The sun had crackled from its shell and slowly, but steadily, embraced a dazzling bright day not different from every other day. But before night fell, it left so much to remember. It defined its difference in grand style and left so much to thank Allah for, and so much to wish and hope for. This, perhaps, captures the event of Friday, September 20, the day Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed, the Executive Governor of Kwara State, in his characteristic monthly stewardship, explained to the people of Kwara his giant strides, expectations and new projects, challenges and what to hope for before the end of his first term in office. Appropriately tagged: The Governor Explains, he made himself an open book.

"Health is wealth," he had told his small audience, as he started off with his plans in the health sector. Maigidan Kwara, as he was rightly anointed by Maimartaba Ilory, Alhaji Zulkarnaini Ibrahim Gambari,  disclosed that renovation works at Share, Kaima and Offa General Hospitals have been completed, even as work is near completion at Omu-Aran and Ilorin General Hospitals. Exuding optimism, he said that by November this year, the hospitals with state-of-the-art equipment that would make them world class health facilities would be fully operational and comparable to any good hospital around the world.

 Humble to the point of admitting that he was not a magician that could make something out of nothing, he confessed to numerous challenges before him, including but not limited to paucity of funds.

The governor classified the expectations in few months ahead under three main units: job creation, training and security. Serenading and holding everyone spellbound in 60 minutes he fielded questions, he left no one in doubt where he was piloting the state to, doing so with an infectious humility and passion that showed his latent conviction on the Kwara project and how important everyone is in the task of achieving the vision.

"We are tackling unemployment head on. Already we have grouped all the artisans in the state – welders, mechanics, carpenters, bricklayers, fashion designers, barbers, into one association across all 16 local government councils, so they can access a soft loan of N100 million,"  he said. According to him, a committee had already been set up to work out the modalities so that every deserving person would get the loan through a micro-finance bank. The youths were not left out. The state government, he said, had equally initiated a N50 million revolving loan for youths trained under the Youth Empowerment Scheme in partnership with KWASU. Like the youths, civil servants also have a chance to procure the automobile of their dreams, as another N3 billion car loan initiative has just been disbursed.

Determined more than ever before to leave a lasting legacy in the state by consolidating on the infrastructure development programmes of the last administration, the Share-born administrator said his government was poised to construct a new State Secretariat with information technology facilities that would house four ministries, namely planning, water, energy and commerce. According to him, a good environment goes a long way to increase productivity.

 "There's no place like home, and a home lacking in peace no longer qualifies as home," he told the panelists. To make Kwara State a home for all, the government, he revealed, procured patrol vehicles for the Police, Navy, Army, Air Force, Civil Defence and the State Security Service. "I want to assure every resident in Kwara State that security occupies prime position in this administration. A good government must also protect what it has and the people are all that we have," he said.

Asked what his reaction was to allegations levelled by Christian Association of Nigeria, Kwara State Branch, Maigida adjusted his sitting position and began reeling out his years-long relationship with the Christians in the state long before he was appointed commissioner and later governor. "To start with, my better half is a devoted Christian. I have a number of relatives and friends who are very committed Christians. Kwara remains one united entity determined to explore our religion diversity to build a formidable, prosperous state. It was unfortunate such insinuation emanated from CAN whose members are highly patriotic. Don't forget that we are peopled by Nupe, Yoruba, Hausa, Fulani and Baruten and other ethnic nationalities and we have the responsibility of making everybody feel part and parcel of the State.

"Appointment into civil service or any organ of government in the state is largely on the three senatorial district basis; every council area is carried along. We should not allow ourselves to be reduced to the level of checking whether or not one is a Muslim or a Christian; all that is important is who qualifies and able to do the job and with particular reference to the Senatorial district and local government areas. In Kwara South, for instance, you find families where same siblings are of the two denominations. Where do we stand there? Since when did we begin to appoint people based on religion? I come from Share, a predominantly Muslim environment, but when we wanted to appoint a Permanent Secretary, the person who was deemed qualified is a Christian. We appointed him to the position and nobody complained.

Indeed, it was such a refreshingly rewarding and equally re-assuring 60 minutes that left everyone hopeful and expectant. Like one sufficiently trained  in the art of speaking and knowing what he wants and how to get there, he won more converts as always, by displaying passion, vision and determination hard to capture in words.