Yemisi Izuora
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has
called for unity, sacrifice and commitment from all stakeholders in
order to put Kwara state on the path of good governance and also win
the state for President Muhammadu Buhari in the 2019 elections.
The Minister, who made the call at a stakeholders’ meeting organized
by the Congress of Kwara Progressives in Ilorin on Thursday, said the
time is ripe for the people of Kwara to take back their state from
plunderers.
”What an auspicious time for all of us! Never before have we had a
great opportunity like we have now to take our state back from the
rapacious few, who have held the state by the jugular and prevented it
from meeting the hopes and aspirations of its people.
”From my consultations with key stakeholders so far, I can say,
categorically, that Kwarans have all resolved to take their destiny
into their own hands and take back what rightly belongs to them. This
is unprecedented in the history of our state, and we must not waste
this opportunity,” he charged
Alhaji Mohammed stressed the need for unity on the part of the people,
saying ”if we all remain united, we can’t and we won’t lose the
looming battle for the survival of our dear state. All that is
required is for us all to subordinate our individual ambitions to the
collective efforts to wrest our state from the hegemony of one man and
his cohorts”.
He said that, on his part, he won’t be running for any office during
the forthcoming elections, adding: ”For me, it is not about any
clamour for office. It is about working with all like minds for the
greater benefit of our people.”
The Minister warned that the battle ahead would not be easy, and that
those who are opposed to change in the state will deploy all
strategies, including blackmail, to retain their stranglehold on power
”Make no mistake about it, the battle ahead will be tough. No one
with power will ever give it up easily. But the power of the people
supersedes all powers. That’s why I am delighted, and indeed
encouraged, that the good people of our state, whether from the North,
South or Central, are all united in their singular determination to
rescue their state from the grinding poverty, monumental misgovernance
and the general state of funk that has enveloped it,” he said.
Alhaji Mohammed said it is a mere blackmail to say he does not like
the people of Ilorin, and went ahead to enumerate his antecedents,
which include actively supporting an Ilorin indigene for governor in
2011.
He assured that under the new dispensation in the state, every Kwaran
counts and will have a voice, saying: ”The resources of Kwara will be
used for the development of the state and its people. Never again will
our people be turned to panhandlers, never again will our people be
made to eat crumbs from the master’s table. We must become the masters
of our own destiny.”