Mr. GBENDA OLADEJIwrote from South-East, London.
THIS is a tribute to the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) as the sun sets on the party in Kwara State. As a Nigerian living in England, I have a keen interest in what happens back home. Certain state governments, such as Kwara, where I hail from, have shown remarkable purpose and progress within a short time in office.

In Kwara, the politics has always been colourful. The drama preceding the emergence of Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed as governor on the platform of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) demonstrates the richness of the state's politics.

However, it is with the 'opposition' in the state that I am concerned here. To be sure, a viable and strong opposition which stands ready to offer viable alternatives to an incumbent administration's policies is an indispensable part of modern day politics. Such opposition must act as a watchdog on the government and offer itself as a credible alternative. In Kwara, the main opposition party, Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has been anything but that.

Faced with a string of judicial failures in its futile attempt to invalidate Ahmed's election, and confronted with increasingly disenchanted supporters, the ACN has resorted to vile propaganda in a vain attempt to retain its followers.

Sadly, the party is gasping for its last breath. Ordinarily, these criticisms would have been chalked up as normal in Kwara's vibrant politics. However, its pattern and strategy reveals the opposition party's attempt to distract the current administration through misinformation and futile propaganda.

A few examples would suffice. Recently, the state government sought the State Assembly's permission to raise N10 billion from the money market to fund development projects.

The intended projects, according to press reports, include the renovation of five General Hospitals, the establishment of an international vocational centre, development of Kwara State University (KWASU), Irrigation Project, Phase two of the Ilorin Water Project, the completion of the international diagnostic centre and an irrigation project.

Shockingly, the ACN unleashed its propaganda machine on the people. Deploying misinformation and clear ignorance of project implementation procedures, ACN accused the government of securing funds for projects that had already been completed, forgetting that development projects are implemented in phases.

It also boggles the imagination that a party that claims progressive credentials will challenge a government's decision to renovate general hospitals, fund KWASU's development, establish an international vocation centre to train youths for employment, establish irrigation projects or complete critical health infrastructure.

These are projects with the capacity to impact positively on peoples' lives and accelerate the state's development. But in its desperate quest for relevance, the flagging ACN took the government to task over the projects.

It is clear that the ACN, worried that these projects would endear Ahmed's administration to the populace, prefers to blindly attack these programmes regardless of the benefit to the people.

Clearly, what is happening is that the ACN, faced with a litany of electoral and judicial failures, is desperate to retain its increasingly disillusioned supporters who, according to press reports, are joining ACPN and DPP supporters to decamp to the ruling PDP in droves. In addition, with the government implementing people-friendly policies, there is nothing much for the ACN to do in Kwara.

The PDP government is making the ACN irrelevant through effective governance. This must be obvious to the ACN.  That it is sticking to propaganda shows desperation to prove to their paymasters in Lagos that they remain relevant in Kwara politics. Inexorably, the countdown to the end of ACN has started in Kwara.