‘There is No Opposition Party in Kwara State’
Abdullahi Oganija is the Director, Media and Publicity, Abubakar Bukola Saraki (ABS) Mandate Constituency/ Campaign Office, Ilorin, Kwara State. He discusses a wide range of issues with select journalists. Hammed Shittu was there
What are the achievements of the President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki in Kwara State after almost three years?
Most of his programmes are done to cushion the suffering of the people of the Emirate and Kwara at large. Let me start from the education sector. In 2016 alone, over 47 classrooms were constructed in both Kwara Central and parts of the Emirate. A lot of teaching aids had been supplied to where they were needed. Apart from this, we discovered that most of our students, especially those in public schools lacked computer facilities.
Then, how do you think they can compete with others, now that most of the qualifying examinations like JAMB are taken by means of computer. As it is, if you are not computer literate, you cannot even sit for UTME. So, the Senate President felt it was important and donated computers to many Secondary Schools in his Senatorial District. Apart from this, he provided some instructional materials that are very useful for the students. He also paid the school fees of some indigent students, whose parents could not pay. Recently, we assembled over 400 students here, who could not pay their school fees and he helped them. This amounts to more than N10 million; this is in the area of education. There are many more things he had done. He also awarded scholarship to First Class students. He had done others in the past, sending students abroad to study.
He had done a lot of things in the area of education. Let’s take a look at the area of water. Anybody that brings water is like that person is bringing life. There is virtually nothing anybody does without water and, as you would agree with me, the problem of water in Nigeria is not peculiar to Kwara State or his Senatorial District. The National Assembly, which he chairs, has been finding ways to address the problem of water shortage in Nigeria. The major one is that they have legislated that all the local government areas should at least reticulate water through a minimum of three kilometres, and when you come back to Kwara State, some of our dams have a lot of water but there is problem of reticulation. So, in this area, he has been able to assist, especially when you look at the expansion of some dams, like Sobi Dam.
Senator Saraki has been able to assist in that area, the project is ongoing. This one will be able to serve not only Kwara Central but also some parts of Moro Local Government Area in Kwara North, upon completion. Meanwhile, before that is completed, he has sunk about 139 boreholes in various places within Kwara Central. But out of that 139, 117 have been completed. I want to say that there is a lot of problem in the town when you talk about water because most of the wells have dried up due to the dry season. We have to resort to alternative measure by buying water from water works and paying to transport it so that it can be delivered at every door within the Emirate. Those are the areas he has been assisting on the issue of water shortage. I think in a few years to come, the problem of water will be a thing of the past with the help of the Federal, State and those who feel concerned about Kwara water project.
But some people are skeptical that the intervention was just a ploy to hoodwink them to continue what they normally do during the voting time. Do you subscribe to such assumption?
Why would I subscribe to such? Naturally, the only time you experience shortage of water is during dry season. If you see anybody bringing water during rainy season, he is not helping the matter. What the Senate President is trying to do is to assist the people. It is only during dry season that you can cushion the effect of water crisis. And when you don’t have problem, how can you solve it? So, there is nothing like water scarcity during the rainy season. It is only when you are in dry season that you can come up with something to assist your people in the area of water crisis. When you have a well and the rain is falling, why would you need to bring water tanker around? So, we are doing it for politics. He is doing it because he believes people need it. This is politics and you cannot have everybody on the table.
How far has the ABS Mandate Office been able to bring on board those perceived as opposition in the Emirate?
The question is who are the opposition? The so called opposition people were once our friends. We had eaten in the same pot. In case you don’t know, 90 per cent of politicians in Kwara State are Sarakite. But when some cannot achieve their aim within the group, they fall out. Others who have been serving for years, and were asked to step down for two or three months, felt they have to continue in the same manner. So, in that regard, there is nothing we can do to them; and we don’t see them as opposition, we can call them “aggrieved politicians or party members.” Even today, you see them in the composition of PDP (in the state). Don’t be surprised by tomorrow, they will come back to their house. So, this opposition in Kwara, I don’t see it as a big deal. Maybe they are angry about certain things, we will continue to approach them and bring them back to the house. It is their house, because they are our brothers. What we do in this house is to bring everybody on board. I want to say that by next election, you would see the changes. That is all about opposition, there is no opposition in Kwara.