OPINION: Abdulrazaq Governs with Pragmatic Empathy -- A Response to Senator Bukola Saraki By Rafiu Ajakaye

Date: 2024-10-09

No one versed in the history of Mr. Bukola Saraki, a former governor of Kwara State, should be surprised at his recent outbursts on the courageous efforts of the administration of Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq to restore sanity to Ilorin, the capital city.

It is for his likes that history should never be erased from the national curriculum so that younger generations may know about how he and his cronies not only mindlessly converted many public properties and assets to their personal properties, such as he did with the choice Alimi Chalet and a few others, but they also left the capital city without any strategic plan for population growth, urban planning, and orderliness.

The elite he struggled so hard to incite against the reformist government knew him to be one individual who typifies impunity, greed, and vendetta, such as was seen in his razing of the Idi-Ape family home of his predecessor, his award of mindless pension to himself even after becoming a senator, and the appropriation for his family of a choice public land otherwise called Ile Arugbo. Saraki's outburst, in fact, has sent Kwarans chuckling about how he bulldozed the General Abdulkareem Adisa's house in Ilorin to the glory of God(?).

Generations of journalists who cut their teeth at the iconic Herald newspapers will never forget how Saraki brought down the newly constructed multimillion naira building that the late Mohammed Lawal of blessed memory gave to the newspapers.

The urban renewal programme of the Abdulrazaq administration, which includes restoring or upgrading the original plan of the capital city as much as possible to fit the current realities, was long due. It is what a responsible government should have done many years ago when the first ilorin master plan expired in the early 2000.

The chaotic and unplanned slum that our great capital city had become until recently is a dirty relic of the Bukola Saraki years when just anyone in the corridors of powers or their cronies could patch on any available land to erect structures with scant regard for any urban planning code. The result is the environmental disaster seen in many parts of Ilorin and environs and its consequences for lives and properties.

The Governor has no history of cornering public properties for himself or his family. What he has done so far within the law is to courageously reclaim for Kwarans what rightly belongs to them, but were taken away or dubiously converted for private use during the reigns of Saraki and his cronies. From the dubious sales of lands at the judges quarters to the Amusement Park, Galadimawa Estate, Kwara Liaison Offices in Kaduna and Lagos, Flower Garden, and Ile Arugbo, which they sold to themselves or mismanaged, the list of the heist is endless and mind-boggling.

The next time Mr. Saraki is in the state, he should have the courage to see what the government has made of the Flower Garden and the Ile Arugbo land that was stolen from the people. Sprouting right there is a multi-storey building that will house a one-of-its-kind hospital to improve the quality of healthcare delivery for the people and strengthen economic prosperity.

It is not surprising to see Mr. Saraki foaming at the mouth because the reform has once again recovered for the people a land whose approval was for a car park, per the signature of his own successor Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed, but was wrongly converted to another thing entirely. Reckless behaviours such as this were the features of the Saraki years, and we expected nothing less from him.

Restoring sanity in a growing capital city like Ilorin requires courageous leadership that will not be stonewalled by the blackmail of the likes of Saraki. The urban renewal of Governor Abdulrazaq is being done with full regard for the law, pragmatic empathy, and our context as a people -- just as we saw in the years of the late Major General George Innih who took Ilorin to the next level in urban renewal and physical development.

Yes, Governor Abdulrazaq will serve out his term in 2027, God willing. He hardly needs a lecture from a Bukola Saraki who, enthralled by the trappings of office, occupied the Presidential Lodge even after leaving office.

But, unlike the Saraki reign which left the capital city and the state on autopilot in physical planning, the Governor will bequeath a 20-year master plan whose fruits now include a well-articulated plan that guides the physical growth of the state capital as it is done elsewhere in the world, thereby making Kwara viable for 21st century living with positive impacts on socioeconomic growth.

Building a decent and sustainable city will require mindset re-engineering about building codes, making sacrifices where necessary, and stepping on some toes, including those who felt the world revolves around them and they could do anything without anyone questioning them.

And urban renewal is better done early to save the future. Capital cities like Lagos and Rio De Janeiro, for instance, which didn't do urban renewal early enough had their statuses taken elsewhere. Ilorin should not become a total slum before the right thing is done. That's what separates Governor Abdulrazaq from Mr. Saraki.

Finally, governance is about foresight. It is beyond chest-thumping, grandstanding, and crass opportunism, key personality traits we have seen in Mr. Saraki. We urge him to keep his sanctimony. Kwarans have long seen through him. He is, as we had stated before, a bald hairdresser recommending his unfailing hair restorer.

??Rafiu Ajakaye is the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor of Kwara State

 

Cloud Tag: What's trending

Click on a word/phrase to read more about it.

Jamila Bio Ibrahim     Danhawa     Ogbondoroko     Amosa     Muhammad Fawaz Abubakar     National Information Technology Development Agency     Ramadan     Orisun Igbomina     General Hospital, Ilorin     Solomon Edojah     Ilesha-Baruba-Gwanara     Sheriff Olanrewaju     FOMWAN     Admiralty Villa     Iliasu     Lanre Issa Onilu     Ishak Mohammed Sabi     Sabi     Femi Ogunsola     Sam Onile     Ganmo Power Sub-Station     Buari Edun     Bamidele Adegoke     Ubandoma     Elections     Surajudeen Akanbi     Amuda Musbau     Ahmed Saidu Rufai     Christian Association Of Nigeria     Ajasse-Ipo     Kamoru Kadiri     Oke-Kura     Balogun-Ojomu     Kwara State Fish Farmers Association     Afin Descendants Union Of Odo-Owa     UITH     Eleja     Bond     Ahmad Ali     Saka Abimbola Isau     Boko Haram     Ajike People Support Centre     Geri-Alimi Split Diamond Interchange     Park     Ibraheem Adeola Katibi     Kabir Shagaya     Face Masks     Sarah Jubril     Rasaq Jimoh     Bamidele Adegoke Oladimeji     NTA Ilorin     Kwara Restoration Project     Just Event Online     Yusuf Amuda Abubakar     Lanre Aremu     John Obuh     Toyin Falola     Dairo Kunle Paul     Sunday Otokiti     Offa Descendants Union     Hausa     Code Of Conduct Tribunal     IQRA College     Police Commissioner     Erubu     Sa\'adu Gambari     Kola Bukoye     Tunji Oyawoye     Adamu Atta     Yomi Ogunsola     Christopher Ayeni     Saad Omo\'ya     Adam Abdullahi Al-Ilory     Ibrahim Abdullahi     Sulyman Age AbdulKareem     ER-KANG     Valsolar-Kwara Company Limited    

Cloud Tag: What's trending

Click on a word/phrase to read more about it.

Bukola Saraki     Kamaldeen Kehinde     Ubandoma Of Ilorin     Ajasse-Ipo     Abubakar Aliagan     Abubakar Olusola Saraki     Vasolar Consultoria     Adedayo Yusuf Abdulkareem     Bilikisu Gambari     Asa LGEA School     Fatimat Saliu     Sardauna     YAKOOYO     KWSIEC     TESCOM 2025     Charles Ibitoye     Kwara Hotel     Medinat Folorunsho Salman     FERMA     Abubakar Lah     Just Law Forum     Sulu Babaita Isiaka     Kayode Ibrahim     Balogun Fulani     Elekoyangan     Ayodele Olaosebikan     Garba Ayodele Wahab     ARMTI     Buari Edun     Oko-Olowo     Abdulfatai Salman Baakini     Apado     Savannah Centre For Diplomacy, Democracy And Development     Code Of Conduct Bureau     Kwara Restoration Project     Jumoke Monsura Gafar     Ilorin Emirate     Ahman Pategi     Afin Descendants Union Of Odo-Owa     Abdulrauf Aliyu     Nigeria Computer Society     Bayer Nigeria Limited     Ilorin Emirate Staff Association     Ishola Moses Abiodun     Turaki Of Ilorin     Muhammed Aliyu     SSA Youth     Iponrin     Ibraheem Adeola Katibi     Abraham Ojo     Maigidasanma     Bamidele Adegoke Oladimeji     Toyosi Thomas     Harafat E. Mukadam     Ganiyu Abolarin     Funmilayo Mohammed     Sola Saraki University     ITEM 7     Association Of Kwara State Online Media Practitioners     Razaq Ayobami Akanbi     Ndakene     Tescom.kwarastate.gov.ng     Rotimi Atere     AbdulRauf Keji     Salmon Babatunde Salmon     COEASU     Wahab Abayawo     Amoyo     Razak Atunwa     Tunde Saad     Ilorin Water Reticulation     Bisi Kristien     Abdulazeez Uthman     Kolade Solagberu     Ophthalmological Society Of Nigeria     Sobi Specialist Hospital     Iyabo Adewuyi