Next year will be unique to Nigeria in many respects. For one, it is a year of political transition for the country, especially in states where there are no staggered elections.

For Kwara, the heat is on, to either effect a change or sustain the status quo. This certainly must have informed all manners of vitriolic and vituperation poured on perceived political foes. Of course, the recent media attack on Dr. Suleiman Olan­rewaju Abubakar, the Minister for National planning in the September 4 edition of Daily Sun, is surely no exception. It certainly deserves attention of anybody, including even non- indigenes who see Kwara as a major project.

In the piece, one Abdulkadir vilified the minister for boldly coming out to tell the world that he had Mr. President's mandate to reclaim Kwara. In Abdulkadir's view, the minister had left off his major national assignment to face Kwara politics, with a view to changing the status quo ante.

For the record, it is important to remind Abdulkadir that long before Mr. President's mandate, Sulaiman had been in active struggle, alongside others of like mind to end the reign of exploitation in Kwara. A peep into his pedigree has really convinced one that President Goodluck Jonathan did not make a wrong choice in Sulaiman. As the convener of G-3, a group of young Kwarans, he called a stakeholders meeting where the sorry state of our state was the main issue put on the table.

In his days as the President of the then Ilorin Students Union (ISU), he rendered tremendous community service to people of the emirate between 1988 and 1989. This encouraged him to take a shot at the council seat of Ilorin West local government as well as the House of Representatives seat of the Ilorin West/Asa local government Federal Constituency at different times. Of course, he lost out not because of incompetence, but because the powers-that-be in the state would not allow a 'deviant' to emerge. Defeated but not depressed, Suleiman took the battle to the next stage, as he is not the one that takes any defeat for a permanent loss. Soldiering on, the activist was to later find himself at the University of Abuja where he assisted in no small way, scores of Kwara indigenes seeking admission placement into the university. Similarly, it is on record that in his first month as minister, he facilitated employment of about 30 Kwarans into federal agencies.

And even at the official level as a serving minister, he has been privileged to record a positive breakthrough in the governance of this nation. The recent ratification of the National Integrated Infrastructure Master Plan (NIIMP) simply bears him out on the quality leadership he is providing on the given assignment. Besides, the turn around of the system in the commission, especially in the areas of staff welfare, resuscitation of monitoring and evaluation of the federal MDA projects, as well as the gradual settling of outstanding allowances of the NPC staff, are certainly some of those feats he has recorded in just a month of his stewardship. The truth about it is that people of the state, nay Nigerians as a whole are guaranteed increased employment opportunities through the proactive tendency and engagement of international partners by the commission under his leadership, while also guiding the nation's policy formulation in attracting foreign aids.

Fundamentally, the debate on Kwara should be issue-based and not name-calling as the writer did in this piece. There are some posers that Kwarans still expect adequate response to.

First and foremost, we want to know those jobs the state government has created. Is it not before our very eyes that the state civil servants are being short-changed and left at the level of bare survival? The unanswered question on the ownership of the SHONGA Holdings as well as SHOPRITE among other concerns still reverberates and this will definitely not cease until the right answers are provided. Again, it is important to also ask the writer and his paymasters to list out those projects completed and give us the facts and figures on the cost implication. The barefaced poverty level people of the state are wallowing in, is a strong testimony of a deficient system in the state.

What would one say of the increasingly dilapidating infrastructure scattered all over the state? This is in concrete term talking of education and health facilities. It's not sufficient to renovate a general hospital in Ilorin for close to N2billion. As major stakeholder, I am interested in knowing what has become of the many bonds (from capital market) that are already a bondage for the people. This should be a matter for concern and not undue castigation of a volunteer who has taken up the gauntlet to bring our state out of the mess we presently find ourselves in.

Honestly, if Suleiman's offence is his declaration to liberate Kwarans from the crutches of mis-governance is such an issue that he should be bashed for, then we as a people need have a rethink. Anyway, I still have my doubt if the writer is really bothered about the mess in today's Kwara. The political trajectory in our state should be a food for thought. Is he saying the people of Kwara State do not have the right to change?

Maybe I should ask this question. What is governance if you don't get involved in the process of choosing a leader? I need to say very clearly here that contrary to the writer's claim, Suleiman will not be qualified to be called a leader if he fails to be effectively involved in the process of electing the next governor for the state.

Freedom from a visible oppressor is not an easy task. Sustaining the status quo as it is in Kwara today is always a major concern of the holders. If the writer and his ilk fail to realise this, it is important to point out to them that if Suleiman could be made a minister by the special grace of God, then I the son of a peasant farmer in the rural settlement called Obbo Aiyegunle can as well rise to the top. This is about the best way to make development even. For us, in Kwara Sulaiman's appointment should be a wake up call and not a matter for personal vendetta.

.Morakinyo writes from Kwara State