“The heights that great men and women reach were not attained by sudden flight, when they were busy burning the midnight candles, others were sleeping” – Jerry Goodfellow

The giant strides of the Hydro Power Producing Areas Development Commission (HYPPADEC) cannot be overemphasised. HYPPADEC management team under the leadership of Abubakar Sadiq Yelwa has left no one in doubt of what it intended to achieve with life-transforming efforts and succour it has brought to the communities in the State of Harmony (as Kwara is referred to). HYPPADEC rolled out palliative measures for communities ravaged by the effects of the Kainji Dam

It was Barbara Midrell who once said “If we do not help ourselves then who will do so”. Going by Midrell's admonition and in line with HYPPADEC's mandate, vision and mission, Yelwa and his amiable team has set necessary machinery in motion geared towards improving the living standard of various communities in Kwara state. It is in this direction that 7,823 students benefitted from the provision of NECO/WAEC forms provided by the commission in 2022.

Borrowing from the words of the great Mahatma Gandhi, father of modern India who said, “You must be the change you wish to see in the world”, HYPPADEC made available 192 solar-powered motorised boreholes in the communities ravaged by overflow of Kainji Dam as a way of giving the people a sense of belonging and a new lease of life.

Also, as part of efforts to encourage farmers in the affected communities in Kwara state towards food sufficiency and as part of the federal government's policy thrust under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari on diversification of the economy towards agricultural revolution, the dynamic HYPPADEC team provided 6,423 subsidised fertilizers for farmers (NPK and Urea in August, 2022) to the affected communities in what was described as a commendable feat and a shining example for other government agencies to emulate.

HYPPADEC went scriptural as it follows Almighty God's commandment which says “Let there be light and there was light”. As a result, communities in Kwara are now enjoying bright illuminating street lights evenly distributed among them.

HYPPADEC's Yelwa has shown compassion to Kwara people through his people-oriented programs as it continues to meet people at the point of needs bringing smiles to their faces. Yelwa must have innately listened to the voices of reasoning from Benjamin Franklin who said “The greatest virtue of any person is doing good to his fellow being” and Horace-Man who also said “To pity distress is God-like”, HYPPADEC provided 748 bags of rice distributed as palliatives to the communities.

Malcolm X one of the foremost civil right activists who amongst others led the struggles of the Blacks from the yokes and vestiges of colonialism said “Education is our passport for tomorrow, for the future belongs to those who prepare for it today”. Yelwa and his team has left no one in doubt about their love for education as apart from distributing free WAEC/NECO forms for students renovated two blocks of classrooms and constructed four blocks of classrooms for the use of the students whose classrooms were washed away as a result of Kainji Dam overflow.

Knowing the importance of youths and the role they play in the society, HYPPADEC as it has done in other HYPPADEC states has empowered Kwara youths to be self reliant. 628 of these youths have benefited from the commission's Youths Empowerment Programmes as a way of training their minds and body for positive contribution to Nigeria's social and economic transformation. In like manner, the commission also constructed 630 metre reinforced concrete drainage and dykes with three metre depth and three metre wide to curtail the menace of erosion at Pategi in order to avert any future catastrophe in the area.

It will not be out of place to commend the HYPPADEC team for the numerous gigantic projects and wonderful initiatives put in place in HYPPADEC host communities and for the common good of the people.

According to Bo Jackson who has assert “Set your goals high, don't stop, until you get there”, HYPPADEC should take this as one of their guiding principles to achieve more in serving the people.

Ibrahim was president, Kwara State Students, University of Abuja, Alumni, Faculty of Law