GOVERNOR ABDULRAHMAN ABDULRAZAQ CON IS IDENTIFY AS A COURAGEOUS AND COMPASSIONATE LEADER IN KWARA STATE AND NIGERIA AT LARGE

GOVERNOR ABDULRAHMAN ABDULRAZAQ CON IS IDENTIFY AS A COURAGEOUS AND COMPASSIONATE LEADER IN KWARA STATE AND NIGERIA AT LARGE

By; Hon. Comrade Lukman Olukayode Ahmed.

The recent word attack from certain quarters by opposition in Kwara State against His Excellency, Mallam AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq CON are gratuitous. Without glorifying the names of the attackers on this page since they are superfluous, their word attack on Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq CON gave him courage and strength rather than annoy him as could be the aim of the traducers.

 Having serving Kwara State as a current Governor deservingly, the records are there that Mallam AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq CON is not a failure and is not and will never be. He has the much courage to continue to excel, knowing that success is infinitum.

He has taken courage and become whom he really wanted to be. And this can be seen is the envy of these persons, hence their unjustifiable attacks.

Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq CON is a great leader. Many people know about this fact while a few who take pleasure in attacking him do not. The later has done everything possible to pin him down, but he has remained resolute.

He has continued to dedicate himself to the service of humanity without envying the achievements of others. He does more than his detractors do not want him to do. These have made the great leader he is.

As a great leader, Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq CON cares for other people more than people think and has become a mentor to many people who are also improving on their leadership qualities. Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq CON is not scrawny, but caring.

 A lot of Kwara citizens referring to the qualities known of Mallam AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq CON said: “One of the toughest things for leaders to master is kindness. Kindness shares credit and offers enthusiastic praise f others’ work.”

Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq CON has mastered kindness even as they continued: “It’s a balancing act, between being genuinely kind and not looking weak. The key to finding that balance is to recognise that true kindness is inherently strong – it’s direct and straightforward. Telling people the difficult truth they need to hear is much kinder than protecting them (or yourself) from a difficult conversation. This is weak.”

Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq CON does not use his kindness in a self-serving manner. They said that using kindness in a self-serving manner is weakness and self-serving kindness is very skeletal, bony. Mallam AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq CON is leading without any selfish string attached.

Laden with strength is all he sees as the best way to grow and he has never disappointed. Unlike other leaders that had emerged from the State, according to the people, such leaders “mistake domineering, controlling, and otherwise harsh behaviour for strength.”

The citizens have invariably condemned the opposition against Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq CON but in their different opinion, saying of their type of leadership: “They think that taking control and pushing people around will somehow inspire a loyal following. Strength isn’t something you can force on people; it’s something you earn by demonstrating it time and again in the face of adversity. Only then will people trust that they should follow you.”

Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq CON may not turn back to the voices of traducers pushing for such an attention. It's been said in – Allegiant –, “There are so many ways to be brave in this world. Sometimes bravery involves laying down your life for something bigger than yourself, or for someone else. Sometimes it involves giving up everything you have ever known, or everyone you have ever loved, for the sake of something greater. But sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes it is nothing more than gritting your teeth through pain, and the work of every day, the slow walk toward a better life. That is the sort of bravery I must have now.”

If anybody thinks that the presence of Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq CON is blocking his or her way, the person should know that life’s challenges are for people to change, instead of pretending that all is well. One Eric Roth warns in – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Screenplay – saying, “For what it’s worth: it’s never too late or, in my case, too early to be whoever you want to be. There’s no time limit, stop whenever you want. You can change or stay the same, there are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you make the best of it. And I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you never felt before. I hope you meet people with a different point of view. I hope you live a life you’re proud of. If you find that you’re not, I hope you have the courage to start all over again.”

For the opposition against Mallam AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq CON, they should know that he is a man that sticks to his commitments and promises. 

He is not an untrustworthy leader to people. People have confidence in him. 

He is a most committed and hard working person leading by positive example. Mallam AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq CON has without doubt shown what real courage is, whereas others think that courage is about a man blackmailing Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq CON for no just cause. No man would want to be a victim of his life; Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq CON has shown that he is a hero of his life. As the best of leaders, Mallam AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq CON does not give excuses, because great leaders don’t. He is simply a courageous leader!

Mallam AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq CON, is a gift to the people of Kwara State. His years of sojourn on earth has been a life of services to God and humanity.

He has been manifesting the virtues of simplicity, humility, obedience, patience, perseverance, love for the common man, passion for humanity and determination to reach the apex of his dreams. 

True to this prophesy, Mallam AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq CON grew up to become a vibrant, intelligent, hardworking, determined and focused young man full of zeal to reach the apex of his dreams. 

As a compassionate leader who always has the interest of the common man at heart, Mallam AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq CON continues to use his hard earned wealth, business opportunities, influence and social contacts to put smiles on the faces of the common man and contribute his quota to the development of Kwara State and his people.

His humane disposition, enviable legacy, patriotism and immense contributions to the development of Kwara State and above all, his remarkable determination to the cause of democracy, good governance and accountable leadership made him an attractive bride to the people of Kwara State.

As the people’s Governor, Mallam AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq CON, the people of Kwara  State will continue to eulogise him and hold him in high esteem for his patriotism, love for the common man and making Kwara work again not only for the present but also for the future. We wish him Allah’s continuous blessings, guidance, good health, long life and more years of service to humanity, the state and Nigeria.

Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq CON is indeed a selfless leader in governance.

 He is among the very few selfless leaders Nigeria has had, in recent times, since then and indeed in our country’s entire history. He is not only selfless but also a visionary leader, focused on initiating and executing policies, programmes and projects to address the fundamental needs and aspirations of citizens.

 "Leaders who can protect, defend and advance citizenship rights against discrimination, marginalization, predation and exclusion".

Conceptualizing Governance, Good Governance and Good Democratic Governance

In the context of the public sector in modern states, governance is about “steering” the course amidst “the changing boundaries between the public, private and voluntary actors, [which] may include a range of themes [such as] “the process of engagement (politics), the substantive issues (policy), and the institutional structures through which state and other actors relate to one another (polity)”. 

Even in stable democracies, the complex interactions and associated outcomes, which governance represents, are in constant need of refinement and replenishment through reform measures.

In unstable and transitional democracies, such as in Nigeria, governance requires constant attention and requisite reforms for it to deliver on the fundamental needs and aspirations of citizens, amongst which human security is paramount. Human security, broadly defined, is essentially about wellbeing, peace of mind and happiness of the entire citizens, without which, no nation can ever be at peace. Governance is therefore intricately linked to human security. 

Good democratic governance is the panacea for national socioeconomic growth and development and human security in countries that are democracies or aspire to be so. Bad governance and mis-governance, on the contrary, obstruct democratic development, undermines economic growth and nurtures, as well as entrenches human insecurity.

Governance is often confused with government. But, as Heywood has noted, “’Governance’ is a broader term than government”, in the sense that it “… refers, in its widest sense, to the various ways through which social life is coordinated [in a given polity]. Government can therefore be seen as one of the organizations involved in governance…” .In this sense, government is the organizational platform of governance in the public sector, as “market” is the organizational platform of governance in the private/economic sphere, and “networks” are the organizational frameworks for governance in the civil society sector.

In the crisis and adjustment period of the mid 1980s, the Washington Consensus served as the framework for the intervention activities of the World Bank and other international economic development institutions in the “economic development” of African countries, such as Nigeria. It pushed for “massive deregulation of markets, tightening of public spending, guarantees for property rights and large scale privatizations” as the requisite conditions for economic growth and development.

The notion of “good governance” evolved with the failure of structural adjustment programmes (SAPs) to catalyze economic growth and development in the so-called developing countries, and seem to have replaced the Washington Consensus in the 1990s. Since the 1990s, scholars have attributed the failure of the Washington Consensus strategy to the lack of functional, or weakness of, institutions and have been preoccupied with the search for measures and mechanisms of reforming public institutions and making the delivery of public sector services to the public more transparent, accountable, efficient and cost-effective through reform processes.

In advancing the case of good governance, many other concepts are also bandied about; such notions as “devolved governance” related to organization of public administration; “delegated governance”, in regulatory policy; and new issues were introduced to “fiscal governance”. In particular, under the framework of “good governance”, African countries were guided to “bring managerialism into the public bureaucracy” and introduce “public management reforms” which have the objectives “of increasing efficiency, cutting costs, and helping the public sector to deliver high-quality service”.

In any case, good governance came to mean the absence of bad governance. Characteristics of “bad governance” are identified as: lack of accountability and transparency, interference with the rule of law and corruption. Indeed, bad governance is perceived as the inability of public institutions to manage public affairs and public resources; and the failure of a government to meet the needs of society while making the best use of all the resources at their disposal.

Selfless leaders are the epitome of service to the people, deserving of the recognition and title of “Servant-leaders”. They devote themselves to effective and efficient service delivery to the citizens, driving satisfaction from positive outcomes and value-addition, and not from personal, material reward or gain.

The truly great leaders in modern history are selfless leaders, people who, by their selflessness, motivate, inspire others and achieve greatness for their countries.

Nigeria: Situational Analysis

In Nigeria’s history, both in the colonial, post-colonial and contemporary era, we can point to examples of selfless leadership. Prominent personalities in leadership positions in governance who have made enormous personal sacrifices, eschewed personal material gains, served their country diligently and selflessly not in pursuit of material gains. Admittedly, they are relatively few and far apart. There has not been a congregation or confluence of them in politics and/or in governance to be desirably impactful.

Indeed, it can be asserted without fear of contradiction that, in the contemporary era, i.e. since the commencement of the Fourth Republic in May 1999, the extent and quality of selfless leadership in governance has deteriorated and degenerated. 

Greed and avarice have become the pivots of governance. 

The prevailing tendency is increasingly that of accessing leadership positions in governance, at all levels, by hook or by crook, for personal and particularistic gainful preoccupations.

 Leadership positions are accessed by corrupt, illegal and unwholesome ways and means and, increasingly, people who assume leadership positions, proceed to lead the pack in kleptocratic emptying of the public treasury and other public properties. Or if they themselves do not steal at all, they look the other way as their clients and cronies steal public coffers with impunity.

 As a consequence, governance become bad, extremely so, citizens become disillusioned and angry due to crises of expectations and mis-governance or bad governance; and the rapacious elite engaged in do or die competition for political power and access to state resources, divide the citizens on the basis “us” versus “them”, through the mobilization of ethno-religious and other primordial identities, fanning the embers of conflagration and igniting violent conflicts and crises, destructive of the ephemeral fabric which loosely binds the nation.

Hon. Comrade Lukman Olukayode Ahmed

Immediate Past Special Assistant on Poverty Alleviation Kwara Central to Governor of Kwara State.

23rd, January, 2024.