In a recent publication, a faceless concerned group of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kwara State made a frantic and futile attempt to package falsehood in an attempt to destabilise the existing peace within the APC in the state.

The group which is not actually concerned about the harmony being enjoyed by the people of the state in that publication drew attention to the outcome of the recent Ekiti State governorship election, referring to it as a red signal for  APC in Kwara State.

The malicious publication has in the first instance exposed the anonymous authors as people  who are in the stream of self-consciousness alone, displaying their greed. Another fact is that the group responsible for the publication needed to be educated  about the personality of Senator Bukola Saraki and what the Senator actually stands for.

The group also needed to be enlightened about the institution which Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara State represents.

Members of  the group should be reminded that Senator Abubakar Bukola Saraki who is the target of their attack is by all standard a politician who has stood the test of time and a confirmed force to reckoned with in Nigerian politics.

The Senator who is a two-term Governor of Kwara State had earlier occupied viable positions and come out unblemished.

The so-called concerned group should also be made to understand  that the advent of Senator Saraki into Kwara Politics was as a result of pressure from well-meaning politicians who are still alive. The senator only accepted the challenge in order to bring innovation into Kwara  politics. Any sincere person will be delighted to note that his incursion into politics had transformed the state and initiated laudable programmes and policies.

At the Inauguration of the Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed’s administration, residents of the state and all political stakeholders were not deceived. They were made to understand in clear terms that the new governor would run on the platform of continuity while all the legacies left behind by the Bukola Saraki administration will be sustained. This, to every right thinking person, is in the best interest of Kwarans. As well known, the bane of development in Nigeria has been the abandonment of programmes, policies and projects left behind by the past administrations without any justification. The ‘legacy continues policy’ adopted in the state is a matter which borders on conscience  and the need to ensure sincerity of purpose in governance.

What is the rationale behind embarking on new projects when the ongoing are yet to be completed?

Anyone assessing the performance of the present administration should do so objectively without emotional attachment so that they will be able to see clearly.

Like his mentor, Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed is a man of the people and a liberal leader who had not just kept the people on the spot but on the spotlight where every individual is relevant. 

Kwara State has no doubt witnessed a very peaceful political environment which should be guided jealously by all well-meaning people.

God giveth and taketh. If Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed has been destined to return to the Ahmadu Bello Way Government House, Ilorin as a second term  governor of the state, nobody, no matter how sentimental can stop him and if it is another Kwaran, definitely it will be in the interest of  the state as all of us in the state are members of one big political family. Since the present administration came on board in 2011, it has within its financial resources touched the lives of the citizens in one way or the other positively. Without sounding immodest,  independent and sincere people even from outside the state can pay a visit to Kwara State on an assessment tour and come out with their findings. One is so saddened and disturbed that people could go to any length to destroy others for power. 

One aspect that gladdens hearts about the Abdulfatah Ahmed administration is the Youth Empowerment scheme where over 10,200 youths have been gainfully employed while out of this figure, two thousand have been offered a permanent appointment in the civil service. Workers in Kwara State and the newly recruited members receive their monthly salary regularly between  the 24th and 26th of every month; the Kwara State NLC Chairman, Comrade Umar Akanbi Farouq is alive to testify to this.

The Abdulfatah Ahmed administration has also initiated several people-oriented programmes and projects while health care delivery has been brought closer  to the citizenry with the recent remodelling and upgrading of five general hospitals. That of Ilorin, Share, Offa, Omu-Aran and Kaiama while 200 communities have been connected to the National grid. Similarly, seventeen (17) major waterworks across the state have been upgraded and made functional just to mention a few.

Again to the fifth columnists, Kwarans have come of age to chose between party A, party B or party C or candidate A, candidate B or candidate C. Crisis or acrimony should therefore not be introduced among Kwara politicians or in Kwara polity. Kwarans should rise to defend and protect the state democracy against desperate politicians who are working to undermine democratic governance in Kwara State. On this note, one will clearly see that the publication is nothing but the ranting of an ant.

Members of the faceless concerned group should however, constantly bear in mind that “Hatred does not cease in this world by hating, but by not hating; this is an eternal truth”.

Mustapha writes from Ilorin.