Two years after the current administration in Kwara State began a repositioning process tagged ‘Shared Prosperity’ to change the face of the North Central State; the exercise is beginning to yield results.

Until recently, the general perception about Ilorin and many towns in Kwara State reflected nothing but filthy environments with layback people. There was also the feeling that governance in the state had little or no effect on the ordinary people save for the rich. For this reason, the current administration led by Abdulfatah Ahmed came in 2015 with a burden. Because of his background as a former player in the private sector, many stakeholders expected a kind of proactive approach similar to that of his predecessor in office, Dr. Bukola Saraki.

In a determined posture to change the perception and better orientate his people, the governor had few months after resuming office conceptualised a plan to position the administration as high-performing and purposeful. To achieve it, the governor and his team attempted to carve a niche for Kwara by highlighting its Unique Selling Points (USPs).

They also came up with a simple, unifying slogan to which government officials at all levels can relate in the performance of their duties. It was also meant to serve as a unifying force for residents.

Tagged ‘Shared Prosperity’ the concept was meant to make the economy of the state more buoyant and well encompassing. Under this, the state wanted to build a strong support for commercial agriculture through Public Private Partnership (PPP) initiatives.
It was also meant to encourage human capital development and youth empowerment, thereby creating wealth through targeted programs and policies.

According to Governor Ahmed, the campaign was motivated by the need to leverage Kwara’s huge natural resources, peaceful atmosphere and strides in commercial agriculture, education and commerce for enhanced local and foreign private investment.

The new initiative then was also designed to reposition the state as a top investment destination in Nigeria. For instance, the logo incorporated the state’s history, geography and strengths in commercial agriculture and commerce.

Among other things, the campaign emphasised the state’s reputation for peace and harmony, it’s people’s reputation for commerce, the abundance of strategic infrastructure and Kwara’s growing profile as a hub for agro investment.

Reactions
The Senior Special Assistant to the governor on Media, Dr. Femi Akorede, was in his best mood recently while reviewing the two-year old exercise in Ilorin.
According to Akorede, the approach has not only changed the orientation of stakeholders but has also changed people’s perception about Kwara.

“Shared Prosperity was not just about campaign or logo, but an initiative that was meant to galvanise stakeholders on best approaches to work, connect with the residents as well as sending positive messages to people outside on the new status of the state. Without being immodest about it, I think the last two years have witnessed a lot of change. The thinking of our people is different and there is good flow of communication between government and the people,”

Meanwhile, people of Kwara State have begun to use the brand promise as a yardstick to measure the performance of the current administration. Commenting on the impact of the administration on the education sector, a teacher at Gaa-Akanbi LGBA School, Mrs. M.T Ogunifa, said the renovation of the school had created a new experience for both teachers and pupils.

“Before the renovation of this building, this school was nothing to write home about. Part of the building has been collapsed for years endangering the pupils’ life. We were being instructed to pull down part of the building in order not to endanger the pupils’ life.
Then the administration came in and promised to rebuild. Like a joke, a new edifice was put in place. Today, the story has changed for both students and teachers and in fact, this has improved the enrolment into the school,” she said.

Another resident, Mr. Peter Nnamdi, who spoke on infrastructure, said the impact of government in the area of road construction, electricity and provision of water had shown that the administration was people focused.

Scramble for Mainstreet Bank
The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) last week revealed that it has received a total of 25 Expressions of Interest (EOIs) for Mainstreet Bank Limited.

AMCON is in the process of divesting its shareholding in the commercial bank.
AMCON owns 100 per cent of the share capital in Mainstreet Bank and other subsidiaries of the bank.
The corporation said those that submitted EOIs included both local and foreign banks as well as investment groups.
The corporation expressed satisfaction that the number of requests received exceeded its expectations, adding that it was impressed with the profiles of the entities.

It however did not disclose the names of the institutions.
“AMCON hereby announces the successful completion of the EOIs phase of the divestment of its shareholding in Mainstreet Bank. In confirmation of the earlier comment made by the corporation that the timeframe given was adequate for serious interested parties to submit all requested documents, a total of 25 EOIs were received,” the corporation stated.

Capital Inflows
At $4.94 billion in the fourth quarter of 2013, the aggregate foreign capital inflow into Nigeria increased by 24.3 per cent from $3.97 billion in the third quarter, a report has shown.
This was attributed to an increase in both direct and portfolio investment inflows.

Direct investment and portfolio investment inflows increased by 16.1 and 26.6 per cent from $0.86 billion and $3.11 billion in the third quarter of 2013 to $1 billion and $3.94 billion, respectively.

According to the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN’s) external sector development report for the fourth quarter of 2013, portfolio investment inflow remained dominant and accounted for 79.7 per cent of total foreign inflows while direct investment inflows accounted for 20.3 per cent of the total.

“The higher inflow of foreign capital in Q4 2013 was a welcome development which should be sustained through macroe-conomic stability and enhanced investment environment including good corporate governance,” it added

Oil Thieves
The Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr Ngozi Okonjo- Iweala, last week told Newsmen in Washington that the Federal government of Nigeria loses N160 billion ($1billion) revenue every month to oil theft.
Okonjo Iweala said that the current production figure was lower than the actual oil production level in 2012 and lower than the projected output of 2.528 million barrel per day in the 2013 budget.

“In dealing with the impact of this on the revenue, the government has had to draw on the Excess Crude Account which was set up precisely for this purpose that is to deal with unanticipated losses due to output and price variation.

“This has reduced the balance in the excess Crude Account to about 6.9 billion dollars,’’ she said
She added that the president had been briefed on these developments and actions were being taken on different fronts to stabilise the situation.