It is doubtful that Governor Abdul-Fatah Ahmed of Kwara State could have trudged otherwise; certainly not, given the political heritage that was bequeathed to him in 2011.

The immediate past governor of the state, Dr. Bukola Saraki at the end of an engaging eight year run had handed over the baton to Ahmed, the erstwhile commissioner of finance with a mandate from him and the electorate to sustain the dramatically altered landscape birthed by Saraki. How Ahmed has soldiered in the last three years can be vividly deciphered in the way and manner the governor has touched the lives of the citizenry.

Whatever is his testimonial, Ahmed and the party he now represents, that is the Saraki led All Progressives Congress, APC would have to confront the serious offensive championed by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP to recover the state following the defection of Saraki and his followers from the party to the APC last year.

The PDP is presently priming its hopes of retaking the state through a number of gubernatorial hopefuls among whom are Senator Makunjola Ajadi, Senator Simon Ajibola, Mr. Dele Belgore, Prof. Shuiab Oba. There is equally word about the prospects of the emergence of the Alhaji Jani Ibrahim, chairman of Lubcon Oil Limited who had until now operated from the background.

The PDP’s determination to win back the state would, however, be a serious challenge given the determination of the mainstream of the APC leadership and the government to follow the path of continuity as first scripted by Saraki.

For Governor Ahmed, a governor who has garnered much acclaim for his intellectual grasp on issues it is remarkable that his delivery has not stopped at elocution, but that he has moved on from policy formulation to programme delivery.

Among the landmark initiatives of the governor are those directed at youth empowerment, infrastructure development and the sustenance of the much applauded agriculture schemes conceived by the Saraki administration.

For an administration relatively shy in propagating its achievements, a recent lecture delivered by the governor was an opportunity to decipher the thrusts and touches of the three year administration.

It was not surprising that Governor Ahmed took particular note of the administration’s efforts in empowering youths, a situation that has made Kwara to be a haven of peace and safety even in the midst of serious security challenges across most of the north.

“This reality is partly responsible for our commitment to youth development which is also driven by our quest to ensure that this largest component of our population is also its most productive.”

“Within the last three years in Kwara State, we have employed 10,200 youths apart from generating a greater number of opportunities in the informal sector by mobilising the economy through various loans to our people amounting to N640m.”

Noting the threat posed by the mass of unemployed youths across the country, the governor said “Indeed, popular uprising usually thrives on underlying discontent that is distinct from the ostensible trigger as demonstrated by the Arab Spring which started with a street trader’s self-immolation in Tunisia.”

Governor Ahmed was of course not oblivious of the direct linkage between youth participation and engagement in the sustenance of democracy saying, “Any effort to entrench true democracy must therefore see to the empowerment of our youth through productive engagement and functional education for participatory governance is not for the hungry.”

Another area where the present administration has scored well is in the area of education, building upon the legacy of his predecessor.

“We have also made our education more functional by prioritising vocational skill acquisition and entrepreneurship training at secondary and tertiary levels.”

The governor spoke against the background of the administration’s capacity to mobilise the limited resources available to it in the promotion of the general good propounding that “those who will survive the current economic uncertainty are not those with abundant resources but those who are resourceful and work outside the box. I make bold to assert that Kwara state’s continuity programme has benefited the state immensely and instilled greater hope in our democracy.”

“We started with the diversification of our economy from a civil service state depending largely on the federation account to a state depending on agriculture and evolving an investment-friendly environment built on industrial harmony, modern infrastructure, a conducive tax regime and a largely crime-free and peaceful environment.

“The benefits include but are not limited to the iconic Shonga Farms, increased inflow of investments, the only Cargo Terminal with a wet station in the zone, a Youth Farm Settlement, an International Aviation College, and the International Vocational Centre, Ajasse Ipo. These have combined to establish our state as the agriculture hub of the sub-region and created an expanding crop of youth entrepreneurs,” Ahmed disclosed.