Date: 2019-08-14

Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara State, yesterday rallied the people behind his agenda for reforms and paradigm shift in governance, calling the 2019 election a referendum that saw people choose development and prudence over waste and underdevelopment.

Speaking at the 2nd Annual Grand Durbar ceremony organised by the Ilorin Emirate Council, AbdulRazaq said the people's resolve for a new dawn meant a need to eschew actions or inactions that had made development and growth difficult in the past. The Governor also commended the Emir of Ilorin, Dr Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari, and the Ilorin Emirate Council for the historical-cultural event.

Represented by his deputy Mr Kayode Alabi at the event, he said "We must embrace reforms which are often tough at the beginning. We must make tough choices in our decision to move our state forward. I have made my personal decision along this line. I will not use public funds to enjoy or gratify myself at the expense of the people. Public resources will only be applied strictly to public projects and overheads approved and budgeted for. We will not entertain excesses of any sort. With people's interest as the guiding principle, we will do things differently and purposefully to get more impactful results." "I appeal to this distinguished gathering of our people to unite behind this agenda for the progress of our community and generations yet unborn. Anything short of this will keep us moving in a circle and that would defeat the purpose of our people standing in the sun to vote the way they did."

AbdulRazaq reiterated his resolve to institutionalise the various cultural activities in the state to boost tourism and economic growth, including the Durbar which he called the heritage of Ilorin people and a testament to the bravery and valour of their forebears especially the royal lineage of Sheikh Alimi.

The Governor said prudent management of resources was necessary to drive growth, saying "Let me clarify this too. Kwara is immensely blessed with abundant natural and human resources, as the quality of attendance at this Durbar shows. Kwara is however not so rich in monetary terms. "But that was not the reason for the slow development. The problem was that the little resources Kwara had before, was not going into building sustainable future. This is what we need to change, this is what we are changing, and that requires the support of all of you."