In a democracy, the place of the legistaure cannot be underplayed. A state House of Assembly is seen as the mouth piece of people of a state. Its members, who represent various constituencies bring the opinions, complaints, problems and multi varying issues of their constituents to the floor of the House for deliberation which is usually anchored by the Speaker and later passed on for the attention and possible action of the executive arm of government.  

In that vein, when the Speaker of a state Assembly comes up to comment on the performance of the executive, it should be seen as a reflection of how and what the people of the state see or think about the government.

Just as the administration of Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara state clocks two years on May 29, 2013, the Speaker of the state Assembly, Hon. Abdulrazaq Atunwa, has said that, though, the government was not a perfect one, he will score it highly for what it has been able to achieve within available resources. “My candid opinion is that this government has performed creditably. Not only in the delivery of what is commonly termed dividends of democracy. It has done well in terms of good governance because, one, it’s a government that, knowing the Assembly on one hand has checks and balances, respects the views that come from the Assembly. It has encouraged transparency and accountability with some measures put in place within its operation. The governor, having served in previous administration has sort of carried on that sort of modus operandi in his own administration. In terms of bringing goodies to the people, it has performed very creditably.

“You can’t say it’s a perfect government, but if I was to score this government, I will score it highly, particularly on the four general hospitals, including additional three it is putting up. Aviation College, cargo terminal at the Ilorin International airport; road construction, particularly the Patigi-Pada Road, Share-Okene being awarded, Kishi-Kaiama and rural roads that spread across all the three senatorial districts. You can keep counting them on and on. Objectively, it has done creditably. Judging with dwindling allocation for the first one and half years, we are 33rd on the ladder in the allocation. I dare anyone to find a state of comparable revenue like Kwara state that has done so well in projects,” he said.

Working on the pedestal of continuing with and completing what his predecessor, Senator Bukola Saraki, was able to achieve in his eight years in the saddle, Governor Ahmed has also started new projects aimed at improving the socio-economic life of the people.

Understandably, the current administration in the state has a daunting task of being measured on daily basis, particularly by members of the opposition against development activities of the previous administration of Senator Bukola. Nevertheless, it has demonstrated its resolve and determination to sustain and improve upon what it met on ground to many people in the state.

Speaking after his recent tour of some project sites in parts of the three senatorial districts in the state, Governor Ahmed, expressed his determination to achieve early completion of all the ongoing projects by the government. He stated, “So far, we are happy with what we have seen. Our contractors are working accordingly and anywhere we expect to see things and they fall below our expectations, the contractor will be given a marching order. That is as clear as a crystal.”

The governor, who said there were plans for new projects, added that the ones he inspected were captured in the budget. “In other words, we have clearly outlined what we intend to do with peoples’ money. Other projects, roads, water, energy, schools and health sectors projects that are yet to start will necessarily be carried on as encapsulated in the budget. We will ensure that these projects are carried on once the funds are available. We have the responsibility of working within the limited resources that we have.

“We are one of the low states in terms of revenue allocation from the federal government. Also, our revenue base is not very strong in terms of internally generated revenue, largely because we are a public sector-driven environment. We are just trying to create an enabling environment to bring in the private sector to drive the system and create additional taxable environment that will increase the taxes and generate more revenue so that we can do more projects for the people.

“In a nutshell, more projects are coming on board-in terms of roads. For instance, the Kaiama/Kishi road is already being awarded. When we complete the nitty-gritty with the federal government, we will start the first phase of the road between Kishi and Kaiama. It is a three-phase road which is almost an N8 billion road project. We also have the Rore-Ipetu-Aran-Orin Road which has also been awarded at the cost of over N1.2billion and will start very soon. Also, there are a lot of feeder roads across the state that we will work on. You will recall that we have spent over N2billion on rural roads in 2012. We are opening up communities and this is expected to translate into economic activities because roads allow our people to be able to move goods and services.

“So, as we are doing roads as a social service, they also complement economic growth. We also expect to see improvement in our health sector because a healthy society is a wealthy society. We must see as, part of our human capital development, a very strong healthcare delivery system being put in place. That is why we pursued the renovation of hospitals. Primary health, secondary and tertiary health are being equipped with the human and material resources that will give us the necessary platform for a proper healthcare delivery system. These are all geared towards ensuring that we have a strong economic environment.”

Education is not left out. More than 200 classrooms will soon be renovated at the basic and secondary levels to create additional infrastructure for our students. More textbooks and laboratory equipment will be supplied to schools and mega schools will be constructed. These schools will create platforms to accommodate neighbouring schools in terms of infrastructure like laboratories and other training equipment for students,” he said.

Governor Ahmed, while speaking on reason for on-the-spot inspection of some selected ongoing projects, said that “we have a budget which is an articulation of programmes that we intend to spend the people’s money on at the beginning of every financial year. Once these projects have been given out to contractors, they need to be taken to completion. We want to be sure that works are carried on the way they have been idealised for implementation. On the strength of that, once projects are going, there is a strong project monitoring team, a Special Adviser on Infrastructure who also doubles as check and balance on developmental projects. We also need to see for ourselves to ensure that we get value for money. That is what informed our recent visits to various projects that are on-going to ensure that we get value for money. Anywhere we go to we expect that contractors should have got the job to the level to which we have funded them. So far, we are happy with what we have seen. Our contractors are working accordingly and anywhere we expect to see things and they fall below our expectations, the contractor will be given a marching order. That is as clear as a crystal.”

In his speech after the first inspection, Governor Ahmed warned contractors handling the projects but found to be running behind schedule would have such contracts revoked, adding that his administration’s programmes were structured with specific funds and completion time frames.

He gave the warning while after inspecting Offa General Hospital undergoing rehabilitation, Amberi Water Booster Station, Erin-Ile-Ilemona Road and Irra Road, all in Kwara South Senatorial District of the State. He, therefore, advised contractors who are unable to meet the time frame for completion of projects in relations to funds released to either be more proactive or have such contracts revoked.

At the Offa General Hospital rehabilitation project, Governor Ahmed, who was happy with the level of work done, assured the people of the community that the hospital would be equipped with new equipment to enhance healthcare delivery in the area. He assured the people of Ajasse-Ipo in Irepodun local government area that with the completion of the Amberi water booster station, water challenges in the town would soon become a thing of the past.

It is also noteworthy that the Ilorin General Hospital, which was abandoned by University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital [UITH] when it moved to its permanent site, is being remodelled at a cost of N2billion, according to the governor.  He said the 250-bed capacity Ilorin General Hospital was with an Accident and Emergency Ward, Consulting rooms, the Out-Patient department, Diagnostic Units, state of the art laboratories and modern equipment.

Governor Ahmed, who said that Offa General Hospital had a 250-bed facility and last witnessed a major rehabilitation in the 80s, added that it was being remodelled at the cost of N200 million for the physical structures. All the five hospitals currently being rehabilitated in the state will be equipped with modern equipment worth N357 million, according to the state Commissioner for Health, Alhaji Kayode Issa.

Also of note is the International Vocational Centre, Ajasse Ipo which seeks to empower youths with world-acclaimed qualifications like City and Guilds of London and fill the middle manpower gap in the Nigerian labour market. Inspecting the on-going project, Governor Ahmed commended the contractor for the pace of work at the site and expressed confidence that the centre will be completed in time for the enrolment of the first set of students in September, 2013.

The Amberi Water Booster is an 80, 000 litre capacity booster station which will supply water to Ajasse Ipo and its environs.

Governor Ahmed described the project as further demonstration of his commitment to empower Kwara youths with the requisite skills for self-employment and of his determination to establish Kwara State as the hub for vocational skills in the sub-region.

Also speaking, the Senior Special Assistant to the governor on Media and Communication, Dr. Muideen Akorede, said that Governor Ahmed is a fervent believer in timely delivery of budgeted projects and programmes.  “Although the government has several layers of project monitoring from which he receives regular progress reports, he wanted to verify progress through on-the-spot assessment as well as gauge the pulse of the people in terms of the expected impact of the projects as well as additional areas of need. The project tour took the governor to all parts of the state. The Governor is committed to new road and water projects for the next budgeting period as a result of the project tour,” he said.