Of all the candidates vying for the governorship office in the coming 2023 elections, Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq has a good chance. This is not because he’s the incumbent governor of Kwara state but because of his achievements since he was voted in 2019. AbdulRazaq hasn’t only taken Kwara away from the sorry state his predecessors from Kwara PDP left it, but he has proven to Kwarans that the dividends of democracy could reach them without having affiliation with any political party. It wasn’t possible in the past!
When I see some blindfolded and deluded Kwara PDP members saying AbdulRazaq will not win the 2023 governorship election, I ask them why? While I will be expecting reasonable responses from them, they will mess the conversation up with falsehood. It’s only God who knows how PDP members manage to sleep with the magnitude of lies living rent-free in their heads. They’ll say O Su Wa – meaning we are fed up. If you ask them why they are fed up; they will mute and sometimes spew rubbish.
The truth is, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq is still the people’s choice. He has won the hearts of well-meaning Kwarans with his exploits in the last 3 years as the governor of Kwara state. Some of his numerous achievements are being commended by political observers and analysts as this essayist scribes. Still, AbdulRazaq is committed to taking Kwara to a greater height. Today in Kwara, all the local government areas have felt the leadership of AbdulRazaq – no LG area without a completed or ongoing project.
Before the 2019 election, like our roads, our schools were death’s trap. Our children learned under bad conditions. There were lots of classrooms that didn’t have chairs and windows. Our children sat on the floors to write tests and examinations. As if these were not heartbreaking enough, the past government unprofessionally recruited his unqualified party members to teach our children. The past government didn’t care about the State or the future of our children who were victims of its incompetence.
Away from our schools, roads, and children. Let’s talk about the welfare of civil servants under the past government. The civil servants who discharged their duties as expectedly only to be compensated with half salaries. At some point, civil servants were even begging to have the half salaries because they refused to pay them. Let’s pause a bit and think about how these civil servants were able to survive these sad days. Days when fathers couldn’t afford to buy anything home for their little kids.
Like our education, our health sector was also in a terrible state. Important pieces of equipment were missing in our hospitals while the health workers were inadequately funded. To make matters worst, Kwara PDP converted some community clinics for political use while those who were supposed to access it were dying. These and many others were the unforgivable sins of the banished PDP and why Kwarans collectively said O To Ge to them in 2019.
In Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq’s less than 4 years in office, he has righted most of PDP’s many wrongs. He’s touched education. Over 600 schools have been fixed and he’s not stopped. He’s touched health. Our hospitals now have good pieces of equipment with professional health workers attending to patients from time to time. Roads are being fixed across the 16 local governments. Our civil servants no longer receive half salaries. To further fulfill his campaign promises, AbdulRazaq also implemented the 30,000 minimum wage that PDP failed to implement!
These and many more are the reasons why AbulRazaq remains the people’s choice. Kwarans are aware that PDP does not mean well for them, therefore, instead of bringing it back to power, they’re solidly behind AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq.
Sulaiman Mumeen is a political scientist, he writes from Tanke