

He added: "We have built on the foundation laid by my predecessor and that has helped Kwara to manage its little resources. Today we need to share with you from where we started, how far we have come and the vision for the future, because government today has moved from mere sitting in the governor's office to execute projects without that opportunity for the electorates to contribute their own ideas.

"Realizing the need to consolidate development and deliver the benefits to our people, we are creating shared prosperity for all stakeholders by leveraging on our resourcefulness and our strengths in such areas as human capital development and youth empowerment, infrastructure building and effective governance through the introduction of performance contracts."

Ahmed said more than four hundred rural communities in Kwara State are now connected to the national grid since based on the state's rural electrification drive.

The governor, who added that road construction had been carried out in over seven hundred communities, cutting across the three senatorial districts of the state, said he was in Lagos to intimate Kwarans with the journey in order to seek their support in his effort to make the state an investment destination.

Governor Ahmed expressed concern over growing rate of youth restiveness across the country explaining that his government designed the Kwara Employment Bridge Employment Scheme (KWABES) and the Quickwin Empowerment and Employment Scheme under which over 10,200 youths have been gainfully engaged as a form of empower for youths in the state.

On education, the governor explained that the government had reduced the Kwara State University (KWASU) tuition fees from N150,000 naira to N99,000 adding that both primary and secondary education in the state are not only free but compulsory.

On health sector, he disclosed that five general hospitals across the three senatorial district of the state had been completed while more than ninety thousand people have so far enrolled under the community health insurance scheme.

On investment drive, he impressed his audience with statistics and further described the state as an investment destination. According to Ahmed, Kwara State has become an investment destination of choice with a variety of commercial and industrial enterprises choosing to set up new businesses in the state. The investment-friendly policies of the state government, coupled with Kwara strategic position and its abundant natural resources and the well-educated workforce are contributory factors in persuading entrepreneurs and corporations to set up their enterprises in the state.

Specifically, the town hall meeting provided the platform for the people not just to listen to their leader and members of his cabinet on the progress so far made by his administration in turning the tide for the people of the state, but to make their own inputs.

For instance, one of those who attended the meeting commended the governor's giant stride in the state and asked the governor to up his ante on project monitoring and revenue collection. To this, Ahmed said: "We will improve on what we have done so far, but the efficiency we introduced has helped us greatly. Kwara cannot afford to have abandoned projects because we have little resources."

For his part, Mr. Muda Yusuf who is the Director General of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the governor deserved to be praised for his effort so far.

Yusuf, an indigene of Kwara State who hails from Oke Ode in Ifelodun Local Government Area of the state said: "This consultative meeting is a good opportunity for the government to provide us with feedback on the situation of things in our state. It is a good platform for the governor to report on the progress of work in the state and give an account of his stewardship so far. "It is a good decision on his part because there is a large concentration of Kwarans in Lagos who also play a lot of role in the development of the state.

"This shows that we have a government that is ready for inclusiveness which makes it possible for indigenes to offer suggestions to the governor on how to improve the quality governance in the state."

He added: "This man is doing a lot of good work in the area of youth empowerment, Agric development, rural development and infrastructure and he should sustain it.

"But it is clear that he has a serious challenge or resource constraints since the state is largely dependent on federal allocation. The IGR is also not strong enough and he needs to devised a means to improve it from the current N800 million per annum. He should consider property tax because in recent years there has been a lot of development of private property in the state." In the end, the governor made a pledge of giving Kwarans more in the coming years.