ONE unique area the opposition in Kwara State have constantly scored the administration of Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed low remains the dearth of visible achievement. They believed an objective scorecard of performance of his government has been lacking in such critical areas like airport, ultra-modern market, new stadium, and another state university, among others.

According to the Chairman of the state’s chapter of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Suleiman Buhari: “We are yet to feel the impact of the dividends of democracy under the government of Ahmed.

“It has been the case of noise-making, grammatical constructions on air, and promises that are never fulfilled.”

CPC spokesman in the state, Obasanjo Alashi, insisted that the governor has not performed to expectations, saying: “The best way to measure the success or otherwise of any government is to look at the visible changes in the lives of those they exercise authorities over.

“In Kwara, people are poorer, students are famished and the market women are regretting their voting pattern,” Alashi said.

Chairman of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in the state, Kayode Olawepo, said the ruling party in the state remains “a vehicle without a single driver, a government without direction,” adding that “the government has failed to lift the people of the state out of their shackles of poverty.”

But the Ahmed-led government has not taken such criticisms lightly, urging politicians in the state to imbibe the culture of constructive criticisms, rather than “the pull down at all cost syndrome.”

Besides, the government believed true test of performance should not be on what the opposition members have failed to see, but what the people have gained as democratic dividends, despite the 33rd ranking of the state in the monthly federal government revenue allocations.

The governor said: “When we started the administration in 2011, we promoted the concept of continuity of legacies. We looked at it from the angle that we have just came out of an administration that had driven governance under clearly spelt out policies.

“It would only make sense for people to begin to see benefits of some of the programmes that were carried on from last administration to this administration.

“We needed to ensure that there is benefit to the people, in terms of completion of projects to fruition level. Hence, the first thing we did was to complete ongoing projects.”

He added: “We wanted to be sure that these legacies that were promoted in the last administration were taken to finishing levels. A typical one was the Aviation College, which structures had just been completed when we came in.

“We needed to ensure that every other area that was needed to make it a functional school was taken care of, and we diligently pursued that by injecting money.

“I am happy to tell you that our students are already flying. It is one of the very few aviation training institutions in Africa today.”

The governor also disclosed that the administration would soon expand to the level where people will begin to feel the economic impact directly in the state.

He stated: “We also have the International Diagnostic Centre. We met it at the level when it was almost completed and we had to take it to the level where people will begin to benefit from it. I am happy to let you know that we have since completed that programme.

“We have a thousand and one roads that we have commissioned.  Aside the Ahmadu Bello Way, Murtala Mohammed Way, we have other roads across the three senatorial districts, which were started by the previous administration, but were completed by us. This is part of what we call shared prosperity.

“This has also impacted in the area of education. We have added a lot of classrooms, both at the basic and senior secondary school levels. We have since started the Ajase-Ipo International Vocational Centre, which will train our youths to be entrepreneurs to become employable and self-employed youths. These are parts of what we are carrying out under shared prosperity that is driven by continuity.

“In addition, there are 14 water-works currently being rehabilitated. We have sunk over 220 boreholes and made electricity available to over 179 communities.

“We have spent over N2.7bn on rural roads, not up to 10 per cent of which are located in Ilorin metropolis, but spread in the three senatorial districts, largely in the villages and local communities.”

He stressed that the essence is for the people at these levels to begin to feel the impact of government.