By Muideen Akorede

A mark of credible opposition is the capacity or ability to articulate superior, cerebral alternatives to the ruling party's programs. Alternatively, and this is what are sadly saddled with in Kwara, a feckless opposition can play ostrich, denying obvious achievements and blindly criticizing the ruling party in a vain search for relevance.

On perusing an article titled "Kwara Scorecard: Yet Another Wasted Year", written by Mr. Suleiman Buhari, chairman of Kwara Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and published on Ilorin.Info, I was tempted to consign his jaundiced assessment of the current administration in Kwara State into the latter category and press the delete button. But I am compelled to tarry and set the records straight for the benefit of the people whose mandate His Excellency, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed, The Executive Governor of Kwara State, is exercising through focused and purposive governance.

Buhari makes the unfounded claim that the government has failed to articulate a coherent plan for reform. That claim in itself shows that the CPC like it's equally clueless counterpart in the state has little or no knowledge of the state they are desperate but manifestly unqualified to run.  From day one, Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed has outlined the Medium Term Sector Strategy (MTSS), the 4-year framework for developing the state, later simplified into the Shared Prosperity Programme. MTSS contains plans, high- level strategies, key performance indicators and critical success factors for all Ministries, Departments and Agencies.

It is the basis for budgeting as each year's module is refined into the draft appropriation bill. Not only does Governor Ahmed repeatedly refer to the MTSS in all speeches and interviews, the MTSS is also on the state website. Clearly, Buhari and his co-travellers need to better educate themselves about governance in Kwara State.

Perhaps the main thrust of Buhari's subjective assessment is that the Ahmed administration has failed to deliver on its promises in the last two years. As I will demonstrate, the CPC fails in its bid to diminish the administration's laudable achievements, attained despite challenges imposed by low FAAC allocation. First, I point Buhari to youth empowerment where the government has recorded the most impactful achievements.

In two years, 5000 youths are now employed under the innovative Kwara Bridge Employment Scheme (KWABES).

Not only have the first batch of 2000 youths been permanently absorbed into the state civil service, another 2000 have replaced them on the bridge empowerment scheme. And just last month, Governor Ahmed formally engaged another 1000 on Democracy Day. This is apart from the 150 youths, trained in partnership with KWASU under the Youth Entrepreneurship Scheme, who will benefit from a N45m revolving micro credit scheme.

Similarly, 30,000 small business owners are now considerably better off thanks to the Kwara Entrepreneurship Model under which N250m of the N500m MSME revolving micro credit has been disbursed to cooperatives in the state. In the coming months, another N100m will be disbursed to a new set of small business owners under the same scheme. For Buhari's information, the impact of this intervention in view of our traditional family networks where one usually fends for a score as well as the multiplier effect on jobs exceed the 30, 000 beneficiaries of this revolving micro credit scheme.

In the health sector, the Ahmed administration has rehabilitated primary health care centers, supplied equipment and drugs to 13 general hospitals and 43 cottage hospitals.  In line with the policy thrust of 500-metre accessibility to quality health care, the Ahmed administration has rehabilitated Ilorin, Offa, Share, Omu-Aran and Kaiama General Hospitals into first class hospitals. The hospitals are currently awaiting the installation of cutting-edge equipment the contract for which has already been awarded.

Buhari makes the claim that our hospitals are understaffed using global standards that are divorced from local contexts. Furthermore, no full time staff of any hospital in the state has been terminated. Rather, in line with Performance Contracts, the government refused to renew the contracts of underperforming and ageing contract staff rather than saddle the health system with the underemployed.

For Buhari's information, the state government has employed 10 consultants at the Sobi Specialist Hospital, Ilorin, each of whom cost the state government about N6m per annum. On account of this, the Nigerian Medical and Dental Council gave the Tertiary health institution permission to run housemanship programmes.

The implication is that not only do we have fully accredited health institutions in the state; these hospitals are churning out first-class medical personnel to man our hospitals.

In the education sector, the achievements are no less stellar. Under the School Development Programme, the Ahmed administration has rehabilitated 400 classrooms at the basic and secondary schools besides enhancing access to quality education at these levels by abolishing tuition fees at Senior Secondary School level.  Students of Kwara State origin now have greater access to higher education thanks to the 30 per cent fee reduction at KWASU by the state government.

To fill the gap in middle manpower in the state and indeed, nationwide, the state government has established the City and Guilds of London-graded International Vocational Centre, Ajasse Ipo. Clearly, these are the actions of an administration focused on delivering its electoral promises to empower the youth and improve the well being of the majority in the immediate and long term.

What about the energy sector where 189 communities have benefited from the installation of 136 transformers across the state, thus joining the growing of Kwara communities connected to the national grid? Several major streets in Ilorin, the state capital, now boast of streetlights thus boosting security and beautifying the metropolis. Not fully satisfied with the on-going high service delivery in the sector, the Ahmed administration has concluded plans to establish an Independent Power Project in the state.

For the CPC's information, the Ahmed administration has also recorded high performance in the water supply sector. In the last two years, more people have secured access to clean portable water with the rehabilitation of 17 waterworks across the state. Locations without surface water now benefit from the state government's 10 boreholes per month scheme under which 330 have been sunk so far.

In the road sector, the government introduced preventive maintenance with Operation No Potholes as well as rehabilitation 800 kilometers of urban and rural roads across the state in the last two years. To cite a few examples, the residents of Mubo Street, Ejiba Road, Fate Road, Pakata-Sooto, all in Ilorin, Ijomu-Oro Road, Landmark to Omu-Aran Township Road and Aiyedun-Ilale Road, Lafiagi Township etc. will clearly cast their lot with the Ahmed administration for its high-performance in roads and other sectors.

Nowhere is Buhari's misleading claims more obvious than in his mind-boggling criticism of the Ahmed administration for the isolated cases of insecurity in the state. For Buhari's information, insecurity is a national malaise that we are confident that the federal government can fix. Despite this, the Ahmed administration continues to contribute to the operational efficiency of the Nigeria Police through financial and logistic support.

Within its first 100 days in office, the administration donated 10 Toyota Hilux trucks to the state police command and has followed through with a quarterly provision of another 5 trucks to the police. The state has also acquired Armored Personnel Carriers for the Police Command.

In response to the isolated cases of criminality that Buhari exaggerated in his article, the state government created Operation Harmony, a joint task force comprising the Nigeria Police, Nigerian Army, Civil Defense and Department of State Security.  It is a testimony to outfit's hard work and to the Ahmed administration's proactive approach to maintaining law and order that the situation has now been brought under control.

Furthermore, the recent outbreak of cultism, which no state in Nigeria has successfully solved, was reportedly triggered by events in a particular state often hailed for its tight security network. While the Ahmed administration continues to implement measures to tackle crime and criminality, the sad truth is that no government in the world has successfully eradicated crime.

Not surprisingly, Buhari succumbs to the allure of fallacious beer parlor gossip in backing his untenable claim that the administration has under performed: that Governor Ahmed has been hamstrung from high-performance by the former state governor and Distinguished Senator of the Federal Republic, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki. This is not only manifestly untrue but it you wonder about the quality of an opposition that panders to street gossip. For the record, Governor Ahmed is in charge of Kwara State and takes credit for his administration's strides and actions.

Admittedly, there is more work to be done. But the likes of Buhari have failed in their partisan attempt to diminish the laudable achievements of the Abdulfatah Ahmed administration. The PDP government has done remarkably well and will continue to strive towards meeting the yearnings of the majority of the people, undaunted by the antics of the puny opposition.

Dr. Muideen Akorede is a Senior Special Assistant (Media and Communication) to the Governor of Kwara State