SUCCESS NWOGU writes that while some stakeholders see Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara State as a performer, others  label him a non-starter

Three days hence, the administration of Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara State would have been 365 days old. He was sworn in as governor on May 29, 2011.

During his inauguration at the Metropolitan Square, Ilorin, Ahmed promised to transform the lives of the residents by completing the projects initiated by his predecessor, Bukola Saraki, and focusing on infrastructure provision, human capital development, skill acquisition, energy and solid mineral development, among others. He had said he would initiate new projects where and when necessary.

But Ahmed's performance during his first year in office has elicited divergent views. While a school of thought scores him low, saying he has done nothing substantial to deliver good governance and has not improved the living standard of the people; another school of thought holds the view that he actually performed well and has positively impacted on the people, especially given the resources available to the state and the political environment in which he operates.

For the Action Congress of Nigeria in the state, there is no reason to celebrate. The party believes that the impact of Ahmed's administration has not been positively felt by Kwara residents.

While assessing Ahmed's one year in office, Kwara State chairman, ACN, Mr. Kayode Olawepo, said rather than address the socio-economic challenges confronting the residents, the Ahmed. Administration had continued to spread cheap propaganda without doing anything to lift the people out of poverty and economic deprivation.

He claimed that the administration had received close to N30bn as federal allocation within the past year. According to him, this could be the highest financial inflow to any administration in Kwara in such a short period of time. He said he could not really pinpoint any concrete thing that the government had done with the money. He added that the government's claim to be leading an agrarian revolution was an infantile propaganda that could only befuddle the unwary. He said beyond the 'amateurish' mending of potholes in Ilorin, the state capital, there was hardly any green road being constructed to open up the state for investment.

Olawepo said, "Rather than address these socio-economic challenges, the Ahmed Administration has continued to spend millions of taxpayers' fund on spreading lies about so-called 'shared prosperity,' while doing nothing to lift our people out of poverty and economic deprivations.

"In its bid to attract investment to the agric sector, the administration forgets that a state totally lacking in social infrastructure is a non-starter. So much noise has been made about attracting N70bn investment in rice production when in reality no such investment has been made."

According to Olawepo, a check of the last one year will show that the Ahmed Administration had "only performed wonderfully well in the area of noisemaking."

"The labour's listing, on May Day, of Kwara as one of the states not complying with the National Minimum Wage Law has said enough about our earlier comments on the matter. Whereas the Ahmed government claims to be floating a health insurance scheme, the fact is that no such thing exists," Olawepo said.

The National Vice-President, Committee for the Defence of Human Rights, Mr. Taiwo Otitolaye, who is a Kwaran, said the Ahmed Administration had yet to find its feet one year in office. He stated that governance is about utilising community resources to build community welfare through participatory policy formulation and implementation.

According to Otitolaye, the government has no feasible projects to show for its existence in the past 12 months.

He advised Ahmed to settle down and involve relevant people in the Kwara project. He added that the residents should participate in the decision making process and implementation of policies and programmes. He urged the governor to ensure that his governance practically translates to providing infrastructure, food, basic necessities of life and improving the living standard of the people.

But the governor's Senior Special Assistant on Media and Communications, Dr. Muyideen Akorede, said the government had within the period under review, tremendously affected people's lives positively.

He stated that the projects implemented by the Ahmed Administration within 365 days in office included ongoing and completed projects in roads, energy and education sectors.

According to him, in the education sector, apart from the rehabilitation of 244 blocks of classrooms in secondary schools across the state, the government's other achievements include the abolishment of fees and levies at Senior Secondary School level in the state.

Other achievements of the government, according to Akorede, are the supply of free notebooks to Senior Secondary School pupils, the reduction in the fees charged by the Kwara State University to N99,500 for indigenes and the facilitation of buses to ply the UNILORIN, KWARAPOLY and KWASU routes.

He said the government had disbursed N250m as micro credit funds to Small and Medium Enterprises and cooperatives in the state to create wealth and boost economic activities.

Akorede said in the health sector, the government had completed the rehabilitation of Ilorin, Offa, Share, Kaiama and Omu-Aran general hospitals as well as the rehabilitation of 15 primary health care centres designed to ensure 500-metre access to quality health care in the state.

He said on security, the government's ongoing support for security agencies in the state included the donation of 10 Hilux trucks within 100 days in office and the quarterly donation of additional five vehicles to the state police command to improve their operational efficiency.

He said the government had constructed over 600km of roads across the three senatorial districts in the state as a deliberate effort to open up the state for agricultural and economic development. The roads, according to him, include over 350km of feeder and access roads specifically to create a value chain for mechanised agricultural practices designed to drive the economy of the state. He said most of the roads had been completed while others were at various stages of completion.

He added that the government had provided 42 electricity transformers to rural areas in the state in addition to providing 300 street light projects in the state capital.

But a faction of the Congress of Nigerian Political Parties in the state, said the government had either initiated or completed some projects, which it claimed had elevated the welfare of the residents. The group added that there are, however, areas of improvement.

In a statement jointly signed by its chairman, Zakari Mohammed and secretary, Bamidele Omotosho, it said the government had in the education sector, given bursary awards to students of tertiary institutions and had renovated the school of special needs, adding that 150 schools are currently undergoing renovation across the state.

The group said Ahmed had acquired hectares of land for the planting of rice and cassava and other crops to ensure food security in the state. It added that the government had embarked on irrigation farming and supplying of fertiliser to farmers. It stated that the ultimate aim was to make Kwara State the food basket of Nigeria.

It said the government of Ahmed had done well in rehabilitating dams, sinking of boreholes to make sure that the people did not move further than 500 metres to have access to potable drinking water, which it claimed used to be 1,500 metres.

The group said the administration had embarked on construction or rehabilitation of federal, state and rural roads.  It identified the following as the roads the administration had inaugurated: Ekiti and Irepodun Road, Osi-Otan-Ekiti Boundary Road, Ganmo-Afon Road and Oro-Esie-Arandum Road.

It called for more collaboration and support for the government to provide more amenities and services to the people.

"So many communities have benefitted from these projects. In all, 72 boreholes have been sunk. There is also the resuscitation of Pepele Waterworks capable of supplying water to a minimum of seven neighbouring communities in Ilorin East Local Government Area of the state.

"Ahmed has done much for the state but from our point of view, there is room for improvement. More employment can be generated for the people while power and water supply can be improved upon. Also, more roads can be given some attention," CNPP said.

Analysts observe that the people of Kwara desire more prudency in the management of the state's resources, better allocation of resources to critical areas of need and more involvement in policy formulation and implementation.