Any sane person reading Diran Ebo's recent harsh outburst against the Kwara state government would rightly conclude that there is more to it than meets the eye. The write-up is not only judgemental, subjective and harsh but also reeks of the now outdated detestable 'pull down at all cost' syndrome. The first reaction to such sponsored pessimistic lies is to ignore. However, for the sake of the peace loving people of Kwara state and for other discerning individuals not to be misinformed, or worse misled, it becomes imperative to reply with a word or two so as to set the record straight.

It would be a clear case of deception to say this government is flawless! Yes, this government is not perfect, it has not succeeded in eradicating ALL the problems of its citizenry and I doubt if any government would ever achieve such a feat! However, this administration is taking honest and practical steps towards alleviating the problems of its people. And this, I believe, is the reason Diran is shocked to know that, and I quote him, "All the people representing this government either on twitter or paper/ TV media are actually well read wonderful individuals." (Emphasis mine) Despite his baseless allegation that the PDP led government in the state is not impacting on the lives of its people he could not "deny the fact that the government has a bit of reconstruction, renovation and new construction projects going on".

Being constructive in criticism might be foreign to Diran and his ilk. However, I will politely disagree with him on issues and facts. And then offer a better way to doing things. Unfortunately it seems neither Diran nor his handlers have gotten any bright ideas on an alternative way to run the affairs of our dear state and instead of commending the state's hard working governor they are busy finding fault.

For the avoidance of doubt this administration has imparted positively to the lives of the people. As a government of continuity it took on all on-going projects with the singular aim that the people in whose interest they were initiated should benefit from them. One of such projects is the International Diagnostic Centre which has since been completed. There is also the Aviation College, KWASU, other laudable projects initiated by the previous administration. Today, the Aviation College is one of the very few aviation training institutions in Africa! Diran and his ilk should be proud to be Kwaran!

Okay, Diran and his handlers might probably argue that the above does not immediately benefit the ordinary Kwaran on the street, which is true. But how about the other projects in education, health, agriculture, water, youth empowerment and even roads?

In education, 400 classrooms have been rehabilitated at basic education level and senior secondary schools across the state. Science and laboratory equipment supplied to primary and secondary schools across the state. 720 sets of furniture supplied to pre-primary, primary and junior secondary schools. Diran himself had mentioned the on-going rehabilitation of General hospitals across the state but he failed to mention the fact that blood banks have been supplied to 21 hospitals, 16 health facilities rehabilitated and many other lofty projects to ensure the ordinary folks enjoy quality health care. On water, the present administration is getting closer to its target that no resident of the state treks over 500 metres to access potable water. So far, the Ilorin Water Reticulation project (Phase 2) is on-going. In addition, there are 14 water-works currently being rehabilitated and 220 boreholes have been sunk across the state.

The present administration in Kwara has given the youths of the state a new lease of life by providing a wide range of opportunities to be useful to themselves, families and the society at large. One of such is the Ajase-Ipo International Vocational Centre which will be an International institution that will train our youths to be entrepreneurs and become employable. Also N250m in micro-credit has been released to cooperative societies plus 250 tricycles to gradually replace the Okada means of transport in the state. This is not mentioning the 2000 youths under KWABES, close to 4000 permanent civil service posts with 1500 youths given entrepreneurship training.

The feat achieved in agriculture bears restating. Kwara state has become a Mecca of sorts as other governors now come to the state to learn how mechanized agriculture following the success of Shonga. Kwara is on the verge of generating food security for its people and evolving agro-led wealth creation with the Kwara Agricultural Modernisation Masterplan (KAMP), which was designed in partnership with Cornell University, New York, thus becoming the first sub-national in the world to partner with this global leader in agribusiness reform.

All these achievements and many more were undertaken despite the 33rd ranking of the state in the monthly federal government revenue allocations. These facts are verifiable, they are there for all to see. Diran and his handlers would do this state a lot of good by investigating to see whether they are true or not instead of arm-chair criticism and prophets of doom.

However, the greatest achievement of this present administration is sustaining the peace. It is well known that no significant development can take place in a place filled with acrimony. And so Diran, it would therefore not be out of place to advise you and your co-travellers to make a U-turn and offer constructive criticism that will help this government do more for the people of the state. Check out this facts and figures, investigate, research and objectively appraise this government but if indeed, as your write-up suggests, you truly lack constructive ideas, please keep your peace and let those elected by the people of Kwara do their work.

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