I congratulate Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu on his well-deserving emergence as the presidential candidate of our great party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), in next year's election. The voting pattern indeed represents a resounding vote of confidence by the largest majority of party faithfuls and leaders in his capacity to lead the party to another victory.

Today I went to Oro, an ancient town in Irepodun local government area of Kwara State, to commiserate with the victims of yesterday’s inferno at the Oro Central Market in which at least 30 shops got burnt. I have directed the state’s emergency management agency to enumerate those affected to enable us provide some support for individuals who have lost properties.

I join the Muslim community, especially in Kwara State, to thank the Almighty Allaah for another opportunity to witness another Ramadan. It is another moment to show immense gratitude to the Almighty for His mercies just as it is a new window to get closer to our creator through increased good deeds and going out of our ways to make life worth living for others in our communities.

Since 2017, a group of 25 women in Agindigbi and Onila communities in Irepodun LGA have been contributing money to build their communities’ schools because they never had one.I visited them today & I returned the money, N1,000,000, which is equivalent of what they’ve spent so far We will continue the good work that they have started by expanding the classrooms and improving the facilities.

Today, I met the with the National coordinator Rural Access and Agriculture Marketing Project(RAAMP) Abuja Engr. Aminu Muhammed and his team before the flag-off of the construction of the 5.2km Alapa-Arobadi pilot road in Asa LGA. Under this project, our administration will upgrade 125 kilometres of road to asphalt or sealed materials, carry out spot improvement on 450 kilometres of road and routine maintenance on 700 kilometres of road.

Today, January 3, 2021, the portals for taking applications for a new crop of teachers will go live. That begins a new process to fill our schools with qualified and competent tutors who will teach our children in basic classes and senior secondary schools across Kwara State. It is an enormous task that we do not take for granted. It a task for which our administration will be judged — coming after we painfully nullified a process that had thrown up some 2,414 teachers.

I join our compatriots in Kwara State and across the country to welcome another year. It is indeed a time to congratulate one another for surviving the outgone year which, no thanks to the Corona virus pandemic, shook human civilisation to its foundation. While COVID-19 and the economic crisis are still with us, there are glimmers of hope that the worst is behind us. It is therefore a time to rebuild our world.

In Kwara, our administration will push harder the efforts to reposition the state for sustainable and inclusive growth.

Fellow Kwarans:

I have just had an emergency security meeting with heads of various security agencies in the state. This is to assess the situation in the state. Over the last few days, I had earlier met with the traditional rulers, opinion leaders, members of the student community, and many other stakeholders in the state.

Our observation is that what has happened so far today was not a protest. It cannot be defended under any guise.

Our reality is that if we accede to the demands of the labour as they are, we will not be able to do any other thing other than paying workers. Our schools, like the Banni Community Secondary School which I visited today, have collapsed; the basic health facilities need to be fixed; and we need to do much more for the rest of the population too.

We have a huge infrastructural deficit and we cannot spend 100% of our earnings on paying salaries.

SUMMARY OF MY MEETING WITH PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU BUHARI TODAY

1. I commended His Excellency, Mr. President, for his swift actions and efforts towards mitigating the effects of the COVID 19 pandemic and reviving the economy through the approval of the Economic Sustainability Plan. 2. I appealed to Mr. President to continue to support our administration in delivering socio-economic development to the people of Kwara State.

I am saddened by the havoc wreaked on various households in Ilorin, the state capital, and indeed elsewhere across the state by yesterday’s heavy rain storm. I commiserate with those affected by it. Informed by NIMET prediction of the incoming storm, I had visited NEMA and other Federal Agencies last week to seek special relief for Kwara.

We have approved the design of a new master plan for Ilorin, the capital city of Kwara State, decades after the first and the last one was designed by former military regime of the late Brigadier-General David Bamigboye. A new master plan is necessary to allow for proper development, prepare for the future, and halt unplanned growth that is creating urban slums and other avoidable crisis of development in the city.

Earlier today, I met with the Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipre Sylva, in Abuja and we discussed various ways Kwara State can collaborate with the Ministry for the good of our state and our people. Chief among the things we discussed is the ongoing preparation for seismic data acquisition in Edu and Pategi parts of Kwara state. It is an extension of similar preparatory works in the neighbouring Niger State.

Today, we launched Kwara State Health Insurance Scheme for residents of Kwara state.

We are starting this scheme by onboarding at least 10,000 of the extremely poor among our people. Their premiums have been fully paid. This means the health insurance is 100% free for them. We hope to expand this and capture many more vulnerable people in the coming years.

A major agenda of this administration is to ensure that Kwara State ticks all the right boxes and achieves the SDGs by 2030. This is beyond empty slogans.

On December 10th 2019, our administration organised the first-ever citizens’ engagement session on budget preparation in the state. That engagement was meant to harvest the views of the people on what shape and direction they wanted the 2020 budget to take. While we will always seek to do more, I am proud to say that the views of our people were respected in the budget.

At that citizens’ engagement session, I promised that such event would henceforth be an integral part of our budget process.

We are happy that the Emir of Kano Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero is here with us in Kwara state.

As a government, we have huge respect for traditional institutions. Despite the three tiers of government, I believe that the traditional institution is the fourth tier of government. This is because within it is the judiciary, which resolves issues within the community, administration, and security. Everything is encapsulated in that institution. They solve problems within our society.

After months of hard work by the leadership and members of the Kwara State Football Association and some investments by our government, we commissioned Nigeria’s first Football House today in the presence of NFF Chairman, Amaju Pinnick. This investment aligns with the decision of our administration to restore the glory of our state across various sectors, including sports. This has led to massive rehabilitation works on roads, hospitals, schools, and sporting facilities that capture the essence of our state.

I have just been informed by the new zonal head of EFCC, Mr Oseni Kazeem, that they have recovered new N130m public funds looted in the previous administration. Just like the other recovered funds, this too, when received, will go into funding social interventions and infrastructure for our people.

We thank the EFCC for their activities and our administration will continue to support them.

Today I paid an unscheduled visit to the best COVID-19 teams in Nigeria, our health care workers here in Kwara. I commended them for their selfless service and their dogged fight against the pandemic. Even though we give them special allowances, the risk they undertake to keep us all safe is priceless and no one can put a price to their efforts.

In February this year, our administration held a multi-stakeholder security dialogue on strengthening the existing security architecture in the state and exploring community initiatives. Today, we inaugurated the state Community Policing Advisory Committee (CPAC) to herald the commencement of the initiative in the state. This advisory committee will serve as another platform to engage local communities on matters of safety.

Yesterday, I paid a visit to the Alangua of Otte, following which I went to the Otte Maternity and Dispensary Clinic. The clinic, which serves several communities in Asa Local government area, is in a state of total collapse. My visit comes as our administration begins rehabilitation work at the clinic next week. The contract was awarded last week.