KWARA STATE GOVERNOR, ABDULFATAH AHMED, RECENTLY HELD HIS MONTHLY PERSONALITY INTERVIEW PROGRAMME IN ILORIN. TAGGED ‘GOVERNOR EXPLAINS,” HE SPOKE ON HIS GOVERNMENT’S EFFORTS TO CREAT JOBS, INSECURITY AND OTHER ISSUES. HAMMED SHITTU WAS THERE

How were you able to implement your last year budget? And what are the expectations of Kwara people in the new budget?

In 2013, we carried out programmes highlighted at the beginning of this administration. They were centred on making life better for our people. In other words, we saw the continuation of programmes tied to human capital development in education and health sectors.

We saw infrastructure improvement. Largely, we had interventions in areas of empowerment to our youths.  Remember, we have always laid emphasis that the youth make up 65 per cent of the people in Kwara State, and getting to do anything significant must necessarily see them carried along as part of our developmental programmes. That is why we spend a lot of time and resources in driving empowerment programmes. For instance, we organised artisans and made available to them the  sum of N100m on a revolving credit basis.

We also trained youth entrepreneurs at Kwara State University KWASU. One hundred and fifty of them were trained and will be supported with another N50m to ensure that they also access funds that would enable them jump-start businesses .  Of course, we supported civil servants with N3billion in loans to procure cars.

Most importantly, we created employment for over 1,000 youth to reduce unemployment. These are some of what we have been doing in response to the real needs of our people. Moreover, we are still counting.

In the 2014 budget presentation, you talked about an Infrastructure Development Fund, what is this all about?

The Infrastructure Development Fund is designed to fund infrastructure requirements of Kwara State from a holistic perspective. Traditionally, if you look at Nigeria, the level of infrastructural development is low because the funding to support it is not usually articulated from a holistic perspective.

We normally prepare for them on case-by-case basis and unless we approach it from a global perspective, we will not succeed. We looked at the infrastructural requirements of Kwara State that will take us to the level when we can compete favourably with developed environments. We have identified a deficit of over N300 billion that is required to take infrastructure to level where we can also be amongst evolving environments.

We know that N300billion is a lot of money. So how much can we do within the tenure of our administration? That is why we are taking a proportion of it, which is about N30 billion from the capital market to support infrastructural needs in areas of electricity, water, energy, education, health and security. These areas are very critical. These are minimum levels we must get Kwara State to for proper development of our people.

The Infrastructural Development Fund is a pool of funds, which we will create to be managed by financial institutions. These funds will be such that banks can lend against it, they can borrow against it. This will see us accessing funds on a continuous basis to carry out infrastructural development.

You must be resourceful to create monies that can be channeled into developing programmes for our people. The infrastructural development fund will serve as a platform for funding infrastructure in Kwara State, not just by this administration. It will go beyond this administration. This fund will be there permanently to service infrastructure. We will not need to keep going cap in hand to do bridges; to do water, to do classrooms, to do hospitals. We will be able to get infrastructure for our people as at when due.

You just mentioned that banks are going to partner in your infrastructural development fund, how have you been able to address the insecurity challenge, especially as it affects banks’ operations in the state?

The incidents in Offa and Omu-Aran are very unfortunate. I want to use this medium to commiserate with the families of those who lost their lives. I have had several meetings with the Bankers Committee and the security agencies and you will recall that part of the strides we recorded in the last financial year was with the support of security agencies. It is on the premise that people must be secured that we established Operation Harmony, which is a joint task force of the Army, Navy, Air force, the Nigerian Police, State Security Service, the Civil Defence and other para military agencies.

This is to see that the joint effort pushes security to levels that our people will feel safe. It is very unfortunate that we are still faced with security challenges. However, Kwara State as we know has enjoyed relative peace, safe for pockets of armed robbery cases. Operation Harmony has been supported with logistics such as vehicles and funding. We have military outposts set up in Omu-Aran and Offa today. We plan additional police posts at Offa. The Army, Police and Air force are working hand in hand to ensure that we do not record these ugly incidents again. I have also assured the Bankers Committee that the security has been enhanced.

In addition, an Armoured Personnel Carrier is coming hopefully by the end of this month to beef up security in these areas. We cannot allow insecurity in any part of Kwara. I assure the people of Offa and Omu-Aran and the general citizens of Kwara State that Government is up to the task of securing lives and property.

We will continue to put more efforts in making security tight so that all those who will feel that they can come and commit any crime here will be apprehended and brought to justice. We will continue to strengthen the security agencies’ capacity to ensure that we do not record those kinds of ugly incidents again.

  What is the rationale behind the recently launched QuickWin programme for unemployed youth in the state?

The rationale behind the intervention is to create a safety net programme that for our teeming youth. QuickWin is an intervention platform for our youth to be trained in entrepreneurship and provided employment. We also want to see them get engaged in public works so that rather than sitting idle, they can leave home in the morning, earn some money and come back home, pending when they are either fully supported to become full entrepreneurs or get full employment.

It is itself like a bridge to move youth from idleness to productive engagement. We also want to use it to carry out activities in public works and entrepreneurship training. The employment will be in all the 16 local governments of the state. About 5,000 youth would benefit immediately. This will start in the next one to three months. In addition, we will be employing about 200 people every month until the end of the year.

Kwara State has the lowest unemployment rate in Nigeria, which is an indication that our policies and programmes on youth employment are yielding dividends. However, we will not rest on our oars. We will continue to strive hard to create jobs for the youth.

What preparations have you made so that politicians do not hijack the programme?

Of course! When you reside in Kwara, you are entitled to any programme that we do  irrespective of your political leanings, tribe or background. Once you are resident in Kwara, and you pay taxes, you will enjoy government interventions.

That is why any programme in Kwara is for those who reside in Kwara and people should expect to benefit accordingly. That is why we spread every programme across the nooks and crannies of the state to cover the 16 local governments and the 194 wards. Those who pay taxes should get the benefit of the tax they pay and that is why our programmes have no political or ethnic colouration.

QuickWin is not a political, religious or ethnic affiliated programme. It is a programme for Kwara people and when we talk of Kwara people, we refer to those who live in the state. Once you live in Kwara, you are a ‘Kwaran’, whether you are originally from Kogi, Niger, Benue or any other place.