As Kwara State Governor, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed, is inaugurated for a second term; our correspondent examines the first tenure of the governor and the challenges ahead as he begins a fresh mandate.

Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed is no doubt a man of history. He is not only lucky but has successfully achieved a feat which is rare and uncommon in the political terrain in Kwara.

He joined the services of his home state when his boss, Dr. Bukola Saraki, became the governor in 2003; held key positions which included being the commissioner for finance and later, in the twilight of the administration, that of Planning and Economic Development.

Saraki was the first to serve for eight years as governor, a feat many believe would not be easily matched by any other succeeding him. Ahmed however by the dictates of destiny, secured a re-election ticket after permutations and hunches by pundits that the former governor and the leader of the ruling party in the state might not be favourably disposed to handing him the second term ticket.

Saraki however belied all permutations by endorsing Ahmed for a second term thus subsuming the ambitions of others around him who wanted to be governor. One factor that could not be expunged from Ahmed's second term feat was the reward for loyalty.

While the country's recent political experiences are replete with fierce skirmishes between godfathers and godsons which have consequently destabilised some states, Ahmed and Saraki have maintained a very robust, cordial relationship which has beaten the imaginations of analysts and observers. Ahmed's posture to Saraki is that of unalloyed loyalty to his mentor and to the dynasty he superintends. There could not have been a more glaring display of loyalty than when the governor dumped the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the All Progressives Congress (APC) apparently in deference to Saraki. Insiders say left to Ahmed, he would have remained in PDP but he was not ready to bite the fingers that fed him.

It was gathered that the PDP government at the federal level pressurised Ahmed to ditch Bukola but he stood his ground. Ahmed also gave insight into the political undercurrents of the defection when Saraki paid him a congratulatory visit on the night he was returned re-elected on April 12 even as he expressed delight that his decision to dump PDP for APC did not backfire as it has culminated into his re-election.

However, the struggle is not over. Election has been won and the victory is no doubt sweet. The APC did not only win the governorship election but swept all the 24 House of Assembly seats in addition to all the nine National Assembly seats (three Senatorial and six House of Reps positions) all captured by his party.

The governor's last four years have been no doubt eventful. He started by completing all ongoing capital projects inherited from his predecessor. He focussed largely on health care delivery by comprehensively renovating five general hospitals located across the three senatorial districts of the state and equipping them with modern facilities; prioritised youth employment through the Kwara State Bridge Empowerment Scheme (KWABES) initiative followed by the YouWin programme which sought to transit the youths from idleness to job placement and empowerment; beefed up security by launching "Operation Harmony" which was aimed at building the capacity of the security agencies to cope with the prevailing security challenges consequent upon the expanding and exploding population of the state, among other initiatives.

A former Reps member and chairman of the committee for Ahmed's second term inauguration, Hon. Kola Yusuf, said the re-election of Governor Ahmed in the April 11 governorship poll did not come on a platter of gold.

"Above all, it was an act of God bearing in mind this state's political history. In the last four years, His Excellency has contributed immensely to the socio-economic development of Kwara State.

"One of the foremost strategies was tackling the phenomenon of abandoned projects and the culture of waste associated with it. Governor Ahmed took all ongoing projects of his predecessor and diligently completed majority of them with the required vigour", he said, adding that Ahmed sustained the state as "an emerging industrial hub of the North Central geo-political zone and a safe haven for people from within the country and beyond."

But critics are quick to point out that merely completing projects of his predecessor are not things an administration should be bragging about. While he has done the right thing by completing the inherited projects, analysts opine that Ahmed has the challenge of also embarking on key projects that would be solely identified with his administration and ensure that his predecessor's achievements do not dwarf his.

Coming back on a 'change' platform which the APC symbolises, the governor is left with no choice than to perform and meet the rising expectations of the people. Apart from striving to work hard and level with the performance of President Muhammadu Buhari at the federal level, Ahmed is equally faced with challenges of infrastructural decay, youth unemployment, youth restiveness, water scarcity, declining education standard and several others at home which he has to deploy energy and resources to address.

Findings by this correspondent revealed that many access roads in Ilorin metropolis are in a near dilapidation while new roads are not being opened up unlike his predecessor who opened up many intra-city roads to reduce congestion and traffic snarls experienced in some parts of the state capital.

Though the governor in the last four years gave youth employment a primacy through the KWABES and YouWin initiatives, there is still a large army of unemployed youths wandering the streets while those enrolled for KWABES and YouWin are virtually frustrated over the meagre stipend being paid monthly. Many are of the opinion that the current restiveness especially among youths in Ilorin was fuelled by unemployment. Therefore, many say, Ahmed has to step up his youth employment initiative in his second term as a way of addressing the challenge of insecurity.

Potable water remains a big and huge problem in the state despite much spending on Ilorin water reticulation projects which the government has sourced bonds to undertake. The government says the last phase of the project will soon be completed which would ensure that all residents of Ilorin have access to potable water. This should be fast-tracked in order to ease the pains and suffering of the people who have to trek almost a kilometre to fetch water. This experience is no doubt contrary to the 500m radius promised by Ahmed.

While the governor was understandably faced with the acute challenge of funds arising from the falling allocation receipts from the federation account, he has to deploy his financial ingenuity to explore alternative source of revenue. Agriculture remains one area that the state has not explored to the fullest. Analysts say it is high time all the 16 local governments are given targets on one crop or the other since there is a large expanse of land lying fallow across the three senatorial districts of Central, North and South. Besides, the tourism sector could also provide the desired financial bulwark for the state to get over the problem of financial shortage if properly explored.

President of Ilorin Emirate Descendants' Progressive Union (IEDPU), Alhaji AbdulHamid Adi, who spoke with this correspondent shortly after the union presented a position paper to the governor stressed that Ahmed has a lot to do in his second tenure.

"Now that election has been won, our union believes strongly that there is so much for the government to do for the community in the areas of security, education, health, land matters, infrastructural deficit, creation of employment for our teeming youth, energy and the removal of Oke Kura prison yard to another place because that place is creating a lot of problems and inconveniences to our people", he said.

He decried the declining standard of education in schools in the state, lamenting that teachers in most of the secondary schools especially in the emirate lack the requisite competence.

"They said they are doing free education yet some of these principals are not given imprest for the day-to-day running of the schools..." the president lamented.

But Ahmed who spoke with newsmen after his re-election promised to upscale his programmes in the areas of infrastructural development, youth unemployment, agriculture, among others. Kwarans are indeed expecting a lot from him as he begins another four years. His performance would definitely be measured and assessed after four years.