The Kwara State Government’s claim that it had renovated 400 classrooms, as well as the flooding of the state by beggars, has stirred a fresh controversy in the state, writes SUCCESS NWOGU

Another level of controversy is raging in Kwara State over the recent claim by the state government that it rehabilitated about 400 classrooms at the basic and Senior Secondary School levels in 2012. Also causing concern is the continued presence of hordes of beggars in some of the towns and urban areas in the state, especially Ilorin.

While the Action Congress of Nigeria and the Congress for Progressive Change have faulted the state government’s 400 classrooms rehabilitation claim, the two factions of the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties in the state say the government has been making giant strides in educational development and infrastructural provision.

Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed had made the 400 classrooms rehabilitation claim and had promised to rehabilitate another set of 200 soon at the inauguration of a new private sector group of schools, the Adrin Schools.

He added that the claimed achievements were in the realisation that a vibrant educational system required an appropriate infrastructure for it to be beneficial to pupils and students. He also said that the state government would step up its Quality Assurance Unit for an improved education standard.

Ahmed said that the state had a virile basic education culture, and warned that his administration would not hesitate to close down any school found to be violating the statutory standards for the education sector in the state.

“A child’s basic educational development is directly correlated to the foundation laid at the basic level. We intend to strengthen the capacity of our Quality Assurance Unit to ensure that all public and private schools adhere to the teaching standards and benchmarks in our educational policy, in pursuit of the highest standards of teaching and learning in the state’s school system,” the governor said.

It is, however, common to see beggars in large numbers in many of the urban areas in Ilorin and some other developing towns in Kwara State such as Omu Aran. The beggars are usually concentrated in areas like Maraba Roundabout, Tanke, Taiwo, Post-Office, especially on the walkways of the newly constructed over-head bridge at the Post Office junction; Geri Alimi Roundabout through to the Emir’s palace, from the Balogun Gambari’s expansive palace through Imam Gambari’s central mosque down to Ojagboro-Ipata-Murtala Mohammed road.

While some of these beggars are truly physically challenged, many of them appear to be faking handicap or exaggerating it. They sing both melodious songs and emotion-provoking ones, giving an indication that some of them could be good musicians if rehabilitated and their talents harnessed. More worrisome is the attitude of the minors among them, who use all manners of persuasion to make their targets to part with some money.

But the Kwara State chairman of the ACN, Kayode Olawepo, said residents were increasingly getting used to what he called the antics of the Peoples Democratic Party-led government, especially its alleged penchant for exaggeration.

He stated that if the government was sincere, it would have made verifiable claims by listing the names and locations of all the schools where such renovation took place. He alleged that the government had been making bogus and untrue achievement claims.

He said, “In this case, we challenge them to publish the names of the schools and the number of classrooms renovated for Kwarans to verify. The easiest and empirical way to assess the government’s claim to have improved the standard of education is by looking at the most recent results of pupils from Kwara in the WAEC/NECO/JAMB examinations. Of course, the results did not show any improvement in the performance of students in Kwara public schools. As it stands today, Kwara is one of Nigeria’s most backward states educationally. We challenge the state government to say otherwise with a verifiable claim.”

Olawepo said the increasing number of the destitute on the streets was worrisome. He, however, stated that the ACN was against cruel treatment of disadvantaged members of the society.

“But equally worrisome is the spate of street urchins/gangs across the state capital. This portends a grave danger to public peace, but the truth is that it is a manifestation of the low level of economic activities in the state,” he said.

Also, the state chairman of the CPC, Mr. Suleiman Buhari, said Kwara residents deserved a public apology from Ahmed for allegedly peddling falsehood on a sector as germane as education.

According to him, a state-wide assessment of the Kwara public schools by private assessors commissioned by the CPC came in with damning reports of the sorry state of public schools’ infrastructure in the state.

Buhari said, “Verifiable facts across the state indicated that since the inception of the Ahmed-led government in the state, the few successfully rehabilitated classrooms by his government are those abandoned by his predecessor, Dr. Bukola Saraki.

“And to add salt to injury, even the few ones verified to have been successfully completed were awarded to political jobbers, who did very shoddy rehabilitation works on the classrooms at the expense of innocent pupils who helplessly bear the brunt of their selfishness and ineptitude.”

He said that not only were there many beggars in the state, especially in Ilorin, some of the beggars, the destitute and lunatics were being smuggled into the state allegedly from neighbouring states. He alleged that there was the ‘commercialisation’ and ‘institutionalisation’ of arms collection allegedly by a few barons within and outside the state.

According to him, some states have allegedly turned Kwara to a dumping ground for beggars, the destitute and social miscreants. He added that this development should be a major source of concern for the state government and the public.

He said, “The CPC has it on a good authority that the destitute, beggars and miscreants are being sent en-mass into Kwara major cities like Offa, Omu-Aran, Ilorin, Oro, Ilofa, Jebba.

“They are being surreptitiously offloaded from the Eyenkorin-Geri Alimi end of the state capital into the Ilorin metropolis. In fact, the Geri Alimi junction is already flooded with beggars from Chad, Niger, Somali and Sudan and nationals of other countries with their Nigerian cohorts, who roam the streets begging for arms.

“The destitute have behind them barons, who shelter a few of them in exchange for shares from their daily takings.”

He urged the government should put forward a comprehensive social welfare package that will permanently forestall the sordid situation.

He added that the state government could establish social welfare institutions, rehabilitation and training centres, children transit home and home for the aged.

According to him, the government should create an enabling environment for registered homes in the state to cater for the growing number of the destitute and homeless children, irrespective of their states of origin.

He added that the state, in partnership with reputable national and international Non Governmental Organisations, can also encourage the adoption of many homeless children by concerned members of the public on humanitarian grounds while the rest of them are released to their relations for rehabilitation and reintegration.

He said that as a last resort, the government could repatriate some of the destitute, especially the aged and infirm, to their respective states of origin in consultation with the governments of the states for reintegration with their families.

The two factions of the CNPP, however, said the efforts of the state government in the education sector deserved a commendation.

In a joint response, a factional chairman and his secretary, Lekan Alabi and Adebayo Lawal, said the government had renovated many schools across the state, adding that it was a right step.

They said the renewed supervision of schools in the state had ensured that both the pupils and the staff attended schools regularly.

They, however, said there was a room for improvement, adding that more stringent supervision methods should be applied to the education sector for an improvement.

They also agreed that keeping the beggars off the streets would bring more sanity to the state. To them, this would prevent the beggars from being hit by vehicles. They urged the government to renovate and maintain settlements for the beggars for easy identification and assistance.

Another CNPP factional chairman, Zakari Muhammed, said the government had renovated many classrooms, adding that the exercise cut across the three senatorial districts of the state.

He, however, advised that the exercise should be a continuous one as many school buildings need constant renovation. He requested that laboratories must be updated so as to improve the quality of education given to the pupils.

Efforts by the our correspondent to get the response of the state government proved abortive as the Senior Assistant to Ahmed on Media and Communication,  Muyideen Akorede, and Ahmed’s Chief Press Secretary, Wahab Oba, did not respond to electronic mails   sent to them.

Publicity Secretary of the PDP in the state, Alhaji Mas’ud Adebimpe, said the state government remained only accountable, responsible and responsive to Kwarans, both at home and in the Diaspora and not to the opposition parties.

He stated that PDP and the state government were serious minded bodies and were profoundly committed to uplifting the standard of living of the people of Kwara State.  

He said it was surprising that the ACN and CPC were allegedly ‘peddling insinuations’ about what he called visible achievements of the PDP-led administration in the state.

“The PDP believes that any serious opposition will criticise based on figures and not engage in spurious, baseless allegations. If the opposition parties are serious, it is pertinent that they come up with the number of classrooms they feel the state government has constructed. They should indicate where they feel the classrooms have not been constructed and/or rehabilitated. At that point, the PDP government will roll out the figures and locations of classrooms rehabilitated or constructed.

“While the PDP does not claim perfection in its determined efforts to transform the state, as perfection belongs only to God, it will not decimate its precious time by responding to baseless insinuations by the opposition,” Adebimpe said.

He, however, remained silent on the issue of beggars all over the state, especially in the Ilorin metropolis.