Date: 2012-06-10

The government of Kwara State recently launched its Shared Prosperity Scheme, which it believes is achievable through massive investment in infrastructure and employment generation. Festus Akanbi, who visited the state, reports

Beyond the clinking of glasses that characterised the first year anniversary of the incumbent administration at the state and federal level, two weeks ago, some political office holders also did not fail to render accounts of their stewardship in the past one year.

In this category are the governors of the 36 states of the federation who, for obvious reasons, had to compile the list of their projects to justify their occupation of the government houses of their respective states in the last year.

It was therefore not surprising that May 29 turned out to be a day to showcase projects undertaken in the year as well as an opportunity to identify the direction of the various state governments going forward. The mood in Kwara State wasn't different, when THISDAY visited penultimate week, except for the decision of the state government to defy the temptation of limiting its celebration to speech making.

Prioritising Housing

The governor, instead of merely rolling out the drum to celebrate Democracy Day, chose to go ahead with his quest to make the state an investment destination by holding talks with foreign investors on how to move the state forward. A few days earlier, the governor had signed a memorandum of understanding with a Netherlands-based company to build 10,000 housing units in the state. This development, according to the state governor, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed was informed by the fact that the issue of housing has long been a major challenge in the state.

Consequently, the government is partnering with Stylotec Concrete Industries, Netherlands, for the construction of 10,000 affordable housing units within a four year period, According to the governor, the housing scheme with a capital outlay of $450 million in housing delivery and $15 million in infrastructure development has the capacity to deliver 15 housing units per day. Ahmed explained that this projection was achievable because of the new technology to be used for the scheme.

"The beauty of the scheme is that the core investors have a window that will ensure that the people of Kwara have access to mortgage loans to buy the houses," the governor said. The president of Stylotec Concrete Industries, George Lamar, said the projection of 10,000 housing units in four years was achievable because of the modern technology that will be employed. Lamar noted that the Kwara environment was conducive for the housing initiative because the state government had business friendly policies.

Training Local Pilots

Another project commissioned in commemoration of the government's first year in office was the International Aviation College, Ilorin, where the first set of locally trained pilots in the school received their certificates. Although the project was put in place by the immediate past administration in the state, government sources said the current administration took it upon itself to facility its speedy completion because of the importance attached to the college.

So it was with a sense of fulfillment that the governor and other guests that gathered at the aviation school, watched the students demonstrating their skills in aerial display the lasted for about 30 minutes.

Support for SMES

Another area that attracted the government's attention was the small and medium scale industries sector. Ahmed said his government has earmarked about N500 million to flag off programmes aimed at boosting small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) in the state.

Unveiling the programme in Ilorin recently, Ahmed said the SMEs scheme is designed to strengthen the capacity of cooperative societies to continually boost economic activity of the state, noting that the intervention scheme was part of his administration's effort to create what he called shared prosperity through the economic empowerment of small business owners and artisans.

He said this underlined his determination to strengthen the capacity of the private sector to drive economic development of Kwara State. Ahmed said it was borne out of roles SMEs play as major contributors to the development of the world's most advanced economies, stressing that they stimulate economic activities, create jobs and contribute to the growth of these countries.

"We are therefore determined to accelerate the capacity of SMEs to become major players in the economy of Kwara State of Nigeria. Towards this end, we are building the capacity of cooperative societies to serve as the platform for the development of the SME sector.

Shared Prosperity

Another major policy of the government was the shared prosperity programme, which the government said was designed to give the people a profound sense of belonging. Under the shared prosperity scheme, the Kwara State Government is said to have strengthened health care delivery by supplying 13 general hospitals and 32 cottage hospitals with modern equipment.

"Furthermore, we have overhauled 15 primary health centres and embarked on the complete overhaul of the Ilorin, Offa, Omu-Aran, Share and Kaiama general hospitals," a government source explained.

Infrastructure

One of the greatest challenges in the country is the state of infrastructure and this has been the main reason for the prohibitive cost of doing business in Nigeria. The Kwara State Government is aware of this development and is working to address the issue of infrastructure in the state.

"Our strategic infrastructure programme has witnessed the construction and rehabilitation of 600 kilometers of roads as well as 'Operation No Potholes' under which 33 roads with failed portions were rehabilitated. Currently, we are constructing more than 300 kilometers of rural roads to open additional communities for development," the governor said.

The government, he said, was also working to ensure availability of potable water. Giving a breakdown of what has been put in place so far, the governor said, "My administration is moving closer to the target of 500 meters access to water with the restoration of Pepele Waterworks to serve seven communities, provision of 72 bores holes across the state and the N1 billion second phase of the Ilorin Water reticulation project."

Job Creation

Realising the place of youths in economic development, one of the priorities of the incumbent administration in Kwara was how to take away jobless youths from the streets. The administration last year launched a new scheme, Kwara Bridge Empowerment Scheme to cater for them.

According to the governor, who spoke at the Democracy Day rally in Ilorin, "Our youths continue to receive priority attention in all government programmes based on the fact that they form the largest demographic group in our state. In view of this, my administration employed 2,000 youths under the Kwara Bridge Empowerment Scheme (KWABES) within our first 100 days in office.

"It is heart-warming to note that we have exceeded our commitment to place up to 80 per cent of these youths into permanent employment within one year with the absorption of 1,000 KWABES corps members into the state civil service today. Furthermore, another 730 corps members are currently undergoing vocational training with a view to becoming entrepreneurs. While these laudable programmes implemented by my administration in the last year are life-transforming, we intend to do a lot more to economically empower our people under Shared Prosperity programme," the governor said.

Earlier in the year, the state government signed a N70 billion MOU with the Vasolar Consultoria of Spain for the cultivation, processing and packaging of rice on a commercial scale in Kwara. Under the agreement, the consortium will provide N70 billion over a period of four years while the state government is expected to provide the counter-part funding of about 7 million Euros and 20,000 hectares of land to kick-start the project.

According to a government official, who gave some insight into the project, "In line with our emphasis on public private partnerships, especially in the area of agriculture, and the fact that rice is also one of the key produce we are focusing on in our core agriculture policy, we welcomed the idea of the project and started extensive negotiations with the company. We entered into a N70 billion joint venture partnership with VS Consultoria to form a company called NEWCO, which will engage in rice cultivation and processing."
He explained that the state government has a 30 per cent stake in the project while its Spanish partners control 70 per cent. The state will also contribute.