By Ibraheem Abdullateef
Kwara Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq does not have ideas. He surrounds himself with mediocre and has not done anything differently since he came on board about two years ago. He doesn’t listen to anyone; all he does is fighting with his party men. If you are not observant enough in Kwara, this is the kind of news you will get from conspiracy theorists.
But is that true? Is that our reality?
We do not need to go far. Three things happened in Kwara this week to guide your thoughts. One, the Hijab controversy; a faith-based issue that was a landmine for anarchy, if poorly managed. The second is the eventual commencement of the examination for applicants for teaching jobs under the Kwara State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) and the Kwara State Teaching Service Commission (TESCOM) on Monday across all the 16 designated centres in the state. The last is the strategic security meeting the Governor held with security top guns as a response to arrest the deepening security fears and protection of lives and properties in the state.
These are great reports about the Governor who is noiselessly rebuilding the state, but this is not the bar. Maybe because a few of us know what stuff he is made of. I only need to highlight them to put lies to many claims often floated by the naysayers for mischievous purposes.
Trouble brewed in Kwara on Monday when some missionary schools locked out students for using the hijab as part of the uniform to school. As it is customary with faith-based issues, temper began to rise and the atmosphere became charged with claims and counterclaims. Adherents of each religion began to argue to suit their side which if allowed to fester can burn a state easily. One bad statement here and there could have brought carnage on our land. It is proper to acknowledge the quick intervention of the government to make students return to their classes, as well as the great management of the stakeholders on the issue, to curtail inciting comments which could lead to anarchy. The masterstroke was the immediate closure of the affected schools pending the time the committee finishes her assignment. Now, we need to know one thing; the hijab issue has been in place for years in missionary schools. It reared its ugly head during the administration of Ex-Governor Ahmed but it was brushed aside for political correctness, instead of being tackled and resolved, and here are the results today. It’d have been settled if there was ever a brave administration in place which was ready to do right by the people for posterity sake. It is the unwise AbdulRazaq who averted anarchy and is set to decisively settle the religious issues a doctorate degree holder bungled.
You will remember when the government took a stand on ‘sunset workers’ a few months ago, many analysts and social media idealists called him all sorts of names. Some said he was callous. Some said he was insincere. It didn’t matter to many that the past administration which recruited the workers never denied it ran a faulty recruitment process, and, that education should never be used to play politics. The gale of blackmails persisted for months. The Governor was put under intense pressure to rescind his decision. Someone without vision and idea of what he wanted would have given up.
But what do we have today? Beautiful pictures from the examination centres across the state. We have never had such an open, fair, and transparent process! Should we rehash the past here? No. We ‘meuuuve’! Because if we do not do so, we will remember the past which the elders say turns the eyes misty. We will remember that people, qualified or unqualified, only had to know someone somewhere to start holding chalk as teachers in the classrooms. Time when people just had to be regulars at political party ward meetings. Imagine teachers who could not write and speak basic English left to produce future leaders of the state. Bizarre. Tragedic. That was how we got to a point where the basic education system reached the lowest ebb. The result was that students became disenchanted with studying and learning and would rather take to the fast ways; malpractice, truancy, amidst other vices to mask their inadequacies. It got to nadir when WAEC had to blacklist the state. With the payment of the fine, access of UBEC funds, and ongoing recruitment of sound teachers, the unwise Governor is repositioning basic education for good, opening up a new future for Kwara.
Nigeria is bedevilled by security issues. Insecurity has now become a hydra-headed monster leaving the trail of destruction and bloodbath in its wake across the states. This led to a growing fear among Kwara residents of grave danger owing to the deplorable security conditions of the neighbouring states. Is it justified? Yes, definitely. Every facet of human development hinges on security. But do we have cause to fear? Not as the fifth-columnists play it up. Those with political agenda have been consistent with revving the onerous narrative to paint an unsafe and insecure state which is a haven for bandits. Some have even come to town to say the Government does not care a hoot about the situation and is more concerned with politics. Bingo.
Who attended the NEC meeting on security issues with the other 36 states governors last week? Who conveyed another security meeting with security chiefs on Monday? Definitely not the man who doesn’t care a hoot about the security of the state.
Attended by the Governor, Deputy Governor Kayode Alabi, and other members of the council, the crux of the meeting is the announcement of an upcoming joint security meeting between Kwara and Niger States to curtail kidnapping, banditry and other crimes. Then what? You guessed right. There is going to be a military operation this week in the forests between the two states to dislodge and clear criminal elements from the area by denying them safe harbour. You think he bluffs? No. Not GAA. He’d rather not talk.
Let me remind you of an incident which happened last year. It also involved banditry. Suspected bandits had camped in Baruten and were reportedly planning to spread terror in the state. The Governor got wind of the plot, mobilised and led the military operations to the hideout. The community was liberated and the rest as they say is his history. It is only a concern that revisionists are unrelenting in standing that history on its head now.
There is a pattern to these stories; the teachers’ recruitment process, hijab controversy, and the insecurity challenges: They are wired in the media as issues beyond the Governor’s concern and above his capacity. The way he has taken up and tackled all the issues headlong put a lie to the insinuations in some quarters that Kwara is on autopilot. If this is what they call autopilot mode maybe it is better we continue in this light. Or what do you say to an ‘unwise’ Governor who is repositioning the basic education system, averted a religious and tribal crisis, and, is making the state a fortress to rampaging bandits? May he not be wise. As long as the state is marching forward.
