The Kwara state governorship candidate of the Labour Party in the last general elections, Comrade Issa Obalowu Aremu, Wednesday challenged governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq to revive moribund industries as a recipe for job creation in the state.
Addressing Journalists in Ilorin shortly after the inauguration of Abdulrazaq as new governor of the state, the former governorship candidate alleged that Kwara had been “disempowered” in the last 16 years.
The former gubernatorial flag-bearer also expressed concerns over the state of public schools and urged the new government to reinvest them with a view to restoring the glory of the past.
Aremu, a member of the national executive council of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), however, expressed delight that the new governor had promised to reverse the fortunes of the state through empowerment and industrialisation.
Aremu said the labour party, which campaigned on the electioneering promises of the All Progressives Congress (APC), was willing to work with the state government to make the quest for good governance a reality.
“We want to support his vision for empowerment of Kwarans. Kwara people in the past 16 years have been disempowered. Out of 10 Kwarans, according to official statistics, seven Kwarans are living below poverty line. This is even more than the North Central average figure. The entire North Central is poor and the entire country is actually poor. 70 percent of our people live below poverty line.
“But it is a sad commentary that the state (Kwara) created in 1967, which is 52 years old now, could be quoting figures of States like Zamfara, Sokoto, who are known to be poorest of states.
“I think we should be looking at our figures to compare with Lagos, Rivers and Kano. These were the states created together.
“So, we are excited that the new Governor has promised to reverse the fortunes to empower our people, and empowerment comes with industrialisation. We also campaigned on this platform, and we are willing to partner with him to make this a reality.
“In any case, Kwara used to be the home of industries. We used to have key industries like food and beverages, biscuits, brewery and sugar factory. All these we need to bring back so that we can create jobs.
“We are also impressed with his concern to invest in human capital. The greatest resource of any state is its human resources, and the key to that is education. We must reinvest public schools. Most of us including the new Governor attended public schools but today it is a sad commentary that most of us cannot ask our children to return to schools, which we attended,” Aremu said.
