By
David Titiloye
Visionary leaders are known to be individuals who are able to envision the kind of future they want for their people, set clearly defined goals towards achieving it and pursue it diligently.
I have to state what it means to be a visionary leader so AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq and his flatterers can see that he is by no metric worthy of being considered a visionary leader because after about 4 years in office, there is nothing significant we can use to define what he envisions for Kwara state and her people except attacking Bukola Saraki like an obsessed rabid dog.
The Bukola Saraki they love to hate today is still described as the architect of modern Kwara because his administration was not only defined by making Kwara a cosmopolitan state but also his suburban interventions of bringing development closer to the grassroot and hallmark projects that is still being enjoyed today and a subject of debate by those who desperately want to deprive him of his credits.
One instructive thing about AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq and his unleashed dogs is that they lack shame and are incapable of conducting any critical reasoning because if they do not possess any of these attributes, they would not be debating whether or not Bukola Saraki built the main governor’s office and council chamber which was commissioned by former president Obasanjo in 2006, the banquet hall which was commissioned by former president Yar’adua in 2007, when Gov. AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq despite being a member of the ruling party in Nigeria has never for once had a project worthy of inviting the president to come and commission.
Sen. Ibrahim Oloriegbe who happens to be the only person in this Kwara APC administration to have invited a principal officer in the person of the senate president, Dst. Sen. Ahmed Lawan to commission a project in Kwara was unceremoniously deprived of a return ticket because the governor hates competition even in his mediocrity.
AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq is on course to institutionalize mediocrity and tokenist governance in Kwara state because after campaigning on the basis of PDP not doing enough in Kwara state, one would have expected that after about 4 years of being in office, he will be seeking for reelection on the basis of what he has done and what he intends to build on but such is not the case, he is still seeking for reelection on the backbone of speaking against Bukola Saraki as if they are both running for office.
Progressive Kwarans must therefore be wary of something which exposes the mindset of the governor which is the celebration of payment of salaries as the only achievement worthy of being touted by the governor. Such tokenism must not be allowed to be institutionalized because future administrations will believe that the hallmark of good governance in Kwara state is payment of salaries. I also want to beam a light on the innermost thoughts of the governor, is salary a right or a privilege?. For those in the private sector does your employer rub it in your face or register it as an achievement that he pays a salary duly worked for by you?, why exactly does AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq believe he is doing Kwarans a favor by paying their duly earned salary?.
The answer is clear, the governor considers payment of salaries as a privilege and if God forbid he is reelected in 2023, he may decide to deprive Kwarans of this “privilege”, after all he does not think it is an obligation.
Conclusively, I must remind AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq that former governor Isiaka Oyetola paid #97 billion from the debt owed by his predecessor and never for once paid half salaries that had previously been institutionalized in Osun state yet he was booted out of office. Meanwhile, his fellow APC governor, Gov. Zulum of Borno state once said he marvels at how some governors celebrate salary payment because it is not an achievement but a right of the state workers. This is one of the reasons why you will never find it on record anywhere where Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki ever mentioned prompt payment of salaries as an achievement because he clearly had a vision beyond celebrating bare minimum or tokenist gestures.
Kwarans are taking note of how governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq has turned himself to a suzerain whose ring must be kissed because he does them the favor of paying their duly earned salary from his personal pocket and they will teach him a deserving lesson at the polls in 2023.
