Saraki’s leadership style is effective —Alabi

Yusuf Olanrewaju Alabi is a Lagos based businessman from Ojoku community in Oyun Local Government Area of Kwara State. The aspirant for the House of Representatives for Ifelodun/ Offa/ Oyun federal constituency speaks with BIOLA AZEEZ on political developments in the state. Excerpts:

Looking at your business background, what actually motivated you to go into politics?

The desire to serve my people and improve socio-economic life of the people attracted me to politics. I actually wish to impact my people, utilize my business background to affect my people, especially youths, women and aged towards effecting turnaround in development and infrastructure.

 

As a starter why are you gunning for the House of Representatives seat?

Starter for elective post you mean?  I have been behind the scene long before now. Besides, it’s not about me but where the people believe I will serve them optimally. Then again, I believe every elective post is important but I agree to serve at the Federal House of Representatives because of my desire to be a part of the federal legislature that makes laws for the betterment of people of Kwara and Nigeria at large.

 

What is your take on the leadership style of Dr. Bukola Saraki who is the national leader of the PDP and kingmaker of Kwara politics?

Dr. Saraki’s leadership style is very effective and imperative. He runs a structure that gives everyone a sense of belonging from wards to local and state levels. Contrary to lies bandied about, this leader of men and women takes no decision without consulting his people, calling them to meetings to articulate all their views. He even asks possible solutions to issues from the people. He is caring, Godly and humane. Some people swallow hook, line and sinker everything they read or hear from Saraki political opponents, thus allowing themselves to be deceived. I will advise my people not to be deceived any longer. This our leader means well for this state. His achievements as governor in the state are all there for all to see and being enjoyed by residents of the state.

Dr. Bukola Saraki impacted positively in Kwara state as a governor for eight years and his successor, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed had continued to perform to the admiration of people. He started the transformation of Ilorin, the state capital, like other towns in the state, from an ancient city to a modern one. He also built a modern multi- campus state university among other infrastructure.

There are moves by some politicians in the fold of APC to impeach the Senate President. What is your comment on this?

In my opinion that is what democracy is all about. Frankly speaking, impeachment is a constitutional issue.  APC senators alone don’t have the numbers because  you need 2/3 of all senators to carry out impeachment. Again, as it’s common knowledge that my leader, Dr. Bukola Saraki, is a master strategist and the political mathematician of our time, he is very much on top of his game. Why not relax and watch as the master player does what he knows best. Let’s see as things unfold in coming weeks.

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How would you assess the development of Kwara state under Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed? 

His Excellency has performed impressively. I am quite impressed by his performance especially in the area of revenue generation. He has performed creditably well within the available resources. More grease to his elbows and I wish him the very best in his future endeavours. For instance, let me x-ray some of the youth-centered programmes and policies that have been initiated by the present administration of Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed in Kwara. Since he assumed office, Alhaji Ahmed has implemented several youth development and empowerment initiatives for the benefit of young people in the State. At the inception of his administration in 2011, Governor Ahmed launched the Kwara Bridge Empowerment Scheme (KWABES) as a platform to generate reliable data of unemployed youths in the State and engage them in productive ventures. At the launching of the scheme, Governor Ahmed explained that his government’s desire to avert youth restiveness as a result joblessness led to the establishment of the scheme.

No fewer than 2000 unemployed youths in the State were, therefore, engaged under the scheme within the first 100 days of his administration, and more than 1000 of them have transited to permanent positions in the State civil service. The scheme was suspended in 2016 to allow for a review and overhaul. It was, however, recently resuscitated by the government and youth in the State have been asked to register. In realization of the importance of youth entrepreneurship, the State government in 2013 partnered the Kwara State University (KWASU) to train 150 selected youths on entrepreneurship development and they were equipped with the necessary tools to become successful entrepreneurs. They also had access to N50million loan facility to start or grow their businesses.

Furthermore, in his drive to encourage youth entrepreneurship through vocational training, Governor Ahmed established the International Vocational Training and Entrepreneurship College (IVTEC) at Ajase-Ipo in Irepodun local government area of the State. IVTEC is designed to create a generation of highly employable artisans and prosperous youth entrepreneurs through the provision of market relevant skills, leading to City and Guilds of London certification.

 

Recently, the governor also said that the state government in partnership with the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) and World Bank will sponsor 1000 annually for training at IVTEC. He also flagged off the Kwara Youth Empowerment Programme (KWAYEP) Corps that is designed as a platform to create employment and empowerment opportunities for the teeming youth in the state.

No doubt, many young entrepreneurs lack access to capital to develop their business ideas or flourish their existing businesses. To tackle this challenge, Governor Ahmed in 2012 launched the Kwara Micro-credit Intervention scheme to provide financial support to small and medium scale business owners. Under the scheme, priority is given to young people and women. An initial sum of N250m was approved by the governor to kick start the scheme. About N1.9billion has been injected into the scheme, leading to a turnover of over N3.2billion.

The Kwara State government has provided several empowerment opportunities for youths in Agriculture. In 2013, over 100 youth were deployed to the New Yidi Fish Farm and another 300 deployed to the Malete Integrated Youth Farm. Additionally, the government is prioritizing youths and women in its Estate Farm Initiative under the Off-takers Demand Driven Agriculture (ODDA) scheme. In fact, youth farmers oversubscribed the 2500 hectares of land cleared by the State government for farming activities. As envisioned by the Governor Ahmed-led administration, these programmes have impacted positively on youth development in Kwara, created more opportunities for the youth and expanded economic activities in the State.