Things are beginning to look up in Kwara State. The people of the state are beginning to see things differently. Change is here and the hope of a rebranded Kwara State is on the way. Now, the people of the state are beginning to believe that they have a government they can call their own.
Civil servants now know they have to be at their duty posts to justify their pay. Two weeks ago, some health workers at a government hospital in Ilorin were caught on the wrong-foot when the governor paid a surprise visit at midnight. Kwara State now has a business-like governor.
Recently, a clip of Governor Abdulrazaq, with a backpack across his shoulder and standing on a queue to board a commercial flight went viral! This was unthinkable in the past. We may never know the exact amount past governors wasted on chattered flights but, what is beyond doubt is that the practice not only contributed to the non-payment of salaries and pensions but worsened the overall financial profile of the state.
Kwara State also generated N16 billion as internal revenue within the first month of the inauguration of Governor Abdulrazaq. The governor has also ordered that the power plant at his private residence should not be fuelled at the expense of government.
In the governor’s first month in office, taps have started running in the state capital, backlog of unpaid workers’ salaries and pensions are being cleared. Life has returned to state tertiary institutions after the government offset a huge chunk of unpaid workers’ salaries!
Though his victory has restored hope of salvation for a long-abused people, there is no gainsaying the fact that Governor Abdulrazaq faces an uphill task which is getting top aides that he can rely on in transforming the state. It is time for well-meaning people to rally round the new administration and join in the search for a rejuvenated Kwara State.
The collective dream of a rejuvenated Kwara State, devoid of manipulative tendencies, is realistic. But, first, the people must rise above petty political squabbles, appreciate that it is a new dawn and rally round the new tenant at Government House, Ilorin.
Abdulrazaq Magaji wrote from Abuja.
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