Hakeem Oladimeji Lawal, the Kwara State gubernatorial candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) has made a solemn pledge to the people of the state to the effect that once voted into office as the governor in the forthcoming 2023 election, he would put on his priority list the conduct of local government election.

Lawal made the resolute pledge during an interactive session he and his party officials had with community leaders, opinion leaders and stakeholders on Saturday while on a visit to Irepodun and Isin Local Government Areas of the Kwara South Senatorial districts of the.

During the visit which took him to many constituencies in the zone, Alhaji Lawal also reiterated his agenda to embark on massive reforms in education, agriculture and Local Government administration. Specifically, he promised to conduct an election into the Local Government Council within one year of his administration.

He also promised that the Council reforms will grant some level of financial autonomy to the Local Government administrations and foster a mutually beneficial relationship between the Councils and the State government.

“The emasculation of the Local Government administration has stifled development at the grassroots. Apart from the election, we will release their money to them and equally give them some level of independence to utilize their resource for the development of the people. We will also try to bridge the disparity between the salary of workers on the same level in the State and the Local Government Councils,” he said.

On education and human capital development, he stated that he will provide a solution for Kwarans on the basis of education. “It means we must revive our Technical Schools and Colleges. As of today, our people can hardly compete when it comes to technical know-how. If you look at the Building Industry, for instance, many of the professionals competing there are from places like the Republic of Benin, Togo Ghana, etc.

He declared: “My focus is to change the policy on Education, with emphasis on Science and Technology to drive our youths to become global citizens.

On Agriculture, Lawal maintained that the State boasts of many Agriculture Belts, adding that “for instance, we had Rice and Sugar Belts in Patigi, Cotton Belt in Baruten and Cocoa Belt in Irepodun Ekiti, Oke Ero in Kwara South. On the basis of this, we also had forestry in Jebba and Erinle. This was the reason why we had a Sugar Company in Bacita, Paper Mill in Jebba and a Paper Converter Company in Erinle.

He equally promised the sector will be modernised to maximize the full potential of the sector for greater returns to the farmer in order to make farming attractive to both the old and the young.

The meeting saw him engage many groups like the League of Imams, the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, the Artisans Congress of Nigeria, youth groups, market women and traditional rulers.