‘Aguntan o Paso Esi Da’ — Kwara Can and Should Get Newer

Rafiu Ajakaye

As I walked by the Government House gate last Saturday morning for my exercise, a man and his two little children — a boy and a girl — sauntered on the other side of the road, just before the Office of the Deputy Governor. The little ones joyously gestured at the prancing horse. I wouldn’t know if they were passing by the gate for the first time, but my hunch tells me the children were seeing the horse for the first time. The father walked them across the road to the site of the prancing horse. A security officer told the man they could take pictures and I saw that the kids were grateful for it. I could see that it was fun for the kids.

Humans are beautifully wired. Complex. Nuanced. Every day we traverse the earth to make new gains as a community, like the Artemis II mission just did in their near $100bn exploration of the Moon, what we see is the infinite wonders and beauty in the creation of God and man’s capability to conquer his world. 

One of the peculiarities of man is that he is an emotional being. He is moved by many things. When he is sick, drugs alone may not always heal him. Sometimes, families and friends are asked to sit around him for emotional support. Medical psychologists are sometimes called upon to examine him for better outcomes.

When humans suffer some trauma or are suspected of psychological (emotional) issues, they could be asked to change environment. Man’s pursuit of general wellbeing has led to many discoveries, including the roles that environment plays in calming the human spirit. People visit public gardens and many even plant trees and flowers to achieve the same purpose — aside the critical roles that trees and plants play to protect the ozone layer, ensure fresher air, and prevent diseases.

Yet, research has established that exciting sights play important roles in our emotional balance. Against this background, the prancing horse (sculpture) that was newly installed at the Ahmadu Bello House, Ilorin, offers an exciting view as people drive or walk by. And this means something different to different people.

The height, the beauty, and the novelty of it in that axis are an important addition to the state’s landmarks, especially for lovers of art and craft. But that isn’t just a prancing horse; the sculpture has security features carefully built into it.

Some opposition figures have taken up arms against the new addition, as a statement showed this morning. They want the ‘N22.8m or N250m spent on it’ deployed to feed the poor instead. That’s an interesting take; and it gets one curiouser about the nature of this opposition talk: is N22.8m or N250m all that is needed to end poverty or fight insecurity? 

The government spends on safety net and security the same way it expands health coverage and infrastructure across the state. From the multilayered KWASSIP to the many other safety net programmes, this administration has institutionalised anti-poverty spending more than any other Kwara government in the Fourth Republic. Just recently, the government made multimillion cash transfers to support struggling families. This has been a culture. Between 2020 and now, several billions of naira have been committed to support small businesses, smallholder farmers, and the elderly. 

Fighting poverty and other spendings that support overall human wellbeing are not mutually exclusive. The two can coexist. The government spends more than N500m to support security operations every other month, apart from any other special operations. 

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) should understand that Kwara cannot always remain the same. We are not ‘aguntan’ (sheep) whose outlook never gets better or newer year in, year out. We need to evolve. That is why the infrastructural transformation that the state has recorded over the last six years is clearly unrivalled in its chequered history.

* Dr. Ajakaye is the Chief Press Secretary to the Kwara State Governor