AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq

NEWS

3,195 Enrolled As Kwara’s Digital Training Programme Begins

At least 3,195 young people have been enrolled in the first phase of Kwara’s virtual digital training class which began on Thursday — 1,195 more than the initial figure (2000) intended for the exercise when it was announced.

The 3,195, who responded to the pre-training survey, were shortlisted from a total of 6,766 who originally applied for the virtual training.

The training, a component of the Kwara State Social Investment Programme, is being conducted in partnership with Grow with Google and Wootlab Foundation and is free for the enrollees and the state government.

“Of the 3,195, 1,763 have been inducted into the first cohort and the class began on Thursday and would run for the next two weeks. The second cohort comprises 1,432 whose class begins on May 18,” according to a statement by Chief Press Secretary to the Governor Rafiu Ajakaye.

“Each cohort runs for two weeks. The programme covers the following courses: Fundamentals of Digital Marketing (Accredited certification by Grow with Google), Applied Digital tools and G Suites (certified by Grow with Google), Social Media Marketing, Graphic Design, Business Branding and Presentation to Impress.”

The plan was to train 2,000, but the organisers had to increase capacity and resources due to overwhelming interest from the youth, the statement added.

Ogunniyi Tomilola Oyebola, a baker who is attending the class, said she applied for the programme to “acquire digital skills that will help me to be relevant in this 21st century and prepare for employment and entrepreneurial opportunities in my baking business.”

Kasali Olawale Taofiq, another successful applicant who is into security engineering, said he applied to “upscale my knowledge in digital literacy so as to apply it in my line of business.”

Fadiji Aminat Wuraola, a teacher, said she opted in to up her digital skills.

Chioma Okoro, Chief Operating Officer at Wootlab, said the response to the programme underlined young people’s thirst for digital knowledge.

“We were overwhelmed at the number of applications that came in, especially on the 1st and 2nd day. However, we expected a 50% response rate to the pre-programme survey that was sent to the applicants,” she said.

“We wanted participants that are willing to learn and improve themselves and the survey proved just that. We expect the participants to be better versions of themselves at the end of the programme.”

Muhammad Brimah, Anchor of KWASSIP, said the response of the applicants was impressive and encouraging.

He added: “It was quite impressive when we realised the massive response of applicants accross the State. There has always been a thirst for knowledge in Kwara and it has been proven yet again. All our youths need is the opportunity. There is no better time than now, considering what the world will be post-COVID-19. Remote workers would be in high demand and it is good we are getting our youths prepared for the coming opportunities.”

Rafiu Ajakaye
Chief Press Secretary to the Governor
May 1, 2020.

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PRESS RELEASE

AbdulRazaq Approves N232m For Nutrition, Primary Health Care

Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq has approved immediate payment of at least N232m in counterpart funding to deepen access to primary healthcare, health insurance and nutrition for under-three children in the state, according to a statement on Tuesday.

AbdulRazaq’s Chief Press Secretary Rafiu Ajakaye said in the statement that the N232m includes N100m counterpart funds for Basic Healthcare Provision Funds (BHPV); N50m for Accelerating Nutrition Results in Nigeria (ANRIN); and another N82m to access global grants for malaria.

The statement said the release of the counterpart funds for BHPV would grant Kwara access to the World Bank/Federal Government’s grant to cater for health needs of pregnant and nursing women and children.

“Access to such funds will help combat maternal mortality rate and other basic health challenges related to women and children. Apart from this, the funds will help to fix facilities for primary health care and reduce the pressure on secondary and tertiary health institutions,” according to the statement.

The statement said the counterpart funds for ANRIN will grant Kwara access to donor funds to boost nutrition needs of children, in what is a practical step to end the menace of stunting and wasting among young children.

UNICEF has said stunted/wasted children –all of them victims of malnutrition — are at risk of early death or becoming liabilities to the society as they are unable to cope in school or contribute to economic growth.

“Experts have decried malnutrition rate among children in the North Central, where Kwara falls. Because these children are so key to the bright future that this Governor envisions for Kwara, it is important to urgently key into any initiative that would boost their nutrition and give them a brighter chance at life,” according to the statement.

“The N82m counterpart funding for malaria is to ensure that Kwara also benefits from Global Funds set aside by donor agencies to combat malaria.”

AbdulRazaq’s release of the counterpart funding for healthcare late Monday came almost simultaneously with the payment of the N450m Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) which the agency insisted was diverted by the last administration. That diversion had led to the blacklisting of the state from the funds meant to boost access to primary health care, according to UBEC officials.

Rafiu Ajakaye

Chief Press Secretary to the Governor

July 2, 2019.

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POLITICS

Clerics Urges Kwara Governor-Elect Not To Disappoint Electorates

Muslim clerics Monday counseled the Kwara state governor-elect Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq not to disappoint the people of the state.

In a brief sermon, an Ilorin based Islamic preacher, Ustaz AbdulRasaq Ibrahim, urged the newly elected APC political leaders in the state not to disappoint the people who elected them into positions of
authority.

He warned that “people may revolt if their expectations are not met.”

He urged the new government to promote people-oriented programmes so as to improve the welfare of the residents, saying that they should not be discriminatory in spreading development, but should let it cut across all parts of the state.

Ibrahim prayed for prosperity, peace and abundance in the state.

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NEWS

Offa Robbery Case Will Be Reactivated – Kwara Governor-Elect Vows

Governor-elect of Kwara, Alhaji Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, has promised to interface with the police to ensure that those implicated in Offa robbery were promptly prosecuted.

He said that he would ensure that the judicial process was logically concluded and perpetrators brought to book.

Abdulrazaq made the pledge at a media briefing on Sunday night in Ilorin where he delivered his acceptance speech amidst All Progressive Congress (APC) party supporters.

He noted that the state had become so insecure to the extent that banking operations had been suspended in the entire Kwara South senatorial zone, after the Offa robbery saga,

“This development is seriously affecting the economic development in the zone. We will interface with the Police to address the challenge of insecurity

“The Offa robbery where 33 people were killed, based on police investigation was linked to top government officials,’’ he said.

He also pledged that his administration will be accountable to the people and will not steal or loot the state’s treasury.

Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officially declared Abdulrazaq of APC winner of the Saturday governorship election having polled a total of 331,546 votes to defeat Abdulrazaq Atunwa of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) who polled 114,754 votes.

APC also won all the 24 seats in the Kwara House of Assembly.

The governor-elect said that his administration would interface with the people across the three senatorial zones of the state from bottom to top and ensure that the people determine what government would do for them.

He said his government would be people-oriented because it was the first time since 1999 that Kwara peoples’ votes counted and their will come to pass.

Abdulrazaq said that in line with the party manifesto, his administration would place priority attention to security, agriculture, education and infrastructure development.

Abdulrazaq said that Kwara being an agrarian state, his administration would pay attention to farming and agro processing.

Specifically, he said the state would among other crops, increase cashew production and processing for export to create employment and increase internally generated revenue.

The governor-elect lamented the poor state of infrastructure in public schools in the state as well as non-payment of salaries of teachers and other civil servants, and assured to reverse the trend.

“We will set up a transition committee that will interface with the government and we will have a forensic audit of the paying system to formulate new policies.

“We will organise health care summit. Education summit and special summit on how to improve the state infrastructure,’’ he said.

Abdulrazaq reassured the traditional institution in the state that, contrary to the news making the round, his administration will not demote any traditional ruler but will work with them and count on their useful advice.

Recall that the Police authorities said the Senate President, Bukola Saraki had questions to answer on the robbery case.

(NAN)

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POLITICS

Group March For Kwara APC Guber Candidate AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq

A group, known as O2 Liberation Movement, Thursday, marched through major streets of Ilorin, to rally support for the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq in tomorrow polls.

The group was confident that the APC would repeat the feat of the February 23rd presidential and National Assembly elections in the Governorship and States’ House of Assembly elections.

Speaking with reporters, Chairman of the movement, Alhaji Hassan Owoyale said: “We are organising one million-man march in solidarity for the APC governorship candidate in Kwara State and we are calling on all Kwarans to support and vote en masse just as they did two weeks ago for the party and all its candidates at the polls.

“We believe in the ideology of APC, President Muhammadu Buhari and Alhaji AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq. We are confident that if Alhaji

Abdulrazaq becomes the governor, he will govern differently. Nothing is working in Kwara. We believe that Alhaji Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq is bringing in change. His government will work and be for the people. Not the government that will take our commonwealth to another part of the country.

“The entire people of Kwara State are tired of this administration. They want change and that is what we are clamouring for. This liberation struggle has been on for the 10 years and we have been talking to people that we want a government that will give us free education, free health for our people and many things that we deserve in democracy.

“The Liberation movement group at the last weekend visited some APC stalwarts to celebrate the party’s victory during the presidential and National Assembly elections.”

Some chieftains visited included former governorship candidate Mohammed Dele Belgore, Alhaji Olosasa, Alhaji Musa Maiyaki, Dr Saliu Ajia, Lanre Sulyman, Dr Amuda Aluko among others.

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POLITICS

Kwarans In Abuja Hold O To Ge Rally, Endorse APC’s AbdulRazaq

Thousands of Kwarans living in the Nigerian capital Abuja on Tuesday held a rally in support of the Kwara APC governorship candidate AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, saying it was time the state was liberated politically. 

The rally came barely two weeks after thousands of Kwarans in Lagos State held a conference unanimously endorsing AbdulRazaq and other APC candidates back home.  

The Abuja rally was attended by Kwarans who carried placards with various inscriptions like ‘Enough is Enough’; ‘O To Ge’; ‘Kwara Must Be Free’. Attendees included Kwara’s young turks like House of Representatives member Hon Tunji Olawuyi Ajuloopin; Hon. Kokori Abdul; Arch. Nurudeen Quadri; Hon. Akaje Ibrahim; Alh. Nurudeen Sanni; Barr. Tairu Adebayo; Barr. Mumeen Hanafi; Barr. Abdul-Majeed Oloriegbe; Hon. Tijani Ismail; Mr Abdullahi Bolakale; Hon. Abel Olatunji Akayejo; Hon. Ahmed Ndakene; and Alhaji Tajudeen Kareem, a former press secretary to former Governor Bukola Saraki. 

Muhammad Brimah, a special assistant to the Vice President, also attended the rally.

Kwara APC deputy governorship candidate Kayode Alabi, who represented AbdulRazaq, thanked the organisers of the rally and the attendees for standing up to be counted.

“I urge you all to support Alhaji AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq and all APC candidates in Kwara. He’s a contented man. He’s ready to fix Kwara and, with your support, we are hoping to get the freedom we deserve in our state this year,” Alabi told the rally.

“We call on all Kwarans everywhere who are registered voters in Kwara to come back home to vote. If you are not registered to vote here, you should back home to canvass for votes. There is no better time than now.”

Ajuloopin, who recently won the House of Representatives rerun poll in Kwara south on the platform of the APC, expressed similar sentiment.

“This is the time to liberate our people politically.  O To Ge is a revolution whose time has come and no human being can stop it. I urge all of you to return home to vote. If you don’t have a voter’s card, please come home and be our canvassers,” he said.

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NEWS

Kwara 2019: Abdulrasaq Visit Victims, Condemn Ban On Street Rallies

The gubernatorial candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kwara State, Abdulrahaman Abdulrazaq, Tuesday, condemned the ban on political rallies and processions in the state by Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed.

Abdulrazaq, who visited his party supporters who were shot and brutalized by thugs loyal to the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state
called on police to fish out the the perpetrators.

His words: “They started by attacking our rallies, we have held many rallies and there have not been violence in any of the rallies, but the moment we stepped out to campaign, they attacked us. We launch our billboards but they bring them down.”

“It’s not about APC candidate any more, it’s a movement to bring Kwara back after 16 years of stealing, they stole our resources, they have turned Kwara state into an ATM, they steal money, all you need to do is, look at evidence presented at the code of conduct tribunal to see where our monies have gone.”

Reacting to the governor’s ban on rallies and procession, he said, “They don’t want us to get there but we’ll get there by the grace of God. In a democratic setting, how can they ban a rally. We are victims of violence here we are victims of their violence and it must stopped.”

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POLITICS

Threat Of Violence Won’t Suppress Yearnings For Change In Kwara, Says AbdulRazaq

Kwara APC governorship candidate AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq on Monday said no threat of violence can suppress the resolve of the people to turn the page on the current political status quo in the state.

AbdulRazaq told a news briefing in the state capital Ilorin that Sunday’s attack was the fourth targeted at him since his convoy was attacked by gunmen last November in Kwara South when he led a campaign for the rerun ballot in irepodun/Isin/Oke Ero/Ekiti federal constitution which the APC won.

The briefing was attended by the APC’s Kwara Central senatorial candidate Ibrahim Oloriegbe; top APC chieftain Yahaya Seriki; and hundreds of other party stalwarts. 

He said the second was the disruption — reportedly by loyalists of the senate president Bukola Saraki — of the Ilorin Emirate Descendant Progressive Union (IEDPU) programme when it was his turn to address the community gathering. 

“You can’t impose your will on the people. What you have are a people clutching at straws. They are drowning men and they are on their way out. They have no answers to the agitation going on in the state,” AbdulRazaq said.

“Ilorin has changed. Kwara has changed. People are tired. There were major defections to our party just yesterday in Kaiama. People want a breath of fresh air and their response to that is violence. We won’t join them to encourage violence. We will keep on reporting them to the appropriate authorities because this is our town and we won’t destroy it. We know they are not from here and they don’t care whatever happens to our community.”

He also said people are tired of electing a governor who would always be at the mercy of their godfather, saying the incumbent cannot take any decision on Kwara except such decisions enjoy the backing of his godfather — a veiled reference the to mentor-mentee relationship of Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed and Saraki. 

He added: “The last time they came, they brought Fatah Ahmed. But we know he’s not an executive governor. He couldn’t tar a single road in Ifelodun local government where he comes from. So, why do you expect the one they are bringing now to do any better? There is a lot of work to be done in Kwara. They asked them about the minimum wage and they said they will and even pay more. These are people who haven’t paid salary for many months. Mind you, people have not noticed that last year’s budget was N190b; this year’s budget is N150b. if you cannot pay salary with N190b, how can you pay salary with N150b? they are not here to do anything. They just want the perks of office. We have to get them out because enough is enough.”

Ibrahim Oloriegbe, for his part, said one APC member — AbdulRasheed Oloduowo — was shot dead while several others were injured as suspected PDP thugs attacked a rally of the APC at Ode Alfa Nda in the state capital. He said over 50 vehicles belonging to APC chieftains were destroyed in the area, including at Agbaji, the homestead of Saraki.

Identifying and calling for immediate arrest of thugs he claimed were working for the senate president, Oloriegbe recalled that similar violence was unleashed on Kwarans in 2003 during Saraki’s campaigns for the office of governor.

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POLITICS

Kwara APC Governorship Candidate Escapes Assassination

Kwara APC governorship candidate AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq on Sunday escaped death by the whiskers as suspected PDP thugs fired at a rally he was attending at Ode Alfa Nda area of the state capital.

AbdulRazaq, who had on Saturday begun a daring door-to-door mobilisation of voters in Ilorin, was quickly whisked away from the rally as thousands of party supporters also scampered for safety. Two persons were seriously injured by gunshots fired by the thugs at the rally and have since been taken to the hospital.

The violence occurred almost simultaneously with similar attacks on APC supporters in Ile Aiyelabegan, a household that is a spit distance from the Agbaji homestead of the Senate President Bukola Saraki.

“We condemn this brazen resort to violence. This is getting out of hand. Nigerians are urged to prevail on the Senate president to prevail on his party thugs and stalwarts to give peace a chance in Kwara. There is life after politics,” Rafiu Ajakaye, media aide to the AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq campaign organisation, said in a statement.

“We call on all the security agencies to buckle down and tame the monsters who are now terrorising everybody in not just Ilorin but everywhere in Kwara where people express their desire for freedom and life more abundant.”

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POLITICS

Ilorin Stands Still As APC’s AbdulRahman Leads Pro-Buhari Rally

Tens thousands of Kwara APC members and supporters placed Ilorin on a lock down for hours on Thursday as the party’s governorship candidate AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq led other candidates to mobilise voters ahead of the general election.

The rally saw thousands of locals lining the streets and mobbing the long motorcade and heavy trucks conveying the APC campaigners amid deafening shouts of O To Ge, the campaign slogan of the party which means ‘enough is enough’. The rally was also dominated by shouts of Sai Buhari. 

The campaign train took off from Fate end of the capital city and criss-crossed densely populated areas like Pata market, Gambari,  Okelele,  Abayawo, Omoda and peaked at Pakata where the candidates took turns to address the masses. 

“We are committed to end the tyranny in our state. O To Ge. We will ensure workers are paid their dues at the right time. A government that cannot account for trillions of naira of public funds cannot expect to be trusted again,” AbdulRazaq told the rally.

AbdulRazaq also laughed off a recent claim by Senate President that APC wants to make Kwara a part of the West,  dismissing it as the antic of drowning politicians hanging to any straw.

“If West means Tinubu, Bukola took Kwara to the west in 2015 when (Bola) Tinubu was leader of APC,” AbdulRazaq said.

“Their desperate attempt to incite the public against us has failed. Every student of history understands the role my father AGF AbdulRazaq SAN played in 1955 to convince the Willinks Commission on Minorities that Ilorin belonged to the northern region. Where was Saraki in those years?  Where is his sense of history?”

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POLITICS

Kwara 2019: Bother About Your Baggage, APC’s AbdulRahman Tells PDP

Kwara APC governorship candidate AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq has asked the state chapter of the PDP to bother itself about its abysmal performance and mass rejection of its ‘puppet-candidates’ by Kwarans rather than busy spreading fake news about his own popular candidacy.

“Like its national chapter which has made lies and fake news its campaign policy, the Kwara State chapter of the PDP has been going around claiming that the APC has no governorship candidate in the state,” a statement by AbdulRazaq’s media aide, Rafiu Ajakaye, quoted him as saying.  

“Of course,  everybody knows this is a desperate attempt by the Kwara PDP to take attention away from its baggage and abysmal showings in the past 16 years. Every Kwaran home and abroad has keyed into the Otoge tsunami that is waiting to consume the unproductive, parasitic and rapacious political fiefdom in the state. Every Kwaran knows that behind the Otoge phenomenon is the fine gentleman AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq who the INEC has affirmed as the governorship candidate of the APC in Kwara State.

“Kwara PDP’s adoption of grand deceit, fake news and blackmail as campaign policy only shows that it is so ashamed of its own record of underdevelopment, corruption and stone-age politics of ‘mi-fun-e’ (I dash you) that it has resorted to claiming that there is no one contesting against its controversial candidate in the hope that the people of Kwara will give up (on) their unprecedented resolve to vote out the party in March. This tactic has failed as the mood across the state clearly shows. 

“Rather than waste time spreading lies and mischief, we urge the PDP to concentrate on the legal consequences of fielding candidates with records of forgery, perjury and additional baggage of being lifetime stooges to some stone-age emperor who sees Kwara and Kwarans as their inheritance. We urge the PDP to bother more about its many baggages and think about life outside government from May 29, 2019!”

That comes as Kola, the scion of the winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential ballot Moshood Abiola, said AbdulRazaq’s candidacy offered Kwara the best shot to get people-oriented development and true business investments.
Kola Abiola said this in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, when he visited the APC governorship candidate at his home. 

He praised Kwarans for their support for the #Otoge movement, saying AbdulRazaq was the face of the state’s struggle for freedom from political servitude.

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