ACCORDING to the Oxford Advanced learners Dictionary, humility is the quality of not thinking that you are better than other people: the quality of being humble. A humble person is one that shows he does not think that he is as important as other people.

One personality that has humbled himself is the Kwara State governor, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed. One will see the fear of God in all his actions and attitudes. He has not allowed power to affect his sense of reasoning. He has refused to deviate from his usual relationship with friends and associates. Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed has remained himself and maintained those friends he knew right from childhood. He believes that there is time for everything. There is time to play, and there is time to work. He is very firm when it comes to official assignments.

Even looking at Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed naturally, you will find humility radiating round him. Former chairman of the ICPC, Rtd Justice Mustapha Akanbi, once passed these remarks about the number one citizen of Kwara State: “I was highly impressed by the attitude of Governor Ahmed. Inspite of his position as the number one citizen of Kwara State, he knelt down to great me. Though I am quite older than him  and deserve to take such greetings, I think his position as governor did not becloud his sense of direction.”

Justice Akanbi summed up his observation about Governor Ahmed by saying that “May God continue to be with him and guide him right.”  Looking at his background, one would jump to the conclusion that nothing less is expected from him. Share community in Ifelodun Local Government Area where he hails from is a humble community with a God -fearing background. The governor’s late mother was from Ilorin, the home of Islamic knowledge and home of hospitality.

Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed, popularly called Maigida Kwara, was born on 29 December, 1963 in Share, Irepodun Local Government. His early life was in the Northern part of the country which gave him that golden opportunity to mix conveniently with the Northerners at various fora as he speaks Hausa  language fluently.

He attended Government College, Funtua, Katsina State (1973-1978). After continuing his education at the school of Basic Studies, Kwara State College of Technology (now Kwara State Polytechnic, Ilorin) between 1978 and 1980, he went to the University of Ilorin where he earned B.Sc in Chemistry (1986) and a master of Business Administration MBA (1992) and again went back to Northern Nigeria where he lectured in Organic Chemistry and later became Acting Head of Department at the Federal College of Arts and Science, Sokoto, in Sokoto State (1986-1990).

Apart from being an Igbomina man, Governor Ahmed  has a Lagos background, having worked in the city as a banker. Maigidan Kwara became an Assistant Manager  at District Savings and Loans, Lagos and thereafter started work with Guaranty Trust Bank in the Credit and Marketing Unit and in 1998 moved to Society General Bank of Nigeria as a Senior Manager/Group Head, Consumer Banking. He eventually rose to the position of a public sector Group Manager for the North West Region.

Another gift God has given Ahmed is spoken English. Oh God, he is an orator. He can speak English Language for several hours non stop and talks sense through out. Ask him any question, he will just be “flowing.” He is always an admiration and toast of the media.

These qualities definitely make Governor Ahmed a complete Nigerian.  In the Nigerian context, if one can communicate fluently in Yoruba, English and Hausa, one is more pan-Nigeria in outlook.

One other unique quality of Sai Maigida is that he is very intelligent. An accomplished banker and a public servant, Governor Ahmed is versed in fields other than banking. Even in Quranic Arabic, he received an ovation from the crowd before the Emir of Ilorin, Alhaji Ibrahim Sulu Gambari, at a public function sometime ago when he mounted the rostrum and recited smoothly, some portions of the Holy Quran, extempore. His action that day endeared him to the minds of the good people of the Ilorin Emirate.

A passionate advocate of shared prosperity, a brave and sagacious man, indeed,  Ahmed is a man of hope and integrity. His choice as the sixth civilian Governor of Kwara State by Senator Bukola Saraki and other well-meaning Kwarans is not misplaced, as Mai Gidan Kwara has really taken the  bull by the horns. Traditional rulers are again about smiling  as the present administration has set machineries in motion to upgrade them.

For record purposes, Governor Ahmed was sworn –in as the 20th Chief Executive of  Kwara State on 29th May, 2011 under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Since there is no permanent enemy in politics but rather permanent interest, the political song has changed, as the governor and his other party faithful are now in the All Progressives Congress (APC). Before he assumed the position of Governor, Alhaji Ahmed was not only a member of Senator Saraki’s cabinet; he was an influential member who first occupied the position of Commissioner for Finance for more than seven years and later as pioneer Commissioner for Planning and Economic Development.

The administration of Governor Ahmed was branded the continuity government and on assumption of office, as he consolidated on the gains of the previous administration which he has built on up till date.  Other noticeable achievements of  the Abdulfatah Ahmed’s Administration include Youth Empowerment through the Kwara Bridge Empowerment Scheme (KWABES), provision of free education up to secondary school level, provision of transformers, construction and rehabilitation of five general hospitals, ensuring functionality and completion of the Advanced Diagnostic centre, and the International Aviation College which recently graduated eight pilots, while his government completed inherited road projects. One  has keenly observed with pride that Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed’s government has not only delivered on its pledge to ensure continuity in all aspects of governance but is continuously creating prosperity for all stakeholders in “Project Kwara” through vital socio-economic projects, a development that has made Senator Saraki comfortable with his (Fatah’s) choice as Governor.

As 2014 rolls in, Kwarans expect more concret achievements which would impact positively on their day to day activities and expectedly with the presentation of the 2014 budget to the state House of Assembly, the electorate would breath more air of prosperity as Kwarans expect that the government would open up new frontiers of achievements in the coming year.

From day one, Governor Ahmed has acknowledged the people of the state as his constituency and had left no one in doubt about his commitment to the overall development of the state, not even his adversaries.

Your Excellency, Sir, as you add another year to your age, it is the hope of Kwarans that we will continue to sing your development song forever, particularly if you maintain the giant strides in your endeavour to write your name in gold as a governor that came, saw and conquered. It is our prayer that you will accomplish the good work you have started to lift Kwara State above the sky.

Hip! Hip! Hip!!! Hurray. Happy birthday the peoples Governor.

Akanbi writes from Ilorin