PROTOCOLS

In our assessment of leaders, it is important to understand their stories, their philosophies, and the motivations behind their decisions. For Governor AbdulRazaq, one key way to see what drives him is to pay attention to how he finds inspiration in history and its implications for human civilizations.

Did anyone pay attention to how he weaved the recent victory of Kwara United at the President Federation Cup finals around the struggle of the late Yusuf Salami who singularly financed Ayufsalam Rocks FC. Salami tried to win the Cup for Kwara in 1976, but didn't succeed? So, when the Kwara United won the cup in 2025, 49 years later, the Governor dedicated the win to Yusuf Salami in appreciation of his efforts to Kwara football and to foreground the relevance of history and contributions of past heroes in the sweet victory.

In December 2021, the Governor honoured dozens of distinguished Kwarans who did great things for the state and its people at different times in the past. In January this year, he named key sports facilities (most of which he renovated or built anew) after great athletes and coaches. On the same day, he named important public infrastructure after late and living Kwara legends in appreciation of their roles in state building, including former Governors and First Lady of Nigeria, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, CON.

Ironically, and this is important to note for posterity, he did not name any edifice after his own father, AGF AbdulRazaq SAN, who was an all-time legend in the founding of the state, or his mother, Alhaja Raliat, a philanthropist who remains an exemplar and holder of many honours to her belt.

In the great words of Chinua Achebe, people from different parts of the world can respond to the same story if it says something to them about their own history and their own experience.

Without the legends of Yusuf Salami's Rock FC, there could not have been anything for the media and commentators to motivate Kwara United as the team battled Abakaliki FC in Lagos. And without the intentional flash back at history by the Governor, it would have been hard for him to find the right compass in the midst of daunting challenges of governance that faced the state in 2019 and public expectations that followed the Otoge revolution.

Between 2019 and now, history bears testament to how the Governor has transformed the physical landscape of Kwara State. With over 300 roads of different specifications in different parts of the state between 2023 and now, many communities have become better connected. A skit maker recently joked about people using GPS to locate their homes in Ilorin, the capital city, in the last Eid Kabir. This is a pleasant metaphor for how the capital city has evolved in just a space of six years.

Within the last one year, the government has upgraded 21 urban roads in our capital city, many of which were constructed over five decades ago and are undergoing their first rehabilitation and upgrades under the Governor. These roads include Post Office-Emirs Road-Isale Oja; Adifa Balogun Gambari Balogun Fulani Emir's Road; Wahab Folawiyo (Unity Road); Ile Apa Road Tanke; Ahman Patigi Road; and Ibrahim Taiwo Roads (Ilorin and Offa).

As of today, at least 67 kilometres of roads are under construction in different parts of Kwara South apart from Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project (RAAMP), which spread across the state. These roads include Ajase-Ipo to Okeiya; Okeiya towards Oke Ode (12km); Arandun township roundabout Esie-Oro township road (21km); Ijara Isin-Sabaja-Owa Onire-Owu Fall Road; Omu Aran Oko to Oro Ago; and Owode Ofaro Idera Alabe Road.

History will also remember the Governor for personally facilitating 294 kilometres of roads under the federal tax credit initiative to connect Kwara North and parts of South. These roads are Kosubosu-Kaiama-Bode Saadu, Bacita-Shonga-Lafiagi, Eiyenkorin-Afon-Offa-Odo Otin, and Okuta Bukuro. It is the boldest effort to maximize the agricultural potential of the region since 1967.

But the milestones are not limited to roads. Between 2019 and 2024, the administration has constructed at least 1,254 classrooms in more than 500 basic schools across the state a significant addition to education infrastructure of Kwara State.

Dozens more were done at the senior secondary school level. As I deliver this speech, the government is constructing a one of its kind, pilot multistory model school for KwaraLEARN programme at Adeta.

No single administration comes near this in standard or volume since 1967, hence the Governor is deservedly called the father of basic education. Under six years, the government has employed 8,601 basic school teachers, two times more than what his predecessors hired in 16 years. At SUBEB, he has implemented workers' promotion for eight years, including two years of arrears owed by the previous administration.

The government has also strengthened public hygiene across our basic schools, with at least 122 boreholes and 125 toilets.

The learning outcomes have been good: several academic awards, rising literacy and numeracy levels, rising discipline and declining absenteeism, among other quick wins from transformative programmes like the KwaraLEARN, digital literacy centres, and AGILE. To sustain these gains, especially in basic education, the Governor has established an Education Trust Fund which serves to mobilize support for the sector from different stakeholders, public or private sources. This is another first in Kwara State.

When you add the life-saving interventions of the administration at the Colleges of Education, CAILS, KWASU, and Aviation College since 2019, the picture of his giant footprints becomes clearer to all. For instance, the Colleges had all lost their accreditation in 2019, while KWASU faced various challenges regarding its law programme. Its abandoned campuses at Osi and Ilesha Baruba have both been completed by the Governor. For Kwara Polytechnic, the Governor breathed life into its many dead facilities and the school has become more stable and viable than it ever was. The icing on the cake is the recent University of Education, a policy response to the fears over the survival of our colleges of education.

No one can deny the stabilising roles of the administration in Radio Kwara and Kwara Television, both of which were near dead in 2019. From their dying and near pariah status in 2019, Radio Kwara and the TV have become the darling of the people once again with opposition figures even making appearances on them. In addition, Radio Kwara now has an extension in the North called Nootia FM and another one in Ilorin, Kakakin FM, dedicated to entertainment, youth engagement, and general advocacy.

Whether in the legacy or new media, it is important to mention that ethical journalists have done their job unmolested under the administration. Besides, the administration saved the Kwara NUJ Centre from collapse, while it continues to support every layer of the media at different times. People have enjoyed the highest level of freedom of speech and political engagements, as citizens embrace the new media to ventilate their views. This is all good for democracy as long as no crime is committed in the name of free speech.

The story is not different in the sports sector. From the construction of a new table tennis arena, the eight-winged squash courts, and complete rehabilitation of the indoor sports hall for the first time since 1976, this Government stands shoulder higher than any administration in the state except George Innih's who had built the stadium complex and expanded the infrastructure of the capital city.

The government doesn't lag behind in workers' welfare, either. The administration has the singular honour of being the first government in Kwara State since 1999 to implement two cycles of the national minimum wage with consequential adjustments across cadres. For years, SUBEB and TESCOM teachers did not have the cash-backing for their promotion. This backlog was cleared by the Abdulrazaq administration, among other things.

Between 2019 and now, the government has employed 1,425 new officers to the civil service, with 11,189 promoted across various cadres and 1,094 need-based career conversions. From zero operational vehicles in 2019, the government has procured more than a dozen vehicles into the civil service pool. In basic education level where school inspection is required, the government has got six new vehicles, from zero in 2019.

The administration has ended the era of water tanker in the metropolis, while efforts have been undertaken to improve potable water supply to the people of Kwara. Not only has the government rehabilitated 28 waterworks, it has also built three new ones to strengthen the existing infrastructure.

The government has increased public water standpipes to 2,945, up from 1,531 in 2019 a staggering 92.36% rise in six years. Context: a total of 20 Governors have governed Kwara between 1967 and now. If the state had 1,531 standpipes in 2019 and now has 2,945, the meaning is that Governor Abdulrazaq alone has constructed 1,414 (or 48%) of these water standpipes. This is phenomenal within the context of the state.

In addition to the Flower Garden initiative, which also serves recreational purposes, the administration has planted over 160,000 trees as buffers against deforestation and other climate change threats that are at the core of our survival.

Enrollment in the state's health insurance stands at 91,367, from zero in 2019. This is apart from more than 47 primary healthcare facilities and a handful of secondary hospitals that the government has fixed.

If Bamigboye built the foundation for the state civil service along with key educational and economic institutions like Kwara Hotel, Kwara Polytechnic, and a few others, it is safe to say that Abdulrazaq is giving the state its greatest edge in innovation and technology, hospitality, enterprise, and creative industries.

The long list of his socioeconomic footprints include the Remodeled Kwara Hotel, International Conference Centre, Innovation Hub, Visual Arts Centre, Sugar Factory Film Studio, Garment Factory, Industrial Park, remodeled Patigi Motel, ICT Centre Shonga, Shea Butter Factories (Kaiama and Baruten), the Flower Garden, the Revenue House, the Saidu Kawu Court House, upgraded Civil Service (Senator Oluremi Tinubu) Clinic, University of Education, and the repurposed Dada Pottery.

These are not just another projects; they have been designed to strategically recalibrate the economy, bridge existing gaps, and make it suitable for the demography and geography of Kwara, a state straddled between Nigeria's northern and southern regions and thickly populated by young, creative people.

These projects have already created thousands of jobs across professional cadres. But, much more important is their continued relevance in the age of knowledge, innovation, smart agribusiness, and enterprise. For instance, the Innovation Hub is a strategic investment in the present and future, having been projected to become a major driver of tech traffic in the state and Nigeria. This is truer of the garment factory, Shea butter factory, visual arts centre, and many others.

The Governor, as the foregoing shows, is a leader who seeks to situate Kwara in its rightful position with great investments and policy choices made in full understanding of history, the urgency of now, and the demand of the future.

The state has qualified for virtually all donor programmes there is, owing largely to his focused leadership. Today, Kwara has strategic partnerships with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), UNICEF, World Bank, and many others, birthing such initiatives like ANRIN, L-PRES, ACRESAL, AGILE. This underscores the newfound confidence that these key agencies and private sector institutions have found in the state.

Bolstered with different reforms such as digitalization of the land administration process, the business environment has improved. The result is glaring in many ways, including the government raising the IGR from N30.6bn in 2019 to N69.19bn in 2024.

His Excellency's urban renewal policy is anchored on the lessons of history, population rise, and sustainable living, specifically protecting the roles of law and order in our society. For instance, those who built the Ilorin GRA would be sad at how an area that was supposed to be a model for decent human habitat was almost becoming a slum no thanks to the disregard for law and order.

The whole essence of the urban renewal effort, a key legacy of the Governor, is to restore sanity for the good of all in health, public safety, and aesthetics. This has not been an easy decision, given the road we have travelled before. A few people, for different reasons, do not seem to have the full grasp of these steps even as the oppositions have weaponised it for their own gain.

As transformative as he is, the Governor did not expect that this would be a smooth ride. But as I said in a lecture at the University of Ilorin last year August, leaders should have the capacity to understand the situation in which their societies found themselves, an ability to devise a strategy to manage the present and shape the future, a skill in moving their societies toward elevated purpose, and a readiness to rectify shortcomings. More importantly, we must understand that leaders set out for the people what they need, not simply what they want. Otherwise, the leader is just a follower.

It is within this context that the good people of our state should see the efforts to restore order in our communities, especially the capital city Ilorin.

The Kwara Smart City, another initiative of the Governor, speaks eloquently to his exposure, his understanding of the past, and proud embrace of his duty as a leader to prepare the capital city for the challenges of urban living in the 21st century.

Covering at least 20,000 hectares of land across Ilorin South, Ilorin East, and Ifelodun, the smart city is a bold and futuristic effort to accommodate population growth in the capital city in a sustainable way.

Let me add that these last six years have not been about infrastructure and the economy alone. The Governor has redefined governance and development just as his tenure has (remolded) the psychosocial aspect of our lives.

The state has never been inclusive as it is today in the area of gender mainstreaming, youth participation, and support for people living with disabilities. For the first time, Kwara leads the nation in appointment of women into key government positions thanks to the effort of the Governor who not only picked a 56.25 female majority cabinet but also promoted the Political Offices (Gender Composition) Law that ensures 35% gender representation in all appointments.

Six years after, the reputation of Kwarans has changed from what it was. The state has shed its reputation as a perceived fiefdom; instead, it is now seen as another bastion of multiple political views and a place of great people with equal stakes in the future of the state.

Today, more than ever before, every Kwaran has a high sense of personal dignity and can stand up to anyone in defence or rejection of anything without risking the slur of being called a serf. Anyone who understands how stereotype threat works will understand what it means to be seen the way Kwarans were perceived in the years before 2019. To God be the glory!

The above is just a modest summary of the legacies of the Governor. But his administration has not done everything and could not have done everything. He is also not perfect. Future governments will have to take up the gauntlet from where His Excellency drops it on May 29, 2027, in shaa Allaah.

But there are challenges ahead as the 2027 election draws closer. Of greater importance is whether the state will build on these gains of the past six years or allow a relapse to the old order, as we are being baited to do. The choice we make in the next two years will determine the future of the state of harmony. And whatever the challenges of the coming phase, I pray to God to give Kwarans of good conscience and all progressives the strength and the foresight to resist the temptation to set back the state. This is the only viable path to protect the outstanding legacy of His Excellency Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq and jealously keep Kwara on a firmer footing.