#OTOGEaYearAfter: Kwara North Has The Highest Stake In Kwara- Comrade Musa Idris Buko
Comrade Musa Idris Buko is a Good Governance Advocate and strong Community Development Mobilizer. He holds a degree in Fisheries and currently run a large scale Agribusiness. Com. Musa Idris Buko is the Chairman of Coalition if Kwara North Groups (CKNG). He shares perspective of Kwara North on FactualTimes Special Series- #OTOGEaYearAfter. Excerpts:
The inauguration of Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq and other elected officers in Kwara State clocks a year this week. So, looking at the O TO GE mantra that brought in new set of leaders, what can you say about it?
The Otoge movement is filled with a lot of mystery. Mystery in the sense that in the history of not only Kwara State but also in Nigeria, it is mysterious to uproot a very strong political stalwart not only in Kwara politics but in Nigeria. So, that itself is a clear message that there is a tremendous change in the business of election in Nigeria. The electorates are now more aware and are very much interested in the issue of governance as opposed to the past. So, that is that about the Otoge. But looking at the Otoge movement which is going to clock a year now, was filled with a lot of ups and downs. If you ask me, I will say it is still too early to score the present administration of Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, because if we do that, we may be underscoring or perhaps; overrating it on the other side.
For now, we will just look at the situation of Kwara State before they came on board and then look at the things they have been able to do particularly, in the aspect of sustainable institutions. Sustainability aspect is the concept of development in the world over – whether the UNDP, or any other; that is the important ingredient that is needed in driving development. Sustainability which brings about the concept of institutions that will drive developmental policies.
Now, if I want to be assessing the administration, we are going to be looking at it from this point of view. So far, as the government been able to put in place institutions that will drive development? I think that is the area I am going to assess them.
You played an active role in the struggle, especially by mobilising youths and other electorates from your zone, Kwara North zone, to support the movement, not necessarily the party, in which the APC happened to be the platform for Kwarans. So, what motivated you to participate in the struggle?
Thank you very much. Like you rightly pointed out, we are not politician, I am not a politician, I neither belong to APC nor PDP. But we participated actively in uprooting the last administration not because we hate them, not because we are partisan, but because it was the right thing to do. It was the right thing for any patriotic citizen in Kwara State to do. And why? Mismanagement of resources: well, may not be absolute because if I say mismanagement of resources, it will take our time. I won’t be speaking with facts but relatively. There is no commensurate or tangible something whether in terms of project, infrastructural development or anything to justify the huge revenue and allocation being received whether from Federal or Internally Generated Revenue which shoot Kwara to one of the ten best States (on IGR) in Nigeria. So there is nothing to justify.
Also, at community level in Kwara North, there are a lot of issues that required government’s attention like the reaccreditation of College of Education Technical, Lafiagi. The institution was last reaccredited in 2004 which is contrary to the regulation of National Commission for Colleges Of Education (NCCE). The reaccreditation exercise supposed to be 5 years interval; 2009, 2014. So we received the message that the College of Education Technical, Lafiagi, is going to be blacklisted. And strategically, that is the only tertiary educational institution in Kwara North. The reason for siting institutions in a locality is to serve some purposes – whether to catalyse development in those areas or for the institution to have strategic impact. KWASU is in Kwara North no doubt; but strategically, whose purpose is KWASU serving – is KWASU serving the Central or the Kwara North, strategically?
For example, I never had my first degree here in Kwara State. But for those that had, what is the distance between Baruten to KWASU? What is the kilometres from Edu Local Government to KWASU? What is the kilometres from Moro itself to KWASU? And what is the Kilometres from Patigi to KWASU? And what is the distance to Ilorin West, South, East and Asa LGAs? So, that is what we mean. So, we were pained at that very time that there was a need for the government to cash back the re-accreditation activities. Though, the former governor AbdulFatah Ahmed approved some amount of money to facilitate that process, there was never cash backing to that. We made a lot of efforts to see if we can prevail on the government. That government was so insensitive to issues like this, we saw that this government was not the one that listens… Hence, we participated actively in uprooting the last administration and we are very proud of it and we can say this anywhere and it was not for APC. We did it patriotically because it was the right thing to do.
How would you asses this administration, not limited to governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, including other lawmakers both State and Federal lawmakers with emphasis on Kwara North?
As far as Kwara North is concerned, when the new administration of governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq came on board, the social media and everywhere is filled actually that the Governor is very sympathetic to Kwara North. That was the impression, though we did not swallow that. But looking at his actions, going to Kwara North often, in fact, since the history of Kwara State, he is the most travelled Governor to Kwara North. So, at the beginning of the administration, we were observing to see if the Governor is matching the impression with his actions. But later on, we found out that is not absolutely correct because we observed lopsidedness in appointments and then distribution of other opportunities which we took up at personal level. We had written open letters to that effect trying to call the attention of the administration. We did not talk about infrastructure because the Appropriation Bill being executed as at the time, was passed by the last administration. So, we were not intentionally biased that we were just focusing on the appointments. That is a fair ground to asses the administration as far as Kwara North’s interest is concerned.
But unfortunately, the crass marginalization and insensitivity to the plight of Kwara North reaches its peak with the confirmation of appointment of the new Vice Chancellor of Kwara State University. It was shocking, it was a blow and it was a very bitter pill to swallow. But it is a reality. We have been trying to reach out to different people calling their attention but that was what fully blown the marginalization and the insensitivity so to say, of the plight of Kwara North especially in the aspect of appointments. At different forum, we have debunked and presented fact on the contrary that you can not say because maybe the Governor visits Kwara North frequently, it means the Governor is for us. But the record on ground did not show that. As we speak to you today, even though after our outcry on the KWASU appointment, the Governor or the administration has made effort actually to correct that marginalization of Kwara North. But to me, it still persists because if we count on the quota, you will still see that there is great lopsidedness. The last time I counted or checked, the Central had about 21 appointments, Kwara North had 3, after the outcry of the KWASU VC, we have about 10, while the South had about 17.
Some people will tell you that you can’t judge an administration based on appointments, they are doing capital projects here and there. Capital project is one thing, appointment is another thing. I am not exaggerating because I am a Kwara Northerner, Kwara North has the highest stake in Kwara State because out of the 34,467.5km² that constitute the landmass of the State, the five Local Government Areas in Kwara North alone have more than 25,000km² which amounts to 75.34℅. According to the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) 2013, I did not quote the last census figure because the publication available in public is filled with some discrepancies. But the RMAFC has more acceptable criteria of reconciling the data both from primary and secondary sources.
According to the RMAFC (2013), and that is the basis on which revenue and resources is being shared in Nigeria as I am speaking to you, according to that, Kwara North has the second largest population after Kwara Central. Kwara Central has about 904,000, then Kwara north has 756,000 thereabout, and Kwara South has about 710,000. Some people erroneously argue that we only have landmass, we don’t have the population. I challenge anyone, anywhere to go and find out. After Kwara Central, Kwara North has the second largest population.
Now, let us look at the food crop production, consumables, as well as cash crop production in the State. Likewise, in livestock, fisheries (capture fisheries not aquaculture), and forestry productions, and including the internally generated revenue. Don’t forget, that I am trying to prove to you Sir the reason Kwara North has the highest stake in the State of Harmony. Kwara North is leading in all of these things I had mentioned to you.
Looking at the IGR also, because I am going to make reference, the only information available for the IGR of all the Local Government Areas in Kwara State, is that of 2015 and 2016 which was published in the monthly magazine of the Kwara State Internal Revenue Service, *The KWAREVE* 2016 and 2017. We have the complete data of the revenue generated by each of the 16 Local Government Areas in Kwara State. In 2015, Kwara North generated about 49% of the total IGR. In 2016, according to *KWAREVE,* Kwara North generated the highest revenue in 2015 and second in 2016. The LGA that generated the highest revenue for Kwara State in 2015 according to that data was from Kwara North, which is Baruten. Until 2016, that was when Ilorin West overtook Baruten Local Government Area due to the introduction of informal sector tax that became successful in the Ilorin Metropolis.
Now, cumulatively, if we add the IGR generated by the 16 LGAs in Kwara State in 2015 and that of 2016 combined, still, Kwara North generated more than 39% (the highest) while the other two Senatorial Districts shared about 60.00%. Similarly, a painstaking study of statutory Federal Allocation to the 16 LGAs in the State between Jan. 2003- Dec. 2018 shows that Kwara North has the highest receipts (38.91%) with the 5 LGAs ranking 1(Baruten), 4(Kaiama), 5(Edu), 8(Moro), and 9(Patigi), while Central has 29.46% and South 31.63% respectively. So, what I am trying to say is; if you calve out that land area from Kwara State (the 25,969.5km²), it means 75.34% of Kwara State’s land portion is gone as well as other endowments Kwara North contributes to the State.
On Kwara North, you are planning leadership rating, Can you just shed more light on it?
It has been earlier established that Kwara North is well endowed and contributes the most to the sustenance of the State. However, no meaningful development has been accomplished in terms of basic infrastructures and human capital development compared to other part of the State. A critical perusal of our situation shows that poor leadership/bad representation over decades has been an internal factor that also contributed to our under development in addition to our marginalization. Since the return of democracy in 1999, Kwara North had produced every category of leadership except the Governor of the State, with no significant impact on the community as well as the citizens. It is against above background that the Coalition of Kwara North Groups (CKNG), introduces the KNLPER to objectively evaluate the performance of both elected and appointed leaders or representatives from Kwara North on acceptable benchmarks that are fair and justifiable in tandem with the office or leadership position being occupied. The whole essence is to promote good leadership/representation, good governance as well as speedup growth and development of our community.
The issue of Kwara north being the advocate for a commission like Federal Character Commission that will be able to distribute opportunities, can you shed more light on this?
We have critically and painstakingly looked at the problems in Kwara State. Like I said earlier, we cannot say if you want to measure development, in real time, we cannot talk about development without the concept of sustainability. And that is what thrives development in advanced countries and other parts of the world. Sustainability means the ability of that thing will continue. It shouldn’t be that today, because I’m the governor and I feel like Kwara North should, we must have institutions. That was what I was referring to in the last question. We have institutions to drive development. Institutions to drive things. Like on the issue of Kwara, we will continue to advocate for Kwara character in equal opportunities commission. This is one of the ways to go as far as marginalisation is concerned. It is not only Kwara North that is marginalised.
Even within Kwara North, there are marginalised communities. Within Kwara Central that we the Kwara Northerner were accusing of domination or dominating the whole thing, there are marginalised groups. In Kwara South, there are marginalised communities. What we are saying is that it is not about sectionalism, it is not about ethnicity, it is not about religious bigotry. We are talking about an egalitarian state of harmony. We should have an institution. The state character equal opportunities commission should be a commission that looks into how these things are shared. Without that, we are coming to square one. I therefore implore this administration to initiate the process in the interest of “Kwara For All” not Kwara for a section. What we are saying is; it is not about sectionalism, not about ethnicity, and also not about religious bigotry. We are talking about an egalitarian State of Harmony.
On the issue of structural development in Kwara North, can you just highlight the kind of infrastructure that you see under this administration in terms of roads, schools and health centers?
As far as development is concerned, like I said, I do not have a first hand information about the development. But the information at my disposal from secondary and even tertiary sources is that some projects are ongoing, which I really haven’t seen or I heard much about. But then, there is feedback that some projects are coming in various communities like in the aspect of water, where drilling of boreholes in some communities have been completed while some are ongoing; especially in Baruten Local Government Area. Some road and electricity projects as well as renovation of some schools have also been reported by our people. I also learnt that various projects are ongoing in various communities and that equipments are being taken to some of the project sites. I also gathered that there is upgrade of some health facilities in kwara North. These are all from secondary sources.
Now that the Covid-19 pandemic is affecting our economy; what will be your advice for the state government and the people of Kwara State?
No doubt the Covid-19 pandemic had unleashed great shock on livelihood. Myself speaking to you, I’m a fish farmer, I know how the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted in my business. No doubt we have to be realistic, there is going to be paucity of funds wether from the federal or even the state government. As citizens, we need to think out of the box, thinking out of the box in the sense that we all need to go back in in a little way we can to have a culture at our own level. We are not in the same financial status. Those who have the financial where wither should engage in mechanised farming, those that don’t have that, even if it is in your backyard, we should try to change from our consumer citizen way to productive citizens. Productivity in the sense that having little investment in whatever way we can either in farming, whether in livestock, whether in rearing fish and others. We all need to go back to the farm. That is the only way we can cushion the effect of this Covid-19 pandemic because I’m not a prophet of doom but I can foresee hardship emanating from this lockdown. Like I said earlier, I’m a farmer and I know the impact even though we have our own way of even cushioning the effect of this Covid-19, but how many farmers are able to go to the farm whether to plant or whether to stock or whether to rear during this crisis. It can’t be all farmer, so people will be terribly affected and it has a consequence, but the consequence is not now.
The consequence will show after some times because the time you are suppose to plant, you couldn’t plant, so what do you harvest? To cushion the effect of this, we all need to go back to the farm at least to be able to produce, if not, all of what we consume, but part of what we consume. This is my advice to Kwarans. Then, the government also needs to be more prudent so as to safe the resources. I must commend this administration, especially the governor. Since he came on board, he has been operating a low key, he doesn’t maintain long convoy and all that. I want to believe it is just a mechanism of saving cost of governance. They should also try as much as possible to also lock the loopholes that are open so that more resources will be available for the government to invest in agriculture.
There have been a particular issue, freedom of information bill. Are you satisfied with the action and inaction of the speaker and Kwara State House of Assembly as a whole after about nine months that the governor sent the bill back to them for minor adjustment?
Well, I must confess to you, in one of the questions you asked me earlier, I mentioned the lack of sustainable institutions. The Freedom of Information is one of the things I didn’t mention. Freedom of Information had been certified by fathers of democracy like the fourth president of United States and even many advocates of good governance. Freedom of Information is a sine qua non in any democracy. For example, in our advocacy, you need facts and information to be available to the citizens. There is feedback at my disposal about what is happening back home.
From home for instance, it was gathered that there are some ongoing projects, It is something that I should just pick my pen to confirm, through writing a request to the appropriate MDA to know what is going on in that place. How does one get this type of information without the FOI? Though, there is the insinuation that the FOI may be abused by those in the opposition or mischief makers, nonetheless the importance of the FOI in governance far supersedes that claim. I therefore appeal to the Kwara State House of Assembly, under the leadership of Rt. Hon. Yakubu Danladi Salihu to speedup action on consideration and passage of the Bill to promote good governance, accountability and transparency.