Kwara and the Lost in the Labyrinth of Bad Governance
By Abdullateef Ishowo
Isn’t it an interesting moment in Kwara as systemic failure culminates into a governance crisis in the state? The weight and the tortuosity of toxic governance are crippling the developmental pace (not growth) of the state, and we all keep mute as if nothing happens. Sheer hypocritical or fearful? “The man died in him, he who keeps quiet in the face of tyranny”. Quipped Wole Soyinka. This is beyond mistakes invited by incompetence, there seems to be evil at the helm.
However, I am neither surprised nor faced; I am rather innocently furrowing my brow at the quantum of anatomical destruction of the structure. Anyone who has read a book titled “Evil Men” by Miranda Twiss will understand that the only unifying factor among certain rulers and the evil acts they perpetrate is the unlimited power they wield over their subjects. Whether they appear in Kaki, suit or agbada, what they wear is immaterial, and what the garments cover is mutually inhuman.
It saddens the heart and is quite difficult to comprehend how and why Gov AA watches his subjects die cheaply without budging. I wonder how he sleeps lightheartedly with eyes closed and snoring noisily to the eardrums of the traumatised subjects. Act of irresponsibility or dearth of wisdom?
How does one describe the deliberate negligence of Okoolowo to the detriment of the downtrodden? That the once bubbling area has now become a deathtrap is unthinkable. From road accidents occasioned by failure of governance and poor condition of the community to kidnappings, our people get traumatised, kidnapped or killed daily without any sign of empathy from the government. These reoccur right in the city of Ilorin, the state capital where the governor equally resides. Rather than nip the menace in the bud, our own very brothers, whose families are equally feeling the toxic effects of the persistent misgovernance in the state,e, are busy releasing epistles to continue tarnishing the image of past governments in the state. How commonsensical is this, for God’s sake! What good does this act of insensitivity do the people of the state? Or diversionary ploy to sway the unsuspecting Kwarans from the reality already staring them in the face? Haba! Where’s our conscience? While the previous governments weren’t perfect, the present isn’t compliant without areas of performance, but today, they reserve the huge opportunity to right tomorrow.
I wonder why we continue to chase shadows at the detriment of substance by thinking something good will ever come out of nothingness? You can’t give what you lack. Knowledge rules the world, and poverty results in disaster. Plato emphasised the need for the Greeks to prioritise meritocracy over mediocrity and education over ignorance when selecting a leader. He advocated for either a philosopher-king or king-philosopher as a leader. Sadly, our man is neither a philosopher-king nor a king-philosopher. Hence, his nonchalant attitude to the exit of governance in the state. Governance has taken flight from here to an unknown destination.
The current security situation in the state of harmony is unprecedented, as bandits take over the northern part, kidnappers ravage the south, and the central is not spared of kidnapping and incessant strikes by rival cult groups resulting in the loss of youthful lives. Former Governor Bukola Saraki, in collaboration with Kwara Poly and Unilorin authorities,, fought cultism to a standstill in Kwara between 2004 and 2006. How we return back to the dark era of cultism beats common sense.
Our earlier persistent calls to prioritise security over beautification by constructing a flyover at Okoolowo and Shao junctions rather than Tanke and Unity fell on the deaf ear of the governor. Thinking that he probably lacks good advisers, I persistently told him via different radio programs that the choice of Tanke to site an overhead bridge was almost useless as the road terminates at Unilorin and solves no tangible challenge as the case is at Okoolowo and Shao junctìons. Ditto Unity flyover as a mere beauty contest; if there was a flyover at Post-office constructed by former Governor Bukola Saraki, there must be another one at a stone-thrown constructed by ‘me’. Infrastructural development is good, and Governor AA should be commended for working hard to maintain what he met on the ground by rehabilitating some existing roads and beautifying the city by constructing bridges; a single life lost as a result of insecurity negates whatever the achievement of beautification efforts is.
Kidnappers ravage the southern part of the state as traditional rulers contribute funds to protect themselves from the hands of the devil’s incarnates. In Oke-Ero local government in same Kwara south on Friday, 25th April 2025, the Head of the Legal Department, Barrister Elizabeth Arinde and the Director of Personnel Management (DPM), Alhaji Musbau Amuda of the same council, were kidnapped with their abductors, demanding an N50m ransom. On their release barely 48 hours later, it wasn’t clear whether the ransom was paid or they were released “fisaebilillah”. I don’t want to laugh, please.
If this bothers you, the situation is alarmingly worse in the northern part of the state as bandits kill at will. Just a few days ago, unknown gunmen attacked Ilesha-Baruba, leaving a death toll of six innocent people.
Rather than being alive to his core responsibility of protecting the lives and properties of citizens who voted him to the office that gave him the power he now wields blatantly nacked, Mr Governor continues to enmesh himself in politics of bitterness unprecedented to any of his predecessors. For instance, he has persistently stopped constituency projects facilitated by the performing Senator representing Kwara Central in the red chamber of the National Assembly, Mallam Saliu Mustapha, without considering the interests of the electorates and the general public. We saw this action perpetrated by the governor when he stopped the construction of Isale-jagun road; forcing the affable senator to relocate the project to another area within the state capital. A similar act is meted on the proposed Sulu Gambari Pavilion at Emir of Ilorin’s Palace as requested by the Ilorin Emirate Descendants Progressive Union (IEDPU) executives. Till this moment, the entire well-meaning Ilorites are still pleading to our amiable governor to temper justice with mercy.
In the last six years, well-meaning individuals like me, who desire development for this state, would have voluntarily joined the government of Abdulrahman Abdulrasaq without being persuaded or sought after if we had witnessed good governance which surpasses the previous ones vehemently condemned by the o toge crusaders. Alas! The governance vehicle of the state has been put on a reverse gear. This position clearly resonates with that of the Kwara Redemption Movement (KRM) group, a faction in the Kwara APC that broke away from the governor’s camp.
Ministries and local government departments have been killed as workers are on sabbatical leave. Gone were the days when commissioners and local government chairmen executed multimillion-dollar projects. The duties of the workers of the finance ministry are now executed by unknown foreign consultants. Thereby denying many workers from getting their salaries when due. Many KWSUBEB Pensioners are still expecting their February, March and April salaries as payment of gratuity becomes a privilege. Kwara Road Maintenance Agency now lives in its past glory. Worse still, the sole administrator who withdrew all these functions hardly stayed back to govern the state. Ours is a part-time governor.
As I have stated in many media, our problem isn’t political parties but the human beings who are the operators of these parties. Whichever party you belong to, be a good person there. Political parties remain mere vehicles to convey your interest and deliver your ambitions; your character resides in you permanently. It’s in your blood, mostly an inborn attribute. It follows you everywhere like your shadow. It refuses to separate from you. So what has the party got to do with your character? This explains why I align with Prof. Hassan Saliu’s clarion call on Kwara politicians that if you’re not prepared to proffer solutions to some of our numerous challenges as a state battling with a leadership crisis and have an idea of what to do to fix them, don’t bother to contest come 2027; God spares our lives. It’s not your birthright. It’s now about who, not about political party.
As President Bola Ahmed Tinubu keeps searching for solutions to our numerous challenges as a people yearning for progress, I implore him to graciously see to the ongoing misgovernance in Kwara under Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrasaq. It’s unprecedented, as the governor feels that the security of lives and properties, citizens’ participation and engagement, accountability and human capital development should all bow to the rehabilitation of a few existing roads. Let Mr. President look around and ask some fundamental questions, why is Mr. Governor fighting everybody? Why are people running away from him despite the enormous resources at his disposal? Where’re yesterday’s original o toge crusaders? Why have they abandoned the ‘beautiful’ house they built together? Mr. President should reflect on all this.
I am not so sure if all those who carry out inhuman acts live to suffer the repercussions, but JS Mill’s admonition comes to mind that “the dictum that truth always triumphs over persecution is one of the pleasant falsehoods which men repeat after one another till they pass into commonplace, but which experience refutes. History teems with instances of truth and goodness put down by persecution.
Winston Churchill’s assertion that history will be fair to him because he will write it corroborates Mill’s position, as we’ve witnessed many tyrants living comfortable lives after unceremonious exit from office. However, the evil done by men lives after them, I so believe. The law of karma is real, after all.
Abdullateef Ishowo is an author, development analyst and political strategist
