Kwara State Governor, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed, says the state has witnessed significant development across all sectors in the last fourteen (14) years.
Ahmed who made this comment in a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Communications, Dr. Muyideen Akorede on Friday, said the state recorded visible progress since 2003.
The governor noted that his administration and that of former governor, Dr. Bukola Saraki have elevated the State and its people despite spending the bulk of federal allocations on salaries and pensions.
Akorede said Ahmed’s administration has completed most inherited projects and has equally implemented new projects while several are ongoing across the State.
According to the statement, some of the projects implemented by Ahmed’s administration include renovation and equipping of five general hospitals into state-of-the-art facilities, International Vocational, Technical and Entrepreneurship College (IVTEC) Ajase Ipo, KWASU’s ultra-modern Engineering Complex, urban and rural electrification and water projects as well as youth empowerment and Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) development under which more than 60,000 youths and entrepreneurs have benefited.
The statement said Kwara state under Governor Ahmed rehabilitated seventeen (17) waterworks across the State, expanded its Community Health Insurance scheme and carried out reforms such as the establishment of the Kwara State Internal Revenue Service (KWIRS) and Kwara Infrastructural Development Fund (IF-K) which have ensured sustained infrastructure development and prompt payment of salaries and pensions to State workers and pensioners.
It added that the reforms have also enabled the state government implement several road projects across the state despite the limited resources at its disposal, noting that the development is an ongoing process and that governance is a continuum.
The statement said the ongoing projects include: Geri Alimi Diamond Underpass, the new KWASU Campuses at Ekiti and Ilesha Baruba, its Postgraduate School in Ilorin, dualisation of Kulende-UITH road and the solar-powered streetlights project, “Light Up Kwara”.
According to the statement, the previous administration of Dr. Saraki, the current Senate President, implemented several infrastructural projects such as the Kwara State University, Malete, Harmony Advanced Diagnostic Centre, International Aviation College, Ilorin, Shonga farms, numerous urban and rural roads and electrification projects, remodeling of the Ilorin Township Stadium as well as pioneered the innovative Community Health Insurance Scheme.
Akorede said the projects have expanded access to higher education, boosted health care for Kwarans, established the State as an aviation hub, created thousands of local jobs and significantly developed the State.
He stressed that any attempt to assess the utilization of monetary inflows into Kwara since 2003 must recognise the fact that as a civil-service dominated State, Kwara utilizes up to 70% of allocation for payment of salaries and overheads, but noted that the State government has implemented several developmental projects across all sectors despite this challenge.
“Kwara of today does not bear any semblance with Kwara of 2003 development-wise”, Akorede said.