One of the hurdles the government of Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara State hopes to successfully cross before the 2015 General Elections is the creation of Local Government Council Development Areas (LCDAs) out of the existing 16 Local Government Areas (LGAs) of the 47 year old state.

With a population of over two million people, demographic conditions of the state would no doubt make it auspicious for such divisions, more so that Ifelodun Local Government of the state, due to its land mass and human population is arguably regarded today as the biggest council in Nigeria.

But the state Chairman of the opposition party, People's Democratic Party (PDP) Chief Iyiola Oyedepo , is of the opinion that the move by Ahmed was Ill-timed, politically motivated and a subtle way of canvassing for votes before the 2015 polls.

Oyedepo told The Guardian in a chat in Ilorin that "what is the motive behind the creation of the LCDAs? One hopes it will not be counter- productive at the end, because the people of Kwara are wiser now. No one can resort to obnoxious political gimmick to deceive them."

The idea of LCDAs in Kwara dated back to the tenure of the first Civilian Governor of the state, late Alhaji Adamu Attah. Even though the attempt failed, the government of the fourth democratically elected Governor of the state Alhaji Mohammed Lawal ,attempted its re introduction, the effort, like the previous one, hit the rock.

But Ahmed justified his recent move at re introducing the idea, citing the calibre of tested and trusted members saddled with the responsibilities of bringing into existence the LCDAs.

Already, the spokesman of the PDP in the state, Chief Rex Olawoye, has faulted the composition of the committee, citing the alleged absence of "comprehensive representation of the entire people of the state. According to him, no matter the calibre of the members of the committee, if we are 16 LGAs in the state, then the composition which is 14 should have been 16, with each of the councils adequately represented. Besides, I don't think the religious composition of Kwara people was ever considered. These are the two sensitive issues to ponder on.

Governor Ahmed had recently described the LCDAs as true harbinger of socio- economic development of the masses under any democratic governance, promising to jettison any attempt at beclouding his administration's resolve to create same in Kwara.

Ahmed said the creation of the LCDAs was mooted by the people and its implementation devoid of any political colouration, noting that unlike the previous futile attempts by his predecessors, his quests at creating the LCDAs were more justifiable than in the past.

Besides, the Governor, while inaugurating a 14 member LCDAs for the state noted that the development would serve as alternative to creation of new Local Government Areas (LGAs) which, according to him, are constitutionally more cumbersome to create than the LCDAs.

According to him, "since the creation of Kwara State, over four and a half decades ago, the 1976 Local Government reforms remain a watershed in Local Government Administration in the State in particular and the nation as a whole. Since then, the system has undergone several transformations resulting in the present 16 Local Government Areas structure in the state.

"However, as currently constituted, the Local Government structure remains largely inadequate considering our population, land mass and other demographic features. For instance, Asa, Moro and Ifelodun Local Government Councils, created by the 1976 reforms have retained their structure to date, while several other local government councils have been created out of the others."

The Governor added, " Consequently, the said Local Government Councils remain unnecessary large, resulting in avoidable administrative bottlenecks.Even the 13 Local Governments that have transformed over the years still require to be sub-divided into more Local Government Areas to make them fit for purpose.

Furthermore, our people's clamour for more Local Government Areas remains unfulfilled due to the stringent and time consuming constitutional process required for the creation of new Local Government Councils.

"Consequently, we have received requests from across the Senatorial Districts and the 16 Local Government Areas for the creation of Local Government Council Development Areas (LCDAs. In response, therefore, I am pleased to inaugurate this 13-member Committee on the creation of Local Government Council Development Areas in Kwara State. The creation of new LCDAs is expected to bring government closer to the people, and assist the people in bringing their aspirations to fruition. LCDAs will also help our people to realize their socio-economic goals and expand access to basic amenities that will accelerate development in these areas."

The members of the Committee include: Alhaji Abubakar Baraje who is the Chairman, while Alhaji J.J. Yusuf will serve as the Secretary. Other members are Alhaji Saidu Issa, Alhaji Khaleel Bolaji, Tunde Umar, AbdulWahab Issa, Mr. Joshua Ogunlowo, Alhaji Rasaq Umar, Professor Halidu Abubakar ,Chief Wole Oke, Hajia Fati Kadiri, Alh. Muhammad Toyin Sanusi, Dr. Abubakar Ishola, and Alhaji AbdulKadir Oba.

The Terms of Reference of the Committee are:

*Identification of all basic parameters contingent to the creation of Local Government Council Development Areas using variables peculiar to the Kwara environment while borrowing relevant experiences from other states that have similar structures;

*Consideration of all factors related to viability (Internally Generated revenue, Population, Land Area, etc.) in suggesting an area for LCDA state

*Identification of suitable communities as headquarters taking due cognizance of precedence in administrative responsibility in arriving at the choice;

* Considering other relevant factors that will ensure uniformity, equity, fairness, and greater sense of belonging;

*Assessing the possibility of converting existing Districts into Development Area Councils with little adjustment where necessary; and

* Reviewing the reports of similar exercises carried out in the past and any other considerations the Committee finds pertinent to successful completion of this crucial assignment.

Ahmed, while urging the committee to discharge their assignments with fear of God, described them as people who are quite familiar with and share the aspirations of the people at the grassroots.

He added, "You are to handle the assignment with tenacity of purpose and treat each of the cases presented to you on its merit. You should also be guided by your conscience and the fear of God in your final recommendations to Government believing that this is a call to higher duty."

Responding on behalf of the LCDAs committee members, Baraje who cited previous but fruitless attempts at creating the Development Areas, assured the Governor of the readiness of his committee to make the assignment people's oriented.

He was indifferent to the eight weeks duration given to the committee, considering the memoranda the committee would receive from members of the public, adding, "time will tell if the duration is enough or not."

Besides, Baraje solicited the supports of the media in order to disseminate to the public adequate information on decisions to be reached by the committee.

The Chairman, while reacting to the allegation of absence of true representation of the composition of the members of the committee, said he believed the number arrived at by the state government has nothing to do with the number of the existing LGAs but the enormity of the works at hand.

Already, the Chairman of the defunct Maro LCDA, created out of the present Ifelodun LGA by Lawal's government, Alhaji Abdulkarim Olola-Kasum, has blamed the Bukola Saraki's government for scrapping the created LCDAs immediately on assumption of office in the year 2003.

According to Olola-Kasum, a student of Kwame Nkrumah School of Ideology: "as at that time we had thought that Saraki's administration would have set up a committee to look into the viability or desirability or otherwise of the development areas, but the administration wanting a decimation of all the legacies of Lawal, scrapped them and that was all.

"If not that the politics in Kwara then was docile, someone should have probably gone to court and challenge the hasty decision. In a nutshell, if what was conceived some 10 years ago but annulled is now becoming an acceptable political ideology today, we need to praise the visioner and the one trying to resuscitate it. But the saddest aspect of it is that the hasty decision taken then, has regrettably slowed down our pace of development in Kwara."

For him, the new move by Ahmed should not be considered a political ploy to return the incumbent to power in the year 2015. Rather, he believes that the creation would be in accordance with the definition of what politics should be.

Olola-Kasum asked, "what is politics? It is about bringing governance closer to the people. Therefore, if they are bringing governance closer to the people, why should that suddenly be a political ploy?

"One thing we will want Baraje's committee to favourably consider is the need to recall all of us, or even some of us who were sent packing when the development areas were scrapped. We are used to the terrain. Today, a place like Ganmo at the defunct Maro development area has grown so much that people living there have the capacity to pay tenement rates. They have the power to use utilities and pay for the consumption of same."

For Alhaji Mas'ud Adebimpe, who was the Chief Press Secretary to Saraki, "no reasonable government could have retained the development areas the ways they were created or carved. We believe that the observable errors of Lawal's administration are what Baraje' committee have come to correct. We pray that the committee will do well and give Kwarans the very best in terms of LCDAs."

Reacting to the development, Senator Makanjuola Ajadi, Special Adviser on national Assembly matters to President Goodluck Jonathan, said that the alleged sudden constitution of Baraje's committee was borne out of political calculation by Ahmed's government to curry the favour of the people at the grass root.

Ajadi, who linked the "obnoxious political move" with the recent upgrading of traditional rulers in the state, warned the government of the inherent danger of haphazard creation of the development areas as such could set the people of the state against one another.

He noted that "They are doing it to appease the people or placatåe them for their tardiness. We are aware of these antics and our people are equally aware. What development have their chairmen carried out in the existing 16 LGAs to justify the creation of the LCDAs?

"This government must be careful not to set the state on fire. The same government recently went about announcing the upgrading of some traditional rulers mainly in Kwara south Senatorial district. The government in the process distorted histories of our people. It must be careful in order for it to avoid man created commotion."