Rahman at 6: A Governor in Office, But Never in Touch

By Abdulyekeen Mohd Bashir.

On May 29, 2025, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq marked his sixth year as Governor of Kwara State. By every available metric, and if we’re to be honest with ourselves, these past six years have been defined by vengeance, wastefulness, delusion, maladministration, misplaced priorities and a penchant for showmanship. Rather than purposeful leadership, what we’ve witnessed is a governor preoccupied with optics, while citizens groan under the weight of hunger, economic stagnation, insecurity, and political disarray.

Perhaps the clearest symbol of this administration’s misplaced priorities is the now-infamous ‘West Africa’s tallest flagpole’ on Unity Road in Ilorin. Over half a billion naira was reportedly spent on erecting this structure—money that could have gone into addressing more pressing issues. The government claimed the pole would boost tourism and attract economic and development opportunities to the state. Till today, no explanation has been offered as to how a flagpole would achieve any of that.

While pensioners go hungry, kidnapping and banditry ravage parts of the state, public servants struggle to make ends meet, and local businesses struggle to stay afloat, the governor and his advisors thought the best way to commemorate his sixth year in office was by planting a glorified stick in the sky. For six years, he has failed to attract any meaningful local or foreign investment to the state, despite frequent junketing disguised as investment drives. The people, who are the rightful owners of the state’s commonwealth, have received nothing in return. Anyways, they have a flagpole to stare at anytime they pass by Unity Road.

Then there was the strange decision to demolish the state’s only cargo terminal—a structure that held economic potential—and replace it with a so-called garment factory. Today, the factory stands idle, producing more headlines than clothing materials. Instead of building on existing infrastructures, the governor chose to destroy and rebrand, offering empty structures in place of functioning systems. It is symbolic of an administration that values media optics over practical progress.

Last week, I read in the news that the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) had partnered with the Plateau State government to build a food cargo hub at the Yakubu Gowon Airport, Jos, to address food wastage, boost exports and transform the state into a premier food cargo hub. Immediately I saw this news item, my mind went straight to the Ilorin Cargo airport that Governor Abdulrazaq has irrationally destroyed. If the Cargo airport was still in place and considering Kwara’s location as the link between the Northern and Southern parts of the country, it would have a good fit for such an arrangement. Sadly, Abdulrazaq has robbed Kwara of such an opportunity with his poor and absurd decision.

The absurdity didn’t end there. On one street in Ilorin, Governor Abdulrazaq is spending billions of taxpayers’ money on two hotels. He is spending almost N25 billion to renovate Kwara Hotels, while also expending billions of naira to build another hotel at the site of the ongoing International Conference Centre, which is just a few meters away from Kwara Hotel. This is an economically unwise decision considering the number of hotels we have in the metropolis and the new ones springing up. With no tourist traffic, and no significant increase in local hospitality demand, one wonders why a government would choose to spend about N30 billion (if not more) of state resources on renovating and building hotels. Who are these hotels really meant for? Certainly not the struggling civil servants and poor local residents who have been economically drained.

The Sugar Film Factory, unveiled with fanfare in April last year, was supposed to turn Kwara into a new Nollywood hub. Yet, not a single major production has emerged from the site. No notable filmmakers have set foot there, and it continues to exist as nothing more than a glorified movie set. Another launch, another vanity project, another drain on state resources.

The so-called innovation hub and Visual Studio projects were advertised as tech and creativity boosters. But anyone who visits these buildings will quickly realise they are little more than hollow showrooms–deserted, underutilised, and lacking in any real innovation. Critics have rightfully described them as “projects looking for a purpose.” That purpose, if any, seems to be photo ops.

On the political front, Abdulrahman has managed to break his own party into factions. Never in our history has a sitting governor had this many enemies within his own house. The APC is now a battleground of ego, exclusion, and betrayal. From Senator Saliu Mustapha to representatives across senatorial districts, anyone who refuses to bow to the governor’s whims is pushed out and constantly attacked by the governor’s aides and data boys. Governance has been reduced to a game of loyalty tests, and the state is suffering for it.

As I write this, I am boiling with frustration, because all these projects I’ve mentioned—this colossal waste of public funds—are largely concentrated in just one senatorial district. It’s as though the rest of Kwara doesn’t exist. The governor’s loyalty is clearly to a narrow political clique and a limited geography. What about Baruten? What about Edu? What about Oyun, Offa, Patigi, and the rest? There are so many unwise decisions under this government that one article cannot exhaust them. What I’ve done here is merely highlight a few. But Kwarans, those of us bearing the brunt daily, we know the full list. And it is ugly.

Today, Kwarans only hear about the billions in federal allocations that their government receives every month, they don’t feel the impact. Their collective resources are mismanaged and unaccounted for. With no clear vision, no sustainable investments, and zero accountability, the resources that could have transformed Kwara have instead disappeared into a bottomless pit of poor decisions and relentless propaganda. Six years on, this is the true legacy of his administration.

Abdulyekeen Mohd Bashir, a Kwara-born political analyst, writes from Ilorin.