As Nine Amazons Exit Kwara Cabinet
Biola Azeez takes a cursory look at the impact and effect of the ratio nine for women to seven for men in membership of the cabinet of Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara State that was dissolved recently.
In his resolve to compensate women in Kwara State over their alleged lack of representation at the last general election in the state in which all the elective positions went to men, Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq in December 2020, surprised many when he appointed nine women as commissioners in his 17-member cabinet. The governor said that by the singular action, the state made history as Nigeria’s most gender-friendly government cabinet. According to him, the number of women in the state cabinet representing 56.25 per cent even surpassed the 35 per cent slots reserved for women in such appointments across the globe.
It was, therefore, no surprise that the action was taken with a pinch of salt by some skeptics with other critics not many giving the women any chance to perform. But, a year after the appointment of the women into the cabinet that was dissolved on December 31, 2020, the consensus among most stakeholders in the politics of Kwara is that the women played their part creditably. The list of the women commissioners included: Hajia Fatima Bisola Ahmed, Hajia Fatima Arinola Lawal, Hajia Saadatu Modibbo Kawu, Harriet Afolabi- Oshatimehin, Joannah Kolo, Oyeyemi Olasumbo Florence, Oyedun Juliana Florence, Aremu Abosede Deborah. According to observers, they all proved theit mettle, given their strides in their various ministries within a short period of 12 months. For instance, the ministry of water resources, which Hajia Fatima Arinola Lawal superintended over, was able to fix all the five moribund water works in the state; potable water now flows regularly from the hitherto dried pipes.
Also, the ministry of tertiary education supervised by Hajia Saadatu Modibbo Kawu had been able to return life to all the state-owned tertiary institutions by settling all the backlog of salary arrears owed the staff of the institutions by the past administration in the state. Money were also released for the accreditation of the institutions courses.
The erstwhile Commissioner for Communications, Harriet Afolabi- Oshatimehin also recorded landmark achievements in her ministry. The government, through her ministry, revitalised the state-owned newspaper, The Herald and the state broadcasting corporation (Radio Kwara). While The Herald had gone digital, Radio Kwara-both AM and FM stations, are now heard loud and clear in far and near 24 hours daily. The achievements of Hajia Fatima Bisola Ahmed as commissioner for Education and Human Capital Development are quite remarkable, which earned her and her ministry commendations from the West Africa Examinations Council (WAEC) and the state governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq.
Before the inauguration of Governor AbdulRazaq’s administration on May 29, 2019, the state had been blacklisted for eight years by the Universal Basic Education Board (UBEC) over the failure of the past administration to pay counterpart funds, while the West Africa Examinations Council (WAEC) also sanctioned the state for the large scale examination malpractices in the state’s public secondary schools during WASSCE examinations. The effect of the past administration’s blacklist by the UBEC for eight years is the deterioration of infrastructure in the state public primary and junior secondary schools. But, under the watch of Hajia Ahmed, Kwara is now off the Universal Basic Education (UBEC) blacklist. It has accessed a backlog of N7.1bn UBEC grant to gradually reposition the schools. Thirty- one (31) basic schools had been renovated. Hajia Ahmed also carried out radical reforms in the ministry to put a stop to examination malpractices during public examinations like WASSCE and NECO. The state has commenced the process to employ a total of 4,107 teachers who will be deployed to the basic and secondary schools across the state and the recruitment process is digital-proven to ensure that only the qualified candidates are employed.
In recognition of its efforts in tackling the problem of examination malpractices headlong, WAEC wrote a letter of commendations to the state government.
WAEC Human Resources Manager, Adesoji Faboro made the commendation in Ilorin, the state capital during the 2020 WAEC state committee meeting. Faboro said that “the swapping of principals to other schools and the involvement of external monitoring teams that cut across lecturers from state Colleges of Education was a good initiative which is going to go a long way in reduction of examination malpractices and enhance the development of the education sector in the state.” He implored the state to sustain the initiatives in the interest of future leaders that have been brainwashed.
Governor AbdulRazaq also commended Hajia Fatima Ahmed, for her invaluable efforts in the development of human capital in the state. The governor, in a commendation letter dated November 23, 2020 and which he personally signed, specifically thanked Hajia Ahmed for measures she put in place, which he said had helped in eradicating examination malpractices in last year’s West African Examination Council (WAEC) examination. The letter read in part: “I write to express my profound commendation to you for your invaluable efforts in the development of human capital in Kwara state. Most notably, your Initiatives of swapping secondary school principals around and involvement of external monitoring teams in this year’s West African Examination Council (WAEC) examination have significantly contributed to the effective supervision of pupils thereby reducing examination malpractices which had been labelled as an incurable sore in most educational systems in Nigeria. I encourage you to keep ensuring morality and positive values are promoted in our schools and that our commitment to providing quality and affordable education to our citizens remains unwavering.” Reacting to the development, Hajia Ahmed thanked governor for giving her the free hand to operate. This, she noted, has contributed greatly to the successes recorded by her ministry since her assumption of office as commissioner. She assured the governor that her ministry would continue to introduce and implement reforms that will further enhance standard of education in the state.
Pundits in the state expressed diverse opinions on the performance of the female commissioners. Members of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) gave different verdicts on the commissioners. For instance, the state chairman of the PDP, Kola Shittu, was thumbs down for entire members of the dissolved cabinet. According to Shittu, “He should sought help for competent hands that could help him to manage the state. The last set of cabinet, which took him more than 100 days to constitute, demonstrated that they were largely inexperienced and incompetent.” The Shittu, who described administration in the state as utterly disappointing, uninspiring and a colossal waste, said that “the euphoria that greeted the coming of the present administration has waned significantly.” The PDP chairman noted that no tangible achievement or accomplishment in any sector could be attributed to the governor since he assumed office on May 29, 2019.
But in a swift reaction, an APC elder in the state, Kunle Sulaiman, punctured the verdicts of the PDP stalwart on the administration, saying that the governor and members of his cabinet had redefined the story of Kwara in many positive ways.
He said that the administration is ending the money politics that plagued Kwara in the past. The legal practitioner stressed that the commissioners, who served in various ministries, performed well to admiration of many in the state. “Whether in health, education, road, or water, the government has touched lives in many ways never seen before. The present administration has strategically taken governance to the people such that there is no electoral ward in the state that cannot point to one or two things that they have benefited in just 18 months.
“The health sector has received about the highest priority even before the advent of Covid-19 pandemic and the result is there for everyone to see. The administration has started rehabilitation works across dozens of decrepit primary healthcare facilities. Long-abandoned routine immunisation and vaccination is back. For the first time, Kwara now has isolation centres equipped with modern gadgets like ventilators, defibrillators, patient monitors, and others. Its oxygen plant has been revived. For the first time, the state now has ambulances with capacities to manage patients in critical conditions on the go. Indeed, Kwara is now listed as A-list state in healthcare sector.
The education sector is changing. More than seven years after it came under the hammer, the state Kwara is now off the UBEC blacklist. It has accessed a backlog of N7.1bn UBEC counterpart funds with a matching grant of N7.1bn to gradually reposition the schools. Aside from the upcoming UBEC intervention, the state on its own is carrying out renovation works in at least 43 basic schools. With the UBEC funds in the kitty, no less than 600 basic schools are to get facelifts while teachers are also to be trained. The transparent process to recruit 4,701 qualified and competent teachers into our public primary, junior and senior secondary schools is ongoing and should be commended by all.”
In the opinion of some observers, the lofty contributions of these women to the development and progress of the state cannot be ignored; therefore, the clamour for the appointment of more women into public offices across board. Other commentators believe that the strides of the female commissioners also vindicated Governor AbdulRazaq’s decision in populating his erstwhile cabinet with nine women against seven men. To underscore what he described as the remarkable performance of the commissioner, APC elder, Sulaiman said: “My view is that if not all, many of them are coming back to help the governor achieve success and a second term in office.”
